Persian's Transformation

Fat Cat with a very large belly

 Persian came to us in her adult years and we lovingly called her Fat Cat.  She was a beautiful California Spangled with such soft fur.  The only problem with her was that she was so fat that she couldn't keep herself clean.  As a result she would cough up hairballs and had problems digesting her food.

When Persian first arrived at our house she hid on the third floor and it took weeks of coaxing by my son to get her down to the second level.  She finally made it to the first floor but ran for the under side of the beds if someone rang the doorbell.

She loved to play with strings but being so fat she played for a few minutes and then would take a nap.  Since she was so fat and so lazy I thought I would try the much advertised Cat's Meow Toy to get her moving more.

She took to the toy immediately and over the next few months started to lose some of her weight.  The moral of this story is that there is a means for every end.  

Persian on the deck in her harness

This cat has been with us now for almost five years.  When she does her sphinx pose, she looks almost as heavy as she was when she came, but when she is walking around you can see that she has trimmed down.  

She plays more and even though she has always loved to follow and grab at strings.  Now when she plays she leaps in the air after the string that my son tied to an old blind rod and followed it for a longer period of time.

When I sat on the deck she became very vocal inside the storm door and sometimes stood on her back paws to let me know she was there and would like to come out.  I started taking her out on the deck on a harness because I tried letting her out without it and she got through the railings and went under the deck.  I'm sure she couldn't have done that when she first came.  That harness didn't fit her until she trimmed down and is no longer FAT CAT.

In June last year, our beautiful Persian quit eating and we had to take her to the Vet.  Since she was already 16 years old I felt it was best to let her go peacefully.  The vet said she had a liver disorder and she agreed with us.  We will miss our transformed, friendly and needy to the point of greedy girl.  Rest in peace Persian.

Winter 2018 UPDATE for Winged Visitors

It's the middle of January and my feeders are out there in the freezing cold.  I've had to thaw out my awnings to get to the feeders so I can fill them.  The birds just keep coming and coming.  I don't know where they all came from because I have never had this many birds at my feeders in past years.

Last year's season was productive and I saw a variation of adult sparrows feeding their chicks.  There are so many that my neighbors are starting to complain about all the droppings in their yard and on their porches.  I can't blame them because it's getting out of hand and I've started only feeding them once a week.  One of my friends told me that last winter was so mild that the birds had a better chance to mate and hatch new fledglings.  This year is going to be hard on them though.

Snow covering seeds on flat bird feeder

There is so much ice that I have to get out there and knock down the icicles from the corners of the gutters and the ones that are actually hanging off the square bird feeder.

early morning male cardinal in the snow

This week, my cardinals came back and I see one midsize male and female at the square feeder.  I'm particularly happy to see them because I lost a loved one last year and cardinals are supposed to symbolize their return to let you know they are okay.

Mourning Dove waiting turn at the feeder

Yesterday, I saw the cowbird at the square feeder and there are a couple of mourning doves.  I'm so glad to see them since this year has been so cold and we have had so much snow.

I get the greatest feeling of accomplishment when I spy a new breed of visitor to my gardens and bird feeder.

UPDATES

 At the end of January, I spotted the Chicadee at the feeder and then I heard the Bluejay.  A few minutes later it was there at the feeder, grabbing the nuts and flying away again.

Blue Jay with male and female Cardinal at feeders

I never knew that starlings stayed here over the winter but yesterday there was one at the feeder enjoying the mix of nuts and seeds.  The mourning doves come and go but there are now two of them at a time where earlier on there was only one that I saw.

I've removed the screen from my window so that I can get some more pictures and will load them as I'm lucky enough to get them.