As we get ready to start writing the year 2012 instead of 2011, I, like many people, ponder what changes I’d like to make in my life with the New Year. Losing weight is my usual resolve. But life is not all about me; it’s really about the cats. But I realize that if we cat lovers were to ask our cats to promise to do a few things differently, we should probably compromise and give them something in return.
• If you’ll promise to aim your hairballs where I don’t walk, I’ll promise to comb you more often and take care of any mats before they become uncomfortable for your skin.
• I will feed you food without cornmeal listed in the ingredients so you will vomit less to being with.
• You will all try to get along with each other. If you can’t stand the other cat, just leave the area. Don’t have a hissy fit just because Bubba looked at you “that way he does”.
• When using the bathroom, please think INSIDE the box. Knowing how you don’t like to use dirty toilets, in return I’ll try harder to keep your litter box clean on a regular basis.
• I promise to spend more quality time with you, playing with cat toys or laser pointers so you can have fun and exercise too. In return, stop pretending that human feet under covers are critters that need to be tamed at 3 a.m.
• If you will cooperate better with claw clipping, I will try to trim your nails every 3-4 weeks so they don’t get hung up on furniture and bedding. If the process makes you nervous, I’ll give you treats to nibble on while I do it so the clippers don’t seem so scary. Read my blog on claw clipping for more advice.
• Stop teasing the dog for your own amusement. We all know you have superior intellect (and smell better too). There’s no need to make her look like a fool all the time.
• As I care about your health, I will monitor your diet carefully to make sure you don’t become too heavy, feeding you a quality, high protein dry food and canned food twice daily. Being a Maine Coon doesn’t automatically mean you are supposed to weigh 25 pounds if the weight doesn’t fit your stature.
• Speaking of diet, I don’t put food out on the counter just for you. Kindly refrain from licking the butter or stealing food as if I won’t notice. I don’t eat your food so don’t eat mine.
Wishing my readers and their feline companions a healthy, happy New Year!
Christmas is coming, the kids are getting restless....let's make Christmas ornaments! I went online to research what opportunities there were for a teenager and two grandkids, ages 6 and 9. I found a few possibilities I liked and printed out the instructions. We spent about $75 at AC Moore and the next couple of days creating personal masterpieces. Some worked out better than others. I put links to the detailed instructions of the ones we liked which also shows you what they're supposed to look like compared to our reality.
Ben, Kelsey and Amanda
Peppermint Candy Ornaments - Not worth the aggravation - Will likely drop on the way to the tree
The individual candies are arranged onto a wax paper-covered cookie sheet and heated in the oven so the candies melt together to form a shape. The candies often didn't hold together unless they were over-melted. They tended to break, but Ben says they taste the same either way.
Amanda adds sprinkle decorations to the soft peppermints right after they come out of the oven
The candy cane on the right is a remelt after it broke the first time
I didn't get any pictures of the finished product, but we bought clear ornament balls (I think we got the last of the plastic ones at the Waterford store) and Duck Tape with Christmas print. We improvised on the instructions, but essentially cut the tape into narrow strips and covered the balls. I found that a razor blade works infinitely better than scissors for cutting so that task fell to me. Since Kelsey already had a collection of different colors and patterns of tape she'd done little with, she taught Amanda how to make a wallet and the girls got off on a wallet-making tangent. Amanda made a wallet for me and one for her mother. I found out more than I wanted to know about Duck Tape creations as AC Moore has an area with instructional books and sells paper-sized sheets of Duck Tape for the serious taper. My phone book now has a protective cover of multi-colored Duck Tape.
I chose three colors of small bottles of enamel paint; red, gold and green. Taking a clear glass ornament ball, I squirted each color into the ball and let it run down the sides, four lines of each color. Gold worked great, but the red and green globbed up and fell to the bottom. I gave up on green and did the other three balls in just red and gold. The balls are rotated every ten minutes so that the paint slowly merges and covers the entire inside of the ball, creating a marbeled look. They take days to dry completely, but so far I like them. This was my project as I thought it'd take too long for the kids to get their finished product.
