The ABCs of Piglet: Part 2

Do you all want to keep learning the alphabet with Piglet? Sure you do! 

D is for Daddy, Dishes, and Driving

E is for Eating

F is for Flamingo!

 

The ABCs of Piglet

I just found an ABC scrapbook that I made for Piglet when she was just a kitten.

Well...no...I didn't really think I could teach my cat the alphabet. Okay, maybe a little. Not really. Yes.

Anyway - I figured I had 26 potential posts with this book. So welcome to the new feature: The ABCs of Piglet.

 

A is for Alpine Scratcher

B is for Box, Bed, Blanket, and Bath

 C is for Chess and Chair

Piglet on Catnip

Enjoy this video of Piglet all wired on catnip playing with her kick-a-roo.

Watch how she stops in the middle of attacking her toy because she is distracted by her own tail.

Do you Belong There?

Occasionally we find Piglet doing things that we believe she knows are expressly forbidden and yet she decides that it is more important to do what makes Piglet happy than to follow "rules."

Yesterday was one of those days.

Matt told me to quietly go into the kitchen where he had found Piglet on our bistro table soaking up the sun.

Just what do you think you're doing?

Close up of the offender.

Okay, fine, I'll go! 

Another Sing-a-Long with Piglet

To the tune of "I'm a Little Tea Pot"

I'm a Little Piglet

Short and Stout

Here is my Tail

Here is my Snout

When I get ticked off

Here me hiss

Pick me up and
 Plant a kiss

Or, in the absence of a photo of anyone kissing Piglet: dress her up in a silly costume instead.

 

Happy Birthday, Piglet!

Okay, so her birthday isn't until Monday, April 29th. That's only two days away, though, and unfortunately it doesn't fall on Caturday.

So today I am celebrating Piglet's 12th birthday!

Just one more year and Piglet will be a teenager! Scary. Just 4 more years and she'll be able to drive.

No, of course not. She's a cat, not a person. She can't drive!  

Check out Piglet when she was only 14 weeks old.

Happy Birthday, Piglet!  

A Post-Bath Fixing

Piglet is not a fan of her baths. After one she spends a lot of time trying to fix the damage I've caused. Check it out for yourself.

Little Ball of...Skin?

With all due credit and apologies to The Big Bang Theory.

Soft Kitty

Warm Kitty

Little Ball of Skin

Happy Kitty

Sleepy Kitty

Win, Win, Win

  

Little Kitty Sunshine

Sorry for the couple weeks away from Piglet's blog. We were on vacation and then there were back to back birthdays. Unfortunately, it was the cat blog that suffered.

So I thought today I'd share some photos of Piglet on the back of our new sofa soaking in the sunlight. It has been way too long a winter all over the country and Piglet is over it. She wants Spring! 

Look at those giant ears! 

Doesn't she look innocent?

Since Spring is here (or at least it better be!), we are planning our big move back into the Tiny House for the summer. I'll be sure to share more of Piglet's 120 Square Foot adventures! 

Why a Sphynx?

About 14 years ago or so Matt and I decided we wanted a pet. I had grown up with cats and Matt had grown up with a dog. Just one dog - her name was Ginger.

We didn't think we were in a position to get a dog because of the "responsibility" so a cat seemed like the best option. One major problem - I was incredibly allergic to cats.

I have asthma and at one time it was wildly out of control. Cats were a major trigger for me. (Now, a decade and a half later I can tell you that my asthma is well controlled with medication and I have very little problem around cats. And I live on a mountain that I climb every day - which I also wouldn't have been able to do at one time.)

We did a little research. We were looking for hypoallergenic cats. Well, here is something you should know. I hate the way people use the term "hypoallergenic" for animals. I think it is misleading and the truth is no animal is 100% allergen free. Now, what I will say is that some animals - certain breeds of cats and dogs - are easier to live with for those of us with animal allergies. One of those breeds is the Sphynx cat.

As you have probably gathered from reading Piglet's blog here, Sphynx cats are hairless. This means that while I am still allergic to her it is much easier to control my exposure. Piglet gets a bath once a week which helps cut down on the allergens in the house. On top of that she doesn't shed which would have spread the allergens around the house.

And even though most allergy and asthma specialists cringe when I say it, Piglet sleeps with me and I have no problems. In fact, I have trouble sleeping if Piglet isn't on me. 

