Paul Cipywnyk's Blog

Our Cat, the Behavioral Psychologist

When did Choco the cat train me to hold her dish six inches above the floor so she wouldn't have to bend over for food heated for precisely four seconds in the microwave?

Four seconds is just enough to impart  some warmth to, and slightly re-liquefy, a teaspoon of soft cat food that's been stored in a plastic container in the fridge. Choco loves the juice, and the cold food needs a blast to get the congealed bits runny again. More time makes it too hot, less is not enough to evoke that teasing aroma.

Choco has a bowl of hard cat food that she dips into as she pleases. She's moderate in her appetites, and never overindulges, so it remains out on the kitchen floor. She does love soft food, though, and signals it's time by posing daintily between the kitchen and the living room with an expectant look on her face.

She'll usually start on her soft food on her own, but lately she often doesn't finish it - until someone picks up the dish and holds it for her at seated-chin level. Over the carpet in the living room is nice, too, as that kitchen linoleum floor gets rather chilly this time of year.

It struck me this morning how smoothly this progression had developed over. . . how long? The only reinforcement I get is the tickly feel of her whiskers against my hand as I hold the dish, and an occasional appreciative twining around my legs when she's done. Am I such an easy mark?

Watching Cat’s Brain Work

Like many of us, especially those who have pets, I'm a sucker for anthropomorphizing, or attributing human characteristics to animals. Occasionally you feel a tingle of excitement at watching an animal's mind work, and you think you understand what's happening. On the one hand these flashes of empathy, that feeling of seeing something through another animal's eyes, provide a sense of wonder and mutual understanding, but on the other hand they may often be projections that stem from our species' never-satiated desire to consider ourselves the all-understanding pinnacle of development on Mother Nature's totem pole. Yet it's still a thrill when it happens.

Heck, sometimes it's a thrill when it happens between humans, but I digress.

I could swear I followed Choco the cat's train of thought for several seconds the other day, and it was fascinating to watch because she exhibited a form of reasoning that we can relate to. My wife and I were sitting in the living room watching TV and Choco was curled up on the carpet. Suddenly there was a bang upstairs as the wind blew a door shut.

Naturally Choco jumped, but what followed was more interesting. She looked at my wife, she looked at me. . . and then her eyes widened, her ears flattened, and her body assumed the classic Halloween cat "fight or flight" pose, muscles tensed and back arched. To my mind it was clear that she'd counted heads and reached the conclusion that if we were both with her, the noise must be an intruder.

Yeah, yeah, cats are said to have the intellectual capability of a two or three-year-old human, so what's so amazing about this? I dunno. It just felt cool to get into Choco's mind, and empathize with that primeval, horror-movie reaction of "if we're all here, what was that?!"

Testing Photo Posting With ScribeFire

Let's try posting a photo with ScribeFire. I'm having some trouble doing this....



OK, that finally seemed to work after I configured the FTP settings to my blog...

Except I don't see any way to add a border to the photo without going into editing the tag manually...

ScribeFire also seems to be doing something strange with paragraphs -- rather than using "p" tags it's using double "br" tags...

Sleeping on the Job

No, not me, Choco the cat. But with her relaxed in my arms, there's not much I can do.

She's taken to doing this several times a week recently. She'll be sleeping in the living room upstairs, and I'll be working in my basement office, when I hear the jingle of her collar and a plaintive, lonely meow.

She ambles into my room with a just-woke-up slinky slowness. I pick her up, and that's it for work for 15 or 20 minutes, or as long as I can hold her until my arms start to ache. Nothing to do but close my eyes too, and try to nap sitting up...

Cat Defends Briefcase Against Further Absences

OK, I know this post echoes another on a similar topic from awhile back, but Choco the cat is at it again. Now she's shifted from luggage to my every day "goin' to a meeting" bag -- in both cases she seems to have linked luggage or the shoulder bag to impending absences.

