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| Magoo in his new home! |
Friday, December 29, 2017
Mr. Magoo has been adopted!
I'm a little sad to see him go because he is such a delight, but that is outweighed by how excited I am for him and his new person.
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Mr. Magoo: random photos and video
He cracks me up.
While I did not let him into the basement (behind that door), Magoo did not let this stop him from exploring a nook and/or cranny and rolling in the dirt.
Like many pets, Magoo also enjoys visiting the refrigerator.
Earlier in the day, I heard items falling off the coffee table. When I looked, I discovered that none of it was on purpose. He stepped on something and then it slipped out from under him. Repeatedly.
Pardon the mess, but I thought I was going to capture him slipping and sliding the things to the floor again, not watch his own back foot drag him over the edge (which was arguably even funnier).
While I did not let him into the basement (behind that door), Magoo did not let this stop him from exploring a nook and/or cranny and rolling in the dirt.
Like many pets, Magoo also enjoys visiting the refrigerator.
Earlier in the day, I heard items falling off the coffee table. When I looked, I discovered that none of it was on purpose. He stepped on something and then it slipped out from under him. Repeatedly.
Pardon the mess, but I thought I was going to capture him slipping and sliding the things to the floor again, not watch his own back foot drag him over the edge (which was arguably even funnier).
Mr. Magoo doesn't understand furniture
Some mornings, around the time our alarms go off, we hear scrabble-scrabble-scrabble-thud as Magoo fails to jump up on the bed to say hello.
Sometimes he makes a second, successful attempt, and sometimes we help him up.
He seems to like hanging out once he can find a comfy spot.
The problem is that he has absolutely no concept of where the edge is and, if unsupervised, will inevitably slide right off and have no idea how it happened.
Same goes for laps. He won't jump into a lap by himself, but if he looks like he wants to be closer and he gets picked up, he might groom himself furiously and then fall asleep. Just keep an arm handy, because if he stretches and rolls, he will be shocked when he rediscovers that gravity works.
Sometimes he makes a second, successful attempt, and sometimes we help him up.
He seems to like hanging out once he can find a comfy spot.
The problem is that he has absolutely no concept of where the edge is and, if unsupervised, will inevitably slide right off and have no idea how it happened.
Same goes for laps. He won't jump into a lap by himself, but if he looks like he wants to be closer and he gets picked up, he might groom himself furiously and then fall asleep. Just keep an arm handy, because if he stretches and rolls, he will be shocked when he rediscovers that gravity works.
Mr. Magoo the Mighty!
Don't let that picture fool you, he just walked up to that toy and sat down. There was no epic battle leading up to this moment.
But when he is in the mood to run around the house like a crazy thing with his floofy tail straight up in the air, I discovered that if I got down at his height and got his attention, he would come over and jump on my head. Of course I thought this was hilarious, so I set up the camera and captured this:
It took a few more tries, but I did eventually capture the head pounce.
And here's one more charming photo of him being relaxed for no reason other than he is a handsome little fellow.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Mr. Magoo: three quick stories
This dude.
He's gotten brave in the last week, he's been going into the room where The Bath happened (two weeks ago). Not spending much time, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
That said, he did have a flashback once. I was doing my makeup before going out for the evening and he walked into the bathroom, looked around, and our interaction essentially went like this:
Him (growling): I DON'T LIKE IT IN HERE.
Me: So why are you here? You can just leave.
Him (growling): ...I THINK I WILL.
He stopped growling as soon as he passed through the doorway.
Since then, he's been in and out with no problems.
At least once that we've seen (and possibly once more while we were both at work) he's managed to start the Roomba. Suddenly, the silent house beetle he'd been standing on sang a little song and whirred to life! I was not fast enough to get a photo of the look on his face, but it was decidedly bewildered.
He doesn't seem to be all that afraid of it, though. Cautious, but once in a while he'll let it bump into him, so he's not always on guard around it.
Any time I'm in the kitchen and holding something – plate, spoon, box, jar, it doesn't seem to matter – he gets all excited and wants to check it out. He pretends like he wants to climb up my leg, but he has problems coordinating anything in the 'up' direction, so he mostly ends up rotating halfway around and landing on his feet facing the wrong direction.
