The OldMaidCatLady Story.m4v

Just created this new video to tell the story of OldMaidCatLady.com! What do you think?

Do Your Cats Like Getting New Toys?

What do your cats do when you introduce new things to their environment? Different personalities will have different reactions.

Some immediately go to the new item and check it out, sniffing it up and down, maybe scratching it or rubbing their cheek on a corner to mark it with their scent. Others are a little apprehensive about the new "intruder" and take longer to warm up to it.

The latter was the reaction of Sneaky, seen here, to the new Kitty Palm his "cat dad", Kenny, had gotten him for Christmas. Kenny was dismayed when Sneaky didn't immediately take to the new toy. I suggested that perhaps catnip spray applied to it would help. But Sneaky didn't even need that; a little twine play and some treats in the built-in dish, and Sneaky was soon happily enjoying his new toy. "I don't have any kids, so he's like my baby," says his dad. Yes, Kenny, we all know how you feel! That's the spirit in which Old Maid Cat Lady was created. Glad that Sneaky likes his new toy, and I hope it brings you both many hours of pleasure.

My own little Vixen has displayed a similar lack of acceptance of new things. Perhaps this results from her first year of living rough, before she came to live with me. She's always been a little apprehensive of things. That would be a good survival instinct for a feral cat. Now that she's gotten older and her senses aren't as sharp, she seems almost fearful of anything new. Last year, I'd bought a new bed for her and placed it in a corner to which she'd taken to sleeping on the bare carpet. Knowing that she was getting older, I figured she'd love having the extra padding underneath her, and the bolster sides would help keep drafts at bay. At first, she'd curl up on the carpet just outside the bed, as though it were in her way. But within a few weeks, I walked into the den and found her happily napping in the new bed. Once she realized that it was okay, she accepted it into her world.

In a way, cats aren't really all that different from us. People accept change in different ways, too. We may embrace it, or reluctantly accept it. And most of the time, things turn out just fine.

If you're trying to introduce a new piece of cat furniture to your home, here are a few tips that will help your cats understand its place in their environment:

• Position it where you intend to leave it permanently; while giving them a mental challenge by putting treat balls or toys in unusual locations can be good, cats don't like it if too many big things in their environment move around. If you think like a cat would in the wild, this would be as disorienting as a tree or building moving all the time.
  
• Place one of the cat's toys or some treats on it. This lets the cat know that the new object is okay because it's now associated with something familiar.
  
• Play with the cat and encourage him/her to jump up on it as part of the play. Any fears quickly fly away as kitty realizes that he's actually sitting on the big, new, scary thing.
  
• If the furniture has a dish built into it, feed the cat there. You know how cats love to eat!
  
• Use some catnip spray on the furniture to attract kitty to it. Some trees even come with their own catnip, or treated with it. Keeping some catnip spray on hand is a good way to refresh that scent over time.
  
• Be patient; most cats will eventually take to things, even if they turn up their noses at first. It may take up to a month, but as we all know, cats do things in their own time, not ours.
  

Purrs!

Happiness is a Warm...Kitty!

Cold winter days are even reaching down into Florida this year...and it's not technically even winter yet! Keep your cats safe during these freezing winter nights by heeding these tips:

• If the thermometer is dipping below freezing, your cats belong inside with you. Ferals who won't come inside can be cozy with a heated bed, of which we have several options at OldMaidCatLady.com. Just make sure that bed is safe for outdoor use. One cold winter, I even saved a feral with a common cardboard box that had the top cut so it could act as a flap. It sat on my front balcony, which was covered so it didn't get wet. Inside, I put an old wool blanket. That cat lived in that box all winter long! He even stopped by more than a year later, sporting a collar, to thank me and let me know he'd found a home.
  
• Short-haired or hairless cats get cold in winter, so they need a sweater! While there aren't many made specifically for cats (but I'm looking!), you can usually find a dog sweater that will fit your kitty. If yours won't tolerate catwear, at least provide a nice warm blanket into which he can snuggle. Many heated beds are also made for indoor use, as well.
  
