Escape!

As the weeks go by Charlotte is more and more intent on getting out into the garage.  Of all the closed doors, it's the one door she really can't leave along.  She starts crying as soon as we get home (announced by the garage door opener) and is poised, ready to bolt into the garage.

We've mostly learned to open the door ready to scoop her up as we go into the house.  It's harder as we leave - how do you watch your back, open the door, go down the stairs, watch your back, close the door, and constantly watch the kitten who is intent on finding out what is beyond that damned door?  Part of the problem, besides her persistence, is that this door opens out, not in.  With the doors to the outside the door sweeps her away from the door as it opens. 

One time (so far) she managed to get past us.  Raising the garage door a few minutes and lowering it again right away - to get the opener noise to scare here - didn't work at all (that used to send Charlie scrambling to get back to the safety of the house).  Her interest in the garage hasn't waned in the least.  We will want her to patrol the garage at some point, to keep the mice from coming in.  But, she's still just a baby, so we don't want her to be out there yet.  And there are too many places to explore and hide where we can't easily reach her to rescue her if she gets in trouble.

She continues to be mostly very polite about sleeping arrangements.  Sometimes the sleeps in the closet or somewhere else, but for the most part, she sleeps with us and doesn't wake us until around 7am.  If we don't respond "appropriately" she sometimes even goes away and lets us sleep (or try to) some more. 

Her communication is pretty clear.  Simple, but clear.  Little tiny sounds to encourage us to start (or stop) stroking her.  Loud and insistent when we get near the cutting board or fridge.  It didn't take her long to figure out those places most often mean there's going to be food.

She's getting better about how she shares our dinner.  She feels she needs to try our food, but we're teaching her to stay back a bit and not try to climb into our plates (the first few times was hilarious but very frustrating).  Now, we feed her tidbits off to the side and it works for all of us.

Contact!

She may have done it before, but today I saw it for the first time.  Charlotte walked up to Max and rubbed her face on his face.  He didn't really react, but she's trying to make contact.  She's not content to be ignored. 

I don't think Max & Charlotte will have the same relationship that Max and Charlie had.  Charlie would sort of harass Max from time to time, but most of the time they just tolerated each other.  We'll see how Charlotte drives this relationship over the long haul.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing today, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. 

We're thankful Max is still with us and still having good days.

We're thankful for Charlotte (most of the time; after all, she's still a kitten)

We're thankful for snow - that makes it possible to go snowmobiling

We're thankful for our family and friends

We're thankful we're still healthy enough to enjoy the kind of life we live.

Cheap Toy

Charlotte has a new toy that cost us next nothing.  Because she's a curious and smart little kitty, I thought she might like an "exploration" toy.  I sealed a jingly ball ($2 for 6 at the grocery store) in a cardboard box that brought an online purchase to us.  Then I cut a few holes in it - big enough for her paw, too small for the ball to come out.

Then, all I had to do was jingle it a few time by rolling the ball back and forth so she'd hear it.  She had already been making a project of the tissue box, reaching in and messing up the tissues, so I was pretty sure she'd go for the box with holes.

She will spent several minutes at a time fishing for that ball through the various holes.  She goes back to it several times a day.  The hole in the top allows her to go in shoulder deep - in the photo above her right arm is in up to the shoulder.

First really cold morning of the season

Brrr!  It was 11 below zero, but quickly came up to 10 below about the time we got up this morning (around 7:30).  It had bottomed out at 12 below zero.  By 10am it had warmed up to 6 above.  Now, as I write this around noon, it's up to 28, so still below freezing. 

When we were moving here we looked at a weather chart that showed a couple of months that listed "days below 32" and the number of days in the month.  I didn't fully understand that until we got to January and February of that first winter.  That means a couple of months where, on average, no days go above the freezing mark for the high temperature!  I understand it now.  There's nothing like watching the thermometer to see if it gets above zero, or by how much.  And we have a lot of those in the depths of winter.

One of the things about these really cold mornings is hoar frost.  That was another new experience for me.  I had heard of pogonip - frozen fog - when I was a child in the Reno area.  But we get hoar frost with and without fog.  When it's really cold the moisture in the air freezes into tiny "feathers" that cling to surfaces.  Later in the day, as the sun hits the hoar frost, we get "diamond dust" in the air.  Tiny floating ice crystals that sparkle as they float around and to the ground.

Even after 23 winters, I'm still fascinated by the fleeting beauty of hoar frost and "diamond dust".

Vaccinations took a toll

Well, yesterday really took a toll on Charlotte.  She spent most of the day napping on one or the other of us.  She did have a spell late evening when she perked up and chased anything we'd offer.  And she slept through the night, too.  I expect today or tomorrow she'll get back to normal.

To the Vet

This morning Charlotte met Dr. Brooks, our vet for more than 23 years.  She did really well.  She kept retreating into her carrier, but didn't fight or cry.  She got her second kitten shot, as well as her leukemia and rabies vaccinations.  We also had her micro-chipped.  Since we plan for her to travel with us, we want to be able to get her back if she gets lost.  To everyone's surprise she didn't react at all when he injected the chip.  At that point she'd already had 3 vaccinations in about the same spot.  When we got home, after a snack & a big drink of water,she settled in for a chest nap.

We also took Max in.  His hips are getting weaker and weaker.  He can still get up the stairs most of the time, but sometimes he needs help these days.  Also, in the last day or so we noticed his right eye had gotten very red -- not the white part but the iris/pupil area.  Dr. Brooks gave us an ointment & pills to help it heal.  Often this kind of thing will resolve itself, but we wanted to give his system some help with it.