The higher the better

Ding Ding is the first cat I've owned who loves to climb. She likes altitude both inside and outside, and the thinner the branch the more she enjoys "going out on a limb."

A very bad cat

I have accumulated a number of photos documenting Dingers' bad habits, and since I have not been a very diligent blogger I am making up for lost time today. One photo illustrates the pleasing contrast (if you don't object to cats on counters, which I actually do) between black and white fur and granite countertops. The other photo documents a new and annoying behavior--table top resting. In this particular photo, Roger was trying to eat breakfast. It should be noted that she never did attempt to scarf his English muffins, although I'm not sure that makes up for her being on the table.

The loneliest cat in the world

When we went on vacation in September Ding Ding stayed behind. She was visited daily by Kate, who feed and watered her. She also took some photos to document how lonely Dingers was.

Winter has arrived in the Pacific Northwest, and this has been a bummer for Ding Ding. You see her above, enjoying her vacation home in the San Juans. Now she wonders every day if she will be able to go outside at all. Molly Bloom, our cat pre-Ding Ding, was a true native of the Northwest. She didn't mind if it was raining, or if she got wet. Dingers does. This is a problem for her humans, because she is still very energetic as cats go. We find ourselves putting her outside simply because we need a break from her antics. When she was little we could burn off her energy by throwing newspaper balls for her to fetch. She still likes for us to throw the balls, but she doesn't retrieve the way she did when she was a kitten. This means less exercise and a living room covered in small wadded up pieces of newsprint. And less energy expended in acceptable activities means we spend our time fending off attacks on newspapers we are trying to read, chasing the cat off the counters as we try to cook or clean-up, or having to pick up papers she has deliberately pushed on the floor.

We know we have been lax in training Ding Ding. I can only say that we were totally unprepared for the cat we now share our house with, and we haven't yet figured out how to get through to her. Suggestions from more disciplined cat people would be welcome.

Offline but still busy...

Fans of Ding Ding will have noticed that she has been offline for most of the summer. But that does not mean she has not been busy. Dingers had her first encounter with a deer while visiting Lopez Island this summer, and although she was terrified at first (who knew there were animals that BIG out there?) she quickly realized that she was able to intimidate the deer despite the rather significant size differential.

Then in September Ding Ding was The Loneliest Cat in the World for a week when her humans took a vacation and left her behind. Gasp. And in the care of a Stranger. The Stranger likes cats, always a good thing in a catsitter, and documented Ding Ding's anguish and desperation in photos. We will post those pictures next time. And we promise not to let more than two months go by.

Ding Ding Crashes the Party

Ding Ding brought new meaning to the acronym BYOB this past Friday night, when she decided to show up for my annual staff party with a bird (not dead) in her mouth. She galloped into the house, clutching her trophy, only to have me chase her back out.

It was pretty gruesome, although she was very proud of herself--and not too pleased with her reception. I'm sure she must have surveyed the refreshments, and thought the table needed something with feathers.

Although I have heard that they don't necessarily solve the problem, I think I will get her a bell for her collar.

On Vacation

Ding Ding has been asked what she's been up to, and it's true it has been quite a while since I've posted on her blat.

It's been a traumatic time for cats in our household. We discovered that Ding Ding's step-sister Annie was not making use of her litter box just before we were heading to Lopez Island for a week of family togetherness.

Rather than leave Annie to do more damage, we packed her off to a kitty hotel and took Ding Ding to Lopez. Which she enjoyed, excepting for the car ride. Maybe there are cats who are good travelers, but I haven't met one yet, and Ding Ding is no exception. Upon our return we retrieved Annie, only to discover that although she had no physical issues that would cause urinary problems, she didn't regularly use her litter box at the vet's.

When I got home with Annie we left her on the back patio, an area she has enjoyed before, while discussing how to set up our house so as to limit cat problems. Next time we looked, Annie had vanished. More than a week later, we still haven't seen her. We now have a have-a-heart type trap, and we're hoping we can catch her. It's hard to believe she can have gone far, but we haven't found her yet.

Dingers does not miss Annie. They were not friends. But we feel responsible, and will keep looking. She does have a microchip--but she is mostly feral, and will not come when called or let people pick her up under most circumstances. So the outlook is not good.

More later.