another cat puzzle

You might remember that back in November we did a fun cat puzzle, well, since that was so much fun we decided to try another! This one is the Mega Brands - Oh Fred! 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle.

photo courtesy of Laura

Willow trying to eat a piece

photo courtesy of Laura

Even with all the kitty help, it still took us several weeks to complete the puzzle.

The secret of how an unfinished puzzle makes it through the night, cover it with a board! 

Finished at last! 

As you can see a piece was missing! After the puzzle was put away I found the missing piece across the room on the floor. Hmmm, I'm guessing it was either stuck on Nahum's long butt furs or little scavenger Willow carried it away!

And then it's time for the next puzzle.    photo courtesy of Laura 

This second cat puzzle was challenging because most of the colors were yellows or browns. Even with the challenge, it was still fun! 

Now that we have completed these two cat puzzles they need a new home. Anyone want the challenge of a cat puzzle? If you want one, tell me which one you want in a comment and I'll mail it to you! If more than one of you want them, then I'll select the lucky person via a random drawing! I'll pick the winner on Monday, January 7th, so the deadline for entry is Sunday night at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. Please note: you will receive the puzzle in the original box, you must supply your own helper cats!

Photobomb practice

Buddy's taking Princeton's advice from Prancer Pie's Photobomb Friday and trying the photobomb thing.

How'd I do? 

last visitor of the year

When I tried to get out of bed this morning, I lost my balance and fell back into the bed. That was the first sign that today was not going to go well. I quickly realized everything was spinning and I was dizzy - welcome back my friend vertigo. I spent nearly all day resting my head against a pillow, sleeping as being conscious was miserable. And sadly I haven't had a touch of alcohol! I even had to cancel my plans to celebrate the new year with friends. Sigh.

Even though I felt horrid, I did get to spend four hours this morning cuddling with my Oliver in bed. I also had the opportunity to look his injuries over in the daylight and his claws weren't as bad off as they first appeared last night. The claws are still in rough shape but at least they are still there! Seeing that brightened my spirits a little. I decided to hold off on the vet visit for now and to continue to observe him for other signs of distress.

Thanks everyone for the kind emails and comments. I greatly appreciate all the feedback. One follower mentioned Oliver might have internal injuries if he was hit by a car, which is something I hadn't considered. Seeing that he let me hold him many times today and I could touch him anywhere without him reacting, I'm thinking he's most likely fine, but again, I will be observing him closely.

Laura saw the white cat again this evening. It was visiting with Theo through the front porch door. Then a little while later, I saw it walking away from the backyard, it's really big. Apparently, the fight with Oliver wasn't enough to keep it away. Sigh.

Since it's been coming around more, I thought I should review the images from the back porch camera to see if it has come onto the back porch yet. And indeed, it showed up about 2:15 this morning.

As you can see, the visiting cat is wearing a collar. It's not a cat I recognize from the neighborhood. Oliver and MK are sharing the bed as they both intently watch this interloper.

The visitor rolls in the nip...

and plays with Oliver's toys. But it doesn't express much interest in the food.

Now I'll need to figure out what to do with this visiting cat. Next time I get the chance I will see if it's friendly and has any identification on the collar.

Isn't there some kind of superstition about the first unexpected visitor of the new year? Something about if they are a dark haired gentleman then you will have good luck for that year. I suppose it's good this visitor came before the start of the new year! I think this is the first lighter colored cat that has visited.

It's really hard not being able to fully protect the ones you love. I so wish I could bring Oliver and his family inside so they could all be safe and fully cared for, but with feral cats, it doesn't work that way. I obviously need more practice at learning how to do what I can to help and then to let go of what I can't control. Sigh.

I'll let you know a little secret, I'm working on a therapeutic approach to get Oliver to stop spraying so maybe someday he can be a full-time inside kitty! If it works, you'll hear a lot more about it!

