Getting by on looks
Well, Ozzie hasn't gotten any wiser with age.
Lately he's been jumping up onto the fish tank, much to my dismay. I put the aquarium on top of an isolated bookshelf with just the same sized footprint. This has kept him from investigating the fishies since there really was nowhere for him to land. Once he jumped up onto it, but with nowhere to put his feet, he was stuck hanging from the tank with no exit strategy. Fortunately I was there to pull him off and chastise him. He never tried again.
Never, that is, until Ben decided to put his speakers right next to the bookshelf with the fishtank. They provide enough of a step for Ozzie to jump all the way to the top of the tank and back without too much trouble. My main worry is not for the fish, specifically. He's actually not that interested in the fish as fish, never has been. Instead, he's very into the fish water. He looooves to drink the fish water! Mmmm, fish poop flavored water! It's like a soda for him. So I think the fish are relatively safe from being captured and eaten. Instead, I'm mostly afraid that he'll somehow manage to topple the aquarium, breaking the tank, dousing the floor and the entire contents of the bookshelf with 10 gallons of water, and killing the fish. So far, obviously, this hasn't happened. And I suppose it's relatively unlikely when you think in terms of physics and momentum and all that: Ozzie weighs 12 pounds, a 10 gallon aquarium must weigh about 70.
So Ben decided that since it seems to be ok to allow Ozzie to have access to the fish tank, this gave him license to move it to the other side of the room where it is next to other furniture providing an even easier route to the fish. I got home from ballet yesterday, and was surprised to discover it on the other side of the room. I wasn't as surprised as Ozzie, though. He still hasn't found the fish tank in its new location! He keeps going to where it used to be and crying. Stupid Ozzie.
Another weird thing he's been doing lately is that he tries to bury my tea. I guess his obsession with playing in the litter box and burying poop extends to all aromatic things. Fortunately, there's nothing for him to bury it with, so he mostly just paws around the mug, burying it symbolically.
I got a cat tree for the monsters when I moved in to this apartment. When he isn't sleeping in a closet, searching for fish, burying tea, or crying at his reflection to come out and play with him, Ozzie spends a lot of time with the cat tree. I'm so glad. I'd always wanted a cat tree. They're just so cool! But they're surprisingly expensive for what they are (wood and carpet), so I never invested in one before. I was just afraid that they wouldn't like it. Cats can be remarkable snobs, turning their noses up at just about anything. I suspected that they'd like one, though. Ozzie's really into scratching posts, but he's never had one of his own. My former roommate had a few, but Ozzie's had to make do with the furniture (making me cringe) since we moved to Davis. And the seats of the cat tree, especially if it's placed in front of a window, just seemed so inviting. I was sure it would win over my monsters. So I took the plunge. I ordered one from amazon (saving ~$50 over PetCo prices!). Sure enough, Ozzie loves it. He scratches it with abandon, throwing himself onto it with claws extended. (He actually had been toning it down a little bit for the furniture.) And he loves hopping around it as an obstacle course while playing with other toys. He'll put a toy in the tunnel, then hang down from the top of the tunnel and try to swat it out. He also likes to just chill out on it and take a nap.
All in all, the cat tree has been a big hit with Ozzie. So, naturally, Mitzi will have nothing to do with it. At first, she would hunker down in the tunnel, but now that it's become so clearly an Ozzie thing, she's been avoiding it. The snot. But that's ok. I still consider that I've gotten my money's worth. But it's a good thing that Ozzie's favorite toy to play with on the cat tree is crumpled up pieces of paper (which he shreds, littering my room with confetti). The cat tree has definitely used up my cat toy budget for an indefinitely long time, so he gets nothing but trash to play with in the meantime!
Lately he's been jumping up onto the fish tank, much to my dismay. I put the aquarium on top of an isolated bookshelf with just the same sized footprint. This has kept him from investigating the fishies since there really was nowhere for him to land. Once he jumped up onto it, but with nowhere to put his feet, he was stuck hanging from the tank with no exit strategy. Fortunately I was there to pull him off and chastise him. He never tried again.
Never, that is, until Ben decided to put his speakers right next to the bookshelf with the fishtank. They provide enough of a step for Ozzie to jump all the way to the top of the tank and back without too much trouble. My main worry is not for the fish, specifically. He's actually not that interested in the fish as fish, never has been. Instead, he's very into the fish water. He looooves to drink the fish water! Mmmm, fish poop flavored water! It's like a soda for him. So I think the fish are relatively safe from being captured and eaten. Instead, I'm mostly afraid that he'll somehow manage to topple the aquarium, breaking the tank, dousing the floor and the entire contents of the bookshelf with 10 gallons of water, and killing the fish. So far, obviously, this hasn't happened. And I suppose it's relatively unlikely when you think in terms of physics and momentum and all that: Ozzie weighs 12 pounds, a 10 gallon aquarium must weigh about 70.
So Ben decided that since it seems to be ok to allow Ozzie to have access to the fish tank, this gave him license to move it to the other side of the room where it is next to other furniture providing an even easier route to the fish. I got home from ballet yesterday, and was surprised to discover it on the other side of the room. I wasn't as surprised as Ozzie, though. He still hasn't found the fish tank in its new location! He keeps going to where it used to be and crying. Stupid Ozzie.
Another weird thing he's been doing lately is that he tries to bury my tea. I guess his obsession with playing in the litter box and burying poop extends to all aromatic things. Fortunately, there's nothing for him to bury it with, so he mostly just paws around the mug, burying it symbolically.
I got a cat tree for the monsters when I moved in to this apartment. When he isn't sleeping in a closet, searching for fish, burying tea, or crying at his reflection to come out and play with him, Ozzie spends a lot of time with the cat tree. I'm so glad. I'd always wanted a cat tree. They're just so cool! But they're surprisingly expensive for what they are (wood and carpet), so I never invested in one before. I was just afraid that they wouldn't like it. Cats can be remarkable snobs, turning their noses up at just about anything. I suspected that they'd like one, though. Ozzie's really into scratching posts, but he's never had one of his own. My former roommate had a few, but Ozzie's had to make do with the furniture (making me cringe) since we moved to Davis. And the seats of the cat tree, especially if it's placed in front of a window, just seemed so inviting. I was sure it would win over my monsters. So I took the plunge. I ordered one from amazon (saving ~$50 over PetCo prices!). Sure enough, Ozzie loves it. He scratches it with abandon, throwing himself onto it with claws extended. (He actually had been toning it down a little bit for the furniture.) And he loves hopping around it as an obstacle course while playing with other toys. He'll put a toy in the tunnel, then hang down from the top of the tunnel and try to swat it out. He also likes to just chill out on it and take a nap.All in all, the cat tree has been a big hit with Ozzie. So, naturally, Mitzi will have nothing to do with it. At first, she would hunker down in the tunnel, but now that it's become so clearly an Ozzie thing, she's been avoiding it. The snot. But that's ok. I still consider that I've gotten my money's worth. But it's a good thing that Ozzie's favorite toy to play with on the cat tree is crumpled up pieces of paper (which he shreds, littering my room with confetti). The cat tree has definitely used up my cat toy budget for an indefinitely long time, so he gets nothing but trash to play with in the meantime!
Labels: cats
posted by Meg at
9:51 AM
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