Adelle's Hello Sung By Kittens

You had me at "Meow"! Humane societies are one of the best places to adopt cats and dogs. All of my current kitties are rehomed or adopted from humane societies.

The Purrfect Ride

Emma Massingale has trained her pony Comet and cat Louis to go on long rides together.  Emma also took her two Shetlands on a sail back to the Shetland Islands to visit.

So Blessi and his cat Mittens are not unique.  Do notice that the cat, like Mittens, has discovered that the best place to perch is facing forward on the sweet spot where the saddle would normally sit.

Helping with Certification for Pet Therapy

I volunteered to help with a certification for Pet Therapy animals. I got to play the lady in the wheelchair, be part of the arguing couple and later join the walking crowd for 3 dogs and 1 cat. Blessi and I are going to try for pet therapy certification. This group had a wonderful idea--trading cards for pet therapy animals. Wouldn't Blessi  look great on trading cards. Blessi has already been on some business cards.

Viking Cats

Blessi and his honorary Viking
cat Mittens

Did you know that there were Viking cats? As per a study reported in Scientific America, researchers
examined the mtDNA of 200 cats dating from 15,000 to 300 years ago.

Cats were associated with humans from the beginning of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent, probably helping to control the rat and mice populations. One wave of cats came out of this area; the other, from Egypt. "Thousands of years later, cats descended from those in Egypt spread rapidly around Eurasia and Africa. A mitochondrial lineage common in Egyptian cat mummies from the end of the fourth century B.C. to the fourth century A.D. was also carried by cats in Bulgaria, Turkey and sub-Saharan Africa from around the same time. Sea-faring people probably kept cats to keep rodents in check, says Geigl, whose team also found cat remains with this maternal DNA lineage at a Viking site dating to between the eighth and eleventh century A.D. in northern Germany."

As Pontus Skoglund, a geneticist at the Harvard Medical School, states, “I didn’t even know there were Viking cats.”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-cats-conquered-the-world-and-a-few-viking-ships/

Lion Dance by Maru

Let's all do the Lion Dance with Maru. 

Maru Goes Sledding

For you Maru fans--Maru learns how to sled in Japanese snow.

Cats Act in the Fast and the Furious

Nothing like a silly cat video to cheer up your day.

The Cat, the Burglar, and I

For those of you following my blog on writing, I just posted another essay on what are "Literary

Points of View--the cat, the burglar, and I." I wrote this story when I was auditing a creative writing course. The assignment was to read the textbooks and summarize what we learned. Hey, I was auditing--no grade worries for me. However, it is interesting how student commitment to learning plus removing the pressure to get a grade can equal a much better product. I think. Anyway, you can be the grader of this essay.

https://pamelanolfwriting.blogspot.com/2017/08/literary-points-of-view-cat-burglar-and.html

Enriching cat environment by letting it hunt for food

Benjamin Millam invented this clever device to enable his cat Monkey to "hunt" for food in the demanding environment of the urban apartment.  How clever!

PC A most unusual Burmese cat--A Memory

PC and I are dressed as Rocky and Bullwinkle at the
office Halloween party.  Yes, that is a landshark from
the classic SNL skit and yes the Japenese
visitors are quite amused.

PC was my first Burmese cat, who did not think he was a cat.  Or at least he defined "catness" as something totally different from the rest of the feline world.  As you can see by the photos, PC would go anywhere, anytime, meet any creature, and have fun.  From twin human babies poking at him, to kids putting him in a swing and pushing him, to visiting other people's houses with strange dogs and cats, he assumed life was a party filled with catnip and friends.

PC pushes the baby carriage down the
hallway.  He learned most of the tricks in
minutes.

PC also learned tricks.  He was easy to teach--learning sit, roll over, shake hands, leap through a hoop, jump to shoulders, walk on a leash, retrieve, wave bye bye, push the other cat in a baby carriage, etc.  At one point I was convinced that I should quit my job in software documentation and move to Hollywood to train cats for the movies.  However, I was never able to teach another cat a single trick so I am glad that I kept my day job.

My other cat was Mimsie the Siamese.  The only creatures
she liked were me and PC.  PC and Merci were
a nice yin-yang of feline companions.

Blessi entered my life when PC was 17.  I always wanted to take PC to the barn to meet Blessi and  take PC for a tolt.  But PC was a bit frail at that age and I wasn't sure if the visit was for my entertainment or his so I never did so.  Merci got to meet Blessi 10 years later.

