Cats are Better Than Television!

When I get up from my favorite rocking chair, Merl and Charlotte quickly claim the seat for their own.  It doesn't take long before one cat gets a tad bit possessive of the space.   Who do you think will be QUEEN of the chair after this little kitty exchange?   

Just Hanging Out, Soaking Up the Sunshine

When the front door is open, leaving a nice, sun-warmed floor and perfect view of all street activity, Nigel, Merl and Charlotte assume their rightful places in what appears to be size order.   While  hypnotized by the silent ballet of the falling leaves, they are acutely aware of their rank -- Merl may not be top dog, but he is surely king  of the trio.  And, if he wants Nigel's spot, it is his for the taking.  I think, however, he likes being surrounded by his loyal subjects.   

Yes, Charlotte, I do want to wash my face!

Here's the thing with Charlotte.  She kind of, sort of, likes to be around me.   She doesn't sit on my lap or snuggle in bed, but she likes to be in the same general vicinity where I am.  And, more times than not, she enjoys causing a disturbance.   Okay, you might think that I am projecting my annoyance onto Charlotte when I say she "enjoys" causing a disturbance.   I am really not projecting, I am stating a fact.  We have a night-time routine -- I sit down to read a book, Charlotte chirps a warning and jumps up on the mantle.  I take Charlotte down from the mantle, pick up the cat toy -- that Charlotte use to like --  and sit back down to read.  Charlotte chirps again and jumps up on the piano.  We repeat this game/annoyance -- depending on your perspective-- several times before I give up and put Charlotte in the basement, where she is perfectly content to watch TV with Max or entertain herself with cat toys.   Charlotte's latest I am in your space activity is jumping into the sink every morning just as I turn on the bathroom light.  I chalk a lot of Charlotte's irritating behavior up to the fact that she's a kitten.  But, she's not;  she is two, and we've been doing this reading, jumping up, plucking down activity now for well over a year. And, if the last few days are a predictor of what's to come, I fear that Charlotte's sink-sitting is not going to end any time soon.

Look Who is Sitting Side-by-side

Just yesterday I was saying to someone that my cats, Merl and Charlotte, like each other okay, but that they don't cuddle or sleep next to each other, let alone groom one another.  And then last night, Max said, "Mom, look at this!"  There was Merl and Charlotte, side-by-side, fur touching fur.  And, you guessed it, while we were smiling at the pair and commenting on their cuteness, Charlotte started grooming Merl.  She bathed his face and ear. 
Maybe I can save my sofa by telling someone that I don't ever expect Charlotte to stop using it as a scratching post.  It's worth a try! 

Indoor Cats Are Hunters, Too!

I have often written about outside cats killing wildlife.  In fact, as recently as last week, I wrote about a study that confirmed what was always suspected -- cats permitted to roam outdoors are skilled hunters, killing far more birds, rodents, lizards and other animals than previously thought.  

My indoor cat, Charlotte, was home alone last Thursday.  I brought Nigel and Merl with me to the League.  Before leaving the house I said, "Be good Charlotte, stay out of trouble."   Eight hours later I noticed she was lounging in the basement near an unfamiliar toy.  When I went to toss the toy, I quickly realized that it was no toy -- Charlotte murdered an unsuspecting intruder.  Charlotte killed a mouse. 

I did what any mother of a nearly 15-year-old son would do,  I asked Max, to PLEASE remove the mouse.  He did, but not before staging and editing the photo of Charlotte and her poor victim.  

Evidence Incriminates Roaming Cats

Charlotte & Merl
lounging on the cat tree

GUILTY! A new study administered by scientists from the University of Georgia and the National Geographic Society's Crittercam program confirmed what we already suspected. Cats permitted to roam outdoors are cold-blooded killers.

Sixty outdoor house cats in Athens Georgia were volunteered, by their human companions, to participate in the study. The cats were fitted with tiny “kittycams” so that their 5-6 hour daily hunting adventures were recorded.

The incriminating results were startling. According to Kerrie Anne Loyd of the University of Georgia, the lead investigator of the study, 1/3 of the cats successfully captured and killed prey. And, those skilled hunters averaged about one kill for every 17 hours outdoors! Sometimes they brought home their victims, but more often than not they didn’t share their kills which included birds, lizards, voles, chipmunks, frogs, and small snakes. The cold-blooded killers chowed down on 30% of what they killed and left 49% of their causalities to rot where they died.

Charlotte and Merl are skilled basement cricket killers. As indoor-only cats their favorite targets are each other, but they’ve both been known to pounce on a cotton mouse now and then.   I like to think that they enjoy lounging, like me, on the screened-in porch listening to the birds chirping. But I know them both too well. If either had the chance to spend 17 hours outside, they’d definitely munch on a cardinal or a mouse!
For additional information about the study contact kloyd@uga.edu.

Stay! Charlotte!

Charlotte in Max's arms
after an earlier save today!

