Daddy's Little Helpers

 There are 2 things I can do that will get the attention of every cat in the house. Then they come running, I don't even have to call them, they just suddenly appear. First anything having to do with food. If I bring groceries into the house they will ignore me (not all of them Lil' Bit always has to check out the shopping), but if there is cat food in the bags everyone is there. I don't know how they know it but they do. If I move a can of cat food they can hear it. Open a new bag of dry... well you can see in the photos.

Getting a new bag ready.

Can not wait for it to be put in the bowls. 

The second thing is make the bed. The can hear the movement of the sheets when I pull them off, even if I am just folding the sheets they come running. No matter how quite I try to be they still hear it, even when I can not hear anything. Then as you can see from the photos they try to help. I will toss the old sheets on the floor while I am putting the clean sheets on. Those that are over taxed from helping will use them to take a nap.  

Putting clean sheets on they make sure they are placed properly.

Mittens under the sheet.

Almost done

Just finished.

                                     

Ugly resting.

Pretty's turn for a much needed rest.

As you can see they were all very helpful.

Doorman

Pretty

It seems all I do some days is open and close doors for kitties. They must think I am their own personal doorman/servant/slave. Ugly will come to the door pathetically looking in until I open the door for her, then sniff at the door before walking away. Normally with in 5 minutes of having gone outside. Most of the time when she goes out she will just lay down off to the side of the door. She does the same thing at the window in the computer room, jumps up onto the sill but will not come in when I open the window.

I can go to the door, open it to let one cat in take a look in the back yard and 2 or 3 more are on their way. They seem to just be waiting for their opportunity, then they all come running in (chows on). Worse yet Pretty (Ugly's twin sister) will come in take a few bites of food. Then she will want right back out. Five to ten minutes later she will want in again, for another bite or two. Grazing through out the day.



TJ watching the others eat.



Other times I will let one of them in, look around, I will not see or hear any others so I will close the door. As soon as it is closed and I walk out of the kitchen someone else is at the door wanting in. TJ is the worst for bothering me when I am busy (he always seems to know when I am in the middle of something, sometimes I think he does it just to bug me). He will go out for 3-5 minutes then back in for 15-20 and out again, over and over and over etc. He can be insistent at wanting in too. If it is at night and I am watching TV in the front room he will “knock”. I have a large picture window about 6 foot high going from the floor up. It opens at the bottom so there is a screen on it he can reach. TJ will come up and pick at the screen (like when sharpening his claws), just a couple of pop, pop, pops to let me know he is there. He will keep doing it every couple of minutes until I let him in.

Most of the time the cats are just coming in to eat (I guess that also makes me a waiter), but sometimes they will come in for a while. Pretty will come in and play with the toys for an hour or so one toy she played with so much she broke it. It was a fuzz ball hanging from an elastic string attached to the top of the closet door. She hanged on it so much finally the plastic broke off at the top. Blackie will come in to sleep, especially if it is a hot day out. After a couple of hours cat napping she will be ready to go back out.

Usually when I am in the kitchen cooking it gets to be like Grand Central Station, what with cats coming and going. Open the door to let one out another one comes in. The same thing happens when I sit down at the computer to write. They will either pick at the screen door in the kitchen or jump up into the window and stare at me until I get up and let them in.

Not every day is like this, in fact most days are not so busy. Just yesterday and today it got to be really bad, so it was on my mind tonight when I sat down to write. I don't mind though, I know that just like kids they need a little extra love and attention. Also because of the rain I stopped feeding them outside, so now they have to come in to eat.



The Martian



Take the Martian for example, he was pretty wild when he first started showing up. I have been spending a lot of time with him and have gotten him to the point where I can pet him. Even pick him up if I need to move him, he won't let me hold him though. I have got him to the point where he spends 80% of the day inside now. When I let him out he will just lay down against the door after I close it. He is a lot calmer now after I have given him the care and attention he needed.



Tom (Thomas Cattacus)



I am a firm believer of keeping cats inside for their health and safety, all my cats are indoors only (That’s why I do not have a pet door). But besides my five my neighbor out back has 5 that they let run around unsupervised. Then there is Tom who may show up every day sometimes twice in a day. I do not know if he has another home or not but suspect that he does. That is because he may not even stop by for a week or more at a time, and he does not appear to be starving. Finally there is the Martian, who I know does not have a home. That is why I started trying to tame him. That makes 12 in all, seven of which are out door cats. So as you can see some times it can get really busy at the door.

    

More Chores:

Buying Kitty Food



Click on GIF to see animation.



I buy all of their food at Pet Smart, normally getting several cases of wet and a couple of bags of dry at one time. (I find it is cheaper this way, buying it on sale) I use old plastic buckets, that their litter came in to store their dry food. I washed them out with a mild dish soap before using them. When I go to fill them everyone comes by to supervise and get a little taste test. I think they are checking up on me to make sure I bought them the good stuff. The first pic shows them helping me and getting a little taste. That is Lil' Bit reaching deep in to grab some (Click on pic to animate gif: Lil' Bit it the gray one). As you can see it is quite the crowd pleaser, everyone gathers around. How many cats can you count?