Assuming that I am not anthropomorphizing, and that she really loves me and doesn't want me to leave her -- ever -- this is really sweet. On the other hand, she likes to sleep on all sorts of stuff... and maybe my bag was just never in this enticing position before...

Cat Defends Luggage Against Further Absences

It's been a long time since I posted a pet photo, so here goes. I have been on the road a lot over the last couple of months, and when I got home today and opened up my suit bag, Choco the cat planted herself on it with a baleful look. I guess she wasn't sure if I was coming or going, but she was making her point either way :-).

Aomori Pets

It was great to hang out with the pets at Yumi's home. Mukkun the dog, who is pushing 15 years, revived remarkably and was raring to go for walks, while Cat C -- yes, the other two are called A and B -- was a cuddly furball.

Cat Naps With Turtle

Choco the cat and Dori the turtle both cuddled up on Yumi's lap for a snooze this evening.

Choco's Hobbit Paws

Here's a shot of Choco's hairy feet. Our cat has amazing tufts between her toes.

Choco, Dori Enjoy Spring Day

On a beautiful spring day, our cat Choco enjoyed the cherry tree blossoming over our deck, and Dori our turtle perked up as well. Mom really enjoyed Choco when Yumi and I would go camping and leave the cat at her place. We got Choco a couple of years ago as an adult from the SPCA, and she took awhile to settle in and warm up. Mom's lap was the first Choco curled up and slept in, and Mom was always proud of that.

Cat Happy With De-Hibernated Turtle

We brought Midori, our red-eared slider, out of her hibernation tank the other day, and Choco the cat was happy to have her buddy back. Though Choco tries to play, they don't interact much, but I think Choco just likes having Midori around.

Mukkun Going Blind

Yumi talked with her Dad on the phone the other day, and one of the bits of news from northern Japan that we were loath to hear was that Mukkun, the family dog, is gradually going blind.

Mukkun joined the family around the time that Yumi and I got married.

That's coming up 14 years this spring, so Mukkun must be heading toward 15. He's always been an outdoor dog, and winters in Aomori can be harsh. I'm happy he's done as well as he has. We haven't been able to make it back for a visit for nearly three years now, though, and I'd sure like to give the pup another hug and enjoy a walk along the forests and rice fields.

Hang in there, boy!

Mukkun hugging Yumi the year we moved to Canada.

Merry Christmas From Choco the Cat

There's nothing like opening presents, and exploring piles of crumpled wrapping paper, to make a cat happy. I love how the flash turned Choco's eyes the same color as the paper she's playing under.

Merry Christmas from all of us!

Turtle Scarfs Cat's Food

Midori, our red-eared slider, got up to some shenanigans tonight, stealing Choco the cat's food. I'd baked a small pink salmon for supper, and had offered Choco some as a treat. Choco is not much of a people-food cat, and has never begged at the table, but she did appreciate a bit of fish. I gave her seconds, but she left them in her bowl.

Awhile later I went down to the garage to organize some furniture that we're storing. Choco decided to accompany me, and I enjoyed watching her explore the new garage configuration. It's always fun watching cats check out changed surroundings as they poke and prod, eye distances, try new jumps, and twine themselves around obstacles. I could hear 'Dori moving around on the floor above us, but didn't give it much thought as she's been pretty antsy and mobile lately as her egg-laying season approaches.

Choco and I spent some time sitting in the car, as we're trying to get her more accustomed to driving without freaking out. She was initially nervous, but eventually checked out all the nooks and crannies before stretching out on the back seat. Satisfied that she'd done some positive acclimatizing, I gathered her up and we went back upstairs.

As we entered the kitchen, I noticed that the salmon in Choco's dish had been disturbed. Looking around, I saw bits of fish strewn about the floor. Suddenly 'Dori came motoring into the kitchen. I hadn't heard her charging across the living-room carpet, but her claws clashed on the kitchen lino as she flailed toward me with a chunk of salmon stuck to her chin.

