Raven Oak's Blog, page 16

Cat-tain’s Vacation

Raven Oak.

Cat-tain’s Log: Episode 044

Scritches, Scratches, & Silly Snatches

The other morning, Erik (my partner) was eating some toasted pop-tarts. He walked away from them for a moment to get his coffee. In that moment, Riley went from the curled up, sleeping kitty who’d been receiving scitches and scratches moments earlier to a fully awake and hungry kitty. As I blinked, he leapt from his spot on the couch to the pop-tarts, grabbed one corner with his teeth, and attempted to drag off his “kill.”

Since the pop-tarts were heavy, th...

Cat-tain’s Log: Episode 043

Dirty Little Secrets

DiNozzo always thinks everyone’s keeping secrets from him. If he ever sees Riley and Malley together in a position that implies they are talking, he’s running toward them at break-neck speed to find out what’s being said. If he doesn’t like it, the claws come out.

Sometimes Riley and Malley attack him because of his epilepsy. He smells different (medication side effect) and he twitches funny (e.g. has seizures), so he unnerves them. But sometimes the three cats get into it b...

Cat-tain’s Log: Episode 042

Smarter Than a 1st Grader

I swear Malley is.

That is, smarter than a first grader. He understands plumbing. He plays fetch, soccer, basketball, and volleyball is various cat forms. He can count 0, 1, 2, and many. He knows his name and can answer to it…if he chooses to do so. He knows that the cats on TV aren’t him, but are cats. He understands what windows are and what mirrors are as well.

I suspect he would’ve been a great show cat if he weren’t so shy around people.

Perhaps he even knows the m...

Cat-tain’s Log: Episode 041

Cat-tain’s Log:...

Cat-tain’s Log: Episode 040!

Tests

If there’s anything children do, it’s test their parents, and cats are no exception to this rule. At 3 AM this morning, there was a crash in the living room that woke both of us up from sleep. Apparently, the kitties were huuuuuungry and decided it was treat time. Since the treats are in a large, plastic jar with a screw on cap (curse the lack of opposable thumbs!), they couldn’t open it the normal way.

Instead, they decided to knock the container on the floor in hopes that it would magica...

Cat-tain’s Log: Episode 039

Raven Oak.

The Letter U

I saw a post today where someone was talking about how their memories of RBG were stolen and replaced by fear, by those who would destroy our country. I found it a poetic post, but my partner’s response was, “But they want us afraid.” So I began thinking about it, and I realized that after my fear, like someone grieving, my feelings shifted to anger and motion. 


And so I did what I always do, I wrote…a poem this time. May your memories be a resistance, RBG.


 


The Letter U

by Raven Oak, 9/...

Cat-tain’s Log: Episode 038

Raven Oa...

Cat-tain’s Log: Episode 037

SPECIAL.

DiNozzo has always been special. That’s not to say that Malley and Riley aren’t–they are!–but DiNozzo began life with certain challenges most kitties don’t. Rather than just being a carrier, DiNozzo came to us at 6 weeks old with active, chronic feline herpes. He’s contagious and thus, will spread it to any cats we get. (We didn’t know this until he’d already given it to Riley and Malley.)

He also has a congenital birth defect in his paws. As he grew, they grew crooked. At first, they g...