Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Chanel's ride

After letting the stroller sit in the living room for a while, mom took it and Chanel out for a ride on Sunday. She wants to make the outings short and fun for now. You can read the article about the purchase on Cats Going Places too. (there is video over there as well)

Mom moved her from the carrier in the car to the stroller and then zipped it shut. Since Chanel had never been actually shut in there before, she was a little surprised by the screen coming down. MOL

Once inside though, mom unzipped the top and moved it back so Chanel could see out better. There are two straps attached to the bottom of the stroller but mom left Chanel's leash on just in case. She acted like she was going to try to get out once, but mom settled her back inside and she was fine. They took a walk around a local pet store and Chanel did very well.

The only time Chanel really look startled was on the way back to the car. Mom stopped to get her out of the stroller and into her carrier and a breeze picked up. Chanel looked around and her ears flattened back but nothing beyond that.

Mom is learning though - when they got back in the car, she gave Chanel a couple of treats in her carrier. That may start to backfire though as some kitten had a few demands when the treats were gone. 

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

spy cat

Spy cat likes the tree - good for relaxing and spying on the neighbors.
WHAT??


She does love sitting on that thing. We have had people ask and while we got it from Wayfair, mom hasn't seen it since. It really is like a ladder with feet on the bottom and it is uses tension rods at the ceiling.

The main problem is that some certain tuxedo kitten likes to dash up and down it....and doesn't always stick the landings. Mom looked up the other day and Chanel was sitting on the very top platform (which is probably just over 6 feet from the floor), with her head completely sideways, watching the ceiling fan go around.  

Monday, February 26, 2018

weekend report

Pretty quiet weekend here....well except mom got a new cat mobile. :)

 We kept it clean.

The scratcher is a hit. Daiquiri loves it too, but Chanel has decided that it is a nice space to snooze as well.

Friday, February 23, 2018

Random Fridays


Remember when we posted about the Art of Paws heated bed we got??

Well, now you can get one at a discount for yourself. They are offering 15% your TOTAL order (not just the mat) using code: randomfelines  This is good for the first 20 customers for their US site and their UK site (40 people total). Mom is considering getting another one for the foster room. We don't think Ivy is giving up this one any time soon.
~~~~~~~~~~

Nothing too much exciting going on here this weekend that we know of. Mom said something about cleaning out her car and doing stuff around here. 

Thursday, February 22, 2018

chick-hen canned foodibles

 we received this product at no cost in return for our honest review. receiving the product does not influence our opinions. all opinions expressed are our own.

This month from Chewy.com we are reviewing I and Love and You canned food in chicken, turkey and cod (12 pack - 4 cans per flavor). Mom broke out a chicken flavor for us to try. The foods are all grain free and made in the USA. All three do have cranberries, spinach and carrots though, so keep that in mind.
samples all laid out

it attracts the crowd


It gets 4 paws up. For whatever reason Ivy rarely shows up for canned food trials. Maybe due to the way mom puts it out or whatever. She will eat canned though so we suspect it might be the company she would have to keep in the living room. MOL

Mom does say that next time she will break it up a little more with a fork. She split the can into four segments to fit the tray and it stayed in pretty big chunks. Both Spud and Chanel seemed to put some work into the nomming, so it must be pretty dense in texture.

All in all, those who agreed to participate liked the offering and were asking for seconds!!

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

stroller wars

Wait? I thought that was MY stroller. 
What is Daiquiri doing in it?

A little help here mom?

OK fine....I'm going in.

Daiquiri thought she could make it her own private fort. Chanel had other ideas. When Chanel decides she wants something that someone else already has, she plays very passive about it - just get up and get close and wait for the other cat to change their mind. In this case it didn't quite work - Daiquiri whapped Chanel in the head a couple of time and Chanel decided she had better places to be. But hey - at least we know 2 cats will fit in there. 

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Love Your Pet Day

Are you celebrating??

Ivy

Daiquiri

Allie

Spud

Junior

Chanel
(OK - we know that isn't a current picture, but we couldn't resist)

Monday, February 19, 2018

weekend report

Well it snowed on Saturday, so mom ran errands and then stayed home. She did take Chanel out on Sunday and some kitten had a temper tantrum when it was time to leave and she wasn't done playing on the cat trees. She is so goofy.
~~~~~~~~~

Mom wanted to put the lid back on the Sleepypod but wasn't sure how that would go over. She spent a few minutes looking for a way to keep the top open but there are no loops or anything so she just left it unzipped.

