The Cat In The Hat

Day 290: When a friend called my attention to a book of knitting patterns called "Cats In Hats," the temptation was too much to resist. Tip is such a tractable child that I was certain he wouldn't mind modelling a winter chapeau. After looking through all the designs, I settled on a standard "bobble hat" which took less than half an hour to knit up. I don't think the style quite suits him, but his look of discontent has more to do with the discomfort of a book behind him and the camera in his face than the bow tied under his chin. Maybe a top hat would be more suitable?

Christmas Portraits

Day 74: I try to capture my kids' portraits a couple of times a year, but neither of them is particularly fond of the camera, nor are they amused at my antics when I try to get them to look up and open their eyes. My success yesterday was thanks to a Christmas gift, a cute shelf-sitter costumed crow which provided the photographer with a genuine "Watch the birdie!" prop. Waving it around wasn't sufficient; it had to peck Tip in his pudgy ribs to keep him from going back to sleep. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Photographing cats is second in difficult only to herding them. For those of you who haven't made their acquaintance yet, Skunk is my "old lady." She's 16. Tippy (aka Tip, short for Tipperary) is 10.

Selfies!

Day 299: Kitty selfies! As you can probably guess from the title of the book, the portraits were hand-felted from Tip's and Skunk's fur. A friend had sent me the book suggestion as a joke, but I took it seriously and ordered it almost immediately. I'm always interested in learning new crafts, and needle-felting was something I'd never tried. Special felting needles with barbed points are used to mingle wool (or cat hair) onto a base fabric or into its own fibers to form a matted fabric similar to the felt you'd purchase in a crafts store. Here, I used a commercial felt square for the background, shaping the cats with the aid of a plastic stencil. Stray hairs always linger around the edges, and these were trimmed away with embroidery scissors to give more defined outlines. I made Tip (the black kitty) first to get a feel for the process and then created Skunk, a more challenging subject because of her colouration. Each kitty took about fifteen minutes to complete. The same technique can be used with wool (sheep, llama, goat, etc.). To protect the felter's lap from inadvertent pokes, felting is done on a thick piece of foam, but mind your fingertips! Warning issued, rest assured that no cats or mamas were damaged in the making of these "self-portraits."

Family

Day 143: Time for spring portraits again, so let me introduce my family to those of you who don't already know them. Skunk (top) is my old grandma-girl. She's 15 and not in the best of health. I've had her since she was a six-week old kitten. She's deaf, very arthritic, scrawny as a rail, and has a number of other geriatric issues which I try to accommodate as best I can. Her care is almost a 24/7 job, as I am sure my own physical needs will be when I reach or pass the equivalent of her years. That's something we all need to consider in our companions.

Tippy (bottom, full name Tipperary, aka Tip) was a shelter kitten, six months old when I brought him home. Also known as the Spaghetti Monster for his penchant for opening the cupboard and creating a pile of jackstraws in which to play, or as the Tickle Monster because he loves to be chased and tickled, he is 9 and bouncy-rowdy when he's awake. He keeps me young, my Boy, wanting me to keep the game going even when I'm ready to retire to my chair.

Perhaps it's the difference in their ages, for although they are both affectionate toward me, my two kids don't interact with each other beyond the occasional approach from Tip which is rebuffed by a snarl and hiss from Skunk. He respects her boundaries most of the time, and if things do get a little out of hand, I have only to say "Tip..." in a menacing voice and he backs off. I'm sure he doesn't understand why she doesn't want to play. When Skunk has possession of my lap, he will not try to shove her out. His tactics are more subtle. He sits on my footstool and transfixes me with that golden-eyed stare, as if to say, "Is it my turn yet?" By bedtime, they're usually both satisfied with the amount of lap-time they've received.

They're all the family I have, these two (well, other than a Little Tree and a big old Boulder in a faraway place). Family is important. I love mine.

Sunny Side Up

Day 10: Two bottoms in one chair is a snug fit in any event, but when Tippy goes all squirmy and wriggles over on his back so I can rub his tummy, there's even less space for me. He's not a small boy by any means, and on his back, he spreads out like a melted pat of butter. Unlike many cats, he loves to have his sunny side tickled and petted, and also enjoys holding hands. Hard to believe he's been with me for almost nine years now. He was a shelter kitten, handed from foster home to foster home until he reached adoption age. His first medical exam revealed a heart murmur, but it has not been problematic. He's rowdy, bouncy, funny, and the sweetest little puss'n you could ever hope to meet.

We Do Noses

Day 363: Family picture time! This last week, Tippy has decided he wants to sit in the chair beside me. At 14 pounds, he's as broad in the beam as I am, so it's a snug fit. He loves to cuddle. We play on the floor together, or I throw my arms around him when he's sitting on the back of the couch and bury my face in his fur, but wherever we are, the routine always includes rubbing noses. I'm not sure which one of us initiated it originally, but "doing noses" is as much a part of our daily ritual as the chase games in which we trade roles as pursuers. When it's his turn to be "It," he runs behind me and tags me softly on the ankle with a paw. The chase then reverses. He leads me into the bedroom and dives into his tunnel, leaving his bottom sticking out. I grab his hips or feet, give them a wiggle, and then he rolls over, inviting me to tickle his tummy. He never bites or claws seriously, just rabbit-kicks my hand or gnaws on it in gentle play.