• Take care when changing your antifreeze or adding new antifreeze to your car. If you spill any, immediately wipe it up. Antifreeze is deadly to cats; it will shut down their kidneys within hours of being ingested. And yet it smells good to them, so they'll usually try a taste. There is an antidote, but it must be administered within the first 3 hours to avoid "cat-"astrophe. Or you could try one of the pet-safe antifreezes that are sometimes available in your local auto supply store.
• Speaking of cars, their engines can be a tempting warm place for outdoor cats to sleep when it's cold. If you have ferals in your neighborhood, it's a good idea to knock on the hood or honk your horn before starting the car in cold weather to rouse any kitties snoozing in your engine compartment. Sure, it's a rude awakening, but not as much so as having a leg torn off by a suddenly-moving belt! And unplanned trips to the emergency vet can ruin the best of days.
  
• Make sure your kitties have plenty of fresh water available during this dry season. You know how the dry, heated air makes you feel dehydrated? It does the same to your cats. If their water bowl is outside, make sure it won't freeze; cats' tongues can stick to ice in freezing conditions, just like a human's! (Remember the schoolyard scene in the movie A Christmas Story?) A recent story about a kitten rescued after being found frozen to an icy sidewalk points out the danger of cats trying to drink frozen water in winter.
  
• If you're feeding your cats canned food that's been in the fridge, it's much more palatable if it's heated for a few seconds in the microwave. I find that about 10 seconds usually takes off the chill. It helps bring out the aroma of the food for older cats, as well. (Make sure your cat bowls are microwave-safe before using them there.)
  

Next time: dangers of the holiday season.

A New Logo!

When I heard about Jason Sadler's business, IWearYourShirt.com, I thought, "Brilliant!" This guy gets companies to sponsor him every day of the year, and he wears a T-shirt with their logo on it wherever he goes that day, whether it's to the mall, traveling, or to speak to a group at a conference. He also posts info & video about each day's sponsor on his blog, YouTube, and all the social networking sites. Major corporations pay him an amount that starts at $2/day for January 1 and goes up $2 each day of the year.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who thought it was a brilliant idea, because some other guys have modeled their business after his. Dana Severson and Tony Holmes came up with IDesignYourLogo.com, and they do much the same thing with logo design. One logo per day, and the price increases throughout the year. I bought June 16, and what you see here is the logo they designed for OldMaidCatLady.com. Pretty cool, huh?

This Week's Cat Champions: HSNY

Since its founding in 1904, the Humane Society of New York (HSNY) has been a presence in New York City, caring for animals in need when illness, injury or homelessness strikes. HSNY has so many wonderful programs for various animals, including its original founding mission of helping the city’s carriage horses, that it’s impossible to go into them all here. But we’ll try!

Their hospital and their Vladimir Horowitz and Wanda Toscanini Horowitz Adoption Center help more than 30,000 dogs and cats annually, whose numbers continue to grow. Upon arrival at HSNY’s facility, animals receive a veterinary examination, spaying/neutering, inoculations, a microchip, and the testing needed to prepare them for adoption. You may have heard about HSNY’s helping rescue animals impacted by the World Trade Center attack. This is typical of their involvement in the community. They are an integral part of New York City life.

The Society has long been noted for its innovative, highly individualized approach to animal care. They have long considered the animals’ physical and emotional needs while caring for them. Cats there have daily play sessions outside their kennels. Many visitors remark that their facility feels more like a home than a shelter. In addition to photos and profiles of the pets available for adoption, their website even features video of successful adoptions and of some of the cats up for adoption.

HSNY offer seven-day-a-week veterinary care at affordable rates for those of limited means, including dentistry, advanced care and surgery. They have a a no-cost spay/neuter program for those in need. Their Outdoor Cat Spay/Neuter Program extends this service to feral cats.
But they help animals outside of Manhattan, as well. For example, their Hurricane Katrina rescue team worked in the New Orleans area and brought back animals to receive veterinary care in their hospital before being placed in permanent homes.

