Swag Bag Report PetSafe Water Filtration Part 3-Bad Kittens, Bad Kittens-The Saga Ends

Hello Folks,
It’s Tucker again. I had hoped that the saga of the PetSafe water filter would have been put to rest but no-when you live in a house with kittens you must expect the unexpected.

The female human wrote to the nice PetSafe people to see if she could purchase another plug in thingy to attach to the filter. Sadly, the part is not available. This information proved to be moot when the humans discovered that Al and Oliver had jumped on the counter, whacked the box with the broken filter to the floor and proceeded to play with (and break) the filter.  All the little black things in the filter were scattered around the kitchen and the male human spent some quality time crouched on the floor with a little broom and a scooper thing (but not the same scooper they use for our litter boxes).

Oliver the black and white kitten sleepingThere are no photos of the destruction but I am including a photo of the terrible twosome who were exhausted after their shenanigans. Note the complete lack of remorse.  At least this shows the humans hard work to create a fear-free environment in our home is successful.

Alberto the siamese kitten  streches out for a nap
Will there be a replacement filter? Only time will tell but I would highly recommend that the humans wait until these little rascals settle down a bit.

It’s hard being the Alpha in this household, my kitten training work is not done.
Your friend and beleaguered Alpha of the Tribe of Five,
Tucker_SigInChair

Swag Bag Report PetSafe Water Filtration Part 2-Bad Kittens & Sharp Teeth

Hello Everyone,

Tucker here. Alberto and Oliver were quite thrilled with the new water thingy the human brought home from a place she called #BlogPaws. The nice folks at Pet Safe gifted her with a water filtration system and she asked me to report about it.

Oliver the black and white cat  explores the water bowlIn the first report I described Oliver and Alberto’s fascination with the moving water. As we closed our first chapter, both had posted themselves around the water thingy and looked as if they were there for the night. The humans were congratulating themselves on setting up such a wonderful thing for the Tribe of Five. (There are three of us who are still unconvinced that this set-up beats the cup on the table but time will tell).

Fast forward to this morning when Oliver and Alberto were still at their posts but no water was moving in the bowl. It only took the humans a second to discover the reason. The cord of the power pack had been chewed through in three places. (See exhibits A & B).

cord chewed through by catcord chewed through by kittens
One thing I can say for our humans-they’re not quitters. They found a new power pack and then bought something that looks like a clear worm. I heard the male human say he was going to run the power cord through it. I don’t think the stuff they bought is easily chewable but one must take the determination and diligence of the “chewing twosome” into consideration. Kids, they’re so unpredictable .

clear plastic tubing to protect cords from cats chewing
I’ll follow up as soon as we see how the human’s idea works and in the meantime, Lily, Jasmine and myself will continue to sip out of the cup on the coffee table.

Your Friend,


Walk This Way-Fear Free Leash & Harness Walking

 

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Is Your Feline Ready?
Hello, Alberto here. My brother Oliver and I are quite interested in what goes on outside our house. There are little furry animals running around, large striped creatures who wear Alberto the rescue kitten with the purebred Siamese lookmasks and even big dog-like creatures that the humans call “coyotes”.  I would like to get in the middle of all this action but the humans are having none of it. They did note our restlessness though and a few weeks ago the female human came home with a black thing that had a long tail.

Now I would like to say to all my feline friends that this black thing might not be for you. I am the adventurous type. I never run from the vacuum monster and in fact, love to chase it. My brother Oliver is a lot more timid. When he hears the vacuum monster being wheeled out of its cave, he hightails it downstairs. Purrsonality is important and, as our home is always as fear free as possible, the humans decided I would be the first to try this harness and leash thing.

The Harness Thing
Alberto the Siamese cat walks on a harness and leashThe female human sat down on the floor, holding the black things. I’m always interested in new stuff and so I walked toward her. As soon as I got close I noticed that the black thing smelled great and I wanted to get closer. (I heard the human say she sprayed the black thing with something called “Safe Space” .)   After I sniffed a few minutes, the human reached out, pulled me toward her and slipped something around my neck. Before I could scamper away, she pulled something around my tummy and then snapped it into place. Everything happened quickly and before I knew it, she was standing up and the front door was open.

I took a few steps onto the porch and couldn’t believe my eyes and nose. What a magical place, birds were singing, the breeze was blowing and I could smell that other felines had come to my front porch.

