Fluffy, My Water And My Chicken!

 Today's lunch was very Japanese: teriyaki chicken, rice, salad and miso soup.

Lunch.

Whenever I cook chicken, I always take the skin off and cut it into small pieces so that Fluffy can have some.

Just as our lunch is ready, the cats get fed; it's the easiest way to get them off the table, so I can give it a good clean before we eat.

Fluffy had her cat food, with the chicken on top; I was hoping that would be enough for her. 

As always, as I started to eat, Fluffy came sniffing around.

As always, she got to my glass of water before I could stop her, but that's okay; I just get another glass.

I had almost finished my lunch when my daughter sent me a text. I put my fork down, with my last piece of chicken on it, to see what my daughter had written.

Just as I picked up my phone, Fluffy snatched the chicken, with the fork, off my plate.

I couldn't believe it! 

She had eaten her lunch, drunk my water and now pinched my chicken!

The chicken is still on the fork!

Good job, she's cute!!!

The Cats have To Make Money

 I've decided that it's time for the cats to make some money!

I wish that each cat could get a job! But that's impossible, so I've decided to use this blog as an idea for T-shirts!

I've noticed a lot of cute T-shirts on Etsy and Shopify; a lot are made with Printify, a print-on-demand company. I decided to have a go. 

At the beginning of the month, I designed, with AI's help, a simple T-shirt. The design says "81 lives, endless chaos", which sums up my life with the cats. I ordered a sample, which arrived yesterday.

I was trying to show how the neck, sleeves and bottom are hemmed, so they don't fray. The material is very soft and comfortable.

Lovely T-shirt.

I never know how to stand in photos, plus my face is all blotchy and swollen from allergies. But the T-shirt looks good.

I hope to make a few more designs and start a shop on either Etsy or Shopify. 

Maybe I can make some money to pay for the cats!!!

Fred And The Oven

 I fixed the problem with the cats turning on the rice cooker. I moved the rice cooker to the edge of the counter, so there's no space for the cats to sit in front of it!

This afternoon, I was in my room, I could hear the oven beeping. It beeps when it's finished cooking; there's a timer setting on the oven. That really helps me as I tend to put things in the oven and then forget about them. Without the timer, I think I would have a lot of burnt offerings!

I couldn't figure out why the oven was beeping; I'm home alone- well, alone with nine cats! Maybe it's the resident ghost playing with the oven.

I went to investigate and found Fred leaning on the control panel of the oven!

Fred and my oven.

You can see the panel is lit up, which means that the oven is being used! Fortunately, he had only set the controls on the touch panel; to start it, you have to push a button, which I think (hope) they can't do.

I can't move the oven, and I don't want to unplug it. The best would be to keep the cats off the counter, but that doesn't seem to work!

If I Fits, I Sits

 I know cats like boxes, but surely it's too hot now to snuggle up in one?

Recently, one of the discount supermarkets I shop at hasn't had large-size plastic bags.  I try to take my own shopping bag, but sometimes I forget. The store has a stack of boxes that customers can use, so I usually get one of those, which means there are a lot of boxes hanging around the house. As soon as the box is put on the table, the cats appear; it's like magic!

Sam

I turned this box on its side to get the last few things from the bottom. I put away a couple of things, turned around to see Sam very comfortable in the box, with some vegetables!

One cat in a box I can understand; there's room for air to circulate around him so he doesn't get too hot!

But this....

Small box, big cats.

How is that comfortable? Surely they are hot! They were in there for hours!

Alfie on a box.

Poor Alfie couldn't get in the box, so he got on the one next to it!

Today Fred found his happy place.

Very contented Fred.

Like a box but not hot! This is one of the baskets I use when shopping. It got left in the dining room so Fred claimed it for his afternoon nap. I think he feels safe here, but it's not as hot as being in a box!

