Thoroughly Poetic Thankful Thimble Thursday

Hello and happy Thursday, friends! Can you guess what we have going on today? Well, if you guessed the Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge, then you guessed right!

Our pawsome hosts Angel Sammy and Teddy give us a photo prompt each week to help us get our creative juices flowing. For this week's poem, they shared this gorgeous photo:

If you weren't ready for summer yet, we're sure you are now, after seeing that warm scene. That being said, as much as this photo reminds us of a warm summer day, that's not really the direction this photo led me on this week's poetic endeavor.

I always try to offer at least a brief explanation as to how I got from the photo of the week to my rambling and often wild poem. So, let's see how short and brief I can make this. My poem below was indeed inspired by the photo above, but also by one of my favorite classic novels. That is, Gulliver's Travels. Has anyone else read that? I quite enjoyed it. But that's beside the point. In this novel, the main character (Gulliver, of course) at first finds himself shipwrecked and on an island known as Lilliput. Lilliput is the home of the Lilliputian, who happen to be incredibly tiny people. So, I tried to put a spin on that, and the silly and strange poem below is where that got me.

Also, I really am so sorry that my poems are always so long. I keep telling myself that I'm going to write them more concisely, and then long-winded rhymes like this one here show up on the page instead. My sincerest apologies for that. Anyway, here's this week's mile-long poem:

The Lillipurrsians

Sailing the seas was Captain Cal's passion.

He could not imagine living in any other fashion.

Cal wanted nothing more than to hop in his ship,

And embark on a wonderfully seafaring trip.

That is what Captain Cal did on that day,

When everything in his life truly did change.

He readied his ship and set the sails,

Wondering if it were wise to combat the day's gales.

Bold and brave, Cal did set out,

But before long his decision he did doubt.

Rain poured down from the skies,

Lightning flashed against Cal's eyes,

And thunder clashed in booming cries.

Cal was a skilled and seasoned ship captain,

But even he feared this tempest that was clapping.

 And his fear was indeed well-placed,

For before Cal knew it, his ship was becoming quite defaced.

Captain Cal clung to his ship.

Well, at least to a chunk that the storm had not ripped.

Fighting and struggling to stay afloat,
Captain Cal hoped he might receive help from another boat.
No such luck was to be had, though,
And after hours and hours poor Cal passed out cold.

When Cal awoke, the storm had passed.
Upon his face the sun felt like a blast.
He opened his eyes and blocked the light,
Quite afraid to see the sight.
Was he alive?
Did the storm he somehow survive?

Captain Cal felt land beneath him.
To where had he managed to swim?
Finally daring to take a peek,
Cal may or may not have let out a shriek.
A tiny little island is where Cal had landed,
And now he was most assuredly stranded.

There was blue sky overhead,
But that did not lessen Captain Cal's dread.
The sand beneath him was cozy and warm,
As if mocking his life now after that storm.

Taking a deep breath,
Captain Cal himself did try to collect.
Over there yonder were lots of palm trees,
And beside him there were—Oh my, what are these?
Hundreds of miniature critters did swarm him,
And Cal's situation seemed grimmer than grim.

What in the world were those things?
They were crawling all over him and—By golly, are those fangs?
They were no more than the size of Cal's thumb,
Yet the little things had managed to strike him quite dumb.

Suddenly, one of the minuscule things climbed up his chest,
And right in front of his face it did curl up and rest.
That's when Cal made a realization.
Where on earth is this strange destination?
Captain Cal recognized these strange little creatures.
The kind he knew back home, though, were of a far larger nature.

The little critters were running amok around Captain Cal,
Letting out all sorts of purrs, mews, and meows.
They were fuzzy and boasted rather long tails,
And on all four paws they each had sharp little nails.
Pointy little ears topped their tiny little heads,
Which they excitedly rubbed against Captain Cal's legs.

Yes, indeed, these are tiny little felines.
That was a fact Cal simply could not deny.
Then, one by one, the little cat creatures headed for the trees.
At first all Captain Cal could do was freeze.
Should he follow the little things to wherever they ran?
Was where they were going any place for a man?

