Feline Freedom

The house has a doggy door.  The "furkids" didn't know about it until a couple days ago.  We has stuffed a pillow inside it, sandwiched between the inner & outer security covers.  With springtime bringing warmer temperatures we decided ti open it & teach them how to use it.

Charlotte got it very quickly.  She is now going in & out many more times per day than ever before.  We no longer need to worry whether she is in or out when we're ready to leave or to go to bed.  We know she'll let herself in , or out, when she's ready.

For Marley it's a whole different story.  The door was installed for a Boston bull terrier (Tom's mom's dog).  Lois's dog, Missy, would almost fly through that opening.  The bottom of the opening is only about 4 inches off the floor.  Marley is somewhat higher than that.  The height inside the opening is right for a Boston.  Marley's deep chest just fits through the opening ... one way.  The flap is two pieces: a smaller flap pushes outward, inside a larger flap that pushes inward.  Marley can hunker down & come inside, but is too big to go out the smaller flap.  So far, he will only come through it if we actively encourage him.  He'd rather stand tall, & come through the people door, instead of having to drag himself inside.

 Marley has to lower his head just to look out the door

We've discussed getting a bigger doggy door so Marley can use it comfortably.  Then we discussed waiting until we see how the mushrooms are this year.  More importantly, we've also discussed waiting until after the new garage is built and we put that part of the fence back up.  We're going to have to take down some of the fence for access & construction.  The doggy door is on the side of the house that would be a nightmare to rearrange the fence in a way that would work for construction, access to the house and dog security.  So, we'll probably separate the front & back yards & keep Marley to the front until it's all put back together.

"Fur kids" in cahoots again

Well, they've been at it again.  As I was bumbling around starting the morning routine, first I heard Marley chewing on a hard toy.  When I was heading back to the living room after letting him out, I saw a dark "ball" on the floor.  Hmmm?  It was somewhat dark still since I only turn on the kitchen LED strip under the counters, on the lowest setting, and the lamp in the corner of the living room at this time of day.  When I picked it up ... DAG NABBIT ALL TO H*** !!  It was the lid to my favorite coffee mug.

I like the covered travel mugs because I can sip my coffee over the course of an hour to four hours while keeping it warm enough to enjoy.  The current pair of mugs were welcome gifts from the credit union and the best we've had so far at keeping our coffee hot.

The best I can guess, since I found my cup on the floor in the kitchen, is that Charlotte was cruising the counter, checking for mice, and bumped the cup to the floor.  This is not the first time she's knocked something off a counter or table that Marley then decided was OK to eat/chew/destroy.  At that point, Marley has a target.  For once it's something of mine instead of Tom's.  He probably resisted temptation for a while, but eventually, he took it.

I don't know if I slept through a "request" (read demand) that I get up somewhere between 6:15 & 7:00 or if he just decided to be up without me.  In the past he'd chew up stuff when I didn't get up when he started his stamping & whining & groaning routine, and he was bored all by himself (or whatever reason led him to the chewing-on-human's-stuff sessions).

At first I though the threads having been breached was why it leaked.  Then, as I set it up for a photo,  I realized it has a gasket for the stopper and it was off track.  I was able to get it back in place and get it at least 98% leak-free.

So, what did I do to Marley?  I picked it up & held it out toward him and asked him "what did you do?" in a very stern voice.  He's sensitive enough that for several hours he skipped the parts of his morning routine and went straight to lap time, trying to suck up.  Even when I started encouraging him to return to "normal" he was reluctant for a while.  He knew he did wrong.  He was very submissive & withdrawn.  Later he returned to pretty much normal, demanding/asking for his daily activities.  He thinks we're playing, but a lot of it really is one kind of training or another.

Adaptable & versatile

It finally dawned on me ... Marley has learned to play hard with the big rough puppies at the Sunday Puppy Play sessions, to play a bit more gently with the not-so-rough puppies and to play like a cat when he plays with Charlotte.

