GOOD Kitty!

Diamond is notoriously afraid of dogs, so today he down-right startled me by being gentle, calm, and quiet around a small 7 week-old Pekinese puppy. It wasn't because the puppy was quiet, once Diamond smacked an 8 week-old pug puppy. It was one of the few times I was thankful that Diamond is declawed, other than that I'm very against animal declawing. He showed some concern about the puppy's presence, but he absolutely behaved himself and didn't growl at all.

Only good can come of this. :)

Diamond's Youtube Debut

I'm sorry that I've been neglecting this journal for so long. I had really spotty access to an Internet connection for a long time. I finally have dedicated Internet once more, and even better, now I have access to creating VIDEO!

Therefore, to celebrate the grand-reopening as it were, I present to you video of Diamond enjoying a car ride in segments:

Diamond, his leash now on, begs with his facial expressions to go out:




Diamond takes his time crawling up into the car:




Diamond carefully supervises Flea, the wheelchair, bieng stowed away:




The main event; Diamond enjoys riding in a car on a sunny day:
Diamond shows off his comedic timing and unpredictability:




We hope you enjoyed this! I don't know if you can make the viewing windows any smaller, but the videos are clearer if they're smaller.

I apologize that I haven't been around in _forever._ No, I haven't closed or given up on this blog, I just didn't have consistent Internet access. I suggest you duck: LOTS and LOT of photos are coming this way! :D

Rumors my dissappearance have been greatly exaggerated.

I've totally been forgetting to post about this, though I've been meaning to write about it.

About a couple of weeks ago, another woman's service cat went missing. Her friends got an add in the paper for her, and a couple of days after that a woman came up to me and said, "Oh, I'm so glad you got your service cat back!"

Of course since Diamond's never been missing, I replied with the ever eloquent, "Huh?"

So I was very surprised to find out at all that Diamond wasn't the only service cat in Pullman in the first place.

I can imagine the woman's stress. You would seriously have to hospitalize me if Diamond went missing. And by the way, you can microscip your animals, here in Pullman it's a very economical $35 at Diamond's vetrinary office, Alpine Animal Hospital.

But I digress. So I located a copy of the woman's add, and I called her. She's a very nice lady but she isn't able to get out of the house to look for her cat for herself. I'm going to call her tomorrow and find out if her service cat, Rambo, is still missing. If he is, I'm going to go search for him myself.

How to leash and harness train a cat. Part 1.

Here's a topic I've been meaning to write about for weeks.

I get a lot of people who come up to me and express their surprise that Diamond is so willing to stay calmly on his harness and lead. They often tell me that they tried to leash-train their cat, but that it didn't work.

Leash and harness training a cat isn't that much harder than training a dog, it just takes longer and more patience. Also, while it is possible to train a dog with both a positibve and negative rewards system, in my own experience cats only seem to accept training with the positive rewards system. You can put a collar and lead onto a dog and the dog will accept it more quickly, I believe dogs have been with us longer and have had more time to get aquainted with the lead -- I think -- and that's why cat's don't automatically aclimate to the lead. Most people put the lead on their cat and give up in dismay after the first or second time after their cat throws a tantrum.

Diamond was physically in a harness when I adopted him, and seemed oblivious to its presence. He was only nine months old, so I must assume that he had been harness-trained long before he'd been put up for adoption. But I have personally trained other cats to accept harnesses and leads before Diamond.

The first point is that if at all possible, it is important to begin harness training when the kitten is as young as possible. The second point is that a collar is okay for a cat if you don't intend to leash-train the cat at all, but if you are, a harness with the lead is better for the cat, ergonomically. If you have an older cat it's okay and it is still possible to train him or her to accept a harness and lead, it's just going to take longer.

First, put a collar on the kitten or cat, if you haven't done so already. It needs to be the non-breakaway kind, so that the cat will get used to bieng ina device it can't get out of any time it wants to. If your cat's already used to a collar, you're ready to begin the real fun. ;)

First, I highly recommend that you bring the cat with you to the pet store or vet's office when choosing his or her first harness. This way a professional can help you choose the precise right size for your cat, and show you exactly how the harness is supposed to go onto the cat's body. Remember: You should always be able to fit two fingers in between the neck strap and the body strap, to allow for comfortable breathing, movement, and of course growth.

Slayer of Evil Toilet paper Rolls!

OH HI!!! There once was an Evil Roll of Toilet paper here, but I have destroyed it for you. No need to be afraid anymore. I'm so proud of myself. Aren't you proud of me too?

Got anymore TP for me to kill!?