Sometimes I'll lean down and let him sniff whatever it is I'm holding. At least, I think that's what he's trying to do. He often ends up high fiving it instead, which is awkward if the thing is a spoon with something wet or sticky on it, because then he has an icky paw he doesn't want to put on the ground (or let me clean it). And then he looks all betrayed like it's something I intentionally did to him.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
He's gotten brave in the last week, he's been going into the room where The Bath happened (two weeks ago). Not spending much time, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
That said, he did have a flashback once. I was doing my makeup before going out for the evening and he walked into the bathroom, looked around, and our interaction essentially went like this:
Him (growling): I DON'T LIKE IT IN HERE.
Me: So why are you here? You can just leave.
Him (growling): ...I THINK I WILL.
He stopped growling as soon as he passed through the doorway.
Since then, he's been in and out with no problems.
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| Photo relevant, but not from the evening mentioned. |
At least once that we've seen (and possibly once more while we were both at work) he's managed to start the Roomba. Suddenly, the silent house beetle he'd been standing on sang a little song and whirred to life! I was not fast enough to get a photo of the look on his face, but it was decidedly bewildered.
He doesn't seem to be all that afraid of it, though. Cautious, but once in a while he'll let it bump into him, so he's not always on guard around it.
Any time I'm in the kitchen and holding something – plate, spoon, box, jar, it doesn't seem to matter – he gets all excited and wants to check it out. He pretends like he wants to climb up my leg, but he has problems coordinating anything in the 'up' direction, so he mostly ends up rotating halfway around and landing on his feet facing the wrong direction.
Sometimes I'll lean down and let him sniff whatever it is I'm holding. At least, I think that's what he's trying to do. He often ends up high fiving it instead, which is awkward if the thing is a spoon with something wet or sticky on it, because then he has an icky paw he doesn't want to put on the ground (or let me clean it). And then he looks all betrayed like it's something I intentionally did to him.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Mr. Magoo is doing normal cat things
Magoo has forgiven us for giving him a bath last weekend.
I think he's forgiven us for putting a collar on him.
He's doing more normal cat things now, too! Like jumping up on the coffee table or on top of the desks and pushing stuff off. Mostly by walking over a stack of paper and it slipping out from under him. I don't think he's knocked anything over on purpose.
He did some exploring under the desk, too. I couldn't tell if he was comfy or stuck, but either way he didn't seem terribly distressed about it. After considering a nap, he sorted himself out and wiggled free.
When he had a burst of energy he chewed on my hand a bit. Or my leg. No harm done. It pinched a bit but he didn't break the skin.
And he let me clip his claws! I didn't even need to hold him in place. He leaned against me and groomed himself, and when he took a break I clipped a claw. As long as I went slow and only did one or two at a time, he was completely fine with it.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
I think he's forgiven us for putting a collar on him.
He's doing more normal cat things now, too! Like jumping up on the coffee table or on top of the desks and pushing stuff off. Mostly by walking over a stack of paper and it slipping out from under him. I don't think he's knocked anything over on purpose.
He did some exploring under the desk, too. I couldn't tell if he was comfy or stuck, but either way he didn't seem terribly distressed about it. After considering a nap, he sorted himself out and wiggled free.
When he had a burst of energy he chewed on my hand a bit. Or my leg. No harm done. It pinched a bit but he didn't break the skin.
And he let me clip his claws! I didn't even need to hold him in place. He leaned against me and groomed himself, and when he took a break I clipped a claw. As long as I went slow and only did one or two at a time, he was completely fine with it.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Mr. Magoo goes up and down stairs
Because he has cerebellar hypoplasia, I wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle the litter box, jumping, and stairs. Turns out he does just fine with all three!
Except for that one time he was next to the litter box and did a pre-pounce butt wiggle and fell in. Then he rolled around in it and got comfortable, peering out at us from just over the rim.
That is not something we want to encourage, but at least it was clean! (We probably didn't need to, but we put a cover on the litter box after that.)
Stairs are fine as long as he doesn't try to rush down.
He is definitely okay with launching himself up the stairs.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Except for that one time he was next to the litter box and did a pre-pounce butt wiggle and fell in. Then he rolled around in it and got comfortable, peering out at us from just over the rim.
That is not something we want to encourage, but at least it was clean! (We probably didn't need to, but we put a cover on the litter box after that.)
