#AtoZChallenge O

Hi There,
Oliver here. Today I’m blogging the letter “O” which stands for “Opine”. The name of our blog is “Feline Opines” and some folks have asked us what “opine” means. The official definition is to “hold and state, as one’s opinions”. Opining is more than speaking, opining is The Tribe of Five letting you know exactly how we see the word and what we think of what we see.

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Oh good grief, ,can you believe the Humans said that?!

So, I hope that has cleared up a few questions.
black and white cat OliverPurrs & Head Bonks,

 

 

#AToZChallenge F

Hi All,
Tucker here.. Today’s letter is “F” for “FURRY AND FEATHERED WOODLAND FURIENDS”. We live in a rural area and there are many creatures that come to our house. The Female Human feeds most of them (not the skunks or the bears though).All these critters are very polite and go home after they’ve been fed (they can’t burrow under the house as we are built into a hill with lots of concrete.). All that is except the pesky woodpecker we wrote about recently.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos of the view we have at our house. The Humans refer to it as “kitty cable”. The Female Human told me to tell you that although there is only one bear photo included (look at the lazy thing, laying on the railing and eating the bird seed) we had not one, not two but 3 bears at our house! And also, the bird feeder is no longer on the downstairs deck!

Welcome to our very own purrsonal wild kingdom!
Purrs & Head Bonks,

TuckieSig

 

 

 

 

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black and white cat looking at butterfly

 

 

begging squirreldeer in front garden in the snowblack and white cat watching deer

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).

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Music for Cats – The Tribe of Five Weigh In

Hello Folks,

The felines felt that they went above and beyond the call in their social media duties so have tasked me to post their first impressions with the new Music For Cats album.

From a human point of view I’d say that I was very pleasantly surprised, but rather than have you read my second-hand observations, best to go to the source. They’ve provided their thoughts and videos as well.
Enjoy!

Pawsitively Honored

Hello All,
Many thanks to https://peanutfreemigrainemom.wordpress.com/ for nominating us for the Liebster Award.   The felines are otherwise engaged so they have asked their human assistant to do this posting.

The Liebster Award is a new-comer award given by bloggers to other bloggers.  It creates a great platform for new blogs to be discovered and build communications. The best thing about this award is that it creates a lot of encouragement and support within our blogging community.

The rules of the Liebster Award are as follows:

  • Thank your nominator.
  • Share the award on your blog.
  • Answer 10 questions asked to you.
  • Ask 10 questions to 10 new nominees (who have fewer than 300 followers).
  • Notify them via social media.

My responses to the 10 questions asked of me are:

  1. Why did you decide to start blogging?
    I’ve been blogging for quite a while but when I discovered pet blogging, I never looked back (nor do I update my other blogs as often as I should because I enjoy writing this one so much)
  2. How did you decide on your blog name?
    My blog is written from the point of view of my felines. I absolutely believe that if my cats could write (or speak) they would have some interesting and funny things to say. And I can assure you that even though they can’t speak or write, they “opine” on just about everything.
  3. What is your favorite blog post on your site?
    It’s hard to say but The True Adventures of a Flying Kitten is a good choice. It has all the things a good story requires, drama, suspense, adventure and some heart stopping action.
  4. What is your best advice to anyone considering blogging?
    Blog about what you love and blog often.
  5. What is your favorite blog to read (besides your own)?
    Phew, that’s a hard one. As a member of the BlogPaws Influencer group I have so many to choose from. This week’s favorite is Stunning Keisha.  Keisha is a ghetto cat who shares her view of the world.
  6. How did you celebrate your last Birthday?
    In my kayak on a lake, couldn’t invite our feline bloggers as they have issues with      water.
  7. Do you prefer winter, spring, summer or fall? Why?
    Fall is my favorite time of the year. The colors are beautiful where I live and the feline bloggers and I enjoy sitting on the upstairs deck enjoying the fall weather.
  8. What is your favorite home cooked meal?
    Paleo Shepherds Pie
  9. If you could be any type of animal, which would be? Why?
    A feline of course, because they are fabulous!
  10. What makes you smile?
    Watching our kittens play together.