PC loved his fish.  Unfortunately he was much more clever about
stalking it than I was at protecting it.  Even keeping the fish in
the microwave at night did not extend its life by much.

PC was such a character that he deserves a book of his adventures.  I did write and illustrate a children's book on that topic--thus learning just how hard it is to write a good book for that audience.

Blessi and Merci--the video

Here is the video of the Merci and Blessi meeting.  Lish the photographer lost control of the camera for part of the video--as will become apparent.

Blessi and Merci--The Icelandic Horse and the Burmese Cat

Blessi checks out Merci, who is not at all bothered
by the huge, odd smelling dog .
Note the handle of my tack box on the floor
since handles play a role later in the adventure.

Blessi has always adored cats.  Whenever we board at a stable with cats, Blessi makes friends with any local felines.  Our current stable does not have cats so I decided to take my kitty Merci to the barn for a visit.  Normally I would not recommend taking an indoor cat to the barn but Merci is a Burmese cat.  Burmese cats are like the Icelandic horses of the cat world (and Siamese are like the Arabs).

The National Alliance of Burmese Breeders gives the following description of the Burmese temperament:

Merci gets to check out Blessi to confirm her original
thought that Blessi is odd but harmless.

"Burmese are the ultimate companion cats. Often cited as the most affectionate of all cat breeds, they love being with people, playing with them, and keeping them entertained. They crave close physical contact with their people. Often referred to as “velcro cats”, they abhor an empty lap, will follow their humans from room to room, and sleep in bed with them, preferably under the covers, cuddled as close as possible. When they play, they often try to entertain. They will actually check to see if you’re is  [sic] watching their crazy antics. They are very intelligent, and often stubborn. ”  That's a very accurate description of Merci's personality.  It also explains why  Burmese do not make good outdoor cats since they are very trusting and think all God's creatures are their friends.

Blessi tries to show how friendly he is by
grooming Merci behind her ears.

The two creatures are introduced as Merci shelters in her carry case.  She seems quite interested and Blessi is fascinated.  Introductions outside the case are equally successful.  Through practice with his other feline friends, Blessi knows how to groom Merci gently behind her ears.  (When Blessi was introduced to a bunny at a horse show, he groomed the laid back bunny behind the ears also.)

The introduction is going really well so we move on to riding lessons.  Merci makes the typical novice  mistake of not using a centered riding position.  Even so she starts to purr.

Blessi somehow knows ho to pick up the case.
He must have learned through observing me
pick up his tack box, which is a re-purposed tool box.

Lish takes a turn holding Merci while Blessi tries to make off with the carry case.  How does he know to grab the case by the handle?  And he does it with no hesitation which doubly surprising since he does not have a carry case to practice with.   (At the end of the session as I was carrying Merci back to the truck, I put the carry case down on the arena ground.  Darn if Blessi does not pick up the carry case and try to walk away with Merci.  He hasn't had much practice carrying a case in an stable position so I have to rescue Merci before she slips and slides too much.)



Blessi and Merci had a great visit. Here we are--three species at the end of wonderful play day. I wonder if Merci might like to ride a tolt some day.  Merci is a purebred Burmese but I adopted her from a local cat rescue.  Merci was found wandering the streets of Ridgefield WA. Blessi gives a big shout out to the animal rescue groups of the world.

On little cat feet--Merci's art project

 I fill up my own printer cartridges to save money.  I swear I cleaned up everything after refilling the cartridges but somehow Merci the cat found a pool of ink and made her own art.  Later I found the source of all the ink--Merci knows how to open cupboard doors.










To adapt Sandburg's poem:

"The ink comes on little cat feet.
She sits looking over floor and sink
on silent haunches
and then moves on."

When your cat says " I heart you"

Merci my Burmese cat knocked a book  to the ground.  When I found it, she was standing over it and playing with the pages.  Look what she did to the page!  I think it means that she loves me--or perhaps her food bowl was empty.  One can never tell with cats.

Cat Communication--Saying I love you

Reading your cat's facial expression is probably harder than reading what your horse is trying to tell you.  Jackson Galaxy, host of the TV show My Cat from Hell, works with troubled cats and their owners.  In this video, he coaches you in how to communicate with your cat using their language.  I knew about the slow blink as a kitty signal for "I love you" but the rest of it was a surprise to me.  I am off to practice "How you doing" and the "slow bow" with my cats.

