Monday, May 19, 2025

Mischief Monday - The Barrier - by Tigris

Dear reader,

My servant  Lady has asked me to tell you all she is aiming for 3-4 posts a week right now on her rebrand.  It is going to depend on life and us etc. etc. We are here to stay. Thanks to Ms Ann for the rebrand. 

Lady disturbed my wild turkey viewing for a picture!

Now to the mischief. As you may have read, I had a big fall a few weeks ago. I am back to 100% now, thanks for your concern. 

Lady and Man were terrified it would happen again and had no idea what to do. It was Aunty-Yam's to look for bird spikes. Lady would have never thought of this. Lady ordered it (picking brown to match as best she could). Lady and Man zipped tied it on the banister. This way the banister isn't damaged and they can be easily removed if needed. 

The spot I climbed to jump to that window

The view from Lady's office

Lady says it is a new trend. The medieval castle look.  She hopes it is more temporary, but has put our safety above ascetics. 

This has stopped us from climbing the banister and falling but has not stopped Styx from knocking all the things off other shelves. Lady and Man really need to get on this cat proofing. 

Tigris

Friday, May 16, 2025

Nature Friday - Spring - by Styx

 Hi pals, hi pals!

One place I can sit and stare for longer is outside. There is so much to see, including Callie's cat Ash. We have stare offs. I want to know why Ash can be outside and I have to be inside. Outside is where all the good things are.  Turkey, deer, birds, Ash, trees, turkey, deer, Ash, leaves, wind, moths, bugs, Ash, birds, squirrels, so much , so much!

Lady says to tell you she is making an effort to go out and walk. She says now that she doesn't have to go outside 87 million times a day she feels like she is missing spring. I said let me out, let me out! She said no. She is mean. Styx needs to go out and hunt. Styx is a fierce cat. 

Here are things the mean Lady won't let me experience.

Trillium - I can smell them, they are everywhere! 

Trees in the sugar bush - I can also smell these

The field I spy

The pond - too far for me

I hope you enjoyed all the things Styxy can't have.

your pal,  Styx





Thursday, May 15, 2025

My Turn, My Turn, My Turn - by Styx

 Hi, hi, hi pals,

I am Styx and I am finally getting a turn to write on this blog. Tigris got a turn but oh, look it is getting windy, is that Callie's kid riding the dirt bike, I need a stretch, what were we talking about. Oh yes, I am finally getting a turn. Lady says I haven't gotten one yet because I am, I haven't checked the dish for a bit, what is that noise, have you seen the nip, what's this, have I climbed on that today, oh where was I again - I am very, very busy. I am doing better now, I do stop and sleep. There is so much to do and explore and I better make sure that cat isn't in the yard again, have I climbed up here yet, should I go eat the plant, where was my toy, could it be near feeding time - anyways, I have a lot to do. 



I look forward to getting to know you all.

you pal, Styx

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Why Cats and This Chapter

First, I am happy to report, I am working with Ann on a rebrand of this blog. While I considered starting a whole new blog, I couldn't bear to leave my angels behind. Life of 5/6 angels can be found here. We will stay here with all our old content, as we move to this next Chapter. I haven't worked out a full new blog schedule, but I expect it will be at least a few times a week. We will try to keep up with all our old pals and new ones. It is hard working full time, volunteering, living life, and trying to find time away from screens. Our lack of daily visits does not reflect the importance this community plays in our lives. We think of you all daily. 


Lady ant Tigris, first selfi

Second, people were asking why cats. My blog has been about dogs for so long, so why would I want cats. We started with cats. Almost 31 years ago, we brought Bagheera home. That fall Nin joined us. We were tproud cat caretakers for 20 years. Then in 2014 we became a cat free home. We discussed getting new cats then, but knew Hailey would not have tolerated this. She did not try and hunt Baggy or Nin, but we felt very confident that she would hunt new cats coming in. So for everyone's safety, we didn't get new cats. 

Then, we said goodbye to Hailey. While Phod's death was much sooner than expected, the writing was on the wall that sometime this year we would be saying goodbye to him too. I knew our house could not be completely animal free at this time. I knew Phod was not up to having a new younger dog in the house. I also knew that unlike Hailey, the odds of Phod intentionally hurting a cat were 0 (remember the time he brought the Man a live and angry baby groundhog who he wanted to be his BFF). If anything, Phod was going to be the one to get scratched. Further, we knew he couldn't really chase them and it would be easy to separate them if needed. So cats became the quest and we found the Rivers.

Lady and Styx, first selfie

While we haven't completely ruled out getting another dog, we were dog owners for 22.5 years. We are taking a short pause at least to see what life is like when you don't have to live on a dog's schedule.  We have kept all the perishable items and we will see where we land.

For now we are going to enjoy our River Cats. 


Monday, May 12, 2025

Mischief Monday - 1 down, 8 to go - by Lady

We had cats live in this house before, but they were old cats, so there are things we didn't think about when we got the new ones.Besides the ceiling (see Styx's adventures), we have a banister that runs around the upstairs and opens to our basement. At the end of this are windows. It never occurred to us before we got the Rivers that they would try and get on said windowsills.

Then we took Styx off the banister many, many times and realized this may be a problem. Before we had a chance to solve this, Tigris got up for the first time, tried to make the window and fell all the way down.

Dramatic recreation

It is fair to say both the Man and my hearts stopped watching this happen. 

We raced downstairs and she was no where to be seen. As we were worried about injury, when we found her under the bed, we pulled her out. We did a full exam and discovered, other than what appeared to be a sprain in her front left paw, and a scare, she was ok. She ate, she purred etc. We watched her very closely and by day 3, she was back to her normal self.

Tigris tolerating us icing her paw

The limp persists some, it is not as bad and not all the time, so isn't a major concern.

We are sure she lost a life that day. We hope that she has learned to NEVER try this again. 

We have put a Kleenex box (seen in the window) and a temporary tinfoil barrier to discourage anyone from trying this again. If people have ideas for a better solution, please let us know!