Cats and Coupons

While my parents were away in Florida recently I took care of their cats and dogs. Now there is an outdoor cat that my parents feed. Actually two of them. They put food out on the back deck every day. When I went up to my parents house the other day after returning from Florida I wasn’t prepared for the amount of snow on the back deck. It was about four feet high. The cats walked across the top to get their food. I’m sure they would have been just as happy to see an outdoor fireplace as they were to see their food, they looked pretty cold. Do you see many cats outdoors in your area?

I don’t know where the year has gone. Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is under six weeks away. I’ve figured out what I’m getting some people and am still stumped on others. We don’t have bluray. I’d love to get one for RB and have been watching the sales like a hawk. I’m hopeful to find the right deal for me in the next two weeks. I almost never do Black Friday deals that are in brick and mortar stores. It’s too crowded and people gobble up limited quantities in stores like turkey. I find just as many good deals online. Do you shop in brick and mortar stores on Black Friday?

My brother has terrible teeth. One of them broke a little over a week ago. He went to the dentist last week and they started three root canals. He needs a lot of work done. I saw some great before and after shots from a Plano dentist but we’re too far away to go there. I know a woman that actually chose to have all of her teeth removed and permanent false ones put in. Seemed a bit extreme to me. Anyway.

Do you ever brush your cat’s teeth? I tried once and it did not go well. I admit I gave up. I should have tried harder, because it is important that pets have home dental care. I can’t imagine giving a cat false teeth. So who here has tips for brushing a cat’s teeth?

CJ is fascinated with golf. RB and I have been debating for a year if we should get him a play golf set. My two concerns are that he’ll break a window or a television, or that he’ll hit one of the cats. I know he’d love to play it though. I’m thinking about checking to see if there are any golf training aids suitable for children that would contain the ball safely. Then I think I’d be a little more comfortable with it.

My Mom is away. I am looking after her pets. She’s got two dogs, a cat, two birds and two fish. You would think the cat is the easiest to take care of. He’s not. He gets mad and often spiteful when she’s away. This time around he stopped using the litter box on the second day. I found him pawing in one of the garden planters that my Mom has in the bathroom and a couple of minutes later he pooped right in front of it. Then he looked at me and meowed, as if to say “ha”. How bad, and how fresh! Thank goodness she comes home this weekend.

I love my children. When they were born I sent out birth announcements and I almost always send out photo cards at Christmas. Many years ago, before I had the boys, I had considered breeding Himalayan cats. I know that breeders can be very proud of their lines and often have waiting lists for new babies. I wonder if any breeders send out birth announcements for their new litters.

I think that Shadow would like to have his own notebook computer right now. He really wants to lay on top of mine and I won’t let him. I’m afraid that something will happen to it accidentally. I don’t get his attraction. It’s a silver MacBook Pro, so when it’s off it’s actually very cool to the touch. When it’s been on for a little while it does get slightly warm on parts of the outside but he’s never laid on it then (because that means it’s being used, therefore open). He just doesn’t seem to understand that laptops aren’t for sleeping. Silly cat!

CJ likes to take Rennie in his room. Sometimes she just lays on the bed quietly while he plays. Sometimes he tries to play with her and she does all she can to get out of the way. She’s made her way up to the top bunk of the bunk bed and the top of the highboy dresser. The tv is a flat panel hanging on the wall but it’s a safe bet if it was on one of those tv stands she’d make her way up there too. I know sometimes he picks her up and brings her into the room. Other times I’ve seen her willingly walk in there on her own. I don’t understand why if she isn’t happy she keeps going in there.

She tells me by getting into the laundry basket. Only kidding. I can tell by looking at her.

I thought this was funny as anything. My youngest son put the cat in the laundry basket, along with his dirty clothes and his boots. The laundry basket is up on top of two Rubbermaid containers where toys are stored. He basically must have had to semi toss her up there to get her in it. The cat couln’t have cared less, she just laid down and made herself comfy. I keep telling him to leave her alone and she keeps going and hanging out with him. I’m glad she wasn’t hurt, although she couldn’t exactly dial a Seattle injury lawyer if it came to that.

One of my brothers lives with my parents but stays up North close to work during the week. I took care of his cat this past week while my parents were away in Florida. I noticed the cat licks some really weird things. One day I saw him licking the chair. Another day I saw him licking the bed skirt. These things were strange but they are only surfaces so I didn’t worry too much. Then I saw him licking ashes. How weird is that! I don’t think it’s anything he could wind up with feline mesothelioma from but I don’t think it’s quite normal either. I was wondering if maybe he ought to see a vet, since that actually has a texture. Does your cat lick anything odd?

We have a huge litter box that currently is kept in the old bathroom. It does not have a lid or dome on it. RB has been having small fits lately because one of the cats has not been doing a very good job of covering his business lately and RB doesn’t like to look at it when he’s using the toilet. He actually carried on a lot about it at the end of last week until we had a fight about the litter box. At one point he told me if the cat couldn’t cover its’ turds then he’d squat over the box and do his business and see how the cat liked looking at it. I burst out laughing when he said it and almost choked on my glass of water. If he’s going to keep coming up with these crazy things to say I might have to check my life insurance rates in case I do choke to death from bursting into sudden fits of laughter. I was almost too embarrassed to type this but it’s so funny that I had to share it. So, who uses the litter box in your house?

I returned from my trip to Watkins Glen NY today. The cats seemed rather happy to see me. After we’d been home about two hours, I was checking my email and CJ was cuddling on the couch with his Dad. I heard Rennie start meowing. She persisted for a few minutes and I heard CJ trying to say something. His speech isn’t always the easiest to understand, but in this case we didn’t need to be futures trading experts to be able to tell that he was telling Rennie to “shhh, be quiet”. He’d been feeling a little under the weather since almost two hours before we got home so I guess he just wanted a little quiet. I thought it was pretty funny.

I was explaining to my son today that it’s important to keep your hair clean and to not touch your face as part of an acne prevention routine. He’s got hair from my side of the family, which tends to be oily. Somehow we got onto the topic of our cats and we both wondered if dogs and cats ever get pimples. I’ve seen a lot of things in the pet store, but never acne treatment. So, does anyone know if cats and dogs can get pimples?

As I mentioned recently on one of my other blogs, my son CJ has been having a blast watching golf on television lately. He goes wild when any of the players hit the ball. CJ is turning nine years old in two weeks and I’ve been thinking about what to get him. Today I saw a set of kids pretend golf clubs on Amazon and thought that he might really enjoy one of those. A couple of companies make playsets like this but so far the Little Tikes looks like it’s the nicest. Do any of your kids have a pretend play golf set? Which one? Do you recommend it?