GimletBlog

Late one night after Thanksgiving, we heard a scratching sound inside the bedroom wall.  Not a good noise!  The next day, The Gimlet inspected the roof and couldn’t find any holes.  We had pretty much justified the scratching as cat noises that echoed strangely in the house as if they were in our wall (but of course there really wasn’t anything in our wall, right?), but The Gimlet figured he’d better check the attic just in case.  As he opened the trap door, he was greeted by a shower of droppings:  we had houseguests.

A little reggae soothes the nerves

A second outdoor inspection turned up a very small, hard to find hole in the roof … but it was big enough.  The exterminator confirmed that we are hosting a thriving population of rats in the attic, who have depleted our insulation and filled the space with their droppings.  He did not tell us how many rats he estimated were in the attic, but he set ten traps and made an appointment to return in one week.

Recommended Reading:  The Church Mice Adrift from the Church Mice series by Graham Oakley.  This children’s picture book series about Arthur, Humphrey, long-suffering church cat Sampson and all the other mice who live in the Wortlethorpe Vestry is packed full of adventure and humor.  The super-detailed illustrations are a hilarious treat.  In Adrift, the mice and Sampson are forced out of the vestry by a pack of rowdy rats and must think up a cunning plan to get rid of the squatters and win back their home.

Meanwhile, Chinook and Nanaimo have been oblivious to the party in the attic, focusing their attention on the Christmas tree.  They compete to sit under it:  usually Nanaimo is clever enough to lure Chinook away from the tree by playing with a squeaky toy, and when Chinook runs over to investigate the noise, Nanaimo quickly takes his place under the tree.  Lately Chinook has been taking the low road to secure his territory:

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(Cross-posted on Sinister Craftiness.)

Apparently Nanaimo was jealous of all the attention Chinook has been receiving for his recent illness (two car rides to the vet, nightly pills and gel in a syringe) so he has one-upped his housemate by sneaking into the craft room and swallowing an embroidery needle.  Nanaimo’s fondness for thread has been previously documented on the blog, but Your Humble Narrator spent over an hour crawling around the downstairs on hands and knees, hoping the needle would turn up, before admitting her most dread suspicions and calling the veterinarian.

The X-rays confirmed our fear:

A variety of options for removing the needle were presented but none seemed to be as effective as surgery.  With a heavy heart and light wallet we left Nanaimo at the veterinarian’s office to be operated on later that afternoon.

The veterinarian called us after the surgery to let us know that it went very well.  The silk thread which had tempted Nanaimo in the first place had wrapped itself around the needle like a cocoon, preventing the needle from doing any damage to his insides, but also causing it to lodge tightly in his stomach, so surgery really was the only option after all.

The next day, Your Humble Narrator and Kitty Grandma (also known as Hå to her human grandchildren) visited the patient.  Nanaimo was pretty miserable but calmed down a little when he recognized his family, and the visit seemed to comfort him. We also collected the souvenir needle.

Wednesday morning Nanaimo came home with a row of stitches on his shaved tummy (which should help him stay cool this summer) and wearing a “cone of shame” to protect his stitches.

Now he, too, has pills to take and follow-up visits to the veterinarian.  Chinook gave Nanaimo the once-over and fled from him as though he were a space alien, or perhaps he recognized the scent of the vet’s office.

By our reckoning, Nanaimo has used up at least three of his nine lives thus far.  The Gimlet hasn’t decided whether this incident should be categorized under the the pet budget or the embroidery budget, but he is determined to get as much enjoyment as possible out of Nanaimo stumbling around, bumping into furniture and walls, or futilely trying to chase the light reflecting off the collar snaps.

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Last Thursday night Chinook had an upset tummy and was unusually lethargic and unresponsive the next morning, so he spent Friday morning at the veterinarian.  He doesn’t appear to have eaten anything permanently damaging (we learned early on that Chinook has never met a packing peanut he could resist, and keep an eye on him whenever a package arrives) and thanks to antibiotics, he began to come around Sunday morning.

