Sophie's a New Girl

Sophie is finally relaxing into a loving little girl. She's turned out to be a little minx with quite a sense of humor. Mom has been wearing a lot of skirts to work lately because of the heat. When mom lies down for a nap, Sophie plays hide and seek under the skirt. The only problem is that sometimes she attacks the delicate parts of mom's legs with her claws. Yikes, mom can howl which makes Sophie that much more pleased.

When mom's in her recliner watching tv at night. Sophie lays back in the crook of mom's left arm with her belly exposed. She looks like a infant baby. If mom doesn't pay her any attention, she whaps her cheek with just a touch of claws showing. Mom will then play, "I'm going to kiss those paws." This was what my little sis wanted all along. Mom is just thrilled becuase for the longest time So has kept a bit of a distance. She has always loved to cuddle with me and a bit with Jake if he's quite enough. She still shies away from mom's open hand when she goes to pet her on the head. Someone hurt that little kitten when she was on the streets before we found her. But those times are over and our happily ever after is beginning to start.

Now if  mom can just get a cuddle out of Jake. He's very loving on his own terms of course. He comes up begging for scritches and then kisses mom's hand til it's red, but he doesn't cuddle. He almost always sleeps away from mom and the other kitties. Sometimes he'll cuddle with me and a bit with Sophie, but he's only slept next to mom one time. She's wondering if he'll ever change. It's probably the brat Cookie that's kept him away even when she's no where near. Because when she has been near mom she sometimes doesn't let the orange boy near. Mom should close her outside the door one night at an experiment. As long as I get to sleep on the bed that would be fine by me.

 

Cookie: "Mommy, you know how you always are telling me that you want me to feel loved and an equal member of this house?"

Mom: "Mm-huh."

Cookie: "I found a way for me to know that you REALLY love me."

Mom: "Ok..."

Cookie: "I want this, jut for me, NOW. Without the orange thing, NOW.

Happy Fourth Friends!

We will celebrate living in our great nation by dedicating all of today's naps to the wonderful Americans that help other people and animals around the world. Here's hoping that my kitty friends from the US will get a little something left over from the barbecue. Or whatever your particular tummy desires (that goes for all kitties everywhere). 

Jake, Let me go!

"Sophie, Stay put. I MUST clean you!"

Has any cat seen this show?

Dr. Katrina Warren is an Australian vet who hosts the show. She goes to the homes of people who want help with their cats. I like her a lot. I want to write her and ask her what to do with my grumpy sister Cookie. (Does anyone know how to get rid of this underline?)

Mom learned on today's show that I'm a senior citizen just because I'm older than 7 years old. Of course I've been trying to tell her that for a while now. Now if she would just give an old man the spot on her lap instead of giving it to the computer. 

The one thing my mom dislikes is that the program is paid by Purina so there's a lot of their advertising. 

The show is on Animal Planet. If you watch it, please let me know what you think.

Cats for Sale

We have two cats who are on mom's Smiley Face list and two who are on the Sad Face list.  (The mom doesn't use this with her students, just with the cats.) The two tabbies are on mom's Sad/Angry I'm Going to Sell You to the Dogs list. 

On mom's return from grocery shopping the orange tabby monster cat rushed her and ran outside where he proceeded to run away from her outreached arms over and over again. And then when she finally caught the orange tabby boy and was taking him in the brown tabby girl ran out. Where the orange boy always remains loving and playful during these escapes the brown tabby girl growls at mom when she nears her and starts hissing when she's caught. The tabby girl is now apologetic and is trying to play kissy face to mom as she sits and types. She knows how to melt the woman's heart. The mom is trying to remain straight faced and angry just to make a point, but is losing the battle as the tabby girl licks away her at her face and arms. 

"Okay, you win! I love you Cookie! Even if you do anger me at times. Just please stay inside. Especially when I haven't eaten all day and I'm looking forward to scarfing my salad."

"Hmph, I told you Jake. All you have to do is act like you're sorry after you've pissed her off and she melts every time."

"Thanks Cookie! So when do we make our next run for the door?" asks the orange boy.

"As soon as possible but lets go out at the same time," instructed Cookie.

