Sunday, August 16, 2009

Catican Update

Our experiment with the Catican has had limited success. To review, the Catican is the area in the garage (all of it right now until we finish unpacking) where our Maximum Leader lives most of the time. There is a cat door into the side and backyards that are cat-safe, i.e. free of coyotes. Our Maximum Leader is allowed in the house when people are home. We limit her time in there because my new wife is allergic to her.

Our Maximum Leader has grown quite fat. It turns out she doesn't like the side yard or the backyard because of our dog, Bodie, and the neighbor's dog. She likes eating and sleeping in the garage. The house has been a bit of a bust, too. The couch where she would hang out was Bodie-accessible and therefore unpleasant. Her presence on the couch also caused my wife to sneeze. With enough noodling, however, almost any problem can be solved.

First, our coyote problem is confined to nighttime. Our Maximum Leader isn't much of a wanderer any more as she's turning 10 this year, so letting her out into the front yard in the day time works well. To solve the indoor problem, we got her a nice cat tree from Petco (on sale - about 40% off!) that is just the right height to avoid the dog and allow her followers to pet her and tell her how wonderful she is. Which they all do.

Finally, we moved her off of Science Diet Lite and onto Prescription Diet r/d. It's designed for chubby kitties who might be getting diabetes. She doesn't have any of the symptoms, but it's a good precaution. Fortunately, she likes it. I don't have a cat scale here, but I'd love to watch her weight drop. I might see if I can find one on eBay for cheap.

In any case, here she is, overflowing out of the top perch in her new cat tree, waiting for everyone to come and pet her.

3 comments:

KidsBuzz said...

Aw, that is just too cute. I want a cat tree in our new house when we move.

Mostly Nothing said...

Give her a nice scratch under the chin for me.

Socks, at 17, is pretty much an indoor cat now. He looks out the window but rarely cares to go out.

He's got a hyper-thyroid, and so has trouble keeping weight on. Other than that, he's still alert and active. Moving from Sam's room where he sleeps in the morning, all the way to the dining room where he sleeps in the afternoon, is hard work. Often, he'll stop and take a nap at the top of the stairs or under the piano bench.

It's just go go go for him.

Aspiring For a Penname said...

If anyone in your fam has a pretty standard weight (as in not as fluctuating as mine. . .) They can hold your kitty and stand on a normal scale. Put kitty down and subtract happy-kitty-holding human's weight. Voila!!!

Write it down somewhere and compare later to kittys slim n' trim weight. (If he can stick to his New Year's Resolutions)