Fluffy And My Water

 I suffer from allergies; to manage them, I take antihistamine tablets twice a day. The medicine is great, but it dries my mouth out a lot. Because of that, I like to have some water to sip on when I'm eating. Almost every time I sit down to eat, Fluffy jumps up and tries to drink my water.

Fluffy

I don't know why she does this. There are 4 bowls of water around the house; these are refreshed every couple of hours. I tried using different bowls for Fluffy, even putting a bit of lettuce in a bowl so she could see where the water is, but she still prefers my water. I've changed the type of bowl; the ones I have are small metal bowls. I've tried plastic and have even given Fluffy an old cup to drink out of. None of that has worked; she still wants my water.

Most of the time I can stop her; yesterday, however, I was too slow!

She emptied the cup!!

A Mystery Solved

 This is my new rice cooker.

I've had it for a few months now. 

Where the yellow sticker is, that's the control panel. It's a touchscreen and is very sensitive.

Before I go to bed, I wash some rice, put it in the rice cooker, and set the timer so it's ready for me to make obento in the morning.

Some mornings, however, the rice isn't cooked, or the timer is wrong. I've gone over the manual a few times, with one of the kids helping me; my Japanese reading skills aren't that good. It looks like I'm doing everything right, so why am I having problems?

Last night at about 2 a.m., I heard a crash from the kitchen/dining area. I went to investigate and found that Christopher had tripped over the broom!

I asked Christopher what had woken him up. His bedroom is off the dining/kitchen area. He said that he could hear something beeping; he thought it was either the fridge that hadn't been closed properly or somebody's alarm clock.

When he looked round, he saw Alan on the counter, grooming himself and leaning against the rice cooker; every time he moved, he hit the control panel, changing the settings! The beeping noise was the setting being changed.

So now I know why the rice cooker settings are being changed; I just don't know what to do about it. I don't have anywhere else to put the rice cooker.

Alan

Fluffy And Toast's Midnight Adventure

 The other night, Fluffy and Toast got out.

David was leaving for work just after 11pm, he shouted to me that Fluffy and Toast were outside.

Fluffy

Toast

I went out and saw a ginger streak go by. Fluffy ran to the window to get back in, nice and easy.

Toast, however, was nowhere to be seen. Do you know how hard it is to find a black cat at night?

Our garden is completely overgrown. Also, we have a massive storage area that is undercover but has a lot of things in it- lots of hiding places. Christopher and I looked around for about an hour, but we couldn't see or hear Toast. I was a bit worried as there are wild hogs in this area; I really didn't want to meet one of those at night!

We left some food out for Toast and went to bed. 

When I got up the next day, Toast was sitting on the table, waiting for his breakfast, none the worse for his midnight adventure! I, on the other hand, have a painful ankle. I twisted it on a rock when I was out looking for Toast!

Steve

 Steve is my white cat. He's also one of my chunky cats and the best escape artist.

Steve

We moved to this house about 18 months ago. In the old house, Steve was the first cat to figure out how to open the front door!

Here he has found that the screen door in Christopher's room is easy to open; that's how they got out yesterday.

Christopher said that yesterday evening Steve opened the door to his room, wandered in slowly and went to the screen door to go out.  Christopher stopped him. The other cats were waiting to see if they could get out as well!

Today Steve has been sitting by Christopher's bedroom door crying. He really wants to go out! Maybe I should train him to walk on a leash!

I found this cute video of Steve from a few years ago.

He was completely white as a kitten; his tan marking came in later.

Another video I found is of Steve, Alan and Fred playing.

Cute!

The Great Escape

 When I go to the kitchen/dining room in the morning, I am usually greeted by this sight!

Cats on the table.

This morning, however, there were no cats on the table, under the table, on the counter, or on the sofa. The room was totally catless!

I quickly checked the other rooms but only found two of my nine cats. I looked outside and saw the other seven frolicking in the garden; they had escaped!

Knowing it was their breakfast time made it easy to get them back in. I opened the door and shook the bag of food. Six of them charged back in; just Mama cat decided that the taste of freedom was better than the taste of cat food!

