Who Me?

Not a beached orca….

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Cat vs. Zipper Pull

This is Mac — up close and personal. She is about to attack the zipper pull on the human’s pullover.First the cuffy paw was applied, but the zipper pull didn’t move much.Next little teeth were applied. The zipper pull moved.  <<Success!>>

 

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

“Tricksy” Human

The human did it again. She tipped over the “cookie jar” and stepped back to see if the kitties would participate in self-serve snacks. Pepe got right at it and stuck his paw in the jar. No matter how hard he tried with that clever little paw, he could not manage to pull a snack out.Finally, the “tricksy” human gave in and handed out snacks to all participants.

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

It’s Nice to Share!

Need we say more?

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Pepe and the Feather

Keeping Pepe entertained at breakfast is no small task — especially when the 2-legged is trying to get her own breakfast cooked and eaten, and her schedule planned.This is the time of day when the Pepster seems incapable of entertaining himself, so the human has to do it for him. On this particular day, we’d tried all our usual toys and none were up to snuff. The human even dragged out the dreaded feather wand and swished it around. Mr. Pickles chased it a bit, then lay down and ignored the toy and whined at the human. Fortunately (or not) a feather fell out of the wand and the human couldn’t put it back in so it got turned into a toy. For reasons only Pepe knows, the feather was a hit and he batted it around and chased it along the floor. Of course, let us be clear that just because Pepe played with the feather that day, doesn’t mean he’ll ever even look at it again.

 

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

When All Else Fails…

And the human is taking forever to get out of bed, knock the ball around the track and yowl. It probably won’t get breakfast served any faster, but it does ease a lot of stress and strain.

 

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

The Plea

This is the Merkitty. She’s just chastised the human for not leaving her office and finding food for the meows…<<at 2:30 in the afternoon, mind you!>>. First she tried cuddles. Then she tried sass. And last she tried a throaty plea for compassion.  When none of those things worked, she looked daggers at the human and called her jailer names under her breath.

 

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Pepe and the Cable Organizer

Pepe was bored the other morning and was complaining about the lack of entertainment while the human tried to eat her breakfast in peace. <<Not happening!>>So the human, who had been cleaning out her office and had some office supplies on the table, went looking for a toy. She found a package of nifty flexible plastic cable organizers. You twist the flexible device around power cords and cables to various electronic devices. Each organizer is a different bright color and has a flat area where you can write the name of the device.  They looked like they would roll, so the human pulled one out and tossed it to Pepe.As you can see, great entertainment began immediately. Pepe chased the gadget all over the kitchen, executing some rather remarkable tosses, jumps, and saves while he was at it.Eventually, he settled down for a bit of a rest. Meantime, the resourceful 2-legged was able to finish her breakfast. 

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Konfuse-a-Kat

It’s the human’s fault.  She was trying to add variety and hunting opportunities to the kitties’ daily repertoire.  The meows were pestering for snacks, so the 2-legged flipped the much-beloved scratching disc upside down. On the reverse side, there is a maze-like structure with a ball inside — yes, a ball with a bell! — and a series of interesting holes on top that are just the perfect size for kitty paws to explore.To entice the kitties to investigate the holes, the human put a small pile of dried organic catnip on top and then carefully — while the felines were watching — nudged raw freeze-dried meat snacks from the surface of the maze into the holes.  The kitties watched with fascination and even went over and looked inside the structure. The Merkitty hopped up, took a sniff of the ‘nip, and immediately was overcome with paroxysms of delight.  The other cats had to move back or risk getting hit by her flailing limbs and rolling body.  As she thrashed about, she would bat the ball that rolls along the track on the outside of the toy sending it spinning around the track.  Pretty quickly, she cleared the deck of other cats. Over a period of several days, the human added more snacks and more ‘nip to the surface, but she never saw a single kitty paw raised to explore.  Eventually, she fished out the snacks and turned the disc back over so the scratching surface was face up. Some hunters they are!

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Exodus

As you can see from the overturned cat scratcher, the blue mice have made an exodus from the center of the structure. However, they didn’t go very far and they stayed lined up fairly nicely.

 

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Corky vs. the Orange Mouse

The human was cranking away at work the other day when she heard that distinctive moaning sound in the next room that always indicates one of the cats has “killed” a toy mouse and brought it to the human for praise and admiration.  Interestingly, the human found Corky and the orange felt mouse.  To show the human his hunting skills, the Corkster cuffed the mouse around a bit while the human poured on the compliments.  Hearing the human talking, Macaroni came over to see if anyone was getting fed. No one was, but she then inserted herself into the middle of Corky and his mouse. He gave her a sniff, but otherwise disgusted, he walked away.