"Ok! I go right and go left," snickered Jake.

Water, Water

Jake took a swim in Mom's dirty bath water this morning. She was in the outer portion of the bathroom when she heard a ker-plunk and then she saw this orange figure zoom by her. She took a look and found Jake trying to dry himself with his tongue. She offered to towel him dry, but he wouldn't allow her near him. He kept giving her wounded looks as if she had purposefully tricked him into jumping into a draining tub. She had to go into work today, but he was there to greet her when she got home. His furs had dried out by then. Silly, silly brother. I don't go near the tub. He of course plays hockey in there with his pom poms.

We had a scary thing happen at our house. the hose to the hot water on the washing machine burst open. Mom was standing right there when it happened. She feels extremely lucky to have avoided a flood.  She's hoping she can change the hose all by herself without asking my uncle or a plumber for help. It's times like this that she wishes she lived in an apartment. 

What is that?

Tyler: Help! There's an intruder on my blog!

Mom: It's just a cute kitty.

Tyler: Mom, that's not a cat.

Mom: It's not?

Ty: It's a bun. And this is a cat blog.

Mom: It's just a cute bunny. 

Ty: Mom, do you ever listen to me?

Mom: Not too often.

Over the Deep End

I think my mom has gone crazy. The way she told it to me was that she was pulling into the drive-thru Starbucks that she had just found not to far from work when her eyes glanced over a sign for a new taquería opening up. Thinking to herself "Not another taco place," when her eyes continued across the next word on the sign,  "pupusería" her brain started screeching "Ding, ding, ding, JACKPOT!" You see a pupusería is a restaurant that makes pupusas. A pupusa is an El Salvadorean delicacy (it's not delicate at all, but mom insists I use that word. Really it's just a food) that my mom fell in love with six years ago. One of her student's moms would bring her this dish several times a year each time one of her two sons was in her class. Mom looked into finding an El Salvadorean restaurant or even downloaded the recipe for it and the cabbage "curtido" and hot sauce served with it. She never followed through and now she doesn't have to. The silly woman has eight pupusas sitting in our fridge right now. It's as if she was afraid the pupusería would go out of business over night. She bought enough for five meals. Silly, silly woman. 

And did she consider us when placing her order? Not at all! There were pupusas with meat that she could have ordered.  But because she's one of those horrific vegetarians (I'm not lying! I've watched her, never a morsel of meat passes between her lips!), she didn't buy us anything. 

At least she did go back to the store and stock us up on Fancy Feast. Because of that, her bed doesn't need to be "scented". 

Meet Your Purr-fect Match at ARF

"Love Bug", "Personal Assistant", and "Leader of the Band" are the types of cats my mom is suppose to be most attracted to according to this survey she found at:

www.arf.net/adopt/feline-ality-form.html

The only problem is that I'm not any of those cats. I've decided that I'm a MVP. Now I officially know that my mom and I are incompatible. Hey wait a minute, why is she hanging around websites that match cats with new owners anyway. She promised us when she brought Jake home that there would be no more cats, even after Kali left for the Bridge. I'm going to have to search her internet usage to see what she's up to. 

MomLynn: No worries Tyler. You're my cat no matter what your personality type may be. And I'm not bringing in a new brother or sister...but you can't blame me for looking. 

Mancat Monday

Tyler: "Mom, can we get past being mopey and sad and just admire how my dark panther furs showed up so silky and shiny in this photo?"

Mom: "Sure, I think I've cried enough tears.  I'm going to miss that old lady, that's for sure." 

Tyler: "She sure was a hissy cat. Do you think she's still hissing at everybody over the Bridge?"

Mom: "I'm afraid I wouldn't recognize Kali without her hiss. Maybe it's how she's saying hello.

'Hisss, my name is Kali. Excuse me and please don't mind my bad manners, but I've always hissed to introduce myself and I don't want to stop now."

Tyler: "Mom, you're dreamin'. I can't ever hear her say 'excuse me' or 'please'. "

Mom: "Well, it is the Bridge after all. She has to be making friends. You never know how being out of pain has changed her mood. And what's wrong with a mother dreaming?"

Tyler: "Okay Mom. Have it your way. Just don't forget to give me some loving too."

