The cat is a bit odd

because he is so damned nocturnal. A lot of cats tend to be this way but this one takes it to a whole new level which is interesting.

I think that when the little guy was running free he had a couple of close calls with hawks or something because he is always looking up and can't stand being out in the open during the day. He always heads to dark corners. I can't even put him down at his bowl in the mornings because the minute I put him on the ground in front of a plate of salmon he bolts back to the cover of darkness and perceived safety.

Come sundown he gets active.

There is a shelf, actually a very wide window sill I put at the foot of my bed for Tokie and then Blacks used if. It is a little over a foot above my bed and being where it is the sill causes no interference with my feet when I sleep.

The nearest to an open space the little guy will go to an open space is under the sill on my bed if I put the covers around it to make sort of a little fort for him. He'll sit there for hours and go nowhere until sunset.

I have never seen this in a cat and it is going to be interesting to watch to see if I can get him to get over his fear of being out in the open.

I've already figured out a little bit about his routine. He holes up by day, that is now somewhat of a given.

We sack out together and then he comes and goes and eats and uses his litter box. and returns to bed with me and come sunup he retreats from the bed into the cover provided under the couch.

When I wake up I lift the end of the couch and he bolts back into the bedroom, leaps on my bed and ducks under the shelf where he is now and will likely stay there most of the day, occasionally shifting furtively from dark corner to dark corner.

I just put a couple of wine boxes out for him to hide in because I am hoping to keep him from hiding beneath the couch. We'll see what works out.

Mrs Pic calls me a 'cat whisperer" which may or may not be true. The truth is I simplly observe the animal and instead of trying to out and out make it do something it does not want to do, I simply work with him.

Mrs Pic put the litterbox in the bathroom which makes sense to people and the little guy would pee in it religiously but insisnted on pooping in the darker hallway. Quick fix, I moved the litterbox and the problem was solved. Now we have 100% compliance.

Truth is I simply observe and make a few small changes here and there and it doesn't take long before things.  In a month or so I will move the litter box and he will likely follow it.

I'm also going to get one of the covered kind so he'll feel safe when he does his business as I'd just bet he holds things until nightfall.

You have to work with animals and especially cats. Cats can be trained and taught things to a point but you have to be a lot more patient.

It is going to be a long time before I can walk this little guy on a leash but maybe if I can get him over his fear of open places I'll manage.

Time will tell.

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In other news, I met a cop at Lowes. He was catching up on paperwork in his car. I pulled up next to him.

"Hey, you know the Most Interesting Man in the World? The guy that sells beer on TV?"

"Yeah," said the cop, grinning. "He bowls overhand."

"Well, they say that police question him often because they find him....interesting." I said.

"Yeah, so?" asked the cop.

"What's so interesting about him?""' I asked.

The cop grinned broadly. "We can't discuss that," he replied.

Go figure.

(Great answer, really.)




my other blog is: http://officerpiccolo.blogspot.com/ http://piccolosbutler.blogspot.com/