So.........................welcome Jamon and Queso........................a couple of Venezuelan born varmint cats that were given to me by a pal that is leaving the area and unable to take care or them anymore. Well, some of you know I have given thought to a pet since my sabbatical last summer and primarily leaning toward a small high energy hound dog but in the end I knew I could not be a good dog owner and be home every day at a particular time to let him out and I was not crazy about crating a dog all day.
Enter los dos gatos...........................both of them are 11 years old and have been together since they were kittens. Jamon (aka Fatty, Gato) goes about 16.5 big ones and has a short torso compared to Queso. Queso, about 13 lbs, and with a real long body is comparatively skinny so I call him "Skinny" from time to time. Needless to say Jamon is the Alpha male of the two and is amazingly lazy. When I need to move him to another room he just won't get up so I do this drag-pull motion and eventually he takes the hint and gets up. He is also quite affectionate and needs his deep tissue massage every day.
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| Jamon (top) and Queso (bottom) |
Queso on the other hand is quite skittish to some extent--at least with me. Some women (that's you Judie!!) that have come to the house seem to relate better with him than me. Must be the tone of voice. Anyway...............Queso was in hiding for his first 3 weeks in the house. He slowly worked his way out and would let me touch him a bit but I had to be very careful or he would spook easily.
The first two months went pretty well and I was permitting the Gatos to have the run of the house when I was not around. This was no big deal for a while but then they became demanding and wanted to get in the shower several times a day to lap water from the faucet. They also wanted to sleep in my room but this was not possible because of the nocturnal alley cat noises they would make. So...............at night they were exiled to the basement and I let them out every morning when I woke.
So let's jump up a bit and go over the not so pleasant last two months...............
Problem 1: One of these quys was doing the deuce out of the box and I could not explain why. For the first two months I had no issues and then Queso (this took a few weeks to figure out it was him) began doing the deuce out of the box and it was really frustrating me. I did not know what to do and it took a breeder to tell me that I had to retrain him. In the end, Jamon had to deal with the retraining as well because they don't like being apart.
Thus began the 2-week cat prison. I had to keep both Gatos in the laundry room with the boxes and their food in close proximity. This worked fast and I had both cats back using the boxes. They did not like being isolated to the laundry room and tried to get out when I would come to feed them but life is tough for cat that wants to take liberties with the carpet.... :)
Now let's jump forward a week. The last few days of cat prison are coming to an end and I am about to head out of town for a week to Colorado. I have a pal staying in the house while I am going with her little min pin hound dog and keeping Jamon and Queso from starving. Two days after I left she sent me an email that the cats have a nasty flea problem. I was oblivious to this.
So..........................she kept them in the Laundry room until I returned and was a brave soldier to go in there and feed them with fleas all over the place. I think she and her dog were really stressed over this. Needless to say I get back in town a week later and go in to the laundry room and the Gatos are a mess. They were miserable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next morning off to the vet for some pills, drops, and some sprays for the house.
Thus the 2-week anti-flea odyssey began.
Eliminating the fleas from the Gatos took all of 45 min with the pills and drops but cleaning the house was another matter. I started with a full-blown vacuuming, spraying, and then laundering in hot water all the blankets, sheets, or throws in vicinity of Jamon and Queso.
After this was done over several days I took the cats out of the house to a friends for a day so I could flea bomb the house. Then, more vacuuming and I realized my 20+ year old vacuum was not getting it done. So..............welcome the new house tool....
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| The new Riccar--cutting edge |
So.......................today I had to go back to the vet and get more pills, more spray, and flea bomb the basement again. Not sure if it is under control or not. Next step.................a professional exterminator. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
JOCMO: These are good Gatos and have really changed my perspective. I can still be self-absorbed but they have eased my selfishness a little
