Tuxedo Speaks! 2012 #6

Hi! I’m Tuxedo, and I decided to share with you today. After all, these are my adventures, right? I will tell you about my wonderful life as my owner’s pet.

My owner Carolyn has bought me a lot of toys which I enjoy every day. She likes to hide some of them so I can play with a few at a time. What she doesn’t know is that I mark each of my toys with my head so I can find them again. All I have to do is sniff them out.

She put my small boy doll in a basket the other day. I was on the bed, so I sniffed it out and started to play with it. When Carolyn saw it, her mouth flew open in surprise. Now I get to play with it whenever I want.

I also get to play with my owner whenever I want. It doesn’t matter what she is doing; when I want to play, I just take my toy and drop it right in front of her. She looks at it, then at me. I give her my cute playful look, and she can’t resist me. She takes my toy and moves it around while I look at it. Sometimes I’ll jump on it and pick it up with my sharp paws. I really like it when she throws my toy for me to fetch.  

Tuxedo's Behaviors - Part 2 2012 #5

Tuxedo’s Behaviors – Part 2

My cat is so cute with her personality.

• Tuxedo likes to lie or sleep on paper. However, she hates to have anything on top of her. No blankets or comforters or anything on top of her – it will make her run away.

• Tuxedo doesn’t scratch on a door if she gets locked out the house – she will cry loudly. She’ll also cry when she hears me coming in the house

• Doesn’t like me to talk on the phone when she is with me. She’ll get close to the phone and meow real loud so the person on the phone can hear her

• She loves wet food, but can only have 2 teaspoons at a time, or else she’ll throw it up.

• Tuxedo sits on the kitchen table to watch me fix or eat food or drink coffee

• She has to mark everything I touch. This requires patience. It doesn’t matter how large or small the object. If I’m in a hurry to do something, she will fight to mark whatever I have before I can use it. I find it easier to just let her have her way.

• She loves to play with me and her toy mice. She’ll walk over with it in her mouth, and then sit it down in front of me. That’s my cue that she wants to play

• She’s not afraid of a dust buster. I though all cats were afraid of loud noises.

• She likes to sleep in closets. I have to make sure she’s not inside when I close the door

• She doesn’t like to be picked up. She will fight you. But once you hold her like a baby, she will purr if you walk her from room to room. She likes to be up high

• Look out for your bookcases. She will knock the books off the shelves trying to sleep inside between the books. Sleeps on the bed, but interestingly enough, not on furniture

• She loves to be brushed!

Tuxedo and Her Medication 2012 #4

My cat doesn’t trust me anymore. She used to come into my bedroom and lay down to sleep in my arms. Now that I have to give her medicine every 12 hours, I hardly see her any more. She stays in any room where I am not for hours. When she does show up, she lays down away from me, just far enough that I can’t catch her.

When she gets the medicine, she doesn’t really fight me. There was another medicine she hated, but she didn’t shun me because of it. I think this medicine tastes better to her. Yet, when she sees the bottle, she runs like the wind. 

I miss her being around me, and I’ll be glad when her medication time is over. I’m tired of trying to catch her off guard to grab her and slide medicine down her throat. She’s tired of running from me, never knowing when I will snatch her up. 

Tuxedo Needs Medicine 2012 #3

Poor Tuxedo! Her gums are inflamed, and she needs two weeks worth of two medicines. I took her to the vet when I saw her gums were red. Apparently, some cats are prone to gum problems.

She’s a strong cat! It’s really hard trying to hold her, open her mouth and squirt medicine down her throat, all at the same time. Every time I have to do it, I tell her it’s for her own good. Pets, like children, can’t take care of themselves. After she is medicated, she runs away and disappears for a while. She’ll come back for sympathy petting when she gets over being angry with me.

I hate to see her sick. I first tried to give her pills. But even though she tried, she couldn’t swallow them. She kept moving her mouth to chew them, but the pill would fall out. I finally had to get liquid medicine for her. Gratefully, she seems to prefer the liquid over the pills. 


Scroll down the page to see pictures of Tuxedo.

Tuxedo Behaviors 2012 #2

Lately I’ve been thinking about my relationship with Tuxedo. It’s very close, and recently I took the time to study and reflect on her behavior.

She follows me everywhere, from room to room. Even into the bathroom. She waits for me outside the door, like a toddler. When I take a shower, she will lie on the bathmat on the floor and wait until I come out. Sometimes she’ll even peep at me behind the shower curtain. She’s not afraid of water.

I don’t know how she knows when I am on the move. We could be at different sides of the house. If I go into another room, she will soon come out of another room to lie down on the floor. Sometimes I try to sneak into a room when I know she’s sleeping in another part of the house. She can still catch me, and there she’ll be in the room.

Tuxedo gets excited easily. She purrs very softly when I pet her. I can barely hear her unless I touch her. The faster she wags her tail, the happier she is. But be careful. She will try to bite and scratch you if she gets too excited. Freeze your hand, don’t move, and keep telling her to “Stop!” She will let you go.

My cat also talks a lot. If you really listen to her, you will be able to know what she’s saying by the sound of her meows. She’s a complainer.

She likes to smell what you are drinking before you drink it. If you don’t allow her to take a quick sniff, she will paw you to bring the drink closer to her. She won’t try to lick the drink. She just wants to know what it smells like.

When she wants affection, she will come to me and bow her head. I know this means she wants to take a nap next to me. She snuggles close into a ball close to me, burying her head on me. I love her to death.

Tuxedo Hates Me 2012 #1

Well, hate is a strong word. She certainly is very angry with me.

She needs to take 4 pills a day for a possible gum infection. I asked the vet for pills because when I used an eye dropper, she ‘whipped her head back and forth’, and I got most of the medicine on me. That was four days ago, and I haven’t been able to get one pill to stay in her mouth. We have been in a tug of war, and she is winning every battle.

Here is what I do. I pick her up and speak gently to her. I explain what I have to do and why. She looks at me with her big brown eyes and starts to purr. When I see she’s calm, I try to open her mouth. I get the pills in, but she jerks away from me before I can rub her throat so the pills can go down. Then, like a ninja, she jumps off the bed and spits out the pills on the floor as she flies out of the room.

Now that she is on to me, she’s avoiding me like the plague. If I even look like I want her, she scurries out of the room. She won’t let me pet her, nor will she take a nap with me anymore. Heck, she won’t even come into the bedroom to sleep at night! I am so frustrated.

Any suggestions to help me out, cat lovers?

Vicious Cats #48

Since her spay operation Tuxedo has been very active. Still, I have to laugh when she walks around with a waddle. She has a walk like a full-figured Marilyn Monroe, with a wiggle from behind.

She likes to walk around the back hallway, sniffing around. I think she finds the different smells interesting. She doesn’t even try to go outside the back porch lately. I wonder if something happened on the porch that makes her nervous about going out.

I’m watching “My Cat from Hell”, about vicious cats. I can’t believe how aggressive these cats behave toward humans. Biting, growling and scratching people all the time, ambushing people, and being mean. I feel so sorry watching these cats. They look miserable, even when they have a kind, loving owner. They look like they are afraid of the world and of being hurt. The cat in this show only had one owner from 6 weeks old.

I learned that an unsprayed cat is an unhappy cat. There are too many hormonal issues for the cat. I was happy that after this particular cat was spayed, a whole lot of her viciousness started to disappear. The cat was also exercised on a lease so she could deal with her excess energy.

Tuxedo bites and claws when she’s over-stimulated. She wants me to stop, and I do so, then we play again. If she gets too excited again, then play time is over until she calms down. That works for us.