When he plays with the puppies, he gets in and is as rough as they want to be, without anybody getting hurt.  He learns to respect any dog request to back off, well up to a point anyway.  Each week his play style is a little different.  He often will lay on his side, as if exhausted, just waiting for one of the pups to make advances.

For once I was just watching Charlotte & Marley play.  Not thinking or adding any notions to what I was seeing. And I realized he would stand & square off with her in that semi-sideways posture that cats get, each one trying to look bigger & fiercer than the other, until one of them would lunge and the wrestling would begin.  And it dawned on me, they've been playing that way for a while.  Charlotte plays and incites and teases the way a cat does.  Marley responds by playing the way she has taught him.

Smart little guy, isn't he?  And Charlotte is doing a good job of training him to play like a kitty so she has a companion she can trust not to hurt her. 

Turn about ...

After months of Marley whining, barking or otherwise fussing when Charlotte wanted to come back in the house, last night Charlotte kept meowing at us to let Marley back in the house.

We'd been trying to put him off until a commercial break, but she was face to face with him at the sliding glass door, then turning to us and meowing.   So, we let him in.

No matter how much they "wrestle" and no matter how many times she's complained when he got too rough, it seems they really do like each other.

The devil was in Marley this morning ... had to sacrifice an angel

Nothing like starting your morning by sacrificing an angel. Really. Cutting her wide open.

When our puppy Marley demanded I get up around 7am (as he does every morning) I told him to "go back to bed" (as I do some mornings) and as he does when I try to get a few more winks ... he went and found something to destroy. This time the cat contributed to the problem - she tossed around one of the little rubber duckies (an angel & devil pair) we had on the inner ledge of the tub to a place he could reach it. When I did get up (only about 5 minutes after 7) there was part of the devil duck on the carpet just outside the bathroom. Worse ... there were a few pieces of red plastic and a couple of button batteries on the living room carpet. Oh, crap! How may batteries did the devil duck start with?

So, I had to sacrifice the angel to know how many batteries ... there were THREE. So, a quick research on the internet, followed by a call to the vet. Followed by setting up the bathroom and giving him an appropriate dose of hydrogen peroxide and recovering the battery. Since it was dead, it was unlikely it could have "zapped" his intestine (killing spots), but it could still potentially corrode enough on the way through to burn or poison him. 

 

 

Sacrificed angel and destroyed devil and all 3 batteries (after the peroxide)  and angel looking intact to show they were cute little floaters.

Snow Monster & Little Lady

I'm not sure what we'll do come summer.  I expect to make snow cone snow (shave ice) for Marley at least once in a while.  Now, every time Tom puts on outdoor gear (rain & wind pants over his jeans, heavy boots, and so on) Marley goes nuts, just knowing he's going to get shovel fulls of snow in his face.  Or at least snowballs chucked out into the yard.  He is a snow fanatic.  He leaps up to catch it.  He lets it hit him and disintegrate.  He sniffs & digs for the lost snowballs.

The down side to making "snow" for him will be that once we do it the first time he'll expect us to do it again the same time the next day.  And the next ... and the next ... and ...

Looks like Charlotte has decided to do what it takes to keep living with us.  This morning I found 3 pee lumps and a poo lump in the box.  We're checking & scooping the box just about every time we go into the bathroom.  We're feeding her most any time she asks but each time she gets less than half of a scoop instead of a whole scoop (scoop being 1/4 cup).  We figure if we try to keep her happy she'll keep using the box.

She's chewing on his nose

This morning Marley is quietly mauling Charlotte again.  Today, in addition to wrapping her "arms" around his neck and grabbing his legs and so on, I looked over and saw her chewing on his muzzle.  Then she worked her way down to his nose ... she must be chewing gently because he didn't even really react.

Things are looking up

We're finding pee & poop in the litter box every day.  She's not bothered by one of us being in the room.  Yesterday she came & jumped in the box while I was at the washbasin; today she was in the box when I got up and went in to use the bathroom.  If she keeps it up, she has a "forever" home.  But, she'll remain on probation for a while, just to be sure.