Mom: "Like, 'Wow Tyler, you're furs are looking really silky and shiny."

Tyler: "Yep, just like that."

 Kali left for the Bridge this afternoon. She was her normal bratty self giving the staff at the vets a hard time. Their plan was to put in an IV in the back room bring her back to the exam room and give her a drug to make her fall asleep and then the final drug. I was to leave after the first drug but before the last. Well, I heard her screaming full force in the back room. They came back and asked me if they could sedate her first then bring her back in. At first I said yes, then I asked if they could sedate her with me and then do everything else while I was gone. They didn't like the idea, but I was here for Kali not them. So she complained while they poked her and I tried to sooth her as I said good-bye. I had told the vet that as soon as she couldn't tell I was there to let me know, so that I could leave quickly. So I'm there talking to her for a long time and I finally ask, isn't she sedated yet. And they say told me that she was. So they thought I was saying all of that because I needed to and didn't realize that I was wanting out of  there. I had been focusing on my sweetie and didn't realize that the vet wasn't there. There were two vet techs and they hadn't heard my request to be told as soon as she lost consciousness. Ugh! It didn't go as smoothly as it could, but honestly that was Kali's style. She was a Tortie to the bone.

 I miss her terribly already. The vet had a huge cage filled with four snowshoe tabby kittens with signs requesting that the kits be held so they could be socialized. They were of course up for adoption. I almost considered putting one in the carrier on my way out. "Kitties, surprise, Kali's gone, but we have a new sister for you to meet!" I'm afraid Cookie might have smoothered me in my sleep.

I owe you all my sanity. Whenever I thought I couldn't bear it, I thought of all of you who wrote saying that you had gone through a loss and that gave me strength. I thought of the candles being lit, the moment of silence during Gree and Othello's gathering and people saying they would think of my girl it all gave me such strength. I felt the love, thank you,

Kali Wants to Go Home

I will be calling the vet and trying to make an appointment to assist my lovely lady to the Bridge today. She's developed a tick. Her head jerks back and forth. She's wobbly on her feet. She's always been a very dignified cat. I owe her to allow her to go before she loses any more of her cat sensibilities. 

I forced some Super Charger into her mouth yesterday. And then she actually drank some salmon juice and ate a tiny bit of the fish. I was praising her like crazy and she was trying to please me. Still it's not enough to change my decision.

I'll come back and let you all know if I get the appointment with the vet. 

Thank you everyone for all of your support.

Love, Lynn

Update

4:00 pm PST is the time she will be meeting with the vet. I keep reminding myself that she deserves this. I need to remember it's suppose to be about what's best for HER not me. For me, I could keep her around until the last possible moment...

She purrs as soon as she sees me and allows me to pet her entire body, something I never was allowed to do before. I was limited to petting just her head before. She continues to answer all my comments with a meow, just has she's always done before. That's my girl, always needing to get the last word in. 

Kali does have a sister at the Bridge that will help her cross. I lost Katie about 10 years ago to kidney failure. She was only 4 years old at the time. She gave me no warning. Kali used to bully her something awful because Kali couldn't stand to share me with the little one. That was a long time ago. Katie never did hold a grudge. I bet she'll show her the ropes. And Lilly's mother Peggy has written that Lilly. who just recently crossed, will also be there for my girl. (Oh gosh, and now Castle writes that Stormie will be there too!) This means a lot simply because I cannot go with her to make sure she's safe and happy and not hissing at others. I guess this is where faith is suppose to take over. I need to surrender my baby in so many different ways. I'm not good at surrendering. I'm good at holding onto things...tightly.

Ok, well I'm going to go enjoy some last moments. Again, thank you. Please pray for me to be strong. If you're not into prayer maybe you could imagine thoughts of me being a strong resilient cat owner, who can handle this, no problem. Thank you.

Good Bye Sweet Girl !

Stormie, 

We are so proud of you for winning your fight. What a wonderful example of strength  you are. You will be missed and never forgotten. 

Could you keep a look out for a fiery Tortie who should be crossing your way pretty soon?  She's my sister and we want her to find friends over where you are. She's never been very good at making kitty friends. 