Meanwhile, I'll focus on apprehending this collared visitor! But first, I think it's time for bed once again.

winding down the year

As 2012 comes to a close, I look back over the year and find myself very thankful for the health and wellbeing of the cats. All five permanent residents, four outside and the one foster cat have all had good years. For this I am immensely thankful. Hopefully, this doesn't change in the last hours of the year.

Every so often Oliver has a way of giving me a scare and Sunday was one of those days. In the morning Laura broke up a fight between Oliver and a white cat that lives down on the opposite corner of the block. Oliver went chasing after the white cat. When Oliver didn't return all day I got worried. It's very unlike him to be gone for that long and to miss his wet-food breakfast.

I walked around the block and the alleys but found no sign of him. Since I didn't find his body along the road, I was hoping he was okay and just visiting with his family. Yes, I worry about Oliver quite a bit and I always imagine the worst.

He finally reappeared on the back porch around mid-afternoon. I picked up him and gave him an inspection and he seemed fine. I didn't notice any obvious wounds. He refused to tell me where he had been. A little while later I noticed there was spots of dried blood on my shirt.

With Laura's help we did a more thorough inspection and found he had a small cut and a patch of missing fur on his front leg. Even more disturbing is that most all of his front claws on both paws have been torn off. Most all of them are nearly completely gone. He must be in a fair amount of pain, but he's not showing any signs of it.

battle wound on front leg

I can't think how this could have happened. A cat fight wouldn't result with missing claws. He would have had to be scratching something hard for a long time. It's hard to leave him out there this evening but I'm not sure what else to do.

Ever sine returning, he's been hyper-vigilant about every movement that might be something. The slightest little thing startles him. He's having a hard time settling, it's like he's experiencing post traumatic stress. MK is cuddling with him in his heated loft bed tonight, hopefully that helps soothe his pain.

Oliver and MK cuddling in Oliver's loft bed

Come daylight on Monday, Laura and I will give him an even more thorough inspection and depending on what we find, I may take him over to get looked over by the vet. I don't want any of his wounds to get infected. And some pain medicine might be in order.

To calm some of my anxiety this evening, I went ahead and put another collar on Oliver. We'll see how long this one lasts. I've started looking around for GPS tracking devices, so that way I'll be able to keep an eye on his whereabouts. Now I need to start saving my pennies for such a gadget.

So, here's to finishing 2012 with everyone staying healthy and well!! I hope your 2013 is filled with abundant blessings! Happy New Year!!

Three years of Theo!

It's Theo's Gotcha Day!!! Three years ago sweet Theo appeared so cold and hungry at my in-laws' farm in rural Indiana. I offered him my warm lap and he instantly melted into me.

Of course I flew him the 2,000 miles home! He's got such a wonderful personality, he loves life. He brings me great joy with all his crazy antics and his affectionate, sweet nature. He's not afraid to ask for what he wants or even just demand it!

To celebrate Theo, I bought him his favorite toy of all time, the Neko Flies Kragonfly, known in house as the "bug toy". The old one wore out, so it was time he got a new one for his big day.

Even though Theo is approaching five years of age, he still has the moves! Every night, after I snuggle with Buddy for a few minutes, Theo hops up on my chest for his nightly loves. He purrs and drools as I scratch his cheeks and love on him. I also thank him for being such a delightful cat and I rejoice in my decision to bring him home. As I fall asleep, he settles on the bed pressing against me for his nightly sleep.

Thank you Theo for three wonderful years!

newsy stuffs

With all the bad news lately, I thought it might be good to highlight some positive news.

I saw this news article the other day in the local paper, now I see it is getting more attention. Meet Sable, a working senior cat. Every school day she's out there on the sidewalk helping the school children cross the road safely.

Photo courtesy of Yakima Herald

Sable looks like Oliver! Maybe I should get him an orange safety vest too. CNN picked up the story:

In other news, the 2012 Home for the Holidays pet adoption event is now over. Over $6,000 was raised for the Community Cat Coalition (helps feral cats) and more money was raised for the many other animal rescue groups who participated. And then there are all the dogs and cats that were adopted!! I haven't got a total on number of cats and dogs who found new homes, but it was a lot! Seeing all those animals find their new homes was exhilarating! I want to say a huge thank you to Janet the owner of Paddywack, an amazing local pet products store who donated so much to make this event a huge success!! 

