Monday, August 25, 2014: Stressful Times and the Cat Carrier

I was right about our sleeping routine yesterday. Tommy alternated throughout the night between sleeping on the bed and sitting by the window. Each time she decided to grace me with her presence on the bed, she made sure to “announce” her intentions. I’m sure that this was payback for my extended walk Sunday.

Tommy “let” me sleep until after 7:00 and then let me know that it was time to get busy on my duties. I got up and handled food, water, litter box, and garbage, but that wasn’t enough. Mr. Rat made an early appearance which meant it was play time. Because we had missed our normal evening session the previous night, I knew that we were overdue for some playing. I got out the fleece teaser and we played for well over 30 minutes. I was then dismissed to finally make coffee and work at the computer while Tommy curled up by some of her other toys.

As I worked on the computer, Tommy came out to check up on me and make sure that I was doing “appropriate” things. I’m sure that she wondered why I hadn’t printed the daily puzzles and returned to the living room.  She returned to the living room and I knew that my minutes in the study were numbered and I’d better hustle to complete my tasks.

Everything was going well until the fire alarm sounded and we were told to vacate the building. I got out the carrier to transport Tommy down he 11 flights of stairs. I’ve never had trouble getting her into the carrier, but she must have sensed my panic and fought against going into the carrier. Fortunately the carrier has a “top load” feature and although she tried to escape, I got her into the carrier, by holding her down as I zipped it shut.

Once we got outside, she calmed down. I think that she actually enjoyed seeing all the people and being outside. We were outside under the front canopy sheltered form the rain for at least 20 minutes although it seemed like much longer. We were told that we could return to our units via the stairs but not the elevators.

We trudged back up the stairs with everyone else and Tommy let everyone know that she didn’t like all the noise of people climbing up the metal stairs. When we reached the safety of our unit, Tommy got a treat, many compliments, and lots of petting, so she settled down quickly.

I finished up the cleaning and had lunch. I didn’t look forward to putting her back in the carrier to go to get her nails clipped at Petco later.  I had planned on going later in the morning, but with the evacuation and thunderstorm, I delayed it until the afternoon.

After lunch Tommy was very curious as to why the carrier was still out and she kept inspecting it. I thought that this might be a good time to take her to have her nails clipped. I threw a couple turkey treats in the carrier and Tommy quickly went inside to retrieve them. I zipped up the carrier and off we went.

During both the elevator and car rides Tommy was quite vocal about being tricked into getting in the carrier, but was fine once we got to the salon.  When the young cashier asked if Tommy had been there before I reminded him that she had tried to climb up and over his back last time. He, of course, remembered her and I told him that there were turkey treats in her bag if needed. I barely had time to pay for her visit, more treats and a new toy and she was finished.

During the drive home Tommy was pretty quiet or shall I say a bit less vocal. We got home and she got her treats. I then showed her the new toy, a feather teaser and she played with it for a little while. When she tired of the feathers, she strolled over to the fleece teaser to let me know that it was still her favorite and I’d better still use it. We played with it for a while and then Tommy went for a drink, a bite to eat and a nap as did I.

We had a quiet evening and headed for the bedroom for one final round of play before going to bed. At one point Tommy went under the bed, so we played hide-and-seek with the teasers being dragged along the edge of the bed. Tommy seemed to enjoy it. She settled at the window and I was on the bed. I fell asleep, but was awakened a little later by Tommy who had jumped on the bed. I think she was surprised that I was asleep with all the lights and T.V. on and no good night petting. We took care of all of that and we curled up on the bed and went to sleep.

Sunday, August 24, 2014: The Supervisor and the Extended Absence

Throughout the early (emphasis on early) morning I occasionally woke up to find that Tommy was still sleeping on the bed. I can’t remember the last time that she had slept on the bed with me all night (or at least whenever I woke up). We slept in and didn’t wake up until almost 8:00. I of course greeted Tommy and let her know how nice it was to have some of her good old habits back.  

We spent the morning playing, resting, finishing laundry and folding. I didn’t do much resting and Tommy didn’t help very much with the laundry or folding which was all my clothing, so I completely understand. She spent much of her time supervising from her new resting pad, a grocery bag that she commandeered when it was emptied but before it could be stored.

We spent a quiet day without much incident.  At one point Tommy did come into the study to check up on me. I made the mistake of picking her up. As we neared the living room where she would jump down onto the chair she got a little to exuberant and one of her claws came in contact with my nose. I yelled “Ouch!” as she jumped down.

