Sly

09-03-06 CLICK HERE to see the latest Photos !

Almost a year since I've last written and time does sure fly right on by. Sly is the same silly cat. Tonight he decided he needed to nap on my office chair on my new blanket. The front of the chair is worn to the wood and hurts my legs. So, I'd brought in a blanket and folded it to fit. Yes, it fit Sly just fine. He napped quite well and didn't want to leave the spot though he has so many. I'd set a box on the chair to reserve it for me and he went to the hallway to sleep in his room. But after the next meal, he was back in my chair just making sure the blanket was soft enough.

A good meal is not complete without having his face brushed. If Randy is here, he will wait for him but will settle for me if not.

I've found myself wondering if I couldn't move his office chair into the kitchen when the sun is coming through the kitchen window this winter. He so loves to lie in the rays and warm his belly and body. Otherwise, I have to keep moving him along in a cardboard box to catch the rays as the sun moves. The only problem I see with the tall chair is that he would have easy access the the kitchen counter and I have always discouraged him from getting there. He hurt himself once when he'd jumped back to the floor. Limped for several hours and then seemed okay.

Couldn't find Sly one day and went looking. Found him on top of the dryer but the backside of it is very dusty. He has enough sinus trouble and usually avoids such spots. He'd love to have the top of the old filing cabinet. It is big but I use the top for storing many things.

Sly has been included as part of the experiment using garlic to keep away the fleas and perhaps the ear mites. His current collar is getting old and so far, no new mites. I give the pups about 6 to 8 teaspoons a day each and I give Sly about 1/2 a teaspoon. He never has fleas but they would be difficult to see in his black hair but fleas are the main problem with the doggies. I do a check on Lady twice a day as it is easiest on her. We used to see an occasional fleas hopping around but none in months now that that is great.

Sly often decides that it is past time to eat when he yet has half and hour to go. If he has more than a small amount at one time, he will eat it all and throw it right back up. So he gets a minimal amount every two hours. Just enough to appease him and allow him to have a fine old nap. Every other time is a crunchy snack of dry food. He has distinctive preferences and usually goes with the smelly fish flavors. Sometimes beef and chicken/turkey but usually fish type goodies. He won't eat Wal-Mart Special Kitty, none of it. But he also will not eat the most expensive, Sheba. Not a bite. Pouches and cans particularly those with no artificial flavors. I don't wake him if he oversleeps but then the time is set back and he still has to wait the 2 hours.

One particular day when I'd told him that it was not time to eat, I hear a KA-Thump in the kitchen. I go to see that he has knocked over the bag of crunchies and was helping himself to a feast. No, no, just a little bit, silly kitty.

He reaches the point of Glamousness when he is brushed and does indeed shine. He loves the praise and telling of how lovely he is and beautiful. Just don't stop brushing. He allows me to do a reverse (against the grain) on his back down to his tail. This keeps the dandruff from getting thick and the hair matted. I have never had to bath him because he never needs it. Just regular brushings and he is so soft and fine.

10-17-05

Randy had bought Sly a toy bumble bee with a pull cord to make it move along. Sly bit it once and has ignored it since. Well, Randy had bought Max a new collar several week ago and decided to get something for Sly. He found a brush. The brand was on a paper tag and I lost it but it has the nylon bristles with little protected tips. It has a handle about 5 or 6 inches long and the brush part is about 1 1/2 inches by 2 inches. To make it perfect, it has a special feature. A button to push that moves all the hair off of the bristles for easy cleaning. Quite handy. I had been using a comb for Sly but it was always needing to be cleaned and the brush is much easier.

Sly just loves it and gets his little feelings hurt if he wants a brushing and we don't stop what we are doing for brushing him. It was the best present a cat could ever get.

04-09-05

With warmer weather, Sly's box with his red rug has moved near the hallway. He has a spot he likes and I have taken to leaving it there. In the cold weather, it stayed in front of the heater in the living room. Since the angle of the sun has moved on over, he gets no sunshine on the kitchen floor now at all. He does get some in the bathroom on the floor. Even with the little window closed, the spot on the floor is warmer and that's where we find him until about 3 in the afternoon. The evening sun comes in the big window on the north side and he is often found napping on his loft in the sun. Warming his ears.

The only thing that changes about Sly is the color of his flea collar. Most of those for sale in the store don't even say what color they are but we jokingly refer to the new fashion color for all Glamous Cats. This time was purple. He doesn't like having his collar changed and it isn't easy.

I'd told Randy about the day I'd made myself a tuna sandwich and sat down at the computer to eat & work. All of the sudden, Sly was on my desk and in my face as if to ask why I was eating his food. I made sure I set aside his portion before I seasoned mine. Today for lunch, we were having some tuna salad. Although it had only been about 20 minutes since he'd eaten a snack, as soon as I opened the can of tuna, he was beside me saying, "Meeooow!" And that was saying why were we eating his food. He had to wait until meal time but was still miffed about the deal.

01-24-05

Kathy Vilseck asked for new photos of Sly since I was always talking about him. It is a daily chore on a sunny day to scoot him across the kitchen floor so he can catch the rays of sunshine. Unless it is a hot day, Sly will tend to be cold, paws and ears. And oh he does so love to be warm all over. Oh yes.

He is our source of entertainment every day. Like most cats, he sleeps 80% of the day. But he loves to be stroked, he loves to be combed and then of course, he loves laying in front of the fire on his rug.

