March 21, 2013

Favorite Things Friday, Cat in a Carrier and Friskies

I don't usually post a Favorite Things Friday because I never can remember to do it. But I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time, for over a month in fact, so I couldn't wait to post about it. If you recall, the last time I had to take Buddy to the vet, it took me almost five hours just to get him sedated enough to get into the crate. If you missed that experience, you can read it here. I decided that day that I would never go through that again, and the next day I started carrier training. Since it was Buddy, the hardened, trap wary, former feral cat, the training would have to slow and devious.

I took the carrier apart and put just the bottom under a table in the garage, with the self feeder for his dry food in it. At first he was really jumpy, but a hungry cat has to eat, so he stretched in as far as he could, grabbed some food and got out. Since he was so trap wary, he would only do that when we were far away. But he soon loosened up and I gradually added one side, then another, and another. By the time I had the top on, he was staying in there to eat and would let us pet him while he was in there. It spooked him when I put the gate on, and he went back to stretching over to the food, but that didn't last long and soon he was walking in and sitting down to eat. You can't see it, but the gate is tied back so it can't close on him.



The self feeder is in the very back of the carrier, turned sideways to make it harder for him to get. That worked well, but he only went in when he wanted to; I needed him to go in when I wanted him to. Then I started giving his treats in there. The first treats I ever bought for him were Temptations.  He likes them really well, and I never felt the need to try anything else. But one day there was a little package of Friskies treats in the bag of Friskies cat food I bought. I didn't think he would like them since he was happy with the Temptations, but I was so wrong. These things are the greatest treats ever, or so thinks Buddy.



Where he would see the Temptations in the carrier and stroll in to eat one or two, he became excited the second he saw the Friskies package and rushed into the carrier before I could even get all of them out of my hand, gobbling every morsel until they were gone. Friskies calls them Crispies. We call them Kitty Cocaine.

I'm linking up with Shay's Favourite Things Friday.

Disclaimer: I received no compensation for the mention of any products on this page nor do the companies mentioned even know I wrote about them.

I have a question for fellow quilters.

I have decided that my little Janome sewing machine is just not going to cut it for piecing quilts. I told Lil I would give it to her as it will be fine for things like making curtains, or learning to sew and I would keep mom's old Pfaff (1983) and get a new sewing machine better suited for quilting. But I was shopping at JoAnn's today and looked at the sewing machines there for a few minutes. That's when I remembered that one of the reasons I was talked into this little Janome was because of its size and weight. I thought it would be easier to carry to classes and stuff. I've never used mom's machine because it needs to be serviced and I haven't found a place to get that done.

Now I'm thinking maybe I should give dd mom's Pfaff and I keep the little Janome for travel. Then rather than pay for servicing the Pfaff, I could put the money toward a new machine. What would you do? And which machine do you like best?


Photobucket

14 comments:

  1. Oh Marti! I'm so happy for you AND Buddy! Your patience (and wisdom) paid off. What a great way to go about this. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats on your success with the cat carrier. What a great favorite!
    As for the other question, your second idea sounds good -- but I can give no advice on machines. I use a Bernina the was a gift from a very dear friend and I love it. I have a Bernette that I need to have services because it sounds funny and my back up machine is a Kenmore.

    ReplyDelete
  3. oops, I also forgot that I might want to try those friskies treats. We've been giving the devil cat pills in some treats made for that and he loves when I give him his treats so it'd be fun to have treats just for treats.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good work. My dog will do anything for dried liver treats and cheese, I use to make sure I had a good supply at dog obedience.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Patience and perseverance certainly paid off. Buddy will be much happier when you need to take him to the vet.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I used to put the Temptations in Shadow's carrier, but then I stopped - he didn't eat them in route! I am going to have to try the Friske's treats. Perhaps he won't be left behind again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Buddy doesn't eat or drink in there either. He's always too busy freaking and trying to claw his way out.

      Delete
    2. I don't know if all cats will like the Crispies like Buddy does. Buddy doesn't like tuna and most cats love it.

      Delete
  7. My old girl, cat is 17 now and there
    is no way she will go into the carrier
    without my pushing her in there..
    Good post.
    Thank you for your visit and yes you
    can knit....
    Happy Spring
    Sandy

    ReplyDelete
  8. Buddy is a Very lucky cat!! :^>
    I use an old Elna Lotus to take traveling because it is light weight, but probably wouldn't take it to class as I am still a bit unfamiliar with it.
    I have an old Viking Husqvarna 60 20 that I do all my piecing on, my parents bought it for me brand new 41 years ago!!! The next one is also a Viking, a Husqvarna Lily, I do some piecing on it and use it with the walking foot to apply my bindings. Then last I use a Juki TL-98Q for my machine quilting.
    I would keep the familiar machine for classes. Classes make me nervous and I do not need more stress using a machine I am not comfortable with. I would take my old Viking to classes.
    Have a great weekend!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. It just shows that you CAN train cats. Tom (my mog) will do anything for little slivers of cook ham. Jx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gotta tell you this idea about getting your cat used to the carrier is brilliant. Utterly genius.
    Neither of mine like being shoved in a box but it doesn’t take 5 hours to get them in there so I;ve never had to think about how I might do it in an easier way.

    Seriously impressed with your smarts!

    I think your idea about the machine swap/purchase sounds good. I’d give the older Pfaff away and keep the Janome for travel /classes. What kind of other machine are you thinking of getting?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congratulations on your successful training of Buddy! Well done indeed!

    Maybe I'm behind on posts and you've said so earlier, but why do you think the little Janome is not for piecing? If you are not happy with it at home, would you really want to take it to a class? Just food for thought. As I'm the one that bought a new shiny machine for piecing, absolutely hated it and is back to using her old machine for piecing, I'm probably not a good bet on offering any advice on a new machine.

    ReplyDelete
  12. very smart going with the crate training~! Buddy is going to have a much easier time when he has to travel in it from now on.

    i use a featherweight to sew almost everything and it's the machine that i prefer to take to classes. i do also have another old singer machine that i bought used over 30 years ago and i use it to do some 'fancier' stitching on rare occasion. when i have to take one into the shop then i have the other for backup. i have thought about getting a new machine a few times but they can be so expensive and i guess i'm too cheap . . . so far, knock on wood, these two machines do what i need done.

    :-)
    libbyQ

    ReplyDelete

Your comments make my day and I look forward to visiting your blog too! If you are a no-reply blogger and don't have your blog on your profile, could you write it in your comment so I can visit you? Thanks! Due to a recent spamming problem, comments with links and unidentified anonymous comments will be deleted.