The training is going well...

By next week at this time, Bruce and I should be completely trained!! We almost have the rules down now. I'll try writing them down here just to help me commit them to memory.

#1 - the cat is always right and is the queen
#2 - the food will be available at 6am sharp everyday... that means 7 days a week. There are no weekends in catdom and that 6am time MUST be upheld!
#3 - the cat is always right and is the queen
#4 - the cat does NOT come when called and does not even need to acknowledge your existence... unless she wants to, at which time you must drop everything and do what the cat wants.
#5 - the cat is always right and is the queen
#6 - the cat is NOT a dog
#7 - the catnip toy must be "reloaded" every two days at a minimum!
#8 - the cat sleeps where and when the cat wants to sleep. Sleep may NOT be disturbed for any reason
#9 - humans must be avaiable at all times to entertain the cat when it is needed, and the cat will let you know when it is needed. Don't try to out think the cat
10# - and finally... the cat is always right and is the queen

Needless to say, she has moved in. The final rule has been modified to her liking. THERE WILL BE NO LITTERBOX IN THE HOUSE has been changed to THERE WILL BE A LITTERBOX IN THE HOUSE FOR EASING THE MIND OF THE HUMANS. That's it! She's moved in. At this point, she goes out during the day while we are at work, but is there waiting (usually with a scolding face) when we return. She just about has us trained, but I'm sure there are still things to learn...

The times they are a changin'

Well, Christmas has come and gone and as you can see... things have changed. The NO CATS IN THE HOUSE FOR MORE THAN 5 MINTUES has now changed to CATS ARE ONLY ALLOWED IN THE HOUSE OVER NIGHT. Bruce felt bad that she was outside for Christmas, soooooooo in she came. She spent the morning sitting on his lap... she is definately HIS cat!!! When it came time for dinner, we decided she needed to go out for a little while, but right after dinner, Bruce is back at the door. "I wonder if she's out there...." A little peek out the door, and POOF... we have cat! Now... we still don't have a litterbox, so I'm not too happy with the idea of an overnight guest. But Bruce has no fear, and either does Callie. She decides that she will sleeping IN THE BED! And she stays there all night without any problem.

Then... first thing in the morning (around 6am) she's up and awake. Bruce opens the door but she seems reluctant. Then he picks up her food container and shakes it and walks outside with a very happy cat right behind him. Bruce checked back in about 2 hours to see if she wanted to come back in, but she was no where to be found. Seems she has a cat life to live during the day that we know nothing about. But.. at 5pm, she was back and ready to come back in and once again, stay the night.

Now, I'm still a little worried about this overnight visitor needing to use the "facilities" in the middle of the night. So... looks like the last rule might have to be modified. Oh my... I have sooooooo much to learn about cats. Especially about how they can manipulate people to get what they want. Sigh...

Dec 21. 4:00pm - About time you're home!

Now she is getting use to us ( or are we learning how to be controled by her?). This day we were driving down our street and here she come flying out of our driveway and she just sits there... looking in our direction. Did she actually hear the Jeep? (it is quite loud) Did she come to welcome us? I turned carefully into the drive way and she turned and started back down toward the house, tail in the air, glancing back every now and then looking like she was saying... "That's right, follow me, this way, move along"

She then took her place on the bench outside the house and sat waiting for us to get out of the car. When we did, she basically read us the riot act! He bowl was empty, she needed to be loved and where had we been? Gee, we had to go to work to make money to support the cat in the style to which she has become accustom. Of course, we talked and paid attention to her and then planned to go into the house and make dinner. This was not in her plans. As we opened the door to go in, we saw a small brown streak go by. Yep... she's in the house again. Doesn't she realize there is a law? NO CATS IN THE HOUSE. Now this has been discussed among the humans and they were thinking... maybe she could come in a little... if she was treated for fleas, and had her other shots, and... WAIT!!!! There is also the need for that terror-of-terrors... the litterbox. Who would clean the litterbox? Both humans said "I will NOT clean a litterbox!".

OK... so far, the law still stands. NO CATS IN THE HOUSE FOR MORE THEN 5 MINUTES. Yeah, I know, it changed a little, but...

December 19. 2:30pm - Where have you been?

I had been out and about this day and of course catching up with the youngest sister on the cell phone while driving home... I know I know... don't talk and drive. That will end for us Oregonians in just a few days, but never fear!!! I have bluetooth already. But... I digress. I was on the cell phone with my sister and pulled into the drive way. I parked by the house and was still talking when I heard Callie, so I opened the car door and BAM... something new. She was now in my lap! This was never attempted before, and was difficult since there was a steering wheel in front of me, but she was purched on my leg happily purring away and kneading my leg with her sharp little claws! WOW kitty, have you been sharpening those just for me? Any way, she decided that the leg wasn't good enough and that the steering wheel posed NO problem at all. She would just crawl up onto my chest and settle down. Have you ever tried to talk on the phone with a mouthful of cat hair? LONG cat hair! And to make to worse, she was not about to move. I tried to pick her up and set her down but have now learned that cat claws are like velcro. Once they are in place, they stick until they want to be unstuck! I finally gave up and told my sister I had a small problem and would have to call her back once I completed a catectomy. She really did not like the idea of leaving, but I finally got my way (this time). That was really the first time she had ever been willing to spend quality time with one of us.

