Pandora's Kitchen Raid

Pandora is our fluffy, fat, long haired torti. She was the second cat we adopted and is as different from Atlas as can be. She's vocal, affectionate, aloof, and incredibly "curious" (in other words, naughty). She is our most dependent cat. She goes where we go. When we go to sleep for the night, she comes and sleeps with us. Her day starts when ours does (as I mentioned in the window perch post). If we're watching tv, she's in room. Working on the computer in the office, she's in one of the closest cat beds next to us. Even now. I had to look, but there she is, about 3 inches from my knee. She does this so easily and quietly that I don't notice her get from one place to another. I just turn and there she is.

Although our other cats are getting braver in regards to people other than my husband and me, Pandora has always been the sole greeter in the house. Those who come into the house, like repair people and home nurses, think she's the only cat we have (since she's the only one they usually see). Every stranger (and my mother) have all had their personal belongings trampled through by Pandora. Most while said belongings were about a foot from them. If a purse is put down in the house, she will get in it. And she will take something. And the victim usually will never know (until I retrieve it from her as she makes her escape).

She's so large and makes herself known. She bobs her head at things she's interested in, and at new people. At the same time, she's able to crawl between legs and sneak into a briefcase a few inches from its owner without being caught. Only because we know her and watch for her do we stop her getaways. She is surprisingly sneaky and can be invisible when she wants to be.

If there is a crash somewhere in the house, one of two things happen. We see Pandora 1.5 seconds later, running as far and as fast as she can away from what we can only assume is the location of the origin of the noise. Or, and this happens far more often, we go to check out what's going on, and Pandora is sitting there in the vicinity of naughtiness. She's facing away from it or spread out in repose a few feet away. Washing her face. Acting like she has no idea what we're there for or that anything is out of place. Nope, nothing to see here. Can't we see that she is staring at that fascinating speck of wall there? She didn't have anything to do with anything. She wasn't even a witness. See how she's not even looking int he right direction? Uh-huh.

Last night, Pandora decided to show us how clever she is. Although she's a strange cat in personality and look, she is not stupid. She likes to act like she's not the brightest feline of the lot, but we know better.

While making supper, I caught her sitting upright on the floor next to a cabinet door. She'd take one paw and bat forcefully at the corner, then she began to curl her gigantic paw around it and pulled. One, two, three fast times in a row. The cupboard came a quarter of an inch open, immediately shutting again each time. It made three sharp, successive thuds.

I did my typical shocked and scolding (and trying to hide the amusement) voice. "Pandora! Pandora, no!" She then walked out of the kitchen. Meow. Meow.

I finished cooking supper. She walked through the kitchen several times. Meow, meow. I cooed at her, gave her a pet. Plated our dinner, put everything away, and took our food out into the family room.

The hubby and I had been eating for maybe 5 minutes when we muted the television. We heard the soft sound of plastic. Gnawing on plastic. Someone had gotten something, but I am pretty diligent about putting all things away that could cause problems before leaving a room. Maybe I had forgotten something? Still, I turned to my husband and said, "I think it's Pandora." She loves plastic.

I headed to the doorway, thinking I'd accidentally left something out. I assumed I'd find an empty ziplock bag or other small, comparable plastic thing that had contained some other ingredient. What I found was one of my top, very large cupboard doors swung as far open as it goes. Pandora was on the counter top right underneath the open cupboard. She had pulled down a bag of saltine crackers and was chewing on the ends of it. It had been on the second shelf. I feigned shock.

"PANDORA!"

"Mew?"

"PANDORA!"

"Mew, mew."

Upon her scolding, she sat up slowly. Released the saltines. She was completely relaxed and content. She stretched her body back up, away from the counter and the crackers. She stretched her front legs back up into the open cupboard. She then stuck her paws and face up into the first, then second shelf. She was calmly retrieving something else. She thought her scolding was for the item she had picked and not the entire situation happening right there.

I grabbed her before she settled on a new item, my "bad kitty" voice bellowing at her the whole time. Put her on the floor and shut the cabinet door. She rubbed on my legs. I picked her up and put her in the next room. One more scolding and I sat back down in the family room. She stayed in the room with us for a couple minutes. The husband and I continued eating. Shook our heads from time to time.

