Furry Friday - February 5

In fairness, Dunken was our first born furry baby, so he was my first feature. Of the pets that we have in our home now, Stewart is our second born (to our family anyway).

So, hheeeerrrreeee's

STEWART

He really is excited to be the feature this week, can't you tell??

This week I would like to discuss Stewart and his current living situation. See, Stewart is not a timid cat. He does not hide when we have company. Once a dude working on the fridge had to get me to hold him because Stewart was walking all over him, in the way, and nuzzling him. In Stewart's defense, the guy was on the floor. Anyway, you get the picture. Stewart. Not a shrinking violet. Very social. He lets it all hang out.

But Max thinks that he should chase Stewart. He has watched too many Tom and Jerry cartoons. Seriously, you should not let your kids, furry or not, watch too much TV. And even though Stewart is faster and well, frankly smarter than old Max, we think is is best to keep them separated. So at this house, during the day, Stewart has upstairs all to himself. His food, water, and litter are upstairs.

He is all set. We have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs so that the dogs are confined to the bottom level of the house during the day.

Now, Stewart still comes and goes because he can walk right by Max sometimes, and Max does not even notice. Seriously, not a bright bulb.

Stewart can go up and down and in and out of the "doggie door" whenever he wants. Our fence is not easy for him to scale, so at this house he is allowed in the backyard AND LOVES it.

Taken in warmer times - he is not a fan of the wet, cold winter.

And IF Max does realize he is nearby and decides to chase him, he glides over the gate to safety.

Then at night, Stewart has the run of the house because the dogs sleep in our room with the door closed. Stewart roams, and usually settles in to sleep with the kiddos.

The only problem is that the temperature in our house is not at all even. If we are at all comfortable downstairs, i.e. we are not forced to wear a coat, scarf, mittens, and 2 pairs of socks, it is stifling upstairs. The result is that every time I walk up the stairs, it looks sort of like someone snuck into the house, held Stewart down and forcibly shaved him. See the floor?

The picture does not really do it justice, I have to vacuum like twice a day. OK, more accurately, I should vacuum twice a day. And Stewart often times has big wads of hair just hanging out of his mouth.

And every time I see the floor like this, I expect to find Stewart somewhere looking like this:

Luckily, so far, he has thicker fur than I thought and Dr. Evil's cat is not inhabiting my upstairs.

But he is starting to show signs of distress.

Just look at him.

I have already placed a call to the Fur Club for Cats.

Frankly, with his charisma and go-getter attitude, it is only a matter of time before he is the president, not just a client.

But for now, it really is rough

Heartbreaking, really.

He looks like he is suffering, doesn't he?

Poor Stewart.