Who Knew

The other evening, I started brushing Taki.  She allowed me to brush her for quite some time, so it must have felt good to her.  She has dandruff, so I have to think that stimulating her skin helps with reducing the dandruff and the dryness of her skin.

She got in my lap tonight, and stayed for quite some time while I brushed her.  The best part of this type of interaction is that she does not end up grabbing at me with her paws or trying to bite my hand, which is what she does normally when she has enough.

Breakfast on Demand

Saturday and Sunday, I allow myself to sleep in but the timing on that is variable. Friday evening, May 9th, 2014, I went to the Catholic Charities Volunteer Appreciation event http://www.cclubbock.org/.  Although I returned home before 8:30 PM, it took some time for the event hype to wear off and for me to wind down. It was about 1:30 AM when I went to bed. 

That was okay by me. I slept in Saturday morning. Haiku and Taki were giving me signals that it was time to get up well before the alarm went off at 5:30 AM.  I shut the alarm off, and went back to sleep

At 8:18 AM (I checked the clock) Sake started slapping me.  You will remember that Sake is the cat who has been ill and does not eat well in my presence. She has not eaten well since Tuesday, and it was Saturday morning. (I know she eats throughout the day, though, sometimes well, some times just nibbling.)

I got up and started feeding cats. Sake was so hungry, she jumped on the kitchen counter and started eating the newly cut up chicken in her dish. This is the same cut up chicken she has been snubbing this week until Friday evening. 

I was so pleased that she ate well today. I do not understand the waxing and waning of her appetite. Suffice it to say she is an old lady, and she can do what she wants. I try to offer her a variety of foods so she has something she will eat. This may or may not work.

I wish Sake would let me brush her more, but she does not, and she has lots of bad mats.  But I do what I can. She hides so much when she is not feeling well. So, when she is out, I do not want our time together to be a total war of the mats, me trying to brush her, and her hating it. I do a little, but she calls the shots.

So, when she calls the shots for breakfast, no matter the hour, even too early, I abide by her wishes.

I Have Not Been a Good Cat Mommy Lately

I have had some trouble being patient and gently with the cats, although it is not intentional, and I have had to BACK OFF.

I have not brushed Sake regularly, and she has become severely matted. Sometimes, she lets me cut the worst of her clumped matts off, but not always.  Mostly, she is patient when I want to cut terribly matted clumps on her britches.  Which I did several days ago.  A few days later, I cut a terribly matted clump from her side: there is a gaping hole in her fur now.  I think I must have hurt her feelings, because her resistance to grooming has escalated since then. Cutting the clump was not physically painful. In fact, when I did it, I do not think she realized what I was doing. But she has been very angry with me since then.  I guess I can understand: it is like getting a really bad haircut.

The last few days, I have been trying to pull apart or comb out a matt a day, but this has not resulted in any progress with the problem.

Saturday, I just really tried to groom her, and she became very distraught with me. Well, I can not blame her, because trying to comb the matts, even though I try to be gentle, can hurt. Then she yanks away and that pulls even more.

I went on line looking for a cat version of "no more tangles" but found none. I saw a website from a cat owner who suggested using just that. But I hate to put those chemicals, whatever they are, on my cat.  One ex-breeder suggested cornstarch. Well, that seems innocuous.  The first time I tried to put cornstarch on Sake, she object wildly.  But I did get some on her, and later in the day, was able to finger the matts apart.  I put more on her yesterday, and later in the day, again, was able to finger the matts apart.  It seems the cornstarch helps things to become a little slick. It is not great, but better than what I was doing. 

The advice on line said not to comb a cat, but to brush them. So, I got the brush out, and today, I briefly brushed her.  I got a few matts. The brush is not as efficient with the matts, but less stressful for her, but still, did not please her.

I have spent a lot of time making nice with her the last couple of days. 

Yesterday morning, as I was stumbling around getting up, I stepped on Taki's tail.  It was brief, and unintentional, but I hate doing that, to any of my cats.

Tonight, after work, I was feeding the cats but getting ready to go out afterwards. Haiku slipped into the garage, in spite of my efforts to keep her out. I went into the garage and yelled at her, because I did not want her to get on the high shelf, where I could not reach her.