Kelsey's ornament filled with glitter and snow, my marbeled ornaments
We didn't follow any of the instructions provided on the website for these, but borrowed the general idea and the kids came up with their own things. They used glitter and fake snow. This would have been less messy if I had a funnel that hadn't been mangled at the tip as it was hard to get material that sticks to everything to go down. I ended up making a funnel out of paper so the snow would flow better. Raised paint was used to put designs on the outside of the ornament. I expect we'll be haunted by glitter and snow until summer.
I really liked all the things you could do with the clear ornament balls. They're much more professional-looking than the reindeer made out of brown pipe cleaners from last year which ended up as cat toys.
A few weeks ago, we suffered a chicken casualty with our backyard flock; a hawk killed our best Americauna hen, Billie. I had driven home after spending the morning at the horse barn where I volunteer and spied the hawk perched about 30 feet up in the trees. It flew off when I got out of the car so I felt better. It wasn’t a large hawk as birds of prey go so I rationalized that if it isn’t big enough to carry its prey away in its talons, most of my chickens would be safe. The chickens were huddled up under our deck, as close to the house as they could get and making a nervous growling sound. Later, I let the dogs out and noticed their interest in something on the ground. I knew it couldn’t be good. I found Billie, beheaded and partially eaten. Naïve perhaps, but I’d not considered that the hawk would kill its prey and eat it on the ground. The rest of the chickens had undoubtedly seen the whole thing and although chickens aren’t the brightest birds, they were badly shaken. It was days before the girls would venture out from cover without first looking skyward and then running to the next safe place. We buried Billie next to Frodo, the red Silkie we lost last year to a hawk on almost the exact same date. Although I miss Billie and the perfect pale green eggs she laid, I realize we’ve been lucky with predators. We have lost one chicken annually to a hawk. We live in a rural area surrounded by woods and populated by coyotes, foxes, raccoons and fisher cats. Unlike our cats, chickens must live outside. We have since added coverage with a tarp to their chicken yard and limit their free-ranging on our property to their enclosure surrounded by electrified net fencing. The girls seem to like the extra overhead and it will also help to maintain a larger snow-free scratching space for them in the winter. The perfect set-up would be an 8-foot high fence with poultry netting over the top, but we’re still resisting the commitment of money and effort it would take to make that happen.
Chicken Coop Addition
Meanwhile, we had been kinda-sorta looking for a couple of older chicks to add to the flock. Daughter Kelsey wanted another Silkie and I fell in love with the Mille Fleur colors some of the other breeds come in. Mille Fleur is French for “many flowers”; the coloration of mottled gold, black and white. I found out about the Boston Poultry Show in North Oxford, Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago so we planned a family outing to go chicken shopping. I contacted the person in charge of the show to make sure that there would be chickens available for purchase in addition to those being shown. One of the false assumptions people make who come to cat shows is that all the cats there are for sale (most are not), so I didn’t want to make the same assumption and go to a poultry show for nothing.
The show was being held in an open barn area on a cold Saturday, something a teenage girl doesn’t take preparing for seriously. Kelsey’s Converse-covered frozen feet cut our visit short, but not before we had a chance to admire ginormous chickens who were there for the competition under the category of Large Fowl. "Ginormous" is the only way to describe these birds. We have a Jersey Giant hen who is supposed to reach 10 pounds, but she is a light weight compared to the large fowl breeds at the show who were the height of a hawk and much broader; probably four times as large as my standard breed chickens. The first thought was that a gargantuous rooster like this would be incredible flock protection against the birds of prey. Then again, if he sees people as a threat as many roosters do, that could be a major problem. I don’t want to risk being flogged by a feathered pterodactyl roo. However, we came to look at bantam (miniature) breeds. We ended up buying a white Silkie for Kelsey and a Mille Fleur Cochin for me, both females, and named them Beaker and Millie respectively. Our backyard flock is now at 14 hens. We really enjoyed talking chicken to others at the poultry show. They told us about the next show which will be held indoors at the Big E the weekend of January 14-15. For more information, check the website of the Northeastern Poultry Congress. I think a couple of big girls are in our chicken cards next.