5 minutes later, I could hear the sound of china. I looked around, and sure as hell, she had left the room without our noticing.

She was in the cabinet next to the one with saltines. Door open as far as it would go. I don't even open our cupboards as far as they go. They do not stop until they hit another cupboard or the wall. They bend all the way back. This cupboard had all our dishes in it. And the filters for our coffee machine. She was leaning on all the bowls and plates as she tried to get at the filters, hence the sound of the dishes settling into one another. Everything in that cupboard was china except the filters. She had managed to find the one thing out of 4 stacked and piled shelves that she would have any interest in whatsoever.

This time my husband came to check out the scene (since I was again in the doorway, hands on hips, scolding in my most offended and shocked voice). It's hard when she's up to no good. I'm always still a tiny bit impressed and amused. We both said, "PANDORA!"

"Mew." She retracted her upper half and sat down easily on the counter. Her owl eyes wide.

We both came up to her. I shut the cupboard, the husband continued scolding her. Then, we gave her a cuddle and went back to finish our dinner. We talked about child locks for the cabinets. I kept saying, "This is not a trick she needed to learn" and sighing.

We waited and listened. She came into the room we were in and made herself comfortable.

She was done, at least for the evening. She hasn't touched them again.

Yet.

Cat Supplies - Window Perch

We've talked about buying a window perch for the cats to try for a long time. At stores such as Petsmart or on our trusted online Doctors Foster and Smith website, they are pretty pricey. When I saw one in a Lakeside Collection catalog, I got it immediately. It was 10 bucks, so I knew we could give it a try. Besides, Aphrodite had taken to sleeping on the window ledge in our bedroom that was about three times smaller than her body. I knew she would love a larger, comfy platform.

Although the Lakeside Collection is not a pet supply company, they sometimes have pet items. They're sort of like the general gift store of the internet. Unfortunately, they sell an item and then it's gone. They have a random selection of items that constantly change. At the same time, everything we've ever gotten from them has been wonderful. I also get a lot of Christmas gifts out of that catalog and website.

The window perch came in pieces in a bag. I therefore put it in the closet for a day in the future when I would feel particularly confident in my tool-y skills. That day didn't come for about 2 months (my bad). My desire to try to nail or screw this thing into the wall was zero. All the times the curtain rods fell out rested heavy in the back of my thoughts. I sort of assumed the perch may go up but that it would also inevitably come down. Perhaps immediately.

Finally, somewhat out of frustration but mostly out of my determination to cross it off the list, I got it out. The directions were really difficult to read. I was starting to get a little nervous. But, there weren't that many pieces in the bag. Basically, there was a board, the foam that goes on the board, and a washable cover that goes over the foam. A small bag of screws, 2 metal arms, and 2 metal half circle things. There were already drilled holes to put the arms and metal half circle things, so I just screwed them on and looked at it. It ended up being really simple. Best part? NO nailing or screwing into the wall. The little half moon pieces just slipped into the lip of the part where the window slides when it's opened, and the arms had a rubber piece on the end that holds it against the wall underneath the shelf without hurting the wall.

Here is a shot of underside of the finished perch. Hermes and Aphrodite came to help model it as well.

The shelf was an immediate hit. Pandora was up and comfortable before I could put away the screwdriver.

Isley and Aphrodite were next after Pandora had enjoyed it for an hour or two.

As the week went on, it was Mary Lou who frequented it the most.

She's stretch out on it. She'd sleep in a tiny ball, covering 25% of it. She'd play with her tail. Roll on her back. Stretch out her toes and nails. Sit straight up on it. Then start all over again.

The only thing I wished once it was put together and up was that it had come with a larger, better fitting cover or, at the very least, a spare cover. Still, I've had it out for about 2 weeks and that cover has stayed put and put up with wear extremely well. I immediately thought I would make a spare cover out of an old shirt headed to the Goodwill, or something along those lines. As time's gone on, I don't know if I'll need to do that or not. I had to take back my original, less than enthused thoughts about the cover. The only thing I wish now is that we'd got one or two more.

