Dusty’s Got a Bathroom Door.

Step 1: Cut hole

Our cat Dusty who is now 15 years old is getting lazy.  She has always been an outdoor cat and has never had any health problems.  She can still climb trees and is very good at catching mice and moles and sometimes chipmunks.  She would always go outside to “do her business” although she prefers it when I’m out there with her (especially in winter).  The only time we set out a litter box is when we go away for a few days and our neighbor Martha comes over to feed and check on Dusty.

Previously if Dusty wanted to “go” she would let me know because she can talk.  However this summer I would go downstairs in the morning and sometimes notice cat pee and perhaps more on the dining room floor.  It seems Dusty got the notion that this was the area to go even when the litter box was not here. We tried many things to break her of this newly formed habit.

First, I tried holding her nose close to the scene and yelling in a deep voice…bad, no, bad Dusty, I would tap her on the nose three times and put her outside.  This did not work.

Second, we have this plastic owl I traded for at a Yankee Swap Christmas party a few years ago. The owl has a motion detector so when someone walks by it the eyes flash bright green and it bleats out a rather loud WHO…WHO,  WHO…WHO, etcetera for 20 seconds or so.  It seems that the owl and the pussycat have a pact however.  Dusty would step in front of the owl, do her business and the owl never let out a peep until we would walk by it.  It didn’t matter what angle or position we put that owl it was not going to give her up.  

Third, Lauren read or heard that cats don’t like the sound or feel of Aluminum foil under their feet.  So we began to foil our floor in this area.  It was very shiny and… it didn’t work.  Dusty considered the foil a perfect spot to do her business.

We finally gave up and set up the litter box in the utility (furnace) room off of the kitchen.  Although it’s a fairly warm room because of the furnace we did not want to keep the door open all the time so it was time to install a “cat-door”.   This was relatively easy to do.  First, cut a hole the right size through the door and then install the door.  This particular cat door has a clear plastic flap with a magnet on the bottom that holds it in place until the cat pushes against it.  Dusty does not understand this concept yet.  Even though we would open the flap a bit for her she would not push against it to go through on her own.  I have seen her pull full size doors open with her paws but this plastic flap confounds her.  So I took off the flap (for now) and she jumps through the hole when she needs to.  For this I could have just left the first hole I cut in the door as is and saved $25.00

Next I should think about putting a door on our bathroom.  That’s a story for another day. 

Step 2: Install Cat Door

Dusty’s Alive!

Lauren called me last night about 10:00 pm from Massachusetts and in a very excited voice said “Some woman has Dusty!” That was a shocker for both of us. It has been six weeks since we last saw Dusty and we had final come to accept that she wasn’t going to be in our life anymore. Boy she proved us wrong.

Sarah called Lauren after she was able to lure Dusty into her garage with a can of tuna fish and read the tag on her collar which fortunately remained around her neck. I called Sarah right back, got directions to her house and booked it over there. I couldn’t believe how far Dusty had travelled and I couldn’t believe she was still alive. Sarah and (Dave…I think) live over by Rabbit Road off of Route 26 which is four and a half miles from our house on the other side of town. They were so kind and concerned and were keeping a close eye on her until I arrived.

As soon as I went in their garage I picked her up and said “Dusty…where have you been?” in kitty talk and she immediately started purring. She hadn’t forgotten me. After thanking Dusty’s “Guardian Angels” we drove back home and Dusty chowed down a whole can of cat food. She remembers the house and me and I think she’s wondering where Lauren is. She’s lost some weight and feels boney. I don’t have a scale but I would guess she lost about 3 pounds and because I know she was only 10 pounds before she feels light at 7 pounds. She has a little patch of fur on her head that looks like it got scraped off somehow and is growing back. She has been SO “lovey-dovey” since she came back. She slept on me and tight against me all night long and every time she woke she would talk to me to be sure I was still there and I had to pat her and talk back before she would go back to sleep. She’s wiped out and has been sleeping most of today but every now and then when she wakes she rubs against me, jumps on my lap and relishes every pat I give her. I can tell she is really happy to be home and we’re really happy she made it. If she could only talk what a story she could probably tell us.

Welcome back….you little bugger.

Good Bye Dusty Noel

It’s time to say a proper good bye to Dusty Noel our cat of 11 years. She’s been missing for about one month now and given the deep woods which are located behind our house and the variety of creatures which live in those woods, the likelihood that she was caught as prey by one of them seems high. It’s been a sad thought for us these last few weeks. Dusty seemed to have had more than 9 lives. She was an indoor/outdoor cat and did pretty well herself catching the mice, moles, and unfortunately birds around the neighborhood.

