Haku's Day Journal

8/29/2018

Good Morning Haku!

I've been in correspondence recently with many kitties who are troubled by either a general lack of spoiling in their lives, or even the unimaginable horror of having not nearly enough treats. This has been troubling me greatly, and I’ve been pondering the best way to address these desperate situations. After much thought, it seemed that the best route might be to lead by example! So, here in all its glory, is an example day in my life and training of pawrents.

My first, and purrhaps greatest, tip is that one should always start the day off best paw forward. This means that paw should be resting squarely and firmly on your designated pawrent’s face when it is time fur first breakfast (as opposed to second and third breakfasts, of course.) I myself like to begin that process somewhere around 4 am, in order to give my meowma and pawpa plenty of time to peel their eyes open and shuffle their feet to the refrigerator fur my venison hors d’oevres. I’ve found that without an early start my pawrent’s are prone to neglecting my starvation until after their own feedings, which is entirely unacceptable!

After breakfast, I usually help to make the bed, make my first rounds to check fur invading lizards on the catio (as long as it isn’t raining!), then make my way over to the piano (or pawsibly the string bass) fur a little practice time. I’ve been working a lot on my paw-work recently, and the jazz riffs are starting to fly from my claws. I ‘m also doing my best to inspire my hooman sisfurs to their musical practice – they seem to have a much harder time when it comes to that, and I’m hoping to bring them into my jazz-cat band one day if only their proficiency can improve a bit more.

By then, it is onto late-morning nap time fur me – all that hard work takes incredible energy! And, BTW, if you don’t see me mention it elsewhere, simply assume MANY naps throughout the day. And intermittent begging fur treats – all that high energy work takes extra calories!

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A Cat's Vital Necessities

Once naptime is over, it’s onto the incredibly important job of supervising meowma as she makes lunch. While she doesn’t believe that this food is fur me, I know better! After all, I firmly intend to snitch several licks, and at least one paw swipe over the course of lunchtime. And there is always the eternal hope that she will neglect her finished plate on the table, in which case I am most happy to help clean it up. All said, I am happy to report that my watchful eye has produced excellent results in the kitchen, and that I’ve convinced (suckered!) her into believing that my lunchtime companionship is a blessing.

Afternoons are often a quiet time at our household – either meowma is writing (in which case I ALWAYS tuck myself on her lap or on the desk), or I nap in front of the door if she goes out on errands (someone needs to protect the house.) Either way, it is a sleepy time of day. If she is writing, there is always the need to inspire her once in while with purrs or kisses, but mostly I do try to rest up. Evening is coming, and there will be laundry to be done, the garage to sneak into, and so much more cooking to inspect! Not to mention the incredible energy output that it takes to inspire an early feeding of my own dinner!

When it is all done, and we are finally heading to bed, it is time to remind meowma one last time about how empty my tummy is (she NEVER feeds me enough dinner!) So, just before we climb into bed fur the long snuggle, she pulls out the treats one last time and we play bedtime Tricks-Fur-Treats. I believe that it helps her to relax her mind and sleep better. Certainly it fills my tummy until the 4 am wakeup call!

I hope that this has been helpful to all of you dear furriends, and lays out a shining example of the types of stimulus/encouragement/supervision that all pawrents require. It is hard work, but when diligently applied it has the power to change the circumstances of all Cat-kind. ~ Much love from Haku🐾

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My Pawrent Training Program

You may have noticed by that my pawrent training techniques differ somewhat from ShiShi's. Here is a summary of what I believe to be the most important points.

1. A paw to the (pawrent's) face helps the morning to go smoothly.   A timely breakfast makes all the difference to kitty health and mood!

2. Make exercise an important part of your day.   If you don't have a handy lanai to explore, be sure to run around the house many times, or engage your pawrents in a vigorous playtime workout.

3. Purrsistence is the name of the game when it comes to those gratuitous treats. No amount of begging is too much! Accompany your pawrent during as many of their household tasks as pawsible. Not only does this help with the pawrent/kitty bond, but it affords ever so many more opportunities fur the aforesaid treat begging.

4. Enjoy yourself.   When the training becomes to onerous, take a little nap. Search out some leftover crumbs on the counter. In short - be sure to always take care of yourself.

Good luck to you and hope that this helps!

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