Aphrodite was the original reason we got it, and although it hasn't yet been tried out fully by all the cats in the house, it has definitely been popular for 4-5 of them. Pandora sleeps next to me and Mav the few hours in the morning before we rise (her day does not start until ours does). She's taken to getting on the perch if it's light out and watching the birds in the trees in the backyard until we rise. I wake up to see her little head going back and forth, her body tensed like she's gonna get 'em. Then, the dog and I stumble out of bed. She comes right back to her own inside-the-house world and leaves the perch to follow us around on our morning routine. Usually, Aphrodite takes her spot pretty quickly.

Even if no one else cared about it, it still would have been worth it. For Aphrodite.

There is nothing better than a happy Aphrodite.

Atlas's Story

My husband and I had been married for about 2 months. We had talked about getting a cat for some time, and we always took a look whenever we were out and about and happened upon adoption days. My husband had never really had pets growing up. I'd had cats all my life but hadn't had one since before college. Since long before getting Mav as a puppy 5 years before. We were taking it slow and waiting for the right kitty.

Whenever we went into the local Petsmart, we would walk by the kitties for adoption. I always just looked (I think I knew if I allowed myself to put any of them in my arms, it'd be over). We'd been looking at kittens. We figured it might be easier for a kitten to adjust to a home that was still relatively new to all of us and to a home with a dog. Plus, the cute factor just doesn't stop. I wanted my husband to experience having a kitten. I knew the joy of kittens and wanted him to have the same wonderful memories that I did. As the years passed, boy, did I sure get what I wanted in the end. But those are other stories.

Shadow was a 6-8 month old rescued by St. Louis Animal Control. We knew he'd had a hard life but the ways in which he had been neglected and abused would never be completely specified to us. Whether it was because animal control didn't really know his entire backstory or because they were simply giving us the kindness of not having to carry his story with us, we'll never know.

He was a simple black and grey tabby, his hair kind of dull but his eyes bright and alert. A little small cat, but definitely not a kitten. He wasn't particularly noticeable. He sat in a top metal barred cage among about 18 other full cages of possible adoptees.

As I always did, I stopped at each cage and gave everyone a look and some high pitched kitty sweet talk. Shadow was interested. Sweet. He meowed and rammed his head against the bars where my fingers went to pet him. It wasn't until I went onto the next cage that he really "grabbed" my attention.

By grabbed, I mean Shadow suddenly stuck both his arms out between the bars up to his armpits. With his claws, he grabbed my shirt. He was not playing. He was getting me. His meows turned from "Hi, I'm Shadow" to "HEY LADY HEY! HEY! LADY!" I unstuck myself, giggled, gave him another quick pet, and went to look at the rest of the lot. As I'd done a hundred times before.

No matter how far I got from his cage, if he could still see me, he let me know. His voice covered all the other kitty voices. If I came within 3 cages of him, his arms came out to grab me again.

The Petsmart associate came in and asked if I wanted to hold him. My husband was at work. But, how could I not? I let her unlock his cage and put him in my arms, where his purr motor went on automatically and he kneaded like crazy. I knew. I payed her 40 bucks and brought him home. When my husband called on his way home after work, as he still does every day, he found out we had a new member of the family. He wasn't surprised and became immediately excited to meet his new cat.

Shadow when we first got him. In "his" room.

We put Shadow in "the kitty room". It's funny that we christened this room with this name that first day. Back when we had and expected to always only have one kitty. We put up a baby gate in the doorway so Mav wouldn't A) eat all the cat food, B) get in the litter box, and C) bother Shadow when he didn't want to be bothered.

Shadow reacted as any kitty would react when faced with a big new house and a big, really excited dog. He hissed, gave a swat, and ran under the bed in his room. He stayed there for several days (except when we enticed him to come out and eat or play). Gradually, he came out and explored. He decided he liked Mav, but she was already too scarred from his original greeting. She forgave him but I don't think she ever forgot. Although she outweighed him by about 80 pounds, he was clearly the top dog (despite being a cat) in the house.

Shadow, although a lovely name, didn't fit our new furry man of the house. He was no shadow. He was the star of the show, in the limelight, the king of his domain. This was his trip and we were all just along for the ride. We renamed him Atlas and it fit immediately. He held us all on his shoulders even as a small, long limbed cat. Atlas has always been wise and calm.

