Halloween!

Moose hat.

Today is Halloween, a holiday most widely celebrated by dressing up in costumes and giving out (or collecting up) lots of candy. How better to celebrate the day than by a post about Finnegan dressing up?

My earlier post on October 20th, Finny Flair, also featured images showing Finnegan in different outfits and told about the trend of "breading," a new, edible cat-clothing fad. Today's post, however, will take a different approach to cat costumes.

Sammie's Santa Costume.

Nearly every costume site now features outfits specifically made for pets. Some of the more popular halloween costume sites include Halloween Express, Party City, and Spirit Halloween. Even retailers not known for costumes will break out the pet-wear during this season. Examples of these sites include Petsmart, Target, and Toys R Us.

When I go shopping for Finnegan a new outfit, I usually have to look at the dog costumes, although Finny is clearly a feline. The reason for this is the fact that Finny weighs fourteen pounds and is over three feet long when he lays stretched out. For other cats that are considerably larger than the typical house cat, small and medium dog costumes will work very well.

This halloween, include every member of the household in the festivities. Some pets actually enjoy getting dressed up (especially if it's cold outside). Just remember to keep candy, especially chocolate, out of pets' reach. It can make them very sick if they eat it.

~RL

Cold Weather Snuggles

It's late October, and in central Georgia where Finny lives, the cold weather has begun to set in. With winds gusting up to twenty-five miles an hour and temperatures in the low fifties (Fahrenheit, that is), there's nothing Finnegan likes better than to stay indoors and cuddle on a blanket with his brother or me, Rebecca.

The Snuggles Project provides blankets to shelters to benefit the frightened animals, visitors, and staff. Animals are very afraid when they first arrive at an animal shelter, and also cold if they are taken in during the chilly months of the year. "Snuggles" help the animals to feel more at home and safe while the shelter's staff works to find them new homes. Blankets are also provided for visitors to make their stay more comfortable while they look for an animal to adopt.

Snugglesproject.org has lists of blanket patterns for people who enjoy knitting, crocheting, and sewing. Links provide ways for people to become involved and bring Snuggles to a local animal shelter.

Finnegan supports the idea of Snuggles for all his furry friends, especially during the cold holidays. Please take time to check out the Snuggles Project and consider helping out your local animal shelter.

~RL

Baby Blue Eyes

Blue eyes: a common trait for Siamese cats, and one that Finny and his brother Sammie share.

The CFA recognizes fourty-two registered breeds of show cats. Most of these cats can have blue eyes, which is somewhat surprising since blue-eyed cats seem rare. While all kittens are born with blue eyes, as the kitten grows up it's eyes usually change color.

Blue-eyed cats are becoming more popular in recent years, which has caused some breeders, like Blue Eyes Cattery, to specialize in breeding and selling cats with blue eyes.

Most white cats with blue eyes, like Finny, are deaf. Blue eyes, especially in white cats, is associated with albinism Tips-for-cats.com explains that "Blue eyes are caused by forms of albinism that lead to a lack of pigmentation in both the coat and the iris, and occur in cats with white coats. Blue-eyed white cats are often deaf as well."

This does not seem to be the case with Finnegan, who will run across the house after hearing his name, hearing the door open, or hearing the words "treat" or "dinner."

~RL

Time for a Catnap

Finny naps with his toy hedgehog.

According to the Merriam-webster Dictionary, a catnap is "a very short light nap." Now, any cat owner will see the irony of that definition when considering the fact that cats sleep approximately sixteen hours a day.

Cats are often found doing one of three main activities: playing, eating, or sleeping. In fact, sleep takes up so much of a cat's time that it occasionally overlaps with meals or playtime.

Finny falls asleep while playing.

Buzzfeed.com features an articled titled "The 25 Most Awkward Cat Sleeping Positions." The title says  it all. The article contains a list of funny ways cats sleep and instructions on how to mimic them, but warns to only attempt them if you are experienced at being a cat. If Finny were to write a sleep position article, it would sound something like this:


"The Neck-Breaker"

The point of this position is make it appear as if you have fallen from a great height. It is best to sleep this way in a large box or in your favorite chair.

"The Bowling Ball"

To achieve this position, tuck your tail up over your head and hide all four of your legs in on your stomach. Sleeping in this way helps to save space in small areas, such as in a tiny box (or on top of the back of an armchair).

"The Toe Stretch"

Reach your toes out as far as you can. The point of this position is to take up as much seating space as you can.

"The Human"

Try your best to imitate your human companions. Reclining in your chair and pretending to watch the TV helps to add authenticity to the pose.

~RL

If I Fits, I Sits

"If I fits, I sits" is a popular title and topic for many cat images, blog posts, and videos. This is because every cat seems to have the need to hide themselves into any container they find. It doesn't matter the size of the box, bag, lid, or any other open object--if they can fit, they will sit.

Finnegan's favorite places to hide and "sits" in are boxes, backpacks, and the laundry hamper (even when it is filled with dirty or clean clothes).

According to Knowyourmeme.com, "If I fits, I sits" comes from the United States Postal Service's slogan, "If it fits, it ships."

There have been derivative images called "If not for sits . . ." that show cats sitting on objects where they are not wanted as they ask why they are not supposed to sit there. Finnegan's best "if not for sits" moments are when he is lounging on a printer or a laptop.