Several years ago when I first started breeding Maine Coons, I was fortunate to sell a female brown patched and white kitten to a wonderful couple, Kristin and Russ. They named her Sadie. The following year, Kristin and Russ got a red & white male kitten from me whom they named Duncan. Sadie and Duncan, like many pets, are loved like human children. Kristin is a very creative cat-mom and occasionally touches base with me through Sadie's eyes. The following is an email I recently received from Sadie that still has me smiling:
Baby Sadie
Hello, Sharon - and howdy to all of our friends at Dracoonfly,
Miss Sadie May here. It's that time of year again...the humidity's gone, Duncan and I have more spring in our step, we leave more hair on the floor and rug and furniture, and with the holidays approaching, we begin contemplating the many things our humans have to be grateful for (namely, us).
There's lots of activity in the yard during the day - squirrels, chipmunks, birds, falling leaves - to help keep our sentry skills sharp. Though we weren't much help to Mom when she came nearly nose to nose with a black bear in the driveway a few weeks back. He came walking across the driveway toward the front porch like he was about to ring the bell, just as Mom was about to head inside after getting something out of the car. Not sure who was more scared - but he didn't stick around long, and when Mom came back in, she said a prayer for all the felines whose owners don't keep them inside, followed by a few rather colorful words of judgement.
Health-wise, we're doing great. Mom wrote a while back about Duncan's back leg, which has been fine ever since the naturopathic vet treated it homeopathically. Oh, the miracles of ancient science and the natural world. I think he's even dropped a few pounds since he's become more active.
Mom thinks I'm oblivious to the fact that she's been fawning over pictures of Ophelia on your website, but I'm laying down the gauntlet. If she contacts you on the sly, the answer is unequivocally NO. My patience is tried daily by you-know-who; I certainly don't need the added strain of a spunky little upstart trying to take over the joint, no matter how cute she is. I do like her name a lot, but let's keep that 'tween us girls.
Anyway, sometimes at night, Mom will read your blogs to all of us like a bedtime story. You've got quite a knack for story telling, that's for sure.
Duncan asked me to pass along his best regards to you... we both wish you, Jay, Kelsey, Tyler and all the four-leggeds a great Fall season.
So you’ve decided to bring home a new kitten. Great! Of course you realize that if you already have pets, there is the possibility that introducing new cuteness will temporarily disrupt the peace in your house. While most new kitten inaugurations have the desired results of adorable pictures of newfound friendships, some relationships take a while.
I won’t dwell on how to introduce kittens to dogs as the canine species usually feels less threatened than a cat does. My Maine Coon kittens are exposed to our dogs by around eight weeks of age; most will become very comfortable with our 10-year-old Golden Retriever by the time they leave at 12 weeks. Our puppy, on the other hand, has too much energy and plays too roughly for our cats so they maintain a safe distance from her.
Chardonnay gets a massage from Pipsqueak
Most potential kitten buyers I meet take the personality and needs of their current cats seriously when making the decision to get a new kitten, as they should. General considerations for people who have existing older cats at home and want to get a kitten are these: younger cats (under the age of three years) adapt better and should accept a new kitten more easily. If the existing cat has an outgoing personality and greets strangers who come in the house, that cat is a prime candidate for making new friends with a kitten, regardless of age. Geriatric or very shy cats will have the hardest time adjusting. In this case, bringing home two kittens is recommended. Two kittens will stick together and are less likely to annoy the resident cat as they will play with each other. A geriatric cat often prefers to watch kittens play rather than get involved.
There is a method to successfully acclimate your new kitten to your home if you already have a cat. Yes, you could just open the carrier and let the little guy out and watch what happens. Sometimes that does work, but not without additional stress for both parties. Since stress can lead to fighting or litter box avoidance, let’s see what can be done to make it easier for everyone.
