Monday, August 29, 2011

Jack the Cat is Lost!


I don’t know if any of you have heard about this CATastrophe but a cat named Jack is currently missing in the American Airlines inbound baggage claim at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. As the story goes, Jack’s owner Karen P. was flying her two cats Jack and Barry to California (her family is moving to Cali from NY for a new job). Karen bid her kitties a safe flight after clearing through security. She was later contacted and informed that Jack was missing! Long story short, she missed a flight trying to help find Jack. American Airlines had been giving her the cold shoulder until just recently (more specifically Monday, August 29, 2011 at 11:28am) when they put out a response to the situation. If I were them I wouldn’t want to mess with a bunch of angry, riled up cat owners either. You can get updates at the "Jack the Cat is Lost in AA Baggage at JFK" Facebook page here.

They’ve shared their efforts on their Facebook page about what they’re doing to help find Jack. You can view it, click here. Notice they’ve bolded the top two points. I assume this means they’re trying to sooth the angry cat lovin’ mob with these actions? I hope they realize that the cat lovers won’t really rest until Jack is home safe with Karen.

What I’d like to know is how did Jack get out of his kennel? Did someone try to console him because he was upset at being in a kennel away from his owners and he got out? Did he use the bathroom and a kind employee was trying to help clean it up so he didn’t have to travel in waste? Perhaps he grew opposable thumbs and let himself out of the kennel?

Should cat owners take note of this and maybe skip the flight offers from American Airlines? In the stories I’ve read this isn’t the first time a cat has been lost in the inbound baggage area.

I recently was on a flight through Southwest with Little J out to Michigan for a wedding. Little J is a cat lover. And luckily for me, because a teething 10 month old on a plane is not going to be a happy camper, there was a cat across the aisle from us. Now, the kitty was in his carrier, stowed away under the seat at his owner’s feet. But you could definitely see that there was a live cat in the carrier. Whenever Little J was totally over sitting in her car seat I made sure to point out “A cat!” to her which took her mind off the fact we were in the plane for at least 10 minutes.

My point – it was nice to see that Southwest allowed this guy to bring his cat with him. It assures me that if I ever needed to travel cross country with Stitch and/or Gordita we could have them with us on the flight if we flew Southwest. Along with their free bags deal I give them two paws up! If anyone knows of any other cat-friendly airlines please do recommend for reference.

In the meantime, I truly and sincerely hope that Jack comes home safe and sound. Shame on you American Airlines! I’m definitely not going to make a big effort to fly with you.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Stitch Has a New Fetish


Upon bringing him home from the cat rescue I quickly learned that not only did Stitch have a fancy for bags and purses, but he was also a paper addict. But every since Little J came home from the hospital I’ve discovered that Stitch has been developing a new fetish for shoes.

I’m not just talking about any old regular shoes either. He and Gordita both enjoy a good head rub on the inside of a shoe that has just been taken off of a foot (and the sweatier and smellier the better in their opinion I’ve noticed.) Oh no, I’ve noticed that he likes to carry Little J’s shoes around in his mouth. I’m not sure if he views them as fabulous accessories or not. Maybe he is jealous that he isn’t getting such stylish things. Either way, it’s kind of annoying when I go to put a booty or a shoe on Little J’s tiny feet and for the life of me cannot find the other one.

I first noticed it when one of her leopard booties went missing. I saw Stitch playing with it. I guess I can’t blame him. Who wouldn’t want to play with a small, fleece leopard print baby booty? It’s when it went missing for about 2 months that I really got irritated. One was just gone. And he kept trying to get the remaining one, but I kept a close eye on it. Little J had seen him carrying the other one around in his mouth so she started carrying the other one around in her mouth. It wasn’t until we moved last month that I found the missing one. Just in time for wedding season too.

The second occurrence was when I caught Stitch softly caressing a shiny, black baby mary jane. I’m not sure if it was a texture thing or what, but he sure seemed to enjoy the feel of the shiny, smooth surface on his paw pad.

My suspicions on his shoe fetish were confirmed this week. Little J received some cute hand-me-down shoes from her older cousin. I can’t really blame him on these either. I think if they made them in adult sizes I might just get a pair for myself. They’re pink and purple, rubber rain boots with cat faces on the front of them. I caught Stitch trying to mouth the handle yesterday. Unfortunately the boot was just a little too tall and a little too heavy for a quick getaway with it.

Memo to Stitch – the gig is up. You’ve been busted!!

For your eyes, here is a photo of the coveted boot that Stitch just had to have but couldn’t manage to borrow.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Tough Kitties

Either Gordita and Stitch are rough and tough kitties or they don’t care about the fact that Little J is pulling and kicking at them. I’ve yet to figure it out because they show such an indifference to it. For some reason when I’m cradling Little J on my lap both cats (not at the same time of course) like to jump up and squeeze themselves on the part of my lap that is not taken up by 10-month-old baby. Sometimes it’s a knee and sometimes it’s a whole knee and thigh.

