It’s Friday!  Whoo! Hoo!  And not just any Friday, but holiday weekend Friday.  FP is already out the door and headed up to the cabin place I’ve been to.  AH is still here, so it’s me and him.  I know you all have plans as well, so I’ll keep this brief.

Got outside time last night, but it was no ordinary outside time.  I went without my harness.  They’ve been trying to do it bit by bit, and I think we finally broke through last night as AH let me out and away I went.  Apparently since I don’t wig out as much anymore, and my ’sploring is a bit more under control … they felt I’ve graduated to going out without the harness.  I suspect it’s completely up to me how long this lasts.  Will I behave myself?  I’d say it’s 50-50 right now.  But I’ll enjoy the freedom while I can.

That’s it for another week.  You have a great weekend and if you’re in the States, a great Independence Day.  See you Monday.

The Wumpus

Sorry.  Another quick post today.  Why?  Well, there’s a couple things I’d like to write about but they can wait until after the holiday weekend.  Speaking of which, the fireworks started yesterday.  No, not AH but some other people in the neighborhood.  Honestly, they don’t bother me much.  For one, they’re too far away to really do anything.  Two, they’ve just never really bothered me.  Trust me.  If I can listen to AH’s music, I can deal with fireworks.

Now dogs on the other hand?  They don’t like fireworks much.  At all.  If you do have a dog make sure you’re taking precautions.  You know, plenty of water.  Keep them inside.  Even turn on the radio or some other noise to drown out the sound of the fireworks.

I make no secret of my dislike for dogs, but this time of year I kinda feel sorry for them.  Kinda.

That’s it for a Thursday.  The sun is shining again and I’m headed to grab some.  Have a great day, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

The Wumpus

Not much going on.  Sunshine.  Warm weather.  Outside time grassin’ and ’sploring.  A great summer, to be sure.

Have a wonderful day, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

The Wumpus

Yesterday I mentioned I’d have a story today from a reader.  Well, things are still coming together on that, so let’s see how it goes for the rest of the week.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was the trouble I got into over the weekend.  Oh, certainly nothing major - but I did lose my outside privileges.  I was outside sniffing around the garden area AH has been working on.  He’s torn out a bunch of weeds and stuff, and cleared it out with a new rock wall.  So, of course it’s open for ’sploring.  That’s not the problem.  The problem is it makes it much, much easier to go onto the neighbor’s property.  Well, he was working on the other side of the house, came over to check on me and I wasn’t around.

Ruh-roh.

So, I see him walking to the top of the driveway to see if I’d made my way up there.  Nope.  He then looks over to the neighbor house and there I was - sniffing around outside one of their doors.  Double ruh-roh.

He comes over, I start to run off and then think the better of it.  His telling me to “Freeze, Wumpus!” had nothing to do with it.  So, I crouch.  He comes over, picks me up and we head back over to our house.  I didn’t make much of a stink because I knew I was trouble.  But I thought I’d simply be brought back over, a quick admonishment and then back to normal.  Nope.  We’re going inside.  I started to squirm, but thought the better of that, too.  He dumps me inside, takes off my harness, gives me a swat on the butt and I’m off.

Heh.  Little does he know I went directly to FP and scored some wet food.  It wasn’t until later she found out I was being punished.  Snicker.  Humans.

That’s it for a Tuesday.  Glorious sunshine and a warm window spot awaits.  See you tomorrow.

The Wumpus

What?  It’s Monday already?  And back to work?  For you, not me?  Heh.

A fine weekend, to be sure.  Plenty of sunshine.  Plenty of outside time.  And plenty of fresh grass.  It’s almost enough to make one forget about all the bad weather during the winter months.  Almost.

Speaking nice weather, I found some tips you humans can use to help keep us cats cool when it gets really hot.

Keep your cat cool as the weather heats up

Just like people, when the temperatures soar, your cat is at risk of heat stroke or exhaustion.  Here are a few things that you can do to help your feline companion get through the extremely hot days of summer.

If don’t have air conditioning, which of course could help you and your pet on a very hot day, fans are your next best option. Ceiling fans are safest - cats can knock down floor fans or get their paws inside the screens - and provide good ventilation to keep your cat cool.

We have ceiling fans and a small fan that’s out of my reach.  Keeps me pretty cool during the day.

Have plenty of water around. Place ice cubes or chips inside your cat’s water bowls to help make the water more refreshing and to encourage your cat to drink. Consider adding a cup of Gatorade to the bowl of water, which can help keep a cat’s electrolytes level high and prevent dehydration.

For one, I don’t drink out of a water bowl, but the toilet bowl.  Always have, always will.  All they need to do is make sure the lid is up.  Regarding Gatorade?  In the toilet bowl?  I don’t think so.

Indoor cats should have a cool place to relax. You might want to leave a little water inside the bathtub or sinks so your cat can play in the water to cool off.

Snort.  Like that’s going to happen.  Listen, I don’t like water on me.  At all.  Several years ago they thought it would be a good idea to give me a quick bath in the sink to cool me off.  Trust me - I’d rather see what’s coming in the next life than to have water poured on me.

For both indoor and outdoor cats with long hair, consider trimming the cat’s fur to help it keep cool.

I just got done shedding, and I’ll admit it’s a lot better now than before.  But in reality, my hair’s short enough.  I can’t imagine having long hair like some cats.  Ugh.

You also might want to fill plastic bottles with water and put them in the freezer (leave room for the water’s expansion). When the bottles are frozen, let your kitty play with them.

Once again, not a chance.  I mean, it sounds nice but do you actually know of any cats who will play with frozen, plastic water bottles?  Me, neither.