Poor turtle! The fish had driven her to distraction, but being a water turtle, she'd been having a heck of a time swallowing it on dry land. We'd had her on a turtle-food only diet for some time, because she tends to get a bit crazy on fresh food.

Taking pitty on her, I picked her up with one hand and gathered up some of the shredded salmon with the other. Taking her back to her tank, I carefully fed her chunks of fish as she gobbled them down in a frenzy.

Choco and I have retreated to my basement office as 'Dori pounds the floor above. I fear we have awoken the beast...

Cat, Servant Enjoy Cherry Blossoms

Choco the cat is an indoor feline, but she has grown to love poking her nose outside to observe the greater world. We adopted her last August from the SPCA, and initially she had little interest in the outdoors, preferring to explore and get accustomed to the security of her new home. We wanted to keep her indoors anyway, away from the beasts higher (and lower) on the food chain here near our relatively wild urban ravine...

She has developed a taste for being held in one's arms in the doorway, and will occasionally hang around the front door to indicate she'd like a peek outside.

We shared a few moments in the doorway late tonight, gazing at the fullness of the cherry blossoms on the tree across the path, lightly lit against the black, wet sky. Her body felt soft and heavy as she balanced alertly in my arms, her eyes darting about and nose twitching, occasionally glancing upward into my face as if to check that I was enjoying the air as much as she was.

I nuzzled her, and she ran her nose along mine in return.

Thanks for sharing, Choco.

Turtle Hibernates, Distressing Cat

We put our red-eared slider turtle Midori into isolation, er, hibernation, for the winter the other day, and Choco the cat went into mourning.

Choco is relatively new to the family, as we adopted her from the SPCA in August, while Dori has been with us for at least eight years. Their relationship began with turtle dominance, and gradually developed into cat attempts at play. Needless to say, this doesn't work very well, however Dori held her own with occasional adult intervention.

Dori was getting increasingly sluggish as the days shortened and the temperature dropped, so we put her into a deep tank that we placed in the tub in the spare upstairs bathroom to sleep for a couple of months.

Well... the next morning Choco went weird. She sniffed Dori's sleeping basket in the living room. No Dori. She went to the corner where Dori's tank and steps usually are in the living room. No tank, no steps. To our amazement, rather than relishing her sole presence as, uh, top dog, Choco cried.

Huh?

We let it go for a day, but Choco seemed genuinely distressed, so we finally brought her into the dark bathroom, and let her view Dori. Choco was amazed. She edged out onto the tank cover, she sniffed the water, she hunched down and observed the semi-somnolent Dori, and was rewarded with some sluggish movement.

We gathered Choco up, shut the door, and the meowker has been fine since.

So what do we know? What does Choco know?

What's going on in those little brains?

Cat Wearing a Lampshade Sitting On a Turtle

I took this photo a couple of months ago, and while I was taking my three-week MA residency at Royal Roads University I posted it on my personal page there. One of the profs came up with the title. I finally remembered to post it here.

That's Choco in her coned state while a wound near her eye was healing, sitting on top of Midori, our turtle. Choco has been cone-free for over a month, and now includes Midori in her morning wakeup routine. First Choco gets us up with her meowing and roaming over our bed, and once we're downstairs, she starts poking at the basket that 'Dori likes to sleep in on top of a hot water bottle. Choco can't sit still until she has the entire family awake :-).

Coning Deflates Exuberant Cat

We coned Choco the Cat today, and our formerly bouncy feline instantly turned into a picture of limp, listless depression.

The "play with me!" kitty of yesterday was transformed into a tentative, teetering, rubbery wreck. From the minute the cone went on, she assumed an air of suffering and persecution.

It's all for her own good, of course. She'd scratched herself below her right eye, opening up a small wound that she wouldn't leave alone. After close to a week of applying salves and admonishing her not to scratch herself (good luck), we finally took her to the vet today.

The verdict? A likely infection, and with the wound being so close to her eye, a couple of shots, 10 days worth of antibiotic doses, and a cone to keep her from disturbing the area. For $83. Ouch. So that with luck she won't need surgery...

