Reality calling.

I saw a kitten this morning, it was kind of sad…he was a little feral red tabby, about Gun-Hee’s age. He’s like the opposite of Gun-Hee though, living in a disused subway tunnel, dirty, with a kind of gunky eye…I should have gotten a photo but I was running late to work, and I was on the phone. Dammit I’m regretting it now, though. I hope he’s there tomorrow so I can get his photo.

Cat and Dog Diaries

A friend of mine sent me the following email, which I’d seen before, but not for a few years. You may have seen it, the one about what a dog would write in his diary vs what a cat would write:

DOG DIARY
8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm – Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm – Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm – Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm – Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

CAT DIARY
Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.
They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.

In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a “good little hunter” I am. Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event.
However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of “allergies.” I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow — but at the top of the stairs. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released – and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe, for now…

Which is amusing, but it struck me that Gun-Hee’s journal would be more like the dog’s diary than the cat’s. Here’s how Gun-Hee’s diary would read:

7:00 am – Mom’s awake! My favorite thing! I purred.
7:20 am – Helped mom get ready for work by sticking paws in running water and knocking pills off the countertop. My favorite thing! I purred.
7:25 am – Mom shut the bathroom door with me on the wrong side, so I jumped on Tessie’s head.
7:45 am – Mom turned on the coffee for Dad. I watched it.
8:05 am – Mom left for work. I cried at the door and then jumped on Tessie’s head.
8:30 am – Dad’s awake! My favorite thing! I purred.
9:20 am – Dad left for work. I cried at the door and then jumped on Tessie’s head.
10:30 am – Napped on sofa
12:00 pm – Napped on heated bed
1:00 pm – Let Tessie groom me. Jumped on her head.
2:00 pm – Sat on top of Patrick and bit him til he let me have the heated bed.
3:00 pm – Ambushed Kylie coming out of the litter box.
4:00 pm – Used litter box. Kylie ambushed me coming out. I hissed at her.
4:30 pm – Jumped on Tessie’s head.
5:30 pm – Mom’s home! My favorite thing! I purred.
6:30 pm – Supervised mom cleaning litter box. Used each one as soon as it was clean as quality control. I purred.
7:00 pm – Meat paste! My favorite thing! I purred.
7:30 pm – Dad’s home! My favorite thing! I purred.
8:00 pm – Watched baseball with mom and dad! Helped the little men on the screen chase the ball. My favorite thing! I purred.
8:30 pm – Sat on Patrick and bit him til he let me sit on the sofa between mom and dad.
9:00 pm – Helped dad make dinner. He put me in my house. My favorite thing! I purred.
10:00 pm – Mom and dad threw toys for me! My favorite thing! I purred.
10:30 pm – Sat on Patrick and bit him til he gave me the heated bed.
10:40 pm – Went to go sleep on fleece bed under chair.
11:00 pm – Jumped on Tessie’s head.
12:00 am – Mom and dad go to bed. I pretend to sleep until they fall asleep and then I sat on Patrick and bit him til he got off the bed and went on the heated bed. I purred.
2:00 am – Puttered around kitchen counters and knocked stuff over.
4:00 am – Woke up and was bored and alone. Jumped on Tessie’s head while she was sleeping between mom and dad and woke everyone up so they would play with me! My favorite thing!

Flashlight face

These are from last weekend. Not sure what he was doing, but Gun-Hee was posing very cutely on the heater bed.

He stayed in this pose for quite a while, bent ear and all.

This photo just cracks me up.

So much so, in fact, that I turned it into an art.

Gun-Hee in his new carrier…

We went to the post office today…but before we left, I got Doc our doorman to get some photos. Doc doesn’t know how to make the sounds that make kitties look at the camera, so Gun-Hee’s looking pretty much everywhere else…

(In this one I’m trying to show Doc how to make the kitty-kissy sound)

Cat about town

Gun-Hee and I tried out his carrier yesterday. We took the T to Downtown Crossing and walked back. He loved it. He was purring the whole time and didn’t try to jump out til we got to the Harbourwalk, which he recognised as a place he could walk around.

