1.jpg)
Oh, did you want current pictures?
Mickey's kitten pictures were too cute, I couldn't help it.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
In celebration of my internet finally working...
Pictures of Mickey & Fuu!
1.jpg)
Oh, did you want current pictures?
Mickey's kitten pictures were too cute, I couldn't help it.
Oh, did you want current pictures?
Mickey's kitten pictures were too cute, I couldn't help it.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
more tasty treats: turkey liver
| One of the leftovers from my parents thanksgiving were the turkey livers (apparently these are excluded from the traditional giblet gravy). And yes, it's plural. There were two birds this year. Quite a feast. We offered to take the home on the presumption that the cats would like them. This was only sort of true. The first mistake was, again, feeding alongside the regular food. I figured the liver would be a hit. Instead, the familiar canned was the most desirable. Fuu picked at it a little, mostly the attached fat, and Mickey, despite his taste for mice, was unimpressed and left. Then they both left - the first time I've seen them leave food in the bowls. The next night, the entree was just the liver, not regular food, and they did finish it off. Mickey still wasn't overly enthusiastic, but Fuu dove on in. She has the unfortunate habit of pulling food out of the bowl to eat it if there are large chunks. She mostly doesn't take it anywhere, just out of the bowl. Maybe the solution is a bowl big enough for her to sit in? |
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
alternative foods
Warning: if you're squeamish about the activities of carnivores, this might not be the post for you...
We live in an old house. As old houses are wont to do, we have mice in the basement and attic where the cats are not permitted (we keep the cats out of there primarily because we don't want them tracking dirt all over the place. The attic is unfinished and dirty with construction rubble, and the basement has direct access to the crawlspace, which is, well, dirt)
So we set snap-traps, one was successful...and we gave it to the cats.
Honestly, we were a little conflicted about this. One one side, it is a little 'icky', to use the scientific term. Also the mice have probably been eating all sorts of unwholesome things up there. On the other hand, it's a one time thing, not a steady diet, and aren't mice what cats are supposed to eat? We know Mickey supplemented his kibble liberally during his earlier life as a barn cat. M remembers a scene when Mickey and his littermates were just weaned, adorable bundles of kitten fluff - with faces covered in blood from the chipmunk mom had caught for dinner. So in the spirit of waste-not want-not, and since the mouse was fresh, we went for it.
Mickey loved it.
Understand here, despite being the man of the house, significantly older, and at least four times bigger than Fuu, Mickey pretty much defers to her. She can stick her head in the food bowl at will, or do various other obnoxious things, and he lets her. Fuu is teh fierce kitteh, and Mickey is a lazy, easy going cuddle bum.
But not with the mouse. He grabbed it, growled at her and ran off to play with it (unfortunately we gave the it to them after breakfast). Fuu growling wouldn't be notable, but I have never heard Mickey do it. So we locked them in the laundry room, and soon, no more mouse. Guess that one was a winner.
Addendum: I re-read this and realized it wasn't 100% clear, but the mouse was already dead by the time the cats saw it. They played with it anyway. I agree that intentionally having them toy with a live or injured mouse would have been completely out of line.
We live in an old house. As old houses are wont to do, we have mice in the basement and attic where the cats are not permitted (we keep the cats out of there primarily because we don't want them tracking dirt all over the place. The attic is unfinished and dirty with construction rubble, and the basement has direct access to the crawlspace, which is, well, dirt)
So we set snap-traps, one was successful...and we gave it to the cats.
Honestly, we were a little conflicted about this. One one side, it is a little 'icky', to use the scientific term. Also the mice have probably been eating all sorts of unwholesome things up there. On the other hand, it's a one time thing, not a steady diet, and aren't mice what cats are supposed to eat? We know Mickey supplemented his kibble liberally during his earlier life as a barn cat. M remembers a scene when Mickey and his littermates were just weaned, adorable bundles of kitten fluff - with faces covered in blood from the chipmunk mom had caught for dinner. So in the spirit of waste-not want-not, and since the mouse was fresh, we went for it.
Mickey loved it.
Understand here, despite being the man of the house, significantly older, and at least four times bigger than Fuu, Mickey pretty much defers to her. She can stick her head in the food bowl at will, or do various other obnoxious things, and he lets her. Fuu is teh fierce kitteh, and Mickey is a lazy, easy going cuddle bum.
But not with the mouse. He grabbed it, growled at her and ran off to play with it (unfortunately we gave the it to them after breakfast). Fuu growling wouldn't be notable, but I have never heard Mickey do it. So we locked them in the laundry room, and soon, no more mouse. Guess that one was a winner.
Addendum: I re-read this and realized it wasn't 100% clear, but the mouse was already dead by the time the cats saw it. They played with it anyway. I agree that intentionally having them toy with a live or injured mouse would have been completely out of line.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
not the brightest kitten in the box
| I spent about an hour this weekend trying to discourage Fuu from helping herself to plates on the table. I sat in the doorway and every time she jumped up, out came the squirt gun. When we were done (no, there was not victory - M came home and I gave up) the table was soaked, the floor was soaked. The cat was distinctly damp. But she was undeterred. Really, for the entire session, she only came off the table long enough to run from the water, lick herself somewhat dry, and trot back. I'm not going for angelic behavior. Really, it's unreasonable to expect dishes full of tantalizing food will be left untouched forever. But I'm looking for some hesitation. A long enough pause for me to go get a fork from the kitchen without having my dinner ransacked for instance. But oh, Fuu learns slowly, and is hard to deter.
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