So I got a little overzealous with my previous post (Fountain of Mew-th) and provided more of an educational perspective than a cat photo-based perspective. Education is very important and I'm glad it was an informative post, but I could tell that the cats felt left out. So I decided to do a spontaneous fun post today!
As I was browsing through my 5,000 recent cat photos (I'm not exaggerating), I realized that the cats are involved in literally every part of my life at home. They work out with me, they watch TV with me, and they now hang out with me on the deck.
I even let them pick out my outfit for a cat show once, but I'm not sure they will be doing that again; I got some very interesting looks. I will admit that for a cat show, their sense of style was on point.
What I never realized was how helpful all four cats are with household chores! They participate in everything from making the bed to pre-cleaning the dishes. Every single one is scared of the vacuum, though. I don't blame them. Orange likes to hide under furniture and Owen finds his cave when I HAVE to take the vacuum out. So sad!
So I've decided to make a little kitty compilation of all of the activities we do together at home. They are my four-legged little helpers. I hope you enjoy!
TIME TO MAKE THE BED
Fiona's favorite chore is making the bed and she is very good at it. First, we need to strip the bed, which is Fifi's favorite part. She is such a good helper!
Once the old sheets are removed, Fiona assesses her hard work and takes a quick rest.
When satisfied and rested up, Fifi makes sure that the mattress is clean and fluffed. We then put on the sheets, which can be exhausting. Fiona runs from corner to corner and removes all wrinkles in the process. So efficient!
After the bed has been made, we need to de-fur the comforter. Since we hate the vacuum, I use a rubber kitchen glove and Fiona points out all of the furry areas I miss. Any type of rubber glove works great to remove fur from fabric. You should try it some time. So much quieter than a vacuum and you get a great upper arm workout.
Once the bed is all fresh and clean, Fiona takes a few minutes to groom herself. And what is a better place to do that than a freshly made and de-furred bed?
We put the finishing touches on the bed (lots of fuzzy blankets and pillows) and everyone else comes to assess our hard work. Oliver rearranges some of the fuzzy blankets for optimal softness. I think it is kitty approved!
Owen tests out the bed first to make sure it is just as snuggly as before. He definitely approves!
However, Owen didn't realize that he was lying on a blanket that Oliver didn't get a chance to fix yet. Look at Oliver's face when he sees Owen snuggling on the wrinkly blanket!
Once Oliver finishes and has declared our bed-making task complete, we all pile on top for a little cat nap. This is the part that Orange likes best. One chore done for the day!
BATHROOM BREAK
Nobody loves organizing the bathroom, but we all pitch in to get it done. When Owen wants to participate without doing any of the dirty work, he keeps us company while he hides under the bathroom vanity. I don't know how he gets under there. He is a ninja.
Everyone's favorite task is folding and organizing the towels. Important steps include warming up the shelf prior to towel stacking, followed by towel "pressing" to remove wrinkles and make room for additional towels. I do the folding and the cats take turns doing the rest. This is some serious teamwork.
The only other bathroom chore worth mentioning is sink cleaning and this is Owen's specialty. Regardless of the sink shape or size, he will make sure all dust and fur is removed prior to scrubbing. Owen believes that scrubbing must occur right after dusting, so he patiently waits in the sink until I'm ready to scrub.
CHAOS IN THE KITCHEN
Before we discuss my kitchen craziness, I just have to show you this super adorable plate that I made on Shutterfly! I display it in my cabinet, but I totally use it all the time because it's so cute and perfect (and dishwasher safe!).
Okay, back to business. No matter what I do, the kitchen always seems to be messy. One day, I decided to totally reorganize the cabinets to try to decrease the clutter and bring some more zen to the space. It was a lot of work, but thankfully I had my own personal interior decorator with me. Fiona took it upon herself to check out all of the cabinets and helped me decide how to make the most out of the space. Fiona is the queen of organized spaces.