While we were wondering if this was the right move for us we visited a breeder in Windsor, Ontario (Canada). We lived in Detroit at the time and she was the closest Sphynx breeder we could find. We went to her house and sat in the living room while she brought a little boy kitten and his mama out to meet us.

We were immediately in love.

We would have walked out of that house that day with a kitten...but they were so expensive. Sphynxes are a pretty rare breed and breeders can make a lot of money on them.

Instead, we put the idea on hold but we never stopped wanting a cat.

We continued to learn about Sphynxes and about responsible breeders and finally, a couple of years later, we couldn't resist the urge to get a kitten.

Sometimes I think we should have rescued a Sphynx but at the same time I wouldn't trade Piglet for the world so even though I support sphynx rescue I'm glad we have our Piglet.

Baby Piglet is the mischievous one in the middle.

When our kitten was 13 weeks old, Matt and I rented a Winnebago and drove out to central Pennsylvania where she lived with her breeder and her two sphynxie siblings. It was absolutely love at first sight. The Winnebago thing was a little excessive but we figured we would make an adventure out of it. We also went to Six Flags World of Adventure (which is no longer open) and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater on our way out.

Matt, who was still unsure he really wanted a cat, was smitten. He and Piglet bonded immediately - and he is still her favorite human today.

It was only after we bought Piglet home that we realized all of the other reasons to get a sphynx. Sure, she was easier on my allergies but she was also incredibly affectionate, insatiably curious, and remarkably smart. Piglet was perfect. Correction, Piglet is perfect.

In just a month and half she will be celebrating her 12th birthday. Now that I have a sphynx cat I couldn't imagine anything else.

Piglet is Demanding

Piglet is smarter than I ever hope to be. In last week's post I shared about how she has figured out light switches and how to be comfortable and warm at the same time.

This week, Piglet continues to prove that she is the smartest member of this household.

We just got a new couch in the city house. It is a really nice brown microfiber sofa that we find quite comfortable. In ever living room we've ever had there has been a blanket available for Piglet. However, when not in use we don't like to have it out. So, when there is no cat in the blanket we put it in one of those ottoman cubes that we have. We own two of them and use them for foot stools and a coffee table while lounging on the sofa.

Piglet not only knows that the blanket is in one of the cubes - she knows WHICH cube. Often, when one of us is on the sofa Piglet will jump up on to the cube containing the blanket and paw at the edge where it opens to ask us to get it for her. When you ask her what she wants she will meow. Then once the blanket is removed she expects the humans to help her get under it.

The other day Matt and I were both in the office. I heard meowing from another part of the house so went to investigate. Piglet will often tell us when something is wrong. I found her sitting on a cube in the living room. I asked her what she wanted and she meowed again. I checked her all over to make sure she wasn't injured or sick but I was way too dense to get it at first. I kept asking her what was going on and she just stood on the cube and meowed.

Then I realized what cube she was standing on.

I moved the cat, removed the blanket, and offered it to her on the sofa. She curled right up and stayed there the rest of the afternoon.

Close up of a Pig in a Blanket

The long view

Comfort and Heat FTW!

Over a dozen years ago when we were researching Sphynx cats before Piglet came into our lives we learned two very important things. On the seemingly arbitrary scale used by "cat people," Sphynx cats rated 1 in Independence and 10 in Intelligence.

These are very smart but clingy cats.

Piglet absolutely fits every stereotype of the Sphynx cat breed.

For instance, when we lived in a large home in East Cobb, Georgia the master bathroom had a heat lamp near the shower. The bathroom was long and narrow with a large counter that spanned the room ending next to the toilet which was next to the tub/shower combo. Near the door were three light switches. One controlled the overhead light, one controlled the light over the mirror and the third controlled the heat lamp by the shower.

Piglet, as you have learned on this blog, is a cat who loves heat.

It didn't take long for her to figure out that one of those switches turned the heat lamp on. And then she figured out WHICH switch turned it on. We would have to close the bathroom door when we weren't in it (or home) or we would come back to find piglet sitting on the toilet seat cover under the heat lamp which she turned on by herself.

What?

I love that she also brought her toy, "Ducky," in the bathroom with her while she was enjoying the heat. That is the small orange and yellow thing by the rug. 

So, as you've seen in the small city house here in Asheville, Piglet as pretty much glued herself to the heat registers on the floor. The house was built in 1948 and the heat registers are metal grates that kind of look like waffle irons. I keep thinking she will end up waffled after laying on them all day. Perfect grill marks like a Burger King burger. In our bedroom, I placed her little orange bed next to the heat register but she ignored it for the first two months. It wasn't warm enough, I'm certain.