By the end of the holiday weekend he was eating again and playing with his favorite (safe) toy.  He is still resting more than usual, which is difficult to tell with a cat, but there’s definitely a difference between normal catnaps and a sick cat lying listlessly on the floor.  In this photo he is back to climbing up to his favorite napping spot on our bed, which he wasn’t able to do all weekend.

Nanaimo celebrated the invalid’s return to activity by jumping on Chinook and trying to wrestle.  Even now, while Chinook is napping, he is staying close by on the windowsill.  He has missed his buddy.  (And Nanaimo wants his fans to know that he is feeling just fine, by the way.  Thanks for asking.)  We’re all glad that Chinook is on the mend.

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Nanaimo: Do I look like I’m about to jump into this basket of laundry, fresh from the dryer?  Would I ever do such a thing?

Chinook: Yes, I am as soft as I look.  You know you want to rub my tummy.

Surely you can think of better captions than these.  Leave some in the comments!

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Editor’s Note: Cross-posted from Sinister Craftiness.  The Gimlet thought this was worth sharing on both blogs.

This is a ball of #8 perle cotton.

This is Nanaimo.

After we leave to run errands, here’s what happens when the two combine.

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We’ve seen sharp-shinned hawks around the city in the past, but our first up-close encounter occurred a few weeks ago, when I opened the front door and was startled to see one perched in the camellia shrub just a few feet away.   The behavior of this little raptor (at 9-13″, just smaller than a crow) is described in Birds of the Puget Sound Region as follows:

Feeds almost exclusively on birds, often near bird feeders.  Bursts forth from hidden perch to surprise prey in low, rapid flight.

Who says field guides can’t be thrilling reading?

Those of us who watch nature shows have a pretty good idea what’s coming next, but for everybody else, cue ominous music …

This morning I saw the hawk standing in the front yard.  Hmm; odd to see it out in the open like that …  A closer look revealed that it had successfully obtained some breakfast from our bird feeders.  Judging from the bill and feathers, today’s early bird special was most likely a dark-eyed junco.  The full-size photo is probably not for the squeamish.

Meanwhile, indoors our mighty hunter Nanaimo, growling triumphantly, trotted around the house with Thing One’s new coonskin cap firmly in his jaws.

Days like these make us thankful for opposable thumbs and a high brain to body mass ratio.

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A few images from our multiple snowstorms:

The view up the street

Brr for the birds
(The chickadee in the top photo tried to nibble on that frozen apple,
but didn’t have much luck.)

A good day to stay home

but some of us have to go to work
(We’re especially thankful for the Gimletmobile and its 4WD,
without which we would have been completely stuck!)

A cozy spot

Kittens watching the snowstorm
(There can never be too many kitten pictures on a blog)

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In a time-honored holiday tradition among household pets, Nanaimo and Chinook drink deeply from the wassail bowl we have so thoughtfully provided.  What is it about that evergreen-flavored water that they crave?  They probably ask the same question about our eggnog.

The guys haven’t cooperated for a portrait of both of them together on the hearth, so these two photos will have to do.  Chinook hopes Santa will bring him some smoked salmon for Christmas (he’s living up to his name and loves the tidbits snuck to him when The Gimlet isn’t watching) but will settle for any cookie crumbs Santa drops during his visit.  While waiting for Santa’s visit he satisfies his mooching urges by cleaning up after Thing Two’s snacks.

Judging from his size (and he’s only six months old!) you might guess Nanaimo has already polished off Santa’s cookie plate, and perhaps the jolly old elf himself, too.  But unlike Chinook, Nanaimo doesn’t beg for treats.  Nanaimo would like his very own sewing basket for Christmas, filled with balls of perle cotton (#8, please) to knock off the table and bat around the room.   Given his fondness for embroidery, and some of his other holiday escapades, there is some question whether Nanaimo will be on Santa’s “nice” or “naughty” list.

Looking angelic in an effort to butter up Santa, Nanaimo is large enough to play the parts of all the manger animals in our childproof and kittenproof creche.

It wouldn’t be the holidays without dressing up the pets and children!   The kittens looked so handsome in their green velvet jingle ruffs, but it would appear the Things had more fun than the kittens did.  Note the classic limp pose, typical of the Ragdoll breed, especially when being humiliated.

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