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11-22-14 – Weekly Roundup — 14 Comments

  2. That photo of Von and WinnDixie looks like they’re taking a selfie. Like WinnDixie is holding the camera: “Okay, we gots to take a picture so that the innernets can see how happy we are in our new home!”

  3. Ahhhh, the hissy kitty routine. I remember it well. Mine was fifteen+ years ago with a wee black feral kitten that was able to be captured because he had been hurt and was too weak due to lack of food. I was a known animal lover in the office, and he was brought with me – WELL wrapped in a HUGE blanket. I couldn’t see him at all, and all he could see of me was my hand. Despite knowing he was feral, I couldn’t resist burrowing my hand in to attempt to pet him. He hissed at the sight of my hand, but I continued to give him his first ear rubbing. He purred so hard his little body was vibrating. And every so often he would remember he was supposed to be a tough kitty and let out a hiss – while leaning even harder into my hand.

    He spent his first 6 weeks in my home in a crate recovering from his injury. Hissing became his default response to ANYTHING new (and at that point, EVERYTHING was new). The hiss was often accompanied by him crowding the door demanding to be let OUT! He didn’t want to explore while he was out – he wanted to sit on my lap to be petted some more (little hedonist).

    I named him Simon, and he turned into the most loving, affectionate cat of my cat crew. When we got our first dog, he showed no fear of dogs, and easily accepted new cats into the household. He has always been an extremely vocal cat, and hissing has been a standard part of that vocabulary, like a swear word to punctuate his speech. But any who have come to know him well realize Simon hisses with no follow-up. He is a lover, not a fighter.

    Today due to hyperthyroidism, my formerly VERY robust kitty is a shadow of his former gloriousness. I’ll feel blessed if we still have him at Christmas. But he’s still hissing. During his latest overnight hospital visit, the vet techs had a giggle at his expense, saying despite feeling so poorly, he still hissed at them 🙂 That’s my Simon Mancat!

    May these hissy kitties have as long and wonderful a life as my Simon has had. Although maybe with a few less swear words!

  4. Always SOOOO happy for a Saturday post. Thank you so much, Robyn!

    That one of the napping sisters: Miss Vonnie looks SOOO smug!

    Love that Corbie has his arm extended while every other part of his body is tucked in. My boy’s like that too — one arm or leg stuck out while everything else is curled into a ball. So cute!

  7. Robyn,
    I saw in the 2011 post that you were using Cat’s Pride lightweight litter. Are you still using it? Still recommended? I really need to find a less dusty litter than what I am using (Tidy Cats multi-cat clumping).

    • If you have Petco near you, I’d recommend their brand of litter, which is a clumping litter. I found it much less dusty than the Costco brand I’d been previously using, plus it is unscented, which I very much prefer AND it is very cost-effective. I have plastic buckets at home, so I just load up on the 40-pound bags (I think it’s about $12) and then dump them into the smaller buckets. It cuts down on a lot of packaging waste, so I feel good about reducing plastic in the landfills too.

    • I actually am not using the Cat’s Pride lightweight litter any more. As it turned out, most of the permanent residents just didn’t like it. I started it in one litter box, then expanded it to two, and then three, trying to convince them to use it, but the same two cats who didn’t have a problem with it (Alice and Miz Poo – Miz Poo is the sweetest girl ever, I swear I could use live bees as litter and she’d use it without complaint) would use it, and the rest would stick to the other litter boxes. So finally I gave up. I’m using Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat litter, and it’s pretty close to dust-free. I recommend it, though some people have complained that it doesn’t keep down the smell as well as other litters. I haven’t had that problem (probably because I add activated charcoal to the litter boxes and scoop several times a day).