It took a couple of days (as is becoming our new normal). However, as mom was working on the computer she looked over to see a black and white kitten climbing in (and of course mom couldn't get her hands on the camera). Yes....that white spot is a back foot.  MOL

Yep - she is comfy in there. Mom has also seen Daiquiri in there, so for now the top is staying on to get everyone used to it being that way.
~~~~~~~~~~~

Some great news: Fish was adopted on Friday (she was one of Panache's kittens). Mom actually thought she had been adopted but as the new database was updated, she realized Fish was still around. Due to her age she was out in the open adoption area and mom hadn't seen her. Her new family has 2 other house panthers as well, so she is in good company. Mom sent some baby pictures and Fish's new mom emailed back that she was fitting right in and relaxed. No news on a name change or not.


Friday, February 16, 2018

Random Fridays

Still too early for kitten season here. However, if you need a fix, visit some of our friends on facebook: Fellmeth's Fosters who have a tortie mom with 2 orange kitten boys and Cathy's Foster Kitties who is currently raising a tiny bottle baby.
~~~~~~~~~~

No really hot plans for the weekend. It is supposed to be nice on Sunday....so maybe open windows? If not then, the computer said it could get up to 60 degrees on Monday so hopefully mom will open one a little before she leaves for work.
~~~~~~~~~~~


It was nice here on Thursday too and as mom was leaving for work, she saw Allie pouncing on this bush. No idea what was in there, but it does make mom smile to see Allie out and about. 

Thursday, February 15, 2018

well, we did it

Well, it happened. If you follow Cats Going Places (and you should), you would have seen the article mom wrote about to get a stroller or not.

After much thinking and crowd sourcing, she decided to go ahead and do it. The biggest factor for her was safety - she wants some way to continue to take Chanel out in public but keep her safe.

After much deliberation, mom sucked it up and ordered one. It arrived and mom put the wheels on and it was ready to go.

For now it is sitting up in the living room where some weird tuxedo kitten can get used to it. As you can see, she has been checking it out at her own pace.


No - not THIS cat. Daiquiri wouldn't go out in that thing for all the cat treats in the world. However, she does like to jump up there and snooze. She was the first to check it out.

Finally a certain kitten managed to get up there on her own. Mom put her in it a couple of times but she would immediately jump back out. The first time she found a box and climbed in, the second time she actually jumped up into it herself.

Mom is still doing mental gymnastics about using it, but is hoping to get it out for a test run this weekend. It does fold down, but not as flat as mom was hoping for. It has a basket underneath for Chanel's "stuff" and the top zips closed as well. You can see at Chanel's feet that there are straps that will clip to her harness too.

Mom will say the only thing funnier than HER hang up about this is the reaction she got from her friend Miss Kelly. She was all "you DID NOT!!" and mom laughed since Miss Kelly used to take her dog Bailey to daycare on a regular basis. Mom said once the weather gets nice she is going to force Miss Kelly to meet her and Chanel for coffee.   MOL

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

look what we got

If you aren't familiar with Sleepypod, you should be. All of their carriers are crash tested and if you go to their website there are testimonials from people who have been in crashes and their pets are safe due to the carriers. They also make two other versions (mom took Cupcake to Florida in an Air) along with crash tested harnesses for dogs. 

We got a free mobile pet bed for a review (Chanel just asked that we get the new True Violet color - as you can see her wish was granted).  
Of course being the weirdly suspicious cat that she is (only at home of course), it took her a few days to decide if she liked it or not once it arrived. Mom zipped the top off and left it on the coffee table for everyone to check out. Mom doesn't care who sleeps in it since even though Chanel will be traveling in it, she will be able to take smells from every cat at home with her. She doesn't sleep in it all the time, but she does curl up in it occasionally. Of course, mom usually has to go look inside since the fuzzy bed is black and so is most of Chanel. If you are lucky, you can sometimes JUST see the tips of her ears over the side.


Of course, leave something sitting around here long enough and everyone will check it out at some point. Mom says she has seen everyone but Ivy inside the bed.
And if you catch you sister using your stuff, just climb in with her until she leaves.


**Disclosure: We received the Sleepypod® Mobile Pet Bed from Sleepypod in exchange for our honest review. All opinions are our own. Sleepypod is not responsible for the content of this post. Random Felines only shares products and information we feel will be of interest to our readers.

Monday, February 12, 2018

weekend report

A fairly quiet weekend here (except for 2 hours of mom yelling at the TV during basketball). Mom ran some errands Saturday morning and then did some chores around the house. There was an adoption event on Sunday. Chanel went along for company. She was fascinated by the other animals and met a couple of dogs. One was a very well behaved boxer that managed to get behind her and sniff her ear. She jumped back and hissed but was otherwise not too shaken.

A couple of weeks ago mom bought a new ess scratcher. Chanel has never seen one of these before and was fairly interested. She is strange about new things in the house....mom wonders if she was a guard dog in a past life. If something new shows up, Chanel will stare at it, sneak up on it, sniff it, walk away and ignore it. And then after a couple of days of it being in the house, she will check it out again and play with it.

As you can see, it has met with her approval. She likes the toy on the one side but also lounges on it. Mom suspects the toy may not survive very long between Daiquiri and Chanel.
~~~~~~~~~~

