Can you see it?

Anna, here.  I've been able to get back at my crafting and craft blogging again lately, which has been healthy for my psyche.  A couple of days ago, I set things up to do a shoot of a crown I'd made, that included putting down a piece of red velvet I have.  

I figured it was appropriate for a crown, don't you think?

The crown is on a glass lazy susan, which allowed me to take photos at different angles without actually having to handle the crown.  It worked out rather well.  After I took the photos and removed it, however, I noticed that the little "legs" under the base had left marks in the velvet.  It didn't take long for that to happen at all.  

I moved the lazy susan, but I didn't bother to move the velvet away, thinking I might use it again soon.  Which is why it was still there, yesterday, when I happened to glance at it and noticed something odd.

Can you see it?

I know, taking photos of red is always a challenge for cameras, but it's still there.

Not the dust and cat hair, though that should give you a hint.

Can you see it on here?  It's the same photo as above, but I used post processing to try and bring it out a bit more.

You can see parts of it a lot more clearly at an angle.

Yes, those are kitty paw prints.

And kitty leg prints.

And a kitty butt print.

One of our cats got on my table and sat there long enough to leave a butt print in the velvet.

Along with the hair.

Now I have to figure out how to clean the fuzz off, as well as how to remove cat indentations.

Note for future reference.  Do not leave things out on the table that I don't want the cats to "decorate."

Heaven

The cats love the new coffee table my daughter  bought for us.

A smooth surface AND a sun spot.

A.

Sent by mobile.

A Losing Battle

The cats keep going on my craft table, dragging out my quilt batting, then sleeping on it. 

I keep taking it from them, rolling it back up again, and putting it away.

I think I'm fighting a losing battle on this one.

So Faaaaahbulous!

Have I mentioned that we're sucks when it comes to our elderly cat?

Yes, these are her new, fabulously pink toenails.

There is a reason behind this madness, however.

This is our 15-or-so year old cat, Tiger.  She hasn't been able to retract her claws very well for some time now, and they are huge and very sharp.  They are also brittle.  When we try to trim them, they crack and split, exposing the nerve.  So we have stopped trimming them.

While it's rough on the clothes, the real problem with this is that she has started going after the carpets again.  When we first moved here, she went after the carpeted stairs with a vengeance, completely ignoring her scratching tower.  We ended up having to cover our stairs with plastic runners to get her to stop.  And it worked.

Until now.

There are still a couple of inches of exposed carpet on either side of the runner, and she's suddenly started to go after them.  She has also discovered a slight bump in the carpet that formed under a heavy bookshelf and started to claw on that.

Yes, we do have scratching posts.  She doesn't use them.

So to save our carpets (and our clothes!), we got these little plastic claw covers.  They're glued on and are supposed to last 4-8 weeks.

She seems quite content with them.

We ended up putting some on our other cat, but just on his front paws.  Sparkly pink ones.  It was rather amusing, the first time he tried to climb up the couch with them!

These things are turning out to be worth the investment!

Update:  I didn't realize my husband had already posted a photo of our cat's new look.  For the record, the other cat did not manage to chew off the pink ones.  They're just not as visible.

Fashion statement

So my daughter's cat is a little old... and by Old I mean deaf, mainly blind and unable to retract her claws anymore. but she still loves to destroy carpeting, especially on the stairs. We found these little gems at the local PetSmart and I have to say they're definitely worth the money. Results may vary however, as our younger cat who got the same treatment ate them right off within minutes :D. 

Sent from my BlackBerry Z10 which totally doesn't look like an Iphone... totally doesn't

Cat in a box

So my daughter loves to cuddle her cat, while he prefers to hide in whatever cardboard box he can fit in. 

...problem solved :P 

Sent from my BlackBerry Z10 which totally doesn't look like an Iphone... totally doesn't

Slight framing issue

So I'm Trying to take a picture of the presents I got for my birthday. Somehow, the cat found them more interesting  interesting than I did. 

Sent from my BlackBerry Z10 which totally doesn't look like an Iphone... totally doesn't

Look Who's Back

A couple of years back, I wrote about some strays that showed up on our balcony - the parents of our own Finnegan.  We had adopted out Finn's mother, Freya.

Today, she just showed up on our balcony again.

Philippe brought out a soup bowl full to the top of cat food for her.  She promptly ate half of it, in between rubbing all over our legs, and anything else she came near on our balcony.  While not at thin as when we first found her, she was clearly very hungry.

We can't let her into the house.  Finn is all over the window, looking at her.  He isn't fixed yet (we even had a breeding request, though that fell through), so there's no way we can allow them together.  It's possible the family that adopted her got her fixed, but we can't tell.  I would guess there's some sort of scarring to look for, but she isn't allowing us to hang on to her long enough to check.  She seems quite excited to be back on our balcony!

The carrier we turned into a shelter for her and Finn is still around, so we've made a bed for her under our patio table, and left food out for her.

We have no idea what happened.  Did the family that took her let her go?  Did she run away?

How interesting that, whatever the reason is that she's away from the family that adopted her, she came back to us!

Mine!!

Is that for me ?? Can I eat it ?????

Sent from my BB Z10, that totally doesn't look like an Iphone ... totally doesn't.

Ssssttrreeettttccchhh...

Our younger cat is a strange one!  One of the things he loves to do is lie on his back, paws hovering in the air.  We can't look at him without fighting the urge to snuggle that white fuzzy belly!

He also loves our battered old armchair.  He'll lie on his back, head hanging off the edge.  Slowly, slowly, he head dangles farther and farther off the edge, until either the weight of it drags the rest of him down, or he finally shifts.




I think it's the tail curled up on his belly that does it for me in this photo!

Smothered with love

The arm that you're seeing is Anna trying to choke the cat into submission. Funny enough, the cat is purring through it.  Every once in a while, Anna  seems to have the need to burrow her face into the cat. 

Sent from my BB Z10, that totally doesn't look like an Iphone ... totally doesn't.

Hours of entertainment...

I'm just not sure who is being entertained more.  The cat playing in the box, or us watching him!

I fit!

This box was being used to hold library books.
He kept knocking them out so he could nap in it.
Sent from Anna's phone

Company

My daughter is sick, so she is all bundled up and reading on the couch.
Her cat is keeping her company.
Sent from Anna's phone

My Bag!

The kitten we adopted is now pretty much fully grown.  Hard to believe he's even the same cat!!  Gone are the deep blue eyes, and the tiny speck on his nose has turned into a black patch that covers of his nose.

As you can see, he's quite settled in to our home.  One of his favorite things is bags.  All bags, but especially this large, rather noisy bag.

He likes to nap in it.

At My Shoulder

I sat on the couch, and this happened.

Every time

Whenever my daughter sets up to sketch, Finn comes over, attacks her book and pencils for a while, the settles down by (or on!) her sketchbook.

Just resting up

We all know that he will be raising hell all night, but he just looks so cute...

Sent from my BlackBerry® PlayBook™
www.blackberry.com

Watch your step!

Watch your step!
Originally uploaded by amkb

Finn loves this rug. This is one of two spots on it he loves to burrow under, then go for a nap. This corner, unfortunately, is in a high traffic area and I almost stepped on him!

Yes, I left him there.

We are total sucks.

Entertaining us

The new cat is certainly entertaining! You should hear the purring when he does this.