The Cat on the Moon

 

While attempting to take a few pics of Wednesday night's full moon, I noticed a couple of peculiar images. The first one looks rather like the profile of a cat standing on top of the moon with its' back hunched upwards and the other looks just like a face in the sky underneath the moon...

 

 

Can you see them?

 

 

What do you think?  ; - )

A Special Full Moon Prayer

Tonight I am saying a very special full moon prayer to the Goddess for my poor little Mr. Gray who, after being tested last Saturday morning for the deadly FeLeuk virus at our vets, tested a weak positive. Therefore, we must re-test him in another month. (If you wish to read more about this, please see my last two posts on my other blog, "The Wiccan Life.")

 And so, as I burn my cat figure candle for my beloved Mr. Gray, I shall recite the following incantation ...

"O Gracious Dark Goddess and Gentle Lord God,

  Magick mend and candle burn

  Sickness end, good health return ~

  So mote it be!"

Thanksgiving Wishes and a little Surprise!

 

Good day all! First of all, I have an update on the Mr. Gray situation. For the past couple of days or so, I haven't seen very much of Mr. Gray, and, when I did I couldn't get very close to him. Tonight as I pulled into my driveway, there he was! Just sitting there in front of the garage door waiting.

I immediately got out of the car, walked into the house and grabbed his food to take back outside to feed him his nightly dinner. He was particularly affectionate and the opportunity presented itself to once again pick him up and take him into the catio. Only this time, after a few minutes I was able to get him into the small temporary cage. He was extremely scared at first, but did not hiss, growl nor attempt to bite me at all. In fact, he even allowed me to pick him up again and put him the cage! I couldn't believe it!

And so, we will give him a couple hours to settle down and then we will take him downstairs for the night. Tomorrow night we will then proceed to place him in the huge cage for a couple days until we can get an appointment for him at our vets for a FeLeuk test and check-up. This way, just as we had done with Tabitha, he will naturally be separated from our other cats, keeping them at a safe distance while allowing him to get somewhat adjusted (We hope!)

And finally, from our home to yours, I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving holiday!!

A Treat From Jack: "What's This?" (from The Nightmare Before Christmas)

One of my favorite holiday movies is Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas." It is a rather unique combination of my two favorite celebrations ~ Yule/Christmas and Samhain/Halloween. This is Danny Elfman as "Jack Skellington" singing, "What's This?" I hope you all enjoy!

The Plan ...

Since my last post about having to let Mr. Gray back outside after only 2 whole minutes inside the house, I received a very angry comment which I had not published. "Anonymous," who so obviously had not done their homework and read my previous posts regarding this matter, accused me of exposing my other cats to the FeLeuk virus ~ something I would never do to my other cats ~ EVER! So, to this person I say, "Get educated, my friend and while you are at it get a life!"

Although FeLeuk is highly contagious to other cats, (and mind you, their are vaccinations which your vet can give your cat for preventative reasons) the only way to contract it is through saliva. Such as eating and/or drinking out of the same dish as an infected cat, biting, etc. For the record, Gray had not touched anything or any other feline (nor did he have the time to) at any time while in the house and was in and out so fast that the other cats had not even been around him. In fact, they were too busy hiding from "the stranger."

The fact is, our plan to get Mr. Gray integrated into the rest of the family dynamtic is exactly the same as we did with Tabitha with only one small difference ~ we will be attempting to place him in a smaller carrier first, as provided by my dear friend and fellow cat enthusiast/cat sitter Judy, which is currently set up and waiting in the catio. It fits through the doorways so that we can immediately take him downstairs (where none of the other cats are ever permitted to go) and we will then proceed to put him in the larger cage which fits a litter box, water bowl, food dish, toys and a warm blanket. From there, we will make an appointment with our vet to get him Feleuk tested, as we have always done with a new cat! If the results are negative, then and only then we will even consider exposing him to the rest of our fur babies.