Marley has started showing signs of his training and maturing starting to "take".  A little tug on the leash when he starts to pull works around the house, worked somewhat in the Home Depot yesterday.  Trying to get him to calm down when greeting people is starting to show a little improvement.  Once he even sat without being told to when a person approached.

Charlotte turned a year and 4 months on the 14th of December.  Marley will turn 8 months old on New Year's Day.

The mock battles continue.  I think it's just the way they get along.  They're both young and full of energy.  It's a reasonable way to work out the excess.

So far ... so good

We are now on day 3 of finding "goodies" in the litter box with the clay clumping litter.  Whether it's the open top she prefers or the clay litter over the walnut litter we may never know.  As long as it's working ... that's what we'll go with.

Marley continues to gently maul Charlotte.  Trying to keep him from mauling her is a losing proposition.  She starts at least a quarter of these sessions.  In fact, this morning I saw her pull hard enough on the side of Marley's mouth that I could see she was pulling ... a nice little "tent" near his mouth.  We've seen her leap up and grab him around his neck or grab a mouthful of his back leg. 

I think they like each other.  It's hard to tell, though, if he sees her as a playmate or as a toy.  She will occasionally make an unhappy sound, but will continue to "fight back".  She could easily go to the top of some furniture or into the guest room to get away from him, but only seems to do so when she wants a long undisturbed nap.

Good news Bad news

Well, the good news is Charlotte doesn't have any health issues.  The bad news is she doesn't have any health issues, so there's no quick fix for her inappropriate elimination behavior.

We're on a watch and see basis right now.  If she goes back to using the box, our biggest concern is her getting lost when we're on the road.  If she continues to use the couch (or any other spot she shouldn't) we have to consider finding her a home with no other pets, with people who will let her in & out frequently.

She's really a sweet kitty.  She tolerates what the vet needs to do.  She puts up with Marley treating her like another puppy.  She even starts some of the "play" sessions.  She sometimes sleeps between us for a while, under the covers.  She sometimes gets some lap time - with or without Marley.

But, she wants to be outside and she wants to be inside.

We'll keep thinking, hoping the perfect solution will come along.

Marley was out of sorts all day yesterday.  It was like he wanted/needed something but didn't know what it was.  We babied him a little (more than usual), but he just had to deal with it.

Now that Charlotte's back home he really wants to play with her.  She really wants to check all over and make sure home is still the same as it was a few days ago.  It is, except there are now 2 litter boxes in the bathroom.  The covered one with the walnut litter and the tall one with the fine clay litter.  We like the walnut litter because it clumps as well as the clay, but doesn't develop an odor like clay does (you scoop often but it starts to smell like pee) and it's biodegradable, unlike the clay.  But, we'll use whichever she chooses at this point.  

Video - Brave Little Kitty

I took a video the other day as Charlotte and Marley were playing.  Sometimes it seems he's just mauling her.  Other days she's the aggressor.

Keep in mind, she weighs about 10 pounds and he weighs well over 50 pounds.  He's as rough as he can get away with, yet doesn't hurt her.  She attacks, but has never laid claw or tooth on him.

Ice Cube Feet

Charlotte is trying to get used to the snow on the ground.  She often goes only a couple feet from the door before coming back in.  But, sometimes she does go further out.  Last night she was out for several hours.  When she came back in about 3:40am - because Marley had to go potty (or wanted me to let her in) - and after a quick snack, she warmed her feet the best way she knew how.

A little while after coming in, as I was still trying to find the most comfortable position, she came to the bed and to the top of the covers.  She comes to the top to request I lift them a bit so she can crawl under with us.  Sometimes she snuggles her full body length along my belly or butt.  Not last night.

Imagine if you were almost asleep, warm & snug in bed, when suddenly someone sticks 4 little ice cubes against your back!  Yeah, that's what it felt like  Needless to say, the drifting off to sleep process had a bit of a setback.  Lucky for me she warms quickly.  Soon the ice cubes turned to tiny heaters. 

