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- Mood:
cheerful
We used to have two female cats, and could see that they had 8 or so nipples, but we can't tell what the deal is with Oliver. I've never had a male cat before, and his fur is pretty thick along the chest/belly area. My wife just tried to examine the feisty little guy, and Mr. Scratchy wouldn't let her get a good look. Human males have nipples, but what about cats (and dogs)? Do males have 2 vestigial ones like us human guys?
- Mood: amused
This may look silly, but it's actually a serious commentary on the security paranoia that has consumed Washington since 9/11. Sadly, Oliver was blown out of the sky by F-16s moments after this photo was taken, in a gross overreaction by the homeland security apparatus.
Actually, Oliver is fine and I'm slowly figuring this software out.
- Mood:half-baked
- Mood: cheerful
- Mood: amused
The cat hid under the bed, but that wasn't good enough, so he clawed a hole in the bottom of the box-spring, and climbed up into it. You should have seen my face when I looked under the bed, and realized he was INSIDE the box spring. He wouldn't come out, and we were afraid he'd get hurt or stuck up there in the springs and coils. I held the bed up while J cut away the lining on the bottom of the box-spring, until Oliver was backed into one corner, where she finally got him out. I was happy we didn't have to call the Fire Department! That would have been embarrassing. The bedroom was a mess, and there was ripped pieces of fabric everywhere, but we eventually got everything cleaned up. Oliver is still agitated, but he'll hopefully return to normal once our houseguests leave.
- Mood:
stressed
My wife made the tactical error of leaving a bagel wrapped in a paper towel on the kitchen counter last night, intending to eat it for breakfast this morning. I didn't think anything of it, aside from being jealous of her bagel, but our crazy teenage cat Oliver had other plans.
When I woke up and went downstairs this morning, the kitchen was a mess, there was water everywhere, and a soggy, beat-up bagel in the middle of the floor. While cleaning up the mess, I was able to reconstruct what must have happened from the paw prints and trail of crumbs.
After we went to bed, Oliver smelled the bagel, since it wasn't sealed in a plastic bag, and jumped on the counter. He knows he's not supposed to go up there, but when we're not home or asleep, he knows he can get away with it. He dragged the bagel to the edge of the counter, and pushed it off, with the paper towel still wrapped around it. He then went to work removing the paper towel, and shredded it and dragged it around a bit in the process. Eventually he freed the bagel and nibbled at it and licked it a bit, but decided he really didn't like it too much. A little bit at a time, he pushed or dragged it over to his water bowl, where he lifted it up and into the water, perhaps trying to "drown" it. What I don't understand is how he got the waterlogged and disintegrating bagel OUT of the water bowl, but he managed to do that as well. He dragged the soggy thing over towards his litter box before finally giving up. It was pretty much glued to the floor, which already has problems, so I was not too happy about it. I was able to clean everything up, but still have to sanitize the counters tonight.
We'll have to keep food locked away or creatively stored from now on, I suppose. Silly Oliver, you're quite clever and amusing, but please leave the bagels for us humans, OK?
- Mood:annoyed, yet amused
He's still a good-natured, affectionate cat, and I think once he gets a little older he'll calm down. A little craziness is to be expected with a healthy, young cat. I just hope he doesn't hurt himself, or hurt one of us, or break any irreplaceable items while he's going through this hyper-maniacal phase.
Washington City Paper, 5/21/08
- Mood: amused
After work yesterday, J and I took Oliver to the vet at the Friendship Hospital for Animals to have a few things done. They weighed him, trimmed his claws, and implanted a microchip in the back of his neck. Every time we come or go, Oliver tries to make a break for it, and J is concerned about losing him, even though we're very careful about keeping him safely indoors. With the microchip, if he is lost, and brought to a vet or animal shelter, they can use a scanner to check his ID, and then contact us. It's not very expensive, and the chip is only the size of a grain of rice.
Oliver was SO good at the vet. He didn't resist being put in the cat carrier - in fact, he hopped in there himself. The vet said he was a good boy while having the chip implanted, and he didn't pee in the cat carrier, as both of our previous cats did on occasion. From his perspective, the whole thing must have gone down like an X-Files episode, starting with his abduction and transport by a silvery vehicle, then placed on a cold stainless steel table with bright lights on him, then had something implanted in his neck. When we got home, he got a nice reward of "fish guts", as we call the less-processed, moist seafood mix for cats.
By the way, kudos to Friendship Animal Hospital for doing their part to keep our streets and sidewalks clean. There is no mistaking what this garbage can in front of their facility is for, with the clear, blunt signage. We could use a few of those in Columbia Heights!