Evidently I was standing too long, because the human picked me up and took me into the place she called ‘the garden”. Wow, what a place. Lots of green stuff to smell and as soon as I found a smell I liked I just rolled around in it. I was having a ball!Al the Siamese cat rolls around on the ground enjoying his harness and leash

 

I’m Wearing Your Harness Thing, Now What?
The human seemed to have a different agenda than I did. She tugged at the contraption I was wearing and I did not like it a bit. Evidently she wanted me to walk in a certain direction. I, on the other hand, had alternate plans. The harder she tugged, the more I rolled around in “the garden”. The long black thing that was attached to me and which she held in her hand kept getting shorter and shorter. She learned quickly that allowing me to implement my plan worked better than having to stop and unwrap the thing from around trees, bushes and plants. I think she learned that our little excursion  would have gone much easier on her had she allowed me to wander my way.

Relax and Smell The Roses
At some point the human realized that I was in charge of this little outing and I could
Alberto the Siamese cat enjoys the smell of the lavender in the garden as he walks on his leashsense she was relaxing (fear free applies to our humans too!) . She let me roam in “the garden” and as a reward, I decided to pose for her next to the cat planter. All the time I was out there, Oliver was sitting in the window, meowing and pacing. It looked like the little scaredy cat wanted to try this harness thing too.

 

Final Mewsings and the Human Speaks
Since the human took me for my first outing in “the garden”, I’ve had several more trips and enjoy this new activity very much. She did make the mistake of remaining outside with me when the male human arrived and opened the big  door that goes up and down that keeps the electronic monsters on wheels inside. This was NOT fun and I let her know quickly that little experience did nothing to further her fear free agenda!  AlbertoPose1

 

From the Human
After observing Oliver’s great distress at being left out of the adventure, I adjusted the harness (Oliver’s girth is much bigger than Alberto’s) and put it on Oliver. My experience with Alberto who is mellow and very compliant, allowed me enough practice so I could put the harness on Oliver much quicker. As you see from the photos, Oliver enjoyed himself thoroughly and I made sure that he wasn’t outside when the “big door” opened.  Also note, the first time I took Al out, I did not have his harness fixed correctly. If you look at the shots of Oliver with the harness you will see the corrrect way to use this harness (ah, live and learn).

OllieWalkiesComposite

 

Our Very Own Catio-Part 1

Hello All,
1212010 003Tucker here. I am writing to tell you about the human’s latest attempt to enrich our lives and make us happy.  This weekend, a long box arrived which contained a catio.

I must go on record here, I do not think a catio is necessary for some of us. I am the Alpha in the Tribe of Five and have done supervised outdoor excursions just fine. Just because there were two little falling off the upstairs balcony incidents, does not mean that I need a catio to enjoy the great out of doors. And just because little Oliver went flying over the short wall in the living room to land downstairs does not necessarily mean that he needs a catio. (Well, maybe Oliver could use one but for those of us who are older and wiser, no catio is needed).

catio1But I digress. The humans opened the box. I sat on my favorite chair and supervised while Oliver and Alberto raced over to check things out. Those kittens are very “paws on” when it comes to a project.   As the humans attempted to extract the items from the box, the kittens carefully inspected everything.catio3

catio4The first thing we noticed was that the humans had received a box in a box, very cool and very thoughtful of the humans to order extra boxes!  This is a photo of the second box., which contained the catio item. Evidently the catio is called “Happy Habitat”, I’ll be the judge as to whether a tent is happy or a habitat. Frankly, I cannot see me squeezing all of my 16 pounds into anything small enough to fit in that box!

 

catio5The humans extracted a long bag from the second box. As you can see, Alberto is a bit perplexed as to how this can be happy or a habitat. Look at that long skinny bag, even the svelte and lanky Alberto would be hard pressed to fit into it. Humans, you may have wasted your money!

But then something interesting happened. The humans pulled a big black net-thing from that long skinny bag. Oliver was there catio6to inspect every inch of it and to help. of course.

 

The humans spent considerable time reading the paper that was sewn into the black bag. They pulled and tugged and mumbled  and then all of a sudden that flat, netting thing popped up into a big tent. The humans were rethinking their plan of setting up the Happy Habitat in the house. I must say, I was impressed that something that big came out of that skinny black bag!

