Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Cat Best Cute Popular on the Internet Cat

Exotic Shorthair Chester here!

I consulted with a consultant and we analyzed the analytics. We crunched (crunch - that's the sound I make when I eat my hard food) ahem, the numbers.

Team CSF (ChesterSmooshyFace) concluded that I need to step up my game. As you can see, I have titled this post "Cat Best Cute Popular on the Internet Cat". I like it. My consultant likes it. And people will find this post - and because the title makes so much sense - they will stay for 3 seconds. That's all I need and then I will give them content.

We had 3 meetings on the content. The first meeting was about explaining to me what "content" meant. The second was to decide on the title of the post. The third was actually about what we were going to put in this post.

It's me in a box!

This is when I first got the box - I'm very excited!
Oh, this is a perfect fit!
I had to move a little but I couldn't fit all the way back in!

Mew mew - it's Garfield! Mr. SmooshyFace left for the day. He forgot to put my picture here!




Monday, January 28, 2013

Exotic Shorthair Chester: I have a small nose

Chester here! I wanted to talk about something that I don't talk about very much. It's my nose.

Mom has spoken before about Garfield being in better health than I am. He can breathe better than I can. He doesn't clear his throat like I do. He doesn't have to sit with his head tilted back like I sometimes have to do. And when we go to the vet, he doesn't end up panting for a half hour like I do. He can jump higher than I can and he doesn't tire out as easily as I do - Garfield can play for an hour straight. 

You can see in this video that I have to rest after some playing.



You might think that I'm jealous. I'm not. I have two things that Garfield does not. The first is that my days spent in ill health have given me a vivid imagination and it has cultivated my artistic temperament. I have elevated mushing fleecy blankies, burying poop, and pouncing on my foam rubber crescent to new heights.

I also take extra care to lick my paws. It's always nice to start with a face rub:

 


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Exotic Shorthair Garfield: I'm a cat dj!

It's Garfield, mew mew!

Ma and dad's friend got us a present for Christmas/Hanukkah. It's a cat scratcher turntable!

Chester likes it, too:

But I like it more:


I made 2 videos of me and the cat scratcher turntable - I hope you like them!







Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Exotic Shorthair Cats Chester and Garfield: more missing link videos

This is Janna for Chester and Garfield. I thought I would fill in some more gaps of the boys adjusting to each other after we adopted Garfield.


This video is from the middle of August, 2012 and I'm including my original YouTube description below. I didn't know at the time that I wrote this that Garfield has the energy of a kitten and doesn't get tired from playing.
 
Garfield is bigger all over than Chester and has been playing a little rough with Chester. Garfield also never seems to tire - no matter how much we play with him. Whatever we are doing isn't working so we need to try new ways of playing with Garfield. Here, I am experimenting with a toy that I hope Garfield will chase after to get him a little tired. Instead, the boys seem to be looking at each other in a game of "it's your toy, no, it's your toy.
Later in August, I brought home some paper from work. Chester liked to sit on the paper and Garfield liked to play on it.



I took two videos of the boys and this particular paper. In the first video, Chester trots away and the second one shows that he's actually nearby. I had been troubled that Chester wasn't playing when Garfield was in the same room and also that Garfield was dominating the toys, so I'm relieved that Chester is now playing when Garfield is in the same room.







Sunday, January 6, 2013

Exotic Shorthair cats Garfield and Chester: the missing link videos

Janna posting for Chester and Garfield. Now that the boys are getting along better, I'd like to share a few videos from the boys' first and subsequent meetings that I haven't previously published in the blog.


The original comments I wrote  to accompany the videos on YouTube are included here to show what I was experiencing when I posted the videos. On September 28th, I added the following to the first two videos:

I'm updating my description because I'm learning more about cat behavior than I knew before and also because Garfield's personality is really coming out. Garfield has the energy of a kitten and he is dominant in some areas while Chester is dominant in others. Chester is much more accepting of Garfield and now Garfield seems to be the one chasing Chester but it seems to be out of social aggression and wanting to play. Since the two boys are still adjusting and cat behavior is dynamic, I expect more changes.



Description from July 2012: Chester is the alpha male and Garfield is more than willing to let Chester retain that status.




Description from July 2012: Formerly stud cat Chester is the dominant cat in the household. Not only is our new rescue cat Garfield more than willing to be Chester's subordinate, but he'll keep behaving accordingly until Chester receives the memo.  Note: This is completely appropriate cat behavior and no one is "better" than the other cat here. We are actively working to create a harmonious household for all inhabitants, including us humans, and will are will change our own behavior if need be so these two guys live happily.



August 1, 2012: Garfield just had a bath and blow dry. Chester started to clean Garfield but Garfield wanted to play instead.