Semi-Pet Update:Zoey, who is going on 13 as far as we know, now only eats canned food. (My guess is her teeth aren't as good as they used to be.) That means she gets fed in the mornings and the evenings, which means I'm going through canned food at a record rate, because everyone else gets canned food in the evenings too. This means I'm going through 4 cans a day, inside and out.
She is also feeling the cold more, and has been sleeping up against the first radiator in the cycle for the past few weeks. She had been sleeping in my room, but she hasn't ventured upstairs for a while now. So I brought her bed downstairs, so at least she's not sleeping on the floor. Although since the entry room isn't the warmest room in the house, I kind of wish she would go back upstairs, but whatever. I don't really mind that she wants to stay downstairs. She spends most of her time either sleeping or sitting on my little desk, guarding her food from the other cats.
Other than that, though, she seems to be getting around just fine. I think she's just getting old. (I know 13 isn't all that old, but she's always been strange.) (That's an old picture.)
Miss Mabel doesn't help, because her new favorite thing is to root through the junk mail basket to see if the cats have knocked any delectable pieces of food off the tray I put it on. *sigh*
Loki has decided that he prefers the chunky canned cat food as opposed to the 'dinner' variety. And of course that's what I was feeding Zoey, so now outside gets the dinner variety and inside gets the chunky variety. With the chunky variety, they clean their plate. With the dinner variety, it takes them much longer, and Loki ends up getting in trouble when he tries to eat Zoey's portion.
Loki also announces his presence wherever he is. If this is what Siamese cats usually do, then I can see why people say they're so talkative. He is also a bit cross-eyed.
I have also been feeding Hodge some canned food in the evenings (but not a whole can) because I think he tries to avoid the other outside cats who have realized that I am a sucker and pretty much know my schedule down to a 'T'. So he gets fed on the front porch, while Cleo gets fed on the side porch.
If I ever go on vacation, I pity the poor person who has to take care of my darlings.
Misty is the smallest adult cat I've ever seen in my life, but she eats just fine and is healthy otherwise. She is just very, very petite. She just hasn't grown. This might be from her beginnings, which are unknown, or her ancestry; who knows. Or else maybe I just have a miniature cat. I swear she weighs hardly anything.
Pooh, on the other hand, looks really funny carrying around one of my mouse toys in his mouth, because he's so big. (He was dragging around the original green mouse last night--it's still kicking, albeit with one ear half torn off.)
Chloe Bella is my busybody, and she's the one who lets me know when there's something empty (like a food bowl), or if Hildy needs food, or if someone is getting into trouble, or if there's a cat outside, or if someone is on the other side of a closed door, or if there's a bug flying around the room, or if Ethan has a flashlight (she's the only one who will try to chase the light; everyone else isn't interested at all), or if anything at all is happening in the house that I need to know about. Or don't want to know about. Or could care less. She'll tell me anyway.
Translating Cat is hard sometimes.
Cleo is fine. She survived the cold spell nestled inside the comforter I put in a box. (With a wind break over it.) Hodge also survived, and he spends most of his time on my front porch in his box. I think he leaves his box only to go to the bathroom.
Hildy is still around too; she is just as annoyed at the world as ever. She's going on 4 years old, and since hedgehogs' lifespans are anywhere between 4-6 years, we'll see how she does this year. I have noticed, though, that she doesn't play like she used to. Her three year anniversary with me was January. Sometimes it seems like yesterday that I got her. It's been far too quick.
Miss Mabel was such a good girl yesterday that I gave her a whole can of green beans as a treat last night. I turned my back and they were gone, inhaled, I think, as if the paper plate had never held a single green bean. I have never seen Miss Mabel eat anything so quickly in my life.
I have also discovered Mabel's downfall: She will do absolutely anything for cheese. It remains to be seen if her doing anything I want for a shred of cheese is worth the inevitable dog farts that... er, stink up my house worse than my wine. :)
One of the things I am planning for the house this year is to put up the fence. If I can do it the way I want to do it, I'll be happy, but we'll see. It will take some work on my part to get the correct supplies for how I want it to look. (Let's just put it this way: NOT UGLY.) But it will be nice to be able to let Mabel out without having to worry about other dogs, or her running off after a stray cat or whatever. The gate situation (how many of them to put up so it won't be irritating) will be interesting to fix. But I'm working on a plan.
I think that's it for this update.
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