All Frank Wants For Christmas...

Frank (or Blue Max as he's otherwise known) had a typical cat Christmas morning.  He got up and did his usual routine... at least with cats they don't wake you up at 5am to open presents.  Frank only wakes us up at 5am when he's chasing Maxine through the house but that's another story.  Anyway, after we had done all the usual adult stuff of starting the day, it was time to open the few presents that we share here in our household.  We don't do much in the way of presents because there is so little that we need or want, it just doesn't make sense to spend money just for the sake of having presents to open but Ken and I always have something for each other and just for the purpose of making the gift thing last a little longer, we have presents for the cats and Maggie. 

Frank and Maggie assist Ken with his package... Maggie keeps her eyes down so as to not accidentally make eye-contact and thus bite Frank's head off.

Maggie and Frank were real excited about presents... Maggie thought the sausage dog treats were 'different' and wasn't sure she was ready to eat the one Ken gave her.  It required a bit of analysis first.  Frank represented the other Max cats at the gift opening, the others couldn't be bothered with something so human and while he wasn't overly excited about his extra large bag of cat treats (his favorite), he was real excited about the wrapping paper.

Frank winds up for an explosion of cat energy

 

Did I do that?  It wasn't me...

The wrapping paper has been properly subdued...

The job finished, Frank shot off to hide under the green footstool  back behind the rocking chair.  His work here is finished.

Naturally, all the pictures above were only a few of the many taken including many that just showed a white blur..  The whole wrapping paper episode was hysterical to say the least but there were just too many to show and besides, cats are like children, we always think that our are the 'cutest'.

Enough silliness. So, what can I say but Merry Christmas from the Horton household.
Cheers

Maggie Will Have A Latte, Please.

Of all the dogs that have shared my life, most of them were beer drinkers.  Peggy, a Boston Terrier liked a bit of wine at Christmas but mostly, the dogs that I've known have been beer drinkers.  Bridget, a Doberman/lab loved to drink beer and often went to visit our renter, they'd sit out on the picnic table and drink beer together on warm summer evenings.  But, Maggie has always been a coffee drinker.  Maggie was rescued by a friend of mine when her mother was shot while scrounging for food, Maggie was ten days old and my friend took the litter and eventually found homes for all the pups... Maggie was the last to get adopted but during the weeks before she came to live with us, Maggie went to work with my friend who owned a drive-thru coffee stand and I suspect Maggie had more than a few sips of coffee drinks during this time. My friend stopped by my house one evening to show Ken the cute little puppy... the rest is history

 

Maggie is a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd so she's has always been high energy, especially when she was young so she drinks decaf or half-caf... I can't quite imagine a Border collie on caffeine.  Scary.  For a long time, I thought Maggie liked lattes because of the milk but she'll also drink straight old Folgers... I can't bring myself to drink it but she will.

 

 

Maggie will stick her nose all the way down into a cup to lick out the last bit of foam.

 

 

On Saturday or Sunday, Maggie and I drive down to Rainier and get a latte and visit with Amy, Maggie's new best friend.  At first Mag didn't care for riding in my Subaru because she prefers the full-size bench seat in our old '76 Ford truck but she will tolerate the bucket seats to go get coffee.  The biggest problem is that she keeps turning on the seat warmers... hmmm. 

 

I know coffee isn't one of the better beverages of choice for dogs but Maggie can't afford too many lattes and naturally, she isn't allowed to order mochas.  I don't share especially well so she doesn't get much more than the foam in the cup.  Maggie loves the little bit she does get and she loves to go see Amy.

 

 

Life in a Cat House

Frank (Blue Max) has a new evening ritual.  Now, I've heard that it's good to have rituals, that they give your life order and structure.  Maybe it works for him but his newest ritual makes bedtime interesting for the people in his house.