This picture I think really illustrates his personality.

Atlas has never seemed to want pity or sympathy over the first months of his life. He found himself here and immediately knew he had a new life. I think he knew that he was safe and that he had hit the jackpot. He's never been destructive or difficult other than a brief stint being too interested in one of our other cats. He seemed to forget he didn't have workin' parts. But, with our scoldings and time, he went back to his gentleman ways. It's like he knows he's handsome, and he knows everything going on around us has something to do with him.

3.5 seconds after I got the tree up on Atlas's first Christmas.

2.5 seconds after anytime I bring in the groceries.

Most of the time, though, we find him like this. 

A favorite position. Pondering. Polite.

Once he was orientated to the house, he climbed into any small opening and chased anything that moved. He gained weight quickly (and happily). And my husband, the non-cat guy, was completely smitten. I now think that Atlas must have smelled my husband on me when he was in his cage. That's the only rational I can come up with for why he was so friendly to me. Turns out he didn't want to come home with me. He just wanted me to take him to my husband.

Atlas has such a deep connection and affinity for my husband that I barely exist. It happened quickly and completely. Atlas likes me and all, but he loves my husband. To this day, he will jump into my husband's lap every evening and just lose his mind in joy. He kneads so hard it leaves marks on my husband, whether he's wearing a thin tee shirt or a heavy sweatshirt. My husband works on the computer a lot, and often Atlas is right there with him, making it impossible for the hubby to continue working.

He follows my husband into every room. He "talks" to him. His purr can be heard down the hall. I still pet him (and I FEED him!), pick him up, and cuddle him, and he appreciates it. But it feels more like a favor to me than anything else. He'll initiate cuddles with me if he's hungry. Which is often.

He will never be full. For a cat that loves food as much as he does,

he's pretty darn thin. He should be Garfield fat.

We all know the attention he pays to me is just him begging and that really what he wants is my husband's attention. Always.

He used to walk around the house and meow. After a couple more months, we got him a friend. Yet, Atlas remained king. His part in our menagerie never changed. It just grew and evolved. He's thoughtful, smart, always watching, always thinking. He loves to play and is a big hit with the ladies (cat ladies, that is). Our vet, when we bring Atlas in for his yearly physical and vaccinations, always says, "I forget how handsome this cat is! And his eyes. It is unusual for a tabby like this to have this circle of amber in his eyes."

I know this isn't a story about my Heidi, but Heidi is as much a part of Atlas's story as anyone else. And even though she passed away unexpectedly almost a year ago, after only 2 years on earth and with us, I think of her every day. My heart still aches for her. As I know Atlas's heart does as well.

Cats grieve. Sometimes Atlas comes to us, and although it's become farther and fewer between, and he wants to be pet with lots of force and to play really, really rough. Like he played with Heidi. Like he only played with Heidi. And we try our best, and he pretends it's enough, but I can tell that we'll never be able to do it quite like Heidi. As it should be.

Even as a tiny puppy, Atlas approached Heidi entirely different than Mav. As Heidi grew, so did Atlas's affecton for her.

He would cuddle so close to her that my husband and I worried

that in sleep Heidi would accidentally smother him.

When we'd catch them rough housing, they'd always stop mid-rough house.

And give us the ever-perfected innocent look.

Nothing melted my heart more than

what we called their "forbidden love".

A dog and a cat. They're supposed to be enemies!

Not best friends!

It took him a few days after Heidi was gone. He looked for her and waited. Then, like most of our cats, he started crawling into my lap. Sitting close to me. Sleeping on top of me. For several long weeks, he put aside that I'm not my husband and we all grieved for her in whatever human and kitty ways that we could. He looked deep into my eyes with his pretty amber and green ones, and we just sat together. Waiting for time to pass. To make the unbearable pain just a little bearable.

Atlas slowly went back to his sole, hearty love of my husband. He likes to attempt to escape onto the deck or out the front door when my husband takes Mav out. Something he never tries with me, much to my husband's chagrin. Atlas gets about one foot out the door, flattens out, and looks up at my husband, who simply picks him up and brings him back into the house.

