Womancat Wensday

 LORI:  Ayla spent most of her time on the bafroom windersill. I spend a lot of my time on the fishy tank hood.

I really like the towel TBT wrapped around the brick.  I could rest against the brick but the towel is softer.

Nocat bothers me here.  And TBT always gives me some attention when he walks by...

And I dont bother the fishies.  Really!

Twofur Tuesday

TAZ:  We are just both just sitting around the TV chair waiting fer TBT ta come sit down in it. 

I want The Lap.  Binq wants the skritchies she gets while sitting on the side of the chair.

Happy International Friendship Day to all our friends...

Easy Like Sunday

It was a lovely day.  We were all anxious ta get outside.

And we finally did.  Well, we allus do after TBT gets a couple pics.

 

Caturday Saturday

LORI:  We always like ta see the little glass bowls.  That usually means there are some treats.

 Sometimes they are the crunchy kind, but sometimes they are real chopped up chicken or beef.  TBT likes ta put them in a small bowl so it looks like there are more of them, MOL!

Flashback Friday

This is from this week in  2013...

Ayla:  Looks like Iza wants ta pounce on whoever jumps down first.

Marley:  What do you think we should do Ayla?

Ayla:  We could just wait.  She gets bored easily.

Marley:  I need ta use the litterbox.

Ayla:  Jump on her.  You are a big strong mancat.  She outweighs me.  

When Marley started to jump, Iza got out of the way.  MOL!

Thankful Thursday

 TBT:   The Mews love me individually even if Lori and Taz don't get along, and I am thankful for that.  I am thankful for each, invidivually.  And of course Marley has always been an easy-going cat.

But today I write in praise of Binq.  As friendly and forward as she was in the Shelter Community Room, she was shy and "hidden" when she arrived here last November.  She was nervous around the others at mealtime, ate her food fast and went back to The Mews Room immediately for a couple months.  

Trying to pet or stroke her made her back away.  She used the litterboxes only if she was alone.  She wouldn't play with toys.  She just wanted to stay by herself.  She would never enter the bedroom.  

I didn't let Taz or Binq outside until Spring.  I put Taz out on the deck in a carrier to let him get used to smells and sounds for about 20 minutes several times.  Binq is hard to get into a carrier (sensitive to tummy touching) so I didn't even try that with her.  But I left the deck door open (screen closed) so that she could sniff (with Taz enclosed in the bedroom).

I couldn't get a harness to stay on either of them.  A few days of Taz out in the carrier and Binq happy to just sniff through the screen, and I let Taz out and dragged Binq out.

Taz went right down to the lawn and started sniffing stuff!

Binq just wanted to get back inside...

And for a couple of months, the most "out" she would do was to sit on the deck next to the door waiting to be allowed back in.  But she has changed in many way since then.  Somewhere in the past several months, she has discovered "courage"!

She likes my attention and responds energetically to petting (spinning around, pushing her head against my hand, and sing on the arm of the TV chair next to me).  She has become a rather fanatical toy-chaser (even pulling some out of a box to bat all around the house).  She rushes to go out on the deck along with Lori and Taz (Marley always wants to look and listen first).  She still isn't fond of going down to the lawn, but she loves "out on the deck".  I have seen her on the lawn at the base of the deck stairs a couple of times.

She is becoming more confident around the house and is often in the same room as me.  She uses a litterbox even if I am nearby.  She is no longer anxious about eating with the others.  Indeed, when I lift the food bowls from the counter, she sits up and waves her paws in anticipation.  And she noses into everyone else's bowl too if I don't stand there and manage the meals!

My experience has been with young cats who develop adult cat behavior in a rather gradual and linear way.  Binq has not been like that.  It seems to me that she rather suddenly became comfortable here in the last few months and has expressed that change positively.

She still isn't fully engaged like Ayla, Iza, Marley, and Lori.  They were "normal" cats in all ways from Day 1.  Taz was close to that.  This change in Binq comes after months of self-isolation.

And I am very thankful for it.

Womancat Wensday

LORI:   Im just goin out for a stroll around the backyard.

I like it outside.  Lots of interesting sights, sounds, and smells.  But also because Im away from Taz and Binq.  I still dont like either of them.  Well, mostly it's Taz, but Binq came with him, so I dont much like her either.  So outside, I can relax and hunt frogs and mousies (I dont bother birdies very much).  

TBT:  Lori is being a bit deceptive.  She starts most of the fusses with Taz and all of the fusses with Binq.  She is both an ambusher and a walk-by whapper.  She sits around a corner or under the bed overhang and jumps out to whap him as he walks by.  Or Taz will just be sitting on the ottoman and she will suddenly whap him as she walks by.  Binq gets the same treatment but like 10% as often (but Binq almost never returns the whap, just goes into a defensive crouch briefly).

Taz however, does.  He will often chase her and tangle up with her briefly.  Lori yells in complaint then, as if Taz shouldn't do that.  I sometimes wonder what she thinks will happen when she starts these fusses.  Well, I'm not sure she is the smartest cat I've ever had...