I can not leave from the garage if a cat is in the garage:  The opening of the garage door scares them and they become unmanageable.  I am afraid to run over a cat if one is in the garage.  I am afraid one will escape if I open the garage door.  If I leave a cat in the garage and go away, and come back, and open the garage door, I am afraid, once again, one will escape, or I will run over a cat. So this becomes quite a dilemma for me.

Well, I am ashamed that I yelled at Haiku, because I wanted her to get back into the house, and she would not come when I called. Well, much to my chagrin, she jumped to the high shelf.  I took a deep breath, and said as sweetly as I could, that she had a half hour, then I would have to get her down.  Well, less than ten minutes later, she was off the shelf and I could pick her up and put her in the house.  I have petted her gently and often since then, both before and after my outing.  She has joined me in the computer room, so I hope she has forgiven me.  I was just rude.

After my outing, Sake wanted into the garage. I had decided that any or all three of the cats could go into the garage when I got home.  Because the outside garage door sometimes bounces back up, I made a point to be sure it was totally closed before I went into the house. I had some groceries which I took with me.  As I said, Sake wanted into the garage, and she was allowed.

The outside garage door opener light was on, when Sake went into the garage. Usually, as a signal to me, if I have a cat in the garage, I turn on the garage light.  This is a reminder to me when I am in the house, that there is a cat in the garage.  And, if I am working in the front yard, having come around from the back, it is a reminder to me that there is a cat in the garage, and I do not want to open the garage door from the outside key panel. Or, at least, I should err on the side of caution, and assume there is a cat in the garage, and I should not open the outside garage door using the key panel.

Well, I forgot to turn on the garage light, and while checking on Sake, did so after a little while. As is my habit, I again checked a few minutes later to see how Sake was doing.  She was at the south end of the garage, and acted very skittish about coming into the house. It was then that I noticed that the garage door was open! And, I was hearing lots of blustering wind from the cold front the was moving in from the north (my garage opens to the north,)

My heart was in my throat!. I did not want Sake to run outside.  I knew that closing the garage door would make her even more skittish (if she is standing at the door that goes from the kitchen to the garage when the outside door is going up or down, the noise seems to frighten her.)  I stepped into the garage, in the lane between the car and the outside door, and encouraged her to go into the house, which she did, hesitantly.

I am grateful that there was a front blowing in from the north. Sake dislikes the wind. If it had a been a calm night, even a cold, calm night, I suspect she would have ventured outside, and I would have had hell to pay to find her.  In reality, she would have returned home on her own terms, and I would have been heart sick in the mean time.

I am not sure why the garage door was open. Years ago, with a different, older, garage door  opener, sometimes the garage door would just open of its own accord.  One of my neighbors, who was a police officer in a neighboring town, noticed that, and came by one time when that happened, and talked to me about taking precautions and getting it fixed.  He was right, and I followed his advice about securing the garage door until I could get it fixed, and then, fixing it.

I am hoping, tonight, when I hit the light switch because Sake was in the garage, I inadvertently hit the garage door opener switch, although they are some inches apart.  Otherwise, I have no idea why the outside garage door was open!

I will just keep vigilant about making sure the garage door is closed as it should be.  Otherwise, I have a recalcitrant garage door which I, of course, cannot trust to behave as a garage door should. 

All three cats are safely inside.  The wind has picked up and is making all kinds of rude noises outside. But we are inside. And safe. And, hopefully contented to be inside and safe.

Cutting My Own Hair

Some years ago, I started meeting women who told me they cut their own hair.  I could not imagine it.  I wore a plain blunt cut, and thought if I ever cut my hair it would be so crooked it would be awful.

Some few years ago, my hair started getting wavy.  I changed my straight blunt cut to something with layers and waves. A few weeks ago, I the haircut I paid for was not quite to my satisfaction.  Over the course of a few evenings, I trimmed away at the hair I did not want,  and produced a cute cut for myself. 

This weekend, I cut my hair again. It did not come out quite as cute.  I need the nape of my neck shaved, and it is not as good looking a cut as I wanted.  But, it will do.  I will have to break down and get a professional cut soon.

Maybe I should be more concerned about the look of my hair.  I have never been fashion conscious, and it shows in my dress, hair, and lack of make up.  I am so glad that working in a prison supports professional but not necessarily attention getting style. And, it is nice that I am getting to the age in my life where I can say I have lived long enough, I deserve to be as individualistic as I want to be.