She came into our life very shortly after our previous cat Rachel had passed away of old age one weekend. If I remember correctly Amber’s friend Claire Guidry knew someone who had young cats or kittens out behind their house and the family wanted to find a home for them and Claire was the temporary caregiver of Dusty. A cat was the last thing I wanted after our other cat died but Lauren and the girls decided to “surprise” me after work one night and picked me up with our “new” kitten in the car. It’s not easy arguing with daughters who want a kitten. So Dusty became part of the family.

Over the years Dusty and I built a symbiotic relationship where early in the morning mostly just before dawn (if it wasn’t cold and raining) Dusty would rustle around letting me know she wanted to go outside and my bladder said you might as well, you need to pee anyway. So that’s how it worked many a morning. She related to each one of us in the family a little differently. I think we all agree she seemed to like Amber the best maybe because Eva’s music was a little LOUD during those days. Dusty was a well travelled cat and when we moved to California she flew out in cargo and adapted to the life style of big apartment living in San Diego. She remained an indoor/outdoor cat there and when we lived at The Villas of Renaissance it was on the fourth (top) floor, so we would walk down the hallway, open the door at the fire escape and she would walk down the four flights of stairs and hang outside in the tropical shrubs and landscaping at The Villas all day long. Sometimes when we were at the pool or hot tub she would know and come around to visit us. At the end of the day I would jingle my car keys at the top of the fire escape stairway and she would come up and in for the night. We lived in three different apartments in San Diego and each one she adapted to quite well. One night Lauren saw a coyote chase her up a tree upon which I climbed up later to get her down from the tree.

When we left San Diego this past winter she ended up being my sole travelling companion in the cab of the Penske Truck for more than 3,000 miles and a full week of driving. At night she would let me know if the hotel/motel room was to her liking. She preferred the Hampton Inns over the Motel 6 and so did I.

When we made it to Massachusetts we left her there in Magnolia with Amber, Tommie and Maya (and Frank and Joan) for a few months until we were able to go back down to pick her up and bring her to her “new” home here in Bethel. It didn’t last long….three weeks…and the last time I saw Dusty she was out behind the Barn with me around 8:00 PM as I was gathering kindling wood for a campfire we had.
Ah Dusty….we all miss you, you little bugger. Rest in Peace.

Spring is here!

I guess once you cut your lawn for the first time of the season it has to be spring. I cut my lawn for the first time last Saturday with the new Honda lawn mower I bought. All I can say is the lawn mower is wicked nice and my lawn seems wicked big. It’s looking nice after I made the cut and raked up all the twigs and thatch in the lawn. No sooner did I finish that and about 200 dandelions popped up out of the lawn two days later. Some people consider dandelions weeds but I actually like them. I think they look beautiful with their bright round yellow heads in contrast against a dark green lawn. I don’t intend to purposely get rid of them except when I mow them down next time. But I won’t dig them up or put weed killer on them. Give me dandelions any day just take my bamboo.
So new events since the last time I wrote would be; I paid my taxes so now I’m broke, our neighbor caught a raccoon that was rummaging around our barn in a Hav-a-Hart trap and relocated it for us, and we now know we have a Porcupine that comes into the barn because I’ve found two quills recently where it seems it has a fondness for the wood which is part of the stairs. It just chews away on the wood. We joined the Bethel Historical Society and attended a talk there two weeks ago.
We also joined the CSA at Middle Intervale Farm in Bethel. If you don’t know, a C.S.A stands for Community Supported Agriculture and what it really does is build a relationship between you and the farmer who grows the food you put in your mouth. When I go to the “supermarket” I have no idea who grew the lettuce, tomatoes, and asparagus or raised the beef I bought to eat. At the CSA I do know. Cynthia Flores and her helpers grow the veggies and John Carter raises the Angus cattle for the beef. The other benefit is the food we purchase here will only travel 3 miles back to my house before I eat it and not a few hundred or a few thousand miles. So with the CSA you pay them some upfront money and commit that you’ll be a customer and for that they give you a dividend of extra food. For example $150 will buy us $160.50 worth of food so it’s equal to a 7% dividend. This farm has a wonderful farm stand where it’s done on the honor system. You select your items, write down your name and amount and leave the cash in the cookie tin unless you’re a CSA member where you just log your purchase. Lauren and I went there yesterday because they just opened for the season. We bought some fiddleheads and some Angus T-bone steaks for the grill and had a feast. Yum!
We finally went to Massachusetts on Monday to pick up Dusty our cat that was staying with Amber, Tommie and the in-laws. It’s been two nights in Maine and I think she likes it. She has new places to explore, new smells to smell and maybe she even missed me and Lauren.
Today a young deer crossed over our lawn and then went across the street to the brook and golf course but Dusty missed that sighting. Finally the picture of the Turkey above Lauren took on Monday in front of Rite-Aid which is the busiest intersection in Bethel…..not that we have a lot of busy intersections to choose from. We’re enjoying spring and hope all of you are too!

