Thor the gray tabby is still afraid of the cat flap. I think it is the click of the magnets, so I had the idea to use a clicker with treats to desensitize him to the click noise. Could I find my dog clicker? Nope. So I used a canning jar lid.
Photo description: Gray tabby sniffing a Ball canning jar lid insert with “Thor’s Clicker” written in Sharpie
The lid insert is designed to pop. The intention is to show when a glass jar is properly sealed, but the action in the steel can be manually manipulated. I push the can lid in, it gives a small click, then I give Thor a small piece of chicken, and push the center of the lid the other way and it makes a louder click. It isn’t as loud as a store bought clicker, but with my scaredy cat, that is better.
Thor the cat snuck onto my chair and got caught. He at least had the good sense to look chagrined.
Photo description: gray tabby on a leather recliner, one ear cocked
What is probably actually going on here is that he is trying to outmaneuver Izzy the calico cat. She likes to sit on the top of the back of the chair. One of his ears is facing me, and the other is cocked toward Izzy. Izzy, for her part, was probably on the other couch planning to attack him for his audacity.
My eldest had the idea that if we made a platform outside the new catio window, it might provide a more stable and usable surface for the cats. I used old lumber, cut off the soft bits, and screwed them to supports with a little space between.
Photo description: new catio platform made from recycled planks
On a relatively cool morning, I looped the flap up to open the access, and Thor the cat actually went outside for the first time in over a month. It took him 15 minutes to get out the door. I’ve never seen a cat move so slowly.
Photo description: large gray tabby with his head stuck out of the lifted cat flap
Izzy loves the new platform. She can easily go in and out with the flap in its intended position, and she likes to lounge on the deck.
Photo description: calico cat laying on the platform as seen through the clear cat flap
Since we are approaching fall (yay!) I hope we will have more cool mornings that Thor can go explore. But not now, because our mild summer couldn’t properly be a summer without giving us some 100 plus days. Blech.
I recently rearranged some baskets in the house. I had a large square basket that used to live under the utility sink full of rags. I had a stack of dog blankets and towels that the basket was more suited for, so I put the rags in an old egg basket. Izzy the cat is miffed that I messed up one of her (many) nap spots. She tried to lay in the new rag basket, but did not care for it.
Photo description: Calico cat trying to curl up in the top of a rag filled wire egg basket
She doesn’t fit, so she does’t sit. And she is now mad at me.
I have high praise for the “Cat in a Bag” cat carrier. My big boy Thor, the gray tabby, went all popcorn Yoda last year when I put him in a traditional cat carrier for his annual vet appointment. So this year I tried the “Cat in a Bag” carrier (size large). I had a little trouble zipping him in because he is a large boy, but other than making sure I wasn’t zipping body parts, getting him in and the neck fastened wasn’t difficult or traumatic. He was apprehensive about going to the car, and once in the car I used the seat belt to secure the carrier through the provided loop. He made one lunge, didn’t go anywhere, and didn’t try to lunge again. I did have to move the seat up to give him scritches, and my youngest sat in the back seat next to him to offer comfort.
Photo description: large gray tabby in a mauve colored “Cat in a Bag” carrier strapped into the back seat of a Toyota Sienna mini van
The vet thought the bag was fantastic. He was able to listen to Thor’s heart and lungs through the bag, and only had to unzip it a little to do the examination and vaccinations. Thor kept his head tucked into the crook of my arm to hide from all the scary stuff, but didn’t have a full freak out. We confirmed his big boy status: 18 pounds.
Photo description: same cat a little more wide-eyed, same bag, same seat, on the way home from the vet
Going home was also easy. I got Thor inside and took him back to his favorite closet, fully expecting him to hide from me when he was released from the bag, but he didn’t. He followed me around for a few hours, then went back to him normal routine. Two thumbs up and four paws safely tucked away in praise of this product.
Critters and Craft 