Social ... distance?

What is this "social distancing" of which you speak?
(and move over, you're hogging the chair, momma)

Sheeesh. Like she needs the room.
I'm being purrfectly reasonable here.
It's not like I'm sitting on her keyboard, or her fingers.
She can still write....


***

A Scary Halloween Tale

There once was an unassuming little vent, sitting in an unassuming little hole in the carpet.
The vent was ignored for the most part by the humans (who should have cleaned it better, or at least dusted it once in a while).

Along came an inquisitive little kitty, who felt sorry for the vent and decided to give it some love.

A lot of love.
Too much love.
(BACK AWAY FROM THE VENT, MAXIE)

In case you wondered how this tale ended...
let's just say that we returned home recently and could not find a certain Siamese.
After much searching, and a bit of yowling, we discovered the Perp.

INSIDE the duct.

And he could not get out on his own.

Please note: we do own bookcases, quite a few, in fact.
But when you visit, you'll find stacks of books holding down various vents throughout the house, since somekitty has a peculiar fascination with our ventilation system...and the agile paws to pull the vents out and go exploring.

(reenactment photos  ;-)

* * *  

Fences.

Faraday: Hey, Maxie. You know that saying humans have about the grass being greener?
Maxwell: Ah-yup.

Faraday: Well, how can it be greener on the other side if we don't have any in here to compare it to?

Maxwell: Dood. This isn't a fence.

Faraday: Details, Maxie. Seriously. Work with me here. 

***

Lazy Friday

Just hanging out on a Friday...

How about you?

***

Know what's really scary?

When the only available photo for today's post is of someone's else's cat.

Seriouslies, Mommy. This is wrong on so many levels.

The Mom: Boo.

***

Wait. WHAT?!?

Faraday: *scandalized look* Maxie, did you see the news?
Maxwell: Uhhhh ....
Faraday: Seriousllies, Maxie. Everyone's talking about it.

Mommy has been spotted cheating on us.

Exhibit A, Incriminating Evidence

Maxwell: Is that ...
Faraday:  YASSSSSSSSS. And I thought he was one of the boys.
Maxwell: Dood. That totally breaks the code.

That's right, gentle reader. While the boys sit staring in shock at Exhibit A, the mom is in Colorado on a photo safari/vacay with her good friend, Glogirly.

Selfie taken yesterday in Rocky Mountain National Park

Waffles: Hey, Miss Lisa, don't you think this could use a little more orange? And maybe some chicken?

 
Katie: Don't worry, Allie. I'll send her packing tomorrow. My word on it.

***

 

A Little Construction Advice

A few weeks ago, construction began on our house as we had a few windows replaced.
Some kitties wisely decided to retreat from all the loud noise and chaos.

And then there's Maxwell.

Part I: Deconstruction
  
Maxwell: ... and after you remove that one, there's another storm window over here ....
 

Maxwell: Ah, yes. Very good. Very good.

Maxwell: Dood, I think you missed a screw. No, down here, in this corner ....

Maxwell: Yeah, that's the ticket. Now, after you remove that one ....

The crew was entertained by Maxie's "dedication" to the project!

We'll show you the "after" photos soon.

***

 

'Toon Tuesdays: Squee Edition

***

_____

Toon Tuesdays feature animal (and sometimes human) humor created by the peeps over at Shoebox Greetings (Hallmark approved. Sorta.) - where our mom works, too!

Post Ice Storm Jupiter

While we did the sensible thing, and napped in front of the fire ...

Our crazy human did a walkabout in the icy aftermath. With her camera.

(P.S. It wasn't that icy. The storm mostly missed us.)

***

petMD: Knowledge Worth Reading #sponsored

This post is sponsored by petMD and ARM & HAMMER™, and the BlogPaws Professional Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about The petMDCat Care Center, but A Tonk's Tail only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Arm & Hammer and petMD are not responsible for the content of this article.

I was asked recently if I'd be interested in promoting the petMD Cat Care Center (sponsored by ARM & HAMMER™ CLUMP & SEAL™ LightWeight litter). I had been on the site before, but wanted to give it a more critical once-over before I gave them my decision.

Wow. This was probably one of the easiest decisions I've made. I'll show you why in a sec.

First, here's a brief overview of what you'll find on this site. The landing page for the Cat Care Center asks you to begin by selecting your cat's age. This allows petMD to curate their site so that the articles most relevant to you will be what you see first.

Hovering over one of the grey boxes will pop up an age you can click on. I selected 4 years - Faraday's age (until July, at least!).

This takes you to a customized Cat Care Center main page that groups topics into six different categories:

Care, Health, Emergency, Behavior, Home and Bonding.

As I browsed through the different sections, I found articles on CPR and Artificial Respiration for Senior Cats (Emergency category). This is totally on my punch list, by the way.

Under Behavior, there was an article on how your cat's behavior may change with age. (If we could educate pet owners about this, might it lower shelter intake rates? It's possible.)

Then in the Care section, I found one on how to keep your cat's teeth clean. It's probably no great surprise that this caught my attention - especially given Maxwell's adventures with gingivitis (and those frequent visits from the Tooth Fairy).

Maxwell: Seriously momma, it's genetic. I floss and everything, honest!

At the end of the article, I discovered this gem:

"...you can also include deboned raw meat to stimulate him to chew, which helps to keep the bones strong. Vary the meats, too. Besides fish, you can also feed your cat beef and rabbit."

I might have squeeed a little. (okay, a lot...)

I am so excited that petMD's Cat Care Center mentioned this. You've heard me talk before about the fact cats are obligate carnivores. I personally believe that providing them with the kinds of food they would find in the wild is a great thing.

And because of their shorter digestive tracts, a cat is well-suited to handle raw meat without encountering some of the concerns we humans might face under the same circumstances. (wait, we eat sushi, too...)