That's why I let it happen.

So, it's a little strange around here

Winter is setting in.  We're getting near and below freezing temperatures pretty regularly and the rain is trying very hard to turn into rain.  Charlotte is spending more and more time inside.  She is hooked on the soft glacial soil* for her toilet though, I think, since she will ask to go outside, then come back a few minutes later.  We rarely find she's used her litter box.  We're not finding "presents" or "surprises", just not seeing a lot of litter box use.

Her appetite has increased enormously.  Where once she seemed to be happy with 2 small (1/4 cup) scoops a day, she wants her dish filled every time she comes in.  We're trying to find a happy medium between a happily full kitty and a fat kitty.  She also expects to be offered her "Temptations" treats every time she comes in, and really, really expects them when we tempt her inside by telling her we'll give her some.  Her taste for them really ramped up when we found the tuna flavor.  While she's eating those out of our hand Marley is feeling left out, so we "accidentally" drop one or two for him here & there while she's munching.  It's not unusual for a dog to want to eat cat food.  That's why her dish is on our dresser - one of the few places Marley can't reach.

One of Marley's favorite treats is licking the spoon after we give Charlotte her quarter can of wet food at the end of the day.  He still jumps up and tries to snatch the spoon.  He misses getting the "empty" can at the end of the four day cycle.  We used to let him have them and he'd lick out all the "good stuff", then chew on the can.  When he chewing getting pieces of aluminum out of the can.  It's a struggle to keep the can in my hand for him to lick the juices, but I can't let him have cans anymore.

Charlotte has shown she's not above eating dog food and dog treats when she's hungry.  In the last few days she's finished his kibble, eaten Milk Bone Minis off the table.  It IS unusual for a cat to eat dog food.  Cat food is higher in protein & fat than dog food, so they usually will pass it up.  Not Charlotte.

So, we have a dog that will eat cat food and a cat that will eat dog food.  And they still rough house together.  Marley treats her rougher than we'd like, but she will start a session at least every day or two.  Go figure.


*Our soil has a consistency similar to a hard wheat flour - more substantial than dust, less than sand.  It's really soft and easy to move.  And it only seems to hold water in the top quarter inch or so.  This area was once under the huge Missoula glaciers that carved the Clark Fork River all the way to Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho.

A bad night out

The other night it was dark when we got home from Marley's class.  Tom was unloading the car in the dark, bringing in the groceries.  He left the back hatch open the whole time as he made the needed trips to & from the house.  After a few minutes the interior lights go out.  Since Charlotte is dark gray and it was dark outside (the porch lights don't reach out that far), he didn't see that she'd jumped inside the car.  He closed it up and we finished our evening as usual.

Toward bedtime we expected her to come in.  No sign of her.  When Marley had his last trip out for the night we expected her to come in.  No sign of her.  Tom called her.  Tom offered her "crunchies".  No sign of her.  That happens some times. 

In the morning we expected her to come in, maybe even complaining, first time Marley went out.  No sign of her.  Later in the morning, still no sign.  Finally, Tom went and looked in the car.  There she was, curled up on the front seat.  She was quite happy to come in with him.

Today, while we were on mushroom patrol, she came and joined in the fun.  I got a bit worried because as I'd point out the bleeping 'shrooms, she'd come check them out.  I started to worry she might try to nibble them and we'd be taking her to the vet.  I can't imagine dealing with a cat and mushroom poisoning - they don't deal well with confinement.  She was happy to some inside out of the snow with us, though.  So, all is well for now.

Everybody to the vet

This morning it was time for Charlotte's annual (now biennial) trip to the vet.  At a year and a quarter she weighs in at 10 pounds.  We weighed her in her crate, then they weighed her crate without her and wrote the crate weight on it so next time we can just plop her on the scale and do the math.

She's nice & healthy.  She didn't seem too upset by what was going on, even when she was restrained and when she got her 3 shots (she gets rabies shots since she spends a lot of time outside and she hunts).