Funding such an organization is no small undertaking. HSNY holds events such as their annual photography auction, offers sponsorships of animals, and partners with authors and artists who donate a portion of their proceeds to them. They sell gift items for people and pets in their own HSNY Shop.

HSNY’s volunteers are an essential part of its success, as well. They interact with the animals and make outreach visits to schools. They take animals to visit patients in homes for the aged. They welcome children to visit the animals at the shelter. One of their volunteers even makes handmade beds for the cats there. You can call HSNY at (212) 752-4842 to inquire about helping.

HSNY was recognized with the Independent Charities Seal of Excellence for meeting the highest standards of public accountability, program effectiveness, and cost effectiveness. Fewer than 5% of charities operating in the United States today meet or exceed these standards. An impressive 96% of donations to HSNY are used to fund their programs. We also recognize them this week for their efforts! Won’t you shop a little this week on OldMaidCatLady.com and join us?

Charity of the Week: LFAW

This week's charity on OldMaidCatLady.com is the League for Animal Welfare (LFAW) in Batavia, Ohio. Chartered in 1949, the LFAW’s mission is to better the lives of cats and dogs in the Greater Cincinnati area. They are a privately funded non-profit organization and depend on donations to fuel their operations.

There are approximately 80 cats housed at their facility. All have been tested for feline leukemia and feline AIDS, vet-checked and vaccinated. Cats over 10 weeks of age are also spayed or neutered, and each of them is given a name if they didn’t already have one. LFAW provides a loving, no-kill shelter until the animals are matched with a forever home. Each animal’s photo is put on LFAW’s website (pictured above is "Jake"), along with icons to indicate whether the cat has been declawed, or prefers homes without dogs, other cats, or small children. The needs of potential adopters are assessed to best match them with the appropriate resident, and the cats are all microchipped so they can easily find their way home if lost.

Their “My Last Hope” program was established to help older pets find forever homes. This program makes the pets, currently four cats named Fred, Figi, Qwerky, and Sunshine, available for no adoption fee and pays all their medical care for the remainder of their lives.

LFAW also promotes responsible pet ownership. Their website provides information on area clinics and facts on the effects of spaying and neutering. They partner with the UCAN Spay/Neuter Clinic to offer monthly transport from their shelter to the clinic. Each month, they have a spay/neuter assistance program with limited funds to help pet owners and caretakers of feral cat colonies through vouchers to reduce the cost of spay/neuter surgery. LFAW makes free presentations to schools, scout troops, libraries, church organizations, etc. to educate people on pet overpopulation, spaying and neutering, proper vet care, dog bite prevention, and playtime with animals. Presenters are usually accompanied by a dog and a cat from the shelter to demonstrate proper handling skills. LFAW’s website has information on training, finding homes for strays, and deciding what type of pet to adopt, along with links to other helpful sites.

LFAW is always happy to welcome new volunteers, as well. People as young as 16 may work with their cats without parental supervision, and those younger may volunteer if accompanied by a parent or guardian. Some volunteers work with the animals to socialize, train, play with, or just pet them. Others foster orphaned pets and manage satellite adoption events. A general orientation session for volunteers is followed by specialized cat training. Those interested in volunteering may e-mail the shelter at lfaw_vols@fuse.net.

When you shop at OldMaidCatLady.com June 7-13, 2010, 10% of the profits on items purchased through our shopping cart will be donated to LFAW. You're buying stuff for your cats anyway, so why not buy it here and help other cats who aren't so fortunate?

Do You Groom Your Cat?

A common belief is that cats groom themselves so you don't need to bother with grooming them. While it's true that most people don't take their cats to the groomer's like dog owners do, cats do need occasional help with grooming. Regular brushing or combing helps control shedding and hairballs. It also reduces allergens flying around in your home.

Little Vixen is 22 now, so she doesn't really groom herself very often, other than washing her face after eating. She has an arched comb that I think is her favorite thing I've ever bought her. Almost daily, I'll see her combing her face on it. Sometimes, she even feels good enough to bat around her newest catnip toy. (Thanks, Yeowww! catnip, for returning some of the kitten to my senior girl!)