Hershey remains home with me, even though lots of people looked him over, no one wanted to take him home. At the end of the event, as I was driving Hershey home, I felt a huge feeling of relief, that no one had taken my Hershey from me! He's still available for adoption even though my heart doesn't want to give him up, I know it'll be better for him and for my resident cats. Meanwhile he can stay here as long as it takes, although that might not be long as Janet from Paddywack has invited him to hang out in their adoption room with several other wonderful cats. From what I hear, cats don't have to wait long to get adopted from there. So, when an opening comes, we'll give that a try!

Oh, and a short follow-up on last week's picture of Theo climbing the window. That's just something he does when he gets his crazies on. He's not chasing bugs or anything, he just runs around the house and then tries to climb the walls! It's amazing how far he can pull himself up with those long front legs! You should have seen him before we found out his thyroid was hyperactive! 

Holiday gift giving guide

In case you are struggling to find some cat-themed gifts for the crazy-cat person in your life, here are a few ideas.


Christmas Cats, an album of familiar Christmas tunes sung by meowing cats lyrics. Very creative. It's available to enjoy on Spotify or you can buy it for your crazy-cat person on Amazon.com.







Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure. Comes with six cats. One of the product features listed on the Amazon.com listing: "Great conversational piece" hmmm. Sure thing!






Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat. From the Amazon.com book description: "Crafting with Cat Hair shows readers how to transform stray clumps of fur into soft and adorable handicrafts. From kitty tote bags and finger puppets to fluffy cat toys, picture frames, and more, these projects are cat-friendly, eco-friendly, and require no special equipment or training. You can make most of these projects in under an hour—with a little help, of course, from your feline friends!"



Purfect Feline Gray Kitty Cat Ceiling Fan Light Pull. How many feline enthusiasts do you know who have a ceiling fan that's just screaming for a cat-themed light pull? I'm looking at my ceiling fan right now and thinking, it's missing something - it needs a little more cat!






Hot Sox Originals Classic Cats Crew Socks, Hemp Heather, Medium. Cat socks are always a good option. There are many styles to choose from. Everyone can always use another pair of socks.




Ceramic Cat Kitten Measuring Cups / Bowls. At $50, these are a little pricey, but you know, for the cat-loving person who loves spending time in the kitchen, these might just be the purrfect thing. Of course, you'll also need to get the Set of 4 measuring spoons.




The Sitting Pretty Dip Bowl and Spreader Set looks pretty cool too.




Kitty salt and pepper shakers, how cool! Sitting Pretty Salt and Pepper Set. Sadly these are currently out of stock, maybe they will be back in time for next year.




Ishpingo wood sculpture, 'Playtime Kitty'. For the person who has everything, I bet they might enjoy a hand carved kitty sculpture from Peru. I like these.





Safety Cat Women's Self Defense Keychain - Purple. This keychain comes in many different colors. I'm not a woman, but I like the idea of this. A simple device that could truly hurt someone enough to be able to get away. The product description states, "When holding the Safety Cat, your two fingers will be placed in the eyes of the cat and the face of the cat will rest securely in the palm of your hand. The smooth, sleek design of the Safety Cat will feel very comfortable in your hand and you will be able to grasp it firmly. Remember, the Safety Cat is used for self defense purposes only, but if you're fighting for your life the unique design of the Safety Cat is made for striking at the eyes of your attacker or attacking any fleshy part of the body."

And my favorite gift I've saved for last - the Feral Cat Hat by Catnip Hill. These handmade fleece hats were featured on Modern Cat last year. Part of the profits from these hats funds TNR work in Michigan. They come in five sizes and random colors!

Good luck on your holiday gift giving! I hope Santa is kind to you this year.