Callie is Back!

I was thinking about Callie, my big red kitty, and thought “It’s time Callie is back!” It has been awhile since I mentioned my girl, Callie, so here following is a cat story about Callie.

Walking with a Harness

We had quite a fun and interesting time together learning to walk on a leashed harness. My friends at Tufts Catnip and Maddie’s Fund helped me train Callie well. With a few mishaps and first unhappy tugs we managed to pull through and now are happily going for our walks in the small park behind us and even to the river walk. Yes, Callie is back! She still gets pretty overly excited when we come near the ducks or geese though. Any large dog encounters she just gives them a nasty hiss and they back right away.

A Cat Kayaking Adventure

She is one cool cat, my Callie. And we do have good times together. I have even taught her to kayak with me. I was so sure she would not like the water or go near water. Boy, was I surprised. After the first few tries of getting her onto my kayak, it did not take all that long for her to thoroughly enjoy riding in front and enjoying the wonderful light breezes. She looks around at everything. When we are near our home base or the shore, she jumps right off with no problem. She has become a great little kayaking companion in her recent cat adventure.

Helpful Good USA-made Kitty Products

I found a wonderful safe harness and leash for her through LupinePet.com. They have H-shaped adjustable harnesses for our ‘escape-artist’ kitties in tons of colors and designs with matching leashes and breakaway collars for safety. They are made out of polyester from recycled bottles and handmade in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

A safety vest was a must for my feline girl in the water. And, no, I have not found a good USA-made pet life jacket. I did find several top reviews for life jackets but they are made in China and other countries. So, for the time being, I would use the two top rated which are Ruffwear in Bend, OR and Granby through Outward Hound in Colorado. They were also rated top by the American Boating Association in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Be sure to check the size guides. For felines, the extra small or extra extra small may be your best option.

Kayaking Trips – A Cat Story

Well, I am so glad that I did stop and purchase a life saving vest for Callie!

Tempting Fish

One day, we were paddling along slowly and small little fishes were coming to the surface. Well, Callie was evidently eyeballing these little swimmers and getting engrossed in watching them. Without a warning she jumped into the water to try and catch one or two of these small guys for a tasty treat, I guess. Luckily, she proved that she can swim some, as I thanked my lucky stars at the time. With some effort I was able to lift her out of the water by grabbing the top handle on her life jacket..but not before falling out of our kayak myself in trying to reach her. She was starting to get a bit panicky I could tell, not that I hadn’t been leaning that way myself.

It was quite a challenge to get our kayak upright and hold on to Callie while trying to get myself back in our small craft. But I managed after a bit. We were both totally sodden. Luckily it was decent weather but not over 70 degrees and the water was not on the warm side at all. So we did head for home for some good drying off towels and a rest.

That was one trying adventure with my girl, Callie. We have had a few. Most are just fun and relaxing, but then..one other outing was pretty scary. One very nice summer day in July we took a ride on the kayak out to a small island in the river. I decided we should stop and investigate a bit and have some lunch on the island. That is exactly what we did. We strolled around and discovered a small cave, stepped in the water near the shoreline, and then went to sit and enjoy a bite of lunch which I had packed to bring on our small journey.

The Cave

Unplanned was me falling asleep. It couldn’t have been for too long but maybe close to an hour. When I woke I expected to see Callie nestled on the blanket, however, she was nowhere in sight. That did panic me. I called to her several times and started searching all the places we had seen on the island. It didn’t occur to me she might want to venture inside that cave we had come upon earlier.

When I saw the cave again, it registered, but I did not hear her at all or see her. So I slowly made my way into the cave with trepidation. I called to Callie and heard her meowing. After a few more minutes of calling to her, I found Callie next to what appeared to be a cave ground beetle nest. She was ‘licking her chops’ so I deciphered she was onto a small sumptuous snack here in the cave. She does like her treats!

I quickly picked my girl up and made a quick exit from that dank and quite nightmarish cave. And, we did have a decent leisurely kayaking return trip home. I was hoping those little crawling things were not anything unsafe for Callie. So when we arrived home I did look up ‘beetles’ on Google for some education on the subject to make sure she was fine. Luckily, I remembered to snap a picture of those little creepy crawlies before leaving the cave.

The story goes on. We will report back with any newsworthy Callie adventures and events in the future.

See our previous ‘Callie’ adventures: “A Kitty Story of Callie” – and,

“Callie – My Big Red Kitty“.

Pet Food Recalls

Please note good information on pet food recalls which happen all too often. Go to the FDA.org site or sign up for notices through DogFoodAdvisor.com.

Funny Animal Videos

Big Geek Daddy sends some fun kitty videos. The first is with a kitten and a Golden Retriever: https://biggeekdad.com/2021/06/golden-retriever-and-kitten/.

And one more about a ‘French’ cat who is not happy with a ‘cat sitter’: https://biggeekdad.com/2013/09/cat-sat/.

Thanks

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