But she still gets mats in her hair, especially around the hip area where she has some pain and doesn't like to groom. She complains and gives me the "demon growl" all the while I'm combing her there, but I get out wads of old, dead undercoat hair, as the photo in today's post illustrates. That's all from this morning's grooming! I find it best to hold her in my lap with one hand firmly around her chest so she can't get away. Then I use the other hand to hold the comb, using my thumb to remove the hair from it when it's full. The part she hates most is when I flip her onto her back to comb her stomach area. That's when she tries to claw and bite me, but keeping her claws filed helps avoid serious injury. She doesn't have many teeth left, so her bite isn't what it used to be, either! When her hips are achy, she also complains rather loudly as I do those areas.

I also like to use a waterless shampoo on her during grooming to give her a fresh, clean smell and condition her coat. Older cats can get dry skin that flakes off into dandruff, especially toward the base of the spine area. I've also tried wipes. While those also give a clean, fresh smell, they don't seem to condition her coat quite as well. They sure are more convenient, however! While at the Global Pet Expo in March, I got samples of several companies' waterless shampoos and have been testing them on her. There's one I like better than the others for its light, clean fragrance. Vixen doesn't care for any of them, natch! More to come on the specifics of that when I can get some of them onto the retail site.

You'll find brushes, combs, and all the grooming tools you need for your cat at OldMaidCatLady.com. As you can imagine, long-haired cats call for different grooming tools than do short-haired ones. If you haven't taken a look recently, click on the links in this paragraph to shop grooming products now!

Traveling with Cats

Have you ever traveled with a cat? There's a funny song on Garrison Keillor's "Songs of the Cat" album about traveling with cats that pretty much sums it up. My experience was in moving to Atlanta in early 1994, a six-hour drive with my two cats in carriers atop stacks of my stuff in the back seat of my car. I figured they were high enough to see out the windows, which would entertain them along the journey. That was my first mistake.

My girl kitty was actually quite good about the whole thing; she felt secure in her carrier and seemed to enjoy the view. My boy cat, however, was another story. He had never liked riding in the car, and we were barely out of town before he pooped in his carrier and forced me to make a quick stop next to someone's dumpster to empty the offending material from the car. That done, I opened the sunroof to let in some cold, clean air for the next few miles so we could all breathe.

But the ol' boy wasn't through letting me know he was unhappy. He proceeded to meow...and we're not talking a nice little mewing sound like happy cats make, this was a full-volume RAAAAY-ER...RAAAAY-ER...RAAAAY-ER...constantly. Now, remember, this was a SIX-hour drive. I figured he'd eventually settle in and stop it. Next big mistake.

Then I thought, "Well, maybe if I let him out of his carrier he'll find a place where he's more comfortable and stop yowling." Another big mistake. He sat in the rear window and yowled. He got on the floor of the the car and yowled. He climbed over every bit of stuff I had crammed in that car and yowled. I turned the volume of the music louder, and he out-yowled the radio. It was a noise I'd heard at home, briefly, when he wanted to go outside. But he'd always gotten tired of it and given up after a few minutes. Not this time.

The moving experience did give me an answer to the question a visitor would later have upon hearing him launch into that noise, "Wow, how long can he keep that up?" "Five hours and fifteen minutes," I answered with confidence. Yes, for the last 45 minutes of that drive, he collapsed into my lap and fell asleep, exhausted, his head resting in the crook of my right arm that was holding the steering wheel. I remember thinking, "Please, God, don't let me reach a turn in the road that will require me to move my arm and wake up this cat!" For the next move, I went to the vet and got him some "kitty happy pills" that knocked him out. (It was either going to be him or me, and he couldn't drive, so...) He tried to yowl, but just didn't have the energy to keep it up, or reach the same volume, as during the first move, and finally fell asleep for most of the drive. It was blissful. And my girl kitty was happy about it, too.