People were entertaining. We passed quite a few weary workers on their way home after another tough week, and when they realised there was a kitten in the pouch, they got these big grins on their faces. A lot of people stopped to ask what sort of cat he was, and one woman exclaimed, “Oh! I wish my cat would do that! That’s awesome!” My favourite was when we passed a woman with a baby in a similar front carrier; I said to Gun-Hee, “Look! That baby’s riding the same way you are!” but the woman didn’t notice us. Still, it amused me.

I need to get some photos of him riding around in his pouch…

Gun-Hee to go

Today I received something I’d ordered a little while ago…a Outward Hound Pet-A-Roo Carrier.

(I got one like the red one…only in black.
I got the idea to get him something like this when we went to the park and my husband wanted to bring his carrier along. But his regular carrier is so big and bulky…I mean, it’s great for confining him on a drive or carrying him to the vet, but on a little trip on the T or a walk to the post office? It’s a bit much.

Of course, as soon as I got home, I put it on and tried it out with Gun-Hee. He loves it. I walked around the apartment with him snug in his carrier and he just purred the entire time.

Now if the weather would just warm up…I can’t wait to try it outside on a real adventure!

Earaches

I’d been noticing that Gun-Hee’s ears were really waxy. More so than any other cat I’ve ever had, apart from kittens with earmites…and I seriously doubted that Gun-Hee had earmites.

And when I say “waxy,” I mean really waxy. I would get four Q-Tips – both ends! – full of dark-brown, viscous wax every day. Now, when Gun-Hee was a tiny kitten, he had an upper respiratory illness, and it is thought that he has Feline Herpes Virus. Harri had this, too; it’s just always in the body (like the human version) and it flares up because of stress (Harri would get a “cold” everytime he got his vaccines). The last time Harri had a flare-up, I asked the vet if Kylie, then very young, should be kept apart from him. The vet told me that if she wasn’t sick already, she’s most likely developed an immunity, the same as Patrick (who has never had a “cold” in 10 years) and Tessie most likely have.

I did a little reading and wondered if he might have a Feline Herpes Virus-related ear problem (in which case it would likely be chronic and I’d be told to give him L-Lysine, which he’s already taking on a daily basis. But if his ear problems weren’t Herpes-related…then what? My reading indicated it might very well be a yeast or bacterial infection.

So last Saturday, I took Gun-Hee into the vet to have his ears looked at. And, well…I was right. It wasn’t Herpes-related, and it was probably a bacterial or yeast infection (or a combination of the two). He was prescribed Tresaderm, four drops in each ear twice a day for 10 days.

Today is day five, and the improvement is remarkable. I can tell it’s working…Gun-Hee won’t hold still for the eardrops as nicely as he did on Saturday and Sunday. By yesterday, he knew that my shaking the bottle was his cue to run away and hide…

He’ll have to go back in for a follow-up, probably when Kylie goes for her annual in August. But it’s nice to be able to do a little research (both online and in books) and come up with pretty much the reason why something is happening.

Gun-Hee and the Magic Wand

Here, Gun-Hee plays with a wand toy until he’s so tired he can’t stand up.

Gun-Hee shuts the door

This morning, I was in the bathroom getting ready for work, and I heard the bedroom door close and latch shut. I didn’t think my husband was up yet, so I went to see what was going on.

And, yeah. he wasn’t up yet. I went into the bedroom to find a very proud-of-himself Gun-Hee and a closed door to the rest of the apartment. When I opened the door…there were Kylie and Patrick on the other side, locked out of the bedroom!

I have no idea what was going on there. All I know is, he shut the door on two of the other cats…and he was very pleased with what he’d done.

Gun-Hee attacks a LOAF OF BREAD

No, really. I got a loaf of bread at the farmer’s market in South Station and brought it home. That’s all I did.

Who knew Gun-Hee was into bread?

Ready for his close up

Just a little video made while testing out the new camera:

Gun-Hee and the Crocs

So I finally succumbed and bought myself a pair of Crocs. I know, they’re ugly; they’re also awesome shoes to wear in the rainy summer Boston weather.

There’s just one thing…for whatever reason, Gun-Hee is scared of them.

“And he’ll ride forever ‘neath the streets of Boston…”

Gun-Hee rides the T from Park Street to Central Square…