The Cat Chronicles - March 19

 

Etta, Lilo and Goldie 

 

It's been a while since I wrote.  There is an interesting balance in the house.  Etta and Goldie have become besties; sleeping in proximity to each other,  and tackle dummies for each other; chasing each other all around the house.  Goldie chases Etta down into the game room, Etta chases him back up again. Lilo can not be bothered; her cattitude is "Just leave me alone.  Period."... unless there are cookies involved. She's always been that way, too, so nothing new with Goldie in the house.  With the weather improving, they all go outside for spell in the mornings. I suspect I will be needing begin flea and tick treatment by the end of this month.   

Goldie is still a chow cat.  He can clean his breakfast and diner plate in under a minute, then goes looking for the plates for the other two.  I have taken to feeding him in the breezeway where I can contain him behind one of the few doors in the house.  Two of the graces of having him around are; the duo are no longer fussy about eating breakfast and dinner.  Plates go down; they're right on it, and they eat. None of this "Naaa... I don't feel like dining today!", they EAT.  Then when Goldie gets back in from the breezeway, all plates are cleaned (I use unbleached 4" paper cake plates to feed them on, which can go into the recycle bin after they are done eating).  

Goldie on the Cat Throne 

For the most part, Goldie has just settled in, 100%.  He likes his post-breakfast morning cuddle. He'll paw at me until I pick him up, put him in my lap and pet him for a couple minutes.  Then he's good for the rest of the day.  

Sprawled. 

He also has the habit of farting when he sneezes.  Especially if he sneezes while napping.  Yes, he can, on occasion, clear a room.    

The biggest thing I've been contending with is the daily changing of the litter box.  The three of them seem to get into a... competition... to see who can set off the litter box the most.  It's a PetSafe self-cleaning model that, when we just had the duo, needed to have the hopper changed twice a week.  I'm now having to haul 40 pounds of new litter down to the basement, and having to haul as much up and out twice a week.  It's wearing thin...  I had been using Arm & Hammer clumping cat litter, but am going to try out Tidy Cat Lightweight starting this weekend to see if it at least fixes the weight problem (tired of praying the filled trash bag doesn't break between the basement and the curb...) 

We see the 4th cat (the feral that spoke of the end of last year) on occasion, but he just does not want to be social any more, and we're okay with that.   

So otherwise - life with three cats... it's a new normal.  Husband comes home from work, when they hear the garage door open, they run to the breezeway to greet him, then filter in under the dining room table to sample whatever is on the menu for the nights dinner.  Last night, it was grilled eggplant Parmesan that Lilo seemed to particularly appreciate.  

 

R