What makes Charlotte want to go outside?    I wish I knew.   She has cat toys and climbing trees to keep her busy.  She has her mentor-cat Merl to play with.  AND, she has a nearly endless supply of crickets to chase (and mutilate) in the basement.  And, yet, every time we open the front door, Charlotte is perched to escape. 
I'm just as ready  -- I put my foot out and yell "Back Charlotte!"   Which Charlotte interprets  to mean "Run Charlotte".   She makes it over my outstretched foot more times than not.   After her mad dash, she goes flat in the grass, and if I don't get her right away, she nibbles a blade or two. 
The screened- in backporch  obviously does not begin to compare to the great outdoors.  If Charlotte is birdwatching  on the porch, and hears the front door lock turn, she hightails it across the house assuming her escape position.
This is one battle that I will NOT concede.   Charlotte, like Micky and Merl, is an inside cat.  An inside cat does not have to dodge cars or do battle with other animals. An inside cat cannot kill birds and baby bunnies.  When I go home today I'll put the key in the door, stick out my right foot and scream, "Back Charlotte!"   And, then I'll turn around and scoop Charlotte off the grass and take her back inside where she belongs.

Every Open Door

An adventure for Charlotte --

Scoping out the bathroom

from the inside of the linen closet!

Charlotte is FEARLESS.  On more than one occasion she has run out the front door.   Luckily, she stops to take in the many smells on each blade of grass, so it's not hard to grab her and bring her back inside where she belongs.   An indoor cat is a safe cat, a cat permitted to go outside is not -- it's just that simple.   Everyone who has ever lived with a cat knows that they are  incredibly curious.  But, those wonders of the outside world also include many dangers that reduce a cat's average life expectancy.  According to Nicholas Dodman, D.V.M., the average life span of indoor cats is about 14 years – though this is reduced to 4 years in cats that are allowed to roam free, exposing themselves to the hazards of outdoor life.  There are countless dangers outside -- not just cars, but poisons, predators, cruel people, disease, and numerous other horrors.    Charlotte finds every opportunity to explore new things and new places.  Recently there was another open door that Charlotte ventured through -- the door to the linen closet! 

If Only Charlotte Could Paint......

Photo by Max

Charlotte had no trouble climbing to the top of the ladder.   If only she could  paint!  She did manage to rub by a freshly painted wall so that her right side donned a completely new look.   We already have one orange cat; and Charlotte, as a calico, just didn't work.  So, Charlotte's first encounter with paint quickly turned into Charlotte's first encounter with a warm was cloth!

What Happened, Charlotte?

When Max and I walked into the house yesterday he immediately noticed something different about Charlotte, "What Happened ?"he asked.   "To what?" I said.   "To Charlotte."   "Nothing happened to Charlotte," I said, "What do you mean?"  "Part of her ear is missing."   "WHAT!!"  Sure enough the tip of Charlotte's ear was gone.   Her perfect little symmetrical face, with two pointy ears, was perfect no more.    How could this happen?  She lives inside, we touch and play with her constantly -- when did this happen?


Charlotte on her way to the Medical Center

 I immediately called the Washington Animal League's Medical Center to make sure that a veterinarian could see her right away.  Max put Charlotte in the carrier and the three of us zoomed to the League.  I was sure that Merl ate part of Charlotte's ear.  Dr. Shillito said that it was possible that Merl bit Charlotte, but not so probable.  He said that these things happen -- maybe Merl hooked a nail on the tip of Charlotte's ear and it ripped off.  YUK!  Or maybe she caught it on some object and ripped it off.   EEEEK!  --  How can I Charlotte-proof everything, including Merl?  In any case, Dr. Shillito said that the ear tear was not life threatening.  In fact, he didn't even stitch it (there's nothing left to stitch), or  send us home with antibiotics.  He said that, although not perfectly pointy, her ear is fine; however, he said that she should lose weight.   Little Charlotte, he said, is FAT.

Who Needs Cable?



Nigel in the office figures
he will need to share his bed with
Charlotte

I never thought I'd adopt a kitten.   After all there are many wonderful adult cats at the League -- all waiting patiently for their forever homes.   And, every time I walk through our cat room, I imagine taking one of them home.  Since my best cat, Bruce, died in August I've thought about how Merl might like Harley, Antoinette or Tom.   But it didn't seem quite right to throw an adult cat into the chaos of my home -- busy schedules, two older male cats who don't like each other, and Nigel, a gentle, but still 75 lb dog.  Max, on the other hand -- ever the optimist, thought a kitten was just what Merl needed.  Merl was yowling all night and sedentary all day.   No doubt he should have a buddy, but a kitten -- I didn't think so. 
Things have a way of working out.  I brought home an adorable Siamese mix around Halloween.  Merl acted like the teeny kitten, Nugget (AKA Bo) was just another hairball waiting to be vacuumed.   The kitten went back to the League and was adopted with his sibling (More on Nugget later).   I started thinking that Merl would eventually adjust to living without a best friend.  And then came Charlotte -- the cutest kitten ever.   As Max said, she was what I was looking for -- a female with a round face.  Well, I had other criteria, but that face definitely got me.  I brought her home shortly before Thanksgiving.  And, for whatever reason, Merl decided that he could be friends with Charlotte.  After a few days he pounced back when Charlotte got in his face.  And, a week into her residency he took to chasing her up and down the stairs and pinning her in the center of the living room rug.  



Charlotte settled in
the minute she moved in.



We don't have cable TV.  Definitely no need now.  When we aren't watching Merl and Charlotte wrestling, we are playing with Charlotte, throwing toys toward her, dragging, a cat dancer for her to chase, or saving her from precarious places like the center of a huge house plant.  Sometimes we just watch her sleep.  She is very cute when she sleeps.   Charlotte is more entertaining that 120 television channels and she snuggles!