I have a hidden stash of cat treats for emergencies like that. Christopher and I went out armed with the cat treats and managed to grab Mama cat.

I don't know how long they were outside, but they ate and slept; they looked exhausted! 

Fred looking very tired after his adventure.

My cats are indoor only. I thought about letting them go out, but where we lived before was between two very busy roads; I would worry about the cats being hit by a car or truck. Here the farmers use a lot of spray that I think might be poisonous to the cats. Keeping them in is hard; cleaning litter trays and trying to keep the cats entertained is hard, but for my peace of mind it's better.

I Don't Understand

 I really don't understand my cats!

They fight a lot. Especially Fred and Frodo.

Frodo

Fred

They fight each other and the other cats. I've noticed recently that Frodo has been attacking the other cats more, even Toast and Alfie, who usually don't get into fights! I have no idea why this is happening now. When we moved here just over 18 months ago, I was prepared for a lot of fights. The space is half the size we had before, but the cats settled in alright!

However, recently they have been sleeping in the same place.

Only Fluffy is missing!

Fred and Alan, who usually fight!

The other day, I walked into the dining room to this.

The cats are hanging out on the table.

Why is it sometimes they can't tolerate being in the same room, but other times they are happy to be together?

I do disinfect the table before we eat! I tried to keep them off, but it didn't work!

Does anyone understand cats, or are they a mystery?

Sorry

 On YouTube, I got a couple of comments on the video I posted yesterday, saying that it was cruel.

I'm sorry that people got upset by it. 

David wasn't being cruel at all, just playing, just for a minute. 

The kitten wasn't hurt or traumatised by this. The kitten was Sam, he is the most loving cat, always looking for cuddles.

This is Sam now.

I've seen cruelty, I've seen animals abandoned by their owners. That's how we got Mama cat!

I could be very angry at the cats as they cost me the house I was renting. I loved where we lived before, it was in a small city, I could work from home teaching English. The area was convenient, with shops and doctors just a few minutes' walk away ( I can't drive). I was given a choice: move out or get rid of the cats. I chose the cats. My life here is hard, the house is small, falling to pieces and in the middle of nowhere. I've lost most of my income and have to rely on my adult kids, not what I wanted in my 60s. 

But I love my cats, I would never be cruel to them, or allow anyone else to be cruel. 

Another Throw Back Video

 I'm working on a small project of making some of my cat photos into colouring pages, using AI, of course. I want to put together a PDF to sell on my Ko-Fi page. I don't have a timeline yet, but it's interesting to see what AI comes up with.

I'm not artistic at all, but I find colouring very relaxing. I thought other people might enjoy colouring too.

The photo

And the drawing.

To find photos, I spend time going through all the thousands of photos and videos I have on my computer. I keep finding photos and videos that I haven't seen before, or maybe I just don't remember!

Today I found this video of David being shouted at by one of the kittens, I think it's Sam, but I'm not sure.

It's kind of cute!!

Sam Again

 Recently, I haven't let Sam in my room. I have plants on my windowsill, and he keeps trying to eat them. I don't think this is very good for him or the plants!

Today, however, he was crying so pitifully outside my door that I decided that he could come in for a while. I let him in, and he went for the plants straight away! I got out a bag of fish flakes that are for the cats. You can buy similar ones for people as well, but they have more salt in them. 

I was watching Sam as I got the flakes out of the cupboard. I didn't realise that the package was open and upside down, the flakes fell out, like a small snowstorm! Sam charged across the room and started to clean up the mess.

I don't know if I caught it on video, but the flakes were going up his nose, making him sneeze, which blew the flakes further. At least one spot on my floor got cleaned!

New Video

 I've been playing around with NotebookLM. 

I'm amazed at how easy it was to make a short video from one of my posts.

Please watch it and let me know what you think!

Brushing The Cats

 The cats are shedding their winter coats like crazy.

I have to sweep and vacuum every day, sometimes twice a day.

