My Early Christmas Gift

I want to thank those who commented on the new Hotel Cosy. I am currently searching for a source of straw. I have an acquaintance who may be able to procure some for me. It isn’t easy finding straw these days, despite the fact that the city in which I reside is meant to be an agricultural hub. Just a hundred years ago, I wouldn’t have had this problem, as half the vehicles in town would still have been horse-drawn. But then, I would have had more trouble finding an internet connection.

In the meantime, I would like to show you my early Christmas gift. Actually, I was given her four and a half years ago, but there always seems to be something new about her. Cammie likes to lie under the Christmas tree where it is now, especially when its lights are on. I think it’s the combination of an enclosed space (the branches above her) and the heating pipe behind her. In any case, she remains one of my favourite presents.

The Hotel Cosy, Now Open

Yesterday, I opened Hotel Cosy, my latest capitulation to the care of the neighbourhood cats. A friend and fellow member of the Lethbridge PAW Society had an outside cat-house that was not being used. She thought I might have better luck, so she generously has donated it to the cats living near my apartment building.

It is a large insulated plastic tube. I don’t know how warm it would keep a cat, but the use of any cat-house I place outside my apartment depends on whether the outsider-cats have a spot already to sleep away the cold nights - or days, for that matter. If they have homes, if they have warm locations that they like, they probably won’t use this one. But if not, this new little hostel may prove inviting.

There was a door to it, but it was difficult for cats to use. As well, I suspect that cats living this way would prefer to see what was just outside their residence. This does, however, allow cold draughts to enter the tube-house. I thought of hanging a small towel across the door, but this would obscure vision as much as a solid door and, as well, flap in the frequent wind that we suffer here, probably scaring the occupants and certainly causing sleepless nights. I have also considered a a self-heating cat-bed, assuming I can find one to fit, but it was pointed out to me that it’s recommended a cat have the opportunity (ie. space) to get off the bed, if they become too warm, and as room is limited in the tube-house, a heated bed (self- or otherwise) may not be practical.

Certainly, cats do like the tube-house. It was inside my apartment for a day, and most of my beasts spent time in there. Renn felt comfortable enough to snooze, and even Cammie sneaked in. (That’s her, almost invisible in the dim light.) There is plenty of room for one cat, even my big boy. I saw Tucker curled up at the front, so two cats could snuggle close up. Since I have seen two outsider-cats roaming together, and eating together from the food-bowl, I know that there are at least two who may sleep side by side.

Last night, I observed one of those black cats down in the concrete ditch (my ‘patio’), which means she was probably investigating the tube-house; she was not frightened by it. I have also placed the food-bowl on the floor of the ditch, out of the wind. Someone ate from it, which is gratifying, as I always worry that a new position for food or water won’t be seen. But it is clearly visible from the old location. And I wanted to entice the outsiders at least to examine the new abode.

So now we will see if anything comes of this. If it happens at all, it may take some time. But I’m not going anywhere, and neither is the tube-house. It may prove a pleasant resort come the spring or summer; in any case, Hotel Cosy is now taking reservations.

The Stockings Were Hung...and the Christmas Tree Raised

I was able to find a space for my Christmas tree, after all.

I want to thank all those who made suggestions of how I could put up a tree. The table-top tree idea didn’t work as the only table I have is the dining table, which I use for writing, as well as eating. There isn’t room for a coffee-table in the sitting room, not if I want the cats’ nylon tunnel there and space for all the beasts (and myself) to walk about. A real tree isn’t permitted in the apartment building.

The most interesting idea was an outside tree, but with the wind we get here that isn’t practical. The wind often blows as strongly as forty or fifty miles per hour, and this past month, we’ve had day after day of it. I couldn’t decorate the tree except for lights, anyway. As well, the sudden appearance of a tree might frighten off the outsider-cats just when they are coming to trust the location for food and water.

Looking at my sitting room, however, I realised that I could put away a small end-table for the Twelve Days and have space. So far, the new (and temporary) arrangement is successful. I did have to speak sternly to Parker, as he was showing too much attention to the tree and its ornaments. But he now knows that he is not supposed to be near there, so a simple warning from me is enough to move him on. Cammie too likes rubbing up against the branches, but does not do it often.

So the tree is up, and the stockings are hung. The big day is swiftly approaching and, with the tree in place, it feels quite like the Yuletide is here. I hope everyone’s preparations are progressing and that they are looking forward to a joyful holiday.

Café Cosy: the New Hot Night Spot

The food and water available for the outside cats seems to be finding favour with them. A neighbour of mine, who is retired, tells me that the bowls are visited by at least three cats that she has seen, usually in the very early morning.

One of the cats is orange; one evening by opening the patio door to recharge the water-bowl, I accidentally chased away a largish orange fellow who had a white-tipped tail. He evidently was not scared permanently away. There is also a black and white long-haired cat. And my neighbour has seen an all-black cat at the bowls, too. Assuming this is one of the pair of black cats I have seen, that would make four who visit the bowls for refreshments. The two black ones I have witnessed eating simultaneously from the bowl, which I am told suggests that they are family, or at least a bonded pair; I tend to think of them as mother and daughter, though I have no reason to suppose this.

