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!