SPRING TIME!!!

Tap tap! Tap tap tap tap tap!

I've written before about how I learned from an Animal Planet BBC program called Barking Mad that I could teach Diamond sign language to better communicate with him.

Since I last wrote about that, I've taught Diamond through the use of the thumbs up signal and treats that if he politely taps me on the hand or arm, he'll get a treat. It's the sign language equivalent of "Please may I have a treat, Mommy?" and it works. It's MUCH more convenient for both of us than a random YOWL in a public place. X-D

He's also learned "sit." We're still working on "come," and he hasn't figured out "stay" yet.

It's almost the end of the semester, and we've had one the worst shooting in American history this week.

The "NO TOUCH THE CAT!" rule is suspended until the day after WSU's graduation day.

Snuggle away, Boogah.

Broccoli!

I've been rather text intensive for the last couple of posts, so its time for a picture!


Diamond says: "Stick with 'Natural Choice' cat food, mom! I'm not crazy about broccoli."

(Picture is an illusion created using tiny dots of wet food, LOL.)

Feeding Domestic Pets Raw Meat.

I want to highlight some more knowledgeable perspectives than mine, here are a couple of informative comments I recieved in my last entry:

trixiefirecat said...
the people i've read so far highly recommend wellness wet food as well [human grade meat & no grain filler]. i transitioned my cats off kibble with it, adding a little water, and their coats got softer, thicker & shinier in the first week.

another nice thing you can do for your cat is get some wild salmon oil in gel caps [bottles of it go rancid quickly with air exposure] and squeeze them into their food. they love the smell & flavor, and it's really good for them [something added to all raw food diets].

Curt said...
We have a pack of 6 farm dogs and they all mean the world to our family. And we have fed a raw food diet for years.

But there are so many products out there that are supposed to be raw that aren't. And this craze of "cooking for your pet" is going to hurt alot of animals. You should NEVER cook meat meant for a dog.

Another thing I see being tossed around that is so incorrect is the idea that bones are bad for dogs. Again, absolutely incorrect. CooCooked bones are bad dogs. Raw bones are an essential factor for thier health.

We only feed Oma's Pride meats b/c they come from the same processing plant that produces human consumption products and everything is USDA inspected. We are in Houston so we order from http://www.thedinnerbowl.com but there are quality raw suppliers all over the country.

And really b/c we feed so much less raw (2.5% of the body a day) versus kibble (easily twice that to keep weight) it isn't that much more expensive. It gets expensive when people go to Kroger or some other retail grocery store or when they order from a distant vendor.

We love our animals and the small amount of time and pennie is well worth thier health.

However, there are dangers to be considered. A friend of mine who is in Veterinary school told me;

Raw food diets are typically bad for your pets. For one thing, they usually lack essential nutrients, like calcium. For another thing, they also expose your pet to all sorts of food born diseases and parasites, like salmonella. And even if your pet doesn't get sick, it can still be a carrier for the disease and can spread it to other people. In my nutrtion class we learned about one family in Germany (I think it was Germany) that fed their cat a raw food diet and she ended up spreading e.coli to their daughter. The daughter got very sick and had to be hospitalized.

As I said before, I won't be making home-made meals for Diamond, because I know I don't have the knowledge, time, money, and skills necessary. Furthermore, I've had e. coli in my kidneys TWICE in my life already without my own assistance, and can't possibly afford to do that to myself again.

Its important to get as much information as possible if you're serious about home-making your pets' meals.

Food scare prompts pet owners to retreat to own kitchens.

Something someone posted in Live Journal:

hi, i feed my cats a raw meat diet. homemade cat & dog food is a great idea, i'm just here to tell you, there are things to know about their nutrition that make their diets a little more complicated than just cooking food at home. here's a good article about how cats need special supplements, please do a lot of research before starting your pets on homemade food. they have different needs than we do:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/catsaredif.html

and this woman is an excellent resource for raw food & holistic pet health:
http://www.catnutrition.org/index.html

As anyone else with a pet, I've been watching this pet food recall closely, doing research, et cetera. Diamond means the world to me... you'd have to hospitalize me if Diamond died any time in the near future. ...Perhaps someday if I married I could cope with such a loss without a temporary stay in a rubber room, but not now.

Anyway, I read (and hear, etc.) that a lot of people are resorting to home-cooking meals for their pets. Personally I couldn't POSSIBLY afford to do it right, so I'm not even going to try. By asking a local pet store, I've found out that a brand called Natural Choice doesn't contain any wheat gluten, or other glutens, so I'll probably be switching to that. Diamond's vet told me last month that Diamond should have wet food about once a week for his kidney health, so I've already bought some, and Diamond's tried the "Venison and green pea," and liked it a lot. (Then again,it was GUSHY FOODS, so he could be just grateful. But he did eat it cheefully.)

