I think I told you about Noche's hunting prowesses. He catches and eats flies, bugs, worms and caterpillars. He finds them quite tasty. And it seems to have cut down on his grocery bill a little.
But, I want to tell you about today. DH and I were working in the yard. Noche was outside sunning himself when all of a sudden he was up, alert and in a stalking position. At first I couldn't see what he was looking at and then I saw this big grey squirrel on the deck. Noche crept up on him and the squirrel saw him. He jumped and ran up the tree. Noche was not on his tail. The squirrel jumped from the tree onto the fence and ran away. Noche came down--ears back, back hair standing straight up and his tail was just switching. It took him several minutes to regain his composure and return to sunning himself.
A couple of hours later, we saw him looking up onto the fence. There was another pure black cat sitting on top of our fence. Noche started to address the situation by approaching the fence. The other cat sauntered off ever so slowly to the corner of the fence and started to go down our back fence. By now, Noche is up on top of a 6 foot fence in a single bound. He was proceeding across the fence in a determined fashion. He watch OT (other cat) until he got ALMOST to the far corner. Then, Noche jumped down and raced like crazy to the far side of the yard. Again jumped to the top of a 6 foot fence and waited for OT to get to the corner. OT got to the corner. They looked at each other. Both cats had their ears back and their backs humped up. OT went onto the neighbor's fence. He didn't come back. Noche waited a respectable time. Jumped down and returned to sunning himself with his tail still twitching.
Well, that's just about the end of the story until a black crow flew into our yard. That is apparently the trigger. Our yard. Noche has turned into a wonderful 'watch cat' and no one comes in. He chased the crow away. came inside and fell asleep on the chair. He slept the rest of the day.
Let's just hope the poor darling has a quieter day tomorrow.
Mawzy.....like you, I love all my animals. Each one has a distinct personality and some of them keep me so amused by their antics. One of my ponies chases the hounds. Runs with his head down and ears back like he's another dog, ready to bite. Wonder what he'd do if he caught one? My hounds are wonderful watch dogs...their job? to take care of the crows and squirrels that encroach on their 'territory'. And, outdoors, they're always at my side taking care of ME.
Mawzy, Noche has so much personality! He has since you got him as a kitten. I'm so glad he has brought joy to your life. Thank you for sharing Noche's day as a guard cat! I loved it!
Nice story Mawzy. Have you read Dewey (the library cat)? Bluedaze recommended it to me & I loved it. It was a New York Times best seller. A friend of mine read it & just returned it to me, so I am going to pass it along to a neighbor who has rescued a cat. My next door neighbors abandoned a beautiful gray cat w/ white paws when they moved. He was only 6 - 9 months old. He is the friendliest cat I have ever come across. My cat doesn't like other cats or strangers. This cat loves attention. Anyhow, a big tom cat attacked the sweet cat on my front porch last week at 2 a.m. Fur flying everywhere. So...my neighbor took him to the vet for shots, neutering, an infection & paid for it all. And now he is trying to find the cat a home, he has 2 cats already. I think he will enjoy the book. He's the one who fell down stairs identical to mine in his house a couple of weeks after my fall.
Oh I hope your neighbor is ok after the fall. Are you alright? We live in a split level house and I'm very cautious of the stairs. Falling and breaking something that I need would not make me very happy. I just don't have any idea what I would do with DH. He's not bad enough to go to a respite center but shouldn't be left alone for too long either. He tries to help me and will do as I ask him (part of the time) but doesn't initiate anything.
Yes, I have read Dewey. Isn't that just the most charming book. I felt so sorry for that poor little kitty that some awful person put down the book return and then propped the door open so the winter cold air could get in. That poor little guy. Those people took such good care of him with that warm bath and toweling him.
Yeah, but how many cats can wave at the front door of the library entrance? What I guess I meant is that you can't really get cats to do what you want them to do like dogs. Maybe an animated movie? It would be great.
Kitty--you said, "What I guess I meant is that you can't really get cats to do what you want them to do like dogs."
This is true. But you can get them to do what you want them to do if they want to do it. Independent thinkers require motivation, don't cha know? <lol>
Our Topsy is helping me watch dh. At bedtime she sleeps on the hall carpet between our two rooms. When he starts getting up she makes this low grrrring noise and I wake up. She watches him and what he does. Sometimes she will sleep on the foot of his bed but usually I will find her in the hall floor and have to be careful and not step on her.