Now that the kitchen is organized, Fifi keeps a close eye on everything whenever I'm in the kitchen. What is the best vantage point to do this? The top of the fridge, of course. I've thought about putting a bed up there for her, but she only perches there to watch everything and we don't want her falling asleep on duty!
I do a lot more baking than cooking in my kitchen. I love making brownies and cookies and Oliver and Owen seem to have acquired a knack for baking as well. They like to double check my equipment before and after each use (don't worry, it is thoroughly cleaned after inspection) and make sure that my ingredients are fresh.
Oliver even decided to stick his head in a bag of flour once. That didn't go well for either of us, but at least I got a picture!
While the goods are baking, Oliver and Owen like to sit on the stove and absorb any warmth that may have escaped from the over. Don't worry - I have an auto-lock function on the stove that is always on when not in use. If I'm leave the kitchen, the cats always follow me so there is no unattended stove time.
Orange is in charge of inspecting all dishes and utensils after use to make sure they can be put in the dishwasher. Although I usually don't give the cats any table scraps, she does have a soft spot for milk and sometimes gets to lick my spoon when I'm done a bowl of cereal.
Fiona sometimes gets a naughty streak and likes to mess with me when I'm distracted. She decided to sit on my clean plate while I was getting my dinner ready one night. Needless to say, that plate went straight into the dishwasher. Maybe she was worried that it was actually dirty and was trying to protect me. We'll go with that.
YES, MY CATS HAVE THEIR OWN FOOD CABINET.
My cats have their own designated free-standing cabinet for their food, catnip, and medication. Oliver figured out how to open this cabinet when it had a knob instead of a handle, so I had to child-proof it for a while (aka velcro). Oliver would open the cabinet and Fiona figured out how to remove the lid from the dry food container, so everyone got a few free meals when I wasn't looking. Those two are way too smart for their own good. Double trouble for sure.
I recently redid the cabinet to match my kitchen. It is white (rather than ivory) and has a nice sturdy handle. I applied a black and white patterned contact paper inside to spice things up a bit. No one has broken into the cat cabinet so far ...
Cabinet restocking is a group effort. I like to stack the cans in alternating flavors so that the cats get a little variety. As a result, we need to open multiple cases and organize the cabinet accordingly. Owen helps me remember which flavor goes next.
He started doing this when he was a baby and was still getting kitten food (and hence had his very own basket of canned food). He takes his food very seriously.
Fiona reminds me when the dry food container needs to be cleaned and refilled. Since she figured out how to open the pop-lid container, I've recently transitioned to Snapware; if she can figure out how to open that, I'd be really impressed.
We buy our dry food in large bags since it is more cost-effective. I fill the airtight container, then store the rest of the dry food in sealed bags in the freezer. This keeps the food fresh for longer, but also helps to prevent overgrowth of storage mites. The same mite that can grow in your flour and grains can also find its way into open bags of dry pet food (and they are tiny so you can't see them). Some pets can even develop allergies to this type of mite (just like we can be allergic to dust mites). Thoroughly washing your container regularly (I do it each time before I refill it) and freezing excess food are very effective ways to combat these mites. Make sure to completely dry your container prior to use since mites like more humid environments.
There is a tradition in my house where everyone gets to investigate the empty food bag to make sure I haven't left behind any kibbles. Owen doesn't always partake, but likes to watch. I think they're secretly disappointed when they don't find anything, but they still have fun licking the inside of the bag. I do sometimes leave a few kibbles inside for them to hunt (and refill the pieces for each cat). The bag is disposed of right after (I don't want any unsupervised play or rotting food crumbs). It's always funny when their bodies line up with the face of the cat on the bag.
Okay, I think that's enough chore talk for one day. Stay tuned for a future post when I show you how talented the cats are at DIY home renovations!!!
Bonus: I caught Oliver and Fiona "cleaning up" some spilled Matzah one day when I came home from work. It wasn't even Passover. Who do you think opened the cabinet to find it and which one got into the box?
What great Helpers!
I'm really enjoying these Cat Tales!
Love, Grandma