Fortunately, today there are many more options for making your cat comfortable when traveling. You'll find many quality cat travel products at OldMaidCatLady.com, from rolling cat carriers, crates, and backpacks of all shapes and sizes to travel beds and natural calming wipes that can soothe your savage beast. There are even cat strollers and a bike basket cat carrier so you can take kitty along with you on your daily jog or bike ride. After all, you can interpret that "RAAAAY-ER" as a personal trainer encouraging you to keep going, right?

Lots of Amazing New Stuff

Whew! My feet are killing me, my back aches, and I have blisters on my hands from carrying my tote bag around the expo floor for a couple of days...but the Global Pet Expo was phenomenal! Met a ton of great people who have wonderful products that will soon be featured on OldMaidCatLady.com. Food, litter & litterboxes, cat trees, cat beds, catwear, travel supplies, show cages, nutritional supplements, hydration systems...even music, just for the cats. You name it, if it could be made for pets, it was at this expo.

I also got lots of great samples to try, and will be reviewing those products here over the next several weeks. New products should start showing up on the retail site within the next week. More new ones will be added over probably the next couple of months or so. Yes, that's right...it'll take me that long to get through them all! There's a stack of product literature at least a foot tall that has to be sorted, notes deciphered, distributor relationships established, product images & descriptions downloaded, and items added to the site itself. But you're SO going to love the new stuff! There are so many innovative products out there to help us spoil our kitties and keep them happy and healthy.

Stay tuned. Lots more coming soon!

New Stuff's Coming Soon!

Always on the lookout for new stuff for our kitties, we'll be attending the Global Pet Expo next weekend in Orlando. Pre-show publicity says that over 800 new products will be debuting there! Granted, not all are for cats, but we'll be telling you about every one of the new cat products we find, and hopefully will also be able to feature many of them on OldMaidCatLady.com. Stay tuned for all the news!

I'm a Meeeeean Mama!

Older cats don't groom themselves like they did when they were younger, so they need help. Now that the worst of the winter is past us, Vixen is shedding her winter coat. I've found clumps of hair all over the house, so I try to give her a good brushing every day to remove some of that loose hair.

Here, you see today's pile of hair from her morning brushing, along with the very angry tortoiseshell from which it came. You see, Vixen doesn't like to be groomed. She especially hates having her stomach touched. But lots of excess hair builds up there, forming into lumpy mats that eventually need to be cut out. So I endure the hissing, scratching and biting, and even got the "demon growl" this morning while grooming her. She kept that up for pretty much the whole grooming session! So with this pile of hair now in the trash can, she's finally calmed down a little and will soon be asking for her lunch!

Now, here's my shameless self-promotion: if you need a new comb or brush to help your cat shed her winter coat, Old Maid Cat Lady has pretty much every size, shape and design. We've just added some new "people products" too, including some lovely fountains and statues for your spring garden.

Vixen is 22...or Thereabout

Twenty-one years ago this month, a feisty little tortoiseshell came to join my household. She'd been a feral cat in the apartments where I lived, one who'd lurk in the hedges and swipe a spotted paw out at you when you passed. I'd see her following along behind the maintenance men, playing with whatever tool belt or electrical cord was dangling behind them. On sunny afternoons, people doing laundry would have to step over her as she sprawled right across the middle of the laundry room floor in the afternoon sun streaming through the westward window. She had big-time attitude.

My other cat had noticed her, too. That was mainly because she'd climb the tree right outside our living room windows and flirt with him. He was a very clingy cat who suffered terrible separation anxiety when I left him to go to work, or anywhere else, for that matter. He was mesmerized by this wild little thing who seemed to take pleasure in taunting him. I toyed with the idea of taking in the odd-looking little cat, who reminded me of an owl with her prominent lynx tips and vivid yellow stripe down the nose. Wily and cantankerous, her personality was most fox-like, thus earning her the name given to female foxes. She seemed to know her name and respond to it from the very beginning. As near as I could figure, she seemed to be about a year old.

