StrangeRanger

Concession

Maddie is now 14 yrs and 4 months old.  That's about 14.33333333 yrs for you decimal mavens out there.  While she takes a lively joy in all the aspects of daily life, she does get more joy from napping in the sun than just about anything else.  Warms are important.  If the sun is rude enough to be unavailable, she frequents warm places to sit.  These tend to be on nicely upholstered furniture.  These surfaces tend to be off the floor.

In the past, Maddie has had no compunction about jumping up to get where ever she wants to be.  Since she is no longer a spring chicken this has become a bit more difficult for her.  Her knee issues, coupled with arthritis (which is quite common in Maine Coons according to Dr G.)  We decided to try and make it a bit easier for her to access her favorite spots and we've put out several scratching pad ramps for her. She has made a concession to advancing age and uses them frequently.

Up the ramp she goes, nap ensues, she awakes and descends the ramp, mission accomplished with little stress on the aging knees.  Didn't take her long to figure them out, either.  Nothing aging between the large, tufty, mobile ears, that's for sure.

Can't say the same for you, pal!  Spring Chicken?!?  I've NEVER been a chicken of any sort!  Spring, summer, winter OR fall!  Chicken indeed.  And I could have jumped up here if I'd wanted to, y'know.

I'll post a pic of her on the ramp if I ever get one.  

Peaceful, Respectful, Coexistance

That's a pretty good goal, really.  Even if it seems far out of reach for much of the world today.  That was what we were aiming for when we adopted Ivy.  We knew Maddie's attitude towards other cats was at least moderately hostile, but we hoped that time would ease initial tensions.

Neither girl was happy about the presence of the other, and Ivy did come across with some growls and swats just as forceful as those Maddie produced.

Maddie did have a habit of coming out of nowhere to give the wee tuxie a start.

But I think they did come to a grudging truce.  Time came and went and brought familiarity and familiarity brought...well, I like to think it brough acceptance instead of contempt.  Watchful acceptance perhaps.

There were plenty of times it worked out well.

Even surprisingly well!

Mad Ninja Skillz!  I has them!

It's too nice a day to fuss.  I'll let her have this....

The good days got us through the more....interesting times.

Hey!   You're in my spot!!                               LaLaLa, I can't hear you!!!!!

Regular readers of this blog will remember that no harm was inflicted during the filming of this sequence.  They actually decided, after a brief, vigorous exchange of opinions, to peacefully, respectfully coexist.

                                                                          Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?     Really?  That's what you come up with??

Perhaps we could all agree to enjoy dijon-style mustard?  Would that bring world peace?  No, huh?

I hope your corner of the world is peaceful, respectful and happy this holiday weekend.

 

 

Tired. Again.

I'm tired and I don't have much of a post in me right now.  Here are a couple of pictures of Ivy in her passive-daredevil phase.

What?  Not much deardevilry going on?  Not so!

Right.  On.  The.  Edge.  That's a cat for you.  So confident in their natural abilities that they can nap on the edge without fear.  The wee tuxedo cat was a bold, bold old dame.  Played by Maggie Smith in the bio-pic.

Another New Year!

Happy New Year all!  It's good to have a whole year of new possibilities, of new chances, of sunpuddles yet unconquered!

Wait....that's the cat's list.  Strange to say, Maddie's list for this year is a lot like the list from last year. Let's face it, this cat craves constancy more than novelty.  As an example here's one of the very last pics from 2014:

and here we have one of the very first of 2015:

Not dissimilar.  We've come, over the past 13 years, to realize that Maddie is a creature of habit.  New stuff, unless it 's new toys or treats, just don't work for her.  

She is up to the occasional challenge of novelty, though.  When the bird flew (flopped) down our chimney one day and appeared in our living room, she was a-rarin' to investigate this feathery intruder.  Of course, when our roofer had to bring his toddler in one day, Maddie did "nope" on out of the room, pronto (as did Ivy)(one of the few actions those two ever agreed on).  

I'm never sure how she'll deal with new stuff, but I hope that this New Year brings her, and all of you, many wonderful things!

Hey, as long as this sunpuddle stays like this forever, I'll be just fine!