We've been brushing the cats as much as possible. I would love to brush each cat every day, but sometimes it's hard to find them, or they are sleeping on the highest shelves.

Today, David managed to give Fred a good brush until Toast jumped up and got in the way.

After I finish posting this, I'm going to see if I can find some of the other cats to brush!

Teasing The Cats

 I don't know about other cats, but mine are very food-centred.

I keep the food in one cupboard, with cleaning supplies. Every time I open the cupboard, the cats come running; they know the sound of the cupboard opening.

I can understand that they associate the sound with food. What I don't understand is when I open a can, usually tomatoes, they come running as well. We rarely feed them wet food, so why do they associate the sound of a can opening with food? Is it some natural instinct that indoor cats have?

The other day my son started to play with the pull tab on a can of food, and this was the result.

At the end of the video, my son went down the corridor to feed them, which is why they are running away again.

Ignore the dirty floor, I sweep every morning, but by the evening it's a disaster again!

Mother's Day

 Happy Mother's Day to all cat Moms out there.

I never wanted cats. Growing up, we always had dogs. Dogs, I understand, not cats!

But when Mama cat showed up my heart melted. She was such a tiny thing, so sweet and cute. Very quiet and not at all aggressive. Even when she first came around, she would let us pick her up or stroke her.

This was before she came into the house. She would come around the yard and meow outside the window. I thought we could feed her and give her clean water, but leave her outside.

That changed when she gave birth to 4 kittens outside our window during one of the worst rainstorms I've ever experienced. We had to bring her in, or the kittens would have drowned!

Mama with her first litter

When this photo was taken, one of the kittens had been adopted.

Mama cat is the matriarch of our cat family. 

She is still very quiet, rarely fights, she lets the other cats push her away from her food, she never demands attention, but is very happy when she gets love!

So Happy Mother's Day to Mama Cat, you really changed my life!

Sam....The Guard Cat

 I was sitting in my room with Sam on my lap. I'm not feeling too good; seasonal allergies have hit me hard, sneezing and sniffling all day.

Sam was all relaxed, gently snoring and purring at the same time.

Suddenly, he stood up, his tail all fluffed up, and the fur on his back standing on end.

I then heard someone outside my window. There isn't anything out there, so I couldn't figure out who would be in that area. We get wild hogs in the garden, but it's still too early for them to be out!

Sam then jumped onto the windowsill. He started hissing! My window opened, I was about to scream when I saw my son, Christopher, standing there!

He gave me a real fright! I was happy to see that Sam was trying to defend his territory!

Sam with his bushy tail.

They've Taken Over!

 The title sounds like the start of a science-fiction book about aliens invading!

That's what it feels like when my cats take over a place.

At the moment it's the bed my daughter uses when she visists. I don't allow the cats in my room, most of the time. I don't mind one or two coming in to keep me company while I'm working on my computer but not to sleep, except Sam. He kind of made it a habit to sleep with me. Unfortunately I had to stop him as I have plants growing on my window sill and he keeps chewing on them. Not good for him or the plants!

The plants that Sam keeps chewing on.

My daughter has been reading in my room this afternoon. I was busy doing other things, cooking and cleaning. I was wondering where the cats were. I found out when I came back to my room!

8 of the cats, snuggled up together.

Only Fluffy was missing, she prefers to be in the kitchen/dining area.

Fluffy, sitting on a paper towel.

This morning Fred scared me. I was half asleep, running for the toilet, opened the door to this.

Fred on the throne!

The top of the tank is a little sink, with a tap that runs when the toilet is flushed. These are common in Japanese houses, a place to wash your hands without having an extra sink. Fred prefers to drink the water from that tap, he will wait in the toilet for someone to come and flush it!

My spell and grammar checking app isn't working. Sorry if there are mistakes!

What A Night

 I think I slept for less than an hour last night. All of the cats decided to party loudly, starting at midnight and continuing until 8am!

