Kitties and more resolutions
The new year's resolutions have crystalized - K has decided he wants us to do "healthy eating" to join our daily exercise routine. I told him if he's going to resolve it, he has to quantify it in a way that can be measured - so he'll know if he kept the resolution. Since we both could stand to lose a few pounds, he's quantified it as the following (not all that extreme) rules:
1) Obvious treats (chips, ice cream, etc) only on special occasions
2) "naughty meals" (eg cheeseburger with fries, or all-you-can-eat buffet) no more than twice a week.
3) Existing stash of holiday treats (cookies, candy) is rationed to one or two pieces per day;
4) Self-regulation of portions, etc, with a weekly weigh-in. If not at ideal weight, must be making steady progress in that direction; if at ideal weight must be maintaining it.
So that's what he laid out. I'll be very intrigued to see if this lasts - he's said we'll eat healthy before and it usually lasts until the next time Randall's has a sale on Blue Bell.
Meanwhile there's a shaggy kitty - obviously a young Tom - who's decided to target our house. He hangs out in front or back, meowling piteously. He doesn't appear to have a collar. He's got a good thick coat and (from a distance) doesn't seem too thin; his ears are the typical jagged mess that you see on tomcats who've been out catting for a while.
Our indoor beasties are quite engaged in his visits, being alternately fascinated and frightened. He's stuck around through most of the weekend and we're starting to cave. I've told K that if we give him food, we have to do the whole thing - capture him, do the vet check-up, shots, neutering, and get him registered. I also warned K that if he pets the thing, he needs to scrub up good before petting our cats - at least until we have had him checked for FIV, etc. Then I suppose we'd have to figure out if he can be an indoor cat or if he'll become our emergency-backup-cat who lives outdoors. If the latter, we need a setup so he doesn't have to fight the raccoon and the possum for his food.
As a crass side-comment... wow, it's been a while since I saw an un-neutered adolescent male cat. I'd forgotten how ... obvious it is to identify the cat's gender in that case.
1) Obvious treats (chips, ice cream, etc) only on special occasions
2) "naughty meals" (eg cheeseburger with fries, or all-you-can-eat buffet) no more than twice a week.
3) Existing stash of holiday treats (cookies, candy) is rationed to one or two pieces per day;
4) Self-regulation of portions, etc, with a weekly weigh-in. If not at ideal weight, must be making steady progress in that direction; if at ideal weight must be maintaining it.
So that's what he laid out. I'll be very intrigued to see if this lasts - he's said we'll eat healthy before and it usually lasts until the next time Randall's has a sale on Blue Bell.
Meanwhile there's a shaggy kitty - obviously a young Tom - who's decided to target our house. He hangs out in front or back, meowling piteously. He doesn't appear to have a collar. He's got a good thick coat and (from a distance) doesn't seem too thin; his ears are the typical jagged mess that you see on tomcats who've been out catting for a while.
Our indoor beasties are quite engaged in his visits, being alternately fascinated and frightened. He's stuck around through most of the weekend and we're starting to cave. I've told K that if we give him food, we have to do the whole thing - capture him, do the vet check-up, shots, neutering, and get him registered. I also warned K that if he pets the thing, he needs to scrub up good before petting our cats - at least until we have had him checked for FIV, etc. Then I suppose we'd have to figure out if he can be an indoor cat or if he'll become our emergency-backup-cat who lives outdoors. If the latter, we need a setup so he doesn't have to fight the raccoon and the possum for his food.
As a crass side-comment... wow, it's been a while since I saw an un-neutered adolescent male cat. I'd forgotten how ... obvious it is to identify the cat's gender in that case.