Tuxedo the Cat - February 2014

Ms. Tuxedo likes to walk on my laptop and sit on it as I’m using it. It’s her way of exerting control over me. Cute. I usually close it when I see her coming. Or, let her go ahead and sit on it if she catches me by surprise. Better not to fight for control when I am working. She only stays for a few minutes.

Every night Tuxedo tries to decide when I am supposed to go to bed. Like right now, it’s one thirty in the morning. She’s in the other bedroom now, screaming for me to go to bed. Soon she’ll come in and gently nudge me with her head. If I persist in staying up, she’ll give up and go to her room.

I Don't Understand My Cat, Tuxedo

Since she turned three this October, Tuxedo’s personality has changed. For example, she never wanted me to hold her. Now periodically, she comes to me to hold her. Especially before she goes to bed at night.

I give her plenty of water. I bought one of those containers that works like a water cooler. She kept dismantling it. I soon realized she just wanted the tray, not the container that the water came from. So I just let her use the bottom tray. Come to find out she wanted to put in her favorite doll so she would know where it is all the time.

Now I’m in a position where I can't leave anything containing water around. I put a cup of water on my bedroom floor one day. I looked down to see her drinking out of my cup.

Last night I left the cup on the floor again, but I like didn't put any additional water in it. She looked in the cup and started crying. The cat actually wanted me to fill my own cup of water so she could drink out of it!

I love her to death. Subscribe to this Blog.

Tuxedo's Identity

I went in the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. I saw a piece of ribbon or what I thought was a piece of red ribbon on the floor. Tuxedo was playing with it. She appeared happy, so I left her alone with it the kitchen.

After a few minutes she came into the bedroom crying. While I was in the kitchen I had fed her, and I knew her water dish was full and clean. So, I didn't really know what it was that she could possibly want. So I ignored her, which made her even more animated. Eventually she jumped on the bed and walked back and forth in front of me, howling all the time. I decided to follow her into the kitchen and see what it was that she wanted.

When she entered the kitchen she jumped on one of the chairs, which was above the red item still on the floor. Once I got closer, I saw that it was her cat collar. I don't know how her collar could have been removed from her. But it was clear that the collar being off was her big problem.

Once I put on her collar, she was a happy cat again. She disappeared in the bowels of the house, not to be seen again for hours.

Collars are a cat's identity. They feel naked without it. We think that when we take off a pet’s collar, we are giving them a break. However, it has become clear to me over the years, that a collar becomes a cat's sense of self. They feel lost without it. Cats like to feel that they belong to someone, just like people.

I'm So Spoiled - Let Me Count the Ways

My human Mom indulges me a lot. Most of the time I am a very good cat. But sometimes, I will be disruptive around the house when I’m bored. Here are some of the things I get away with: I will walk across the computer keyboard while she is working on it. When she yells at me, I run off laughing

I’m spoiled. I want all attention focused on me. I yell out so who ever is on the telephone can hear me. My aunt hates it when every time she wants to talk to mom, I cry in the phone

I’ll bite mom’s hand if I want to eat and she’s asleep

I’ll cry and keep walking around a person visiting mom until he or she leaves my house

I bring my toys to her and make her play fetch with me until I get tired

I like to put my toys in my water dish. One day I put my boy doll in my water dish. When she took it out, I made her play fetch with me. Then I went into the kitchen and put my doll in my food dish. Mom was surprised when she saw it. She took it out and left it on the floor next to the dish.

The most favorite thing I like to do is jump on the dresser and stare at myself in the mirror. I think I am a beautiful cat!

I'm Sorry, Tuxedo

My mom Carolyn has something she wants to share with you:

“Tuxedo kept coming to my side of the bed, meowing over and over again, and then leaving the room. A few minutes later, the same thing.

Then, while I was on the phone, she became an obnoxious cat. She started jumping around the room, on dressers and tables, knocking off everything she could push. I wondered, What the hell is wrong with her? this wasn’t her normal behavior.

When I got off the phone, she came and pressed on my legs again. I decided to follow her to see what she was trying to tell me. She escorted me to the kitchen. Her food dish was empty. My poor baby was hungry. I felt lower than dirt. Now when she circles me crying, I know she wants something, like food, or go out on the back porch, and will act accordingly.”

Roxanne is Added to the Compound

My cousin Gizelle got a 4-week old kitten in May. She named her Roxanne, now Angel's sister. She is a really small black and gray kitten. And she is baaaad! She gets into everything. She’s not afraid of anything or anyone. She climbs up and down everywhere, even mom’s king sized bed.

Roxanne follows Gizelle and her mom Kellyn everywhere. She is so small you have to make sure you don’t step on her when you walk around. Which leads to my issue with Roxanne.

She comes into my house like she owns it. Mom brings her in to play with her.  This makes me jealous. I’m not too crazy about Roxanne being in my house. I want to make sure mom doesn’t keep her here. I’m very possessive of my human mom. I want her all to myself, and I hiss at Roxanne to let her know it. I don’t think Roxanne cares about what I want. She just likes to be nosy.

I will say she is cute, which is why she gets away with murder around the compound. Hopefully we will one day be friends.

Look Out, Feral Cats! #15

My Cousin Kim was on her front porch the other night, and saw two ladies with giant cages on our street. She called mom, then went down the street to the vacant lot to talk to them. Mom watched her from our front porch. Then she went back in the house and I followed. She put on some slippers, then left and closed the door behind her. She wouldn’t let me go with her. She seemed agitated.

When Mom returned, I heard her talking to Aunt Elaine on the phone. Apparently these women were from the Animal Rescue League. They had gotten a complaint from someone on the street that there were too many feral cats around. I guess cats without owners or homes are called “ferals.”

Mom said there were a lot of cats and kittens on the street. But that was all the time. She also wondered if the woman she saw before a few months ago was the same one who kidnapped Angel’s mom from next door. They said she wasn’t a feral cat because the entire neighborhood fed her, and let her in their homes. The lady next door had even let Angel’s mom have her kittens on her porch, and had given Angel to cousin Kellyn when she was 6 weeks old. Kim had even let her in the house so she could nurse Angel, her baby.

I remember that time. Everyone was sad, upset and angry that Chloe, that’s Angel’s mom, was abducted and taken away. The rumor was that the men on the street even saw it happen, yet did nothing but let the stranger take her. Mom said the next time they adopt a feral cat or kitten, they should put a collar on the ones they feed.

Anyway, these ladies said they would have the ones they caught spayed and neutered and given good homes. I have my suspicions about all of this. For one thing, those cats were keeping the mouse population down in the neighborhood. So why would people not want them around? Next, I heard the Animal Rescue League had more than enough cats that they had trouble even giving them away.

Well, they’re all gone now. I’m glad I have a home where I am loved, and not chased around and caged like a feral cat.