Campus Cats

Cali went to her first Campus Cats meeting today. I think it's rather neat that this tiny feral kitten I caught under an air conditioning unit at the end of summer almost two years ago is now helping raise awareness for the rest of her siblings which are still living on the campus as part of the colony. She had a good time, she got to meet several new professors as well in her wanderings around campus before the meeting. She was tired and cranky though when we got home and showed her cattitude but a nice little cat nap and her outlook seemed to improve.

Temporary kitty

I've not been posting because I've had a temporary 4th cat. Smokey my dad's barn cat was injured and has come to stay with me while he heals. This is an older picture of him. He used to be rather feral but in his old age he's mellowed quiet a bit so he seems to be doing ok inside. The windows freak him out a bit since they front the back yard so he sees the dogs a lot. I think he's worried they can come get him so he's spent a lot of time in his crate, which is ok and is stuff full of soft warm blankets for him to lay on while he heals.

I can tell he's feeling some better today because he did not want to take his pill and he let me know in no uncertain fashion that he didn't. Lots of growling and general difficulty but he finally took it, which was good because I had to hoof it to work. It's good to have him feel up to making that much of a fuss. He was a rather sick kitty just a few days ago so I can at least tell that the medicine is working.

He'll probably be staying for at least a week, possibly longer depending on how he is healing. he had 8 days of medicine to take but he has a gash so until that heals he can't go outside and here he has the company of his kitty friends. Cali and Suki remembered him. Casper of course did not but there's just been some hissing and that's about it.

Busy day!

I drove a half hour to my dad's house today because his tom cat was ill. Did that after spending all morning cleaning my house in preparation for tomorrow when friends are coming over. What I need now is a good nap! It was all worth it though to have my Cali come cuddle up and sleep on my foot. She's a good foot warmer and since she is rarely a cuddly girl this is a treat for me. She's still sleeping exactly like that, even as I type this. Sweet baby :)

Cali story

When Cali was a little kitty I took her to my grandparents house. She went over often since they lived next door to my dad. It was Sunday dinner so the family was there as well as some friends who had also come to lunch. Cali was enjoying all the people. She loved to explore the house and jump up on the hearth, look in the toy box and so forth.

It was the first cold day and my grandparents have a set of gas logs. they turned them on to help keep the front of the house warm since everyone was a bit chilly since we were not used to the cold yet. Cali was running around like usual and jumped on the hearth and then jumped around the grate and into the fire! She jumped out just as fast of course!

Luckily she wasn't any worse for the wear, except for her whiskers which were all curled from the heat. I looked up stuff that said not to trim them but she kept messing with them, trying to bite them so I trimmed the curled ends off for her in the end and she seemed a lot happier. My dad's girlfriend is a nurse and she looked her over. She didn't even burn her paws. Lucky kitty!

Cali went to class again!

So Cali went back to the university today. She likes riding in the car and was quiet excited as you can see from this picture. That's her with her little harness on and then I use a doggie seat belt adapter to buckle her in to her seat so that in the event of an accident she stays in her seat. It annoys her a bit but she puts up with it to travel.

Cali is not a big fan of elevators as you can see, she just wants off this thing. She would much rather me carry her up the stairs. It's easier for her than walking I'm sure. I think it's the disorientation that gets her though with elevators really.

Then we stopped by the office for a few minutes. She always enjoys that. We shut the doors so she was able to be off leash though I had to make sure she didn't get into my bosses plants, something she is prone to doing.

After hanging out there we went to class for a bit, which she really enjoyed. She wandered

around and said HI! to the students then took a snooze in a back corner while the class watched a movie.

Then we went to see hubby and some of his friends who were also quiet taken with this

strange cat that walks on a leash.

Then we came home and she's taking a much deserved nap. Busy day for an itty bitty calico kitty.

Casper in the window

It was warm today. Hard to believe just a few weeks ago we were snowed in, unable to even get out of our drive way. Today it was almost 70! Knowing it will get cold again makes me a little sad. I'm so ready for spring, and even more for summer! Opened all the windows in the house (not counting those painted shut that is) and let in the fresh air.

Got a surprise this evening. The girls love sitting in the open windows and go from room to room looking out all day. Casper on the other hand finds the outside here scary. Too many loud cars going by, too much bass blasting. He was staying away from the open windows. Then tonight after his dinner he jumped up in the window, he's been sitting there for a few hours now and even went poof at Cali to keep his spot, which is even better because that's pretty clear kitty communication as well as standing up to her, two things he hasn't done well in YEARS! I may never know what started to bring about these changes, the move to being fully inside, the switch to wet food, the living in close proximity to the other two, and really I don't care. He's doing so well and I'm just grateful he's getting better.

Loooooong week

I know I've not been posting. It's been a long week. I'm still getting used to these days where I have to be at work at 8am, which is totally out of sync with my body's natural clock. So mostly I've been too tired to post.

The kitties are doing well. Casper seems to be doing more cat-ish things. He's been blinking at me consistently. I've even noticed him grooming more. His fur certainly is softer. All these seem to me to be good signs, signs that his brain may be healing more. Just a little earlier he even came up into the living room and was stalking around. I think he was impatient for dinner but hey whatever helps. I'll take all the good signs I can get.

I was going to take Cali to class today but the weather was so blah that I just stayed on campus. Went by the office, was late for class after meeting with my boss, who is awesome. I need to start working on that presentation for class. I'm excited to present my research. One of my other professors also gave me a flier for a conference in Indiana about human animal relations that I'm going to try to get my paper ready for. We'll see how it goes!