I listened to some guest on CNN speak disnmissively about how "its just too hard" for people to home cook for their pets. Now, I disagree with her dismissiveness and I don't think it's THAT hard for anyone who is willing to make an honest effort at it.

At the same time, I hope people are bieng VERY cautious if they do decide to get into the home pet food hobby for their beloved animals, I agree that it IS more involved that it would seem.

Hi there!

Sorry I haven't been around in a while, my scooter was broken so I wasn't able to get to a computer that I could use to upload new photos. We're back now!

Diamond says Hi!

Diamond's tomato obsession.

Last night I came home with half of a mushroom-swiss burger, and forgot to put it in the fridge.

I found it this morning, opened.

Diamond had pulled the to-go box out of the basket it was in, opened the box, flipped open the burger, IGNORED the beef, IGNORED the cheese, and ate the two slices of tomato.

I ask you. Is THIS a normal creature!?

*Sigh.*

This has always been one of my favorite photos of Diamond. :)

*Yawn.*

Your daily dose of Cute.

Who DOES these kinds of things!?

I would have posted this after my photopost of last time, but I really didn't want to ruin such a lovely photopost with venting.

So Monday night at Safeway, I was at the end of an isle chatting with a friend I hadn't seen in a few months, and an older-teen-aged boy walks past us, and starts hissing, growling, and making clawing motions at Diamond.

Diamond reads lips surprisingly well, but of course THAT didn't translate. Diamond looked at him, then turned back to look at me like, "?No habla estupido."

I watched the kid in dumbfounded fascination until he walked out of site, commented, "Odd," and continued on with my conversation.

After I'd made my purchases, I chatted with a store manager, who informed me that Safeway has a 0 tolerance policy against harassment. It works like so:

If you're caught harassing someone in the store, they take your I.D. information and put it on file. If three such incidences are recorded against you, you are permanently trespassed from the store. By the police.

Niiiice.

It was an irritating thing to have happen, but I'm glad I learned so much from it.

To quote Hermione: "Honestly."

And finally, Here's a basic little reminder. (Of course I know I'm mostly just preaching to the choir, here.)

Diamond: "Yaaay! Another adventure! Where we going tonight mom?"


Diamond: "Oooh, what a pretty evening!"


Diamond: "Shopping!? Eww, you know I hate grocery shopping, mom!"
Me: "And just where do you think we get your treats?"
Diamond: "Shopko! Which I like better!"
Me: *Sigh.*


Diamond: "Okay, now this is much better."


Diamond: "What a pretty night. *Yawn*" :)


Diamond: "Hey! I know this door!" :)


Diamond: "My kingdom for thumbs! Sorry that I can't help you with the doorknob, mom."


Diamond: "Okay, now let me help you because you know you can't do it unless I direct."
Me: "Yes, my liege." *sigh.*

Eep!

I'm sorry. I forgot to acknowledge Diamond's sixth birthday this year (the 28th) because my father died wednesday before last and my mind has been on other things.

In other news, Diamond's been quite adorable lately. Photos to follow in the next update.

Finally, a Photopost!

I haven't posted any images of Diamond lately because I had forgotten my photobucket password and couldn't get into the account for months, and worst of all, they have some new policy where you only have so many tries, which was crushing my attempts.

So anyway, finally, the photos will come back.

This one needs a bit of explanation. There's a large fishtank at The Bookie, and the fish always come to you because they think you're going to feed them... even if you're a cat! So here's Diamond, surrounded by hungry fish. ;)


From what I understand, the Bookie is going to be housed inside the CUB eventually, so this tranquil scene will be no more. *sighest...*

I RULE.

July 26th, 2006. Oh, and I am TEH ROCK for socializing kittens. All of the kittens, and the mother, are now all safely ensconced at the Humane Society, awaiting their appointment with the Vet tomorrow, and the director says they're all ready to be adopted out, behaviorally speaking. I tell you, I have a magic touch. X-D

Kittens Doing Well.
July 20th, 2006.

Hi! I don't have homes for the kittens yet, but they're doing fairly well. One is actually with me, hidden in a cardboard box in the basket while Diamond rides on the floor of the scooter under my legs for shade. I had brought said kitten to Ric-O-Shay, but it turned out the person was only interested in female kittens. *sigh* We're taking the bus home in order to keep cool. I need to find a way to get them FIV tested. (I used to be able to edit the dates I wanted a given post to appear in, I don't know what's gone wrong.)

