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Wild Night in the Sewing Room

Apparently Boots had quite a fun night in the sewing room last night.  I’m betting some of you are looking at that picture of Vince and you think you’re fixing to get an “R” rated post.  Nope .. not gonna happen . . at least not today!  🙂

Here’s a before “Before Boots” picture.

Wall Hanging

The new longarm was being assembled.  Notice there’s a wall hanging on the right side and a design wall on the left side behind Vince.

Here’s a current picture of that end of the sewing room.

Sewing Room

Sewing Room

The design wall is gone . . completely pulled down by the cat.  He did that a couple of weeks ago.  The wall hanging . . gone . . he pulled that down last night.

Here’s another wall hanging.  This also happened last night also.

Wall Hanging

Wall Hanging

This wall hanging is hanging on by a thread . . which is about how I feel today after spending most of the day in the sewing room with him.  I do believe he’s finally tired . . there’s only so much chewing on ankles, attacking legs and shredding batting that one little kitty can do in a day.

Tired Kitty

Tired Kitty

Those deep windowsills are perfect for him.  Now . . I wonder if I could put some kind of gate over the window so I can trap him up there til I’m done quilting.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. My first thought was, “She need some kind of window screen on the inside to swing shut so he stay there for a while!”. Good luck with that!

  2. Ever think of letting him go out side for some exercise? You are in the middle of nowhere, I’m sure he would be safe.

    • I’m sure he would be perfectly safe . . except for foxes, coyotes, and feral cats (Boots hasn’t had his last feline leukemia booster). I think he’ll stay inside.

  3. Judy, I’ll be the first to tell you that I know little if anything about cats, but I’m wondering if Boots is being so destructive because he wants to be in the house with you and Vince. He might be feeling like he is “home alone” all the time and is bored and looking for attention. Is there anyway you can get Boots and Speck to tolerate each other in the house? I am a dog person and I know that my dogs (I now have 5) have learned to get along even though they are all very jealous of each other. They all want to be with my husband and I and will get along to get our attention and be with us.

  4. A lovely soft quilt on that window sill might tempt him to take a nap more often and away from the dangers of the sewing area and your ankles. 😉
    Hugs

  6. Judy ~ I think that Boots can no longer be left free & unsupervised during the nt. Most cats are nocturnal. He’s certainly not sleeping much day or nt, tho. Perhaps you could purchase a crate made for cats & dogs large enough for his bed, litter box, water & food dishes to contain him comfortably during the nt or even for time outs for when he is out of control during the day, also. In looking at what a cute little fella he is I know that will be difficult for you to do or enforce but I think it is necessary. I learned to do this the hard way after our cutest darling little kitten shredded our beautiful new living rm drapes when he was supposed to be sleeping in the laundry rm during the nt. Neuturing didn’t effect him but eventually he matured & settled down & didn’t need to be contained. Fortunately before he drove me totally crazy!!! Penny in S CA

  7. If you did put a screen on the inside, you could attach a couple toys and the little fellow would have a marvelous (and safe) climbing wall…just be sure he can’t knock it down.

  8. Dear Boots,
    Please stop driving your mother batty. Now, we all understand you are still a baby, and you will grow out of all this, but could you please hurry? She has things to do. I know, I know, it is just your nature, but you need to learn just a tad of self control, buddy. We will look back on all this and laugh and laugh, but for now it is very disruptive. Ok, thanks for your consideration.

    • I read this to him since he can’t sit still long enough to read it for himself and I think he laughed and said “Good try!” That little kitty has way too much energy!

  9. Judy,
    One of my year old boys broke his shoulder when he was about 3 months old. He went nuts with the cast so the put a collar on him to protect the staples and I kept him in a wire crate big enough for litter box and he survived. I just closed the bedroom door and after a week he adjusted. He was in there. For 3 months. He only made a mess kicking the litter. You might want to try it for Boots and let him out during the day when you are not sewing.

  11. How about putting a soft cushy in the window and then putting a plank (ramp) up there from the floor so he can just walk/jump up without having to play Tarzan. Attach a catnip toy to the window lock so he can’t knock it off onto the floor. You can also get a can of spray stuff that is supposed to repel cats and dogs and it may be worth it to spray it beneath the design wall and the spots where you hang quilts.

  12. oh you poor patient thing – I might have to choke him… the only helpful thing I can offer is that my kitten just turned one, and she has not climbed my design wall in several months… and she used to be up it all the time… but then she does have a playmate to use up some energy. I read once that cats physically can not sleep until they rid themselves of excess energy – guess Boots has a huge supply!