Until the other day when I walked in to see this:

The bed AND the heat!  

It seems as though Piglet's very large cat brain has struck again. This is perfect - she can have comfort and warmth. Since that miraculous discovery we have found Piglet in this configuration every day.

Seriously, stop taking pictures of me on this thing...

It sounds crazy, but considering Piglet is getting up there in years (her next birthday will bring her up to the last pre-teen year of 12,) I am still sometimes amazed at how smart this cat is. The cognitive abilities she displays are pretty astounding...and sometimes frightening. Like she really could take over the world if she tried hard enough. She won't, though, because the monkeys give her treats and blankets so why do that much work? 

Chilly Days

It has been pretty cold in Asheville lately. It is February, after all. But here in the southern Appalachian Mountains the weather will be warming up before we know it. The daffodils are already peaking up out of the ground.

But as you have already seen, Piglet is not a cat who tolerates the cold.

Piglet doesn't go outside very often, especially in this weather, but when she needs to she is prepared. This is mostly thanks to my sister who is just about as crazy as I am. My sister knitted Piglet a scarf.

There is a little bit of glare at the top; but this is an old scrapbook page featuring Piglet's adorable yellow scarf. It is paired here with a hunter green kitty sweatshirt that I made for her.

By the way, it is really easy to make a sweatshirt for a sphynx cat. Use the sleeve of an old sweatshirt. Cut it about the length of the cat. Cut a half oval out at bottom of the back end for their back legs. Then cut two small arm holes near the cuff of the sleeve for their front legs. VEE-ola, instant sweatshirt. In case you ever find yourself needing to make one for your cat, hairless or not. You could even do that for a very small dog.

The scarf, on the other hand, requires actually knitting skills which I do not possess.

Piglet Unleashed...or, acutally, Leashed

A couple of weeks ago my cousin messaged me on Facebook.

Do you have a photo of Piglet on her leash you can post?

Well, as it turns out I hadn't taken any recent photos of Piglet on her leash. But then I remembered that when I was still living in Michigan I spent a lot of time scrapbooking with my sister and one of my closest friends. Since I have no kids I made a scrapbook for Piglet. Don't judge me. 

I dug it out of a box and as I remembered there was a layout of Piglet on her leash.

 

 These photos were taken when Piglet was about one or two years old. She absolutely loved going out for "walks" and by "walks" I mean "follows" or occasionally "drags."

Now that I have found Piglet's scrapbook just wait for the cuteness that will unleashed in weeks to come! 

A teeny snore...

Piglet was sleeping on my lap snoring. Moving as little as I could, I used my trusty iPod Touch to get a video of it. This was a pretty quiet snore - she's been louder. In fact there have been times her snores are so loud they've woken us up. But turn up your volume for a second and check out this sleeping kitty snore.

Seriously cute, right? It is hard to get a video of a sleeping cat, though, because it doesn't take much to wake them up.

In other news, this week Piglet drank some milk from my cereal bowl. Look at that little pink tongue!

Catur...Sunday..?

I've been sick. Nurse Piglet has been attentive, but that means I didn't get to post anything for Caturday. So here is a bonus Sunday photo of Piglet. I call this one "The Rock and Roll Sphynx Cat."

Caturday Photo

Here is Piglet in front of the heat register in our home in Atlanta. This is an on-going tradition.

Piglet Helps Me Blog

Piglet would like to thank everyone for coming to check out her blog on Saturdays...er, Caturdays.

She's been helping me with my writing. I have been diligently posting at Life in 120 Square Feet and I just took some time to revive my beer blog, Beer and Now. Oh, and she is also helping me with my first book, 120 Ideas for Tiny Living.

So I thought you might like some photo proof that Piglet was helping me.

Photo modified with Pixlr. Check it out, its fun.

Heat for the Hairless

Piglet is very happy that we've moved into a traditional house for the winter. She has always loved head registers. The house where we lived when she was a kitten was built in the 1940 and had a few old heat registers that were angled out from the wall. She would put her little paws up on the top of the register and scoot her little body up to it to maximize the heat to hairless cat ratio.

This house was built in 1948 and has floor registers which have become Piglet's favorite hangout. If you're looking for her, you'll probably find her there.

First I found her sleeping there

What do you want, Human?

Can't you see I'm sleepy?

What's this?

Okay, I'm awake now...and I'm vicious!