cat

All posts tagged cat

A good day to be an indoor cat

Posted by Photonstopper on November 5, 2010
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Photo: Cat on bed looking out windows. Photo by James Guilford.

Tasha, dry and warm on the bed, watches birds flit to and from bird feeders hanging from the tree.

It was a truly miserable November day. Skies were overcast, temperatures never rose out of the 40s, there was rain, there was rain with ice pellets. I started work on my 2011 photographic calendar. I ventured outdoors only to hang the freshly-cleaned bird feeders and travel to Taco Bell for lunch. That was enough. The damp cold seemed to penetrate to the bone. It was a good day to be an indoor cat… or a “cat” indoors!

Photo: Birds on bird feeders. Photo by James Guilford.

Freshly-cleaned, the bird feeders were hung out today. Within a short time the neighborhood birds found the bounty and had some lunch. A red-bellied woodpecker and a cardinal were seen already. Shot through two panes of glass and a screen door!

Photo: Tall window on the stairwell landing. Photo by James Guilford.

The tall window at the landing in our stairwell. We have never put window treatments on that window -- the view of the sky, trees, and the light itself are too good to block.

A cloudy, damp, and chilly day

Posted by Photonstopper on September 4, 2010
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Photo: Tasha the cat appears to be ready to doze off. Photo by James Guilford

She doesn't like to be caught napping but Tasha can hardly stay awake perched atop the back of the couch.

As usual, feline wisdom is to be admired. It’s a cloudy, damp, and chilly day. While we need the rain, this kind of weather makes one want to get all comfy and take a nap rather than sit in an office and try and be productive. Sleepy Tasha has the right idea: stay warm and dry, curl up on a soft cushion, and have a snooze.

Old-fashioned?

Posted by Photonstopper on June 22, 2010
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Old-Fashioned Tasha
Old-Fashioned Tasha

Just for fun I tried a cell phone photo of Tasha this morning by the dim light of a nearby window; the rest of the room was dark. I didn't expect much but, when I finally looked at the picture, it reminded me of some of the very early efforts in the history of photography.. a Daguerreotype, glass plates, or something. I stripped out the color and darkened the image a bit. I kind of like it. I've also been intrigued lately by the growing interest amongst cell phone and other digital camera users in making their images funky-old looking. Hipstamatic is but one example of nostalgic image software, giving iPhone images a '50s – '60s retro look. Fun, but is it old-fashioned?

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Pods, Pads, and Pets

Posted by Photonstopper on April 4, 2010
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iPod Touch
iPod Touch

I've begun my transition from many years as a Palm PDA user to, now, the owner of a brand new, third generation, 32 GB Apple iPod Touch. Palm is out of the PDA business, having moved along to the SmartPhone sector. They're also holding on for dear life, despite the widely-admired qualities of their new phones and operating system. Very sad. My trusty Palm TX still does its job but without OS or application upgrades from Palm it's not up to today's standards. I like my TX but I'm beginning to love the Touch. I've already set up the Touch to synch wirelessly with my Google Calendar — I've gotta say that's very cool. Next I'll purchase the Touch version of my "eWallet" app to encrypt and store my many account numbers and passwords; when that happens I'll have replicated (and improved upon) all of the basic Palm functions I was using. The Palm was terrible with email but I've set up the Touch to work with GMail and it's sweet! The Palm's browser was not very good, either. The Safari browser is fast, presents most pages very well, but its Touch navigation takes some getting used to. I've also installed a nifty astronomy app purchased through the iTunes Store. So we're on our way. Music? I guess I could use it for that too.

When we arrived at Best Buy to make the iPod purchase the store was just about to open for the day. There was a longish line outside and for a moment I wondered why. Then I remembered: The Apple iPad release! It wasn't a huge crowd, maybe 25 people, and they were orderly as they eagerly filed into the store and waited in another line to pick up their shiny new devices. I didn't get to see the iPad but hope to visit again or go to one of the area's two Apple Stores to take a look. Talk about cool!

We stayed home this Easter Day venturing out only to pick up a few grocery items. She then retreated to her office to slave away at our tax returns. I took a nap, did some stuff online, and explored the innards of an old microwave oven seeking to restore it to operation: I think it needs a fuse and a switch. Tasha spent much of the day on a newly-favorited chair near the patio window looking and acting like the cat we have known so long. She lost some weight through her recent ordeal but actually looks better for it –Dr. B. says her current 9 lbs.+ weight is not worrisome and, indeed, we believe it's probably better for her than when she tipped the scales at 11 to 12 pounds. Lately she's been sociable, out in the open (not hiding), not scratching excessively, and sometimes getting the "cat-crazies" tearing around the house at full gallop for no particular reason. Yup, that's normal for a cat. Good to see it again.

