You know, I hate winter pretty hardcore because of the dry skin and static electricity and constantly being cold, but I got to thinking about it and Kitty must hate it even more than me (if that’s possible). The poor dear has tons of extra fur to keep her warm, but it’s so dry here that her coat gets kind of rough and is probably harder to take care of. Then there’s the continual search for warm spots around the house. Cats, in case you didn’t know, are very territorial but they’re very particular about their territories in that they have a different territory for different times of day. For outdoor cats, this means that while one cat may claim our backyard as its territory in the morning, another cat claims it in the afternoon, and yet another in the evening. For Kitty, she’s pretty well limited to the six rooms we have, three of which aren’t fit for sleeping (kitchen, bathroom and den), which is about all she does in each given “territory” anyway. Then there’s the static electricity. Kitty wants loving and wants to be pet and cuddled with, but sometimes just touching her shocks her and us pretty bad, and petting her is even worse because then we’re generating a lot of friction which adds to the already horrific static electricity problem. Just yesterday she was standing on my legs and I was petting her, and she was shocking my legs through the pads of her feet. Poor Kitty!

So, I’ve been working to help make Kitty’s winter a bit better. For her dry skin and coat, I’ve decided to give her gooshy food (e.g. Fancy Feast) about every ten days or so in order to give her the oils that help keep her coat soft and more manageable. For her “territories,” we’ve made sure there are blankets up in the guest room to curl up around, we leave our blankets in heaps on our own bed for her to use as a nest (not like we make the bed anyway), and in the living room, we make tents out of blankets on the three couches so she’s got a nice naptime hide-away where it’s warmer. As for the static? Well, I’m hoping that the oils in the food will help keep her less dry so she generates less static herself. I’ve been trying to generate less myself by moisturizing my own skin, and I’ve gotten into the habit of trying to ground myself before touching Kitty so I don’t shock her initially. Then sometimes I keep my foot on something metal (like the futon frame) so I don’t keep shocking her. I hate static electricity too, so this is a bonus for both of us: I get to pet Kitty and Kitty gets to be cuddled–all without the fear of little lightning bolts!

So, well, we baby Kitty a lot. And why not? She’s our little bundle of furry joy, and she’s a member of this household as well. I mean, she’s even on our lease–named even, not just listed as “pet” or “cat.” Winter is pretty miserable, and I’d hate for anyone in our house to be miserable because of the obnoxious stuff like static electricity or cold. If I thought he’d want it, I’d make little nests and tents out of blankets for Ian, but he’s pretty good about taking care of that himself. 😉 At any rate, I’m gonna go wake up Kitty so I can scratch her ears and enjoy her furry happy purr. 🙂