Kitties, kitties and more kitties.

It seems Christmas was dominated by kitties this year. My new feral barn kitties, my jobs are all kitties, it's all about the kitties.

Here's a photo for the records, A? Donna's Beau, doing the crazy kitty yawn. I LOVE It when they do that. He's very sweet, not the crazy, psycho, screaming, monkey cat he looks like here. All you cat lovers know, he's just yawning. That's all, nothing cynical, just a kitty yawn. I should probably put it on http://icanhascheezburger.com/ but I won't. I did that once. I got a million emails from them. It was wierd. Like they cyberstalked me. Here's my crazy new youngster, Leta, in the barn. She is NUTS! I could sit and watch her play all night. She takes a twig of hay and plays with it for HOURS! She MAULS me when I go out to the barn to feed and visit. She is VERY skittish, but she LOVES me. She is so cute and SO active, doing back flips in the hay bales, rolling around her kitty tunnel with the little pom pom that I got at Goodwill. She LOVES that thing! I think she is Ellen Degeneres in a cat body. She is NUTS! Hyper, hyesterical, silly, NUTS. She's NUTS! I mean, really, look at those eyes. The halicinations going on inside that head would make Mick Jagger's head spin!

Here is their little kitty condo set up. Zeus usually takes the red round bed, Leta is not in the tent and the green cave has been unused so far. Juno, who you can see under the saddle about to come up for chow, sleeps in the big dog crate just outside the photo, with two other snuggle beds inside of it. She likes that big cave, separate from Zeus and Leta. They all seem to get along really well and Zeus isn't bothered by his new roomies.

I think Juno thinks Leta is just a silly Tween.

Juno makes herself at home!

Her first night free she found a bag of catnip and opened it all over the floor, then proceeded to roll in it and get high all night! In the morning I think she was hung over! She must have decided this was a pretty cool place to be. They supply drugs, a warm bed, a handsome dude. In the photo below, the white towel is covered with catnip. I haven't cleaned it up because she is still enjoying it, her contraband supply of drugs. I pat her sometimes and she is covered in catnip! Silly girlie!! She is hardly feral, which in some ways bums me out, she probably should be an indoor kitty, but my house of hound horrors isn't exactly cat friendly. Perhaps she will acclimate and come in and handle them. She is trying REALLY hard to win over Zeus. She goes so far as to try to head butt him, which just makes him mad and risks a swat to her. She will learn. I am debating adding another female. The Friends of Feral Felines have another girl, who is "very playful" and perhaps might do well with Juno. I just don't know, I haven't had the best track record with feral kitties this year. Two ended up quite sick and not making it. And I think I better give it some time to see if Zeus and Juno end up sick from whatever he/she Leta had. That does worry me.

Things I learned yesterday......If you can't find Juno, you might look on the seat of the tractor. I called and called her yesterday morning, shaking her junk food jar and no Juno. I sat there for a few minutes, really quiet and felt eyes on me. Like Zombie eyes, creepy and weird feeling. Has Metis come back from the dead, over-seeing the new addition? I looked up and there she was on the seat, looking at me like I was an idiot. :D I am off to the BARK trial early tomorrow, so I won't be blogging until at least Tuesday. I am pretty excited about Spur's debut!!!!! His REAL trial debut! Although, I am a little worried about those darned contacts. He launched his A-frame both Tuesday and Wednesday nights at class. My running dog walks haven't carried over like Sylvia Trkman said it would. I don't know how she does it. Her Border Collie had FANTASTIC A-frame running contacts at the Worlds. She could even peel off and leave her and that dog ran right to the bottom, never stopping, never launching.

Yesterday I messed around with four-on-the-floor. For you non-agility people that is when the dog drops into a down on the ground after running over the A-frame. I worried that stopping Spur's momentum would worry him and slow his whole performance. When I asked for a definite hit on his hit-it board on the dog walk contacts, demanding that performance he got slow and started trotting his dog walk, worrying about making sure he was right. So, for that I have slacked off and started using the hoops to keep his head low and will just have to hope we get contacts on the dog walk at trials. At least, for now. The A-frame is different, though, and he seemed to really enjoy his "FLAT" at the bottom of his A-frame. That's my cue word........FLAT. I thought a different word might be helpful? Probably makes no difference at all, but I may not demand a held position, instead ask for just the behavior then move on. When I ask him for a "down", I want that behavior until I release him, like when he has to go down on the table. He must stay there until I release him. I have to mess around with this some and see what I want to do, but at least he isn't bumming out and seems to love running the frame then dropping into his "FLAT"! I'll take that, for now. He is such a project.

Last night at Rally class he looked like a different dog! We haven't done Rally class all summer and the other students saw a difference in him. He looked happy, motivated, working hard and not the worried little paw-wringing, melt down punkin head he was last spring. I was VERY proud! He is absolutely adorable when he heals. His fluffy fur flies, he prances along with his tiny white paws marching along to his beat, he loves it!!! He has come a long way this summer!

Meet Juno and Leta!

Friends Of Feral Felines brought me two feral girls last week to live in the barn. Juno is the grey and Leta is the white. Juno is quite friendly! I would hardly say feral??? She lets me pat her and stroke her and comes for treats. Leta never leaves her crate when I am there. Right now they are both in a large wire dog crate, near Zeus' food and the horse's grain bin. They get used to seeing Zeus and where food will be. They see other activity from there and get used to the smells and sounds of the barn. Recommended time is 1.5 - 2 weeks before release. Juno may end up coming inside if she can handle the crazy dogs. She is very friendly. As with all the barn kitties I have taken in they are all welcome to come in if they want, but most have felt too trapped and FREAK out when brought in. Zeus will come in for short periods, but they when he wants out he makes it VERY, VERY clear. LOL!!!Leta may have to go see the vet next week, however. She won't let me touch her, but I don't like how dirty her mouth looks. They did get vet checks and were spayed and given Revolution for parasites, but I don't like the look of Leta's mouth??? Just seems odd it is always dirty! She doesn't seem to clean herself very well? She is eating, I can put food in her crate and shut the door so Juno doesn't get it and it's all gone in an hour. But, still doesn't it seem strange how dirty her mouth is?