Smokey and Bandit -- Latest Pics and Other Feline News

It is hard to believe that I haven't shared any new pictures of Smokey and Bandit -- or their mom, Socks -- since the second week of October, or even written a blog entry about any of them since November 18th, but I keep rather busy here doing the Lord's Work.

However, yesterday my daughter snapped a few pictures using the telephoto zoom lens on her Canon EOS Rebel T3 12.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera. Now that she is working for our local newspaper as a freelance writer, and was taking photos with her iPhone for the newspaper, I decided that she really needed something much better. So, I went the whole route and got her the camera, as well as a high-quality camera bag, a very sturdy Ravelli tripod, a telephoto zoom lens, a wide-angle lens, a Transcend 32 GB SDHC Class 10 memory card, and a UV protection lens. Basically, it is everything she needs to begin her career as a photojournalist, in addition to her regular freelance writing. She can purchase additional accessories as the need arises, and finances permit.

Anyway, the resolution of the images that my daughter took are humongous, so I used Adobe Photoshop to resize them so that they will fit better in this blog entry. Even still, they are several hundred KB in size after being optimized, so I hope that this page doesn't load too slowly for you.

Below is a picture of Bandit laying underneath a chair in the living room. Notice that black mask around her eyes. Thus her name.

Now here are both my cuties laying in a corner of the kitchen floor. I called to them so they would be looking at the camera. Aren't they cute? Notice how dear little Bandit has her front legs and paws wrapped around her brother.

Concerning the kittens, I last reported on November 18th how Bandit had suffered a fall from the kitchen counter, during which she hurt her paw. Well, believe it or not, but about three days later, the cats were playing in my bedroom while I was working on my computer. Bandit was apparently playing on top of some of my empty aquariums and took another spill. I didn't see it happen being as I was busy on my computer, but right afterwards, she sat on the floor and again meowed in pain. I felt so, so bad for her; two spills and hurting the same paw within a three-day period.

Well, it has been just over a month now since the last accident, and Bandit is very much back to normal, with no limping whatsoever. However, sadly, the accidents must have pulled or torn something in the claw that is located on the inner side of her paw, because now there is a slight bump or protrusion there, as if the claw healed improperly. I am really not certain.

Aside from that accident, the kittens and momma Socks have been doing great.

Concerning Socks, while I have never done this before, after watching her go through heat during the past month, I have decided that as soon as I can afford it -- I have no idea how much it costs at this point -- I am going to get her spayed. If you have ever been up close while a female feline is going through heat, you will no doubt understand why I have made the decision that I have.

In years past, the idea of spaying or neutering a cat never appealed to me, because I honestly didn't feel comfortable with tampering with their God-created natural biological processes. Some of you reading this will no doubt feel that this is an irresponsible position to take, but that is how I have always felt. God made animals the way that they are for a reason, just as He made us humans the way that we are as well. Furthermore, I have been concerned with how spaying -- or neutering -- a cat will affect it in an emotional sense, a physical sense, and a biological sense. I would feel horrible if something went wrong during the procedure, or if the procedure somehow impaired the animal for life.

However, I have decided to take the pragmatic approach. After watching during the past month how Sock's hormones have just about made her lose control, and almost driven her nuts due to her desire to mate, not to mention how her lamentable cat calls at all hours of the day -- you would think that she is in pain or dying -- have begun to bother me as well, I think that I will be doing us both a favor by getting her spayed. Seriously, the continuous rolling on the floor is cute, and I can handle her thrusting her derrière in the air as if hoping that a tom will pass by, but the almost nonstop plaintive cries to attract a tom, and other pleading utterances that she makes, not to mention how she latches on to things, and sort of drags herself along the floor, has convinced me that we could both use some relief from her feline hormones. So, hopefully, perhaps in January, I will set up an appointment with one of our local vets.

Smokey. Oh gosh . . . what a character he has become! At four months and one week old, he is already following his natural tom instincts, and has begun to dominate his mother and sister. For example, while I always leave out dry cat food for the cats, whenever I feed them their daily portions of lean, boiled chicken breast and salmon -- or tuna -- mix, if Smokey is at the bowl, both Socks and Bandit know to wait their turn. In fact, on a few occasions, I have caught Smokey raising a threatening paw to his sister while they are eating, and once he even hissed at her. As a result, since then, I have adopted the practice of feeding Smokey and Bandit their chicken and salmon mix in separate bowls, and in separate locations; which means that Smokey eats on the floor, while I place Bandit's bowl on the table.

For some odd reason, Socks has for the most part lost interest in eating the chicken-salmon mix. Perhaps she is just full from the dry food. She will go over and lick the chicken and salmon mix for the moisture, but she rarely eats the actual meat. Even if I place the bowl directly in front of her and invite her to eat it, she often refuses it.

What is also interesting is that Bandit has adopted the habit of eating some of her own food, and then, once Smokey has finished eating -- he always eats the most and stays the longest at his bowl -- Bandit will go over and eat from his bowl as well.

But, as I was saying, Smokey is showing more and more signs of being a tom. While Bandit has a soft weak voice, Smokey has a noticeably deeper, gravelly voice. He is also developing a broader forehead, and his body is beginning to bulk up more than Bandit's body. He also tends to grumble a lot when he isn't in the mood for something. He is becoming a bit more independent than he was when he was younger. He still lets me hold and cuddle him, but often he will grumble and let me know that he prefers to get down and go and play, or do something else.

But all of this maturing aside, Smokey and Bandit continue to be good playmates. They play and romp all around the house together. They often snuggle up and sleep together, groom each other, playfully challenge each other for dominance, etc., and Bandit can be just as aggressive as Smokey is. I noticed early on how she would fearlessly attack her brother in a playful manner. I think that Smokey knows that he can easily overpower her, but he is easy-going and laid back, and sometimes will even run away from the battle like a little coward. Socks also enjoys getting in on the fun, and often all three of them race around the house chasing each other.

It has also come to my attention that Smokey -- and now Bandit as well -- enjoy soccer; well, at least the feline version of soccer.

What? You aren't familiar with feline soccer? Okay, well, this is how it works. You lay next to your dry food bowl, and then you carefully use your paw to scoop out a few morsels of food. Once it is out of the bowl, you begin to shuffle it all across the kitchen floor . . . just like a game of soccer. You jump and pounce at it, and try to get it to react to you. After you have played with a morsel for a while, then you eat it. That's feline soccer.

At first it was just Smokey who was pulling these antics. However, during the past few days, it seems that he has corrupted his sister, and now they both play a game of feline soccer together. I have since come to expect a small mess on the floor whenever I enter the kitchen. I wonder if they are smart enough to learn to use a dustpan and broom?

One more item, and then I think that I will be done with this blog entry. We are just catching up on some of the last month of feline news and activities.

I mentioned a while ago that I was planning on trying to train the cats to use a human toilet. As you may recall, a few months ago I purchased the so-called Litter Kwitter kit. Since then, I have taken the first gradual step towards what I hope will be a litter-box-free household. About a month ago I moved the litter box from a corner in the kitchen near the back balcony door, to the bathroom. This presented no challenge to any of the cats, and they have been taking care of their business in the bathroom since then. The next step will be to begin elevating the litter box to the same level as the toilet seat. I hope to begin using flushable litter sometime in January. That is when the real challenge will begin, once the Litter Kwitter kit is placed on top of the regular toilet seat.

Well, this blog entry has grown a bit long, but I hope that you have enjoyed reading it. Please feel free to share your comments below, but keep it nice, and keep it respectful. Thanks!