A quick update on Ivy. Her ear got crusty again a couple weeks ago and mom was having to catch her and medicate her (oh joy). However, this round seemed to work and she hasn't had any issues since. Hopefully the meds worked better this time and it won't happen again.

those whiskers are fabulous


Friday, February 9, 2018

Random Fridays

We got over 4 inches of snow on Wednesday, so mom got a snow day. She says that there can be disadvantages to working in a small office, but sometimes there are good advantages too. She spent the day doing....not much of anything with all of us. She did put together something new for Chanel. More on that next week.
~~~~~~~~~

Mom has gotten some emails from the neighbor lady Carol that helped with the TNR in our neighborhood. One of our original girls, Annie, isn't doing well. It is so hard when it is a house cat when at least you can provide some comfort. But it is harder when it is a feral you have cared for over the years and there really isn't much you can do for them without causing more stress. We suspect Annie doesn't have much longer here and we hope she crosses peacefully.

It does make mom worry that much more about Allie. She was in the garage on Thursday morning when mom left for work and they have built JUST enough trust that mom managed to get out of the house and into her car and out of the garage and Allie never left her bed on one of the shelves. Which is good since there is snow and probably salt and it is just plain cold here. Mom wishes she could just talk to Allie and convince her that coming inside wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Allie in nicer weather this summer