Liebster

The new blogs I am nominating are:

These are the 10 questions I have for my nominees (notice the animal theme)

  1. Why did you decide to start blogging?
  2. How did you decide on your blog name?
  3. What is your favorite blog post on your site
  4. What one piece of advice would you give to other bloggers?
  5. What new blog have you discovered lately and why do you like it?
  6. What is the best thing about animal/pet blogging?
  7. Is your blog purely an act of love or does it also bring in income?
  8. Do you celebrate your pet’s birthday? Why (and how) or why not?
  9. What is the one thing you would do for your local rescue or shelter if you had unlimited funds?
  10. What is your fur child (children’s) favorite toy?

I hope you all participate, this is a wonderful way to meet new bloggers and get your blog out there!
Regards,
Anita,
the Human Lackey and servant to Five Fabulous Felines.

 

Our Human Writes

Hello Humans and Felines,
AlOrdersBookAlberto here. ‘Just wanted to tell you that the book, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul, My Very Good, Very Bad Cat is officially launched today. The enthusiasm of our feline tribe is more than just the fact that any time a new cat book comes out is time for celebration. We are purrrrrrticularily excited because our human’s story, “All My Children Wear Fur Coats” is included in the book.

She spent the day today at a Twitter launch party. Oliver and I were pretty excited about this and thought we’d see a bunch of feathered creatures but all the human did was sit at her computer and “tweet”. Man, humans are strange.

But we do approve of the fact that the publisher is giving royalties from this book to the American Humane Association and our human will be having several book signings and all her proceeds will be donated to worthy pet charities.Book

So grab a copy of the book and read about all the fabulous felines (especially us!)

Your friend,
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Moving Past The Great Barricade

JazonFur

Hello Felines and Friends of Felines,
Jasmine here. My friend (or more accurately “frenimy”), Lily posted about the “Great Barricade” and I thought I would give you an update. (If you haven’t read the reason for the barricade or my self-imposed exile, you can learn about it here.

I began to feel safer and the humans opened the gate (of The Great Barricade) in the mornings. I manged several forays through the house, sat in the kitchen window and munched some wheatgrass, headed downstairs and inspected the TV room and the human’s office space. Those were a glorious few days but then Lily began to figure out my schedule and she’d wait around the corner for me to step out of the bedroom and she’d chase me back in the room.

The humans are quite distraught about this (especially the female human). I heard them talking about something called “space switching” not sure that is and not sure if I will like it.

IMG_1351[1]There has been one interesting development. The humans have added two shelter kittens to our family. They are very tiny. One is named Alberto (Contador) after the famous Spanish cyclist because he races around the house like he’s competing in the Tour de France.  Alberto (or Al) is a pretty good guy (as far as kittens are concerned). The other one, Oliver (Twist) is named because his main focus in life is eating and, if he spoke English, he’d hold out his cat bowl and say, “More cat food please”. He’s also fairly congenial as well.  The interesting thing about these kittens are that they are brothers. Evidently this is something the humans understand but I find quite perplexing.OliverUnderTable

The female human has introduced both these little whippersnappers to me and after the obligatory hissing conversations, I believe they have acknowledged my place as Alpha female and I think we just might be friends (or benevolent ruler and subjects).   As you can see from the photo below, Oliver and I are sharing some morning conversation in my domain.
JazAndOliver

So dear friends (human and feline), although we’ve had some setbacks, the “Great Barrier” has proven to be a good thing as I can now look into the hallway and hear the sounds of every day life in the household. I (and the humans) are hoping that Lily will become so intrigued by the kittens that she will forget all about me and I will, one day soon, be sashaying around the house like the good old days.

Jasmine.