Just as tigers have striped skin, Vixen also has sections of black and pink skin; two pink toes with all the rest black, for example. There are even black spots on the inside of her mouth. Her ears look like someone flicked orange paint off a paintbrush onto them, both inside and out. She could be easily spotted from a great distance by that yellow chest, which glowed like a beacon when I spied her sitting in a drainage pipe beside the duck pond one afternoon. I stepped outside and called to her; she gave a little cry and came running straight over to me, circled around and came up beside me, where she let me pick her up and carry her inside. And that was that.

When the time came to move into another apartment, I took both cats to the vet for baths and de-fleaing (this was in the days before the back-of-the-neck treatments we have today), then over to the new place. Vixen was still pretty feisty and didn't like to be touched or picked up. But she was smart as a whip! The cats loved going out onto our 3rd-floor balcony, but were showing a troubling tendency to stand with their front feet on the outside of the lower rail, peering over onto the balcony below. With a fear that they'd jump down there, I kept a close eye on them and stopped them, admonishing, "No back feet on the railing!" Vixen took this to heart. A few months later, I was standing on my balcony talking to a friend, who casually propped her foot on the railing. Vixen pranced over to her and started swatting my friend's foot, claws sheathed, as a reminder of "No back feet on the railing!"

Vixen loved being out on the balcony and would often chew off the tips of my aloe plant. Loved it, that is, until the weather turned hot and humid. As soon as that hot air would hit her in the face when the door slid open, she'd pull back, turn around, and head back into the air conditioning. Smart girl. She loved playing with tennis balls, which she'd grab with her claws and sort of throw for herself. My other cat was another story; she hated him. When he'd stand at the door and yowl to go outside, she'd get an annoyed look on her face. After a few minutes, when she'd had enough, she'd go over and swat him in the face a few times, then sprint across the room. He was always too shocked to chase her. Many was the time I'd find a chunk of his fur on the floor where she'd gotten him good with her claws.

When we moved to Atlanta in the mid-90s, we had a southwesterly facing sunroom. She'd spend every afternoon there, basking in the warmth of the sun. I swear, it made the orange spots in her coat more vivid. Little by little, she got more comfortable sleeping on the bed with me, although it was always at the foot and not near my other cat on the opposite pillow. She also became more accustomed to being held and petted, and even came to enjoy a good brushing...but not for long. When she'd had enough, she'd walk away, and woe be unto the one who tried to stop her. Out would come claws and teeth, and that old feral personality would emerge again.

After my other cat died, I worried that she was growing bored alone all day while I was at work, so I took to leaving the TV on for her...on Animal Planet, of course! She paid attention to it, too, because she changed the way she bit after watching shows on there. Before, she'd grab your hand with her claws and pull it toward her, then sink her teeth into it so she had you trapped. But after watching a fair number of snake shows on TV, she began striking and pulling back, just like a snake would do. It was fascinating...albeit no less painful!

These days, she's become a grand old lady. Her hips give her a little trouble, and sometimes she loses her balance when she first stands up. The brilliant colors in her coat have become slightly duller, more faded with age. She no longer jumps up on any furniture, including the bed. There's no more batting of tennis balls or clawing the sofa. She still enjoys combing her face on the little arched brush I gave her one Christmas; I think it's her favorite gift she's ever received. She loves her canned food meals, and has become accustomed to getting them at least three times a day. But she also still loves her "crunchies", which she swallows whole since her teeth aren't what they used to be. She stands in her litter box and whizzes over the side, a behavior I've addressed before in this blog. For the most part, she's healthy as can be and can often be found curled up and sleeping in her bed underneath my desk. That's where she is now, in fact.

So raise a glass with me to toast 21 years together with my best girl ever, my little Vixen! May she go on for many more years to come.

Cat Butlers

This story in the Florida Times-Union about "cat butlers" at the Jacksonville Humane Society was heart-warming, but it also made me wonder about the cats who find themselves at the city's Animal Care & Control instead. That's not a no-kill shelter, and the cats have a much grimmer potential fate there. Do they have anyone who loves and socializes them to improve their chances of adoption? If I had the time and lived closer to the shelter, I'd love to start a similar program there. Anybody in the Riverside, San Marco or Downtown areas of town so inclined?

