A very upset crow was cawing for quite some time in the south lot of our property. When I first looked, I couldn’t see what it was. However, the culprit made herself known.
Smokey and the Crow
Cats
Almost Friends
It’s not often that Smokey and Loki calmly sit next to each other. Before Loki entered puberty, they were excellent friends. They snuggled, slept together, and generally got along wonderfully. However, during his change, Loki became a nuisance to Smokey, who reacted poorly. And, due to the Pandemic, we couldn’t get him neutered right away. So, we had quite the battle between the two for over a year. After getting him fixed in the Fall of 2021, he mellowed out, but Smokey wasn’t trusting or forgiving.
However, there appears to be a thawing of the tension as of late. Smokey and Loki can walk by each other without incident. They can sleep on the same bed, chair, or sofa without incident, though they have yet to resume snuggling. We have hope that we will all one day find them warmly and lovingly snuggling. But, for now, we will take whatever progress we can get.
And now, having written all this, they decided to resume mild hostility. Thankfully, not nearly as bad as in earlier days. There was little, if any, hissing. It presented more as play than an angry fight: no flying fur or loud thumps of bodies hitting the floor. Again, progress not perfection.
Mouses!
Today’s count of dead mice brought to the backyard: three. I saw Smokey bring one out of the brush this morning. Then, early in the afternoon, I found one dead, unknown which cat was responsible. Then, just minutes ago, Loki came bounding over the fence from the brush, a dead mouse in his mouth. Thankfully, he dropped it before coming into the house.
That’s it for the day. The cats are not going out again.
Content Kitty
Tina was lying on the couch watching TV when Smokey jumped up to join her. She slowly wedged herself between Tina’s back and the back of the sofa. After a few minutes, Smokey was sound asleep. She is a goofy cat. At night she will lay at the foot of the bed with Tina. That is until I crawl into bed. Within moments she walks up and insists on getting under the blanket between the two of us and proceeds to fall asleep.
It’s Second Saturday
Yesterday was a do-nothing First Saturday. Today? Oh, lots and lots of clothing and bedding to wash. We’ve been putting off much of the bedding because Loki would just mark them again, as is the wont of male cats when they achieve sexual maturity. However, now neutered, though he makes a gallant effort, he is filled with blanks, as it were. So, yeah, it’s catch up the laundry day in the Hall-Rife household. Though, the Rife of the home is at work. So, for the time being, it’s just your humble wordsmith doing the laundry.
That Damn Cat
One of the cats just knocked Smokey’s treat bowl off the table. Before Loki joined the household, there was a time we were only giving Kang treats. He was on a forced diet. That’s because he had become a fat tick. His belly damn near dragged on the floor. To keep him from eating all of Smokey’s treats, we put her dish on a table by the kitchen window. Again, Kang, the fat tick, couldn’t jump up and eat the treat. Smokey has a habit of not eating her treat all at once but coming back time from time to nibble until it’s gone. Kang? Oh, he chows down on his, then searches for more. We also put dry food up on the table for Smokey to have something besides the treat. Oh, and the treat is wet cat food.
Well, Kang lost weight. His belly is several inches higher from the floor. Smokey no longer has a dry cat food bowl on the table. She developed the habit of knocking both the treat bowl and the dry food bowl onto the floor. The dry food bowl was rarely empty, inevitably resulting in a mess on the floor or food in the water dish. We still have to keep the treat bowl on the table. She likes looking out at the front lawn while eating. I tried putting the treat bowl down on the floor with the other two, but she pouted and didn’t eat her treat for two days. So, yeah, the bowl is back on the table.
Well, not really, because some damn cat just knocked it on the floor.
Better Picture
Here’s a better picture of Loki. He was looking at the living room. As you can see, his ears show the potential growth he is going to achieve. He’s half Maine Coon. His mother is a full Maine Coon. Loki’s father is unknown. He has the customary ‘M’ on his forehead and the tuffs at the tip of his ears. He also has six toes. No tuffs yet between them. He doesn’t look to be a long-hair. But it turns out that Maine Coons can be medium hair cats as well.
One of the reasons we got Loki was because Smokey is a high energy cat, and Kang doesn’t have the energy to match her in play. Now that Loki and Smokey have become accustomed to each other, there is much running and wrestling. However, as I type this, Kang and Loki are battling.
Loki is also a people’s cat. He follows both Tina and me around the house. And he has bonded to me. He will race upstairs to beat me to the bedroom. While Kang and Smokey stay with Tina downstairs, Loki stays upstairs with me while I sleep. If I get up to go to the bathroom, he’ll usually still be waiting on the bed for my return.
A New Member of the Castle
We have a new cat. His name, for the moment, is Simba. However, Tina and I are bantering about new names. We are leaning towards Fritz, but as of yet, are undecided.
I have thought about taking more pictures, but truth be told, I’m too caught up in watching him be a kitten to take the time to snap one.
He was climbing all over me. However, I had to put him on the floor because he started walking all over my keyboard. He does the same thing to Tina.
Hopefully, in the future, I’ll have enough presence of mind to snap a picture when he’s a cute kitten. Trust me; he’s not always cute.
Look What The Cat Dragged In!
At least it was a mouse and not a bird like she brought in one day last month.
Good Morning Blogstonia!
Yes, I’m up. I’ve been up since 5:25 AM when Smokey decided to step on the Apple remote and turn on the TV. The little shit. Of course, she was attempting to knock things off of elevated surfaces because she wanted her morning treats.
So, I’ve managed to get through my morning routine. That includes finishing my two cups of coffee. Next? I’m contemplating a run. I’d go on a bicycle ride, but 49 degrees is just too chilly. I’ll probably end up going for a run.
Oh, speaking of Smokey, here she is sitting on the stone table watching for the red squirrel she treed earlier. It was chattering away in anger on the tree in the background as this picture was taken.