Everywhere you look,
there's a cat!
And that cat
is looking back at you
with innocence in her eyes
and a tiger in her heart!
Click on small images to see big things
Meet the Cats:
Oliver, Casper, Callie and Tigger
Oliver
is the baby of the Lake Big Fish cat pack.
Born in July 1999, Oliver used to be a gray tuxedo kitten with
needle sharp claws, tiny teeth and the appetite of a lion.
He is now a 16 pound, gray tuxedo bubba cat
with razor sharp claws, fangs and the appetite of a polar bear.
If Oliver were a human, he would drive a Ford F-150 with a gun rack
and amble around drawling such memorable phrases as
"The beer is in the pickup truck."
(You have to say that with just the right amount of East Texas drawl,
swallowing most of each word and extending the vowels.
Otherwise it just sounds stupid.)
Oliver is a Ren Cat. That means he will wear chain mail, usually just long enough to take a picture, and plays with other Ren Faire accessories. Like feather fans and fox tails. He can destroy a feather fan in under 5 minutes. And he likes to pull the fur from fox tails ... he must think they are a substitute for newspaper. He really, really likes to shred newspaper. In fact, Oliver likes to shred newspapers, paper bags, phone books, magazines ... no piece of paper is safe from Oliver. He tears paper into strips, and then pulls tiny pieces from the strips. You can always tell when Oliver has been bored ... there are piles of confetti where stacks of newspaper used to be. His name should have been Shredder!
Oliver has way too much energy and curiosity. If he's not tearing through the house chasing one of the other cats (or Murphy the Water Dog) he is skulking about, looking for someone to pounce on or something new to investigate. One of his most memorable escapades was his flying attack on the bird cage. Oliver launched himself from the fireplace (which gave him an almost 8 inch advantage over the floor) straight up and caught the birdcage hanging from a hook in the vaulted ceiling. However, he only managed to get his front claws hooked in the wire. His back paws were swinging free. While Oliver tried to get his back feet up to grab the cage, George (the male finch whose cage Oliver had attacked) decided that the best defense was a good offense. He started pecking at Oliver's paws! A one ounce bird took on a 16 pound cat ... and won! Oliver dropped to ground with a mighty THUD and sat there licking his poor, mistreated paws. And did I, the Great Photographer, get this on film? Of course not. I was sitting there with my mouth hanging open. After this adventure, Oliver earned a new nickname: Oliver Wendal "Rambo" Cat.
Oliver's Baby Pictures (and some more recent pictures, too!)
Tiny Oliver |
Potted Oliver |
Such a Tired Little Oliver! |
Sleeping Sitting Up and Wearing Chain Mail |
A Different Kind of Cat |
Look at how much Ollie has grown! |
Casper
is a love cat.
He loves to cuddle and if you don't cuddle when he wants to cuddle,
Casper will put his head down and ram you like a bulldozer until you
give him the attention he craves.
If suitable body parts are not available for ramming,
Casper will MEOW at the top of his voice, bobbing his head as he speaks.
Subtlety is not in Casper's vocabulary.
One look at Casper and you can see his Oriental heritage.
He is part Siamese with seal points (sort of) and
the pale blue eyes typical of the breed.
Casper is also slightly cross-eyed.
And since his eyes don't have a lot of pigment, the least
bit of light reflects vividly off the back of the cornea.
Yep, Casper's eyes glow red without any help from a camera flash.
Casper is a month older than Oliver, which makes him
the perfect playmate.
The two of them chase each other through the house, pounce
on each other and engage in mock battles all without a single meow.
Casper definately has the upper paw when it comes to pouncing.
He has been observed literally bouncing through the house
like a rubber ball.
He favors the 3 foot square leap.
That's 3 feet straight up into the air and then 3 feet out to his target.
Casper Caught on Film
Cross-Eyed Daemon Cat |
Under the Chair |
Paper bags are SOOO much fun! |
Callie
is the senior member of the Lake Big Fish cat pack.
She is a tortishell, and like all torties,
she has attitude oozing from every hair.
And she is very vocal, too.
Although Callie doesn't have the crying baby voice of a Siamese,
she has an ear-splitting yowl suitable for a cat ten times her size.
And she is not afraid to use it.
Callie is an evil genius. If there is a way to get someone else in trouble, especially one of the dogs, Callie will figure it out. She likes to pick on the other cats when they are ignoring her (Callie hates to be ignored). One day I saw her watching Oliver and Tigger engage in a mock battle. She walked quite casually up to them and reached out a paw and poked Oliver in the butt. Oliver jumped straight up in the air and came down flicking his head from side to side, looking for whoever had attacked him from the rear. And Callie just sat there cleaning her claws. "What? No, I didn't see anything. It must have been Casper."
