MSI Press Blog

Well, we were 11 a month ago. Now we are 9 and soon to be 7. A guest, Nellie, went home to her mama after just a week's stay. Her siblings, Ella and Ebony, will go home soon to their mama's new home, which was still being built when she moved away as our next-door neighbor -- and it was important to keep the cats in known territory until they could get to permanent new territory. And then, on February 8, our beloved Happy Cat succumbed after a four-month struggle with a brain tumor. Seven, nine, or 11 does not matter. Our snake is always the charmer for keeping cats in order, stopping any cat spat, and even herding cats as a group in the direction they need to go. Meet our snake: Duster. Duster is a can of air spray for cleaning computers. It puts out a hissing sound just like a real snake, and cats do not like snakes. All the cats scat not only when they hear Duster, but even upon seeing Duster. Often, I just need to hold it, and they calm right down. And, in a desperate momen...

  A cat rescuer friend called urgently. She had just been told by the local shelter that she had to take back and find a barn or some safe street local (Those exist? Right?!) for the tiny kitten who was "unadoptable." He was so scared in his tiny cage that he would not move from one spot -- not to eat, and, ugh, not to pee. Could I take him, asked my friend? After all, I do have a reputation of domesticating feral cats and integrating new cats into our healthy, bonded cat family.  I thought I was at the limit of household cats - 6. But the house is big, and one never notices the lot of cats because we have a cat room and a catio as well as five other rooms. And they are quiet, well integrated, happy. I am pretty good with the patience required to integrate a new or shy or feral cat with the others. So, the little black-and-white kitten moved in. We called him Moo because his coloration was that of a Holstein cow.  Within a couple of hours, he was following Bear aroun...