We have decided to try to get him a good home after that. But, I know how very difficult this is to do and since we refuse to "throw him to the wolves" by taking a full grown adult feral cat (who has in spite of the fact that he has already been neutered leading us to believe that he had to have been around people before at some point) to an animal shelter, we will most likely have to keep him. We know all too well the unfortunate odds of him getting adpoted out! To hand him over to that highly possible fate is, to us, unthinkable. After all, we did not go through all of this effort to rescue him only to lower his odds of survival and/or having a safe, loving home. Here's hoping for the best all!

Midnight's little gray shadow ...

For the past couple of weeks, not only have Midnight and Tabby become insparable, but it seems that Kiki is finally beginning to come around a bit as far as Tabby is concerned. For example, take notice how close Kiki is lying next to Tabby knowing that she is directly above her. This would have never been the scene two weeks ago ...

 

 

Also, Kiki has been hanging on me like a lost little soul since Midnight has a new buddy. Of course all she need do is get closer to Midnight even when Tabby is around. I guess time will tell if Kiki will ever really except her completely. She still continues to hiss at Tabby from time to time, but she is still a sight better than she had been for sure.

 

 

I have to say, the two of them are so cute together! These two sleep side by side on the bed all day, eat at the same time, play together in the evening, and then snuggle up again at bedtime. I am so glad that Tabby has been able to bond with atleast one of the cats.

Cat-Proofing Your Yule Tree: (Part 2)

 

In my previous post, I spoke about ways to help keep your kitties safe and sound around your Yule trees. I covered a few pointers on artificial ones, but did not touch very much on the hazzards and resolutions of and for using real trees.

As I had mentioned before, real trees are potenially more dangerous to your cat. One of the reasons for this is that the needles are sharp and can pierce or puncture the skin of an  overly curious kitty and the pine needles themselves are irritating to mildly toxic if chewed dependent upon the species of the tree used. (However, a chewed artificial tree isn't very healthy either!)

There are many ways to keep your cat safe during the Yule holiday. Here are a few ideas for you to try:

SIZE: A small tree is known to be safer than a large one because there is less of it to crash should things go horribly wrong. For a kitten, a tabletop tree might actually be more suitable until they grow up and stop being so playful.

TREE WATER: If you choose to use a real tree, make sure to use a water container for the tree that is completely inaccessible to your cat. If your cat drinks from it, they risk poisoning! Furthermore, if you are prone to adding aspirin to your tree water, STOP! Aspirin is very toxic to cats! Instead, add sugar but still ensure that your cat can not reach the water because it is likely to have pine sap, preservatives, pesticides and other toxic elements in it.

INTRODUCTION: Consider NOT decorating the tree initially. The idea behind this is to allow your cat to get adjusted to the tree ~ be it real or artificial.

DETER THEM: There are several ways in which to complish this. One is to not place your tree anywhere in the house where your cat can jump from a piece of furniture on to it. If they wish to jump at the tree, starting from ground zero serves to make them have to work harder for it. Also, there are many natural sprays you can use on your tree which are not harmful to your cat. Some of these are Apple Bitter, apple cider vinegar. Another is a citrus spray or citronella. Trust me, cats HATE the smell of citrus and it would still be a pleasant smell you for. Using a pine spray is highly poisonous and never a good idea! Also, placing lots of toys in the same room as the tree and/or near it, can serve to distract your cat from the little "toys" hanging on it.

DECORATIONS: Avoid using anything made of catnip which only serves to tempt your cat all the more. Also, never decorate with anything made of chocolate as it is extremely poisonous to both cats and dogs!

Some of these steps may seem fairly obvious to those of us who have lived with cats all of our lives, but taking them can definitely help one rest a bit easier around the Yule holiday.

Cat-Proofing Your Yule Tree

Well my friends, it won't be long before the Yule season is upon us! As with many of our sabbat celebrations, one of the many things I enjoy the most about it is the peaceful, comforting atmosphere and tranquility which comes with this beautiful time of the year.

