RUSTY

RUSTY- INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE KITTY-SITTER.

FOOD: Rusty eats primarily Friskies Tuna and Egg. It is his favorite. He canNOT eat dried cat food. It gives him diarrhea. He also cannot drink milk. He will not eat any table scraps.

Unfortunately, he is a messy eater, generally taking the food out of his dish and putting it on the floor. We keep placemats and paper towels down to catch most of the mess.

Rusty does not like having an empty dish. (sigh) but I make him clean his plate before I give him any more to eat. He usually does. He eats a can or a can and a half of food per day, a half a can at a time. When he is hungry, he sits and stares at you or if you are walking around, he runs ahead of you to his dish and sits and stares.

So if you are walking and you hear him running towards you – just stop and let him run on by. He has the right-of-way! He might even shoot between your legs in his haste to get to the food dish before you do so he can plead his case!

He normally eats first thing in the morning – often has the second half of his can at noon, and another half at bedtime. He has been known to eat 2 cans a day, but he might not every day.

We keep his dishes in a BIG heavy dish because he used to move his food dish around the floor and this keeps it and his piggy mess all in one place.

THE BIG SCOOP: We scoop his litter box every day. There is extra litter in case you need to add some or dump it completely. He is not messy. We find this litter does not scatter as much as the lighter stuff.

LOVE: Rusty likes being held… especially he likes being up on your left shoulder like a baby being burped! In fact, he loves being patted like he is being burped. Sometimes he even burps! He does get the hiccups from time to time.

If you pat your left shoulder and say “Kitty up!” he will usually climb up to be patted.

He also likes to sit on a lap when you are watching TV.

He is very spoiled and has abandonment issues, poor thing.

He will wait for you at the door.

He will sit outside the bathroom door and wait for you.

Usually he will sleep where he can keep an eye on you if it sounds like you are getting up or going somewhere.

Rusty coughs. It may seem like he is going to chuck up a hairball, but I have yet to see one. The coughing is left over from when he was a baby and might be an allergy thing.

PLAYTIME: As you know, he likes playing with his ferret. He will bring it to you when he wants to play. Tossing it away from him is his favorite thing. He will play ‘fetch’ a few times. When he drops it some place other than at your feet, he is tired. He tires quickly.

He will chase and play with his little mice and his big white rat. Don’t worry if you lose any little mice. We have more!

He does not understand Pssss, pssssssssss, psssssss. We have never called him that way. Don’t pisssss at him.

He does respond to calling “Mouse” in a high pitched voice. This is his signal to play. It is a word that can bring him out of a sound sleep.

He also knows the word NO when spoken in a strong voice. He does not like to be yelled at, and usually that is not necessary anymore. He does not get up on tables or counter areas, but he does like windows.

Rusty loves having his belly rubbed. He will roll over for it. But if he acts like he is going to bite, that means quit… he has had enough. Unfortunately, I play kinda rough with him sometimes.

SLEEP: I am sending his towel he sleeps on. It keeps the sofa clean, and it will smell like his sleeping place. I will also send his bed.

He likes patches of sunshine to sleep in.

He likes boxes… and the occasional bag…

or the odd piece of newspaper. He has been known to sleep in the sink when it is too warm!

In other words, he is a cat. Any place is a bed!