Category: Cats

I had trouble getting a good picture of it, but Talore has thoroughly mangled the toy that’s on the end of the elastic cord. She’s also bitten through the cord another two times, putting the knot count at 4. I had trouble getting a good picture of the toy. This was the best I managed and it didn’t turn out as well as I’d like.

It looks like the fur on the back of the toy was mostly just glued on. There’s one edge that’s still holding on, and a sewed seam in the middle that’s starting to come apart, but the toy is dangerously close to losing it’s tail (and half it’s fur). The plastic body is also so dented and punctured that it doesn’t rattle very well anymore.

I generally try to keep my clean clothes cat-hair free, by which I mean I close them in my closet and don’t let Talore in there. Today after I put a load of clothes in the washing machine I turned around to see Talore stretched out in the empty clothes basket. For how short a time she was in it she managed to deposit a good bit of cat hair, and all of it is clinging to the plastic rather well. It’s surprising that she even went near it in the first place, considering when I first got Talore I trapped her in the upside down clothes basket a couple times and she didn’t appreciate that at all.

Speaking of not appreciated, I attempted to give Talore a bath (or really just get her entirely wet and towel her off) in my kitchen sink today. She’s got a stripe down the middle of her back that occasionally gets a bit matted, and I’m pretty sure the reason for that is that she usually bathes on top of the bookshelf in my bedroom but the shelf isn’t wide enough for her to twist far enough to reach that spot on her back while being perched comfortably. It turns out my sink isn’t nearly deep enough since she absolutely refused to be forced to lay down. I was able to hold Talore mostly in the sink without her getting panicky, but she wouldn’t relax at all. I couldn’t even dunk her tail because when I tried she’d try to sidestep her back legs out of the sink and I’d have to use both hands to hold her (I really didn’t want a wet cat fleeing across my bed to the bookshelf). I could have almost completely submerged her if I flipped her over on her back, but doing that normally causes her to struggle and I figured trying it in water would result in claws coming out. In the end it worked out well enough – she was wet enough that I managed to briefly swipe a damp towel over her back before she bolted (to next to the dining room table) and went to lick all the water off. From the noises she made I think wrapping her up in the towel bothered her as much as the sink mostly full of water. No pictures because I didn’t want any electronics near a wet cat.

If I try that again it’ll have to be a shower, but ever since she poked her head around the shower curtain and got a face full of water she’s avoided the bathroom in the mornings. Actually, Talore tolerated the water far better than most descriptions/videos online of bathing a cat indicate can be expected. She complained a bit at the start, but was quiet so long as I was talking to her and petting her head with my dry hand (as I held her in place by keeping my hand in front of her face). Reading about what preparations I should have made (which would have mostly been unnecessary) I should bathe her in the bathtub with somewhat deeper water than I had in the sink. At least I had the water temperature right (somewhat warm). Watching vocal cats given baths got Talore to come looking for the tormented cat, which doesn’t usually happen when I watch videos of cats, even loud ones.

I had to go shopping today, and since it was getting late I got a bacon cheese burger from Wendy’s on the way home. Talore was rather interested in the smell of it, but I wouldn’t let her have any while I was eating it. Once I’d nearly finished it off I let her swipe the long strip of bacon that had fallen out. She took it out of my sight, but she managed to eat about half of it and came back around the corner licking the sauce off her face around her mouth.

I’m going to start trying to break up my posts by topic, since I realized that I had Talore flagged for nearly every post I’ve made so far.

With the long weekend I had an extra day of keeping Talore awake during the day, and she didn’t wake me up all weekend or this morning. Unfortunately she slept all day today and has been wanting to play non-stop since I got home. I even caught her stalking my feet a little while ago. Not helping is the fact that she misjudged the toy on the elastic string and caught it with her nose over the weekend, so she’s been rather reluctant to attack it. I’m worried that I’ll be woken up very early tomorrow morning.

I didn’t manage to record a video of Talore attacking anything over the weekend, largely because I spent most of the daylight hours reading and don’t have great lighting for a video at night. I did find another potential subject for videoing though. One of the new toys Talore has makes bird noises when it’s moved. When I stick it in a box Talore fights the box until she manages to get it open and get the toy out.

I finally got around to buying cat food today. I’ve been low for a while, but last night I had to tilt the bag to get a full scoop). The pets mart I went to didn’t have the medium sized bag of food like I got before, so I ended up getting a 15.5 pound bag of cat food. I’m pretty sure that will last Talore a very long time. Unfortunately, this bag is less scent-proof than the medium sized bag and Talore has already chewed a couple small holes in it despite there still being food in her bowl.

Talore was happy to see me when I got home (like always), but after she sniffed at me and got her nose shocked by static electricity she wasn’t quite so thrilled. I get the feeling that Talore isn’t going to appreciate my carpet in the winter considering I could hear static crackling from across the room when she was rolling around on the floor.

Talore has been given a few new toys, but the one that gets the most attention is a plastic mouse with about inch-long fur everywhere except the nose. It rattles, and it’s attached to the end of about four feet of elastic cord.

If you notice, Talore has chewed through the cord twice so far trying to keep it from being pulled out of her grasp. She’s also severely dented the plastic body, but she hasn’t managed to chew the head off (or leave a mark on the head besides holes in the ears) despite working on that a good bit.

I’m pretty sure the elastic is what makes it so entertaining. When I walk around my apartment with the other end of the elastic in my pocket Talore catches it and lets go, causing it to fly at me, then she’ll try to catch it again nearly while it’s still in the air. She also responds very well to me sitting still bouncing it back and forth. I’ll try to get a video this weekend when I can get natural lighting to film by.

I’ve also been very surprised at how well Talore is able to grasp it with a single paw. I haven’t trimmed her claws recently and they’re probably the sharpest I’ve let them get since I got her. With that advantage she can snag the toy with one paw, and once she’s caught it and adjusted she can hold it (not pin it to the ground) with one paw while I stretch the elastic a good bit. She did get stuck where she couldn’t let go of it while I was pulling on it once, but generally it looks like she’s trying to hold it.

I haven’t managed to find somewhere that I can hang it where Talore will attack it on her own yet. She’s rolled around on the floor a bit with it when I wasn’t pulling the string, but if it’s hanging she doesn’t even notice it. The closest I’ve come is when I shut the bathroom door with the cord going under the door, then pulled the cord tight. Talore spent a while pulling at it, but eventually she pushed it under the door out of reach. Watching her flail around under the door with claws out was entertaining, but after a few tries at that she left.