What a little determination will do

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Since summer is rapidly approaching we decided to get the screen door fixed. The tape wasn’t working very well and the hole had gotten bigger (thanks to Hurley and Pippi sticking their heads through it) Jack was able to squeeze through the hole with no problem. He originally made the hole because he wanted the bag of bird seed that was outside, near the screen. So he picked a hole in the screen and pulled the bird seed bag through the hole, making a giant mess. When I found him and the mess he just looked at me as if to say "yes? Is there a problem?"

It was SO nice not to have a hole anymore. There was no need to worry about the duct tape covering the hole, it was wonderful. We agreed that we wouldn’t leave the glass door open without one of us supervising. We weren’t going to leave the glass door open unless one of us was in the room. Even if we went upstairs we shut the glass door, because surely Jack couldn’t pick a hole in the screen if we were WATCHING. But Jack is smarter than us, and apparently much craftier than we give him credit for.

I came home from work one day last week and Bob said “JACK DID IT AGAIN” Bob was sitting here at the computer and he heard the sound of screen ripping. He jumped up and between the time he jumped up and ran across the room Jack had ripped a new hole in the screen. Apparently Jack was so focused on the task at hand that he didn’t even look up as Bob ran across the room, yelling at him while spraying him with the water bottle. He was far too engrossed in his project to care about being sprayed in the face with water.

Everyone gives me advice on what I should do to ‘train’ Jack. The problem with Jack is he’s not afraid of anything and he doesn’t care. If he wants to do something, he’s going to do it. He’s an opportunist, he’ll just wait until we aren’t paying attention or we’re not home. He follows me around when I vacuum or steam clean the carpets, he’s INTERESTED in what I’m doing. He’s not scared of the vacuum cleaner; he wants to know how it all works. All the other cats scatter and hide under the beds…not Jack. The door bell rings and everyone scatters, but not Jack. Jack sits at the top of the stairs and greets everyone as they enter. He flinches when I spray him with the water bottle but he doesn’t STOP what he’s doing. Every once in a while he’ll walk away and find something else to do, but eventually he goes back to whatever it was he was trying to do. He doesn’t forget, I think he figures *I* will. I really believe he just decides to go back to it later, when I’ve forgotten because he WILL go back and try again. The whole screen thing was the perfect example. We saw him inspecting the screen. We KNEW it was a matter of time. We just assumed that we could prevent him from doing it if we were in the room. We underestimated him. It’s almost like he had one claw out like a razor blade and quickly made his move like a surgeon.

So now we’re right back to where we started…putting duct tape over a hole in the screen. *Sigh*

First the cat beds...now this?

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Bob found five tiny little cards right outside our front door. I put my car key next to them for a little perspective on how tiny they are. They’re the perfect size for cats….we both got a big kick out of the fact that they were practically on our porch. If I didn’t know better I’d say Pippi or Jack were hosting poker games. I know that’s not the case, but to crazy cat people it’s not that big of a stretch. They move their cat beds; they open drawers, cabinets and doors…why couldn’t they play cards?

Cats are stronger than you think

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The other morning we came downstairs and one of the cat beds was moved. Normally it lives in the corner by the fireplace, but it was sitting in front of the tv. I asked Bob why he moved it, he said he thought I moved it. We laughed but didn’t think much of it. I put it back in the corner. It was moved again yesterday. I thought for sure Jack was moving it, but we had no proof. I put the bed back in the corner thinking maybe someone would move it while we were home.

It’s cold today, so we put the fire on. I was sitting on the floor by the fire, petting everyone. Then it happened….Pippi decided to move the bed. She’s the LAST cat I would have suspected. She grabs it in her mouth and pulls it. She has to get her mouthful just right, so she chews on it for awhile before she gets the right grip. Then she tugs on it and moves it. When it’s in just the right spot she climbs in and goes to sleep.

I’ve seen Jack steal pens and pencils, we’re missing a crystal cat that used to be on the mantle and we’re pretty sure he stole it. Now I’m starting to wonder if Pippi hasn’t stolen some pens. I’ve seen her knock them off the table and the counter, but she always just left them on the floor. Maybe when we turn our back she hides them too. As I’m typing this Jack is reaching up for my keys that are just barely hanging off the edge of the bookshelf. He will eventually grab them and pull them down, once they’re on the floor they won’t be interesting anymore.

The two of them are quite a pair.

Don't feed the stray's....