Stairs are fine as long as he doesn't try to rush down.
He is definitely okay with launching himself up the stairs.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Mr. Magoo got a bath
Magoo had a lingering aroma about him, so we gave him a bath. (We tried cat wet wipes and dry shampoo first, the former didn't have much affect and the latter made him smell worse.)
For his future forever home, please note that he does not do well with getting a bath.
Good news: it's the first time I have ever bathed a cat and not gotten a single new bite or scratch. He didn't fight at all, just sad-meowed while we soaped him up and rinsed him off.
Bad news: Once we took him out and started to towel him off, he started growling and hissing like a terror. He continued to do so for several hours. He holds a grudge!
Even two days later he was still intermittently growling and hissing. At us, at police sirens outside, at a door, at whatever happens to be in front of him when he gets a little freaked out or suddenly remembers he's holding a grudge.
At first I thought it was the smell in his fur of other cats that he kept smelling and thought he was surrounded by invisible enemies, but it continued after he had dried off.
He isn't hiding at all, in fact he seems to be making it a point to be in the same room as us. He's very much like his usual goofy self, rolls around and shows us his belly, accepts pettings and being picked up, plays like a champ...and then at irregular intervals he'll start growling, hissing, and making empty threats of attack (lunges and threatens to bite, but doesn't cause any harm). A few seconds later he either forgets or gets distracted and life goes on.
It could be that having CH makes his senses dull or contributes to him being a little bit confused most of the time (which might explain why he seems to be comforted by touch, so chill about being picked up, and isn't excited about canned food, treats, or catnip). And/or it could be that because of his condition he feels vulnerable all the time and the bath really threw him for a loop, so he puts on a big scary show so nobody finds out that he's really not scary at all.
I don't feel at all threatened by him, even when he growls and lunges, I just feel bad that he's so upset and is having such a hard time getting over it.
I don't think I've ever seen a cat growl and close his eyes at the same time, it's very confusing.
Here's a perfect example.
It's the night after the bath, and this happened:
Fifteen seconds after the video stops, he growled but made no effort to move, and started grooming himself.
A minute later he growled some more, attacked a sleeve (without causing any actual harm), and got up to growl at us from across the room. 30 seconds after that, he was silently grooming himself and then lay down to doze in the middle of the room.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
For his future forever home, please note that he does not do well with getting a bath.
Good news: it's the first time I have ever bathed a cat and not gotten a single new bite or scratch. He didn't fight at all, just sad-meowed while we soaped him up and rinsed him off.
Bad news: Once we took him out and started to towel him off, he started growling and hissing like a terror. He continued to do so for several hours. He holds a grudge!
Even two days later he was still intermittently growling and hissing. At us, at police sirens outside, at a door, at whatever happens to be in front of him when he gets a little freaked out or suddenly remembers he's holding a grudge.
At first I thought it was the smell in his fur of other cats that he kept smelling and thought he was surrounded by invisible enemies, but it continued after he had dried off.
He isn't hiding at all, in fact he seems to be making it a point to be in the same room as us. He's very much like his usual goofy self, rolls around and shows us his belly, accepts pettings and being picked up, plays like a champ...and then at irregular intervals he'll start growling, hissing, and making empty threats of attack (lunges and threatens to bite, but doesn't cause any harm). A few seconds later he either forgets or gets distracted and life goes on.
It could be that having CH makes his senses dull or contributes to him being a little bit confused most of the time (which might explain why he seems to be comforted by touch, so chill about being picked up, and isn't excited about canned food, treats, or catnip). And/or it could be that because of his condition he feels vulnerable all the time and the bath really threw him for a loop, so he puts on a big scary show so nobody finds out that he's really not scary at all.
I don't feel at all threatened by him, even when he growls and lunges, I just feel bad that he's so upset and is having such a hard time getting over it.
I don't think I've ever seen a cat growl and close his eyes at the same time, it's very confusing.
Here's a perfect example.
It's the night after the bath, and this happened:
Fifteen seconds after the video stops, he growled but made no effort to move, and started grooming himself.