Tasha Snoozin'
Tasha Snoozin’

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That four-letter word that starts with “s”

Posted by Photonstopper on March 26, 2010
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Not Down for the Count
Not Down for the Count

Yeah, we got s*** last night! You heard me… snow! There, I said it! Two inches of heavy, icy, crap all over everything. It's supposed to be sunny today and the temps are over freezing now. I'm expecting to not have to deal with the frozen stuff –much– when we take Tasha to the vet late this morning. It's a followup visit and an expected second antibiotic injection. (She continues to improve, by the way.) In the mean time, as I've said before, it's a good thing those "delicate" spring flowers are really quite tough; look what happened to one in our patio garden.

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More like a tiny cape?

Posted by Photonstopper on March 23, 2010
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Stylish, eh?
Stylish, eh?

Here by popular demand is a photograph depicting Tasha's latest indignity: her "E-Collar." The tiny Elizabethan Collar was provided by our vet to prevent Tasha from worsening her skin condition through excessive biting and scratching; we hope it will help her heal. We remove the collar twice a day to allow a little freedom and normal grooming. The cat seems to be able to eat and drink without restrictions but it causes a little shuffle in her step as she walks. We know the collar is inverted from the way such things are usually employed but it remains effective against the cat's self-inflicted bites and scratches around her head and neck. I've tried to convince She Who Must Be Obeyed that the collar is also inside-out but She remains adamant. Tasha has pretty much resigned herself to wearing the thing though is none too happy about it. It's called a collar but doesn't it look more like a tiny cape?

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Tasha’s wearing a collar

Posted by Photonstopper on March 22, 2010
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This morning I turned on the lights to find that overnight Tasha had eaten every morsel of food set out for her. She hasn't done so well in about a week. I also found her reclining on the open floor instead of in her recent hiding place. Her sniffles and sneezing have cleared up. These are excellent signs of improvement for our cat. On Saturday, however, Tasha opened a new wound on her shoulder — probably from biting. To help keep kitty from further damaging her coat through excessive licking and scratching, Dr. G. gave She Who Must Be Obeyed an Elizabethan collar for Tasha. The collar is a strange looking little thing fashioned from a blue plastic fabric and tied with a little cloth bow. I hope to get a photo of Tasha with her new garb but hope we can safely remove it soon … it gets in her way a bit when she's eating, walking, jumping, sleeping. Dr. also gave us a packet of DOUXO® Seborrhea Spot-on which may be helpful is relieving the skin irritation.

We are becoming increasingly suspicious that this entire incident may have been an allergic reaction to the wheat-based cat litter we've been using for couple of months; that Tasha's skin problem is atopic dermatitis. Her litter box filler is the only change she has seen in her environment that correlates with the beginnings of her skin problems. So Saturday night I dumped all of the Swheat Scoop litter into a wooded area and replaced it with standard clay-based cat litter. I really miss the wheat stuff because I could safely flush it down the toilet (and it won't hurt the woods where I dumped it). It was also light colored and, I thought, cleaner than clay. If, however, the cat (and possibly the wife) are allergic to the stuff, well, it must go!

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She’s feeling better

Posted by Photonstopper on March 19, 2010
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Watching Tasha Watching
Watching Tasha Watching

Tasha appears to be feeling better. The skin problem that caused her to suffer mightily has abated and she is healing. She visits the vet in another week for a second antibiotic injection to help assure the infection is gone. Her sneezing continues but the nasal congestion and resulting sneezing also seem to be diminishing, albeit not as quickly as we'd prefer. She is still hidden away most of the day, however, telling us something's bothering her. These are likely but the latest results of her living with FIV for many years, an infection she had when we adopted her. With FIV, as with HIV (the Human version), the immune system may slowly weaken making it easier for common ailments to take hold. Many cats live normal lives and pass away of causes unrelated to FIV but if they live long enough, opportunistic infections can become a danger. Tasha's about 11 years old.

We're still worried about Tasha's appetite but Dr. B. suggested and we've observed that the upper respiratory problem is likely the main issue there affecting her senses of taste and smell. The low point seemed to come this week when Tasha essentially stopped eating for about 48 hours. Her usual diet is dry food pellets which she seemed to hardly notice. So Thursday evening I bought some canned food and offered her a small dish of it when I got home. She eagerly attacked it. Overnight she ate some more of the wet food and a bit of the dry. Very encouraging.

This morning I was doing some paperwork at the dining room table when the cat came up to see what I was about. She started eating the centerpiece –a wreath of artificial leaves– so I moved that and put her food dish in its place; that was even tastier. All the while I was working and making a scheduled phone report to Dr. B., Tasha stayed on the tabletop purring, bird and chipmunk watching, eating, and socializing. A good 45 minutes to an hour of activity. Not bad. I'm cautiously optimistic she'll pull out of this one. She's feeling better.

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