- Mood: calm
This is going to be a peak tourist weekend in DC, with the Cherry Blossoms out, the opening of the new baseball stadium, and the DC marathon going on. We're planning to take a daytrip on Saturday to get away from the hubbub, bub, and to do some shopping. You'd think with a Target and other stores right around the corner, we wouldn't need to do so, but J wants to drive to the outlet mall near Hagerstown, MD for some clothing needs. In return for suffering through clothes shopping, I get to go into downtown Hagerstown where I'll drag J around looking at old buildings and monuments, and take some pictures. That should be far enough out of town to avoid the tourist hordes.
We also need to stop at Petco. It's time for Oliver to transition from kitten food to adult cat food, and he needs a couple of new toys that are large enough that he can't drop them in his water bowl. Anything small enough, such as a ball, or stuffed mouse, or crumpled piece of paper, he tries to "drown" in his water bowl and makes a big mess, in addition to contaminating his water supply. We're thinking of one of those plastic tracks with a ball inside, or a ball on the end of a spring attached to a platform, items he won't be able to lift into the water bowl. What a strange little kitty. Now, whenever he wants to play, we dump out his water bowl then take the toys out of the cabinet. They didn't have anything good at Target, their stock seemed more dog-oriented, but hopefully Petco will have something Oliver will enjoy.
- Mood: mellow
He has become a prominent fixture in our window, and passers-by have taken notice. He really stands out against the white background with his mostly black fur. When coming home one night, I overheard the person in front of me say to her companion "oh, look in the window, there's a kitty."
Oliver is very sweet, affectionate and likes to be petted and picked up, but does have his scratchy/bitey moments, especially when he's all riled up from a vigorous play session, such as "killing" the snake seen here in the photo. J attributes this play aggression to his youth, and assures me it will subside over time.
The new target here in Columbia Heights has a decent pet products section, and it will save us from driving over to the mouse-infested Petco in Cleveland Park, so that's good. They carry Iams food, cat litter, bowls, toys, and a wide variety of treats, so little Oliver here can count his blessings.
- Mood: satisfied
In other news, this is shaping up to be a routine work week, except I'm taking the day off Wednesday, and will hopefully find something interesting to do. Then, J is off to Boston for the weekend, while I keep tabs on the kitty. He's going through an especially energetic phase, perhaps the feline equivalent of the "terrible twos." This evening, he jumped up into the kitchen sink, and started drinking the water in a dirty bowl left to soak. Yuck. Everything is a toy to this little guy: my shoelaces, J's knitting, electrical cords (yikes!), the cords that adjust the window blinds, etc. He'll eventually calm down, but for now, he's a handful!
- Mood:laughing here
At the Friendship Animal Hospital, he was calm enough for J to take him out of his carrier and sit him on the examination table. Oliver didn't attack the veterinarian, or try to escape, or poop on the floor - tactics which M-kitty has used in the past. Dr. B seemed quite charmed by his sweet disposition and gave him a clean bill of health. His ears looked good, teeth were fine, discoloration in mouth nothing to worry about, and his eyes, nose and lungs all looked/sounded good. We don't have to go back for a whole year.
Back at home, he's seemingly unaffected by the whole ordeal, ate his dinner, and is at this moment playing with a crumpled-up ball of paper. Good Oliver!
- Mood:speechless in a good way
- Mood: cheerful
The only problem so far is that he seems reluctant to use the litter box. He peed once, which was a relief as we were getting ready to rush him to Friendship Animal Hospital in case of a dangerous UT blockage. He hasn't pooped yet, but we gave him some poist food tonight, so hopefully that will move things along. The crux of the problem is that we're using shredded newspaper instead of clay litter, which will be necessary until his neutering incision heals completely. It looks good to me, but the vet at Friendship said we'd better avoid any litter products aside from the newspaper for a few more days.
This cat seems so perfect that J and I can hardly believe it. We keep thinking there must be something wrong with him. He does have a weird discoloration on the roof of his mouth. What if it's a tumor? We'll feel a LOT better after he gets a nose to tail examination at Friendship. In the meantime, the holiday weekend is pretty uneventful as we're staying close to home with the kitty.
- Mood:happy but worried
This approx. 6 month old male has asymmetrical tuxedo-like markings, and his fur is very soft. He doesn't seem to shed much, and seems to be quickly adjusting to his new home. His personality appears calm, and he doesn't mind being picked up and handled alot. He has a playful side, which came out when J used the laser pointer for a little play session. He doesn't seem to like string much, and has only a mild interest in the ball toys we bought him. Our major concern at this point is he hasn't used the litterbox yet, but hopefully he'll do so overnight.
Tomorrow, we're off to Petco, for what no doubt will be a triple digit shopping expedition, and in a couple of weeks he'll have his first checkup at Friendship Hospital for Animals. Welcome to the household, Oliver!
- Mood: excited