My boys have started taking turns sleeping at the foot of my bed. Dead center. Dead weight. But they purr, so all's forgiven, I guess! They do keep us amused!
My cat, Rip, plays fetch like a DOG! No one believes me until I demonstrate. She has a box of favorite playthings where she stashes stuff. Favorite toys are simple things....NOT the stuff I buy her. Pens, pencils, tops off of soda bottles, stuff like that. Her favorite toy is a SPRING she found somewhere. She loves for you to throw it and scramble after it......she'll bring it back up to you and place it in your lap in anticipation! So, do I have too much free time on my hands?
Stuntgirl--How did you teach Rip to fetch? I've been working on Noche for several months. He'll chase the object but doesn't bring it back. I've tried bribing him with Temptations. But he gets so excited for the treat that he forgets the ball, pinecone or whatever. I envy you. I'd just love for him to learn how to do that.
I had a cat that did that once, she'd fetch balls of wadded up aluminum foil. A wedding present cat, our first Siamese. But I haven't had a cat since then (53 years?) that does it. Haven't figured out how to teach them to do it. But Chimi still goes sweetly to his little chair and sits on it, waiting for the hoop to come out, to jump through, to get a treat! His one Trick!
When my kids were young we had a cat named Thomas Cat (TC). The cat just loved the kids and followed them everywhere. One day we were at the beach and the kids were playing in the water. Well, TC decided to join them and swam out to where they were to play with them. He looked like a drowned rat, but he seemed to enjoy being with the kids.
I hope I'm not accused of being obsessive about this little black cat. He's over a year old now--how time flies.
I already told you about him guarding the yard and eating bugs, worms, etc. Well, he's had another frightening adventure.
Friday our son took me to the grocery store. We came home with 3 plastic bags of groceries. We put them away and DS wadded up 2 bags and stuffed them into the third bag. Then, just to be funny, he pitched them on the floor. Noche was instantly on top of the bags.He got his head caught in the handle of one bag. It scared him. He took off looking like "supercat" with his cape flying. He ran into the hutch and lost one bag, ran behind a chair and lost the 2nd bag. He ran all the way through the house--the bag caught the wind and filled the bag around his neck.\\
Poor guy was just terrified. He ran downstairs and we were hot on his trail. He hid in a corner and when DS went to get him he jumped up on the back of the sofa. By now the handle of the bag had slipped under his forlegs and he was caught tight. DS managed to get him corralled and then broke the plastic handle to the bag.
It took poor Noche almost 30 minutes to settle down. He was just flipping his tail and banging it on the wall.
Well, that's just another adventure for Noche. I think by paying so much attention to him, I don't have time to dwell on what's really going on my world.
More adventures later. I wonder if I should compile them into a little book.Hmmm. Whadda ya think? :)
Cats are so amusing to watch and Topsy is also Queen of the Castle here in our household. Be bow to her every desire. Mawzy and others I am so glad you have a cat. Dogs are nice too for those of you with dogs and I imagine they are also King and Queen of the household.
Go to my facepage (jennifer Lynn Canton) or MySpace (StuntGirl) to see picture of my cat RIP (for short). She plays "fetch" with her favorite toy, a spring. She's a Sphynx, hairless and fuzzywarm. She is my very heart and soulmate. She really provides a distraction for me in darkest hours and keeps me constantly aware of her movements when I''m inside. No discipline, whatsoever, also. What can I say. We've been roommates for a year now. She rules the roost. She's wrinkly like a Sharpei dog. VERY wierd and unusual animal and very intellegent.
Mawzy - they give us a nice break from the reality of our life. To cats - their reality is what is going on at the moment. They train us well as do dogs! Hope she comes home soon. You may need to go for a short walk before it gets dark.
Thanks, all of you. Today he had to go out for his constitutional, and a big orange cat is in the yard. That poor guy--if it isn't one thing, it's another. I pray for better days for Noche. He woudln't even play with his aluminum foil ball today. Now, that's stress! Wonder if he's going to need an antidepreseant. Hope not. :)
Isn't catnip a calming herb. Most pet stores have catnip - actually growing in little pots. Noche really was knocked off her security blanket and I betcha she does smell the dog and may think he is still lurking in the house. Poor little baby!!!