After I did a little clean up and placed a small bandage/dot on my nose I returned to find a very timid Tommy. I felt bad because it was an accident and it wasn’t her fault. I tried to explain it to her using yesterday’s stepping incident. I don’t know if she understood, but we spent a few minutes just laying on our sides staring at each other. It was one of those weird times when neither of us is sure whether it’s petting, playing, or apology/forgiveness time. In a way it’s a time out for us to just sit and enjoy each other’s company.

We played again later and had to trim the fleece teaser. A loop was created by all her chewing and pulling when we play and her claw was getting caught.  This also reminded me that tomorrow we need to have another mani/pedi (paw/claw) date at Petco. Over the weekend, she was occasionally getting a claw caught in the carpeting when we were playing, so she must need a nail trimming. I hadn’t realized that it had been six weeks. I’m going to need to start putting a reminder in my calendar to handle this every five weeks.

While I was typing in the study, Tommy came in and as I put it “screamed.” This told me that something was up that she wanted me to investigate.  I got down on all fours and followed her. About every six feet or so, she would turn around and check to make sure I was following her.  We got to the scratching post in the living room and she just sat under it. I’m not sure what happened, but after a few minutes, I was dismissed as she moved by the screen door and laid down.

Since I got Tommy I haven’t been walking as much as I once did. I used to average about 100 miles per month. Since it was such as beautiful day, I decided to take a walk.  I went almost 5 miles and as I was on the elevator going back to the condo I found out that I had lost my keys. Rather than face the wrath of Tommy twice I went to retrace my steps. After walking most of the route, I got a call from the front desk telling me that my keys had been found in the driveway.  After retrieving the keys, I opened the door and found a very unhappy kitty.  No amount of petting, treats and apologies seemed to work. She was having none of it.

After walking over 9.6 miles, I didn’t have any energy left. I showered, ate dinner and headed for the bedroom before 9:00. Tommy stayed in the living room and under the dining room until I finally brought her in around 11:00.

She first curled up on the bed and then went to the window for some fresh air. I had a funny feeling that this would be the routine for our sleeping hours.

Saturday, August 23, 2014: A New Sound, an Incident, and a Pleasant Surprise

I was awaken around 3:30 by Tommy.  I also heard the air conditioning kick in around the same time. I know how sensitive Tommy is to noises, so I figured that since I hadn’t used the air conditioning much this summer, she wasn’t used to those sounds in the middle of the night.  She jumped up on the bed and I was able to calm her down.

At 6:30 the garbage truck came to retrieve the trash. This means that several metal dumpsters will be grabbed, lifted and overturned. It’s actually pretty noisy and Tommy was sitting by the window complaining. We talked and then she did something that she hadn’t done for a few days; she jumped up next to me in her usual morning fashion. We spent the next few minutes greeting each other not only with conversation but also with Tommy licking my hand and me petting her.  I had missed this ritual and was glad to have it again.

When we got up (There will be naps later!) I could see that Tommy wanted to play. I decided to use the fleece teaser (her favorite shared play object) with her scratching post (her favorite individual activity object) in the bedroom. I wound the fleece around the post and we spent a good 20-30 minutes playing (including a short food break for her).

When Tommy indicated that she was done by leaving the room, I went and made coffee. Tommy amused herself with a paper grocery bag until I finished. Tommy then went “belly up” so I could do her morning rubdown. We finished with a short game of hide and seek. Tommy goes behind an object and peeks around it at me. When I go and find her, she runs away…whatever amuses her is fine by me as long as it doesn’t entail biting or destruction.

When I went to handle the computer work, Tommy came in after a short time to check up on me and have a short petting/rubbing period. She then decided to go to the living room to amuse herself with the paper bag and then to sit quietly and wait for me to finish.  The first few hours of our morning have worked out well today.

The rest of the morning was spent with me doing chores (laundry, cleaning, etc.) and Tommy napping, playing and getting attention from the worker/drone/slave/owner. She did start enjoying a new “toy.” On Friday as I was searching for collar stays, I came across a Hilfiger watch pillow. I don’t know why I kept it, but I gave it to Tommy and she tossed, chewed, and generally mauled it. I also put a treat in the fold where the watch was and catnip in the stuffing. She had great fun finding the treat and the catnip scent has made the object a bit more enticing.

Later in the morning I called my aunt in Madison to see how her therapy was coming along and when she’d be released to go back home. I wondered how Tommy would handle an extended phone call. She usually thinks that I’m talking to her and has trouble understanding why I’m not usually looking at her.