We know that now that you are pain free and for that, we are grateful. Enjoy yourself and we'll try and take care of your family over here. 

Until we meet again.

Headbumps and purrs,

Tyler

Kali is still not eating. I tried giving her heated chicken baby food, heated chicken liver (suggested on a website). I gave her the antibiotic, but I don't think she has an infection. I also gave her  some of the Lickable Super Charger that Moki's mom recommended. It's similar to the paste they make to get rid of hairballs. It has calories and nutritional supplements in it. It's the only thing she would eat, yet she started gagging after she first ate it.  After forcing the antibiotic down her, I didn't have the heart to force food down her too. As a Tortie, she's always prized her dignity.  She still is drinking water on her own. But she looked me in the eye and I feel as if she asked me to let her go. 

I still have to go to work today and I don't want to spend the day tearing up in front of my first graders like I did last week so I'm not making any decisions about when I'll take her in exactly. School is over next Tues. Although I welcome a bit of time off before I'll work again during summer school, there is so much required of me right now. I feel as if I can't concentrate on doing as much for Kali as I'd like to. 

I bought so many foods yesterday that I still want to see if she'll eat. Chicken has always been her number one love, but I need to try the other things too.

Oh Darn!

So, now Kali isn't eating. She refused a piece of cheese and Temptations. I want to start her on the antibiotics today just in case that's the problem. I want to try giving her baby food. Does anyone know what type I should buy? Or do you have any other suggestions?

If she still doesn't eat, well that's my sign to let her go. I will ask you to purr for her still. Thank you. 

PS She did eat her pill pocket.

News from Vet

Lynn again: Kali's blood work is back and it's not good news. She has beginning kidney disease. She has some sort of heart disease. Her heart is enlarged. Her thyroid is fine. So that's not what caused her heart to get out of whack. The radiologist thinks she "may" have an infection in her lungs. It's not typical, but it could be what was causing her lungs to look like they were filled with water on the X-rays. So we're going to put her on antibiotics. If that doesn't show a big improvement, it's probably something serious like cancer. 

The vet wanted to have two ultrasounds done at $500 a piece. I cannot afford that. She's an old girl. They might be able to pinpoint what she has, but at her age, what are they going to do to help her?

 I will  need to have her put to sleep as soon as she is not living a good life. The vet said to check out if she stops eating or drinking or showing signs she wants to go off and hide and be alone. I haven't been home a lot, but when I am I still hear her coughing. Before when she was vomiting she would always start with a cough. The same thing she has always done if she had a hairball. In the morning she did vomit after her cough but this afternoon I just heard the cough. Her white blood cells were slightly elevated but that could have been caused by stress. 

Here comes my old geezer girl...

Ah, well that was a quick visit. I opened up the Temptaions' bag for Kali and all of a sudden I had four cats in my lap.  After eating her treat, Miss Kali took off again. I think she read my thoughts and wanted to prove to me that today wasn't her day to go. Normally she would have whapped the others away until she could lie down nest to me.

Thank you Girl, I'm thrilled to know that today your still here to hug and kiss.

Tyler at the keyboard: Sheesh, I finally get to write on my own blog. Mom has been giving my big sis Kali WAY to much attention. She looks like the same old annoying sister of always. She's walking around, eating and drinking, I really think much too much was made of a little hairball yacking. She still is doing that a bit. And mom is feeding her those delicious Pill Pockets three times a day. And when I ask her, "Mom may I please just have one", she says, 'No.' Can you believe that? That old geezer girl is getting on my last nerve.

 I'm having to sit in mom's lap in the evenings and turn on the old charm, just so she remembers that I live here too. I did get some Temptations last night for allowing her to furminate me. The funny thing is that I like getting my hairs stolen. I have way too many of them for these hot June days. Cookie started growling at mom for the same offense. That one has quite the attitude. Doesn't she know that getting rid of the old hairs feels good? Finally she allowed mom to continue, but she wouldn't put up with changing sitting postions so that mom could have more access to fur. And the surprise was that Jake seems to be liking the Furminator. He hated the Zoom Groom so mom assumed they'd be the same. He actually sat still for a little bit.