Experts recommend you try to minimize the stress by setting up a safe room for the new guy. The safe room should have all the basic necessities your kitten will need; litter box, food, water, scratching post and toys. A bedroom where someone in the family sleeps at night works well. A guest room that’s completely isolated does not. The purpose of the safe room has many benefits; it provides the kitten a place to get accustomed to the smells and sounds of your home and learn important things like where the litter box is kept. After you let your kitten out of the safe room, it will become the place the kitten will seek if frightened. It also keeps your other cat from seeing the kitten just yet. Your adult cat will smell the kitten (and vice versa) under the door. The cat needs time to get used to the new scent in the house so the baby is not seen as a threat. While in the safe room, the kitten will gradually absorb the smell of your house, replacing that of the previous home. You won’t notice, but your older cat will.
As your kitten becomes accustomed to all the changes in its room, this is the time to acclimate your other cat to the idea that the intruder you brought home is not so bad. One method is to exchange scents by wiping the kitten with a towel, then taking that same towel and wiping it over the cat. Repeat. Swapping blankets or cat beds helps too. You want the cat to smell more like a kitten and vice versa.
Another tip is to bathe both kitten and cat so they smell more neutral to each other. Can’t handle the idea of putting Fluffy in the kitchen sink and risking your skin? Corn starch or baby powder sprinkled liberally and rubbed in helps not only to re-scent your cat and kitten, but it also absorbs any excess grease in your cat’s coat. Powder is safe; we use it all the time at cat shows for grooming. Just comb out the excess so you don’t have powder puffs everywhere your cat sits afterwards.
It may take a few days, but when your kitten is running to greet you at the door or trying to get out of the safe room, it’s time to open the door. Let the kitten explore the house at first without the other pets around. Perhaps let the kitten out and put the other cat in the kitten’s safe room for another scent exposure. Once the kitten seems comfortable and the claws are clipped on all parties to minimize injury, allow it to meet one pet at a time. If you have multiple pets, space out the introductions and do not let your kitten become surrounded by everyone at once. With the first face-to-face, be prepared to throw a blanket just in case the older cat charges the new kitten with the intention of inflicting harm.
A new kitten to cat introduction generally follows this scenario: sniff each other, hissing from older cat, hiss reply from kitten. Kitten backs up and gets distracted by all the new areas to explore. Older cat follows, curious, but cautious. Kitten starts playing, older cat is intrigued. Kitten tries to play with cat, but is rebuffed by a hiss and a swat. Kitten backs up and continues playing. If the kitten leaves to check out the rest of the house, the cat won’t be able to let the little one out its sight and will follow, obsessed by the mini intruder. After a while, the hissing diminishes. The kitten should continue to stay primarily in the safe room unless supervised to not only give the older cat a break, but to ingrain the location of the litter box in the geographic section of its immature feline brain.
As you don’t want to reinforce your resident cat’s natural defensive behavior, make sure you don’t coddle or punish hissing and growling. Reassuring anxious behavior by petting only tells your cat or dog that you approve of it. Pet and praise your cat only when it is behaving the way you want it to. As long as there is no fur flying, it is best to let them work it out on their own. In the feline world, older cats establish their place and teach kittens theirs by swatting. Don’t worry; kittens are blessed with short attention spans that enable them to forgive and forget easily.
Male Bonding
If your older cat is still having a hard time after the above-mentioned scent exchanges, try putting the kitten in a carrier in the middle of a central room. The other cat can see, hear and smell the kitten and still feel safe. For the very fearful and defensive resident cat, the above methods may have to be repeated for a week or two.
After the introductions have been made, your resident cat may seem to be okay with the newcomer, but not really comfortable. He’s curious, will follow the kitten around, but still hisses if the fur ball of cuteness comes too close. You’re getting there. To further facilitate their friendship, take out a cat teaser or laser to encourage them to play together. By focusing on their natural desire to play with a neutral object instead of each other, the cat and kitten often form a bond more easily.
I’ve heard of many first introductions in which instant friendships were formed. “You brought me a baby sister! Thanks Mom!” Of course, there are others in which the best the cats could manage was to coexist peacefully. Cats are individuals and friendships can’t be forced. The goal is to give them time to accept the change to the best of their abilities. With patience, planning and a little luck, you’ll have some really cute photos to share.