Among the many decorations is, of course, the symbolic and meaningful Yule tree. This year I have decided to get an early start on my decorating of the house. The feeling that it gives me is one of joy and contentment. This will also be Tabitha's very first Yule spent with us and for all we know first Yule period!

We learned a long time ago through living with cats that there are just certain things that they can't help but to do, and one of them is discovering the newness of a Yule tree, be it real or artificial. Ours has always been artificial (even though it really does look real).

 

I remember the first time I ever put up my tree, one of the cats we had at the time would go after the tinsel and before we knew it, we were pulling strings out of her you-know-what! I  learned very early on that decorating your tree with tinsel is extremely dangerous for cats because it can easily wrap around their intestines which could be fatal! From that time on, we never used it again and, instead, used other types of decorations in substitution such as strings of beads or bows ...

Also, if you take notice in the pic below, the last two rows of my Yule tree are bare. The reason for this is to help discourage my kitties tempation to play with the "little dangly things." The balls of my tree are made of glass encased in a croched yarn. Not only do they look pretty, but they serve the purpose of protecting the glass ball in the event that if your kitty does knock them on the floor they are much less likely to break!

The reason I am partial to artificial trees is because cats seem to be less tempted to try to climb up them as with real trees. Believe me, I have had friends that used to use real ones and now have decided to decorate with artificial because they got tired of coming home from work to a huge mess all over their living room floor. I suppose, other than the obvious, the main reason for this is due to the fact that they certainly do not smell real ~ cats are definitely not stupid! Whatever tree you prefer to decorate with for Yule, it is always very important to be mindful of our feline friends!

Catch and Release

 

With the weather turning so very bitter cold lately and only going to get worse, I have been extremely concerned about Mr. Gray (the outside kitty we have been trying to take care of). Tonight, he actually allowed me to pick him up (much to my surprise!) and  so I took him inside our house catio. He FREAKED OUT immediately! Crying loudly and jumping up on the walls and knocking down my door curtain in an attempt to escape! You would have thought that we were throwing him in a horrible dungeon or something! I have never seen anything like this before in my life! Poor guy. All I want to do is HELP him!!!

I called to hubby who was sitting in the living room at the computer to come quickly! "What should I do?" I said, "Just look at him panicking!" As soon as he opened up the inside kitchen door which is attached to the catio, Mr. Gray darted inside and ran into the living room. Scaring the other cats in the process, we tried to guide him back out into the catio where hubby had already opened the door to the outside for him. It is hubby's opinion that if Mr. Gray knows that he can walk in and out freely, eventually he may deicde to actually spend some time in the house? I don't know. Gray is very obviously a wild cat and I fear that this may have been the only chance I will ever have to get him in the house! I pray not, but we shall see in time I suppose. I just hope that he will learn to trust me again after this little episode. You know cats!

Farewell and Best Wishes to a friend ...

I don't know if any of you have heard, but one of my favorite blogs, "Cottage Tails" is closing. Leanne has stated that the main reason for this is TIME. Although I will miss her very much, I completely understand her decision.  Blogging, although fun and interesting ~ not to mention meeting all kinds of really great people, is definitely very time consuming and sometimes we must prioritize our life.

I also know that someday, not right now however, I will also be faced with that decision to make as I truthfully have considered it many times over myself.  As it stands, I am still able to find "some" time in my busy life for my blogs, thankfully.

Her daily posts were a journal in fact of her life with her family, fur babies and farm animals whom all have a special name living on a farm in New Zealand. I wish Leanne and her family the best and I thank her for sharing a big part of her life with us all. ;)

Surprise, surprise!

Okay, hold on to your witchy hats! It looks as if the "old guard" has actually decided to "let down their guard" and begin to warm up a bit to Tabby.  This was the scene in our living room last night ...

Can you believe it? No growling, no hissing, no snarling... amazing. Midnight has bonded with her nicely and they often lay together on the bed and groom each other. To a point; however, poor Tabby is still kind of an outcast as far as Kiki and Haley are concerned, but trust me it is definitely getting much, much better than it had been before ... finally. Yey!

Have a magickal weekend ALL!