Mighty Mouse

Alys Milner of the Gardening Nirvana blog submitted this big beauty.

"Mouse has an official home, but he doesn�t let on. He takes all his meals at our house, sleeps on our beds and generally makes himself comfortable. He�s charmingly adorable. Mouse lives for treats, so I�m partly to blame for his expanded waistline (Mouse weighs a whopping 16 pounds!). He collects kitty snacks from others as well, including my sister on her frequent visits.

"Mouse has many admirers, and would probably be insufferable if he were a man and not a cat. He assumes everyone loves him, and frankly why wouldn�t they? If I could change one thing about him, it would be his stealthy hunting skills. He loves the game of catch and release."

P.S. Check out, Lindy-Lu, another cat in Alys's household, posted here: http://catsingardens.blogspot.com/2014/09/lindy-hop.html

La Ni�a

David Creech from Happy Cat Farm submitted this orange feline. "This is Nina from Inverbrook Farm in Pennsylvania. I took this picture on a rainy day about five years ago, when I was working on the farm. I'm not going to lie; Nina could be mean as a snake. But on this afternoon, he (yes, he) looked so adorable snoozing on those bags of soil in the hoophouse that I couldn't help but grab my camera and take a few photos. Here's another one of Nina in the middle of a big ol' cat yawn: "

Cat Scat

 
"Well, well... what do we have here?" said Scot Poirier of GottaGrowIt.com.

When discussing garden successes and failures of 2014 on the Garden Chatter, the subject of cat scat came up. Yes, there are a couple downsides to cats in your garden. One is that the like freshly turned soil as a litterbox.

To discourage cats from pooping in your garden, there are several techniques you can use. First, create a sharp barrier around your beds using sticks or rocks or pine cones. Second, try natural repellant sprays on the area you want them to avoid. (You can also try a motion sensor sprinkler, but you may be sprayed yourself so I tend not to recommend them.) Third, make an attractive spot for them to use in a far off corner. Plant catnip or catmint there and create a sandbox for them to use.

Clair de Lune

Claire Jones submitted this pretty kitty. Claire is the owner of  Claire Jones Landscapes LLC in Sparks, MD, and blogs at The Garden Diaries.

Claire said, "Her name is Crazy Luna, and she was a find at the SPCA when she was about a year old. She is 12 now and she loves Japanese dolls!! I have a miniature jap doll house which is decorated- tatami mats, scrolls, and dolls in miniature dressed in kimonos. She goes in the house and snatches up the dolls, removes the heads, and presents them to me! She does this repeatedly, as I keep reattaching the heads and placing them back into the house."

Bench Warmer

This photo is from Lee Butler of Arkansas. She titles it: "Meko relaxing by the Black-eyed Susans... Meko is my grand kitty. Very cool cat and he loves flowers! :()"

Baby Bear

This is the last of a series of five gorgeous Maine Coon cats submitted by Leonard Foltz of Dancing Oaks Nursery in Monmouth, OR.

"This is our youngest. He is Grizz, aka on his formal record as Kodiak. I wanted to name him Romeo because as a kitten he always wanted to jump on the bed and give me kisses during the night, but I lost out on that name. He is an Oregon native and is a silver tip black with auburn highlights depending on how much sunbathing he does. But of all the five cats we presently have, his favorite domain is in the house. He can be content in here for hours unlike the rest of the pride. He is one of the largest and longest, but still not huge, at about 16 pounds. His purr is like an old Mercedes diesel.  He is very shy with more than two people around. He is a sweet guy, with not an mean bone in him."

Swahili for "Lion"

This is another gorgeous Maine Coon submitted by Leonard Foltz of Dancing Oaks Nursery in Monmouth, OR.

"Simba is a native Oregonian who came to the farm the same day as Griz. Fred thought we were going to get one kitten, but I had a hunch we'd meet two that we couldn't separate. I think both of them are 7. Or 8?"

"Simba is very handsome, but doesn't know it one bit and is not the least conceited. We wish he would have more confidence as so many want to just give him a few strokes of admiration but he makes a run for it. He is very photogenic and always seems to be striking some pose. He loves finding hidden baskets in comfortable nooks to sleep the hours away during the winter rains.  Summer days find him sunning himself in the beds opposite the nursery shop. Thankfully, he appreciates a good session with the grooming brush. We donate Simba's locks of love to the birds for nest building in spring."