Our Short-haired Alliance of Remy, the Domestic Short-hair and Bubba, the European Burmese
Over two years ago, ten baby chicks arrived at the Ledyard Post Office in a box addressed to me and we became backyard chicken hobbyists. I still have seven of those chicks and have since added more. Along the way, the rooster and two hens were sold, we lost a couple of hens to predators, hatched a couple of chicks and gave them back when they turned into little roos; now we have a flock of 13 hens. To those who may still wonder, yes, hens lay quite well without a rooster. We have a diverse flock of four Americaunas, two Silver Spangled Hamburgs, a Silkie, Jersey Giant, Light Brahma, Rhode Island Red, Red Star (a mixed breed), Plymouth Barred Rock and our favorite, Buffy the Buff Orpington.
Foster, one of our Americaunas as a baby chick
Last spring as the days became longer and the snow finally melted, egg production got up to nine eggs daily. Now we’re averaging four eggs per day. My original hens are reaching the age of less egg production, chicken menopause if you will. Chicken farmers often routinely cull the flock every two to three years and replace them with new pullets. That way their egg production keeps up with demand and they don’t end up with hundreds of less productive hens. We, however, have chickens as pets so although Foster hasn’t laid an egg in weeks, there are no plans to “off” her.
The Americaunas - Flo, Foster and Billie, Faye in back
I was aware that hens’ egg production slacks off considerably after a few years, but was curious as to other causes of fewer eggs. I turned to the Back Yard Chickens website and found an article written by J.C. Hermes which goes into more detail. In general, egg production is affected by age, temperature (hot or cold), breed, light, nutrition, stress, broodiness and molting. The article is written about the White Leghorn chicken, an excellent egg laying breed normally used for commercial production. The author states that the young hen starts laying at 35 weeks old, lays 265 eggs annually, her peak production lasting 10 weeks after which the eggs gradually come less frequently.
The egg production from my girls has slacked off more than normal even taking the shorter days into consideration so I’m leaning toward age as a cause. A couple of hens are molting so they are excused from laying for a few months. A molting chicken has to put all her energy into growing new feathers, not making eggs. Pilgrim, my Plymouth Barred Rock hen, is currently broody. Pilgrim prefers to sit on the nest than lay eggs, so she’s excused for now also. Once Pilgrim gets past this hormonal phase, she’ll go back to laying again.
Kelsey with the Peeps
As for other possible causes, I don’t regard my hens as stressed birds. They range freely in our yard and have continuous access to layer pellets, oyster shells for calcium and water. They come running to us in the yard, a behavior reinforced by the receipt of our leftovers. They don’t peck each other’s feathers out until bald spots show, a sign of overcrowding or an active rooster. I did notice that after Hurricane Irene came through, egg production dropped markedly for days afterward. The storm followed by the constant noise of my neighbor’s generator probably caused them more stress than it did my family.
I have a heater in the chicken coop for the cold winter nights which keeps the temperature above 35 degrees. I do this not for egg production, but to prevent my girls from getting frost bite on their combs and wattles. This year I may add a light. Egg production is definitely influenced by the amount of light exposure with the normal recommendation being at least 12 hours daily for maximum egg laying. I’ve noticed that if the weather is overcast and rainy, the following day’s egg production will be smaller. Likewise, sunny days yield more eggs.
Backyard breeds like mine are not expected to be major egg layers. My hens all look different and their eggs reflect their diversity; they can be small, large, white, blue-green, brown or freckled. I usually know each egg’s creator by name. I got the chickens for several reasons; pets, pest control, garden fertilizer and the most delicious, beautiful eggs. We don’t need a bunch of eggs, but it’s kind of special when your breakfast has been produced by someone you know personally.
I hate to admit it, but there has been more than one occasion when I could be considered an animal abuser. I don’t mean I’m likely to be on Animal Cops or Hoarders; I get just as upset as the next person when I see cases of severe neglect. It’s just that I’ve experienced a few instances where the result made me feel extremely guilty, and lucky that the situation wasn’t worse.
