Leaping and Leering

We're going to do our post in a backwards sort of way today. Although it is usually at the end of our post, our drawing will kick things off. It is still a festive one, as it is the Tenth Day of Christmas, the day of the lords a-leaping.

In order to illustrate this, I went out on a tad bit of a limb. I decided to use our neighbor cat as the festive lord a-leaping. This kitty friend of ours does, after all, enjoy a-leaping, right up onto our window screen so as to leer inside at us.

That there a-leaping elf lord is Tickey. He's a super friendly mancat who lives across the street from us, loves to come over and be gifted treats, and of course quite enjoys ogling the likes of Thimble through the doors and windows. She's perfectly fine with that.

Since we somehow can't find any decent new photographs of Tickey to show you all today, we will instead now share a couple shots of our main backyard tenant. He is an intact tomcat (hopefully not for much longer) who is wary of humans yet knows where to come for food. We call him Hicks, and he has his own house in our back yard.

For the record, Tickey also makes use of that house. And that's just fine with Hicks, because they happen to be good buddies. Sometimes they even room together.

Also for the record, I keep shutting the little house's windows so as to better keep the interior warm. Each day, though, I find those plastic little shutters open again. I'm not sure whether to blame the wildlife, the wind, or those pesky poltergeists.

Happy Tuesday, and merry Tenth Day of Christmas!

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Our Tip of the Day:

How about another repeat tip today? As we've noted on at least one other occasion, if and when possible, please try to help keep comfy those kitties living outdoors this winter. This may include ferals, strays, or even neighbors' outdoor cats. In caring for such kitties during the winter months, there are some important factors to take into consideration. To help keep the kitties warm, try to offer a covered and/or insulated shelter, which can even be something as simple as a Styrofoam cooler turned upside down and with a hole cut out to serve as an entryway. Also, consider lining such a shelter with straw. Although you might first think to use towels or blankets, these can become wet or frozen this time of year, and can remain so, leaving them insufficient methods of keeping a kitty warm. Also consider the cold when leaving out food. Moist food can become frozen and thereby an inaccessible form of nutrition if left out in cold temperatures, so stick heavily to dry food, or feed moist only when you know a kitty is present to eat it. It also helps to keep to a feeding schedule, as that way an outdoor cat can learn when to expect a meal, so that they won't have to expend energy in the cold by making random checks for sporadically offered meals. Sadly, not all furbabies know the comfort of a home, but there are ways you can help keep outdoor kitties warm and comfortable this winter!