FFF Nature Friday - By Styx

 Hi pals, hi pals.

The Lady says I can do my first FFF Nature Friday. I am so excited. I am so excited. Thanks to Aunty-Yam and Rosy and Sunny for hosting this.

Here I go.

I sit at the window and dream

of drinking cold water from a stream.

Lady and Man are so so so mean

They really don't have a nice gene.

Inside they make me stay

Missing the sun and her rays

Oh how I want to be free.

As a bonus I will title some pictures Lady took on a walk I did not get to go on (although I know I would not like a harness).

A think to eat

another thing to eat

Things to climb

Way better food outside

I hope you have enjoyed my first FFF Nature Friday.

Your pal, Styxy who wants to be free

Wordless Wednesday - Tigris

 

Mischief Monday - Inadequate by Styx

 Hi pals, hi pals,

The Lady person showed you last week how she got bird spikes to keep me off the banister. Her first attempt was inadequate. 

I am a very agile cat and I learned I could jump across them to land on the post on the landing.

This was great until those spikes tripped me and I fell off.

I wasn't hurt at all because I am Super Styx.

However, the people were really freaked out so they put up more.

It looks sooooo ugly, but apparently safety first!

So far, this has been working. I miss my balance beam.

you pal, Super Styx who wants to walk the tightrope, who is sorry we didn't get to visit this weekend but Lady went away to Cheese Fest. 

Nature Friday - Where is the Post - by Tigris and Lady

 Tigris: Ummmm, our nature Friday post is late. This is very rude.

Lady: It has been a gross, cold, rainy week. Now I don't have to be out all the time, I am not.  Also, I am not loving nature right now.

How can you not love nature?

Nature and I had a bit of a run in, literally on Tuesday morning. You see a deer ran in front of me when I was driving on the highway to work.  Unfortunately the deer was killed and my car was damaged. I wasn't hurt.

That is not good and what is worse is you missed the opportunity to serve me fresh venison. 

Well, that is not happening. Now I am dealing with insurance and car repair and all the things and I am not loving nature much.

Well, you can love me instead. 

That I can do!

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event. 

Wordless Wednesday - Play Time with Styx

 

Mischief Monday - The Barrier - by Tigris

Dear reader,

My servant  Lady has asked me to tell you all she is aiming for 3-4 posts a week right now on her rebrand.  It is going to depend on life and us etc. etc. We are here to stay. Thanks to Ms Ann for the rebrand. 

Lady disturbed my wild turkey viewing for a picture!

Now to the mischief. As you may have read, I had a big fall a few weeks ago. I am back to 100% now, thanks for your concern. 

Lady and Man were terrified it would happen again and had no idea what to do. It was Aunty-Yam's to look for bird spikes. Lady would have never thought of this. Lady ordered it (picking brown to match as best she could). Lady and Man zipped tied it on the banister. This way the banister isn't damaged and they can be easily removed if needed. 

The spot I climbed to jump to that window

The view from Lady's office

Lady says it is a new trend. The medieval castle look.  She hopes it is more temporary, but has put our safety above ascetics. 

This has stopped us from climbing the banister and falling but has not stopped Styx from knocking all the things off other shelves. Lady and Man really need to get on this cat proofing. 

Tigris

Nature Friday - Spring - by Styx

 Hi pals, hi pals!

One place I can sit and stare for longer is outside. There is so much to see, including Callie's cat Ash. We have stare offs. I want to know why Ash can be outside and I have to be inside. Outside is where all the good things are.  Turkey, deer, birds, Ash, trees, turkey, deer, Ash, leaves, wind, moths, bugs, Ash, birds, squirrels, so much , so much!

Lady says to tell you she is making an effort to go out and walk. She says now that she doesn't have to go outside 87 million times a day she feels like she is missing spring. I said let me out, let me out! She said no. She is mean. Styx needs to go out and hunt. Styx is a fierce cat. 

Here are things the mean Lady won't let me experience.

Trillium - I can smell them, they are everywhere! 