Frodo and Fred started fighting, so I separated them. I went to bed. Just got comfortable when Steve, Alan and Toast started the song of the ancestors, you know that long yowling that goes on forever. Calmed them down, back to bed. Then Mama cat started to meow, very loudly. She sounded so sad, so of course I had to go and see what was wrong. I couldn't see anything; they had been fed, and the water bowls were full. Then Fred and Steve started to fight, so I broke my rule and let Fred sleep in my room. 

This was the pattern all night. Of course, they are sleeping now!

Fred and Toast

Fluffy is asleep on David.

I think part of the problem is the local cats hanging around our garden.

One of the local cats.

I've seen this cat quite a few times recently. There's also a white cat and a small black cat. I don't know if they are strays or belong to someone in the area. One problem is that a lot of people don't bother to spay or neuter their animals. If these cats are intact and marking the garden, then that might be why my cats are acting up. We had the same problem last year. Fortunately, once it got hot, my cats calmed down. The only problem with that is once it gets hot, I have a hard time sleeping! This time of year, the nighttime temperature is just right for me. I really hope that the cats sleep tonight!

Fred Again

 I always feel sorry for Fred; he gets pushed out by the other cats and ends up in a lot of fights. 

I'm not sure how this happened, but his littermates turned on him, and even the younger cats have a go at him, especially Frodo.

Steve, the white cat, Fred in the middle and Alan.

This is Fred with his littermates. I always think they are planning something in this photo. It's unusual to see them sitting together like this!

The only other cat he gets along with is Alfie, the other grey and white cat.

Fred and Alfie

I'm not sure if it's related, but Fred has a bad habit of marking everywhere. I think he is trying to show his dominance over the other cats. Because of this, I don't usually let him in my room.

This week, however, my daughter is staying here for a few days. She has let Fred into my room. I don't mind as long as she can watch him. At the moment, he is really sleeping. I think he doesn't sleep very deeply as he is always being vigilant.

She took this video of him making biscuits.

Cute!

Cats In Boxes

 Cats love boxes!

We buy the cat food online, so there are always boxes for the cats. More than any toys we've bought for them, the boxes are always the favourite!

I've been trying to sort through the thousands of photos I have. Even though I pay for cloud storage, I need to be careful about how many photos I have. Today, I noticed that I have so many photos of the cats in boxes.

Even if there's no room, they'll find a way to fit in.

Even if the box is too small, if we fits, we sits!

Are they comfortable?

If they want a box, they aren't going to wait for you to put away the shopping.

Alfie didn't want us to throw out these boxes. We took him out of that box at least 10 times, but he just jumped back in. In the end, we let him keep that box; the rest went to the recycling centre.

Packing to go away for a couple of days, got the important things in!

Don't need anything else!

Cats and boxes really go together!

Flea Meds Again

 Some of the cats hate having the flea meds put on them.

Fluffy is the worst of the lot.

David does the hard work of catching her, I put the meds on her while she is trying to scratch her way to freedom.

When we were doing it the other day, Fluffy was sitting on the little round table in the kitchen area. She was facing away from us.

David opened the package containing the flea meds. He was trying to do it quietly, but somehow Fluffy noticed. This was just a package from Amazon; the meds are the ones the vet recommended, but cheaper from Amazon. 

Fluffy turned round at the sound of the package being opened. She stared for a few seconds, then took off at light speed.

How does she know what's in the package? We get a few packages every month, cat food, cat scratching boards, books, occasionally clothes that I order, so how did she know that this package contained the flea meds? 

The flea meds package.

I think Fluffy must have sent out a signal because the other cats that were just chilling out also went into panic mode!

Fluffy got under the sofa, the most difficult place to get her out of!

Can you see her hiding?

It took a while, but they all got done. 

We had a day of the cats sulking, but they have forgiven us until the next time. I think we need a better strategy for next month!

Just a few photos of the cats.

Mama and Alan are sitting on the flea meds package; maybe they are hoping we can't find it?