I absolutely hate the word “blog”

Trumpet, like most cats, can be a bit of a picky eater. But I have been wanting for ages to try and switch him to a more natural brand.

A couple years later, I’m *actually* getting around to doing something about it. I got him using Wellness brand dry food that’s well-geared for his particular needs (he’s UTI-prone). But I tried giving him wet food from that same company, and it was a no-go — he only likes stuff with a sliced/chunky texture, and not that godawful horrifying pastey mixture that most wet cat foods possess. (And I totally sympathize. We don’t want to have to open cans of that shit for him, either.)

Thankfully, I’d bought those cans at a small, locally owned pet food store in Whitecenter, near my old work. They guarantee all their foods, so they reimbursed me even for the cans that we had opened up and rinsed out — no hard feelings! Given that I figured it would take a few more tries before I found a natural wet food that Trumpet would touch, I was bummed that this refund-friendly place was no longer convenient for me.

I popped into a local Mud Bay Granary just to see if they could be of any help, and they very much were! They lay out all their cat food brands and the reasoning behind them on their site, which is very helpful.  And they gave me three free BIG cans of wet food for free, just to see if he liked them.  And they said if he didn’t, I could come back in and get three more free cans.  And then they gave me free salmon treats to try out on him.  And they have a zillion convenient locations all over western Washington.

Have I mentioned that Mud Bay is awesome?

Last year, we got a sliding glass pet door for our balcony, so we could keep the cold out more efficiently.  And not surprisingly, Trumpet hated it.  But eventually, after many months of duct-taping the flap open, he finally learned.

However, winter was a while ago.  And we took to leaving the balcony door open all summer, since it was so dang hot here… and the kitty forgot how to use the door.  Yep, plain forgot.  We’ve had to go through the same ritual of holding the flap open while calling him or enticing him with some kind of kitty treat.

He did, however, seem to pick it up quicker this time.  And there have been no, uh, accidents relating to said kitty door (which provides access to his litter box) being difficult to navigate while we’re away at work.  I think he just likes to whine when we’re home, because he knows we’ll comfort/cajole him through the difficult physical challenge of squeezing his fat ass through an opening made for a chihuahua.

Suck it up, kitty.  I have to sit my oversized ass on a tiny bus seat every morning and afternoon on my commute, and I have to stay that way for forty-five mintues.  You can handle a three-second discomfort every time you have to pee or stuff your face some more.  You smug, tubby bastard.

Love, Mommy

P.S.  Mommy is just kidding.  She really, really loves you.  She just thinks it’s funny that you forgot how to access your two favorite activities, pooping and eating.  You’ll get back on that horse in no time, kitty.  Don’t worry.

Trumpet finally figured out how to go through the pet door, even with the flap down. This is a great success compared to his initial reaction to this contraption.

That said, I decided (upon Grant’s urging) to create a Flickr account for pics of Trumpet, so I don’t inadvertently become one of those people who blogs exclusively about their cats.

(You know who you are, ninja-cat-bloggers. Your blog has a title about cooking or local politics or something, but on the inside it’s all Fluffy. I’m on to you.)

I’m still figuring out some of the geek stuff, but the sidebar now has a Flickr feed of recent Trumpet pics. You can click on them to view the entire Trumpet set if you wish. And I’ll try to confine my excessive kitty-picturing to that medium from now on. :)

He wouldn’t let me put away laundry without letting him into his favorite new spot. Lately Grant has had to reach over in his slumber and open that drawer so the cat would quit whining about it. It’s hard not to indulge something that cute (or loud).