The backyard is Callie's private hunting domain, although she does share mouse-catching responsibilities with Murphy the Silly Dog and Oliver Wendal "Rambo" Cat. Callie likes to bring her trophies in the house. It's not so bad when it's a mouse part. I can deal with that. But I do not like it when she brings live mice in to play with, and then lets them get away when they don't run any more. And of course, no self respecting cat will touch a dead mouse, so I have to find the bodies and dispose of them. If I'm lucky they will die someplace where I can find them.
Like all cats, Callie takes a lot of pride in her appearance.
The china cabinet in the dining room is just purrfect
for when she wants to check out her good looks.
Or her bad looks (one has to practice those evil and
nasty expressions, don't ya know?).
Callie has been getting a little pudgy ... ok, fat ... lately.
She doesn't see anything wrong with being a fat cat, but she
really needs to shed a pound or two and get her trim figure back.
Callie Pix
Practicing Evil Looks |
Who, Me? |
Up The Tree |
Tigger
is a red tabby cat.
He's the smallest of the Lake Big Fish boys, weighing in at barely 10 pounds.
This Tigger doesn't bounce on his tail, but he does love to have
his tummy rubbed.
Tigger is much more polite than Casper.
He will sit in front of you, patiently waiting for you to notice him and
then when you do, he will roll over on his back for a tummy rub.
Pick him up and he will roll over in your arms for a tummy rub.
Pick him up and he purrs, put him down and he stops.
Look at the sweet innocent face.
How could anyone resist him?
Tigger is a bit of a shy guy (except for tummy rubs). He likes to hide in closets, under beds and inside cabinets. He's not too fond of paper bags, but that may be because Oliver and Casper love to pounce and shred 'em. Even though he is shy, Tigger is not a cowardly cat. He has no hesitation in zapping a dog or going a few falls with one of the other cats.
Tigger and Callie have been having ... discussions ... as to who
should be Number 1 Cat at Lake Big Fish.
Tigger will walk up to Callie and just stare at her until she
either moves away (giving up whatever it was that she had that
Tigger wanted) or stands her ground and bops him.
So far the skirmishes have been fairly even.
What do Ollie and Casper think about this?
When Tigger and Callie face off, Ollie and Casper retreat to
safety and watch the fur fly.
Tigger-antics
See how nasty I can be? |
Day dreams |
Posing for the Camera |
 |
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Cats are natural hunters, but we don't need to hunt to be happy. We can watch birds from the safety of a window, and chase down dust bunnies under the bed. Given food, water, love and a comfortable place to sleep, any cat can be happy indoors. The cats of Lake Big Fish are only allowed outside when a human-type person is around to supervise the event. We can play outside in our fenced-in yard, and we even have a kitty run. However, as much any cat (or human being) might disagree, domestic cats should not be allowed to roam freely. There are just too many things out there, like cars and coyotes, waiting to snuff out all of kitty's nine lives. Not to mention diseases like feline leukemia and rabies (as much as we dislike going to the vet, it is important to be vacinated even if you are a house cat). The cats of Lake Big Fish say ... keep your kitty vacinated and indoors where it's safe and we'll all be happy!
Alley Cat Allies
The cats were ecstatic when I brought home a pair of
zebra finches.
They were sure that the birds were for their dinner ... er, enjoyment.
The finches,
George and Gracie,
are happy, noisy, little birds (that's George in the picture on the right).
Their cage hangs in front of one of the southerly windows so they
get a full day of sun.
In the summer, George and Gracie live outside on the back patio where
there is a ceiling fan for creating a breeze and a mister to cool it.
George and Gracie (that's Gracie on the left)
have lots of toys, and a birdbath.
George loves to take baths; he has at least one every day.
They live on a diet of seed augmented with lettuce,
sprouts and fruit.
They are very picky eaters; they love red leaf lettuce, have no use
for iceberg lettuce (who does?) and are neutral about bibb lettuce.
They get one large leaf every morning.
George (that's George again on the right)
and Gracie are very productive little birds.
Give them a nest, and they will hatch out a brood of
baby finches every month!
They are very good parents and haven't lost a baby in quite a while.
I've just about run out of friends willing to adopt
George & Gracie's offspring.
That's OK with the cats ... they figure if there is a population explosion
in the bird cage some of the excess will flutter down within reach!
FYI - the yellowish cast to these pictures is because they were taken under incandescent lighting without a flash. I was afraid that the reflection of the flash in the mirror would scare George and Gracie. I did just enough color adjustment to get the birds' color right.
3 July 2001