An Art Print from My Photo

A couple of weeks ago, EasyCanvasPrints.com offered me a chance to try their service for free so I could review it on the blog. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity. I've read about their printing service on other blogs and have been wondering how it looks.

The hard part was choosing the photo.

I have to admit, this artsy one of Kali is the first picture that came to mind. I didn't crop it; this is the whole photo the way I took it. I think it's beautiful, but I was worried it might be too dark. I kept coming back to it over and over.


But, I decided to look through the photo albums and see what else we had that might be a more "normal" photo.

Presto takes a nice photo, but a lot of the ones I have of him are dark, and trying to brighten them up in Photoshop, they end up looking washed out or grainy. I brought my husband in to review my "finalist" pics, and he said Presto looks fat in this picture (which he is) but also the way the light is shining in his eyes makes them look washed out.

Petra always takes a good picture, and she loves to give us a "centerfold" kind of pose. I don't think the colors are particularly good in this one; maybe it's something about the lighting or the camera settings, but the pose was cute.

She's daddy's girl, so I thought he might go for this one, but he said it looked kind of "snapshotty."

Finally, I looked through the pics that I have of multiple cats. This is Misha (on the right) with her little brother Remy (they have the same mother). It's a cute picture, but as with the others, it doesn't really capture any fine detail.

I have a great one from several years ago when all of our cats at the time had curled up on the couch for a nap. Unfortunately, it was taken with our first digital camera and isn't high enough resolution to think it would look good blown up and printed on canvas.

So in the end, I went with my first choice. Tim looked at it, knowing that I was concerned about it being too dark, but after looking at it carefully, we both decided that it has enough highlights and detail in that shot that it should look good.

The ordering process was very quick and easy. I uploaded the print, made a couple of choices about size and border, and in minutes, I had my confirmation number.

When EasyCanvasPrints sends it in a few days, I'll let you know how it turned out and give you a chance to win a free print of your own!

Trickster's Thyroid Adventure

A few weeks ago, Trickster started hassling more when he would run around and play. He's also lost a little weight, and because he drinks a lot of water, I thought he might be developing kidney problems.

Nope.

The test results came back on Wednesday, and he has a hyperactive thyroid. We're very familiar with the ramifications, because my husband had the same thing.

Hubby took a radioactive pill that killed his thyroid. The cats and I had to move in with my mom for a few days, because hubby was radioactive right after he took the pill. It would be a difficult option for a "normal" human family because no one could get close to care for the cat after he had the treatment. In our case, though, Tim would be able to be around him without much risk. We asked about that as an option for Trickster, but the vet said it's very expensive because you have to have someone who's certified for dealing with radioactive meds give him the pill. I'm sure the pill itself is not cheap either.

We also asked about surgery, but the vet said he didn't like to do it unless the gland was very swollen. He felt Tricky's throat when we had him in for the blood test but didn't remark on it feeling particularly enlarged. Doc said the throat has so many important features that make surgery there difficult.

So, our option is to give him Tapazole, a medication that helps suppress thyroid output. I believe hubby was on that for a few months when he was first diagnosed.

The Good - it's non-invasive.

The Bad - risks of side effects; twice a day dosing of a cat that doesn't like pills; and $400 to $800 annual cost, depending on the dose.

I think we're going to try it for a while, though. We're not ready to say goodbye to Trickster. He's a little punk, but we love him.

Horrifying Claymation Cats

Remember those cute little animated shorts "[Title] in 30 Seconds with Bunnies"?

The Claycats films are like that, but with Claymation instead of animation and lots and lots of gore.

Good guy tuxedo cats infiltrate an illegal catnip grow operation

The one I watched is inspired by a foreign film called "The Raid." In the Claycat version, a SWAT team goes into an apartment building to stop a vicious killer and his illicit catnip operation. All the characters except two are cats.

The cats kill and are killed. Heads are chopped off, they're shot, they're stabbed, they're blown up. It's horrific, really.

View at your own risk. The little clay cats are cute until they start blowing each others' heads off.

Creative Kitty Condo: The CAT-AT

It's a good friend who'll surprise you with a fancy kitty condo, especially if you're a Star Wars fan and the condo is designed to look like an Imperial Walker AKA an AT-AT (All Terrain Armored Transport).

You can read all about it on Reddit, and you'll even find a link to a photo gallery. And wait until you see what's inside. It's not exactly like the ones on Hoth.

Tribute to Trickster

The first time I saw the scrawny yellow kitten, a "teenager" really, walking near the edge of the woods, I thought of this painting, very popular in the 1970s.

Even though my husband had issued an edict that we wouldn't be feeding any more strays, I could resist taking him a little something. After all, our three spoiled-rotten cats demanded fresh dry food three times a day, so the leftovers that were just a few hours old would go in the trash. At least he'd have a little something in his stomach to help him through the cool autumn night.

A couple of days later, my husband admitted it.

"I took some food out to that kitten," he said sheepishly.

"So did I."

Of course, we adopted him.

It took a long time to gain his trust. The first time I fed him, I just poured the food on the grass (so as not to leave any evidence behind that others might see). Once the secret was out, we take it out in an old aluminum pie pan. He'd see us coming and run a few feet away, and he'd wait until we were back in the house before coming over. Soon, we didn't even have to get around the corner. Another few days and he stopped running, as long as we didn't try to touch him. Eventually, we could pet him, just a little, while he ate.

Finally, he realized that he liked petting. He'd purr and flop on his side and wriggle around.

Then, he attacked. He'd grab and hand or an ankle, all teeth and claws. That's how he earned his name: Trickster. He couldn't be trusted.

I wanted to give up on him, many times, but my husband felt particular sympathy for him. They both have really bad allergy issues.

Today, Trickster is fairly well adjusted, though he's still somewhat of a punk. He still has allergies, and his gums are bad, possibly because of living in the wild as a youngster. He usually doesn't scratch and claw when we're holding him, and he does like to be held. He was the first one to welcome Kali and play with her when we brought her home, and he chases little Petra around the house, too.

He's just one of our "feral cat" success stories. We have no idea if he'd ever had human contact before or how he was treated. Living with him hasn't always been easy, but it definitely has its rewards.