I was gratified to learn of these visits. It means that cats have found the food and water and are habitually partaking of them. They may have homes, but I suspect that some at least are community cats, shy of people, and with no regular source of sustenance. I am glad to be able to provide them with some. I am still investigating the possibility of a shelter, though I am not sure the landlords would approve.

In the meantime, as I have no new photographs of my elusive diners, who come to eat in nocturnal darkness, here is a picture of Josie, resting on the Tackle Fish, her tail slowly rising and falling contentedly. (She is not regaining her lost poundage, by the way; she just spreads out a bit when flat on the floor…)

A Christmas Tree Puzzle

I have a bit of a problem with regard to my Christmas tree. I don’t have a place for it.

One of the disadvantages of the cosy apartment is that it is one room too small. I would like one more room, principally to put the books for which I don’t have space elsewhere. This is a small complaint, and is not the first I would address if I had the power to perfect my life. It does mean, however, that what space I have is filled. And I don’t have anywhere to put my Christmas tree.

Last year, it was in the near outside corner of the sitting room, at the far end of the couch. I moved a circular end-table and had a spot for the tree. A month later, Parker arrived. My foster-cat spends time in the library whenever I am absent from the apartment or asleep. His litter-box, a small but serviceable vessel, fits very nicely into a corner, a corner which had been filled with an armchair. I moved that armchair to the near outside corner of the sitting room, where the Christmas tree went last year. I think you may be seeing the problem by now.

With Parker’s arrival, I cannot move the chair back into the library. Even if I had space for it, which I do not, with the orange-boy’s litter-box there, both he and Cammie, and sometimes Renn, use the armchair - at different times, of course - that is now in the sitting room’s corner. All my corners are occupied, and I have nowhere to move the occupants, even temporarily.

I may end up putting the tree not in a corner, which is both traditional and practical, but simply in front of a bookcase. That will prove a hindrance to both man and cat, but it will only be for a while. It will, though, make the tree more prominent, and more of a target for curiosity, especially from Parker, who has yet to see a Yuletide at the cosy apartment.

But, we will figure something out. The stockings will be hung, the music played, and the gratitude at having a home, with five cats safe and warm, will be felt. While a tree would be nice, we’ll remember the point of Christmas, and the point of the tree in the first place.

Tucker's New Numbers: the Diet Aspect

Several readers of this blog have commented about Tucker’s diet. Roberta and Kari mentioned Purina DM food, which is probably what the Trout Towne Tabbies were thinking about. I actually have that brand of food for Parker, my diabetic foster-cat, and Tucker likes it, too. But each cat presents me with a problem in regard to its serving.

I am trying to reduce the cats’ weight, and while Tucker does not like soft-food as much as hard, Parker does, and this gives me an opportunity to diminish his poundage by feeding him just low-carbohydrate soft-food, which of course entails the elimination of the Purina DM kernels from his diet. Tucker, on the other hand, would not eat enough soft-food to keep him going (I don’t really want to starve him to make him lose weight), so feeding him the Purina hard-food would not pose a dilemma - for him, I would not need to consider weaning him off the hard stuff. But, unlike Parker, who is kept alone in the library while I am absent - he is still having a few issues with the other beasts - Tucker is among the other cats all the time. This means that I cannot isolate his food for him. And the others do like the taste of the Purina DM. Josie finds favour with it and, being the dominant diner in the household, would consume most of what I leave available.

The challenges of a multi-cat home are great in number, as many cat-fanciers know first-hand. Even if I had enough rooms to keep them all separate while I was absent, I wouldn’t do it, as feline interaction is, I think, both beneficial and, to varying degrees, enjoyable for a cat. So I will continue to work on a practicable plan. In the meantime, I will try to ensure that neither of the diabetes boys suffer unduly because of their condition. I learn more about it all the time, and hope one day - probably immediately before my demise - to have the answers.

A Change of Numbers

I am raising the dosage of insulin that Tucker receives each day. While, in strict terms, this is a bad thing, it is something that I and his doctor favour doing, and don’t see it as a retrograde motion. It has been quite a while now since the roly poly one’s dosage was reduced to two units twice a day. This was done not because his diabetic condition had improved, but to stabilise it.

During ‘curves’ - blood-tests to determine the effect the insulin he was given had on his diabetes - it was noticed that Tucker’s ‘numbers’ were inconsistent. So I suggested to his veterinary that I drop Tucker’s dosage, not dangerously, but to a ‘lowest common denominator’, if you will, in the hopes that it would diminish the inconstancy. Rather to my surprise, it has.

But two units twice a day is really too low an amount for him. He is faring adequately, but his water-consumption is more than it should be, and I can tell that, though his rear end is strong enough to enable him to jump where he wants to, he is a little reluctant to land when he leaps from a chair to the floor. My sausage of a cat is therefore going to receive three units of insulin twice a day (twelve hours apart, as usual). This will commence on the weekend, when I will be home to view the possibility of adverse effects.

Three units is not a high amount, though of course the goal is to eliminate the insulin all together. But, having stabilised his numbers, albeit at a higher amount than he should have, the next step will be to reduce them. Watching the other signs, such as water-intake and urination, will also be necessary.

Tucker is doing well, all things considered. He is still my purring boy, and hopefully, this new situation will give him more to purr about.