Her crate smelled of pee - not sure if it was old pee that her body heat warmed or if it was fresh, since I gave her no opportunity to use the litter box before we left.  I just scooped her up from a nap and put her in the crate.  Either way, the towels get washed and put back in the crate for next time. 

Surprisingly, she didn't protest or resist going back in the crate when Dr. Hopkins was done with her.  Not surprisingly, as soon as we were home and she was out of the crate (in the house) she took the next opportunity to go outside.  Surprisingly, she was in her nest box on the porch when we got back from post office.  I had expected her to disappear over to the garage or out in the ferns somewhere for several hours.  Maybe she's really appreciating the warmth of the house.

What about Marley?  He is getting used to the car barrier.  We just couldn't risk him jumping from back to front at a bad time.  He'd just stand on the front edge of the back seat, then suddenly he'd be in flight to Tom's lap and feet.  Having Charlotte crying in her carrier seemed to let him know how much "worse" it could be for him.  And letting her loose in the car with him ... NOT GONNA HAPPEN.  Never.  No way.  That could get us all killed.

We did take Marley inside to weigh him.  Our vet has a nice, big walk-on scale with digital readout.  He's now at 51.8 pounds.  He's 6-1/2 months old.  He's going to weigh more than Max (about 70 pounds, mostly hair, tall and lean) and maybe more than Una (about 80 pounds).

Looks like this is going to wind up being a small cat, big dog family.  And that's just fine with us.

Charlotte is staying in more ... most of the time

As the nights consistently drop into the mid to low 30s Charlotte is spending a lot more time inside with us.  She'll go out and be back within 5 minutes or so.  She'll be gone a while, then show up shortly after we turn on the porch lights (we do it to "call" her in the dark).  She's started seeking more physical contact again, too.  Lap time.  And under the covers time.

Last night she not only spent quite a while under the covers with us, she stayed while I made a potty break.  When I was settling back in I felt to see if she was still there, then petted her a little.  I moved my hand away and almost immediately she reached over to pull my hand back to rest on her shoulders.

I plan to work on getting her used to her harness, then add the leash.  Maybe that will be a way to get her outside, and keep her too.  Of course, it's almost impossible to hunt on a leash ...

He wanted me to let her out

This morning we had a 3am potty run.  Marley needed to pee, so did I.  No big deal.  Well, it's getting to be a bigger deal than before because most nights now he sleeps (or rests) all the way until nearly 7am.  But this time, right after we came back in, before I could even get myself snuggled fully back into the covers, he started whimpering.

This was the same whimper & whine as when he needs to go out.  At first I thought he was just jealous of Charlotte being able to eat in the bedroom (on top of the dresser).  But, he continued and he got more insistent.  So, back up, put the robe back on, put the Crocs back on, get the flashlight, get the leash, and out we go.  Well, he doesn't need to pee.  He doesn't need to poop.  We stroll out, then right back into the house.  But, Charlotte is now outside and happy and Marley is ready to go back to bed.

Later this morning I saw not only was Charlotte on the guest bed (she seems to be claiming it for her own) but Marley was up there with her, one leg over her and nobody was making a fuss.  Does it mean they're going to begin to snuggle & sleep together at some point?  Maybe.  He looked like he was ready to be yelled at for being on the bed (as I've done before) or for harassing the cat (as I've done before).  Since they weren't actively fighting or wrestling or playing hard I decided to let it slide.  Was it a mistake?