  13. I think Boots is young and bored at night. With no supervision he’s bound to find ways to entertain himself. If you have room for a large cage with bed, water and litter box, he would be fine at night although he may meow a bit. Have you tried leaving a radio on at night or a small tv so there’s some human presence there? It’s worth a try.

  14. Boots is a feral cat? I think you cannot really tame a feral cat. My daughter and her family had such an experience. They rescued and nursed an abandoned 3-week old kitten over 2 years ago, but the cat is not appreciative. They are now looking for another home for the cat (not the Pound!).

    • No, he isn’t a feral cat. The feral cats that came here before Boots and his brother . . they all died. Boots had been very well cared for and he was quite friendly when he arrived here. Feral cats usually do not make good pets.

  15. I apologize in advance but this post is just so funny that I had to laugh. I have always had a cat and know just how much energy they have when they are still a kitten but promise you that he will grow out of it. Every time he tests your patience just remember the times he makes you smile. How old is he now?

    • I don’t know how old he is and I’m afraid to think too much about it because I know there’s a whole lot of kitten let in him and I’m not sure I’m up for the task! He’s probably around 5 months old.

  17. Our wild child “mona” was 1 in April. Got her at 3 mos. old from the humane society. Lightening speed! We have (2) 5 yr. old cats too. She had the other 2 terrified of her for 6 mos. The 2 5yr. olds are sisters and would run after each other, nest together, etc. they sort of ignored us. It was easier on us with the 2 cats as kittens than with our newest addition. But kitten has calmed down more now and sometimes sleeps alot, she has alot of energy still. She burns off her food. If they are still hungry at night, guarantee you will know. On “those” nights we give her just a bit more can food and she settles right on down and soon counting sheep. If we don’t no one sleeps. Her way of communicating she was still way hungry. Their appetites can go up and down. When growing winter coats, for like 2 weeks straight our adult cats have bigger appetites, then all of a sudden they almost stop eating, just nibble a day or too then go back to normal again. All of a sudden you realize their hair got thick. Same thing when shedding….it must take alot of calories to grow new coats. Boots will calm down. They just think we have “funner” toys than they have!!!

  18. If it were a puppy, I would think the gate would work just fine. A cat? I don’t know, but it seems like a good idea to me.

  19. we have had cats all our lives and always started with kittens. they’re like babies. they get bored. she spends too many hours by herself. she needs another cat, preferably older, to keep her in line, but young enough to play and run with. if you don’t want to go that way, try introducing her to the household a little at a time. you really can’t keep her locked up forever. with patience, she’ll be a good housecat and mouser.

    • Barbara, I appreciate your advice but the kitten was dumped here and he was sick. We had him treated, had him neutered, got all his shots and have spent well over $600 on him. I seriously am not willing to spend that much on another cat. Meds for heartworms/fleas is $100 for a six month supply so by the time you figure annual vaccines, heartworm meds, and food, it’s very easy to spend close to $1,000 per year on a cat. No . . one is enough.

      If we had just left him outside and thrown a bit of food to him, he would have died. If we had treated him, neutered him, got all his shots and left him outside, he probably would not have made it long with the coyotes and foxes, etc. that we have here. I’m in the sewing room most of the day, when I’m not in the house cooking dinner and yes, he is alone at night but that’s just the way it’s going to have to be. I have leather furniture in the house and he’s not going to tear that up. Speck doesn’t like him and isn’t friendly and it would be complete chaos having a cat in the house with Speck.

      Boots living in the sewing room is a better life than he was destined to have had he not ended up here. I don’t consider that he’s “locked up forever”. He’s an inside cat, living in a sewing room and probably has more human interaction than many cats who live in households where the owner works at a real job.

      The tone of your comment makes me think you’re saying we’re not doing right by the way we treat Boots and I think you’re quite wrong.

      • not my intention at all. i think you were quite kind to adopt him. what i tried (and failed) to say was that the only times we had mischievous cats were when we had singles. at those times, they needed extra human company, or extra human contact may be a better term. in any event, they do run out of batteries. he’ll eventually slow down. which of you slows down first is another story.

        judy, you don’t owe anyone a reason to feel as you do.

        if you decide to put him into a large crate at night, would you consider having the crate in your home? maybe the kitchen or other hard floor room? maybe speck wouldn’t mind it if he were locked up while speck still had the run of the house. has speck visited boots in the sewing room?

      • it sounds like you’re doing ‘right by him’ but you always seem angry with him. he’s a kitten. isn’t there a place to put him in the house where he can’t be as destructive? bathroom? utility room?

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