Dec 16. 12:30am - The Fire Cat

For the first time, Callie has started crying relentlessly outside the window. We were getting ready to go to bed, but Bruce opened the door to check on her to see what all the fuss was about. She was just crying and crying. Nothing wrong with her... just very vocal, so he shut the door and we listened. Yep... she was still crying! So, he opened the blinds on the front windows just to see if she was there and he had a horrifying look on his face. "CALL 911, the neighbor's house is on fire!" Well, to make a long story short, the house had some major damage but everyone made it out OK. Callie have never cried like that again, so we're SURE she was warning us that there was a fire! Good kitty!

The Beginning

OK, first some background... let's go back in time. It seems our neighborhood has always been a dumping ground for unwanted kittys. We have had various feral cats in our backyard for years. You can't get near any of them and we have always had a policy of "don't feed the stray cats". My husband and I are NOT cat people... or I should say we weren't cat people. We have always been dog people. We had a wonderful dog for 15 years and when she passed away, we just could not bring ourselves to get another. That was about 10 years ago. Since then we have gotten our "dog love" fix through others by visiting with friends that have dogs, or visiting with other peoples dogs at the beach, in parks, etc.

Now... back to the cat part of this story. We have tolerated the cats that have called our property home, but have not been happy about it until about 2 months ago. We had noticed this little calico cat that was always in our front yard when we got home. If we talked to her, she would run (yes... these dog people started talking to a cat). One day, we noticed... it was not just ONE cat... it was now 4 cats!!!!! One large calico and 3 kittens!!!! Now we have gone through this phase before with other ferrile cats having kittens that appear, and then slowly and disappear. We knew that the slow dissappearing was usually due to local dogs... or later we found out we had a coyote!! This was NOT a happy thought, but what could we do?

Now this little Calio was different. When we saw her kittens, we were concerned, but again, she would not let us near her. Over a week, they were gone. We felt awful for her... she was starting to tug at our heartstrings. Then, one day, out of the blue, Bruce (my husband) says "Maybe we should feed her". FEED HER!!! THERE WAS A LAW!!!! DON'T FEED THE STRAY CATS!!!!! What could he possibly mean? Although... she did look a little hungry... maybe just a little snack... WAIT!!!! Did I say that? Hmmmmmmmmmmm, ok so I called my favorite vet tech (my little sister) and got the scoop. Feed her on OUR schedule, not hers and don't feed her too much. OK, we can do this. So we got some cat food and put out a paper dish, and she ate. Still wouldn't come near us, but devoured the food when we were out of the way.

And so it went for about a month... every morning we'd put out the food, every evening, it was gone when we came home. Then... as we were getting in the car one morning to go to work, there she was! She was eating BEFORE we left. Could it be she was starting to warm up to us? Or... were we beginning to be pulled into her spell? It soon got to the point that when she heard us leaving in the morning, she would come and sit just out of reach waiting for her food. We would talk to her, she would talk back, but DON'T TOUCH ME was always in her eyes.

Then... one day, about 2 weeks ago, we came home and I saw her sitting about 15 feet away from me. I said "Oh, come on Callie, you should trust us by now!" and she "meow" and came walking over! I touched the cat and the cat was happy!!! Still a little skittish, but she would allow human touch!

Now Bruce was a little worried about how cold it was. Does she need some shelter? Should be get her a little bed? An outside bed I said... NO CATS IN THE HOUSE!!!!! (oh my, how long will this rule stand). And so, he went and not only got her a house, he got her a catnip toy also! Have to have a happy cat! So, now there is a small plush "house" that I don't think she ever tried out and a small catnip toy which she brings each morning and leaves on the door step. Not sure if she is telling us "Here, let me share a little cat happy with you" or "hey... the happy in this is weak.. refill please".

Now we know that once you have a nice new house, you'll need a nice new dish to have dinner in. So... there is now a pretty metal dish for her food also. This cat is really having an easy time getting us trained! She is also no longer afraid of us. Each day we come home to a kitty that HAS to be petted before we go inside. Remember... NO CATS IN THE HOUSE!!! So, what is the next thing Bruce tries???? He opens the door and says... "Hey Callie, want to come inside?" And she takes a step in... and immediately goes back out. Thank goodness because we know that cats can't come in the house... can they?

So... you're now pretty much caught up with the past kitty mews. Now I'll tell you a few highlights from the past week or two.