Our office chairs are the same height (Sly and mine) so that I can sit where he can lay across my lap and I can rub his ears and neck. Oh he really likes that. Most every day starts and ends with a session. He has super speed spells where he will tear through the house full speed from one end and fly up to the window and his loft where he abruptly stops. And then he will nap. It's like he uses up every bit of energy.

Next photos I will try and capture a shot of him in his hide a way. It is the box seen before but without the apartment connected. It is now set on a round table. His "loft" is the top of the box which has towels for padding and pillow. The inside has nothing but will one day have some padding when I find more. The entrance is a narrow ledge which seems to add to the attraction. It is private and still in the middle of everything.

Our hallway has a linen closet which is just a few shelves. The bottom part is only big enough for a box with a pillow in it. When the mood strikes, Sly will curl up on his pillow and sleep for hours on end. I had always been careful to move the ironing board out of the way so he wouldn't feel closed in. Well sure enough, one day I forgot and the barely big enough opening was just what he wanted as his personal no one else would fit doorway. I leave it that way now and it's usually an afternoon (after the sun shine is gone) ritual.

02-20-04

Just a few lines to update Sly the most helpful cat. We just realized that Sly has been part of our family for over a year now.

He is always handy for stroking to give us all the inspiration we could want. He still has a great problem with any overeating. He is a pest when he stands in our doorway and Meows until we get up to feed him. Except that he cannot tell time and has begun his crying at about 3 a.m. The rule is no food before 4 a.m. no matter what time we get up. I don't mind the earliness if I can nap later. I thought he was wonderful to not wake me until just after 4 this morning but discovered he'd been on the kitchen counter and squeezed out the sauce from his favorite pouch food. What a mess he made. Yuck. I had tried putting out a little snack for overnight but that just got puked up in the corner somewhere.

I've been having fun getting readers and writers to send in their photos and words of marvel about their own pets. Not many so far but I have hopes to see a nice collection.

I have taken a good picture of Sly sleeping on his new bed. It's the usual cardboard box with about 3 inch sides, large for his mass; with a fairly flat pillow that is propped up on one end to give him a little bit of "pillow." His favorite it pushing his new bed to in front of the heater where he can warm himself. Otherwise, he like the box moved across the floor to follow the sunshine as it crosses the kitchen floor on a sunny afternoon.

10-28-03

I have put all the new pictures on one page, just click the link above to go and see. Ole' Sly looks pretty much the same. Perhaps a bit heavier. He has a belly now, no mistake about that. We've finally found a middle ground for food. He would eat only the expensive little pouches and nothing else. But that gets much too expensive. He doesn't seem to do really well, occasionally throwing up. I know fur balls and such but not to just lose what he just ate. He drinks lots of water and I give him fresh at least twice if not three times every day. Max gets 2 times a day. We found a dry food made by Wal-Mart that has no artificial colors or flavors. He will eat it really well if he is very hungry but as time has gone on, he will usually turn it down and wait extra time just to get some pouch food. He gets less of that than ever and more of the dry for when he does get hungry. It sure has cut down the cost of food.

Below, you see the pictures of Sly in the tall box. That was his very first ever sleeping box. We sometimes call him the cardboard kitty. Above you see pictures taken of him on his office chair. That's his most favorite spot. He is my continued inspiration while I work here at my computer. I had cleaned and rearranged and made a spot under the bench. A box had held Randy's circular saw but one day while Randy had it out and using it, Sly decided he fit and it was his. Randy went to put back the saw only to jump back real quick and look close to see what was in there. Yup, Sly baby. Dark blob in a shadowy corner but he's big and doesn't move easily unless he is wanting to move. I've just taken a picture of Sly in his small box under the bench and if it turns out well, I will include it with the other recent photos.

I got one of those black blob photos of Sly baby in the box under the bench. I was very happy with how well the pictures of Solar Sly came out. He is in a box under the kitchen table where he can catch the late morning rays in the only place where he can catch any rays at all. As the sun travels lower in the sky, he will not have even that to enjoy. There are several shots where he is on his office chair. Two have his chin up showing his smile and one where you can see one of the balding spots on his head. His previous owner had named him Sylvester and we'd shortened it to Sly since he didn't answer to the other anyway. He answers best to the sound of the can opener or his bowl being set on the cabinet, that plastic clinking noise.

Since he has no claws except a few on his back paws, we don't let Sly go outside. Okay, I don't want him to go outside. He would be defenseless in a yard that Max rules. He's grown up with friendly dogs and Max is not. He wouldn't be able to climb trees or scratch Max in the face.

We have developed routines. After a good meal, he will jump up to his office chair. I move my chair up next to his chair and put my leg against the front of his chair. Sly moves up to where he can lay his body against my leg, paws on both of my legs and prop up his fat belly. In this position, I rub his face and head for as long as we have time. I just pick him up to reposition him on the chair. If it's not long enough, he'll be back later for more. He is just a bit too big to lay in my lap but once in a great while he will perch himself as if but to keep me from using even one hand on the keyboard.

I want to also note that Sly baby has quite a voice. Especially when he wants me to understand just how really hungry he is and it couldn't possibly be another hour until time for food. Early in the morning, his meow has a higher pitched noise for emphasis, like a ugh with urgency.