Just saw the replay today. Winston was the clear victor. But those other dogs were pretty darn cute too.
Nyla (and Ghost) have claimed a comfy bed on my desk, right between my PC case and its monitor. They’ve been kicking things off the desk all week.
(I really need to clear off this desk…)
No need, it sounds like they’re working on it already.
I briefly considered setting up a small kitty bed in that particular spot, but decided against the idea since it is right next to the ventilated side of my PC. The next step is to get a lightweight A/C dust filter to catch loose hairs before the computer does. (I once experimented with an air filter fan near my desk, but soon realized that the PC fans are many times stronger and better at catching loose hair & dust.)
Currently, Nyla is working as a fuzzy paperweight, while Ghost has been climbing all over me for attention:
(I have been battling to clear off this desk, in a two steps forward, one step back kind of way. Since the last power blip killed the old power supply in my PC I’ve got a shiny new UPS which will eventually fit quite nicely in that spot.)
But is it feline-compatible?
¯_(ツ)_/¯ Probably not, but as with everything else in this house, adjustments will be made.
Mister Wonderful here (George) decided today was the day that he needed to appear on camera. Luckily, the other people in the meeting were unbothered. The presenter even mentioned how cute he is, and it’s true, v.v. cute!
He reminds me of Luke. 
You might consider PC dust filters like the ones from https://www.demcifilter.com/. I have those on my PC and they work remarkably well. Bought a can of spray air when I went to do an upgrade after 6 years, thinking it would have a ton of dust and fur in there (like you always do), but when I opened it up, it looked almost as new as the day I put it together. So now I just have an extra can of air. And my cats are welcome to sit next to or on the computer case.
And they even attach magnetically! Thanks for the recommendation, these will be much easier to use than my filter sheet + duct tape idea!
Yeah, I cleaned this old beastie thoroughly while replacing its old, blown-out power supply. Going forward, easy-to-clean case filters are a must.
(Short story: The late, great Pretty Polly liked sleeping on top of my color laser printer. That was just fine until some of her long, fine hairs somehow made it into the printer, between the laser and the drum. With much painstaking effort and not a little swearing (at the non-serviceable printer, not the cat) I got it cleaned out, I think, just in time for two different colors of toner to run out. There was no way I was going to pay $150 or so for toner just to test an iffy printer, so out it went.)
I bought a new printer a few months ago, and now that the summer heat is over, it looks like I can finally reclaim the top of the filing cabinet from the kittos. THIS printer will stay covered when not in use, because these two tots get on everything!
(ETA: don’t let the perspective fool you. Nyla is as big as Ghost, frame-wise, and easily outweighs him.)
I’d noticed that during Felix’s last few weeks he & Nyla had been sleeping in the living room within 3 or 4 feet of each other. It made me wonder if he was working as a peace-keeper, protecting her from his rival Ghost, and whether he was approaching Nyla or vice-versa. Since Felix has been gone, Nyla has been much more vocal and hostile in her dealings with Ghost, even going so far as to harass him to drive him away from a spot that she wants to occupy.
I’ve taken a lot of time off from work due to an injured knee among other things, and I’d really like to get back into it and get more active, but I don’t know if these two would be able to get along together alone for 10 hours or so per day, many days of the week. I’m starting to spend more time away from the house each day to test the water and get them used to it.
The feline dynamic has been changing now that Mr. Feels47588888884 ( <— Nyla did that) is gone, with Nyla & Ghost both spending more time with me at night. Nyla is getting into the habit of climbing on my chest after I go to bed. That had been Felix’s routine; as soon as I lay down he would hop up next to me for a few seconds, then hop down to check on his food & water, then he’d hop back up, climb on my chest, and either lay down facing me, his body aligned with mine, or sit there staring down waiting for scritches. Nyla’s intentions seem good, but she needs practice to refine her technique; she will climb onto me and lay along my collarbone. The first night she did this she lay with her side right against my chin and one of her feet pressing down on my throat. (Nyla has started aligning herself lengthwise along my body at times, but she’s doing it backward; I’m honored by your trust Nyla, but I don’t need to see your butt.)
(On Nyla and the boys: After I first adopted “the tots” (as I’ve always called them), Nyla would lie on my office chair for a while at night and swat at either boy who tried walking under the chair. Ghost learned to run into the room and leap over the corner of my bed in order to avoid the chair.)
Thank goodness
Nyla’s crisp, shiny new box:
Behind her is the “cat ladder”; an old wooden ladder too lightwieight & rickety to bear my weight, but purrfect (sorry) perfect for cats to climb, with some dangling toys including a squeaky mouse not visible here, hanging from an elastic string. It always makes me smile to hear someone playing with that mouse in the middle of the night. One leg of the ladder is wrapped in sisal rope for use as a scratching post - looks like it’s time to refresh that rope. I also tried out an extra piece of carpet on a different leg, but the kittos have not been interested.
Something about Nyla’s attitude while in that box reminds me of a picture I found online:
We also had a cat tree with shredded sisal. When Talia was still with us, she used to eat the fibers. We had to get rid of it because the old sisal was too well glued to the post to replace.
I just staple the rope every 10 or 15 turns, with the staples in spots that the cats won’t be reaching for. That’s why the rope hangs so loose now that they’ve shredded it.
Ladders are good for scritches, too; a cat will sometimes climb the ladder so she can meet me eye-to-eye as I walk through the room.
Our first cat, Kugel, would sit on a platform and bat us if we got too close. Sometimes she’d let us pet her up there. Other than, she loved to be petted, held, or sit on a lap.
Well, sometimes when we got home after a trip (and cat sitter), she would follow us around, explaining what she thought of us for daring to leave her. Then she would run up to my wife, bite her lightly on the calf, and run away.
I really dig that haunch pattern!