Everybody has a skill.....(wishful thinking, eh?)

As my personal drama with Oscar evolves to almost being jumped from behind as I turned away from him this morning, we also have signs of genius.

I've always dreamed of a trainable animal. An animal that would learn to do things not because there's a treat in the end but an animal that would learn, out of nature, as we do as babies.  As we teach our young to do things that we think are right for humans, other animals teach their young what they think their species should do.

Well, it's not splicing DNA cells, but I did manage to teach a cat how to act like a dog. And hopefully, this will continue into adulthood, as he shows ability to learn more than just "fetch".

That's right, Oscar knows how to "fetch". I've been teaching him, along with the help of my hubby, to retrieve the ball from down the hall and bring it back to us. He's really good at it. Unfortunately, at the moment, no camcorder for Utube, just yet. But, I do hope to document his awesome skill soon. Already missed out on the comical display at 6 weeks, and the ball was bigger than him. Almost peed my pants the first couple of times.

It's one of the quickest ways to tire him out in the morning and evening, as he's really hyper during those times of day. He doesn't like to play alone, another nasty human habit he's acquired. There always has to be somebody in the room, or playing with him as he gets bored really fast. I sometimes think he might have 'feline ADHD' as he gets easily distracted in the middle of doing something. Sometimes he even just falls asleep in the middle of a movement. He certainly doesn't act like a regular cat. Then again, maybe I'm just being bias. Not! Just like a parent with their perfect child, most pet owners believe they have the best pet. And I'm no different. Although, I do know that my child is not perfect and that's makes me love him more.

Oscar is finally having his morning nap, which means, as I did with my other children when they were small, I can sneak in abit of Me-Time. Gitty-up!

The four-legged baby.....(OMG!!!)

It's only been 4 weeks since Oscar has invaded our home yet he behaves like he was born into the clan. He doesn't show much care or gratitude towards the Matriarch of the household. Yet the little fuzzball just loves "hangin'' with my offspring and my husband. They've given him some nasty habits that seem to only inconvenience me or them during certain situations (XBOX, eating, XBOX, sleeping, etc). So almost all my available home-time has been shared with Oscar the Kurious Kitty. And he sure takes his job seriously.

Just writing this post is a chore. He thinks that typing is for his amusement, as he hunts my stubby fingers across the keyboard. He's also discovered monitor/T.V. screens (i.e.:  XBox loading screen, moving wheat fields, running wildlife of any kind) and jumps at lightening speed to try and catch whatever caught his attention in the first place. At first, I did think it was entertaining, like everyone else. Yet as our little baby grows at also lightening speed, he's not so graceful anymore when he crashes into the LCD monitor or the flat-screen T.V. He also has a great dislike for my net book, it interferes with his 'lady & Me Me Me' time. He gets really annoyed when that happens.

I usually encourage all my pets to talk anyway they can. With Oscar, I already regret teaching him so young. He has a howl that puts nails on chalkboard to shame. The stare-down he gives me when I ignore his attempts to make me stop typing. It certainly helps with training my concentration. Be right back...

As, I was stating, Oscar is as persistent as a 2 year old who just keeps climbing up on to your knees when you keep asking the child to politely wait til you're done; over and over and over and over.....My poor aging skin, sore bones aren't as resilient as they use to be. The sharp claws and teeth are not going to get any weaker and he seems to view my body parts as his playground. Even a simple walk into the only hallway in the one-level apartment, can turn into a deadly slalom race. Oscar comes in from behind, to in between your feet, through your feet, in and out of two more doorways and a final ahead super skid on the wood floor as he disappears either to the left or the right. This only took less than 60 seconds, but I still broke into a sweat and so did Oscar.

Almost to the end of another day....(did i see a putty-tat?  I did see a putty-tat!)

Here's Oscar....(Having a pet, again!?!)

I knew the day would come, eventually, when the family wanted the sound of little toes running around on the wood floors, like a freight train. Although I kept reminding all involved the work it took to bring another mouth to adulthood. This still didn't seem to deter anybody but myself. Since nobody put in as much of the care, attention and time as I did in the raising of the past wards, my allies were non-existent. Soooo........

Here's Oscar....

Heellooo...

This little confused feline is only 2 months old. Yet, he's managed to invade my life and amuse the family at the same time. Again, I , to the majority of the time, am charged with disposal of kitty messes, kitty catering (so as to not overfeed with multiple hands: priceless), kitty playdate, kitty behavior training, to just start the list. As this was not the "deal" struck when we traveled to acquire Oscar, under the guise of  'just to take a look', I wish to expose the facts of pet care as pleasantly as I can.

Don't misunderstand my last statement. I've loved all my animals over the years, even grew to love most dogs, after being bitten. So no, I'm definitively pro-pets. It's the amount of work involved that some families don't necessary share in. I can't help be feel like I'm raising another child every time my family wants another animal and I know that other family maids (oops, moms) feel the same. One person usually gets stuck with the large portion of the total care and since mom's already doing it for everybodyelse, one more isn't hard.

Yes, he's adorable, sometimes. Yes, he's fun, sometimes. Oscar is also a handful, alot. Oscar is work, alot. Oscar is another child/husband. I said it and I'm not taking it back. The cleaning, feeding, attention-needing; it's all there. I don't care how you try to sugar-coat it, the only comforting thought is that a cat grows up fast and hopeful with a good temperament. If not, that's another angry teenager only with four legs and teeth.

There's hope for Oscar, though. As he is showing signs of being a willing participant in his own training. He even shows quite good signs of trick-training skills. He doesn't like the new tool I'm using to curb any new 'bad behavior' he may develop as he gets older -hopping on tables and countertops, begging while people eat, climbing people's legs, etc - but that's for a very-near future blog. Oscar should provide for a few good inspirational moments and hilarious pix if I'm fast enough.

I'm going to try and document as much of his growing as I can with stories and pix, and see what kind of cat we end up with. Hopefully, one of us will turn out productive and well-adjusted. Stay tuned for our adventures into kitty world and people who fend for them.