Little J, who believes she is a baby cat, loves when they do this. However, she’s also in than sensory stage and loves to run her feet through their fur. And by “run her feet through their fur” I mean that she likes to kick her feet and heels against them to feel their fur on the bottom of her feet. They for some reason don’t mean to like it. They both give me an annoyed look when it happens though. It’s another one of those times I swear they’d roll their eyes at me if they could. But, they stay there and take it. I always try to tell Little J “We don’t kick the kitty.” She, of course, blatantly ignores me.

Little J also has yet to learn the finesse of how to give a good cat pat. She either roughly pats the cats. And by “roughly pats the cats” I mean she kind of smacks them in that gentle, firm and awkward baby movement. Lately though she has also started to pull at their fur. I’ve noticed that when I nurse her she pulls at her hair in the same manner so I don’t know if it’s another sensory thing or if it brings her comfort of some sort. Maybe she thinks she’s comforting the cats by pulling at their fur. I’m working on the “be gentle with the kitty” technique and showing her how to appropriately pet the cats. I figure she will get it eventually.

However, once again, the cats sit there and take it from her. Usually if I can’t get her to stop I’ll shoo them off my lap, which is pretty much every time they jump up to share my lap with her. I’d assume that if I were a cat I wouldn’t be sitting there taking this treatment from her. Then again that’s me assuming and we all know what happens when you assume. Maybe a part of them secretly likes the rough handling. I did already mention how I think Stitch is a masochist. Or maybe they’ll just do anything for a little affection and attention. Either way, they’re some tough kitties. I wouldn’t mess with them.

Here is an example: Little J is deciding whether to pet Stitch or whether to pull his tail that he keeps flipping in and out of reach of her grasp.

Friday, August 12, 2011

The Cat Puke Was Embarrassing


Let me tell you about Gordita. Note: if you’re eating or about to eat or just ate – come back later. She likes to binge on cat food, and then she throws it up. The majority of the time she’ll eat it again. Which as nasty as it is it saves me the trouble of cleaning it up so all the power to her.

The first time she lived with us we had to feed Stitch up on a table and monitor his bowl. Unlike Gordita, Stitch likes to graze at his food all day like a rabbit. For a while we couldn’t figure out why Stitch was getting so thin and Gordita was gaining weight. Then we figured out Stitch was on the Gordita diet where she would eat all the food and leave him the few bites he got. Thus, the reason we fed him in a place up high that Gordita couldn’t jump up to unnoticed.

Now that she’s back with us I’ve been feeding Stitch up on the washing machine until I can find a good permanent place to feed him. I figured that she might figure out that’s where the tasty food was instead of her diet food. However, the other day my land lord came over to look at the washing machine that wasn’t working too well.

I brought him out to the wash room and low and behold was undigested, cat puke all down the side of the washing machine and at the bottom in a pile. It was a little embarrassing needless to say. The baby in one hand I skillfully swiped up and scrubbed the washing machine clean with a Clorox cloth in the other…all the while explaining why there was cat puke on the washing machine.

Luckily my land lord is pretty laid back and laughed. I walked out into the living room where Gordita was perched on the back of the couch and gave her a dirty look. “You could have at least cleaned up after yourself you know,” I told her. I’m fairly certain if cats could roll their eyes the way teenagers do she would have done just that.

Gordita must be feeling at home though. She doesn’t puke until she does because she doesn’t gobble down food until she is feeling comfy. Welcome home Gordita.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

An Exciting Day

We’ve had quite an exciting day here in our house. First off we have a new fuzzy. She’s actually not that new. Her name is Gordita and she is about 11 years old. My family has had her since she was a kitten. She’s lived with me and the family about 3 years ago for a while. Then after my parents found their new apartment she went back to live with them. However, now that we’re in a big, ole house she’s come back to live with us.

Gordita and Stitch aren’t strangers. They hiss at each other, and cuddle with each other when they think we’re not looking. Gordita is irritated by Stitch, and once in a while Stitch finds some huevos to stand up to Gordita. She’s currently still hiding, but knowing her she will come out in a couple of days, especially at night when everyone but me is asleep. Needless to say, she’s momentarily pissed off that she’s here.
I have a couple of entries about the two of them in my blog “Cats in the Family” on CatChannel.com (of which this blog is an extension and continuation from).

The other excitement was Stitch’s adventure outdoors. He’s mainly an indoor cat, but today he managed to run out the open front door. It probably would not have had me as worried if he had his collar on. But no, my cat has issues with collars and decided to take it off before hand. I’m not sure exactly how long he was gone but about 45 minutes after I realized he was definitely not in the house he came back to the front door and laid down in front of it until I realized he was there. Then he made this big deal of panting and stretching as if to say “It’s about time you realized I was here.”

I put fresh cool water in his bowl and told him I was not pleased with him, but was glad he was home. He gave me that indifferent look as if to say “Whatever. I don’t see what the fuss is all about. I’m here aren’t I?”
Now that I think about it, I’ve been telling him for the past three weeks that Gordita was coming to live with us again. Maybe he was trying to show me his displeasure. Oh well, she’s here.

Gordita, by the way, thinks she is a human. Which works out I guess because I have a baby who thinks she’s a cat. I have no doubt in my mind that Gordita will teach her everything she knows – Including how to change the channel on the TV with the remote control.

Meet Gordita