Trees in the sugar bush - I can also smell these

The field I spy

The pond - too far for me

I hope you enjoyed all the things Styxy can't have.

your pal,  Styx

My Turn, My Turn, My Turn - by Styx

 Hi, hi, hi pals,

I am Styx and I am finally getting a turn to write on this blog. Tigris got a turn but oh, look it is getting windy, is that Callie's kid riding the dirt bike, I need a stretch, what were we talking about. Oh yes, I am finally getting a turn. Lady says I haven't gotten one yet because I am, I haven't checked the dish for a bit, what is that noise, have you seen the nip, what's this, have I climbed on that today, oh where was I again - I am very, very busy. I am doing better now, I do stop and sleep. There is so much to do and explore and I better make sure that cat isn't in the yard again, have I climbed up here yet, should I go eat the plant, where was my toy, could it be near feeding time - anyways, I have a lot to do. 

I look forward to getting to know you all.

you pal, Styx

Wordless Wednesday - One Headed Monster

 

Why Cats and This Chapter

First, I am happy to report, I am working with Ann on a rebrand of this blog. While I considered starting a whole new blog, I couldn't bear to leave my angels behind. Life of 5/6 angels can be found here. We will stay here with all our old content, as we move to this next Chapter. I haven't worked out a full new blog schedule, but I expect it will be at least a few times a week. We will try to keep up with all our old pals and new ones. It is hard working full time, volunteering, living life, and trying to find time away from screens. Our lack of daily visits does not reflect the importance this community plays in our lives. We think of you all daily. 

Lady ant Tigris, first selfi

Second, people were asking why cats. My blog has been about dogs for so long, so why would I want cats. We started with cats. Almost 31 years ago, we brought Bagheera home. That fall Nin joined us. We were tproud cat caretakers for 20 years. Then in 2014 we became a cat free home. We discussed getting new cats then, but knew Hailey would not have tolerated this. She did not try and hunt Baggy or Nin, but we felt very confident that she would hunt new cats coming in. So for everyone's safety, we didn't get new cats. 

Then, we said goodbye to Hailey. While Phod's death was much sooner than expected, the writing was on the wall that sometime this year we would be saying goodbye to him too. I knew our house could not be completely animal free at this time. I knew Phod was not up to having a new younger dog in the house. I also knew that unlike Hailey, the odds of Phod intentionally hurting a cat were 0 (remember the time he brought the Man a live and angry baby groundhog who he wanted to be his BFF). If anything, Phod was going to be the one to get scratched. Further, we knew he couldn't really chase them and it would be easy to separate them if needed. So cats became the quest and we found the Rivers.

Lady and Styx, first selfie

While we haven't completely ruled out getting another dog, we were dog owners for 22.5 years. We are taking a short pause at least to see what life is like when you don't have to live on a dog's schedule.  We have kept all the perishable items and we will see where we land.

For now we are going to enjoy our River Cats. 

Mischief Monday - 1 down, 8 to go - by Lady

We had cats live in this house before, but they were old cats, so there are things we didn't think about when we got the new ones.Besides the ceiling (see Styx's adventures), we have a banister that runs around the upstairs and opens to our basement. At the end of this are windows. It never occurred to us before we got the Rivers that they would try and get on said windowsills.

Then we took Styx off the banister many, many times and realized this may be a problem. Before we had a chance to solve this, Tigris got up for the first time, tried to make the window and fell all the way down.

Dramatic recreation

It is fair to say both the Man and my hearts stopped watching this happen. 

We raced downstairs and she was no where to be seen. As we were worried about injury, when we found her under the bed, we pulled her out. We did a full exam and discovered, other than what appeared to be a sprain in her front left paw, and a scare, she was ok. She ate, she purred etc. We watched her very closely and by day 3, she was back to her normal self.

Tigris tolerating us icing her paw

The limp persists some, it is not as bad and not all the time, so isn't a major concern.

We are sure she lost a life that day. We hope that she has learned to NEVER try this again. 

We have put a Kleenex box (seen in the window) and a temporary tinfoil barrier to discourage anyone from trying this again. If people have ideas for a better solution, please let us know! 

Nature Friday - Visitor

 You know it is time to fill the feeders when the squirrel comes and knocks on the window. 

It is disturbing my nap on Lady's desk. 

Tigris

The Long Goodbye

The follow talks about the semi-suddenness of our goodbye to Phod and if you wish to skip it, I understand. I have promised to be truthful about our lives so this is our truth.

