Tag Archives: Striker

Cat Tales: The Scarf

17 Dec

Last month I wrote about my cat Striker hurting his neck and the bandaging we had to do so he could heal.

(Click Pet Parent Guilt to read all about that cat drama!)

When he got to the stage of no longer needing a bandage on his neck but needing something wrapped around his neck so he couldn’t scratch at the area while it finished healing a friend at work came up with a brilliant idea and knit him a scarf.

Can you believe that? I was going to go buy dog bandannas and she knit him a scarf! An amazing scarf that he absolutely loved.

It’s confusing because he doesn’t like wearing things, ever, but he took to this scarf and was really enjoying it. He could take it off easily, he just chose not to.

He is still a cat though and cats scratch their necks, which means Striker was scratching at his scarf. Not in an attempt to get it off, and he didn’t seem in distress or unhappy, it was like a habit or something. He learned if he scratched at it he could twirl it around his neck which quickly became a fun little game to him. But hey, whatever keeps that scarf on his neck I’m down with!

Because he was scratching at it he started fraying the scarf, plus it was a little big for him, so my friend made him a second one, a bit less wide and a bit longer with a snap closure at the ends.

The day I brought it home I was petting Striker, he was purring, then I took his old scarf off and he immediately stopped purring and looked so upset. I tried comforting him but he was having none of it, I took the new scarf and started wrapping it around his neck and boom! Purring!

He’s such a little weirdo lol

This second scarf is a much better fit, he loves it more than the first one, and even though he can take it off he almost never does. The rare times he has removed it he has used it as a pillow so it doesn’t seem like he is trying to get away from it, just cuddle with it. He has frayed this one quite a bit also but lucky for me my friend is making him a third scarf which he will hopefully have in time for our flight tomorrow.

This second scarf, oh man, the other day he was on my lap and not settling so I thought I’d take the scarf off and give him a good neck scratch. Well, bad move me. As soon as the scarf was off all he cared about was the scarf, he was nosing it, pawing at it, trying to get it back. *rolls eyes* I put it back on him and what does he do? Immediately settles down and has a nap on my lap.

Something about these scarves!

striker scarf

That is his grumpy “you woke me at 5:30am human!” face, not a grumpy about the scarf face, I swear!

The next three pictures are of Striker with his second scarf, isn’t he dashing?

I wonder if he likes it because it keeps him warm and our place is a bit chilly? Or maybe it is comforting, the way a child hugs their teddy bear for comfort? Or maybe he is just a tad bit special and I should stop trying to figure it out because it is just so darn cute!

 

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Cat Tales: Flight Instinct

16 Oct

The poor cat.

Yesterday I was in the bathroom and I heard a noise from the kitchen. It sounded like a glass or cup fell, but didn’t break. Thing is, I only had two mugs out, both were sitting on top of the stove and from what I remembered, neither was near the edge.

So what fell…and how?

When I step in to the kitchen I see the cat’s water bowl on the opposite side of the kitchen from where it normally is, the water that is usually in the bowl is all over the floor, and the cat is nowhere to be found.

What. The. Heck.

I’m more worried about the cat than the water so I step over the little pond that is now on my kitchen floor and call out for Striker. I noticed him hiding in the living room, behind the ottoman, looking so worried. I step towards him, softly ask what happened, and the poor little guy comes running over, jumps in to my arms and clings to me.

I don’t know what happened, but whatever it was scared the bejeezus out of the poor guy.

The only thing to be done at that point was hold him, reassure him, for a couple minutes I basically stood there, with his head tucked under my chin, his claws gripping my sweater, while I rocked back and forth…imagine how you instinctively move when trying to soothe a baby, that was me, with the cat.

He kept looking over at where his water bowl usually is, like he was making sure things were ok. I kept looking over wondering if whatever scared him was going to reappear. I’m imagining a massive spider scaring him while he was drinking, and I’m just waiting for it to pop back out from wherever it is hiding so I can scream like a ninny and then kill it.

Both the cat and I are afraid of spiders but only one of us kills them, the other one hides behind the one killing the spiders…sigh…

You know how there is that whole “fight or flight” thing we all have? He only has flight.

At least he knows he can jump in to my arms and I’ll make things better. Soooo, a smart scaredey cat?

striker 1

Must be exhausting being so cute.

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The Sweater Experience

12 Dec

For Christmas I am flying back home, which I am very excited about! However I am not flying home alone. Nope. Not this year. This year I am bringing this lovely fella with me. 🙂

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That is Striker reminding me he is more important than the book I was reading by laying down on top of it lol

The thing is, I am from Alberta and it is coooooold in Alberta! They get real winter as opposed to the rainy not all that cold weather I get here. The poor little guy does not appreciate the drop in temperature he feels when we step out of the airport at night. He flew home with me once before and he was so quiet during our travels people didn’t even realize I had a cat with me…until we stepped out of the airport to get a cab and then he became quite vocal!

This year I thought I would make things easier on him and I bought him a sweater. Yes, yes I have become that person who bought an animal clothes. I know I should be ashamed but oh man, the experience of getting him dressed in the sweater was so amusing (to me, not him) that the sweater was worth every penny just for the laughs I had.

He was cuddling on my lap, innocent as to what was about to happen to him. I grabbed the sweater, leaned in as if for a hug and boom! got that sucker over his head and around his neck all in one easy move. Well, sort of easy move, there maaaay have been a tad bit of wiggling and dodging but I was faster lol

Turns out I made a slight sizing error and bought the sweater in too small of a size, which is unfortunate because it is a striped pattern and the combo of stripes, and tightness of fabric, makes him look a tad, umm…husky? rotund? thick around the middle? any and all of those apply…which kind of makes the whole thing funnier 😛

The poor guy, he did that thing cats do oh-so-well where, as soon as the sweater was on, he did a full on, dramatic, body collapse. Just poof! One second he is ok, the next he is collapsed on my lap, unable to function because horror or horrors, he has a sweater on!

I found the cat’s kryptonite.

I tried getting him to stand but as soon as I removed my hands he magically became unable to bear weight on his paws and collapsed again.

Unfortunately for him he was on my lap when I put the sweater on him so every time he collapsed he collapsed on to me, meaning he couldn’t get away from the evil person who was inflicting this torture on him. He did however refuse to look at me…

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I eventually got him to turn his head a bit…this was the nicest of all the looks he gave me…

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As you can see the tag is still on the sweater so I will be returning it for a larger size. Striker probably wishes I would burn it and send it back to the hell it came from but sadly (for him) that won’t be happening.

 

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