This is the goal at the end of the day... having Frank asleep.  But Frank has other ideas and has decided that he likes to wrap up his days with a walk... outside...late... when the things that eat cats are out and around.  Now, you have to remember that Frank is an indoor cat, for his own protection.  I don't think I've ever known a cat that needed a keeper more than Frank.  But, Frank has learned that if he gets lined up to the front door 'just right', he can very casually stroll out the front door when Ken comes back into the house after taking Yellow Max out to the garage for the night which is usually about 9pm. We finally figured out that since Ken painted the front door a very light color, Frank doesn't show up against it and it helps him slip by, unnoticed. Sort of like cat suburban camouflage.

The latest episode happened last night.  I got ready to go to bed (midnightish) and realized I hadn't seen Frank for awhile and he hadn't done any zooming through the house for a couple hours.  So, I stepped out onto the front steps in my pj's and slippers and called him.  He strolled up to the gate in the rain and asked me to come open it for him... I told him to jump it like a real cat which he eventually did.  Then, he stopped to nibble grass and his body language told me that if I got any closer, he'd do a runner.  Now, you have to remember, Frank doesn't have a good 'outdoor' cat coat... he's a little thin in places, just like his brain.  You'd think he'd be happy to get in out of the rain.  So, I went and got the cat treats, shook the bag and zoom, Frank was back in the house.   It never hurts to have a bag of cat treats close by.

I'm going to have to go back to hanging onto Frank when Ken comes in at night...  he's a sweet cat but maybe a little brighter than I've given him credit for.  Gotta love him.

Just Frank

Spring is in the air and Frank has spring fever.  Frank is a bit of a blur... that's normal for him.

Franks's personal outdoor space is ready for him to use when the urge to get outside and get his nose in the air.

Looks harmless, doesn't he?  He can get more chaos going, faster than any cat I've ever known.  Gotta love him.

Dumpster Diving According to Frank (Blue Max)

Every household needs a comdedian and Frank is ours.  Frank lives in the house so he has a few extra activities that the outside cats could care less about and one of Frank's favorite amusements is his cat treat box or as Ken calls it, Frank's Dumpster.  The cat treat box sits in a corner of the kitchen and I think I may be the only person who tolerates a beat up cardboard box in the kitchen... just to keep the cat happy and entertained.  Frank enjoys his treats, the other cats could care less but they're important to Frank.  Before the box, I'd drop a few cat treats in front of him and he might get them but he might not... it turns out that that his dog buddy also likes cat treats. 

Anyway, one day a shipment of Maggie's dog supplements arrived and after removing the tub from the box, the box was set on the floor, in the corner of the kitchen and within seconds, Frank was in it... those blue eyes staring up as if to say "I'll have a cat treat now"  and the tradition was born.  But it isn't the end of the story, the box has become a place where Frank can do cat tricks like head stands and flips.  The box lets Frank feel like a hunter when he has to dig his prey out from under the cardboard flap in the bottom.  In short, the box is entertainment for Frank and for us. 

 

Sometimes Frank sends time in his box just thinking.

 

 

Frank likes to dive in from different directions... this is why Ken calls Frank's highly developed technique 'dumpster diving'.

 

 

 

 

In he goes... one of the few pictures that wasn't a blur.  Frank is a blur in most his pictures. He doesn't have a setting for 'slow'. 

Frank enjoys his box.  When we're in the kitchen, he sits in it and looks up at you with those big blue eyes which say "feed me treats"... it's a wonder Frank isn't a chubby guy but then he's very regular with his workout (several times a day) which can't be captured in pictures unless you like to look at blurs of white fur.  That's Frank and his dumpster which belongs in a dumpster.

 

 

Little Miss Maxine

In the first post, I introduced Maxine.  She's a really pretty cat, she got the softest fur and a pretty face.  She's not easy to get pictures because she's very camera shy, she doesn't like the sounds it makes when it's turned on.  She's also difficult to get pictures of because most of them are blurred, she's an active girl.




Maxine on the couch near the woodstove.

So, finally, I got some pictures of Maxine.  Many more were deleted because they were blurred but then, that's the real Maxine.

Watching out the window for something to move.  A little blurred, a second later she was gone.

