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A Cat’s Best Friend

When we adopted Trixie in late January, we kept her in isolation in the guest bedroom for the first couple of weeks, then slowly began her introductions to the rest of the household. We took her introduction slowly not for her sake but rather for Sam and especially Boo, who were not happy with the arrival of their new sister. On the other hand, and despite the appearances in the top picture, Trixie wasn’t afraid of our dog Ellie, and Ellie gave her no reason to be.

Our cat Trixie slips through the bars of the child gate — No prison bars can hold her

We put a baby gate at the door to the bedroom so the cats could greet each other without the stress of being in the same room, but the scrawny little Trixie could slip right through the bars. It did slow her down, so we could mostly keep her in the room, but it served best at keeping the other pets out and making sure Trixie always had a sanctuary she could retreat to.

A portrait of our black lab Ellie — Ellie by my side

When I think of those weeks I think of this scene as much as anything, Ellie snuggling beside my legs. Not because that is unusual, as it isn’t, but because of what was happening on the other side of my legs …

Our dog Ellie and our newly adopted cat Trixie sleep beside and on me in our guest bedroom — A Cat’s Best Friend

I’ve loved Ellie since the day we adopted her, but I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of her than during Trixie’s first few weeks with us. She was extremely patient with the young cat, even when Trixie tried to initiate play by swatting her on the nose. She’d chomp her jaws together when Trixie was upsetting her and, even though they started out speaking different languages, Trixie soon learned what Ellie did and didn’t like. Sometimes in her excitement she’d forget her lessons but these two got along right from the get go, a relief since my wife was out of town for a week and I had to manage time with all the pets. She willingly put up with kitten mania as long as she could be by my side and befriended the kitten long before the other cats did.

Our cat Trixie sleeps on my legs — The Adaptable Adoptable

And how did Trixie adapt to having a dog inches away from her? It didn’t keep her up at night. Or at all.

“What a day. I’m beat!”

I hear you pup, I hear you.

After my project this year proved unexpectedly difficult, I was running out of steam and looking forward to time off for the Christmas break. But before I could get there I had to work the past two weekends to help the hardware team get ready for the next board turn. They got the design finished and most of my design work is done as well, so today I was able to start two weeks of vacation.

I was exhausted last night and went to bed early yet still slept to 10 a.m, a rarity for me these days. Ellie was waiting patiently in her bed which sits beside ours, waiting to go on her morning walk. By way of apology for making her wait so long I took her on a different route through the neighborhood so she could enjoy lots of new smells, at least what remained after days of heavy rain.

I was in a bit of a fog today so I didn’t do much. Sam and Trixie slept on me most of the day and Boo joined us in the evening. Tomorrow’s big accomplishment will be to watch football all day. Monday I may venture out for some photography, my foot is still a little sore but it has healed enough that I’m willing to give it a little test. If it’s raining heavily I’ll probably venture up to Ridgefield since I can stay in the car on the auto tour, I haven’t been since my visit in January right after Emma died, and it will be good to see some wildlife again. If the weather’s not too bad I’d like to take the new lens and do some hiking in the Gorge.

Dog in a Doorway

I was photographing our cats Boo and Trixie playing together when I noticed Ellie patiently waiting in the doorway behind me. She looks so sad when her mouth is closed, so I got some treats hoping I could convince her to give me a big smile. However Ellie is serious about food and instead of a smile I got an intense stare.

She got her treat.

Sunshine Sam

A break in the heat allowed us to open the windows during the day, so Sam took advantage to climb to the top of the cat tree to enjoy both fresh air and sunshine.

The Angel & The Stained Glass

I loved Boo’s angelic look as he watched birds outside our picture window, with stained glass windows hanging behind him. I believe the windows may be homemade, they were there when we bought the house, I like the flair they add to the room.

Beat the Heat (and Smoke)

An unusually hot and dry summer in the Pacific Northwest has led to many troublesome wildfires, and the winds shifted this weekend bringing smoke from fires far to the east into Portland. We kept the windows closed to minimize the smoke coming into the house, and spent the entire weekend in our bedroom with the portable air conditioner keeping things nice and cool.

I took a quick picture of Ellie in her dog bed and Boo behind her in the cat bed, Sam was with my wife on the bed and Trixie I think was playing elsewhere in the house. We keep the bedroom door mostly closed to keep the cool air in, but open enough that the cats can come and go as they please. When Ellie walks in she swings the door wide open with a dramatic swoop of her head. It makes me laugh every time, our sweet-natured goofball making such a grand entrance.

Trixie Finds a Loophole in the ‘No Cats on the Counter’ Rule

Clever girl.

Don’t I Deserve a Treat Just for Being Sweet Ol’ Ellie?

One of Ellie’s great joys in life is eating. She was a little overweight when we got her and while she has been at a good weight for many years now, we still keep her on her diet food as it lets her eat a larger volume of food. We have a variety of low-calorie treats to give her, they were useful on her walks in the early days as we trained her but now I dispense them liberally when she does the things she’s long since learned to do, just because it makes her so happy.

But I love, love, love how we’ll be sitting on the couch and she’ll start arching her eyebrows towards the closet with the treats, her subtle little way of asking for a treat.

The Trixie Maneuver

Back in March I was photographing Boo resting on the heating vent when we experienced the Trixie Maneuver, where she approached and backed up and sat down right in front of him, anxiously waiting to see if he would attack her. She had been trying these submissive approaches with Boo, mostly unsuccessfully, but while his eyes went wide for a moment, he did allow her to stay, and she leaned over on her side with her feet and tail overlapping his hands.

While it took a couple of months for Boo to accept Trixie, peace does not yet reign among the cats in our household. Boo and Sam have been at odds since Emma died and Trixie arrived, and Sam has had enough of both the young cats. He’s fine if they are on their own but swats them if they try to snuggle with him.

These things take time, and to help normalize relations I’ve been lining the three of them up each day to give them some cat treats, and they all get along fine then. Sam will be a lot happier when he relents, as he’ll love having extra snuggling partners, but for the moment he’s curled up in my lap and happy to be on his own.

Sleepmate

I don’t think I’ve put this picture of Scout from 2001 online before, she’s sleeping on my side of the bed in the master bedroom of our old house and had been with us for about 5 months. Right from the get-go she climbed on to my chest every night when I went to bed.