A minute later he growled some more, attacked a sleeve (without causing any actual harm), and got up to growl at us from across the room. 30 seconds after that, he was silently grooming himself and then lay down to doze in the middle of the room.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Monday, December 4, 2017
Mr. Magoo: Full of silly
Hanging out at home on a Friday night.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Mr. Magoo: Cat of Mystery
I wonder what goes on in his head.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Saturday, December 2, 2017
Mr. Magoo: Some observations
Some observations from the first few days.
Observation 1: every time there is an unfamiliar sound, the ceiling must be checked for danger.
Observation 2: forward, backward, and changing directions are fine, but going over something or getting out of something is tough. He spent a lot of his supervised roaming time on Day Three getting in and out of the bathtub for no reason and it was clearly a struggle every time. Once he falls over, which happens any time he leans in to a chin scratch, he also struggles with putting himself back upright.
Observation 3: he likes attention and is affectionate, but he's not really a snuggler. Maybe it's because he has a hard time sitting still when there are so many things to run over to and sniff and pounce upon and stick his head in. I bet he'll be into cuddles in another year or two when a little bit of this youthful energy has burned off. Or maybe next week. He's been adjusting a heck of a lot faster than I expected him to, so what do I know?
Observation 4: sometimes he wants to be close to your face. It can be hard to tell if it's to play or to be picked up or sniff, but he'll make eye contact and threaten to climb my leg if I don't do whatever it is he wants me to do. I say "threaten to" because what ends up happening is that he'll dance around on his back legs that don't quite obey their instructions and wave his front paws, but never quite makes contact.
One of these times I got down on the floor just to be closer to his height because that's what he seemed like he wanted. I got this photo.
Then he purred and stepped on my face several times.
Observation 5: he is so very gentle! I clipped his claws the second or third day he was here, and while he did chew on my hand in protest, it was pinchy and not puncture-y. Even if he rears up with claws out in play, he doesn't really commit. He's all bluff, he's not trying to hurt. No hand or ankle attacks, either!
Observation 6: his fur is very soft and he builds up a lot of static electricity, the poor little dude.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Observation 1: every time there is an unfamiliar sound, the ceiling must be checked for danger.
 |
| Yeah, I know, he's probably listening to determine direction, but my version is funnier. |
Observation 2: forward, backward, and changing directions are fine, but going over something or getting out of something is tough. He spent a lot of his supervised roaming time on Day Three getting in and out of the bathtub for no reason and it was clearly a struggle every time. Once he falls over, which happens any time he leans in to a chin scratch, he also struggles with putting himself back upright.
Observation 3: he likes attention and is affectionate, but he's not really a snuggler. Maybe it's because he has a hard time sitting still when there are so many things to run over to and sniff and pounce upon and stick his head in. I bet he'll be into cuddles in another year or two when a little bit of this youthful energy has burned off. Or maybe next week. He's been adjusting a heck of a lot faster than I expected him to, so what do I know?
Observation 4: sometimes he wants to be close to your face. It can be hard to tell if it's to play or to be picked up or sniff, but he'll make eye contact and threaten to climb my leg if I don't do whatever it is he wants me to do. I say "threaten to" because what ends up happening is that he'll dance around on his back legs that don't quite obey their instructions and wave his front paws, but never quite makes contact.
One of these times I got down on the floor just to be closer to his height because that's what he seemed like he wanted. I got this photo.
Then he purred and stepped on my face several times.
Observation 5: he is so very gentle! I clipped his claws the second or third day he was here, and while he did chew on my hand in protest, it was pinchy and not puncture-y. Even if he rears up with claws out in play, he doesn't really commit. He's all bluff, he's not trying to hurt. No hand or ankle attacks, either!
Observation 6: his fur is very soft and he builds up a lot of static electricity, the poor little dude.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
Friday, December 1, 2017
Mr. Magoo: Day Two
Day Two is much improved from Day One! It's hard to get a handle on his body language because it's difficult to tell how much of what he does is intentional.
His energy level is directly proportional to his lack of focus. He is everywhere, constantly moving and sniffing and sticking his head in things and falling over and trying to jump and playing with this-thing-no-that-thing-is-better.
And then I tried to set up a cat cube and he helped.
He did this a few times – flop in, somersault around the inside, ooze out.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
He did this a few times – flop in, somersault around the inside, ooze out.
Mr. Magoo is being fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting him!
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