With no other options staring him in the face,
Captain Cal followed the tiny kitties as if in a race.
When he caught up to the tiny little horde,
He found himself offered a fine little reward.
Dinner was served, or so it seemed,
And Captain Cal ate some tuna perfectly steamed.

After the meal, Captain Cal felt quite content.
His tiny little hosts even showed him to a tent.
Yet he did not quite sleep, no.
Not because the tent was not cozy, though.
Rather, his mini kitty hosts were really quite loud.
And their fun and games drew quite a crowd.

Captain Cal was certain the kitty count was now at least a thousand,
And all over the place they were running and bounding.
They scaled trees,
And chomped on cheese,
And jumped tall heights with great ease.

Then, before he knew it, Captain Cal was joining in!
He learned that though he lacked a tail, he could still spin!
Little sleep did Cal achieve that night,
But at least the storm had brought him some sort of delight.

And that is how Captain Cal spent countless days.
On the little island, he would bask in the sun's rays,
And oft join in on his tiny hosts' fun and games.
Sleepy little kitties were oft drawn to his skillfully built flames.
Then, one day, such a fire of Cal's drew attention from the sea,
For a ship showed up and its crew asked Cal, "Shall we rescue thee?"

Captain Cal pondered that question with a slight delay.
Then, finally, he offered the crew a nay.
He did not need rescued, no, not today.
So he told the ship's crew to be on their merry way.

Cal, you see, was quite happy just where he was.
With those tiny little critters covered in fuzz.
After all, he had found fine new friends in the mini kittens.
He really, truly was very quite smitten.

***

Now that we've made it through that lengthy poem, Thimble is here to show off her adorable little face on this Thursday.

For these shots, Thimble was again sitting near her favorite window. After a number of days with torrential rain and thunderstorms galore, we are finally having us a bit of sun. We are very thankful for this, and of course are entering this sunny day gratitude into Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

We hope all of you wonderful friends of ours are having lots of sunshine in your days as well!

***

Our Tip of the Day:

We're going to do our best to produce tips related to National Cat Health Care Month until the end of February. So, today's (incredibly long) tip is another one related to feeding those kitties of yours. In some cases, you might have multiple cats with differing dietary needs. For example, you may have one cat who needs a low-protein kidney diet in a household that also contains other cats in need of higher levels of protein. Or, you might have one cat on a diet for weight loss in a household also with other cats who should not be on a restrictive diet. Or, perhaps you simply have one kitty who steals the other kitty's food. If any of these are the case in your house, there are some possible ways to succeed in feeding your kitties their separate diets.

First, if your cats are of different sizes or have different physical abilities, there is a chance you can take advantage of these traits to separate their feeding stations. For example, if you have a large cat and a kitten needing separate foods, you could cut a hole in an upside box in which the kitten can fit, but not the larger cat. This way, the kitten could be fed its kitten food in the box without the larger cat feasting on the food. You can also try feeding one cat its food on various elevated surfaces, if its housemate cat on a different diet is unable to reach those elevated feeding spots.

Of course, there are many cases in which the above options simply will not work. If this is the case, the primary option is to stick to scheduled feedings of some sort, and to physically separate the cats during these feeding times. First, determine times of the day when you are home and can oversee feeding time, such as morning, lunch, and evening. Then, at feeding time, each cat can be given their specific diet separately under your observation. This can be done in a number of ways. You can simply separate the cats in the same room, if you are able to closely observe them so that no kitty's food is stolen by another. You can also separate the kitty's in the same room while using something such as baby gates to ensure they remain separated while they eat. Another option is, of course, shutting cats in different rooms to each eat their meal on their own.

That all being said, if your cats are used to being free-fed all day and you find yourself needing to transition to scheduled feedings due to differing dietary needs, then do be patient and give this transition some time. A cat will have to get used to going from having access to food 24/7, to eating on a schedule. If need be, such as if your cats are not yet used to eating their meals at a scheduled time, then start this transition by feeding your cats more often, so that they will have more chances to eat their food throughout the day. Of course, if you have any questions or concerns with regard to feeding your kitties, do speak to your veterinarian!