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Last year when I wasn’t working this big orange cat started showing up on our door step. At first he’d just stare at me and he wouldn’t let me touch him…he just sat like a statue. We’d been putting food out for our neighbor cat and the orange boy was eating it too. So I started putting out more food for him. He got used to me and eventually he let me pet him. I named him…big mistake. *sigh* He started waiting for me every morning, I’d feed him before I went out for my run. Around early October it started getting cooler and Bob felt sorry for him so we put a cat bed out for him. It was official… Marleau started sleeping on our door step every night. I don’t know WHY but one day I fed him some wet food…again, big mistake. Marleau LOVED wet food. That’s about the time he started meowing at me and sitting on my lap. At first Bob resisted and avoided contact with Marleau, it wasn’t because he didn’t like him. Rather, it was because he didn’t want to get attached to him. It’s very stressful having an outdoor only cat. You worry if they don’t show up for dinner and if they’re going to be ok all day. Eventually Marleau won Bob over and he’d sit on Bob’s lap. He even let Bob pick him up. Around the end of October a big fat black cat started turning up. She’d sit in the bushes and cry and cry. She looked like she was in pretty good shape so I assumed she had a home, but after several days I realized she didn’t because she also started sleeping on our door step. Can you see what’s coming? I named her too, Zoila. We think Zoila is fairly old because she always has food on her face and sometimes she comes home with leaves and other crap stuck to her fur. She also trips on the water dish all the time, she sits on the dry food dishes, sometimes she trips on them and sends the dry food flying. She just has no body awareness which is unusual for a cat.

Both Zoila and Marleau have their ears tipped, which means they’re spayed/neutered and are part of a registered feral colony. I talked to the shelter about them and was told that if we brought them in they’d likely be returned to their colony. Once a cat is tipped they’re destined to be ‘feral’ and live outside. Sometimes if they can’t figure out what colony they belong to they will put them up for adoption. But more often than not they’re just returned to their colony. Which is unfortunate, but I also understand. Resources are limited and people aren’t going to be eager to adopt a cat that may be feral. However, these two are NOT feral.

Anyway, after finding out that they would just be dumped on the streets again we decided we’d keep feeding them and try to figure something else out. What’s the point in catching them and stressing them out of they are going to end up on our doorstep again? Well, I guess word got out among the stray’s because a third showed up…Little Joe. Little Joe is actually a girl, but I didn’t know that at first. Then Heatley showed up. So now we have a full blown circus on our doorstep.

It was embarrassing before when we’d go grocery shopping and the checker would ask how many cats we have. Now it’s just ridiculous. I did discover that we aren’t the only cat people out there who are also feeding random cats. While I realize we’re not NORMAL it’s comforting to know we aren’t the only ones doing this. Anyway, our worst fears came true about two weeks ago. Little Joe disappeared for a good solid week, I worried about her everyday. Then one night she came home for dinner…and I realized where she’d been. She’s pregnant. It’s fine and dandy to feed cats that are fixed, at least we’re not adding to the problem. But it’s a totally different thing when you’ve got strays that aren’t fixed. This is NOT what I had in mind when I started putting food out for Marleau. Little Joe is going to have kittens, her kittens will have kittens and so on. I’m pretty sure Heatley isn’t fixed since he’s just a kitten himself.

So not only is this arrangement expensive, but it’s stupid. We’re fortunate that the property management looked the other way as long as they did. Recently however, our neighbor complained. We loathe this guy for many reasons, he’s a total douche. Luckily the management here doesn’t think too highly of him either, and they’re pro cat. Turns out they used to feed Zoila and Marleau. We explained that we’re trying to catch them and bring them to the shelter and they said they would continue to the look the other way as long as possible.

After we received the notice to remove the cat beds and food I contacted Forgotten Felines. (They are FANTASTIC and if you ever think you might want to donate to an organization I HIGHLY recommend donating to them) link We are armed with the tools we need to start catching cats. I’m going to miss them very much, but we truthfully we should have done this a LONG time ago. Our biggest priority is getting Little Joe to the shelter ASAP. Kitten season is around the corner, she needs to get into foster care NOW. Once she has those kittens, she’ll be spayed and go up for adoption herself. The LAST thing I want is for her to have those kittens outside, under a bush. But more importantly we need to end the cycle NOW. I’m hopeful that Zoila and Marleau will find forever homes, Forgotten Felines said that since they’re tame and friendly they should go up for adoption.