In Which Kili Does Not Want To Be Ulysses. And contractual obligation kitty photos.

One laid back dog…

Here’s a thing. When Kili works out that we’ve done a loop and we are now heading home he indulges in a small protest, which generally consists of standing still and looking doleful for 20 seconds.

Now I could understand that if turning round meant the curtailment of the walk or his lead going back on. But on our usual longish walk, walking home takes 45 minutes, the first 35 of which are almost all off lead. We will go through playing field, wood, watermeadow and park. We will play ball a bit and he will probably meet some other dogs. Turning round is not the trigger for anything unwanted happening, or anything nice stopping. It’s the same with all our walks- they are almost all long way out, long way back. Turning round marks the half way point, not the end.

I’m hesitant to ascribe too much comprehension of abstracts to animals, but it really does seem that Kili objects to the concept of going back towards home again! The other possibility I suppose is that he has somewhere nicer in mind as a destination (that will be the deli) and regardless of where we are, turning round indicates that we aren’t going there. That would work better if we didn’t in fact sometimes visit the deli on the way home, (where he is given a bit of cooked chicken on arrival, chicken and sausage to eat while we are there and another piece of chicken on departure  Not so much dog friendly as dog adoring.)

Anyway, other news. Pests- the kittens aren’t rid of their earmites yet- second week of treatment. I have shifted to cleaning their ears in the morning on the basis that when they wake up and play in the evening they might have forgotten how horrible I am. We have a plague of houseflies (the non buzzing type) which means that the cats have left a small animal decayed behind one of the bookshelves. Sigh. On the other hand, I have discovered that a litter tray scoop makes an excellent flyswat. There’s synergy in there somewhere.

All animals are now considered safe to leave in each other’s presence, except snake and fish. Gryphon has discovered that if he rolls over, Kili will tickle his tummy. Tatty curled up against Sputnik this morning for a nap. Sputz made the most horrendous squawky protest noises but didn’t actually move. I’m off to see the kids on Saturday so hope to have some new photos of them to post here.

Kittens are now insured (Petplan- not the cheapest but we’ve always used them and they’ve paid out on some very large claims over the years without fuss.) Doesn’t cover existing conditions so not the ear mites; the treatments’ cheap but going back and forth to the vet is less so.

Wildlife news- a blackcap has been feeding on the fat balls frequently over the last week.    Saw the kingfisher in the field behind us for the first time this year; it flew a huge arc around us rather than just go straight up the stream.  No sign of the water vole yet though.  The roe deer are out there quite often at the moment; they have a couple of calves (fawns? Calves I think for roe deer. I know they have bucks and hinds rather than stags and does.)

And I have just a few minutes ago managed to cut Kili’s front claw down too far and it started bleeding. Very careless of me- never done that before with cat or dog. Flour stopped it bleeding but now he wants to lick all the flour off because it tastes nice so I’ve had to cover it up. We had better stay indoors for another hour or so I guess.

A few more pictures of kittens;

Ninja kltten!

Tatty demonstrating his Very Long Legs

 

Kili waiting to see if Gryphon will make the jump

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a Sputnik

Kitten photos

Kittens are here!   Gryphon (red tabby) and Tartarus (black). They were born on the 14 December so are nearly 13 weeks old.

All is going well so far, though Kili is having a few problems with his chase reflex- he’s very good around them when they are pottering but when they dash he dashes too.   He is tied up to the coffee table while they are around  at the moment- it’s where he would normally be lying anyway and he can climb on my lap from there so he’s not terribly put out.  When they are a bit more used to him they’ll just jump out of his way like Sputnik does.

They are both very friendly kittens, keen to sit on laps and follow us around, but they have different personalities already.  Tartarus is a hunter and explorer, but oddly enough is also the more timid of the two,hissing at Kili.

Gryphon likes cuddles and isn’t bothered by the dog.

But he is fascinated by my laptop!

Right now both kittens are curled up on my lap and the dog is flat out at my feet- all very calm.

Sputnik is having nothing to do with them at the moment but he’ll come round in time.  He’s currently migrating between the kitchen and our bedroom, both of which are kitten free zones, with a quick dash through the living room when he thinks they aren’t around.  When he does encounter them he has a quick hiss and runs away.