Mawzy, if he does and if it's Fluoxetine 10 mg tablets the vet prescribes, I can send you about 14 of them that have been broken into fourths -- guess that would be about 2.5 mg each. The Rx was filled on 2/11/09 and I don't think she took many, if any, of them. The bottle says they are good until 4/1/2010. Our little kitty, Grey-C (short for Grey Cat and pronounced Gracie) went to rainbow bridge on May 13. She had been fighting serious urinary tract infections off and on for over a year and we finally had to let her go. Our vet came here and I held her on my lap and told her over and over what a good kitty she had been while she went to the bridge. After about 13 years it's so hard to let them go...
When CHimi went walking a month or two back and spent the night out, when he finally came in he slept and slept and slept. Takes them a few days to recover!!
I don't mean to make light of this thread - I felt so badly for Mawzy and Noche and am so sorry it all happened. But one question: When your kitties get loose outside, why do they always come to my house and sleep on the cushions on my porch? Drives my Shiz Tsu crazy! :-))
Weejun--thanks so much for the offer but he seems fine now. Doing a lot of sleeping and needs a lap a lot today. I think I will try the Fabreeze first. I have not taken him to the vet unless he starts acting up again.
Thank you all for your kind prayers and thoughts.
Noche does go outside but stays mostly in hs own yard. If I can't see him, I call him and he comes right back. Yesterday, of course, he didn't because he was so scared. So, not to be making any excuses, (smile) I don't think he's the one on your porch cushion and he has his own place to dig. I'd really hate to think he was so gouche` as to dig in someone else's flower bed. How tacky. :)
Mawzy, on DST you were up in the middle of the night. I hope everything is okay. I was so relieved about Noche. I hope his territory is free of invaders today and he regains his own peace of mind. (-:
Well, as it so happened, we had 3 yards of compost/topsoil delivered today. Our two grandsons were here at 9 a.m. to start spreading it on the gardens. Noche didn't like the smell of it. He felt his place was being invaded again and he didn't make up to the boys until after 5 o'clock. They bought a nice big CatMint plant especially for him. He sniffed at it and then turned his nose up. Talk about an ungrateful guy.
But, we are taking into consideration all the commotion that's been in his world the last few days and are giving him lots of slack. :) FYI, he's a good kitty! :)
Oh, briegull, believe it or not. He is an adult now. He was 3 months old when we got him on Sept 3. We figure he turned one year old the first part of June. He's pretty big, too. Weighs about 13 lbs. Black as soot and just struts around here like he'd just bought and paid for the house. He's just lovely to look at. He's so regal looking. He looks like one of those ebony caravings of Egyptian cats that you see.
Does it sound like I'm in love? Who'd of thunk it??? :) At my age, too. (grin)
Mawzy, I love your stories about Noche. As a solid black male he would make a handsome prince for my solid white long hair princess. I've often seen people walking Scottie dogs, one white, one black. My cat has no interest in catnip, never has.
Kitty, is your girl blue eyed? Deaf? I've had maybe half a dozen white cats in my lifetime, not counting kittens; not all of them were deaf but some were. Didn't bother them much! I am a total soft touch for white cats and bluepoint siamese - right now I've got the two bluepoint boys and no white cat, for the first time in many years. (but I do have a black)
No, she has golden eyes. Everyone asks if she is deaf, I never knew that about white cats before I got her. She comes when I call her name. She knows her name, the word adventure, (meaning we're going to have tea on the deck) scooty-scoot, which means we have to go in. I chose her when I adopted her, one reason, hardly ever a meow. (I had a Siamese and that meow really bugged me.) Also, I had asked for a snugly cat, my husband never touches me & I needed affection. I have had more hugs from strangers than I have from my husband in our years together. I needed a cuddly kitty cat.
We have a flat roof over our bedroom & for decades have heard birds, squirrels & various critters traipsing across it. I also have a skylight in the closet and keep it open most all year long. There's a screen to keep birds, bugs & leaves out. The other night I was watching TV and heard a thunderous sound above and realized it was the cat, Nueve up there, she's some fat. During the commercial, I got up to let her in the back door, but heard scratching & meowing from the closet. When I opened the door, there she was, we were both surprised and bewildered. She'd come thru the skylight! The screen was hanging loose & twisted. I don't know if she recognized the closet & tried to get inside that way or if she got on the screen & just fell thru. Either way, like a good cat, she must have landed on all four. Haven't heard her up there since.