Anyone who’s read my previous blogs about Cassie knows that she is my favorite Maine Coon cat. But even I, major Cassie fan that I am, have unintentionally caused this sweet brown ticked torbie with no trace of torbietude, bodily harm. For the uninformed, “torbietude” is cat terminology which means “tabby with patches of red, aka “torbie”, calico or tortoiseshell with an attitude.” Many otherwise educated cat fanciers falsely label a cat’s personality by its color combination as if it were fact. I can easily dispute that claim by demonstrating my non-torbie’s (male or female) moodiness and my sweet torbies without a care in the world as examples. To me, the label is akin to saying all red-headed women have fiery tempers and all blonds are dumb…ever notice how hair labels don’t apply to men? But I digress….
My more recent cases of Cassie abuse have centered on her pregnancies. Being a breeder of long-haired cats, I’ve found that Maine Coon queens have an easier time if I trim their coats along the vital areas. In anticipation of the inherent messiness of kitten birth, I’ll cut the hair around her backside. A shorter coat makes clean up less tedious for a cat who’s just delivered kittens. Most cats are so fastidious, they will clean not only their kittens, but eat the placentas, tend to their own backsides and tails which become matted down with amniotic fluid and also lick the bedding in their attempt to make the nursery clean for their new family. The instinct comes from the need to destroy any odors which would attract predators.
In addition to trimming the area where the kittens arrive, I trim a swath all along the mother’s belly to make it easier for the kittens to find the teats. Kittens actually learn that when they are blindly searching for the milk bar nozzle to stay in the short hair section. If they climb up to the region where the hair is long, they’ve gone too far and will change direction. The long hair becomes a marker that lets the kittens know where they should look.
Some pregnant queens don’t like to lie still while I’m trimming their bellies, so I’ve found it easier to do it while they are in labor (if it’s taking a long time) or shortly after they finish delivering. Once kittens start arriving, the new mom won’t go anywhere. I just ease over with my rounded scissors and clip a path while she’s distracted with a new kitten or contractions. I was performing this kind of barbering on Cassie, when I cut off the tip of her nipple. This is when the reader should be clutching his/her chest and grimacing. I was horrified! Cassie, however, was fine. She didn’t flinch, didn’t notice the blood, nothing. I got a wet paper towel and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. Cassie kept purring. Once the bleeding finally stopped, there was the nice straight, flat angle on her little nipple. She didn’t even seem to mind if a kitten nursed on it. Since then, Cassie has fully recovered, the flesh grew back and I can’t even tell which teat I hacked now.
When Cassie was younger, more of a teenager, she fell out of my second-story bedroom window. I was downstairs when the dog suddenly jumped up and looked out the back door. I saw a cat. Wow, I thought, that cat looks just like….Cassie! The fallen window screen and the toppled lamp on my nightstand in front of the open window told the rest of the story; Cassie and another cat must have been running around in the bedroom chasing one another when Cassie jumped a little too vigorously into the window, knocking the screen out and following it down to the wooden deck below. Cassie was none the worse after her flight; she was only about eight pounds then and a lot of fluff. I remarked how lucky I was that it wasn’t one of the twenty-pound cats who flew out.
Recently, Cassie challenged my windows again. I was upstairs napping. Cassie was sequestered in our bedroom because she was very pregnant and due in a few days. During the warmer months, we have a tall, oscillating fan in our bedroom. It keeps the room comfortable and creates a white noise which makes it easier to sleep. I had just drifted off to sleep when I heard a noise. I looked up and saw nothing, heard nothing more, so I went back to sleep. Unbeknownst to me, Cassie, who had been lounging in the open window, apparently caused too much stress on the screen locks with her larger size and fell out of the window. Jay was outside and witnessed the exit. He called me, but I heard nothing with the fan going. Left to catch the cat himself, I had no idea what was going on outside until he came in the bedroom with a window screen and Cassie.
Once again, Cassie seemed unaffected by her escapades and I still felt the unborn kittens moving around. Since she was so pregnant and off-balance, there was a lot more concern about potential damage. As Cassie was delivering her kittens a few days later, I anxiously waited to see how they would look. Would the kittens be flat like pancakes, have broken limbs or just have smashed-in Persian faces? Fortunately, Cassie's kittens, like their mother, bounce well.