"If not for sits . . . then why is it made of warms?"

If Finny fits, Finny sits!

~RL

Finny Flair

One of my favorite things to do is dress up Finnegan. He is such a good sport about it, even when he is forced to wear bandannas, costumes, ribbons, and dresses.

Humans have been dressing up cats for at least one-hundred years. TheFrisky.com reports that the earliest book mentioning people dressing up their pets is The Little Folks of Animal Land, published in 1915.

Although human clothing is the typical and traditional way to dress up pets, recently a new trend has emerged: breading. The UK site MailOnline posted an article titled "Has the internet completely lost it? Attempt to make dressing up cats with BREAD next web trend." The article explains the new fad of dressing up cats with bread borders around their face and bread on top of their heads like hats. The popular image titled "INBRED CAT" seems to have started the trend.

Much to Finnegan's delight, his outfits will not include bread anytime in the near future.

~RL

Brotherly Love

Finny has an older "brother" cat named Samwise Chance (Sammie). Although Sammie and Finny call each other brothers, they are actually cousins (Samwise's owner is my, Rebecca Lynch's, sister).

Samwise was the head cat of the house before Finny moved in. At first, Sammie and Finny didn't get along very well.

After the first few trying weeks were over, Sammie and Finny made nice and are now best buds.

Introducing new pets to current ones can be a difficult process. The Anti-Cruelty Society for animals provides helpful information on how to best introduce new pets to each other so that they will get along.

The Anti-Cruelty Society suggests for a cat-to-cat meeting to consider that, "A 'middle aged' cat, between eight to ten years is more settled and may be less active. Be considerate of these things when you are looking for a pal pet. A Spitfire ball of energy may not be much appreciated by this type of cat." This is the first and still constant problem that Finny and Sammie have. Samwise is calm, and Finny is a tornado of energy.

There are a few steps to introduce a cat to his new home and fellow felines.

1. Allow the new cat to adjust to his new surroundings before meeting any other animals.
This is done best by keeping him in a separate room.

2. Let the cats meet on opposite sides of a screen or through a small crack in the door.
Keeping the cats separate, but still close enough to where they can get used to each other's scent, is the best way to protect both cats.

3. Once the cats appear to be interested in each other and no longer feel scared, threatened, or angry when near the other cat, they can meet face to face.
Let the new cat out of the separate room and allow the cats to interact freely. Just watch from a distance and only interfere if they hurt each other seriously. Allow the cats to hang out with each other, but only when someone is home with them. While the humans are away, don't let the cats play--not until they are friends, that is.

4. Eventually, the cats will learn to like, or at least tolerate, each other and can be left alone together.

Another piece of advice from the Anti-Cruelty Society states, "Whatever happens, feel confident that your cats will work things out one way or another. Be aware that even cats who are well bonded to each other will sleep together, groom each other, and still have an occasional spat."

Finnegan and Samwise have worked out their differences, but they still get into little spats at times.

Brotherly Love

~RL

Tongue Tied

"Bite your tongue," "watch your tongue," "let your tongue speak what your heart thinks" (Davy Crockett), "give thy thoughts no tongue" (William Shakespeare), "tongue tied," and "cat got your tongue?" There are many sayings and quotes that pertain to the tongue. However, all of these sayings are difficult to follow if you can't keep your tongue in your mouth--which is a problem Finny seems to have while sleeping.

Cats let their tongue hang out of their mouths for many different reasons. Lovemeow.com answers concerned cat owners' questions about their loose-mouthed kitties by giving three explanations for why cats' tongues hang out of their mouths.

1. Grooming.
Sometimes while grooming a cat will forget to put it's tongue back into its mouth.

2. Relaxed.
Sometimes cats become so relaxed, like when they sleep, that their jaw hangs loose and their tongue sticks out.

3. Medical.
Sometimes a cat is actually unable to put its tongue back into its mouth because of a medical condition, such as jaw or breathing problems.

Although lovemeow.com is credible, Finnegan has a fourth point of his own to include.

"Bleh!"

4. Attitude.
Sometimes cats get annoyed and just want you to know that they are displeased with you.

~RL

Meet Finnegan (Finny)

Finny flirting

Finnegan Chase Chance-Lynch is a flame-point siamese cat, also known as a colorpoint shorthair by the Cat Fanciers' Association. Flame-point siamese (FPS) cats are distinguishable by both their appearance and personality, and Finnegan (Finny) is no exception.

FPS are large cats, with the males sometimes growing more than three feet long and weighing up to twenty pounds. Their bodies are cream or white in color with their tips (tail, feet, noes, and ears) a dusty-red or orange color.

The personality of FPS cats is a mixture from their Siamese and American Shorthair ancestors. FPS are extremely playful, loving, curious, and vocal cats.

Finny's unofficial birthdate is January 1, 2010, which makes him nearly three years old. I adopted him after he was abandoned July 2011, which makes his exact age unknown.

When he was rescued, it was discovered that Finny had already been neutered and had his front paws declawed. Because he is missing his main fighting claws, he has to live indoors permanently now. Even with this handicap, Finny still manages to climb any structure in his home and playfully tears up anything in his reach with his teeth.

I, Rebecca Lynch, will be updating Finnegan's blog for him because of his lack of thumbs and limited knowledge of the English written language.

~RL