30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 24

Three things your pet hates.
[Mike]
I spend a lot of time with our Poof cat. I’ve really gotten to understand him and his communications. It’s pretty easy because after spending his first few years learning word association, he audibly communicates when he doesn’t like something. Often in plain English. 

Being a cat, his dislikes depend more on his moods than the action itself. When he doesn’t like something, he expresses it as “Nooo!”,  “Don’t” or even “I don't wanna!” 
When he isn’t feeling like showing off his impressive vocabulary, a quick swat of the paw expresses his displeasure. Here are the things that he hates:

1. Me lifting him up to his window shelf.
I installed a shelf halfway up the front door, so that Poof can jump up and look out the door's window. It's a little high up and sometimes I pick him up to put him up there to help him out. 
Sometimes he asks Crystal to help him, but when I do it - Oy! 
I’ll scoop him up and place him gingerly, down and he says “no!” or "don’t"! I pick him up very carefully; I’m not hurting him, he doesn’t mind being held and walked around, or placed on other shelves. I see it as sort of like a kid saying “No, Dad I can climb up myself!”

 2. Other cats.     
 Our large backyard is a regular stop for everything, from the neighborhood cats, to skunks and opossums on their evening prowls. When Poof senses any animal around, he lets us know by running around the house in a circle, so we notice and investigate. If he is looking out his screen door or his window and sees a cat however, he will immediately hiss, or even charge the screen door to make loud noise. Then he will ask for “out!” because he wants to go chase them away. A few times though, he didn’t get mad and seemed curious. Looking out the screen door and face to face with a cat just a few feet away outside; he tried to communicate. 
He meows to get the cats attention. If the other cat doesn’t respond, he says “hello?” in English, as if that might help. It's adorable!

3) People .     
The only thing Poof hates more than animals are people. He will growl just like mean dog if any of the neighbors in the cul-de-sac next to us walk by. Even if any of the neighbors on our property or a delivery person dare approach, he will growl like a dog and run around until he’s sure we notice. Not only that, but he meows until we look out, see who's coming, and assess the situation to indicate to him if it’s ok. While he doesn't particularly like the delivery man, he does love amazon deliveries as there is usually something for him most of the time. 

Those are just a few things Poof hates. (by Mike)

[Crystal]

Oh boy, where do I begin? First of all our pet is a 5-year-old Nebelung cat named Poof who we adopted as a stray kitten one rainy November night as newlyweds. 

I would say the #1 thing Poof hates is other people. Be it strangers, neighbors or family & friends he hates them all. He growls seeing them stroll up the walkway and then runs and hides under the bed like some kind of scaredy cat! The Amazon or Blue Apron delivery guy who knocks, the renter revving up his loud/toxic motorhome vehicle, or the side neighbors who walk their dogs - all hated. My dad used to look after our cat when we’d go on vacation and the sound of his booming loud voice always sent Poof huddling under the bed in terror.

Now, saying all that he has had his moments for the occasional quiet friend that swings by. He has a particular crush on our friend Vanessa and also on Sarah and acts like a real angel when either of them come by. (Although, they both have cats themselves and kinda sound like me) so he does have exceptions to the rule. I guess we need to work on his social skills more. 

#2 Poof hates the dreaded vacuum! (Doesn’t every pet?!) He’s super furry and so we vacuum the carpet at least once a day, but each time we just start to move his toys off the floor… he knows!  Again, he seeks sanctuary under our bed like a scampering little groundhog. But lately, he has become a little braver. If he’s chilling on his cat shelves - high above the living room floor, he might stay put throughout the entire noisy chore. We try to reward his incredibly brave behavior with compliments and treats, but it doesn’t happen too often. Sorry little guy - we like it clean in here!

#3 Lastly, Poof hates baths. Since he was a kitten, I’ve been taking him into the shower with me every other month to get all sudsed up and fresh smelling. Although he’s an indoor only cat, he gets dander (which Mike and I are allergic to) so into the shower he goes to keep our allergies under control and to keep his gorgeous coat looking it’s fluffiest! When I shut the bathroom door, he cries out to Mike “Help, help!” And “Nooo!” I’m serious. (We need to record his pathetic calls.)

But once the water warms up and we jump in, he’s pretty calm and he puts his head on my shoulder as I wet every square inch of him. I use a specialized cat shampoo that smells like fresh flowers and once he is all rinsed off, I squeeze his little limbs and wet tail of the excess water. Then I towel dry him, use a comb and hairdryer him on warm/low. The whole process takes about an hour and he is anxious to be out of the bathroom when it’s all done.

Afterwards, I can tell he’s much happier being clean though and the torture is worth it. I have never been bitten, or scratched before while bathing him (although I have been hissed at once or twice) lol. I am so glad we started this process while he was young. He’s such a good boy!

-Crystal Olguin 

September 25, 2017