 I'm still the best kitty, I don't give my mom any troubles, ever. Ok, when I whap Kali I do agravate my mom and get in trouble for that. But she deserves it, I promise you she does. Have a great day!

Lynn here: I played phone tag with the vet regarding Kali's blood results. She looks a lot better. Yet as Tyler said above she did yack up her breakfast this morning. I need to ask the vet if I should have repilled her after that because I had given her the meds only 15 mins. before. Thanks again for all your good thoughts and wishes. They mean so very much! Enjoy a good day.

7 pm (PST) Update

Dear Friends,

Tyler's mom speaking:

I am overwhelmed by the beautiful comments you have all left on Ty's blog. I believe in the power of prayer and I believe that you all have brought a miracle to our doorstep. I came home from work to find an almost peppy Kali. She got up out of her bed and greeted me. Something she hadn't done for the past three days.  I took her to the new vet and I fell in love with this person. She was so compassionate. She told me all of our options and let me decide. She did say that Kali seemed to have too much spunk today to be helped to the Bridge. She recommended having blood work done and X-rays taken. She wanted to find out if Kali could enjoy more life if we managed her care with medicine. 

The blood work results will come in tomorrow. The x-rays showed some concerns with her heart. She had heard an irregular heart beat and the film showed that her heart was over to the right. Also their might be fluid in her lungs. A radiologist will be in the office on Wednesday to give more feedback. The vet thinks that Kali may be suffering from hyperthyroidism which may be the cause of her heart problems. We'll know more once the blood work comes back. For now I'm suppose to put her on Pepsid AC and then she gave me 2 perscriptions, Reglan to prevent her from vomiting and Lasix for her heart. She wasn't dehydrated so she was able to drink water without spitting that up. I'm to feed her in ver small amounts to see if she can keep  that down too.

Forgive me for calling wolf and saying that she was most likely going to the Bridge today. I honestly thought she would. I wasn't trying to be over dramatic. I plead ignorance. With her age, I assumed that any troubles would be too serious to try to fix. I'm grateful for being wrong.

 But it looks like we have bought her a little bit more time. I am so surprised. With her poor heart and possible fluid in the lungs I'm not sure how much time has been bought. The vet gave me the option of having an ultrasound of her heart and possibly an EKG, although she thinks my girl might be too fiesty to sit still long enough for the EKG. The more I think about it, the more I think that she's too old to go to such extreme measures to try to save. 

I asked the doctor to just make sure that Kali isn't suffering. If she isn't suffering, I'll spend every extra day with her that I can. It's such a huge responsibility to decide what's best for her.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your loving thoughts. We are so lucky to have you all as our friends. We are in your debt. Headbumps and purrs,

Lynn

Kali continues to yack everything up. She even yacked up yesterday's Temptations. I'm going to call my vet today. I'm preparing to say good-bye. Part of me will feel better once she's out of pain. The other part will feel alone without my companion of nineteen years. 

Update

My vet's office only has one vet in today and told me that I'd have to leave her there and they would look at her when they could. Well I know Kali and she freaks out whenever we leave home and at the vet's she has had fits in the past. She's had a lot of painful dental work and I think she's just too smart to put up with any strange people a pokin' and a prodin'. She is a Tortie after all and she can be very opinionated. I am not leaving her somewhere so that they can then call me and tell me that she needs to be put to sleep.

The person who answered the phone felt very badly that she couldn't work me in. But this service just isn't acceptable. I searched high and low for a vet clinic that people seem to like around here. I found one that has glowing reports, has 5 different vets, and who's website has the title "Full Service Care for Pets Who Are Part of the Family." I made an appointment here. She will be seen at 4:00 pm PST. I will be moving all of the cats to this vet, if I like it there. It is so difficult to get into my current vet's office. I like my vets personality, but if I can't see him, then it's not fair to the kids. And these are my kids.

Thank you so much for your kind comments. Only cat people can understand. I saw her up and walking about this morning and I'm sure it's your prayers that gave her the strength to do that.

