The Life & Times of Gandalf the Beige (modified thread title) (Page 2 of 3)

Perhaps I should have named him Mazda ("zoom zoom") instead. He gets a serious case of the zoomies at night between midnight and 1 AM. I didn't realize it previously because I originally kept him locked in my office until I could make the rest of the house cat-safe. At the time, I figured his nightly escapades were just him being frustrated at being locked in the office, although it's huge and has become a cat paradise.

Once I let him out into the rest of the house, I saw his first zoomie. He yowled and took off for the opposite side of the house. When I called him, he looked back, and because I had most of the lights off, his eyes looked completely black (from widened pupils), which freaked me out for a moment. I wondered if I was adopting a demonic cat. An angel by day; demon-spawn by night. There may be a short story there. :-)

And for those who don't know, carnivore poop stinks to high heaven. If he goes at night in the litter box in the bathroom, I have to get up and deal with it right away, otherwise the whole floor stinks. The cat litter the shelter asked me to use (since he's still their cat for the moment) is environmentally friendly and pet friendly, but it's not very good for masking #2. Yeesh!

Having now briefed you all on my cat's bowel movements, I'll allow you to proceed with breakfast. Bon appetit! :-)

Ask, and ye shall receive. Please let me know if the link doesn't work. It was generated by Google and points into one of my photo albums. The weird URL is a Google thing; goo.gl is one of its domains.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/M85Edr2WJcPHfmom6

Link works. And OMG!!!!!!!

My cat's cheeks seem to itch a lot; ditto his forehead, although less so. He approaches me easily ten times a day and pushes his cheeks against my hand, usually my fingertips/fingernails until I scratch him. I know cats have scent glands on their cheeks and forehead, but this seems like more than marking me with his scent. Is his behavior excessive? I'm wondering if he may have allergies. He's been treated for ticks and fleas.

Thanks
Dirk

Thanks, Marilyn.

I've been allergic to most fragrances for decades, so I only use unscented organic products.

I have two highly rated air purifiers in the upstairs bedrooms, but the bathroom is too small, with no outlets (it's an older townhouse) except by the sink, which are fully used. It may have stunk because he accidentally kicked one small "easter egg" out of the litter while trying to cover it, which I didn't see. It didn't smell nearly as much the next day when he covered it properly, although I now clean up the litter as soon as I see him go.

I'm glad to hear that wet food causes less of a smell. One cat-lover at the shelter said she stopped giving her cat dry food because it kept causing urinary issues, perhaps because her cat was dehydrated. And Gandalf doesn't like the dry food anyway. He'll happily ignore it unless he gets too hungry. He's always on the hunt for food (human or otherwise, lol), just not desperate enough to always eat his dry food. And I got him a couple of cat fountains for upstairs and downstairs that he really likes, so he's drinking quite a bit.

The shelter advised me to contact their vet to discuss his itchiness. I have to go there around Sept. 16 anyway for them to follow-up on other open medical issues, so they can look at it then. The weird thing is, he can reach both cheeks with his back paws to scratch with. I've seen him do it, which is what keeps me guessing. Perhaps he just prefers the way I scratch.

I figured mixed food might be a culprit, but until the vet advises otherwise, they want me to keep him on the food approved by that same vet, most of which is mixed sources. I've already started stocking up on single-source wet food (Hills Science Diet). It seemed like common sense to me not to mix different protein sources for the same reason you noted.

The flea and tick medication they use is a prescription brand only available through vets here. The over-the-counter products here are rather pathetic based on the reviews. I've checked his fur for anything visible but saw nothing. He is one super-clean cat. Barely sheds too, except when stressed (the two times I picked him up from the shelter, after that very little).

He just planted his tiny heinie on my mousepad, so I'll end here.

He already does sleep next to me. I could stop him from doing that, but I'm happy if he's happy. He has started nibbling a little harder on my skin, though, after I give him some chin and head scratches, which he loves (and requests). He's definitely not biting, but it is somewhat unpleasant.

What a sweetheart! Welcome to the world of orange cats!
dags

We finally had to draw the line because Lazarus and Bandito want to be completely covered up under the cover, and the others jockey for position on top of the cover. Even in a king-sized bed, there is not enough room for 7 squirmy cats. So now none of them are allowed in the bed at night. We close the door, but if you try to go out of the room at night, you need a light turned on because they hear you get up and all rush to the door to hop on the bed.

Every morning we have a meet and greet. We sit at the end of the bed and once the door opens, they all rush in at the same time. They have to smell us to make sure we didn't turn into new people during the night.

Forget sharing. Gandalf likes to hog my side of the bed. Whenever there's an opening, he goes for it. Even when I pretend I'm going to lie on top of him, he doesn't buy it and doesn't like my attempts to push him out of the way. He also doesn't like being locked in my office (aka the cat shrine) for any amount of time while I do chores that require me to go in and out of the house. When I return to let him back out, he gives me the stink eye and complains until I apologize, meaning until I give him a treat.

I leave the door to my upstairs bathroom slightly open when I shower in case Gandalf has to use the facilities. Twice now, he's hopped onto the top of the bathtub and walked along the length of it, though outside the shower curtain. Each time, I'm reminded of Norman Bates (insert screetchy music) and laugh my --- off. Both times, he went so far as to come inside the curtain and walk along the back of the tub to where a bottle of body wash stands in the back corner, just so he can sniff it, looking to see if it's food (his favorite pastime). Once he's satisfied I'm not in there eating, he leaves. He had the same interest in my electric toothbrush initially; kept meowing because he wanted whatever it was I was eating. Once I showed him it was an inedible brush head, he was satisfied.

The cutest thing, though, is when he races me up or down the stairs. He waits to give me a head start, then makes the cat equivalent of a racing car noise (a long warbling meow) and zooms past me. The first time he did it, he shot between my legs as I was climbing. He doesn't understand that tripping your meal ticket down the stairs might interfere with his meal schedule.

Gandalf playing gently with his toys:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QzTrgvgZqehazCuZ9

That nasty brown thing your see in parts of these videos is a toy mouse that just refuses to die (it vibrates) despite Gandalf's best efforts.

The game he's trying to destroy normally comes with three balls inside about the size of ping pong balls. He conquered that game in a matter of minutes when I first gave it to him. He knows exactly how to get them out, so I made it a little more challenging by putting an electronic spinning ball inside that's bigger than the holes to get it out.

That's a little mean but it's meant to help him work off excess energy to reduce the frequency and intensity of his almost-nightly zoomies. I eventually pop the ball out for him and let him smack it around the house. A+ for effort.

If you think those are wild, you should see him go after a laser pointer dot on the floor. I haven't filmed it yet because each time I play that with him I can't stop laughing.

How about Spot?

In honor of Data's cat on Star Trek the Next Generation.

Or...

Stay... cats never come when you call them anyway. LOL