How Dare You!

Day 146: Today's interrogative is "How?" as in "How dare you put that camera in my face? You said you were going to take my picture. Are you going to give it back?" I'm convinced that cats regard cameras as soul-stealers. They will NOT look one in the eye if they have any say in the matter, and the simple act of lifting a camera up off a table will cause all heads to turn outward, denying the black box any opportunity of incursion. While not exactly Grumpy-Cat, there will be no smiles forthcoming despite the fact that both Tip and Skunk generally wear cheerful, even amused looks when the camera is hidden away. To add insult to injury, I was compelled to use flash for these portraits, something I normally eschew. None of us was happy with this session!

Never Laugh At A Cat

Day 35: Cats' people must understand one thing in feline psychology if they grasp nothing else: it is the height of rudeness to laugh at a cat, or even to allow the slightest inkling of a snicker to twitch the corners of your mouth. This is not to say that cats are humourless; quite the contrary! Many cats have a well-developed sense of humour, though perhaps on a level which eludes mere humans, manifesting most frequently as dry disdain. Ever have a cat give you "The Look?" That's cat humour. The indignity of the Cone of Shame is one thing and must be borne in good grace, but laughter? No. One must never laugh at a cat, no matter how strongly they resemble a vacuum device of some sort, designed for sucking up cat food on an industrial scale.

Cat Day Kids

Day 300 (bonus): Skunk (left) and Tip (right) would like to wish my readers a Happy Cat Day!

Madame Skunk

Day 358: Skunk is clearly the Queen of the Household, and enjoys bird-watching from her favourite chair. She came to me as a kitten almost twelve years ago, scrappy little thing who had whipped a pair of dachshunds after they killed one of her siblings and then went after her. The lesson she taught them was not without cost. She came close to losing one hand in the encounter. Having come up the hard way, it's best not to surprise her if you value your skin, but when she is ready for love on her own terms, she will shove aside anything in her way to take possession of a lap. She endures rambunctious, rowdy Tip with the patience of a saint for the most part, but he knows that when she spits at him, she means business and he respects her authority. Skunk rules!

Tippy Tippy

Day 302: Every time I post a photo like this on one of the social media sites, I get a flurry of comments along the lines of, "If I tried that with my cat, she'd claw me to pieces." On the flip side of the coin, I am always surprised that people CAN'T do things like this with their cats. I guess the secret is in building a relationship of trust from the beginning.

Tip is a gentle and loving Boy, very easy-going and mellow. The hardest part here was getting him to look at the camera long enough for the 10-second timer to run down and trigger the lens. Don't go thinking I got this on the first try, either. I took at least a dozen, never once turning him rightside-up. I had to support his back with my knees to free up a hand to push the shutter button each time, but he knew I wasn't going to drop him. He trusts me.

On the other hand, Skunk is a crabby old gal. Still, when it's time for mama to do something wicked to her like brush her teeth or give her a bath, she doesn't fight me because we've established the parameters for how the job is done. She may not like what's going on, but she understands that I won't push her past her limits.

I treat my kitties like kids. I explain things to them, whether they can understand me or not. I have introduced them to scary concepts like bathing one slow step at a time. Those first baths weren't long or complete by any means, but now I can leave to get a towel with either cat standing in the sink, water up to tummy level, and not worry about them jumping out.

Y'know, it's like a relationship with another human: you get out of it what you put into it. If you play hard or tease meanly, you'll be repaid in kind. If you're patient and gentle, you'll be rewarded with trust. Tippy Tippy knows that.

Christmas Portrait Time

Day 63: Pets of any sort are a challenge for the photographer, but cats are especially difficult. They don't like to be posed. They don't like to have the camera's eye staring at them. They don't hold still. And they especially don't like to be draped in fabric. Fortunately, I have two Very Good Kitties who know that their mama isn't going to do anything mean to them, all evidence to the contrary. Tip (left) was hard to convince. If I'd given any real thought to it, I would have trimmed his toenails after the photo session, but because I hadn't really been planning the shoot, I'd done it only seconds before. It took me five minutes to convince him that the fabric wasn't some new cat-torture device, and when I was finally satisfied with his comfort level, I backed away for a zoomed-in shot. Skunk (right) presented an entirely different problem. I'd waked her up from a sound sleep. While I arranged the cloth around her, she burrowed her head down in the folds and resumed her nap. Getting her to look up wasn't easy. She's deaf, so noise-making had no effect at all. I had to toss something just lightly enough to bump the chair but not so hard that it upset her, and once I'd got her to raise her eyes, I waved a second piece of fabric to keep her attention as I triggered the shutter with my free hand. Tip's portrait was taken at 0.4 sec shutter speed, Skunk's at 1/6 sec. That's a long time to hold still when you're a cat!