Hugs to each of you,

Lynn/The Mom

Well, my Kali is showing her fiesty tortie nature. As Mom I'm thinking lets have some last day cuddles. I put her on my bed which she hasn't ben up on for a couple of years. She can't jump up there and Tyler used to bully her when she went into that room. I shut the other cats out except for Sophie becuase she is mellow and loving toward Kali. Well, my old lady would have no part of being up on the bed. I returned her to her cat bed underneath the dining room table.

She got up later on ate more wet food and yacked it up...again. My poor, poor baby.

This morning when she showed interest in walking towards the chair she shares with me, I picked her up and carried her there, where she immediately showed me an interest in the bag of Temptations. I gave her about ten, but stopped for fear that she would just throw them right back up.... It's been about 20 mins. and so far she hasn't.

I'm calling the vet tomorrow to take her in the afternoon and I expect to say goodbye at that time.  I feel a sense of peace at the moment, I just want her to stop suffering.

                         

Purrs Needed

Kali isn't feeling well. Yesterday I noticed that she didn't come and visit me when I was watching TV last night. I realized that I hadn't given her glucosamine pill the day before so I made she she had one right away. She didn't want to get out of her bed. She was in the kitchen this morning looking for food. She ate a bit of stinky goodness. Normally she would be sitting with me as I write this, instead she's gone and laid down in her cat bed.  I'm wondering if her time has come to cross over the Bridge. My vet is open today, but he doesn't accept appointments. It's first come, first serve. I'm afraid I'm going to stress my girl out waiting there with all the other pets. She hates going to the vet. She normally pees in the carrier on the way over there. I need to buy puppy pads for her carrier... I am going to see if she perks up a bit after eating the wet food.  I also did hear her trying to cough up a hairball last night. I don't think she was successful. I wonder if that's her problem. My eyes are leaking all over the place. I don't want to let her go, but it all depends on what's best for her. Please purr for her. I'll update this, once I have any news.

UPDATE

 Kali went into the kitchen and I opened up a new can of wet food just for her since she was interested. She ate a lot, but then yacked it all up a bit later on. I didn't see hair in it. And I've been grooming her very well lately with the Furminator because she doesn't groom herself much any longer. I'm most likely going to be taking her into the vet. I'm going to go look up the hours right now.  I'm pretty sure at almost 19 years old that her time has come. 19 years feels like most of my life. I don't want to let her go for selfish reasons. But I must do what's right for her.

UPDATE AGAIN

6:25 pm PST

Well, I didn't make it to the vet's. She went to the kitchen again and ate more stinky goodness and this time she's kept it down. She's still very lethargic. I she continues like this,  will call the vet on Monday. I promised Kali to do what's right by her. Thank you for your purrs. 

The Real Stuff

Jake speaking:  

"Oh Fancy Feast, Oh Fancy Feast,

You make me happy in the tum-tum-east.

 I could eat you all day long,

 That's why I'm singing this song.

Just a few posts ago Momma told you all how we don't like the healthy foods she buys. Well, last Sunday she came home with TWO whole boxes of Fancy Feast. This morning I sang my song to Momma as soon as she got up to use her litterbox (Mom: at 3 am) and she didn't move herself into the kitchen like she's asuppose to! "She shook her head 'No' and went back to bed. I had to sing my song, over and over and over again.  Finally she got herself out of bed and did what I told her to do. Sheesh, it took her FOREVER to put that delicious stuff on my plate!                      

Mom: Jake, you got me up an hour early screaming in my ear. 

Yes, it's true. I found out that two types of FF are healthier than the rest. "They are Flaked Ocean Fish" and "Flaked Fish and Shrimp." Our vet wants the kids to eat wet food so I'm thrilled to have bought some stinky goodness that they actually want to eat. And it was on sale last week!

We "Borrowed" This From the Catblogosphere

Tuesday Tabby Love

"Momma, these are my 'I love you eyes," explained Jake.

"I recognize them, Sweetheart," said Mom.

"Now can I have some fish flakes?" asked the boy.

Well it IS Mancat Monday, After all

"Mom while I snooze, don't let that pesky orange striped thing near me, ok? He's  been chasing me down all day long  to sniff me or touch me. I've had enough!" warned Cookie.

"I'll do my best, Cookie, but I make no promises," cautioned Mom.

"Hee, hee, hee, nor I," whispered Jake.