So will she *really* mope for the 10 days she must wear the cone?

Will she morosely cuddle, as she's been doing for the last few hours, instead of demanding to play?

Aside from commiserating with the poor meowker, I'm curious to see how this will play out.

Choco the Cat Photo Barrage

I promise I won't keep this up unless I get some particularly cute shots, but I must post a few more photos of Choco as she gets adjusted to her new life after we adopted her from the SPCA a few days ago.

Having a snooze in the living room.

Eyeballing Midori the turtle as she crawls out of her tank. The two have attained a wary truce. Choco is very curious about Midori, but still cautious, while Midori is aware of the cat and has tried to check her out, but can't keep up as Choco backpedals :-).

Sitting side by side, feeling each other out. Midori has her back legs tucked in because Choco just sniffed her butt...

Finding a new place to sleep to keep Yumi company while she's working.

Welcoming New Family Member - Choco the Cat

We adopted a 2 to 3-year-old female cat from the Burnaby SPCA this afternoon. Cute black and white domestic medium hair. We've named her Choco.

Aside from peeing in her transport box in the car, thereby getting covered in urine and mandating a bath as her first event in her new home, poor thing, (amazingly she didn't claw us) she's doing very well. Very sociable and steadily exploring more of the house. It will take awhile to teach her that our turtle Midori is not prey or a toy, though!

She's shedding like crazy from the stress, but we hope that'll clear up as she gets more relaxed.

Here's Choco cuddling with me in my office on her first day home.

Choco meeting Midori the turtle.

Taming Kittens at the Farm

Yumi and I visited my Uncle Bohdan and Aunt Nadie at their farm northeast of Melfort, Saskatchewan. To our delight they had a mother cat with three kittens. The kittens were initially a bit skittish, but as you can see, they quickly became accustomed to us.

Midori Finally Lays Some Eggs

We came home tonight to find our red-eared slider turtle Midori had finally laid some eggs. She was nearly a month late from her usual schedule.

She laid 14 large ones and three or four small duds. She'd been in considerable discomfort for some time, so we were glad that she was producing.

She likely has more to go, as she usually lays around 40 each summer.

She ravenously gobbled down a good serving of pink salmon that we'd baked the other night, and then immediately fell asleep in a fresh change of nice, warm water.

Turtle Meets Cat

Our red-eared slider turtle Midori met Gadget, our neighbour's cat, this evening, and it was hilarious watching them interact.

It's been very hot and dry here in the lower mainland of BC, so we've been using dirty water from Midori's tank to water our outdoor plants. I lugged Midori and her tank outside, and my wife Yumi watched Midori as I spread the water around, and took the tank back inside for cleaning and re-filling.

When I got back outside, Yumi whispered to me, "Midori is going down the slope toward Gadget!"

Sure enough, Midori was trundling along the dirt slope beside the concrete stairs, straight toward an extremely interested, focused, and somewhat perplexed, Gadget.

We're animal lovers, however we've never been able to win over Gadget, who is a very aloof cat. In nearly 3 years living here, he's allowed me to touch him only once, and has never come within range of Yumi.

Anyway, as Midori neared Gadget, who was getting increasingly twitchy, I thought I'd better close quarters to referee the encounter.

Midori got within half a meter of Gadget before she noticed a possible predator -- she's been an indoor turtle all her life, and I think her instincts have been blunted. I decided to intervene, and picked Midori up and extended her toward Gadget, who responded by sniffing at her furiously as Midori "went turtle" and retracted all of her extremities.

Gadget was so interested in Midori that he began winding himself between my legs as I held her about a foot off the ground. He even submitted to petting before back-tracking Midori's trail to get another whif.

He came back down to us and did the wind again, so Yumi thought she'd try her chances and came down to join us. Lo and behold, Gadget twined her, too, and allowed Yumi to pet him.

