Changes in the Gallery

October 1, 2010

 As I mentioned previously, having the cats in the gallery forced me to change a lot of my painting and creative processes.  Since they were going to be in the gallery full time, I had to cut down on the pastel dust they would be inhaling and tracking all over the place.  So, I constructed a heavy duty cardboard box to put behind my pastel work area.  It has a lid so I can close it when I not using it and the lid keeps the cats out of the box.  When I am painting, the lid stays up against the wall and I hang damp rags on the lid and inside the box to catch most of the dust from the pastels. I noticed right away the dust everywhere else decreased quite a bit.

At the end of every painting session I use wet cloths to wash the other areas where pastel dust collects.  It takes an extra fifteen or so, but it keeps Roo and Squad Car clean and free of inhaled pastel dust.  Of course, all supplies have to be put in kitty-proof containers or up so high they cannot get to them.  This sounds like a lot of extra work, but they are so worth it.  Plus, it is better for my health and it makes a better work space for me.  If I look at that way, they are doing me a big favor.  But, I don't tell them because it would cost me extra treats if they thought they were actually helping. 

                                                                  

                                                                                 

Here are a couple of recent pictures of the rascals.  No, Squad Car is not on drugs, just goofy.

The Cast of Characters

September 25, 2010

How did come to be the proud owner of Roo and Squad Car? Squad Car was dropped off behind my gallery along with her mother, another sister and brother. They proceeded to homestead a cozy space under the gallery. Two days later, Roo shows up along with another kitten (Leena). Roo and Leena were not part of Momma Kitty's litter. Six cats, all of them female except for one, were now waiting to start a population explosion of biblical proportions. I of course made the mistake of feeding them because I felt sorry for the little critters and you know what a mistake that was. They had found a new home and now a new landlord.

Things went well for a couple of weeks and then I found the male kitten in front of the gallery thinking about crossing an extremely busy highway. I knew his days were numbered, so I borrowed a live trap from my neighbor, put on my Daniel Boone coonskin cap and tried my had at trapping. They had to be trapped, taken to the vet, neutered, and vaccinated so they could be put up for adoption.

A little tuna fish left in the trap proved to be irresistible for all of the cats except one. I got them all tapped, vet tripped, and somewhat calmed down. After the vet trip, I kept them indoors for three days talking to them and feeding them delectable tidbits while briefly touching them through the cage. I only got a couple of scratches and a lot of hisses. They started trusting me.

I let them out of their cages and let them explore the new territory. I had a small cat heard roaming around the gallery, sniffing and exploring all these new found nooks and crannies. The next day, I could approach them, pet them and slowly, very carefully pick them up. Momma Kitty was a big help as she let me pick her up first. The other cats soon followed suit and life was good. The male cat was adopted right away to a really good home. I had some people waiting until he was tamed and safe for adoption. That left Momma Kitty, Roo, Lena, Lucy, and the little bad girl, Squad Car. Roo really like the gallery and adjusted very quickly to her new role as the gallery cat. Lena went to my house and became the fourth indoor cat of the house. More about Lena later.

I decided to put Momma Kitty back outside with Lucy to see if she could talk some sense into Squad Car. But, alas, to no avail. Squad Car would not listen to her mom or her sister. She would get on the trap, stick her head in, walk around it, hiss at it, but would not go in to get the goodies. I almost gave up.

About two weeks later I was just starting a new painting, Momma Kitty and Lucy were outside the window eating their morning kibble and the Car was being aloof as usual. I don't know what made me think of it, but I went up the corner store and bought a can of sardines. Put a couple of the sardines in the trap and to my amazement, watched the little black and white poop head mosey into the trap and trip it. Success at last! To further astound me, When I brought the trap into the gallery to begin gentling her, she came around in about two hours. She was purring and rubbing up against me like she had been my cat for years. I let her out of the trap into the gallery and she had a joyous reunion with Roo, playing and running together all over the gallery and studio. That is how Roo and Squad Car came to be my gallery attack cats.

Momma Kitty and Lucy were still outside and I was trying to find someone to adopt them to get them away from the highway. I should have been worrying about other things rather than the highway. I went out to feed Momma and Lucy one morning and Momma's head was so swollen her eyes were almost shut. Something had bitten her above her eyes. I rushed her to the vet and he said some animal caught Momma by the head and was trying to drag her away. She was so lucky to have escaped. She had to stay at the vet's overnight while he cleaned covered the wound. I brought her home the next day and she stayed in the gallery until she recovered. But she and Lucy were outside cats and did not like to be inside. I decided to take them home and make them my outdoor cats.

I took them both home and things worked out well. After a couple of rough weeks, they both settled down to their new location and started enjoying life at the homestead. Six months passed and I was so glad to see Momma and Lucy enjoying a good life finally.

In The Beginning

September 24, 2010

Any cat lovers out there? This blog will deal with migrating two feral cats into the Gallery At Spicewood as loving, people trusting felines. I learned a lot about cats during this transition and just how adaptable pussycats can be if treated lovingly and honestly. The cat's names are Roo and Squad Car and here are pictures of the little rascals.



Roo is on the left and Squad car is on the right. Roo is short for "kangaroo" because she can jump to amazing heights and Squad Car is so named because she is black and white just like the police squad cars of years past. They are both just over a year old now, but I first got them when they were very young kittens. More about that experience later.

The problem with having cats in a Pastel studio/gallery is the mess. Pastels are very messy and dusty. They break easily and just touching them turns your fingers or hands into a color spreading nightmare. So, you can see how important it is to keep the kitties from frolicking in the pastels. To drive the point home, right after I moved both of the felines into gallery, I forgot to cover one small tray of soft pastels and went home dumb and happy. When I got to the gallery the next morning, I had two, count them, two new pastel artists very proud of their new colored fur and feet. Plus Technicolor paw prints over most of my studio. They had been very busy that night and I spent most of the day cleaning kittens and cat-proofing the remaining pastels in the studio.