Cat fun

I posted some video of the cats (well Sonny) playing with the red light.  Ruby has no interest what-so-ever and doesn't get what the fuss is about.  The other two, seem to enjoy playing. Sonny especially. We got the laser light in hopes that we could help Ziggy become more active. He is getting older, he will be 10 this year. And he is overweight. The vet had said not to worry too much about his weight as long as he seemed active, happy, etc. However I know that with cats, as with people, carrying too much weight is not a good thing. And we have noticed that he is starting to have trouble jumping on the bed. So, in order to help him, we have put the cats on a diet. We were using self-feeders, which is very convenient - for us, and for "piggy" to eat as much as he wanted. Ziggy is the one that has a problem with over-eating.  Ruby is if anything underweight.  Sonny is very close to ideal weight for his size.  He also likes to eat a lot, so he could end up with a problem if he doesn't get enough exercise.
So how do you put 3 cats on a diet? Well, I researched on the internet (google is my friend), and decided we would get food that is for overweight adult cats, and mix in with their regular food.  It isn't good to suddenly switch foods without allowing a period for their systems to get used to it. We moved the food upstairs to the kitchen where the water bowl is. Instead of leaving the self feeders out all day, we are now monitoring how much they are eating. And we are limitting the treats.
Exercise is also important. So I bought several toys to try to see if I could get them motivated to play and run around. The laser light is a big hit! Both Ziggy and Sonny will run around and chase it - especially if the room is dark so the light shows up that much more. The light is motorized so you can turn it on and set it down and it will flash the light around the room, but they seem to like it more if we move the light. It becomes more interactive that way. Sonny really loves it. M thinks that maybe he is still young enough to need something like this to help him come out of his shell.  Plus there are times that we hear him going around the house crying looking for someone to play with him.  Ziggy plays with him, but then gets tired out before Sonny does.  So I think the light is helping Sonny as much as Ziggy, even though the original intent was to get it for Ziggy.  Ziggy will run around like crazy chasing the light for a few min, then we can tell he gets worn out and flops down, and then just watches.  M says it is age and the extra weight.  Ok, so I can relate.
Ziggy is my buddy. If playing games with him and putting him on a diet will extend his life and make it more enjoyable then it is more than worth it.

Sonny playing RED light

Video of Sonny playing with the red light. This is our cats new exercise program. 

Furry Friends

shaky shaky meow meow

The cats have a new ritual.  They have a toy mouse - not new, they have had it for a few years, but never paid any attention to it until now.   They have several toys.  Which they carry to different parts of the house and leave them strewn around like a toddler with their toys.  I think part of this is because we no longer have the dog to "eat" the toys.  Hunter loved to shred anything stuffed. And if it wasn't stuffed he would slobber it and no cat would be interested.  So I think now that Hunter isn't around to bother their toys, they are now feeling safe at carrying them around and leaving them out in the open.

Ruby likes to carry a couple of the stuffed toys - a catnip caterpillar worm thing, and a hedgehog, and then cry over them like they were her long lost kittens.  First time I heard her do this, I thought she was in pain, or something, she sounded so forlorn and pitiful. 

Ziggy and sunny like to carry a couple of the stuffed mice around and leave them, brave hunters that they are, where you will find them and step on them in the dark.  I guess it is good we don't have mice, or we might find real ones left for us to find.  The closest they get to actual hunting is bugs.  Amazingly enough (least to me) is that they can catch them and kill them.  Ziggy is very intent and serious hunter.  Sunny is spastic.  He's our special needs kitty.  Ziggy will stay crouched ready to pounce for long periods, Sunny will crouch beside him, watching him, and imitating, for a couple minutes, then forget what he was doing there, and sometimes will try to get Ziggy to play with him, but Ziggy will be intent on the hunt, and then sunny will suddenly remember what he was supposed to be doing and then crouch down again, like oh yeah, I forgot... we're huntin'.... be vewwy vewwy quiet, we's huntin bugs...

The new toy of interest though is a mouse that sounds like a bean bag when you shake it.  Couple weekends ago, I was trying to nap (I find I like napping on weekends - it allows me to catch up on sleep I miss all week). Ziggy however did not want me to nap.  He wanted me to appreciate that he had this toy mouse.  He was grabbing the mouse shaking it so that it rattled, then drop it, and meow loudly. over and over. he jumped up on the bed to present this mouse and repeat his routine. I was not impressed.

On Saturday night/Sunday morning, he played this game with M.  She was definitely not impressed.  She was working a mandatory OT shift at work on Sunday, daylight shift which meant getting up at 5am. She normally works 2nd shift, and is not an early morning person.  If anyone asks if I wake up grouchy in the mornings, my reply is only if I have to.... I know better.  Actually, I prefer staying up at night to getting up early, but I wake up fairly easily, and I am normally good natured when woke up.  Not M.  LOL.  So Ziggy, doing his shake shake, drop the mouse, meow meow, routine at 3:30/4 in the morning early Sunday didn't go over well. 