 

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Miss Twinkletoes

Here is the Merkitty engaging in a bit of morning paw dangling. She does enjoy liberating those toes and nails and cooling her feet outside the warmth of the kitty bed and fleece fabrics. As you can see from the length of those claws, she keeps them mighty sharp on cat scratchers, rugs, and any handy piece of furniture — especially when the human is watching. It’s a good thing she uses both legal and illegal scratching devices, as when the human sneaks up on her with the nail trimmers, a good struggle ensues.  The human has to content herself with only trimming 2-3 nails per week, as that’s about how long it takes for the Mer to allow the human to sneak up behind her again — with or without evil metal devices in hand.

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Duo!

And today is the 3rd anniversary of the arrival of Pepe and Corky to our home.  The human already knew the Duo before they came to live here, as they had lived next door with a neighbor for many years. Both kitties are spunky and feisty, but equally cuddly with the human if not with each other and the Trio.  Thanks to Pavy for entrusting her beloved kitties to our care.

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

 

Make Your Own Entertainment

Several days in a row the human walked into the other bedroom and found a cardboard cat scratching box (which is shaped like a cube with the center cut out) lying on its side instead of standing on an end.She thought that maybe one of the kitties had used it like a step stool to climb up or down from the bed in that room so, being a well-trained human, she turned it up on its side again. After three mornings in a row of tilting it back up, the 2-legged noticed a toy mouse in the center of the overturned cat scratcher. That made her think the kitties were inventing their own games, so she went around the upstairs and picked up the multitude of toy mice that had been dragged out of the toy boxes on the stairs and strewn around during the night.  She placed all the mice in the center of the scratching box and left it on its side. Each evening she’d return to look at the overturned scratcher and would usually find most of the mice had been removed and taken elsewhere.  She’d go around and collect them again and refill the space, then check to see what was there come morning.  As you can see, the number of toys keeps increasing, and the cats have started scratching on the front face of the box — a surface not meant to be scratched….much like the hand-knotted rug on which it sits. <<Sigh. Within 10 square feet of this rug, there are no less than 5 hanging and standing cat scratchers. I guess they prefer wool to cardboard or sisal.>>

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Burrowing Burrito Bears

Fireball has the cutest procedure he follows every time he climbs into a kitty bed or onto a surface covered with a fleece blanket or two. He starts off mixing then starts digging around with both forepaws until he gets at least one corner of the soft blanket lifted, at which point he slides under the blanket so he is partially covered.  When he’s all cuddled up like that, the human can’t help but walk by and tuck him in, thereby creating a burrito bear.  He stays like that for a surprisingly long time as long as the 2-legged doesn’t do anything that looks or sounds scary.

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Geotagging, Cybersecurity & Your Cat

Read this rather scary article about how when we post photos of our 2-legged and 4-legged family members on social media, we’re often inadvertently giving away all kinds of unintended information on where we (and they) live.

The situation so alarmed a professor at a Florida university that he set up a website called:  IKnowWhereYourCatLives.com.

This 2-legged thought that other 2-leggeds might like to know about the situation. After all, we wouldn’t want anyone to break in and steal our furry friends (or our children or other household valuables).

 

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Banner artwork from IKnowWhereYourCatLives.com.

 

The Human’s Cooking Skills

The human found this interesting surprise in a food bowl the other day. Do you think the cats are commenting on her cooking skills, or at least on the food she offered that morning?  They do leave their toy mice in the darnedest places.

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Big Cat, Little Bed

This is Caesar Tiger Bear squashing himself into one of the smallest kitty beds in the whole house.  <<The evil human is sneaking up behind me with the camera. This cannot be good…>>Note how the formerly round bed has taken on an oblong shape? There are a couple of seams that look to be seeing a bit of stress as well. Actually, cats are supposed to climb down inside the opening where they can hide in their own private kitty cave. The human draped a blanket down into the opening to make it more attractive. Clearly it did, but not in the way the 2-legged expected.And it goes without staying that there is paw dangling behavior going on. Of course, the two small cats that would best fit in that small bed are instead stretched out in the adjacent large kitty beds.  Felines…

 

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.