Valentine Special

Valentine's Day has never been my favorite holiday, and 2009 made it even less so. I spent that at the emergency vet clinic with our darling little Frankie, shown here, who was breathing very shallowly and seemed to be swollen through his chest area.

As it turned out, Frankie was in the final stage of FIP. Not knowing his history, the doctors at the emergency clinic didn't pick up on that. They drained the fluid from his chest, which had consumed about 75% of his chest cavity, to relieve his breathing a little, and kept him overnight until he was stable. He came home that Sunday afternoon, but had to go into the hospital at his usual vet on Monday morning. He never came home again, passing away in the night of the following Sunday.

In memory of Frankie, I'm offering a 10% discount on all items purchased at Old Maid Cat Lady from February 14-21, the anniversary of Frankie's last week in this life. To get the discount, when you're checking out you should enter the code FRANKIE210. (This only applies to items purchased through OMCL's shopping cart, as I'm unable to discount items sold by affiliated retailers.)

To finish the story -- We buried little Frankie in our side yard, and a statue of St. Francis now watches over him. The staff at our vet had written little notes all over the box in which they placed his body and taped flowers to it, as they'd grown to love him almost as much as we did during his final week with them. The notes from each of them in the sympathy card they gave me sounded like they had really gotten to know his sweet personality during his stay there. My mother missed him every day until her own death. I continue to miss them both, but am hoping that they are reunited in spirit now.

Cold Weather Cats

This spate of cold weather we've experienced this winter reminds me of another winter, many years ago. I was sitting in my third-floor apartment one chilly evening when I heard the loudest meowing coming from outside my front door! Stepping outside, I saw a large black tomcat, very thin, and also very friendly. He appeared to be hungry, so I went inside and got him some of crunchies out of my cats' bag, for which he was extremely grateful. Cats are always very polite like this, in my experience.

Having two cats already, I certainly couldn't take him in, especially with his being an unneutered male. I could only imagine the spraying that would take place when he encountered my neutered male. Pee-yew! But when the weather report said that temps would be dipping below freezing that night, what was I to do? I couldn't let him freeze with no warm place to sleep.

Fortunately, I'd recently bought something in a box of which the top had been cut around three sides instead of across the middle. That made it like a sort of flap covering the open side of the box. Taking that outside, I added an old wool blanket that had been a hand-me-down I never used. I turned it with the back of the box toward the north wind and the flapped opening toward my front door. The cat was nowhere to be found when I set it outside, and I hoped he'd be back to find it, and understand that he could get inside if he lifted the flap.

My next-door neighbor's door was right next to mine, so I worried about leaving an unsightly cardboard box in front of my door. The next morning, as I started to pick up the box and move it over to the section of walkway by the sliding glass door off my den, it was heavier...and moving! Out came the black cat, who I'd decided to call "Clarence," and he was hungry again. I gave him some more food, and some water, and made sure he knew where I was moving his box. We had a little stretch of freezing temps that winter, and he slept in that box every night. Once the weather was warmer, I tossed the box and washed the blanket for another cold night.

But that wasn't the end to Clarence's story. I didn't see him again for a long time. But the following summer, I heard loud meowing outside my door one evening. It sounded familiar. Sure enough, it was Clarence! This time he was wearing a collar and appeared to be well fed. I offered him some food, but he wasn't interested in it. He'd just come back to thank me for saving his life in the cold winter, and to let me know that he'd found a home and was okay now. As I said, cats are very polite creatures. I never saw Clarence again, but think of him every time the temperatures dip below freezing in winter.

The Store is Open!

Just took the OldMaidCatLady.com website live Monday evening, and have already had a couple dozen visitors to the site. Although I've worked for the past six weeks (!) on building the site, it only has a minimal number of products. In addition to the fact that I'm still lining up suppliers for the vast array of types of products I want to feature, it turns out that establishing all the site elements and then adding products with all their individual elements takes quite a lot of tedious, time-consuming work.