I say "fusses" rather than "fights" because it isn't like when Laz started attacking Lori as his kittenhood terrors took over again.  Laz would just plain attack-to-injure toward the end.  Taz is just annoyed about being whapped for no reason.  And chases her and whaps her a few times himself and then leaves.  

So it could be a lot worse.  I'm learning to ignore it unless it goes on longer than about 10 seconds (which can sometimes feel like a long time).  And things seem to be improving.  Sometimes a few days go by with our hearing Lori yell in complaint.  A few months ago, Lori wouldn't tolerate Taz being on the bed if she was there too.  

Now, sometimes they are within a couple of feet (sometimes less) of each other (as long as I am in bed too and they are on opposite sides of me).  Lori knows he is there, but ignores him.  And I notice that Lori can walk closely past him lately and not start anything.  

Hope springs eternal...

Twofur Tuesday

TAZ:  Binq and I are enjoyin the deck today.

 

Mancat Monday

MARLEY:  Im outside.  I have trees all over ta scratch on.  So what's my favorite place? 

This old doormat!

First thing I do when I go out, last thing I do before I come in...  MOL! 

Easy Like Sunday

 Nice sunny morning.  We had First Breakfast and we are ready ta go out!

Flashback Friday On Caturday Saturday

Well, I got up late, fed The Mews, fed myself, and then went grocery-shopping to avoid the weekend crowds.  By the time I got home, let The Mews out, put the groceries away and made/ate dinner, it seemed just too late to post.  

So Flashback Friday is today.  They come from this week in 2013.  And this batch is Marley's Napping Day!

Thursday Thoughts

TBT:  I mentioned previously that I don't really like the name "Loki" for the male shelter cat.  It does fit his habits, but the sound of the name bothers me.  I'm thinking of a name that matches "Binq", since they came here together.

I don't want something that specially matches his fur color.   So that eliminates names like Pumpkin, Harvest, or anything involving orange.

Going through the alphabet on names matching "Binq", maybe some are Dinq, Finq, Hinq, Jinq, Kinq, Linq, Pinq, Rinq, Sinq, Tinq, Vinq, and Zinq.

Some are outright losers.  An orange cat can't be named "Pinq".  Dinq sounds like a dummy and he isn't.  Sinq sounds like a failure.  Zinq is too metallic...  Etc, etc...  The renaming thoughts continued...

It had to be a name I can speak from the deck without sounding like an idiot.  So it can't be a name like Ubo or Ass.  😮

I have always liked The Family Guy dog "Brian", but that name is sort of taken in the Blogosphere.  A seasonal or month name doesn't seem right for a male cat either.  

But I think I finally found the right name.  "Taz".

He looks like a "Taz" right?  👌  I wish I had thought of that one when he first arrived.  "Loki" fitted his nature, but always sounded wrong when I spoke to him.  I always wanted him to be better than "Loki".  Kind of made him a "problem brother" to a Thor I never had.  

Welcome to your new name, Taz!

Womancat Wensday

 LORI:  There is something interesting under the oven.  Maybe a mouse has found a way under there.  Marley tells me that Ayla found a few there when TBT took the bottom out.  

Don't mind the red carpet.  It collects our fur like crazy.  He shakes it over the deck rail every few days, but today wasn't one of those days.  The noisey vacuum just tries ta suck the whole thing in.

Tail Shadow Tuesday

 LOKI:  Not a great pic, but TBT loved the shadow of my tail on the wall.

Personally, I was just wandering around and he needed some pictures...  He thinks the flash bounced off the floor.   I say it was just "cat magic".

Mancat Monday

 MARLEY:  I slept here all night from the time TBT went to bed until he got up.

In fact TBT shoved with his foot in the morning to make sure I was still alive!  I was of course and even went belly-up for some scritchies.  I mean, I won't even be 14 until next month!  But it is nice that he worries about me.  I am the old cat here these days.

It is almost funny to think back on my life.  I was a shelter kitten, and some Beings bought me to give to a friend.  And she turned out to be allergic to cats.  So TBT found me and took me home.  He has the sneezies too a bit but he doesn't mind all that much.  He says we are worth it.

Easy Like Sunday

 The Mews:  But we of course got dinner yesterday.  3rd of 6... as it was "middle of the day".  

Binq eats everything she get a nose into.  She is going to become a fat cat in spite of TBT's efforts to keep her out of our bowls.  He so much as blinks and there she is in another bowl.  She even loves Marley's kidney care diet stuff.

Lori likes to eat in a corner.  Less competition from Binq.  You can't see her bowl here but she is eating with TBT guarding her spot.

We swear Binq could eat a whole ham if given a chance.  She must have had food issues before coming here...

Caturday Saturday

Here we all are, waiting for Dinner...

 

Flashback Friday

 Today we go back to this week in 2012...

Iza was in her favorite pose, sunning her belly.

The girls were sharing the tree nicely.

Iza went out to listen for mousies...

But decided the sun was better.