Motivation, the importance of cat naps

I'm finding it hard to get motivated.  As M would say you are just being lazy.... Ok, maybe I am. I know what I should do, even what I need to do - I need to get moving, get my heart rate up, whether it is to work on losing those pounds I could do without, or just moving for the sake of moving.  I know that I actually feel better when I am exercising and moving.  But I just can't get motivated.  I can procrastinate - I'll do that later, tomorrow, this weekend, some other time besides NOW. 

I should get back on my bike and ride.  My ankle is pretty much healed.  My right knee is much better since the surgery.  My left, well, it wants to give out, and it still protests but that is nothing new.  Actually in the past I've found the exercise helps. 

But really I'd rather go take a nap... Lately, I have been wanting to sleep a lot.  I don't get to.  I average only 6 hours or so most week nights, closer to 8 on weekends (that is IF we sleep in).  Even those days I can/do sleep in, I wake up at normal times, but I find it sort of a luxurious feeling to get to get up and pee and climb back in a snugly warm bed/cocoon and not have to force myself to stay up and get ready to head to work. 

I also think cats have it made (maybe it is just our cats, I realize those on the streets not so much).  We have 3, two boys and a girl.  Each with their own personality. The girl (calico) is definitely "miss thang", and you don't get in her way or she will give you attitude.  We also think she suffers from permanent PMS (kitty bitch mode).  She will meep at you (she sort of has like laryngitis where her mouth will move in a meow but only a squeaky "meep" comes out). Get you to pet her, then without warning might turn and try to bite you.  The boys have also pretty much learned to stay out of her way - she hisses and snarls.  Z the older tiger, is a snuggler, and a definite love bug.  He loves to curl up and sleep with me.  If I'm not available he will curl up with anyone that will pet him.  He loves to walk just in front of you and then fall down and roll over as if to say ok rub my belly.  It is a common thing in the morning as I head out for work for him to meow at me, talk to me telling me all his complaints about the world, he follows me from room to room, falling in front of me and rolling over in an attempt to get me to rub him, then as I walk around him and continue on, he will jump up and run up ahead to repeat the process.  He is definitely attached/bonded to me.  He is often my shadow, sitting at my feet if I am working in my office, snuggled up beside me in bed, or when sitting in the recliner.  His brother (ok they are none of them related, but hey we also call the dog their brother as well), is a maine coon, looks like a lion with a mane of fur and thick fluffy feather duster tail, and tufts of hair coming out his ears, and so much fur/hair coming out the bottoms of his feet his little pads have never touched the ground.  He has sooo much fur (strangely the vet called him a short hair when we got him at about 8 mos old) that we take him in the summer to have him shaved - they do a "lion cut" he seems to like it, keeps him cooler, and not so much fur to make hairballs with.  He is such a fraidy cat, that we call him our cowardly lion.  He and the tiger are true buds, boyfriends?, they snuggle together, groom each other, the tiger took him under his wing and played protector when he was a kitten, and tried to teach him all his bad habits.  Such as how to sling water across the kitchen floor with his paw - the tiger loves to play in water, he drinks it from his paw, and he will sling water at one of the other animals if he feels playful.  You can tell when he has been playing in the water bowl, he will jump up to have you pet him, and he will be soaking wet - both front paws and his chest.

They all make us laugh.  The dog too.  The dog is part golden retriever (his mom) and who knows - he has short red hair, a knot on his head, stands almost as big as a great dane, is built for speed (most dogs can't catch him, and he recently gave a deer a run for his money).  He is a gentle giant.  He used to whimper and whine when we would feed him a can of dog food and one of the cats (a 4th that is no longer with us, RIP coot), would take over his bowl and lick all the gravy.  He could have pushed the cat away, barked and/or scared him off, but no, he would come over to us and whine.  End result? we had to set out 2 bowls, pour off some of the gravy into one for the cats and put the rest of the can in his.   They are all spoiled. 

Watching their antics is good medicine.  Some of the silliness can make us laugh.  This morning I watched the tiger try to catch his own tail, he would spin around trying to surprise pounce on it, and then miss and sit and stare like what the hell is that thing attached to the end of my butt? I never saw that there before.  Comical, and he isn't a kitten, he'll be 8 later this fall.  I wouldn't take anything for him, or any of them, they can provide comfort and companionship when we feel down.  Nothing can beat that.

Now I think I am just going to go ahead and give into the urge and find a warm bit of sun (or just the couch or futon) and take a nap and see if I can get one of the cats to join me in a cat nap.