In reality, our goodbye to Zaphod started in the spring of 2023. This is when the arthritis became apparent and he started to have trouble getting up and down. It was at this time, we started Librela. I know Librela is very controversial but after speaking to 2 vets, and seeing how it worked for Phody,  I can truly say it gave us time with him. When we started the tech said the research showed we would get 1 year with him. Aren't we lucky, we got more.

Over the next 2 years, we saw a very slow decline. He stopped playing fetch. He stopped going down our stairs. He spent more time in the closet sleeping. He still loved a short walk and could be very playful. Given the chance he would sneak over to the neighbours in a heartbeat. His life was best described as slow. He was still happy and as comfortable as anyone in their golden years could be! 

Zaphod died on a Monday. That night, around 4, he cried out in pain for the first time. The Man got up and rubbed his leg. We thought it was just that he had slept funny. He was starting to be more stiff when he first got up.

The morning he was restless. This was not entirely uncommon. He could be like this. 

Separately, without discussing it, both the Man and I realized we were in the last few days/hours. I can't say how we knew this, but we did. I had the same thing with Lee. The day before, no clear reason why, when we were walking, my heart said, this is our last walk. In both cases I told myself not to be silly.

Thank you for Meezer's Mews and Terriieristical Woofs for creating this

I left for work around 11:30. At 1:26 the Man called me to say I had to come home, it was time to say goodbye to Zaphod. He had 2 medical events. The Man is not a vet and is unsure if it was a seizure or  cardiac events. They were close together and terrible. These made it almost impossible for him to walk and he didn't always seem to know where he was.

I got in my car, called the vet, made the arrangements and realized I couldn't be home in time. I met the Man and Phod at the clinic. 

About 2 hours after his medical events, he went peacefully, refusing the chocolate kiss they offered him. 

Zaphod lived about 14 years, which for a Shepherd mix is amazing, especially given the clearly rough start he had. In the end, even the best dog couldn't beat death. 

So when people have asked me if Phod's death was expected, my answer is yes and no. We have been waiting for his backend to go for 2 years. We just didn't know that it would be April 28. 

For those who read to the end, thank you. Thank you for all your kind words and love. It has been a very hard time and we are ok. 

Wordless Wednesday - Styx

 

Trouble on A Tuesday - Meeting Callie - by Tigris

 Dear reader,

You would assume indoor cats would be spared the indignation of being forced to meet dogs, however, in this new house, this is not the case.

As you may recall, the SPCA stated I should not be in a home with dogs. However, after hearing about Zaphod, and reviewing my record (no one could clearly tell why this was on my profile) I came to a dog house. 

Our time together was short, and I did my best to avoid the dog. We had come to an understanding. However, on Friday, the Lady and Man violated our agreement and let Callie in the house. As she shares her home with 3 cats (Milo, Cinder and Ash), Callie at least is respectful enough for a dog. 

Neither Styx nor I enjoyed being sniffed by this canine. At least her visit was quick. 

Me sneaking away from Callie

Styx getting smelled by her

A not thrilled Styx 

The human who brought Callie, brought us this.

We hope it was a one off and Callie stays outside where she belongs.

Tigris

When Will The Snow Be Gone - WINNER - by Tigris

 Dear readers,

Lady has charged me with telling you, we have a winner for the dogs' contest. She said it was very exciting because someone guessed the exact day the snow would leave. 

The winner this year is Beau, with a guess of May 2nd. 

Congratulations Beau!

Lady will be in touch about about a prize.

Now back to important things like lap sitting (which I don't do often or for long).

Tigris

May The 4th Be With You

 

Styx

Tigris

Nature Friday - Is there Still Snow ? By Tigris

Dear reader,

As the oldest animal in the house, it has fallen on me to finish Hailey and Zaphod's when will the snow be gone contest. Besides,  Styx is too busy to sit and write. 

Lady hasn't figured out the future of the blog (she was working out of town for a couple days this week , , , so hasn't finished her processing), we are still hear for now.

Last week there was still this much snow.

So were any of these readers the winner?

Man took this picture last evening as Lady didn't get home until it was dark.

So sorry Murphy, Yamini, Angel Madi, Millie and Walter and Rosy and Sunny. So close but this was not your year.

Now the question is, will the snow all be gone by the end of today so Beau wins, or will it be the weekend so Misty and Timber win, or will it hang around until Monday, so we have no winner. Time will tell! 

Tigris 

Tasty Tuesday on a Thursday - I Will Have Some of That Please!

 

Styx