The female human unzipped the door in the front and the kittens wasted no time in running in and inspecting the inside of the apparatus. They were quite intrigued and gave catio7it a paws up.  The humans then set themselves the task of removing the kittens and learning how to collapse the tent and fit it back in the skinny black bag. Although I love the humans, I have to say they were a bit slow in figuring it out. Finally, they saw the two (clearly marked with orange) tags where they were supposed to squeeze, when they squeezed, the whole thing folded up and all they had to do was wrap the netting around it to get it back in the narrow black bag.

Once the humans were confident in their ability to open and close the Happy Habitat. they took it out on the upstairs deck and popped it open. They then unzipped the door and invited us all to enter. Oliver and Al wasted no time in heading in and Lily joined them as well. I, on the other hand, had no interest in being in a tent with those three so I sauntered away back into the house.

Our upstairs deck isn’t tiny and that tent took up a lot of space which did make it roomy enough for three felines. I heard the human saying something about putting a bed and a carpet covered perch in there. Now, if they say they’ll be filling the habitat with snacks, I just might be persuaded to check it out.

This is the end of my first report, stay tuned for more and here’s a short video of Alberto, Oliver and Lily enjoying the great outdoors on our upstairs deck. Evidently the humans also ordered some sort of net tunnel that connects to the Habitat (like I’m going to squeeze myself through a tunnel, I think not!)

Until next time, your friend,
img_1109-1

 

 

Can’t a Cat Get a Little Relaxation?

Hello Folks,

Alberto here. It’s a tough life being the official spokespurrrson of the Kitty Cat Pawty. Sometimes a cat just needs to relax and watch a little TV. The problem is, the humans have total control of the little, black thing they refer to as the “clicker”.

img_2001They use this clicker to choose what appears on the flat, black screen. I happen to know there is interesting stuff that can be summoned on that screen. I’ve seen birds fly, people chasing balls and a guy with a guitar case who knows how to help kitties calm down (hmm, wonder if he could come and help me out with the stress of my job).

I’ve watched the humans work that clicker thing and I have surmised that opposable thumbs are not required so why don’t they give me a shot at selecting the nightly entertainment?  But nooooo, they call the shots and so I sit and wait to see at least one shark swim by as they watch something called “Shark Tank”.


Your friend,

BlogPaws Conference

Hello Folks,
AlPressBoxAlberto here. As the official spokespurrson for the Kitty Cat Pawty and Oliver and Olive’s campaign I have also been named spokespurrson for this blog.  I am pleased to announce that the Tribe of Five (with the financial help of the humans) is sending the female human to the BlogPaws conference in Phoenix this month.

We’re excited because the human is giving away campaign buttons on Oliver’s behalf in conjunction with Olive’s human at Three Chatty Cats.

I will be receiving updates from the human while she’s at the conference and reporting on all the goings on.

OllieOliveBtnIn the meantime, get your button  (one button is given away each day and buttons will be handed out at the BlobPaws conference) and look for our human and Olive’s human at the conference (they’ll be wearing the Kitty Cat Pawty buttons.

Your friend and reporter,
img_1067-4

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The Night Watch

Hello Human’s,

Oliver here. I thought I’d take a break from my purrrlitical campaigning and share my more reflective side. The female human says this title is from a famous Rembrandt painting but I’ve never heard of that cat so I’m using it.



Your friend,

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The Case Against The Kittens

Hello folks Tucker here,

There were some exciting goings on in the wee hours of the morning.  I was cuddled comfortably in my favorite chair when I heard a loud “thump”. After the “thump” there were loud rolling sounds as though a small train was traveling through the living room.

The noise subsided and I went back to sleep. I was awakened next by the sound of a door slamming and then crashes and bangs emanating from the laundry room.

The female human came out of the bedroom to investigate the noises  and as it appeared the human was on the job, I went back to sleep.

It was only after I’d been served my breakfast and the humans discussed their take on the previous night’s events that I heard the damning evidence against Alberto and Oliver.

Evidently the first “thump” was Alberto stealing a spaghetti squash from the veggie basket, knocking it to the floor and then viciously attacking the offending squash. (See photo-Exhibit B).

After tiring of the squash attack he and Oliver headed to the laundry room where their shenanigans resulted in the accidental closing of the door. They proceeded to dismantle the room in order to attract attention and facilitate a rescue. (See photo-Exhibit A)


Never a dull moment with the Tribe of Five. 

Enjoy your Caturday, I’m heading off to make up for my lost sleep.