This is even better than using catnip to get their attention. Sometimes it is kinda of hard to walk around without tripping over a cat or three. This is a grand ceremony for them with everyone in the house showing up except Girl, who is usually as far away from the others as she can get. Once everything settles down they will all decide that it is time for a nap and lay down around the bucket.



Click on GIF to see animation.



Putting away the canned cat food is even more fun, once I get around to it that is. In the second photo I decided to eat before putting it away. Mittens and Lil' Bit decided to remind me it was time to put their food away. I will open each case and then stack the cans alternating between all the flavors in each stack. Once I spread the cases out on the floor the cats will go back and forth between cases checking out which flavors I bought this time. Then Squirrel will get in the cupboard making sure there is a place to put it all. Very helpful this, as she is normally standing right where I am trying to work.



Click on GIF to see animation.



What to do once it is all put away??? Make forts of course! You can see in this picture I can make a couple of forts for them . Which they will quickly camp out in, and use to attack each other from. Soon there are pieces of fort all over the kitchen. I will rebuild them several times, until I get tired. They never seem to get tired of it. After a couple of hours of boxes all over the house I will pick them up and put them away. I do keep a couple around the house as the cats will use them as beds.

Lets not forgot about cleaning the litter box, I know Mittens won't let me. If she thinks that I have neglected it she has a subtle way to remind me. She will walk up to me and be very loving, then walk away back and forth until I get up to see what she wants. If she walks past the food and into the bathroom I know it is time to clean the litter box. (When she wants fed she will go to the food) I have four litter-boxes, the extra large one is in the spare bathroom. I use scoop-able litter cleaning them out everyday filling as needed with a complete change every so often. Mittens will stand by the door watching me, supervising unless it is urgent then she is right next to the box. Once I finish she will test it out, making sure I did a good job. If it is not her testing it out as soon as it is cleaned then it is Squirrel. It doesn't matter if they had just went before I started, they still have to try it out.

I think that covers all the chores, no matter what I do they are right there. Whether it is to help out or just to supervise, one or more of them will be close by, making sure I do it to their satisfaction. Even if they are a hindrance sometimes, at leas they believe that they are helping.

Helping with the Chores!!





Making the bed. Squirrel, Mittens, Lil' Bit helping.

 

A little help with the chores, or is it a little hindrance? I guess it all depends upon your point of view. Take making the bed for example, sometimes it can take 20 min or more. As I start to pull the old sheets off they can suddenly gain 15-20 pounds, two or three little helpers have joined in. Twelve eager paws ready to lend assistance, or at least have some fun. Usually one is there to take a “sleigh” ride, another will be chasing the sheet as it slides off the bed. Then I will shake out the fitted sheet, creating the perfect hiding spot, for one or two to run under. Of course they have to make sure I got all the corners on tight. If one is still hiding I will go do something else for a while. Checking back until they leave having left one of the corners loose so they can get out. Then comes the top sheet, paws flying everywhere trying to catch it and hold it down. This turns into a game of “chase the kitty under the sheet”. Again another wait until it's all clear. If I am also busy doing other chores I may forgot to check back for a while, sometimes they are still there 15 min later. Well finally the bed gets made. The first pic is one a took a while back, showing the three main culprits, I mean helpers.

Then comes grocery shopping. You know how when you bring in all the bags, you don't know what is in which bag. Problem solved, I just put them all up on the counter and go to the bath room to wash up. When I return Lil' Bit lets me know which one has the meat and other refrigerated items in it. It is the bag she is in. She will check to make sure the meat is fresh, maybe even take a taste test, if I take to long. Then the others join to see what I have bought, any kitty treats? They check the cupboards as I open the doors to make sure there is room to put things away.

I have some very brave cats when it comes to cleaning the house, no really. Girl, Squirrel, and Mizz Purzzzy will run and hide under my bed as soon as they see or hear the vacuum cleaner. Lil' Bit will keep playing but move to the other room (my front room and living room are one open room). She will keep an eye on the vacuum and if I get too close she will run past it to the other room, making a game of it. Ugly will do much the same thing except she does not play just crouches low and watches. Mittens is entirely driven by her stomach, as I started giving treats when they did not run away and hide. She now will get up on the curio cabinet, or piano and supervise me. When I first start it I give her one then when I get close to where she is I give her another, usually 4 or 5 each time I vacuum. The first time I vacuumed with her in the house, I had to physically move her, no fear. Later on she started to run. That was before I started giving treats, trying to quell the fears of the other cats. When I first started with the treats she would jump from the cabinet to the piano to get more treats, as that is the path I take, now she just picks one and will stay there the whole time. Now I walk right up to her with the vacuum in my hand right next to her. If I sweep first I will have a couple cats chasing dust bunnies around.



Mittens next to printer



Now that I am busy at the computer, trying to type this, they all are acting up and wanting attention (just like a little kid, daddy pay attention to me). Outdoor kitties wanting out/in others looking to be fed. TJ trying to pick a fight with the other males. Lil' Bit jumped into my lap for a few min till I ignored her. I often have a companion when I am typing, Mittens will jump up and lay down by the printer. We often fight over space on the table, as you can see she takes up a lot of room. (Sorry my desk is always messy). She watches what I do to make sure she approves.

Next time more chores: Buying Kitty Food. I will tell you about all the joy and pleasure that it will bring them, even if it doesn't help me much.