Allie: "Did someone mention sushi?"

There's a lot to like about petMD's Cat Care Center. The website maintains a comprehensive library of more than 10,000 pet health articles, all written and approved by their network of trusted veterinarians.

They told me they're also the world’s largest digital resource for pet health and wellness information and has become the go-to resource for millions of pet parents across the globe. I can see why.





Our thanks to the folks at ARM & HAMMER™ CLUMP & SEAL™  LightWeight litter for sponsoring such a wealth of information for our four-legged family members.

Click here for a $2 off coupon!

***

A Visitor for High-Five Day

Did you know today is National High-Five Day?

(we didn't either)

 Allie: Oh Mother, I'd dearly love to give our visitor a high five - do you think he'd mind?

 Uh, yeah. Probably....

Look! It's a woodpecker! Mother heard it knock-knock-kocing on a dead branch up in our huge oak tree. Waaaay up.

As in, with her normal zoom lens, this was as close as she could get to it, while fully zoomed in. He's circled in red, and you can see by the long rectangle we've highlighted, this guy's been busy drilling! Mommy wanted to play connect-the-dots with the photo!

So she ran inside and grabbed her manual 200mm prime lens (no autofocus, eep!).

He's really good at camoflage, isn't he?

Allie thinks he looks delecta--- uh, very nice.

And in this last photo you can see the top of his red head! 

(Or were there two woodpeckers?? These were taken about half an hour apart, in two 'sessions'.
Mommy set her shutter way fast to remove any shaking, but they're still a tad blurry, and she wasn't about to run in and get the tripod for fear he'd leave!)

***

The Moments We Cherish Forever #RecipeForMoments

Maxwell: If you were to ask me about the most special moment momma and I have shared, I’d have to say it was the day I made her cry.

I know, that sounds like crazy talk, right? But let me explain.

It happened the moment I laid eyes on her for the first time.

Actually it happened the moment the rescue worker placed me in her arms and she began to quietly sob.

As I patted gently at the tears rolling down her cheeks, that’s when I knew: momma needed healing.

She feared it was too soon, she said. Her heart wasn't ready for another cat.

But I knew better. And I knew I was just the kitty for the job.

You see a blurry photo from a camera phone, but this moment is crystal clear in my kitten heart.

Those first six months were a lot of work for both of us. Not everyone will adopt a deaf cat, especially one as sick as I was. Twice a day she would medicate me. And twice a day, she sealed each ear with a kiss.

I might not have been able to hear her love, but I sure could feel it.

And I loved her back, with head-butts and nuzzles and loud rumbling purrs.
And that became Our Thing. We were doing FaceTime way before any iphone ever had it!

I’m a strapping three year old now, as healthy as can be. I love playing catch with momma and my Flipper. She's pretty good at kitty games for a human.

"Here, momma! Catch!"

But we still begin each morning with our special moments – our very own FaceTime with head-butts and ear kisses.

I love those times, I do. But the moment that will forever be the most special to me is the day I made her cry.

***

Faraday: Well, I don’t make mommy cry.
I make her laugh.

Rumor has it that I was a needy kitten. Of course we all know that's just a bunch of libel, slander and smack talk.

Needy? Nah. I can't help it that mommy required loads of paw-on training when I first arrived. (She’s coming along quite nicely, by the way.)

And the nickname "ankle-biter" is, of course, nothing more than rumor-mongering and muckraking.

Who knows what lurks under the covers in the middle of the night anyway, I ask you? There are three kitties in this home, and until there is DNA evidence to the contrary, it's Innocent until Proven Guilty, I say!

But I digress.

As I mentioned before, Mommy's coming along nicely. She's become an expert Cuddler, and knows all the best places for scritches.

We do all sorts of stuff together, like read and snuggle. And her opposable thumbs come in real handy when I need my fireplace lit!

I leave it to Maxie to handle the more difficult training, though. Like trying to properly train her to watch BirdTV.

She's hopeless at chittering at birds. She has noooo rhythm. Kinda like Elaine in Seinfeld.
But that's okay. I just bop her one when she does it wrong!

***

 
Allie: Mother and I have more of a working relationship.

I figure it's a nice change of pace for her. I mean, she and Maxie are all mushy, and Faraday, well.... Let's just say The Brat is High Maintenance and leave it at that, shall we?

It’s refreshing to be outside with her, supervising her work. (Well, someone has to do it, and we all know I'm the Responsible cat in the household.)

Of course, it's a lot of hard work for a girlcat like me, but I'm up for it.

Whether it's ensuring she rakes all the leaves into acceptable piles over the fall and winter months, or making sure the catnip in planted in straight, even rows, I'm the girlcat for the job.

I also take Perimeter Sweeps very seriously. Securing the home against all intruders is paramount, and I walk alongside her to ensure everything is properly sniffed and Investigated.

I do enjoy my time with Mother.
However, my special moments are more the father-daughter kind.
Every girlcat needs a daddy to love! (But not mine. He’s already taken.)

And as a feline who’s always fashionable, he also benefits from my sensational sense of style.

Speaking of which:
Oh daddy dear... the 80’s called. They want their sweater back.

 ***

Our story is a part of the #RecipeForMoments blog hop hosted by BlogPaws.

What's your story? 

Link up below to share your story of that special human/animal bond you and your pet share. What do you think your pet feels in your special moments?

Five random U.S. winners who link up their blog post will win a Nature’s Recipe® lightweight collar camera to capture special moments from their pet’s point of view. See BlogPaws for official rules and details.

_____________________

FTC Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Nature’s Recipe® on behalf of the BlogPaws Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Nature’s Recipe for Moments on behalf of Nature’s Recipe, but we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers. Nature’s Recipe is not responsible for the content of this article.