Kitty obsessions.

I haven't blogged for a while. Not because Gus isn't the cutest boy ever (see above), but I'm a teacher at the end of the school year.

So, Gus has a couple of new things he's discovered. The first and the best for him are the snowbirds.  Yep.  Every spring, the snowbirds come out up here in the arctic (I know nothing about them.  I don't know if they migrate or hibernate.  Not a clue.)

Officially they are called snow buntings. They are the cutest little bundles you've ever seen.  They are a small mostly spherical, black and white bird. Approximately the size (and shape) of a racquetball ball.

They flit and flirt and sing so sweetly.  They fly in a sort of short jerky flight, and it drives Gus nuts!  He runs from the back window in the bedroom to the side window in the living room trying to get a little snowbird nugget.  He frets and chirps and huffs at them.  I have to close the blinds at night so he won't watch  them all night. (It's light all night long).

He is utterly obsessed with them.  I love them too, because their song is similar to the meadowlarks where I grew up.  I could listen to them sing forever.

His second obsession is cat treats.  He's liked cat treats for a while.  I have an issue with cat treats that may be just superstition.  I think I may have killed Raz with cat treats. He would preferred treats to meals, and we sometimes let him get away with it. He loved them so much, and we liked to spoil him so we gave in and fed him countless tons of cat treats. 

Cat treats are not designed to be food. They don't have the best ingredients.  It's like a person surviving on a diet of McDonald's french fries and ice cream.  I  fed him good food, but ruined it by giving him all the cat treats he desired.  And the cat treats I chose, were whatever I got at the grocery store. I was stupid. 

I don't want to do that with Gus. I'd like to think I can learn.

I like to give my cats treats because I like to reward them and make them feel special.  Gus has toys and a tree and lots of hugs and squeezes, but food is an easy reward that he can appreciate right now.  

Since I can't bear not to give him treats, I give him the best treats I can.  Freeze dried meat.  That's right. You can get treats that are just freeze dried meat!  I've gotten him chicken, turkey, salmon, and shrimp.  Guess which one he likes the most?  Yep, the smelliest one.  The joke's on me!