KITTENS!

July 17, 2006

There was a mother cat and four feral kittens on the side of one of our apartment units, so I dutifully called Animal Control, who came the next day, and we trapped them. Unfortunately it is kitten season, and the first kitten we caught that the AC Officer brought to the shelter was said to be too wild, and that we were to release them all. I talked her into releasing them into my custody, and they are all now safely ensconced in my bathroom while they learn to adjust to humans. It turns out the mother is actually completely people friendly and comes to me for cuddles every time I join them. Two of the kittens have begun to accept cuddles, and the other two are slowly losing their shyness. They've been with me one week as of yesterday, and they're all gray tabbies. Two kittens are long-haired, and two are short-haired like the mother. Eeek! I've gone from one cat to six! It's work but it's fun work!!

Diamond's Reaction to all this.

You know, I totally forgot to write about how Diamond was taking all of that. Diamond was totally loving it! I was really shocked and pleased that he wasn't showing any agression or jealousy towards the other cats, but all he wanted to do was smell and meet them and hopefully play with them. He even tolerated bieng locked in the bedroom for his safety on days when I'd leave the bathroom door open to encourage Mamma and the kittens to explore. (Only one kitten ever did, though.)

MammaKitten (as I called her) wasn't having it about meeting Diamond, though. She hissed the two times that she met Diamond. Once, she escaped from the bathroom and ran under a small table I've got, where Diamond was already sitting, and sat down. She turned when Diamond said hello, hissed angrilly, and ran back to the safety of the bathroom. (Everyone else had a good laugh.)

The second time a few days later, we had to take everything off of the floor of the bathroom and clean everything because although they're all quite good about using the litterbox, they kick sand everywhere. I loaded everyone into Diamond's adult-cat carrier and set them in the hall, and MammaKitten and at least one kitten hissed at Diamond when he came tearing over to investigate.

So introductions didn't go so well. And the kittens had some pretty severe ear mite infections as it turned out, so Diamond's going to have to be checked at his next Vet appointment, *sarcasm* which I'm sure he'll love. ;)

So all in all, I'm terribly proud of Diamond. One of the kittens was decidedly unafraid of him, and I'm sure that totally helped in that lil guy's socialization process.

I'm crossing my fingers now that they'll all pass their FIV/FIL tests... I'm so worried that they'll have to be euthanized even after all the hard work. If everything turns out okay, I'll be sure to link their PetFinder.com profiles up here!

Genius Cat!

I love my cat. He's getting so smart. :) Really, he's probably not any smarter than he's always been, but my ability to tap into it has improved and he's really rising to the challenge. Apparently he loves challenges! Early last month I started watching a show on Animal Planet which only plays very early in the morning, called Barking Mad. It's a British show that features a pet -- two pets per episode -- that has some kind of emotional or behavioral problem. They bring in experts, find the source of the problem, and then re-train both the human and the pet to modify the animal's frustrating behavior.

In one episode, they showcased a dalmation that was completely deaf. The owners weren't aware he was deaf, so he was sent in for vet tests that pinpointed the problem, and he was indeed deaf. Actually, I could tell from his bosy language that the dog was just as frustrated with the human owners as they were with him. and then they brought in a dog trainer to train the owners to teach the dog obedience lessons via sign language. The dog responded immediately, and he became much more relaxed, happy, and confident with the hand signals than without them, and of course the humans became the same because of his change in behavior.

I'm always on the lookout for new hand signals to train Diamond, so I was delighted to watch. I wish they'd provided more information to where I could learn more hand signals, because they only showed two or three, one of which (palm up for "sit,") I already knew.

In any event, they showed "thumbs up," as a way to say "Good job, now you get a treat!" and I began working on that one with Diamond that very morning.

Today, six weeks later, Diamond's showed me several times that he knows "Thumbs up!" perfectly. :)

I was sitting on the couch, and for some reason I got it into my head to show him numbers with my fingers. I went to show him "One," with my thumb, forgetting all about thumbs up which I hadn't done in a couple of weeks, and he immediately perked up, his ears pricked, and he looked at my empty hands, then looked around the room for his treat can, confused. I laughed my fool head off and snatched up the can, then gave him another thumbs up, by which time he had scampered up to me and had sat politely, waiting, and I gave him a treat.

Next we're going to work on "Come here!" Which is a large circular backwards waving of the hand towards myself. I think this one may be trickier.

I love my cat. :)