Dag 48: Halley and the little bird

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Dag 48: Halley and the little bird

To feed the wild birds, we hang a seed bell on the outside of the balcony netting. Morning, noon and evening various birds land on the bell and peck to their heart's content.

While some birds eat in peace and quiet, there is one little fellow who’s a real loudmouth. He’s the smallest bird that visits the bell, but he can be heard all over the place. Whether I’m in the kitchen, bathroom or bedroom, when he visits I know about it.

Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who hears him, so do the cats. While Charlotte and Holly couldn’t care less, Greyson and Halley run like hell when they hear of his arrival.

If you think the little bird is scared of the cats, think again, he sits there on the bell, taunting Halley and Greyson. It’s like he knows they can’t get to him and he takes full advantage of it.

Today was no different, the loudmouth got hungry, paid a visit to the bell and started chirping his little heart out. Halley raced outside and jumped on the ledge to take a closer look. While Halley looked at the bird, the bird looked at Halley.

Changing to stealth mode, Halley crept closer and closer, no doubt wondering what this bird would taste like as an early lunch. I told her to save herself the trouble. This bird was little more than bones and feathers. I mean, if she was stalking a pigeon, I could understand her quest, but this bird was even smaller than a canary.

Still, Halley crept forward, eyeing her prey, all the while chattering. 

“If you want to catch him," I told her (not that she could because of the netting), “you better keep your mouth shut.” I do wonder though what she was saying … “Hold on birdie?”, “Sit still birdie?”, or “I’m coming for you.” Whatever it was, it didn’t work. After the bird had his dinner he hopped off the bell and flew away.

Halley stared after the birdie. Visibly disappointed. I could have comforted her with 'Better luck next time' but that is not gonna happen. Not now, not ever. The safety netting will see to that.  
        

Day 49: Losing weight

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 49: Losing weight

Everybody knows that carrying extra weight is not good. There’s the risk of heart attack or stroke, diabetes, certain cancers, gallbladder disease, and quite a few others.

For people, there are various ways of losing weight. They can change their diet, reduce their intake of sugar and alcohol, and start exercising. But how does one manage weight loss in animals?

I have two male and two female cats, and while the males are of a perfect weight, the females are overweight. I talked to the vet about this and he said that there’s little or nothing to be done about it. Females, especially after being spayed, tend to get chubby.

This is Holly as a kitten ...

But as you can see, now she is on the chubby side. 

When I took her to the vet, he suggested feeding her by way of the catmosphere. The idea is that if the cat wants the food that is inside, she has to roll the sphere around and nibbles will fall out. Well, that didn’t work. Not only did my cats not roll the sphere around, they wouldn’t even go near it. When I showed them what to do, they took off. They were scared of the ball.

Adjusting Holly’s diet is impossible too. I can’t very well let her go hungry or present her with a salad. Cats need meat. So, in addition to canned cat food, I started buying weight management nibbles. It didn’t have any effect. Holly’s weight stayed exactly the same.

So now I’ve resorted to exercising Holly. We play with toys and whenever possible we take walks up and down the 11th-floor corridor of the condo building. It doesn’t always work though, as my neighbor has a large dog with a frightening bark. One woof out of him and Holly runs back inside.

So now we’re exercising inside. Running, jumping, and of late … sit-ups. You don’t believe a cat can do sit-ups? See for yourself …

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