During the call she amused herself with Mr. Rat and the grocery bag, but introduced us to a new sound/vocalization. I called it a yowl because it sounded like a cross between a yelp and a howl. I could have also called it a “help” or a “holp,” but those just don’t sound right. It was loud enough that even my aunt who has some hearing difficulty heard her loud and clear on her end of the phone even though Tommy was about 12 feet from the phone. I’m not sure what the sound means because she didn’t seem to be needing attention as she wasn’t even in sight nor did she seem to be stressed. Maybe it was just a happy sound since she was having so much fun playing.

After a busy morning and early afternoon, Tommy decided that it was nap time and curled up in her soft bed by the living room window.  I got ready to leave which usually gets her attention, but not today. I very gently picked up her bed which caused her to open her eyes. She didn’t fight or try even try to get out, but just enjoyed the ride and wondered, I’m sure, where I was going with this. When I placed the bed by the bedroom window Tommy sat up and “asked” what was going on.  When she figured it out, she jumped on the big bed and waited for her treat. I gave her the treat, said good bye, and left for the baseball game.

When I returned there was the usual meet and greet. Tommy let me watch the news and then we had our usual before bed playtime. Play time did have one small incident. As we were racing around with the fleece teaser, Tommy ran over to me just as I was stepping. Her little paw got stepped on and she yelped and ran under the bed. After a few minutes of healing and calming down, I apologized with a treat and Tommy slowly and warily came back out to play.

Tommy signaled that playtime was over by hopping up on the bed and curling up. It had been quite some time since she started bedtime on the bed. I was so pleased and touched by her actions and I, of course, let her know how happy I was. She responded with a look that seemed to say to me, “Well, of course, I did this to let you know that all is forgiven, I’m happy and could you please turn off the light and go to sleep already!” I complied with a huge smile on my face.

Friday, August 22, 2014

When I woke up in the morning Tommy was again by the window. I know that she was on the bed sometime during the night, and I miss waking up to her by my side. I know that she’s a teenager now and probably having some rebellious ideas. Hopefully she’ll return to the bed as she matures.

I got up and tried not to disturb her and went to complete the normal morning tasks at the computer. When I finished of course she was there to let me now that she was awake.  I spent much of the morning searching for shirt collar stays and Tommy was a “big” help. I never did find them and I know that I have at least two dozen of them!

After the exhaustive search, Tommy napped under the dining table, but woke up long enough to expect some petting. She always goes “belly up” which tells me that she trusts me and I always reward her with a good rub down/petting. The rest of the afternoon was spent with me completed tasks supervised by Tommy (either awake or napping).

I prepared for the concert and got Tommy settled in for the night. For some strange reason, she readily ran into the bedroom when I called and shook the treat bag. She jumped on the bed right away searching for her treat.  We may finally be getting to the point where she understands my leaving and return.

When I return Tommy greets me right away, but something seems off. When I go into the bathroom I see that the toilet paper roll has been partially shredded. I know that I closed the bathroom door because I remember thinking how warm it still was in there. I must not have shut it tightly and Tommy somehow was able to get the door open and make TP confetti.

I brought the remnants out to confront Tommy and in a calm voice I said that we don’t do this to TP.  She seemed contrite, but I’m sure she was thinking “If you leave the house and I’m not supervised, you never know what trouble can happen!” Lesson learned, I’ll be more careful about the bathroom door in the future.

I knew that Tommy wanted to play and even though I was really tired from singing and standing on my feet at the benefit, we had an extended play time.  I made sure that part of the time we played in the bedroom and when I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, we again moved back into the bedroom, but this time I closed the door.

I prepared for bed and wished Tommy a good night. She sat by the window and seemed to understand that the old guy needed to regenerate while she had plenty of energy left and would have to amuse herself until she was ready to go to sleep.

Thursday, August 21, 2014: Tommy, the Literary Critic

When I woke up in the morning Tommy was by the window gazing out. I knew that she had been on the bed sometime during the night, but again she had chosen to let me wake up by myself.  She seemed pretty unsettled, so I tried to help by having an early morning play session, but she only halfheartedly participated. I finally got ready and went out to run a couple quick errands.

When I returned it was raining and there was some thunder. Tommy was glad to see me and we had a nice conversation accompanying the petting by me and rubbing by her. When I went to the study to work, Tommy found that I had changed some bookends and although one shelf she liked to explore was now closed, the one above it had opened. She explored it for a while and found that there was a little more room to maneuver. “We’re” still not sure whether “we” like the change.

After the rain ended, Tommy lounged in the living room and tried reading. I stopped out and found her sitting on my reading chair “looking through” a book I was reading called How to Get Your Cat to Do What You Want. Yesterday when I was reading it on the bed, Tommy came over, looked at it and bit into the page.  I’m not sure if she likes the book for its literary content or as a snack.