Midori was semi-extended at this point, but as soon as Gadget stuck his nose in her face again, she turtled and disappeared. We figured Midori was getting enough stress for a first encounter, so we broke off the engagement and retired inside to regale ourselves with our observations.

What's going on in the heads of these two animals? You can't read too much in, however Gadget seemed to understand that Midori was "with us," and Midori showed some signs that we'd "back her up" before instinct completely took over.

Gadget I can understand, but what about Midori? Some books say certain species of turtles appear to learn to respond to names and such. Those brains may be the size of peas, but sometimes I find myself wondering if they process more than we humans think they do....

Frustrated Turtle

Our red-eared slider turtle Midori is going through her "eggy" phase, and it's tough to watch her apparent suffering.

You see, when we brought her to Canada from Japan where we orginally got her as a pet when she was not much bigger than a toonie, we were told as part of the import procedures that we were not allowed to breed her.

So late spring every year she starts getting antsy, and unfortunately gets no relief. Placid throughout most of the year, as the hormones surge, she becomes increasingly active, pacing throughout the house searching for a mate.

She sniffs the corners, scratches at the carpet, looks longingly at herself in any reflective surface, and demands increasing attention from us. Whenever she spots us, she comes trundling over, begging to be cuddled and stroked. She stretches her head upward and pushes up with her front legs in an "uppy, uppy!" motion.

I guess the contact takes her mind off her struggle.

I sometimes get the feeling that in hopes of finding a guy, she drags out the process, causing herself additional pain as the eggs get larger. Then again, what does a guy know?

Eventually she'll start laying, but until then, she'll be doing laps in and out of her tank and around the house.

She can't even sleep through the night anymore, and lately often wakes us up when she pushes chairs around in the kitchen nook at 5:00 a.m.

Midori sometimes likes to sleep in a cushy basket on top of a hot water bottle. Here she is emerging one morning a few weeks ago when she was still sleeping through the night.

Invasive Turtle

My wife and I finally managed to sneak up and get a good enough angle on the turtle in the overflow pond near the Byrne Creek spawning habitat to identify it as a red-eared slider.

We have a red-eared pet that we got in Japan some seven or eight years ago, and we soon learned they are not native either to Japan, or Canada.

When we moved to Canada in 1999, we had to get an import permit from the Feds, and a possession permit from the BC provincial government. We are not allowed to breed Midori, our pampered princess, nor are we allowed to set her free in the wild.

The above photo shows Midori on my lap a few days ago.

It's sad to see pets discarded, or escaped into the wild. Especially ones that are not native to our area. Nurturing reptiles is a major responsibility, one that we, and obviously many other people, were not aware of when they succumbed to the cute scrambling of baby turtles in some pet shop.

We love Midori, we spend a lot of time on her, and now know that she could live to 30 or even 40 years.

That's a BIG responsibility.

We encourage other potential turtle buyers to think about this. Your initial $10 or $20 investment could result in many years of care....

Whatever you do, please don't dump your reptile (or any other beast) into your local creek or pond. There's a good chance it's not native and could either die, or multiply with drastic consequences to local species.

If you can't handle it, call your local SPCA, Wildlife Rescue, Streamkeeper,
Birding, whatever nature group.

Someone will know of a better option. :-)

Midori Awakes

After three months of hibernation, our red-eared slider turtle Midori is happily sprawled out on a blanket on my lap as I write this. She dozes off, then blinks and cocks an eye up at me, seems reassured I'm still there, and snoozes again.

She hadn't really been hibernating for some time, so we decided to officially wake her up. We keep her in the spare bedroom with the heat off in the winter, however since it's on the south side of the house, the temperature was getting as high as 15C recently -- certainly not conducive to hibernation.

She was a bit disoriented when we removed her from her hibernation tank, however she was soon basking in the late afternoon sun. She hasn't made any attempt to enter her normal tank in the living room, though I'm sure her stomach will soon inform her brain that she hasn't eaten anything in three months :-).

It's been quiet around here, but that's going to change!