Pets – Page 113

Scout Says No

I took Scout to our vet yesterday to get her left eye looked at, the same eye that bothered her earlier in the year. Scout is pretty shy and hid under the blanket in her carrier, but once in the examination room she turned on the charm and all were sorry to see her go. As suspected earlier in the year, it looks like she has a viral infection that will come and go, she gets the eyedrops from before that prevent a bacterial infection and also a new gel to minimize the effects of the virus. The gel is given orally and is described as “a highly palatable gel”.

Scout says no.

At least she would if she were talking to me.

Weasels

As I mentioned in my previous post, this year I’ve seen three long-tailed weasels (Mustela frenata) after never having seen them before. However they weren’t my first introduction to the weasel family itself, the mustelids. I had a similar experience last year with mink (Mustela vison), I saw three after never having seen them before — unfortunately I haven’t seen them since, I hope I have better luck with the weasels.

And of course I once had daily contact with the gray-tailed weasel (Mustela templeton), the sort of weasel who would act like he wanted to play, then when you got up to follow him, double back and steal your chair. And still look up at you with the purest innocence. That is a weasel.

While the gray-tailed weasel has sadly gone extinct, scientists are studying a mammal that some believe is a new species, the orange-tailed weasel (Mustela sam). The scientific community wants to wait for more data before final classification as a weasel, but two young scientists note that he will push you aside and steal your food, and with manners like that there’s really no reason to wait.

However, another scientist argues that the gray-tailed and orange-tailed weasels are likely one species, the little weasel (Mustela minimus). Or, since the orange creature seems to eat anything that even remotely resembles food if you leave it unguarded for a few seconds, that perhaps it is not a weasel at all but an unusually cute species of goat (Oreamnos terribulus).

Queen of Halloween

Templeton was never fond of visitors, especially childen, so Halloween was not one of his favorite days. Scout likes kids even less than he did — once when we had nieces visiting, she spent all of their waking hours in the rafters of the basement — so she likes Halloween even less.

This was our first Halloween with Emma and Sam. My wife said Emma (our black cat pictured here in her first week with us) was sitting in the window and some trick-or-treaters mistook her for a Halloween prop until they saw her move. She likes people and stayed with me when I took over door duty when I got home from work. Sam and Scout would play with me when no one came to the door, but took to the hills at the sound of small feet climbing the steps. Sam did stay for some visitors when he got so wrapped up in play that he didn’t have time to run away.

All of the kids commented on how much they liked the cats, with Emma being the Queen of Halloween. And I have to say, without exception the kids were all polite and wearing elaborate costumes, even the teenagers, so I really enjoyed Halloween this year even if I got home a little late.

The Two S’s

I’ve been slow getting pictures from my Washington trip online, partially because I’ve been really tied up at work, partially because I got sick for a bit, partially because I’ve been doing more editing than writing. And partially because a number of nights the Two S’s — Scout and Sam — have been sleeping on me when I sit down in my office. It’s hard enough to type when one of the cats is zonked out on me (Sam is sprawled over my lap right now) but it’s impossible with both of them aboard.

Sometimes they stretch out nose to tail, sometimes they curl up beside each other. It amuses me to see Scout assert her dominance after being submissive to Templeton all of her life. If Sam is sitting where she wants to be, she doesn’t swat him to get him to move, she just sits on him. If he’s OK with that, she doesn’t force him to move. Usually she’s more just nestled up against him, but one time she literally did sit on the little guy’s face.

I gave Templeton the nickname Little One when I first met him since he was smaller than the few cats I had known at the time. When we brought Scout home, the nickname worked for both of them since Scout turned out to be even smaller than Templeton. When we brought Emma and Sam home, we already knew Emma would be of average size, but Sam is now fully grown and he’s going to be a little thing like Scout.

Not quite as little as in this picture from January when he was still a kitten.

String Theory

I used this green yarn to tie up some coneflower that were in danger of falling over and ended up with a piece of leftover yarn. During Outdoor Time, I’d drag it around behind me while running around the yard with Sam and Emma in hot pursuit. I held it loosely in my hand so that they could step on the string and capture it, then I’d pick it back up and the game started anew.

This quickly became our favorite game and the fun lasted for a week or two.

But then Emma started carrying the string away when she captured it. She’s always had a thing for strings so I didn’t think anything of it at first. If I didn’t take back the string, she’d find a spot to sit down in the yard and start chewing on the string. I thought it was cute so I grabbed the camera for a few quick pictures, but then I realized she was actually breaking off pieces of yarn and swallowing them.

I nipped that behavior in the bud right away, we’ve had a bad experience before with a thread chewer …

You Don’t Want To Be A Cardboard Box In Our House

The only furnishings in our living room are cardboard boxes for the cats to play and sleep in. Templeton and Scout both loved boxes, so I wasn’t surprised to see the newcomers enjoy them so. I was surprised to see Sam add fiber to his diet by chewing on the boxes, a behavior I assumed would go away once he was no longer teething.

I assumed wrong.

Some Lessons You Have to Learn the Hard Way

I’ve warned Emma to stay out of the coneflower. Oh how I’ve warned her! Time and again I told of how they’d lure her in, let her drink in their beauty, then attack when she let her guard down. But did she listen to me? No she didn’t. Some lessons you have to learn the hard way.

Suddenly Sam Realized He Was Not Alone

Sam emerged from playing in the raspberries and froze. He felt her eyes upon him, but from where? Then he saw her, the dark shadow under the rose bushes.

“Does she mean to attack me?”

She does. And she did.

Siamese Twin Cats

The other morning I woke to the purring not of Siamese cats but Siamese twin cats. As they approached me on the bed, their two heads rubbed against one another and their tails were intertwined. I expected them to be identical twins, but to my surprise the twin on the right was an orange tabby and the twin on the left had black and white fur and golden eyes.

Having reached me they rubbed their heads against my own, my hands rising to scratch their heads and stroke their backs as if responding to some unspoken command. In that moment I was given the gift of healing and the conjoined twins split apart, but their bond proved too strong and they soon rejoined. My eyes played tricks in the pre-dawn light, for it seemed they were now joined on the opposite side as before.

Eventually their desires for affection were satiated and the twins finally separated for good, Sam departing for parts unknown and Scout curling up beside me to sleep.

Wild Boys Always Shine

If you come across a mysterious box in your living room, do not open it. Even if you hear a small voice inside the box urging you to, do not open it! It’s a trap!