But of course, our age should not dictate that. We should always feel free to be as individualistic as we want to be. But for some reason older aged women are more able to get away with it!

Avoidance

Monday night, I told Sake, before I went to the Catholic Charities board meeting, that on Wednesday night, I was going to cut the mats out of her britches.

Tuesday night, I went to a book club meeting. So, I knew there was no way I wanted to tackle the mats.

Last night, I had a baseball game on TV.  Sake disappeared after dinner. And did not reappear until breakfast.

Tonight, I checked her mats while I was feeding, and they are still there.  And, she disappeared after dinner. This is so unusual.  Do you think she really understood what I said?

Little Scissors

I have a very small penknife that has a very small pair of scissors on it.  I use those scissors for trimming mats on Sake.  She did not like it at first, but over time, I know she has discovered that it can feel good to get some of those mats cut off of her, and sometimes does not object to my using the scissors.

Yesterday, I noticed a mat in the pit of her front leg. It was very hard. Today, I was looking for the little penknife, but I could not find it.  I looked very hard for it. It was not there.  So, as I was running errands today, I bought another one.

This afternoon, Sake was on the counter, and I felt for the mat. It was still there. She let me get the penknife and cut the mat off, without trying to escape.  It must have been bothering her. I am glad I replaced the penknife. And, if the other one shows up, I do not mind having an extra.

Tail Mat

Sake is generally resistant to my efforts to comb out or cut out the matted fur on her body.  I persist, and have some success, anyway.  I have a small knife with a clipper option that I use: it does not have sharp points and is easily disguised in my hand, which makes cutting out mats a little less stressful.. Until she catches on. 

Sake has had a mat in her tail for some time.  I decided that it was time to cut the mat out.  It took several tries, and many objections from Sake, but it happened. 

Mats

Sake has not been doing very well at taking care of her fur lately.  This has happened the last several springs, and I think, as she gets older the contortions to reach the various parts of her body are more difficult.  She has lost some weight, so I would think that might help a little, but if she has arthritis, not much.

I tried working on her side mats, as they are the easiest to get to, and she was just furious. If I touched her tummy mats, she went nuts!  Well, she was outside on the leash the other day, and as she was absorbed in scouting out grass, I was able to pick at some of the side mats. I started working lower another day, and she erupted! 

Well, then I got part of a big mat off of her stomach using the clips on the penknife, and it bothered her, but did not hurt.  The last couple of days, when she has been on the counter, she has let me work at little at a time at the other big mats on her stomach.  I always show her what I have taken off of her, and allow her to smell it, so she knows it is her.  She has gotten a little more tolerant, once again, of the clips.  Yesterday, I found a big mat on my dresser, on top of my bag. right where I could not avoid it.  I think that was intentional, as if she were letting me know she was working at it too.  If I can do a little every day or so, I believe we can get this problem licked.  I let it get too far, but her reaction to my earlier efforts was so violent.  I guess I just had to let it get bad enough.

Grooming

It is well known that grooming, and attention to personal appearance is an indicator of one's mental status in humans.  I think the same must be true of cats. 

Although Sake has always had too much fur, she groomed herself very well when she was younger.  I am not sure when, but sometime in the last 5 or 6 years, she stopped grooming as meticulously, and sometimes would have horribly large mats on her.  And she was very vicious towards me when I tried to take them off.

When Take arrived, Sake had some terrible mats on her britches.  I tried to cut them off, using my surreptitious scissors.  It got to the point where I loosened the mats, and they flapped, but that was as much as Sake would let me do... So, for several days, she walked around with this nasty mat flapping on her.  Then, finally, I grabbed her and cut the mat off. I know if felt better, because since then, she has let me check her britches, and let me cut off budding mats that occur.

But something else has happened:  she is grooming herself again, and keeping the major mats out.

Haiku, on the other hand, always groomed herself well until after Taki arrived. Then, I noticed she started having mats, especially near her hips.  She did not like me to comb them out.  But I did, regularly.  That persisted until Taki had been with us about three and an half months. All of a sudden, Haiku started grooming herself again .

I am not sure what made the difference, but whatever it was, I am glad.