The joy of being owned by a cat

I use the term deliberately. Moral issues aside (because pet ownership is something very controversial in my opinion) one can never truly own a cat. They are supreme nonconformists. They shape their environment to fit their standards and needs not vice versa.

But they are also loving and caring and one you gain a cat's affection it can be a miraculous thing. One must simply have the patience.

Rufus is now about 7 years old and his age is slowly starting to show. He's more set in his ways and sticking to daily routine has become paramount to him.
 He's endured 3 relocations. In total that's 4 different apartments in the span of 6 years and the last one took quite a toll on his overall condition.

Due to stress and anxiety he started chewing his fur and it took a good couple of months to realize the problem was psychological. The photos in this post are very indicative of what we were dealing with.

Up to that point I had only vaguely heard or read about feline pheromone treatment and discarded it as a bunch of nonsense designed to pick money out of consumers' pockets...
But desperate circumstances call for drastic measures and Mr. C and me decided to get the darn Feliway and try it out. And to my amazement it truly worked!

Not only did Rufus stop chewing his fur, he's entire disposition has improved dramatically. He's more calm, less needy and even playful. His fur has started growing back and the patches of exposed skin are now almost gone.

I'd like to thank everyone who was so kind to leave a comment back in August. I really needed some perspective on this problem and reading your advice has helped me tremendously.
At that time I was so desperate I actually gave Rufi a lampshade collar to physically prevent the chewing. After reading your feedback I instantly knew that was not the solution, it was only making him more miserable. I removed the collar that very same day and Mr. C actually went to town to get some pheromones.
We're now on third refill and have no intention of cutting him off the happy drug just yet.

Feline predicament

Dear readers, I confess I am at the end of my wits. Though the photo above is quite shady, you can still clearly see Rufus has a bald patch on his abdomen. This particular problem has been dragging on for a little less than a year. We took him to the vet several times and they performed all sorts of tests which all came back negative.
Apart from the apparent hair loss and his FLUTD (Feline lower urinary tract disease) problems he was a normal healthy kitty. I have always suspected that the hair loss may be stress induced from the move but couldn't prove it. Since then we have tried a myriad of vitamin supplements and foods and whatnot. Nothing worked.

gone are the days when Rufus looked like this...

About a month ago we finally figured out Rufus was in fact chewing the fur off himself. I have only heard of such behaviour before and know very little about the symptoms and the treatment. Our course of action so far was to have Rufus wear what the vets refer to as "the satellite dish" or the lampshade collar. We've also given him feline pheromones Feliway. And we of course continue with the regular treatment of quality food and vitamin supplements.
Has anything similar ever happened to your cat and how did you handle it?

Why I can't make the bed on most days

Because Rufus likes to sleep until well into afternoon and I haven't got the heart to wake him.

Special agent Rufus on Mission Impossible

Here's the unequivocal proof that my cat is training to reach the impregnable shelves housing the daffodils.



On Friday Rufus nearly gave me a heart attack. I found him gallivanting on the balcony rail. My first instinct was to run on the balcony and grab him, which might prove fatal. Instead I gently coaxed him down in a calm voice.
I have absolutely no idea what on Earth possessed him to go climbing up there but from now on he's allowed on the balcony under strict supervision only.

Rufus and daffodils

I have a flower eating cat with a penchant for daffodils and tulips. Well to be honest, he's not that picky and will destroy any plant that comes into our home. No obstacle is to great for him. Even the kitchen table which is otherwise strictly off limits isn't safe. He'll climb on shelves, refrigerator and even manage to climb on top of kitchen cabinets.

I think we finally outsmarted him ;-) These narrow shelves we bought at Ikea just might prove to be impregnable. I hope!



And don't be fooled by that sweet innocent face.



The daffodils are courtesy of dear sweet maman from her garden.

What to do?

When you're bored and have a couple of hours to spare? Make a cool outfit for you pet of course!
All you need is:
1. A pattern, this one is from The Queen Bee herself, I'm referring to Martha Stewart of course.
2. Some leftover polar fleece
3. A kitty (or a pooch)
4. Some thread, scissors and a sewing machine

First fitting:

And a few hours later....

Doesn't he look like a feline superhero?

Not too happy though ;-)

Although he does wear it at my mum's who lives in a house where it's considerable chillier than our warm apartment. The whole reason why I made this fleece for Rufus was because he'd get so cold at my mum's he'd hide under the blanket and not come out for hours.

Amazon will ship just about anything

and for a small fee you can even get your items giftwrapped ;-)

A cat's life

Real hard, ain't it?!
(In case you were wondering: the water bottle IS filled with hot water!)

Introducing Rufus

Rufus the Cat.

As you can see from the photos, his priorities lie in sleeping throughout the day in warious places and the most ridiculous positions!