Oxbow's World

One of Mama C’s Christmas presents this year was a book called “What Cats Teach Us … Life’s Lessons Learned from Our Feline Friends.” I’m not sure what the cat on the cover is teaching anyone, but there’s probably a lesson in there somewhere, such as it’s a good idea to keep your sneakers away from the cat.

Anyway, Mama C isn’t too far into the book, but she’s learning already. I like to think I’m a good teacher, too. A couple of days ago she took a cue from me and started following the sun around the house. Mama C isn’t very fond of the winter, so it’s about time she learned what any self-respecting indoor cat knows: it’s all about chasing the sun.

Mama C, by the way, wasn’t too happy about what she called “bed head” in this photo, but she’s a good sport and let me use it anyway.

Yesterday’s blizzard provided another teaching moment. I heard Those Two talking about how nice it was to be “housebound” and to do whatever they wanted to, whenever they wanted, without any time pressures. This included long periods of doing seemingly nothing. Welcome to my world, ladies!

Sometimes if you want to get the most out of life, you just have to think like a cat.

 

 

 

OK, my visit to the doctor on Wednesday for my annual physical didn’t go down quite that way, but it was full of high anxiety and drama nonetheless. It began with Those Two trying to round me up and put me into my pet carrier for the short drive to the Chariho Animal Hospital. Ha! They couldn’t find me! Then Mama G remembered that the FedEx Man had paid us a visit not 10 minutes before and, knowing that I hate the sound of the doorbell, she found me in my safe space in the basement ceiling. It took another five minutes for them to lure me out with treats, and by then they were running a bit late.

I was a pretty good boy during the drive, with minimal crying. I heard them talking about whether I remembered doing this last year, and the year before. Well, of course! I’m not stupid!

But my memory of such visits is actually a good thing, because I’ve never really minded going to see Dr. Joan Matyia. The office itself is really nice. There are separate waiting rooms for dogs and cats, so I don’t have to listen to some big, slobbery, barking dog. That design was sheer genius! There are also lots of cute kitty photos hanging on the wall to soothe cats and their parents. And the exam room itself has a nice view of the woods and the nearby road, so I have lots of animal and human activity to watch to help keep my mind off whatever lies ahead.

OK, you’re probably wondering, how did it go? First, the bad news. It seems I’ve gained a little weight, just as I had the year before, and the year before that. I tried to blame it on the holidays, but Dr. Matyia wasn’t having it. I now am officially on a diet.

The good news is, my teeth are fine, or at least what’s left of them. I’m down to about three now. But my dental problems are apparently not interfering with my eating habits. I also got another rabies shot, even though I’m strictly an indoor cat. But you never know, I just might decide to bolt if I’ve ever had enough of Those Two and their shenanigans.

So overall it was a very good visit, although of course I was happy to return home. But I can’t thank Dr. Matyia and her staff enough for being so kind, gentle and compassionate. See you next year!

 

Well, I can almost hear that collective sigh of relief among humans today that the Big Day is finally over with. I had an interesting holiday, and a very stress-free one, I might add.

The festivities at our house started on Christmas Eve, when Those Two altered their kitchen island ritual by adding some unusual foods. Maybe some cats would have been interested in this first course, but I took one whiff and wanted no part of it!

Then on to the next day, when they opened presents in the morning. They seemed happy about some and puzzled by others.

Then it was my turn to open one! Well, now I understand that range of emotions they showed, because although at first I was thrilled to see my three-piece gift set of catnip toys, I soon realized they weren’t what I expected.

It turns out Mama C bought them at a Christmas fair, whatever that is, and while they were handsomely stitched and assembled, the catnip was of poor quality. It was just not “good stuff,” as they say. My Aunt Mary made up for it later with a squeaky toy that I just loved. I chased it around the house for hours!

I ended the holiday by getting a jump on my new year’s resolutions, one of which is to eat more greens. Unfortunately, Mama G caught me in the act. That snowman’s wreath sure was tasty!

I hope you all had an interesting and fun holiday, too!

Sorry if I sounded a little edgy in my last post. We cats don’t like it when the usual order of things is disturbed for any reason, so having my favorite chair in my favorite spot replaced by a big tree was a bit much.

But as you can see, I’ve adapted and am even kind of enjoying this strange human ritual. And some of you curious types might be wondering which of those objects hanging from the tree is my favorite. Why it’s this one, of course:

It’s that time of year when Those Two drag in a tree from outside and hang lights and other objects on it.

I think they wanted my help with the lights, since I’m pretty good at untangling things, including things that aren’t tangled in the first place. Instead, I just walked away. Hey, it’s your ritual, so you can deal with it.

It sure does smell good in here, though!

I’ll admit that I’m not always the brightest bulb, but I sure am tuned in to any deviation in routine. So I knew something was amiss last week when Those Two disappeared for what seemed like a long time and upon their return, Mama C came clanking into the house, walking with the aid of two shiny silver things. She definitely didn’t seem herself, and when she retreated to the sofa in what was clearly mid-afternoon, I knew that she was not feeling well.

So I did what any loving cat would do: I sat with her and tried to protect her as best I could.

I think she will be home with me for a while while she recuperates from whatever it was that happened to her. I’m grateful for her constant company, but I also hope she’s back on her feet again soon.

I learned a new game over the weekend, and no, it didn’t involve kissing, though I hear it can be played that way, too.

Those Two have started a curious routine of late: after a tough day at work, they like to sit at the kitchen island and drink from two tiny bottles of potent-smelling liquid, which they pour into two tiny little glasses.

The other night they showed me the bottle, and I can’t say I cared for the smell, which probably means I wouldn’t care for the taste either. But I sure did enjoy that bottle once it was empty. I pawed at it and it tipped over and started spinning! Then I batted it onto the floor and it took on a life of its own, the sign of a truly fine cat toy! It dipped, it rolled, it spun some more. I must have chased that thing around for an hour.

I could get used to joining this routine, although something tells me Those Two might “nip” my part of it in the bud.

 

Mama G came home from Christmas shopping the other day with a gift that she just couldn’t wait to give me. Usually she suffers from gift anxiety, but she knew she had a winner with this one: a little catnip-filled cloth mouse sporting Christmas colors and decorations.

I tore into that thing like a little kid tears into the hottest new toy on Christmas morning! Who says it’s more fun to give than to receive? I’ll take the receiving end any day!

I’ve been making more of an effort lately to try to truly understand Those Two and the world they inhabit. A couple of nights ago I decided to watch the news with them. They’re a bit old-school, and still enjoy getting their news from TV, especially the NBC Nightly News.

To their amazement, I sat through the entire show — on top of a pile of newspapers no less. Talk about covering all angles of a story! I did not understand most of what anchor Kate Snow had to say about the various problems that humans had gotten themselves into, but she was fun to watch anyway. About 27 minutes into it, just when I was about to lose interest and started to lay down on the newspapers, along came a story that really caught my attention.

It was about a Denver man who, after suffering the heartbreaking loss of one of his dogs, opened his home to geriatric animals who need extra care. I guess you could call it a retirement home for animals.

He’s got quite the collection now, including chickens, ducks and a pig, but I didn’t see a single cat in the group. This could be just another example of media bias, but my guess is that he does have some cats, and they just didn’t want to cooperate for the camera crew. I can respect that.

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

Say, Those Two sure look a lot younger in this photo!