Maxine is a true hunter and she'll go after anything that moves.  We had to quit feeding birds and squirrels when she moved in because we didn't want to make it too easy for her.  The birds and squirrels deserve better than that.



Looking for a chair to take a nap.

Maxine is an outside girl, she prefers to be outside but gladly settles in near the woodstove when the weather is bad.  She finds Frank (Blue Max) very annoying at times.  She's timid and he seems to be a little bit of a bully when he senses that she's afraid of him.  She was seriously chewed up by a neighbor cat two years ago and Black Max also tried to run her off so her timid nature isn't a surprise.


Maxine is a character.  She'll lay low, below the windows of our daylight basement and she pop up and whack Little Yellow Max when he starting to go out the window which really annoys him.  She will also wait until you're standing, looking out the window at night and she'll pop and scare the 'something' out of you in the dark.  A cat with a sense of humor?   Maxine isn't a lap cat unless it's her choice,  If you try to hold her she makes squeaky little protests.  When she's disturbed or her mind is at work, her long tail with the white tip flips around like a whip.  That's Maxine.

The Cast of Creatures

Animals have always been an important part of my life and it's never been about "owning" them, they"ve always been part of the household.  Anyway, let me introduce the cast of characters.



MAX   Max looks pretty good for his age, he's fifteen and was rescued from the side of the road out in the boondocks by a man who was willing to interupt his day to rescue a very small kitten who would otherwise not survive long.  Max was probably 3 weeks old at the time.  Max is usually called "Little Max" (more on this later) but he's had many nicknames which include "Little Adolph", Mad Max", "Butt Head" and many others.  His nicknames may give some insight into his personality but I can assure you, he's headstrong... even for a cat.




BLACK MAX  The next Max to arrive was Black Max.  This cat was another rescue.  He's about two years older than Little Max so we think he's about 17 at this time so if he looks a little ragged, he is!  A friend of mine was working at a vet's office about 13 years ago and a woman brought this guy in to have him put down because he was tearing up the travel trailer that she lived in.  Apparently he didn't care for the close quarters with other cats and a very large dog (who also was taken to the vet to end his life of being a 'bother').  Anyway, the nearly doomed dog and this guy ended up at our neighbor's together and this guy was named Max by their little boy who thought Max was such a great cat name... just like Little Max.  But this guy didn't want to live with either the big dog or small children so he took off, lived in the woods across from our house and finally moved in with us so became "Black Max".  He's a big cat and might have a little bobcat blood, he certainly has the biggest teeth and claws I've ever seen on a domestic cat.

FRANK  The next cat to arrive was Blue Max, so named for his blue eyes.  Basically, he's called Frank (after ol' Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra).  He doesn't sing but has become very good at asking for treats.  Frank showed up on Mother's Day 2010 and moved in.  He's still pretty skinny but he was really skinny then.  Frank has to live in the house but that's a story for another day.  Frank is a lover boy for sure and a real goof ball.  He's probably about 3 1/2 years old. 

MAXINE  The same summer that Blue Max/Frank arrived, a cat was discovered living over at The Shed.  It was very shy and initially, my husband tried to run it off,  He seemed to think we had enough cats.  Anyway, she survived on birds and so he started feeding her so she'd leave the birds alone.  She moved in officially and became "Maxine".  Maxine is very shy and so there is no picture of her.  She's still an outdoors sort of a girl but does enjoy the woodstove in the winter.  I'll try to get her to stop and pose for a picture.  She's a pretty one but you wouldn't want to be the mouse that catches her attention

.

MAGGIE  And now the last member of the cast of animals, Maggie.  Maggie is another rescue.  Back in 2002, my friend who worked for the vet, rescued Maggie and her litter-mates after her mother was shot.  Maggie was two weeks old at the time, she's Australian Shepherd and Border Collie but there might be another bit of something in her 'woodpile', at 75 pounds, she's quite big for either breed.  There will be many Maggie episodes to come. 



I can't imagine a house without animals.  They'll make you laugh and so much more.  Somewhere in Proverbs, there is a verse that says something like "a wise man cares for his animals".  We care for them.  They care for us.