~~~~~~~~~~

Adoption events this weekend for the rescue. There is a fuzzy calico girl at one of the stores. So far there have been 3 applications for her....all of them bad for different reasons. Sheesh....
~~~~~~~~~~

We are supposed to stay cold here and get more rain...which means more ice. Stay safe and stay home if you can!! 

Thursday, February 8, 2018

what was that??

Mom was off last Monday for a vacation day. She was supposed to go to TN to visit her family but there was a change of plans. Mom decided to take the day off anyhow. She ran some errands in the morning and had dinner plans with a friend. Since her afternoon was free she decided to take Chanel out to a garden center and invited Miss Z along (she is a volunteer with the rescue and fosters too).

They spent some time at the garden center - which mom suspects will be more interesting as they get more plants in this spring. On the way home, Z invited mom and Chanel in for a bit. She and her partner have cats, but they are all pretty friendly. Mom left Chanel's harness on and figured if nothing else it would be a good experiment. The adult cats hissed at her first and she responded with a half hearted hiss in return but nothing out of the ordinary for being in a strange place with strange cats.

Z was playing with Chanel and a wand toy when mom got a text from her friend about dinner. Time to leave, so mom scooped up Chanel to put her back in the carrier. She hissed at mom and struggled to get back down. Mom was startled but got her in the carrier and got her harness off. Chanel whined all the way home and smacked at the carrier.

Before we go any further, a couple of things: 1. if mom EVER thinks that Chanel is not enjoying going out in public, everything stops. This whole cat going places thing is based on her enjoying being out and about. 2. A normal trip for them is about 90 minutes.

By the time mom was on the way home, they had been gone over 3 hours. Mom thought maybe Chanel had to pee or something. She gets home, carries Chanel upstairs and opens the carrier. Chanel pops out, does a lap around the living room, kisses Daiquiri and finds a toy. Guess it wasn't a litterbox issue.

As she watched Chanel, she had a thought: she had just witnessed a teenage kitten temper tantrum. Chanel had been perfectly happy playing with the toy and mom ended her fun.

Just to be sure, mom took her out this past weekend to a couple of different pet stores around us. Chanel did great - just like always. Though it must have been "take your dog to the pet store" day so mom and Chanel didn't stay either place very long.

So there you have it - the joys of having a teenage kitten who goes places but doesn't like it when her fun is spoiled and the trip is ended. Heaven help us all....

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Send a Friend a Card Day

Did you know that today is Send a Friend a Card Day??

Chanel got a card from her sister Cupcake:


And decided to return the favor and send Cupcake a card:


*that said, we bet there are a lot of people out there that would love to get a card from you no matter what day it is. 

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

a Rooney update

Remember these guys from last summer?
the Rat Pack

Rooney from the #RatPackKittens was adopted by a very nice couple that have sent a couple of updates and emailed mom last week with another one that they were happy to let us share with you. They renamed him Ragnar. He and his siblings are about 9 1/2 months old now for reference. Rooney was one of the boys that lost an eye to infection as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been a while so I thought I'd give you an update on how Ragnar (aka Rooney) is doing. I can't believe we've only had him for four months! It feels like a lot longer.

He's still such a happy, affectionate and silly kitten. We took in a friend's cat because she was living in a bad neighborhood and had to get out but couldn't take her cat to her new home. His name is The Dean, and he and Ragnar are inseparable. They are constantly snuggling, cleaning each other, wrestling or causing trouble. Our other cat Fergus is pretty happy about this situation because he's a grumpy old man and wants to be left alone.

Ragnar loves:
-Belly rubs
-Chasing his tail
-Snuggling on mom's chest while she's watching tv
-Meeting new people and demanding attention
-Sleeping on mom's face in the middle of the night
-Any and all food
-Climbing to the top of the cat tree and then yelling for mom to come look and be proud of him

Ragnar hates:
-Not being fed 24/7
-Vacuum cleaners
-Anyone but him getting attention
-Mom or dad taking showers. I'm pretty sure he thinks we're in danger and tries to save us by yelling
-Going out in the snow (we tried it once, he cried the whole 30 seconds he was outside)

Thanks for being so willing to take in kittens and help raise them. We really appreciate that you took such good care of our Ragnar until he came home to us. I've been following your blog and I know this work can be hard and heartbreaking. I'll try to keep sending you updates on how Ragnar is doing.

Sincerely,
Dana

P.S. He still hasn't grown into his ears, haha
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ears or his feet.  :)  He is going to be a big boy if he is going to grow into those things. THANK YOU to Ragnar's mom and dad for the updates....we love hearing how our former fosters are adjusting. Sounds like he is one very happy boy.

Monday, February 5, 2018

weekend report

It was pretty quiet around here. Mom took Chanel out on Saturday morning but they weren't gone very long. Mom said it must have been "take your dog to the pet store" day. MOL

Her favorite snoozing position is reclining on that scratcher. She must have been Cleopatra in a past life.

Ivy discovered the heated bed over the weekend. She spent quite a while on it....rolling over occasionally to bake the other side.

Mom did settle in to watch the Kitten Bowl on Sunday. The rescue had their own version on Sunday morning and streamed it live on Facebook.