He also loves my husband's straws. Thank our dentist for telling my husband he is only allowed to drink his beloved Pepsi through a straw for the good of his teeth. The number of straws stolen has to be in the hundreds. Sometimes I pretend my husband's drink is mine. Because then Atlas leaves the straw alone. This also drives my husband bananas, but I secretly love it. Atlas may be king but I am still the ruler of the house in my own way!

That's my job. To mean business. To take care of everyone. But sometimes, if my husband isn't looking, I'll bat at Atlas with the straw. He'll take a swing, give it a gnaw on the end. Purr, purr. And then I give it to him, watching him take his prey in his mouth and disappear into the kitchen or down the stairs to enjoy his spoils. He knows he's loved. Just like we know we're loved. Our strange furry family really began with Atlas. And I like to think that his life also really began with us. And as each new family member joined our ranks, it was always Atlas who led the way. Who comforted and cared for all the kitties who were to come.

Oh, Petsmart, How I Love You So

This is Mav. She's obviously not a cat.

Yet, all the kitties seem to love her. Pandora illustrates this here.

I enjoy taking Mav to Petsmart. She loves the attention (okay, I think really what she loves is all the treats people give her). Today, we took a drive to the Petsmart that is a little out of our way. Because someone seemed to enjoy the car ride (Mav) and someone else was in an adventurous mood (me).

The person checking us out at the register didn't know what to make of me with my massive amount of cat supplies and the large dog at my side. Mav and I knew, though, that her present was getting to go along for all the kitty shopping.

Petsmart is not a very inexpensive pet supply store, but they do have a lot of good quality items and a vast selection of toys and other goodies. I have a very important Petsmart tip. Walk all around the aisles and pay special attention to the ends of the farthest ones. This is where you can find (cue choir of angels) the clearance items.

Another important Petsmart tip. Get a Petsmart rewards card. It's free, they scan it, you get items cheaper. Win-win.

We hit another motherload this morning. A couple months ago, I walked into our usual Petsmart with Mav (the one that's 5 seconds from the house). We walked around the cat aisles. I saw 2 large, inclined cardboard scratchers with a cavern underneath housing a little sparkly toy. They weren't making them anymore. The brand was making a new similar one but they had to get rid of these first. Usually 15-20 bucks, they were under 3 bucks a piece. There were also packages of double refills for them that were even cheaper than that. I grabbed the 2 and the refills happily.

We were almost done with our sweep of the store when I came upon the giant display of the rest of the scratchers. Cleaning out their whole inventory, I guess. I grabbed one more and headed to the check out, leaving behind a skyscraper of clearance scratchers.

Of course, the cats went all batsh*t crazy over them. Guess what else came inside them? Bags of catnip to sprinkle over the cardboard scratcher part. Yeah. Big hit. The hubby and I went back and picked up 6 more. We knew we'd have the need for scratchers for the foreseeable future. Even now, we still have out the original 3 we stuck around the house. They shred cardboard like crazy, but I also clean like crazy, so it works. The kitties have battered down the one in the office so badly that the scratcher doesn't sit at an incline anymore. It rests at the bottom, so the kitties can peek in through the holes in the side and feel like they're in a box.

Oh, Mary Lou. Too cute.

Aphrodite also loves it. She likes to take little toy mice in there.

Such a good bargain. All the cats enjoy these. The little sparkly toy lasted about a day but the scratchers can be turned over and used once the first side has been shredded. It's like 2 scratchers in one!

This time, Mav and I stumbled upon some sale toys. *Rubs hands together in glee. We got a rather random selection of things we never would have tried if they had been full price. I'm sure in the upcoming days, we will be trying them out and seeing how well the cats respond. There was a wide selection. I even got a 30 dollar Panic Mouse for 5 bucks. We've never tried Panic Mouse (see original price tag). It's battery powered and has a lot of simulated mouse movement. My only decision was whether to get more than one (I just got the one).

There was also a popular break away rod teaser feather toy. The 4 they had in clearance were cheaper than what one had been at its original price. I got all 4 for under 8 bucks total because I had no doubt that it would be popular.

Always check for sales. It makes paying for 9 kitties seem like paying for just one. And just because Petsmart seems like it's prices are too high doesn't mean you can't find some amazing bargains there! Always stop and give the sales a glance. You never know what you'll find!