Cats and Bags and Lead Paint

Our Puff has recently decided that it is a great joy to lick bags. I am talking about the "green" bags that you get at different shops and stores so that you can bring them back to the store and thus avoid using plastic bags. Sometimes these "green" bags are plastic themselves and other times they are some sort of cheap cloth and will last through a good many trips to the store until they finally crumble away into component parts. I have several red ones that have come from Diver's Direct, a black one from a grocery store and several other plastic ones from grocery stores plus one that changes colors in the sun from Del Sol. Usually these bags are thrown on the floor as I empty them and then gathered to go back to the car. Since I am living out of a hotel room still, several of the larger red bags from Diver's Direct have been pressed into use as holding containers. Until a couple of days ago, they were sitting underneath the desk or underneath tables and such. There is no room in the minuscule hotel room for them to live in the closet.
I had noticed a week or so ago that Puff was spending an inordinate amount of time crouched next to one bag or another and licking the bag. He would dart off the minute I would holler at him to stop only to creep over to the bag again and start licking it again. Usually he could do this quietly so I often didn't catch him until all other noises would cease (hotel hall noises) and then I would hear the lick, lick, slurp, slurp as he lovingly laved the bag with his tongue. He's gotten a real oral fixation on these bags. He started doing it more and more until I decided it was a possible danger to him and finally found a perch above the television for the bags. I have no idea what attracted him to the bags and why he started licking them and progressively got more and more aggressive about it. My husband told me that he read somewhere that some of these "green" bags contain lead paint! Oh my gosh. I hope I have not inadvertently poisoned my kitty! I guess all that lead paint from ages ago has been sitting in warehouses waiting to be used for something. How ironic that it gets used in "green" bags. For now, Puff is unable to lick the bags. What will he find next?

Blink!

Those familiar with the British television program, Doctor Who, might recognize the title. If you are a fan and have watched the series, especially when David Tennant was Doctor Who, you will remember that this show featured stone angels who looked fine when you watched them but turned into evil beings who crept up upon you and killed you when you didn't watch them. So when you were in their presence, you had to look at them all the time and not even blink. These angels were also revisited in the current series with Matt Smith as Doctor Who.

My cats have developed these same sneaky feature, except the killing part, thank goodness. If I am watching them, they will sit across the room and gaze at me. Once I glance away or blink, they are closer the next time I look until finally, they are at my feet or about to get into my lap. It is amazing how fast they move and how silently they move and how close they can creep up to me without me noticing that they have done it. Since seeing the Doctor Who show with this feature, I always think about these angels whenever the cats are creeping. Don't Blink!!!

Mis-Understanding Daylight Savings Time

My kitties have been placed on a diet and are learning a new behavior, I hope. They no longer have free access to the food bowls at all hours of the day or night. This is because Puff needs to lose about 5 pounds. Most of it is my fault, but even when he was in kitty prison a couple of months ago, I specifically told them he was not to have more than a certain amount of food daily and they didn't pay attention to that. Their idea of a good kennel is to keep all the animals fed and quiet. So Puff gained weight while he was in the kennel because, like me (unfortunately), he eats because the food is there.

After getting him out of the kennel, I knew it was time for a diet. I also knew it was not going to be an easy task because they love to get up around 2 or 3 a.m. and have a small snack. So this re-training was not going to be easy. I knew it meant some sleepless nights for me but I am determined to get the weight off Puff and to get them out of the habit of eating in the middle of the night. So bowls up!

We have been doing pretty good. After a couple of weeks, I had gotten them moved from a 2 a.m. wake up call to a 5 a.m. wake up call. Then disaster. This week we moved to daylight savings time. Oh my cats do NOT understand why they cannot have the food when they think it is time. As such, they are now dancing on my head at 4 a.m. because they think it is 5. They still aren't getting their food until almost 7 but there is no way I can stay in bed once the dancing starts. I hope it doesn't take long for them to adjust.

Yoga Cat

I am exceptionally bad about doing exercises on a regular basis. I have the best of intentions but it just doesn't get done somehow. I am trying again to get into a regular rhythm so this week I have purchased a couple of DVD's, one yoga and one pilates. There is scant room in the hotel suite to do it but if I move some furniture around, I have just enough room to stretch and lay on the floor and kick about. This morning, my fuzzy little Siamese decided that yoga was for her too. She was happy to stretch beside me but that was as far as she got. The rest of the time, she was the cheerleader. "Come on, mom. You can do it. I'll show you how much I love you by rubbing on your legs as you stretch up. I'll see if your downward dog is high enough by walking underneath you while you hold your pose. Let me check your balance as I twine around your legs on proud warrior." As she had already been fed, it wasn't because she was hungry. Just helping out so I can get the added benefit of obstacle avoidance during yoga. I did NOT fall over so I think we managed to work well together this morning.