The rest of the day and evening were spent leisurely. We played & petted and Tommy napped.  When it was time for bed, nothing seemed to get Tommy to go into the bedroom.  I left the door open, but she was not budging from the living room. When I picked her up, she settled into my arms, but when we got to the bedroom, she struggled to be released. Usually I can make it to the bed before letting her jump, but this time she got the better of me and jumped to the floor right into her food and water dishes.  As I knelt down to clean up the mess, Tommy helped by eating any stray bits of food that I missed. I went to bed and Tommy did whatever she does when I’m asleep.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014: A Late Start

Tommy did her usual early, early morning “hellos” which always result in my rolling over to go back to sleep after talking to and petting her. She tried again at 6:45, but I told her that I needed more sleep. What a surprise it was to get the next wake-up @ 8:55. I was happy to sleep in for a change, but know that I will appreciate the early morning calls when I attend a 9:00 class this fall.

At first Tommy doesn’t want to be petted, but when I get busy thinking I have some free time, the Princess lets me know that she’s ready for her morning rub down. After her rubdown, she gets up to let me know that she’s done with this activity. She later brings out Mr. Rat to let me know that play time has begun.  We spend time with the fleece teaser and then she moves under the dining room table to again signal that she’s done with this activity.

I attempt to move to the study, but she intermittently lets me know when it’s time to give her the attention that she deserves. I continue working on transcribing my grandfather’s diaries and Tommy lays on the living room floor in a spot that is always in my path so I can stop and pet her and again, give her the attention that she deserves. When she stops in to the study to check up on me the clear plastic blind tassels are refracting the sunlight onto the carpet. Tommy has a great time trying to catch the dot of sunlight.

I leave for rehearsal and when I return we go through the usual scolding, but Tommy doesn’t want me to pet her. I appease her by playing with her before heading to bed. We spend some time playing in the bedroom since she’s starting to view the bedroom as the place where we sleep or she is “confined” whenever I’m gone. I want to make sure that she also thinks of the bedroom as a fun place and a place where treats are given.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014: An Early Awakening and the Return of a Bad Habit

We were awakened by an early morning thunder storm. We headed for our safe place in the closet with food, water, pillows and blankets to camp out until the end of the storm.  Tommy seemed better once we got in there.  During one of the loud cracks of thunder she came close and I just petted her.  While I calmed her down, she started purring and I knew that I’d made the right decision to move. I’m not sure if she’ll always be afraid of thunder or will be used to it each year.

After the storm seemed to dissipate we headed back to bed. As usual I headed to bed and tommy started under the bed again.  We slept in and Tommy didn’t wake me until after 7:30 A.M. When I tried to pet her as I greeted her she immediately tried to bite me.  I’m not sure if this was a remnant of yesterday’s activities or she was still unsettled by the overnight storm. I followed my usual behavior except on the way out of the bedroom I noticed that she had finished her food, so I did go back for a moment to fill her dish before leaving again.

Later, when I opened the door, Tommy came out and talked to me, but I couldn’t tell if it was her scolding voice or her scared voice. I still confused the two. Since I wasn’t sure I continued the morning routine and knew that there would be clues to show me how she felt.  Clue #1: Back in the master suite it didn’t look like she had touched her newly replenished food. Usually whenever I add food to her dish she at least takes a nibble and moves it around.  Clue #2: When I went to the bathroom she followed me, went in her litter box, turned around and stuck her head out. Clue #3: When I finished in the bathroom, including emptying the litter box, I went to get coffee. After getting a cup, Tommy was stretched out on the carpet where I couldn’t miss her.  This position always signals that she’d like to be petted.  I cautiously petted her until I knew that it was safe.  Clue #4: After what seemed like an enormous amount of petting, Tommy brought her face up to mine and gave me a nose kiss. I now knew that all was well and we were both back to normal.

Tommy followed me around, but as I made the bed she didn’t “help” by jumping on the bed, she instead ate some food.  I went to the study to update today’s blog and when I went to the living room, Tommy wasn’t there. I started to open all the blinds and sure enough, out she came to supervise and make sure that they were raised high enough for her to see out from whatever vantage point she chose.  As I finished, she went to her scratching post and used it. When I first got her to use the post I would give her a treat when she used it. Now it’s a signal that she’d like a treat. Of course the second I headed to the cupboard, there she was waiting to see if I caught her signal.  When I brought out the treat she said patiently and waited and then devoured it the second it hit the floor. All was good at condo Tommy/Potter.

I leave to go to a movie and when I return we have our usual rituals…scolding, treats, petting, and playing. We spend a quiet afternoon together, but unfortunately I have to leave to go to a volunteer meeting. I eat a quick dinner and I’m off to the meeting.