New Tricks

Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Maybe not, but you sure can teach them to a kitten! I have tried NOT to turn my blog into a crazy cat blog. However, if you ask Cole and Mary Conlee who their favorite member of the family is, they would definitely say "Brody"...in unison! And seeing as the whole idea for this blog was to keep grandparents updated as well as turn it into a scrapbook for the kids, this story about Brody is "blog worthy" in my opinion.

We have several new kitten stories to report. First and foremost, Brody lost a tooth. I had no idea that cats lose their baby teeth. It makes perfect sense that they would and it probably should have occured to me since I have two children who are losing theirs right and left. However, all my cats I had while growing up lived outside and I hever found any of their teeth. I don't recall any of mine having a missing front tooth, but hey...we live in Mississippi now, so it's different! This past Saturday morning, Mary Conlee woke us up screaming, "Brody lost a tooth and I found it!" And she was right. This little "pearl" was laying right next to Brody's "time out box" or kennel that we use when he wakes us up too early. I've checked around and found out that cats do lose their baby teeth, but I'm not so sure they do it at 6 months of age. Does anyone out there know? I was afraid Brody lost it while trying to bite the cage in desperation. Let's hope not. Judd has done a rather thorough examination of the cat's mouth and feels that it might be a baby tooth somewhere near the back. Works for me! The kids wanted to know if the Tooth Fairy would be coming. "Of course, she will," I responded. So I had to make an extra trip to Walmart to take care of that, if you know what I mean. C and MC woke up early on Sunday morning and found a note from the Tooth Fairy and two kitten toys for Brody. They have worn him out with the new mouse-shaped laser toy and the crinkly fish hanging from the fishing pole. Hours of fun for the kids and the cat!

Brody is a little finicky with his drinking habits. He prefers water in a cup over a bowl. At first we started out with a big Bama cup on the side of our bathtub. That is where he drank all of his water. Then, Judd decided we were creating a monster because Brody would cry at all hours of the day and night for us to let him in the bathroom for a drink. Judd remained firm (for a few days) and made him drink out of a cat bowl. Then, he gave in and now Brody has TWO big plastic cups with water, but he has to drink them in his "room," not the bathroom. Brody is all about some water, whether he is drinking it or just playing in it. As soon as he hears us turn on the bath water, he comes running. He has started putting his paws in the water to check it out. After the bath is drained, he jumps in and starts licking water out of the whirlpool jets. (I know it's gross, Mom...but no one has to take a bath in there but me and sometimes the kids!) MC has been worried that Brody isn't getting enough fluids, so she decided to teach Brody how to drink water from the spout. I just had to include video on this one.

We are teaching the cat new tricks. Like chasing after a laser beam and grabbing at a dangling fish. But I'm starting to wonder if he is "tricking" us, too! He has us trained to turn on the water when he is thirsty because we all think it is cute to see him drinking from the bathtub. Judd said that Brody might learn how to turn the water on by himself, which could lead to a big mess if we are out of town. We might need to stop the new tricks for awhile and just stick to chasing catnip toys!

Monkey See...


Monkey Do!