We see crazy pictures of cats taking down Christmas trees, tangled in holiday decorations, sitting inside gift bags and boxes, tearing open beautifully-wrapped gifts, and even tasting their human’s batch of carefully decorated cookies. Oh my!
Olivia, on the other hand, a kitten still at a year old and a calico as well, is not (so far) impressed at all with Christmas—the tree, the ornaments or even the process of 
wrapping gifts. I’m stunned. She can be a wacky speedster around the house who loves to slam up against walls and attack imaginary enemies while screeching like a banshee. She chases toys up and down a long hallway, sliding into walls and furniture across the slick floors. The way she jumps and twist in the air after a wad of paper would be the envy of any Olympic athlete, and she certainly has curiosity—stubborn curiosity—“I want that (teabag, pen, dollar bill—whatever) and I want it NOW!” But she has no interest in the holiday decorations and packages. Go figure.
Speaking of going, I thought maybe she was just staying away from the tree because we were here all the time watching her. But we went out to run errands the other day and came home four hours later to find Olivia curled up in her favorite chair napping. The tree 
and packages were untouched.
Did Lily, the sweet tabby we lost last year whisper in Olivia’s ear when she sent this sweet and sassy calico to us? “Mommy will love you and take really good care of you all the time, but boy can she get angry if you mess with her decorations.”
How many of you have adopted a cat after losing one that was very dear to you and detect traits and behavior unusually similar to the one you lost? Eerie isn’t it? And lovely. PS The candle pictured with Lily is battery-operated–no flames around cats.
You can now order Book 4 of the Calico Cat Mysteries for your e-reading device. Yes: Olivia’s Folly is now available in both print and e-Book at Amazon.com.
teaches a few lessons in cat appreciation.
I met a woman once who was obsessed with creating an eternal kitten. She collected petite cats and bred them, then bred the smallest cats she produced. I guess she was going for the tea-cup cat. As far as I know that woman did not succeed.
Napoleon cat. There’s also the Bambino (sphinx mixed with munchkin) for the hairless version of a small cat.
Here’s a breed I don’t recall hearing about before. The Keetso. Keetso means big-footed in Navajo, which I thought was odd since this breed was first developed in the UK. The goal was evidently to create a cat with the temperament of a puppy. These cats have large feet like some puppies do—maybe that’s because they’re polydactyl—they have six toes on each paw. To top off their uniqueness, these cats have curly ears. It appears these big cats (up to thirteen pounds) may be hard to find here in the US. But when they are available here, expect to pay over $2,000. Check out the Keetso cat breed here: 
Here’s a fun site featuring 5 different ways you can make play-time with your cat more fun. As you know, cats are creative beings. Just start bringing out your holiday decorations or wrapping paper and ribbon and you’ll witness more creativity than you can handle. Cats are also good at devising their own little games—playing with the dangling blind cords, climbing through the blind slats and hiding on the window sill, swinging from the curtains, hide-and-
seek with their toys, attack the nearest plant, chase and pounce with another unsuspecting cat, dog or you…
and decorate the house with them. Olivia hides her chew toys in the cushions of the loveseat, then works feverishly to recover them. Oh, there are so many ways cats can entertain themselves, but they sometimes need a little help. They tire of playing alone or they just want some human companionship. Here’s a great site with some fun ideas.
sweet mackerel tabby that had found his way to our house big time recently. I mean, he was all over us and even sneaked inside a time or two when we were coming or going. We fed him. We asked around the neighborhood about him. We put notices on local lost-and-found facebook pages and finally decided to take him to the local Humane Society to have him checked for a chip. Bingo!
nearby city. His registered owner did not answer her phone while we were at the Humane Society with him. But since the officers were able to leave a message at the phone number, we left Ash and prayed they would follow through and get the very friendly guy back home.
If you’ve been reading the Catscapades blog posts for long, you will recognize this as a change. Yes, changes are a-coming. You see, I started this blog in March of 2009—over 12 years ago. I’ve made over 3,000 posts, which consisted of around 900,000 words.
of a chore, and when you just feel as though your material is no longer fresh. To me that means it’s time for a change. Here’s how I plan to shift my gears.
of posts on unique cats and items, news, comments on cat-related situations and specific cats, my personal observations about cats and experiences with cats, as well as announcements related to the Calico Cat and Klepto Cat Mysteries. I’ll most likely continue to mix in a little (or a lot) of cat-related fun and humor. If there’s anything you’d like me to cover here, just let me know.
I like to get that shot depicting the cat doing catlike things, but also uncatlike things. And I relish capturing a sweet or unusual moment the cat has staged. Cats will stage photos, like this one of Olivia looking at herself in the mirror. Cute. And the photo you’ve all seen that I took of Lily playing with the grandkids’ alphabet blocks. That one was chosen for publication in one of 
the Cat-a-day calendars. It also appears on the box the calendar comes in. That’s a keeper.
in our phones. It’s easier and easier to snap those spur of the moment pictures of a cat in a certain setting, or with unusual lighting, doing something uncatlike, silly, cute. Oh, and what about cats interacting with other animals–pigs, ducks, horses, and so forth. Is there anything cuter?
December is National Cat Lovers’ Month. As the organizers say in their promo, this is the month when we have the opportunity to honor the beauty, smarts, and sass of our feline friends. And this month there might be a lot of opportunity to honor their beauty, smarts, and sass as we deal with our desire to decorate, wrap, and bake with curious
and sassy cats in the house. Christmastime means interesting decorations to play with, chocolate, temptingly-wrapped gifts, maybe candles, fireplaces burning and guests. What we consider traditional fun and frivolity, may actually create tempting hazards and potential for disaster—cats knocking over the Christmas tree, slipping out the door with unaware guests, shredding 
bows and tearing gift wrap, and destroying your efforts to decorate. If you have cats, you know what I mean.
Do you know what your cat is saying to you? I imagine you know her cues for when she wants food, your spot on the couch, or attention. One of our former cats, Winfield, always checked his kibbles bowl before we’d go to bed. If he could see the bottom of the bowl, he’d stand at the bowl and stare into it until we poured more kibbles. So before bedtime we checked Winfield to see if we 
needed to fill the kibbles bowl.
running water and, when that isn’t happening, she will launch a protest by vandalizing the machine.