But it's finally LIVE! Stop by for a visit and let me know how you like the overall feel of it. Does it make you smile? Can you find your way around it okay? There are also mini-surveys sprinkled throughout the site, so take a moment and let me know your thoughts. I want it to be everything you'd like, featuring all the cat products you already know about, plus a few that will surprise you. How am I doing so far? Are there things you'd like to see that aren't there yet? Do you know of any suppliers for cat-related products who can drop-ship them to customers for me? Are you a supplier of cat products who can do that? If so, get in touch with me!

The past year has been a tough one, and this new store represents my first steps in the new direction my life is about to take. So it's important to me. If Old Maid Cat Lady could become an important part of your life, that would be just the best thing ever!

Such Unusual Creatures

My first cat used to drink from our backyard birdbath, as you can see from this photo. Seemed to be his favorite water. Maybe it tasted like birds. Whatever the case, it became his final resting place. When his kidneys finally failed, we buried him right next to that birdbath. I think he'd like that.

Shortly before he died, he'd developed a friendship with a smaller black cat from down the street. They'd hang out together all day long, climbing our scrub oak tree in the back yard or just sitting in the garden together. She'd even hunker down in the grass of our front lawn when he came inside for the night, waiting for him to join her again the next morning. We'd call her owners to let them know where she was, just so they wouldn't worry that something had happened to her, but she truly seemed to be in love with our cat. I always thought of her as his little protege.

After we buried him, we observed one of the most curious and touching things. For about three days, she would come to our yard and lie on his grave. She hadn't been anywhere around when we buried him, so how did she know that he was there? After that, she stopped coming by until about a year later, and then she ambled up the street one evening when we were sitting out in the front yard to say hello. Her family moved away not long after that and we never saw her again.

I often think of her, and wonder about the unknown recesses of the feline mind. Just exactly what DO they know that we don't? Whatever it is, I'm glad that they have decided to include me in their community. I derive great joy from communicating with cats, and helping them when I can. It's the least I can do, when they have been such wonderful companions to me.

Advanced Cat Yodeling

A friend just forwarded this YouTube video to me, and it cracked me up! Now, THESE are the kind of men old maid cat ladies love!

Digestive Help for Older Cats

As cats age, they need a little help for their digestive systems, just like we do. While they won't eat soured dairy products such as yogurt, they still need the probiotics provided by them. Fortunately, there are several such products on the market that are specifically designed for our senior cats.

Vixen's favorite is Forti-Flora, made by Purina. I buy this from my vet's office. They report that all cats seem to love its flavor. That's true, as it's about the only supplement that Vixen will tolerate in her food. She's turned down joint support, hairball remedies, vitamins...pretty much anything else, no matter what flavoring is in it. But Forti-Flora seems to be like "kitty MSG" for her; she loves it!

More importantly, I've noticed that it's helped her digestion. She started taking it after a round of antibiotics for a kidney infection. I use about 1/3 of an envelope with each feeding of canned food, which at that time she was getting three times a day. When she'd finished the box, long after the antibiotic was done, I figured I could stop giving her the Forti-Flora. Wrong-o. Her diarrhea returned, with a vengeance. So now I give her 1/3 of an envelope each morning in her soft food. She still loves it, and it still helps her. So if your senior kitty is having trouble, perhaps this is a solution for you. If you've found others, please share them here!

It's Always Something...

Bad advice given to me by a customer service rep at the company powering the new Old Maid Cat Lady online store caused me to waste the past two weeks adding HTML code for products in a way that won't work. So now I have to start over again from square one in stocking the store. Pity, as many of the 297 items I'd added (one by one) were really interesting things I'd never seen offered before! I may still include them as affiliate products, but the bad news is that it'll delay launching the site by probably at least another couple of weeks. Not to worry, though, as it only means that everything will be in the right place and (hopefully) work correctly!