Cats on Vacation
Where were Fatty and Bentley while we went to Boston for 3 days? Oh, poor kitties left all alone....right? Not exactly. You see, the kittens have it great. I carefully prepare their time alone as follows:
1. Who wants to come back from a road trip to a pair of angry cats and hacked hairballs? Not I. So: brush cats vigorously to take out any extra fur, thus eliminating the chance of finding hacked hairballs upon return. I got an excellent brush called the Furminator and let me tell you, it is worth it. I wish I had met the furminator earlier. If I brush the cats once a week they are hairball free.
2. Leave plenty of water. I leave about 5 containers of water around the house, two of them really big. Kitties can survive without food but never without water.
3. Food...this is really tricky, especially since I have a cat called El Gordo. He was a wrestling champion called Nacho Libre in a previous life.
Nothing came between him and his nachos! In this life, he is a fat cat with no control over how much he eats. He finishes one bowl of food and keeps going and going till he ends up like the Romans vomitarium...you get the picture. Bentley is more sophisticated. He will eat till he is full then takes a nap, cleans, chases his tail, kills the catnip bag, naps again then eats. So, my strategy has to be one that A) feeds the cats B) keeps El Gordo from eating everything at once and C) Keeps the location of food hidden from the knowledge of El Gordo because he has radar sound when it comes to food dropping in a bowl. I bet he can even hear you when you feed your cat!
SO! So I make tiny tiny portions and cover them really well with paper towels then hide them around the house in places I think El Gordo will never find them. This means that it will take him longer to find it and hopefully Bentley will eat as well.
We zipped the luggage closed, left and as we were leaving El Gordo was busy sniffing out the hidden food. As we came back he was round, glum, content. Bentley was light, furious, and hungry. I guess I know who found all of the food. Not that anyone cares, but I did Bentley justice. I locked El Gordo out of the basement and fed Bentley till he was full. In the meanwhile Nacho Libre howled outside of the door.
Another funny thing happened. Our drier broke as we got back and miraculously we were able to get a new one installed the next day. The workers must have been harassed by the cats because when I came home almost all of the food was gone and it was the first time in history that El Gordo didn't ask for more.
Now they are back on schedule. Every evening I ask Bentley if he wants to go to Florida, he says "yes!" and I turn on the warm desk lamp where he lays and tans in "Florida."
The Fat one doesn't like Florida and prefers to purr around. It takes him about 30 minutes to find a comfortable spot and by that time I usually get up and move so he needs to start from square one.
1. Who wants to come back from a road trip to a pair of angry cats and hacked hairballs? Not I. So: brush cats vigorously to take out any extra fur, thus eliminating the chance of finding hacked hairballs upon return. I got an excellent brush called the Furminator and let me tell you, it is worth it. I wish I had met the furminator earlier. If I brush the cats once a week they are hairball free.
2. Leave plenty of water. I leave about 5 containers of water around the house, two of them really big. Kitties can survive without food but never without water.
3. Food...this is really tricky, especially since I have a cat called El Gordo. He was a wrestling champion called Nacho Libre in a previous life.
Nothing came between him and his nachos! In this life, he is a fat cat with no control over how much he eats. He finishes one bowl of food and keeps going and going till he ends up like the Romans vomitarium...you get the picture. Bentley is more sophisticated. He will eat till he is full then takes a nap, cleans, chases his tail, kills the catnip bag, naps again then eats. So, my strategy has to be one that A) feeds the cats B) keeps El Gordo from eating everything at once and C) Keeps the location of food hidden from the knowledge of El Gordo because he has radar sound when it comes to food dropping in a bowl. I bet he can even hear you when you feed your cat!
SO! So I make tiny tiny portions and cover them really well with paper towels then hide them around the house in places I think El Gordo will never find them. This means that it will take him longer to find it and hopefully Bentley will eat as well.
We zipped the luggage closed, left and as we were leaving El Gordo was busy sniffing out the hidden food. As we came back he was round, glum, content. Bentley was light, furious, and hungry. I guess I know who found all of the food. Not that anyone cares, but I did Bentley justice. I locked El Gordo out of the basement and fed Bentley till he was full. In the meanwhile Nacho Libre howled outside of the door.
Another funny thing happened. Our drier broke as we got back and miraculously we were able to get a new one installed the next day. The workers must have been harassed by the cats because when I came home almost all of the food was gone and it was the first time in history that El Gordo didn't ask for more.
Now they are back on schedule. Every evening I ask Bentley if he wants to go to Florida, he says "yes!" and I turn on the warm desk lamp where he lays and tans in "Florida."
 |
| ahh the sun! |
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| Miami |
The Fat one doesn't like Florida and prefers to purr around. It takes him about 30 minutes to find a comfortable spot and by that time I usually get up and move so he needs to start from square one.
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| Not cozy yet |
 |
| meh, we will try this for a few minutes. |
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