Hopefully your cat will not get overheated, but here are the signs of overheating, according to the ASPCA. They include excessive panting or difficulty breathing, increased heart and respiratory rate, drooling, mild weakness, stupor or even collapse. They also can include seizures, bloody diarrhea and vomit along with an elevated body temperature. An overheated cat also may have bright red gums.

If your cat does get overheated, cool it down gradually, not quickly. Apply cool - not cold - tap water all over its body. You can use a damp towel.  If your cat doesn’t perk up after getting cooled down, see your vet.

Now that is some good advice.  I suspect if I got THAT hot, I’d be forced to undergo the water treatment.  But I try not to get that way.  My favorite method of cooling down?  Honest?  A good roll in the dirt.  Seriously.  A couple years ago it got really, really hot.  And I was taken outside to cool off.  Found a nice place with some soft, fine dirt, stretched out, rolled around and laid there for a couple hours.  Worked like a charm.

In any case, do pay attention this time of year.  Oh, and never - ever - leave your pet (yes, even your dog) in a car.  I read too many stories about pets dying in cars.  So, don’t do it.  Pretty simple.

Have a great day, and I’ll see you tomorrow.  Got a note from a reader I’d like to share.  It’s pretty funny.  See you then.

The Wumpus

So it’s another late start today.  And?  It’s Friday and I slept in a bit.  After what went down last night, you can’t blame me.

See, I make no secret of my love for rock music.  The harder, the better.  Seriously.  I don’t know if in a previous life I lived in a rock band’s house, or if it’s positive stimulus from when AH started working from home and he played music all the time throughout the day.  In any case, I like certain types of music - most notably, rock.

Why do I bring this up?  Because the both of them listened to a different kind of music last night.  And they played it well after midnight.  And I mean, well after midnight.  Apparently a human from their childhood and teen years suddenly passed away yesterday, and he was some kind of music icon back in the day.  The fact I’d never, ever heard any of his songs before last night is an indicator of how often they listened to him.  But last night, they did.  I admit, some of it I liked.  Some of it?  Feh.  But they both had fun listening and remembering.  And they kept me up way past my bedtime.

Did I mention it’s Friday?  Whoo! Hoo!  And not just Friday, but a Friday with a morning sunspot waiting for me.  I know, I know.  Quick post and a late post.  My apologies.  I will gladly provide you a refund for your troubles.

Thanks for all the visits and notes this week.  And always, a welcome to my new readers.  I’m still working on AH to get the old archives back up, but he claims he has other things to do.  As if.  In any case, have a great weekend and I’ll see you on Monday.

The Wumpus

OK.  Since I received a couple questions, here’s a bit of an explanation about yesterday’s photo.  Yes, it’s a fox.  No, it’s not in my yard.  No, I’ve never met the fox.  And yes, it would kick my butt if I did.  In fact … even though I am a feeeeerocious critter, there are some things I recognize as the painful truth.  And a house cat missing one canine tooth and the claws in his front paws would not stand a chance against a wild animal like that fox.  And I suppose you’d do any better?  Snort.

Now, why did AH show me the pic?  It was taken by a friend of his who was on a hike last weekend, and he thought I’d like to see what a fox looked like.  He was wrong.  So, that’s that.

A fine day yesterday.  Didn’t get any outside time, but did spend some quality time mousing in the garage.  Normally it’s cold when I’m out there, so it’s nice to sit on the warm garage floor and mouse.  Didn’t catch any, but that’s fine.  It’s the journey that counts, right?

Lastly, due to popular demand, more baby owl pics.

Now, some of you have wondered how I can reconcile liking one set of birds and not others.  Some of you have also wondered if I’m getting soft in my old age.  Fair questions.  No to me getting soft in my old age.  And why I like one set of birds and not others?  I like this owl because he doesn’t bother me and it has nothing to do with the fact both of his parents could pluck me off the ground and drop me into the middle of next week.  Nothing to do with that at all.

Have a great day, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

The Wumpus

Late start today.  Know why?  Because I didn’t sleep much last night and when I did, I had bad dreams.  Know why?

This.

Why AH decided to show me this picture, I’ll never know.  But I don’t like it.  And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

The Wumpus

A bit of sad news this morning.  Turns out I’m not going to be an uncle after all.  When going out the last couple nights - even though I’ve been staying away from the nest - AH and I noticed the Momma Robin wasn’t out and about giving us the what-fors.  So last night he decided to check on the nest.  Empty.  Abandoned.  Now I’m not sure what happened, but AH says there’s no way the baby birds were ready to leave when he saw them last week.  He figures some other bird - like a Crow or a Stellars Jay - raided the nest.  And that was that.

I’m kinda mixed about this.  Of course I don’t like birds - except when served with a side of gravy - but this was kinda different.  They were, like, MY birds.  Oh, well.  Life goes on.  And in some cases, it doesn’t.

How about a little pick-me-up?  Behold, the baby owl.

Pretty cool, huh?

That’s a wrap for today.  Have a great one, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

The Wumpus

Well, FP is gone again.  Packed up her bag and headed out yesterday.  So, it’s just me and AH.  No.  No strippers or Cheetos.  Seems he gave that up some time ago and didn’t even bother to check with me.  What.  Ever.

A fine weekend, to be sure.  A bit of rain, some clouds and stuff … but still got outside all three nights.  And yes, I’ve been a good Uncle and haven’t bothered the Robin or her little ones.

Speaking of birds, my neighbor has some more shots of the baby owl, and they’re really cool.  I’ll pick them up from her and post them later this week.  In case you missed it the first time, here’s a pic just a couple days before he took off.  Haven’t seen him since, but he’s around I’m sure.

That’s it for a Monday.  Hope you had a fine weekend and Fathers Day as well.  Thanks for the visits and I’ll see you tomorrow.

The Wumpus