Category Archives: Cats

Cat tails and a dancing dog

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A few years ago I posted about a problem with out cat Sylvester’s tail. We were worried that it was broken, but our vet thought it might only have been sprained (a sprained tail?). There was a possibility of an amputation, if it was dead.

Liam coincidentally commented on my last post to ask what had happened to Sylvester’s tail. The answer is that he recovered fairly quickly and has had full use of his tail ever since; it’s fluffy, and it sheds, and holds copious quantities of dust and debris, just like a cat’s tail is supposed to. It looks normal and appears to be fully functional.

In the last few months, a new stray has appeared around our house. It started prowling and snooping on the front porch. We didn’t recognize it, and we certainly don’t need another cat, so I chased it away. It’s very careful, so any time it sees me it hightails it down the driveway and then up towards a neighbor’s house. Our neighbors had an outdoor cat that they fed on their porch, so I assumed the new cat was staying up there and eating that cat’s food, only coming down to our house to compare cat food brands.

I used the past tense because our neighbors moved away a couple of weeks ago, taking their cat (we sincerely hope) and its outdoor food. Now the new cat comes up onto our porch fairly often to eat the food we put out for our two outdoor cats. If it sees us, it hightails it back towards out neighbor’s house. It must have found some place to sleep, maybe under a porch or in one of the out buildings.

The cat looks well fed so far. It’s very skittish, so we haven’t been able to get a good look, and certainly not a photograph. Here’s the coincidence — this new cat has a deformed and shortish tail. When I got a good look at it a few nights ago I immediately thought about Sylvester’s tail of woe. I had not thought about that in years.

The cat is mainly gray, with short ears. Its tail is kinked, and about three-quarters the length of a normal cat tail. It seems to be a fighter, which is no surprise; it is, after all, a cat.

We hope it finds a home somewhere away from us. We have talked about trying to trap it and find it a home, but it might be too feral for that. Plus, if we set a trap, we are more likely to catch one of our own cats. I doubt that it will ever let us near.

Now, as to that dancing dog.

When we come home from running an errand, both dogs meet us at the back door. Zoe comes right to the door so she can wipe her nose on our legs, but Sam hangs back at the far side of the kitchen, where he does a little dance until we can get to him to give him some pets.

It turns out he’s a tap dancer.

I’m not sure how well you can hear his tapping, what with all the dog tags jingling and general commotion, but it seems to be clearest at the end of the clip. I think he has real possibilities.

Black and white and bluets all over

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One of the things I like least about cats is that they are little killers. Mollie regularly brings lizards into the house, either previously killed or saved for later killing. Chloe brought a young squirrel onto the front porch, which after allowing it to age a little, she began to eat from the head down. Sylvester has brought several killed animals into the garage. This is what he brought us Tuesday.

It’s a black and white warbler. They are ground nesters, which probably explains how Sylvester found and killed it.

I know that cats are hunters and killers by nature; it’s what they do. I still don’t like it. The cats are lucky Leah is here.

I am not a birder, so I had to look this bird up. Cornell University has some nice resources for bird information. I found some audio files for the pileated woodpeckers we have around here. Now they have an app for identifying birds from photographs. I had already figured out that the bird was a black and white warbler, but I downloaded the app and the bird database for the Southeast to recheck.

On a more pleasant note, I saw some tiny flowers on my morning dog walk.

It looks kind of like the Milky Way.

These are bluets. I see them fairly often around the mountain, but this was a large enough patch that it caught my eye from a distance. They can be propagated from seed or by transplanting. I think I’ll try to bring some into our yard somewhere.

And, on the pain and suffering front, I had pre-op visits to my orthopedic surgeon and the hospital on Tuesday. I am scheduled for rotator cuff repair Friday morning. I have mentioned this to a few people, and everyone who has had rotator cuff repair has warned me that it’s the worst, very painful. I had my left rotator cuff repaired about 11 or 12 years ago. As I recall, it was not particularly painful. I needed pain medication for a couple of nights immediately after surgery, but after that, even the physical therapy was not bad. I hope to repeat that experience with my right shoulder.

Unfortunately for me, I am right handed, so hanging my right arm from a sling for weeks is going to be an inconvenience. Leah and I have not figured out yet how the dogs are going to get their walks. Zoe is a real plow horse on our walks, and Sam likes to tie me up with his leash by walking circles around me. Neither of those is a good fit for someone with a healing shoulder injury.

I’m sure everything will work out just fine. One way or another.

Cat shots

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Time for some cat photos!

First, cats, as you all know, spend a lot of time sleeping. Some would say that’s for the best. Here Mollie poses for a sleep shot – we call it “Cats in Jammies”.

What with the pandemic and all, Mollie spends most of the time in her jammies. In fact, she’s always in her jammies, pandemic or no.

She doesn’t know, or possibly doesn’t care, that the comforter she’s lying on has wolves on it.

Cats also spend a lot of time wandering the house, looking for places to flop down for a nap. This time she found the floor.

She’s waiting for me to leave her bedroom.

We’ve had a fire pretty much constantly for weeks. Mollie is pretty sure we made it for her.

She normally pays no attention to the fire, but she wanted to make sure it was going good. And there she is, but will she put another log on the fire? Will she clean up the ashes around the front of the stove? Why no, no she won’t, and thanks for asking. As soon as she’s sure the fire is going well enough, she’ll lie down facing away so she can roast her ample backside.

And that’s all the news in photos for “At Home with Mollie.” Tune in again for “On the Front Porch with Dusty and Chloe” and later, “At Home and On the Road with Sylvester.”

Hidey Cat

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Leah called me to our spare bedroom to see what Mollie was doing.

I missed the funnier situation in which only her tail was visible.

It was even funnier a few days ago when Leah couldn’t find Mollie. She looked everywhere she could think, including under the bed to see if the cloth covering on the bottom of the box springs was hanging too low. Mollie has found a way to actually get inside the box springs. I walked a little further into the bedroom and found her hiding behind the decorative pillows.

But now we know her hiding place, so she’s going to have to look for another.

Truce

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Zoe has a strong prey drive. She is also very playful. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether she’s chasing Mollie or trying to play. In Leah’s eyes, it tends towards chasing, but I think there’s a strong element of play. Play that involves chasing, but still, play.

I caught them in the room we call our office Sunday afternoon. Mollie likes to lie in a chair in the sun, and Zoe likes to lie on the floor next to the air conditioning vent.

They were completely at ease. Neither was paying any attention to the other.

There was such a great difference in brightness that it was almost impossible to get a decent exposure for both at the same time.