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Jasper wants a bird feeder. I am inclined to just put seed out on a paper plate. He could see that from his bird window. Don't ask how much money he costs, he has a cat condo, cat bed, cat carrier, cat crate, aquarium, he literally has as much as a kid.
Oh, I know! It's pretty insane what we're spending on bird feeding now, and I think we watch them more than Amber does, but we're not going to stop. We kept feeding them all through the summer. Also draws a few chipmunks and squirrels and we sometimes get a rabbit too, and occasionally the cat actually notices these. We have a proper pole and baffle so the 4-legged critters don't steal all the seed, but that doesn't stop raids from the grackles and blue jays sometimes. That has died down now, though.
You can start pretty simple with bird feeders though. We made it more complicated because we were trying to draw different birds, giving them different types of seed, etc. That of course is more for our benefit than for the cat's; she really couldn't care less which kind of bird is out there, just that it's a critter that's moving that she can stalk from in here.
Indeed, the most interesting critter is that a couple of times in the last week or two there's been a cat. I don't know where it came from. It keeps coming at dark times, such as when Amber woke me up around 5am by banging on the sliding glass door a couple times. I knew it was the cat (and did catch a glimpse of it going away because it's predominantly white) because I had seen her do this about 8 or 9 at night a few days before. But it's not hanging around regularly. So now I have to worry that this cat outside is actually stalking the birds....
Deer I don't think will get into most bird feed that I know of; they mainly eat plants, berries, flowers, hehe. Squirrels, though, they'll get into just about any kind of bird feed.
You can try with safflower, though. Safflower mostly doesn't attract the blackbirds and may not interest the squirrels too much. But cardinals love that stuff, and chickadees will usually eat it too. Some of the other little birds are pickier; during a time when we had only safflower out we saw a drop in nuthatches and titmice. I think the house finches might eat the safflower, although it's not their favorite.
Another thing you could do is thistle (aka Nyjer) seed. I dunno if the squirrels eat that but it's a sure way to draw goldfinches and sometimes a couple other birds will eat it too. I see chickadees at times on the thistle feeder, and sometimes house finches I think.
We actually considered at times getting an aquarium for the cat too. Sheesh. I think we decided that was too much work; the bird feeders, now that we have 4 or 5 of them, are enough. Plus we feed the hummingbirds in the summer, that was fun. They're gone now, silly little things fly all the way to Mexico and back or something like that. Heh.
The things we do to amuse the cat! (And then the cat is only amused for a little while, LOL.) I really enjoy watching the birds out there myself now though. And chipmunks, they crack me up. We have chipmunks nesting somewhere nearby. They're territorial too so sometimes you see two of them getting closer and closer, then finally they realize what's going on and one chases the other away. They're really quite fast.
Aw, poor thing. She'll be fine eventually I would think, although if the noise is new to her it may take some getting used to. I'm guessing it's noise, though I suppose it could be smell.
Heh, once we put the furnace on, Amber will (at least occasionally) go lie right on top of the one vent (vents are in the floor). But we've resisted putting on the heat. It's down to about 67 in here, but tomorrow we'll get sun which should persist for several days. Just have to make it through tonight. If the weather holds to what they're showing now, by Sat/Sun we'll likely need the A/C again!
She finally emerged from behind the couch, but she's slinking around like there are frights and hazards at every turn.
It was probably the noise -- our furnace is ancient and comes on with a big klunk and a whoosh as the oil ignites. I'll go out and get a new furnace, just for Cookie! LOL
LOL! And I was complaining about the cost of Jasper's cat furniture! He loves winter, cuddling up to an electric blanket, his favorite thing.
He decided he did not like the new Wendy's burger, when I gave him a bite, he sniffed it, and tried to cover it up. For some reason, my burger just did not taste that good after that.
Jasper has been cuddling me, I have had a terrible bout of the flu, hot, cold, just wishing I was dead, Jasper is being forgiving on his cat box, because scooping is not happening.
Will I live? If I don't feed Jasper will he start to gnaw on me if I don't feed him? Dragging around to feed the cat.
Yes, I did have a flu shot last week at work. They say you don't get the flu from the shot...
What time is it? Jasper knows! He knows when I turn off the lights it is bedtime, and he runs over to the bed, and starts kneading and purring. And here he is, right next to me.
I wonder why I have this little creature in my house, it seems so odd, I wonder what people from another planet would think? "Hmm, obviously cats and dogs are in charge of this planet, and humans are their slaves".
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We have a proper pole and baffle so the 4-legged critters don't steal all the seed, but that doesn't stop raids from the grackles and blue jays sometimes. That has died down now, though.
(And then the cat is only amused for a little while, LOL.) I really enjoy watching the birds out there myself now though. And chipmunks, they crack me up. We have chipmunks nesting somewhere nearby. They're territorial too so sometimes you see two of them getting closer and closer, then finally they realize what's going on and one chases the other away. They're really quite fast.