Cry for Help!

Help! My name is Dusty Noel and I’m stuck in a big yellow truck that says “Penske” on the side. I’ve been in this truck for three solid days. My owner Peter puts me in the truck in the morning and then just drives all day long. I don’t know where the heck he is going? At night we stay in motels, which is okay though I prefer the Hampton Inn over Motel 6. The bed is more comfortable and the décor is nicer. Anyway, last night we stayed at a Motel in Van Horn, Texas and tonight we’re staying at another motel in Texas AND we drove all day? What he’s doing, driving around in circles? I try to talk sense to him first thing in the morning while he’s drinking his coffee and driving and all he says is “Oh it’s okay Dusty” in that voice like he’s talking to some little kid. He’s just not listening to me. You know, I’ve heard his wife Lauren say that to him and now I know it’s true.

It’s getting cold around here. I just want to go back to my warm canyon in San Diego. Where is this nutcase taking me? Amber, I know you read this blog sometime. Please come rescue me. I’m at the La Quinta Inn in Rockwell, Texas, Room 310.

TRAVELS WITH DUSTY-Day 1-San Diego to Tucson, AZ

Sunday January 10, 2010 was the first day our road trip from San Diego, California to Bethel, Maine for Dusty (my 10 year old cat) and me. After packing the last of our belongings in the 26 foot Penske Truck from our apartment yesterday we spent our last night at the Villas of Renaissance in UTC in a furnished corporate rental. The Villas is a very nice apartment complex where we lived for more than three years when we first came out to San Diego. Lauren and I soaked our aching muscles in the big Hot Tub while Eva came over to visit and say good bye. It was an appropriate San Diego send off; a Hot Tub and a bottle of Long Board Red Wine. Before leaving I gave Eva my San Diego tool box with a good assortment of Craftsman screwdrivers, a couple of pliers, hammer, tape measure and a cordless Black and Decker Portable Drill.
Lauren said good-bye to me and Dusty Sunday morning after breakfast and we were off. The big question was how Dusty would do because she usually pees, poops, and sometimes throws up within the first 3 miles of any car trip she has ever taken. Well I’m pleased to report she made it about 8 miles before she peed and pooped. So I pulled over and changed the liner in her pet carrier and rolled down the truck window. She meowed pretty constantly for about one hour and then once she realized she wasn’t going to the veterinarian (her worst nightmare) she actually stopped and started to relax.

It was just about noon when I saw the IN-N-OUT sign from Interstate 8. I was hungry and I thought who knows when the next time I’ll be able to eat an IN-N-OUT Burger will be? After eating my cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate shake in the cab of the truck I tried to see if Dusty was thirsty. Instead of drinking she just wanted to get out of her cage. So I let her check out the cab and she immediately went under the seat beneath me and stayed there for the rest of trip which was about 5 more hours. During the trip we had to stop at two US Border Patrol checkpoints where the questions were basically the same: Are you a US Citizen? Yes. What do you have in the truck? My personal belongings. Are you moving? Yes, to Maine. Thank you. Have a good day Sir. The second agent asked me one more question though that had me thinking. Are you a Border Patrol Agent? No I said and started driving away. Now why would he ask me that I asked myself and about 30 minutes later it dawned on me? Maine. Maine has an international border. Ironically I sold my car earlier this week to the wife of a Border Patrol Agent. When I told her we were moving to Maine she said “we almost moved there because of my husband’s job.”
Dusty and I drove into Tucson about 7:00 pm that night and checked into the Motel 6 because I had already looked it up and knew they were “pet-friendly”. I had some Chicken Pad Thai at the Miss Saigon Bar & Grill next door and then hit the hay. America is an interesting place.