Learning continues

Marley has attended his first weekly Puppy Play Time at the "local" Petco (it's in Sandpoint, ID, 70 miles or so from here).  He was fairly timid at first.  He's gotten so much better as he experiences more things; he was frightened of almost everything at first, but has gained confidence as we expose him to as much as we can.  There were 4 tiny dog puppies and a husky (or similar) when we joined the group.  The husky is so timid she didn't want to participate and hid behind "mama's" legs almost the whole hour.  Apparently she's done that for weeks.  Everyone is hoping she gains some confidence.  There was one puppy, not part of the session, that started crying in fear at the sight of Marley.  It looked like it might be a barely weaned German Shepherd or similar  type of

Shortly after the trainer put a fence across the play area, thinking to keep Marley & Willow (the husky) on one side and the braver little puppies on the other, Maya arrived.  Maya is an 8 month chocolate lab, full of energy.  She barreled right in and was convince Marley would play the way she wanted to play.  He did get brave enough to "check credentials" (sniff butt & such) and kind of play with her, but she has a lot of energy and he wasn't really sure what was going on.  The two of them were too much for Willow, so she went to the little puppy side.  She did sniff noses with one or two of them, but pretty much stayed under the bench, behind "mom's" legs.

Then Duke arrived.  Duke is a golden retriever, older than Maya, and even more energetic.  He pushed Marley to the point he cried and tried to hide with us.  The trainer said that it was 100% OK for Marley to let Duke (or Maya) know they were pushing him too hard - his puppy yips or snarls were a pretty clear message.  Duke didn't want to hear it and the trainer got a little physical (nothing mean, just very dominant) with him to slow him down a bit.

The trainer also brought a couple of the braver little dog puppies over into the big dog area to see how they'd do.  One was overwhelmed right away, the other was pretty confident. 

Even though it's 70 miles round trip, we need to make sure Marley can learn to get along with other dogs (people are no problem, as long as they pet him, feed him treats, etc) and this is a safe way to start since everyone there wants them to get along and there's a trainer to help with some of the things that are less intuitive for us.

So, what about Charlotte?  She's spending more time in the house now that it's getting cooler.  She's never liked being cold.  Sometimes it seems she only wants to come in, eat and leave, other times it seems she goes out just long enough to eliminate (or whatever she does out there) and wants right back in.  We won't leave food out for her, but we are going to make a really well insulated cozy refuge on the porch for her, for when we're asleep or gone - at least it will be shelter from the weather. 

Sometimes when she comes in she zips right past him, headed for the kibble or a hiding space.  Other times she comes in itching for a ruckus an starts right in jumping on him, getting really feisty and then the mayhem seems so real.  But, no blood, no fur, no screaming ... it must be fun.

Hunting kicks up a notch

Charlotte is really getting into the hunting.  We've had a total of 6 mice (that we know of) in the house.  One died in the dishwasher, one died in a trap and Charlotte ate the other four.  She's gotten quicker about eating her prey.  And while we think she ate the first two mice (they disappeared between times we checked on her); we her eat the last two, so we know she's eating what she catches. 

This morning she caught and quickly at a bird.  From seeing her stalking to when it was gone was only a minute or two.  I was busy with Marley, so the bird had no chance of rescue.  I think she probably killed it at the first strike since she laid it on its back and it never moved.

I'd rather she stick to mice and such, but an outdoor cat needs to be able to fend for itself in case there's a reason it can't come inside to the cushy food bowl and bed.

We make sure the traps are put away and the cupboards are either open or that she can open them when she's in the house.  She's able to track them down rather than wait for them to find, and trigger, the traps.  It also gives her a reason to come back inside.  And, with the hunting she's not eating near as much kibble. 

Killers!

With the cooler wetter weather we've been invaded by mice.  First it was one mouse that got away from Charlotte.  It found the trap under the kitchen sink.  We thought we'd taken care of the problem.  Then we started having more mice.  We've made sure Charlotte has access to all the spaces we've seen or heard mice.  She's caught and eaten at least 3.  The latest one, I woke to noises in the bathroom. Charlotte was chasing, catching & releasing another mouse.  That was her second one yesterday.

Marley was "helping" her.  He's not quite sure what's going on, what the mouse it, but he wanted to get involved.  When he wanted to take it out of the bathroom, I had to draw the line and close the door to keep him from taking it to the living room or other area with more hiding places.  In the end Charlotte ate it, confirming for us that she is eating them, not just letting them go again in the house.

I think between the two of them we shouldn't need the mousetraps any more.