I thought it was called a puptent

I had some left over material so I decided to make my cats a tent.  Ok, call me crazy cat lady.  The directions call for the support posts to be made out of spline, a type of flexible wood slat used to hold down caning in chairs.  Of course, stores don't carry basket weaving supplies anymore  so I had to improvise--always a dangerous thing.  I had some wires for flower arrangements so I taped them together in bundles instead--they sort of worked.

I put the assembled tent down for the cats and WASU immeditely entered and settled down for a nap.  Merci, the younger cat, started dive bombing him and the tent collapsed.  I guess I do need spline after all.  Of course, I had forgotten my camera.

The following video shows what happened after I reassembled the tent and remembered to fetch my camera.  Cats and children always play with the package rather than the gift.

The cats have decided that they love the tent.  Merci moved in early last night and would not let WaSU in the tent.  He kept trying to get in with her and she kept wapping him with her paw.  This morning, she relented and he crawled in with her.  It is 11:45 am and they are still both in the tent.  I wonder if they are getting up to some kitty hanky panky?

What is my cat trying to tell me

I am a little late feeding my cats today.  Merci the Burmese cat jumped on my keyboard and managed to type something on the screen.  I wonder if she is trying to tell me something.  What do you think?

Forbes Magazine Interviews Grumpy Cat

OK, I am way too amused by Grumpy Cat.  I don't know if it is the nihilism or the cynicism or the just the cute.  I hope you are amused by this Forbes interview of Grumpy Cat.

I'm making my cat fat--need picture

Yesterday, I got on my bathroom scale for the first time in years. I was dreading the results. My scale is electronic so the first thing I do is push on the scale with my foot, wait for the numbers to go from 8888 to 000.0 and then step on and wait for the scale to register my weight.



After all this, the scale would only register 000.0. Oh crap!!!! I have gained so much weight that my weight is beyond the upper limits of the scale. Now is that upper limit 300 or 350 lbs? As I am obsessing about this, I decided to weight a cat. Fortunately, the cat also weights 0000.0 and so did everything else that I put on the scale.



So I decide to change the batteries. The scale is an expensive piece of crap manufactured in China with a "lifetime" battery. There is no way to change the battery without totally disassembling the scale--which I do only to find that the battery is soldered into the scale.



I'll have to get another scale I guess. I think I will go to Goodwill and find an old fashioned mechanical scale. And to top it off, I find out that cats mimic the habits, including eating style, of their owner. I am making my cat fat also.



"In a new study from the University of Messina, it turns out that cats who live intimately with their owners (indoor cats that live in a small space) "mirror" the lives of their caregivers. They sleep at the same time, eat at the same time, and can even become more or less social depending on the behavior of their owners.

"Cats are intelligent animals with a long memory," Jane Brunt, veterinarian and the executive director of the CATalyst Council, told Discovery News. "They watch and learn from us, (noting) the patterns of our actions, as evidenced by knowing where their food is kept and what time to expect to be fed, how to open the cupboard door that's been improperly closed, and where their feeding and toileting areas are."

Because cats mimic our habits, if you spend a lot of time raiding the fridge, your cat will return to its food bowl for that midnight snack, too. According to the study, this explains why "human and cat obesity rates often seem to match." So, if you felt guilty about leaving your precious kitty at home while you go to work, now you can feel even worse: You are making your cat fat! "



http://shine.yahoo.com/pets/cat-copying-habits-including-overeating-study-says-214600048.html

2013 Catdance Film Festival

Freshstep Cat Litter is sponsoring a film festival called Catdance.  At first I pooh-poohed the idea but I checked one submission, then another, and then another.  One tale concerns the catalog order of bedroom furnishings that happens to include a cat.  Then there is a 1950s training video for the felines who are considering including a human in their lives.  Or what happens to a cat famous for his youtube videos but who can no longer pull in the viewership with his recent stuff.  But I dare you watch "Dear Rocky"shown above without tearing up.

Below is probably my favorite--Meows in the Afternoon--a kind of Japanese, existential thriller on the feline life.  It is a re-imaging of the 1940's movie "Meshes of the Afternoon."

You can vote for the finalists here:
http://www.freshstep.com/promotions/catdance-festival/