Oh Jake!

Last night Mom decided that she wanted to brush Jake. She knew that Temptations bribery just wouldn't be strong enough for that boy. So she pulled out the serious stuff, fish flakes. We wish we had captured a movie of what my brother did. As Mom concentrated on zooming him as quickly as she could. Jake would stick his paw in the can of flakes and out would explode a bunch of flakes onto Mom's tummy and lap.  Jake would pig out on the big gobs of fish as he tried to pull his body away from the zoom groom. Once the large bits of flakes were eaten, Jake would again pull out big gobs of fish. Mom put the lid on so he would carefully eat the tiny pieces of fish that now covered her whole front and lap. Instead Jake ran away and let Sophie and Cookie eat up the smaller bits. He was quite a comical sight pulling a fast one on Mom by eating the big gobs of fish and trying to run away before she could finish brushing him. That boy is very clever.

Merrick's b. g.

We've been doing some taste testing of a new brand of cat food in order to help our mom out. She's always looking for a healthy food that we'll go crazy about too. Well, this is how it stand so far. The canned chicken is bluckty-bluck-yucky bad. The canned salmon flavored Jake ate about 2 tablespoons worth and the rest of us wouldn't take a bite. We still need to taste the quail, beef and tuna wet food. The dry crunchies we like better.  The tuna was the best, but we liked the other two chicken and salmon just fine. This brand is called b.g. (Before Grain) and it's made by Merrick which makes other healthy stinky goodness flavors, that the kittens sort of like, but I Tyler won't eat. Cookie and Kali don't like healthy stinky goodness at all. They both like Fancy Feast, but mom won't buy that for us. She only lets us have it if some one gives it to us as a gift. We're seriously deprived over here. We have yet to find a tasty healthy stinky goodness. It's very sad. We read about others enjoying their stinky goodness on a regular basis and we just don't understand why we too can't life the good life. We thought Mom loved us, now we have serious doubts. >>Sigh<<

We're Back!

Hi friends! We've been away for such a long time. I demanded that my mom take some time to help me write this post. It's without pictures though because mom doesn't know what she did with thing that uploads the photos. 

My brother, sisters and myself need to thank Queen Snickers and Empress for our Swap n Tails package. We were delighted with a huge bag of Pounce treats. Mom has been using them to brib us to sit still for our furs to be Furminated. They also gave us Fancy Feast stinky goodness. It's so tasty that even Cookie is eating it and she NEVER eats the stuff mom buys. There were several yellow pom poms that Jake took to right away. He likes grabbing those furry things and acting like he caught a real live mousie. Mom encourages by calling him a brave hunter, sheesh that kid will do anything for a little love. Those two lovely ladies gave my mom a citrus smelling bottle of oil that has reeds you stick into it. She saw one at my aunt Beth's spa and liked it's perfume. Now she has one just for herself. 

In other news, I'm being mistreated by my old geezer sister Kali. The old gal should know by now that mom's lap is mine. Yet she comes over while I'm already there and starts whapping me on the head very hard. Now I whap right back of course or now I've learned to turn the other cheek and let her go at my backside as I cringe away. I know mom will save me. That makes me look like the wonderful child in her eyes. And then when I'm alone with Kali, I let her have it. I've got to teach her to respect me. 

Yesterday Cookie sneaked out the front door. Mom was so frustrated that she told her to just take off already because she needed to carry in a box that the Fed Ex man had left by our door. Mom then turned around to see how far my roaming sister had gotten. Well, when mom didn't run after her, my frightened little sister came back and was right by mom's feet. Silly, silly girl!

Mom has some exciting news in her life. She has been wanting to change schools within her district for years now and it looks like next school year it's going to actually happen. The school she is moving to is a very good one. She is going to learn new skills and work closely with her teammates. So closely that she may not have to work as hard as she does now. She is very excited to make this change. 

Happy lazy Sunday on this long holiday weekend. Hopefully mom will get herself organized so that you can see my handsome face again sometime soon. 

Oh yes, and hugs to everyone. I think this is a sweet way to honor Bonnie.

Although we're late in posting this, we want to say good-bye to feisty Bonnie. We so much enjoyed reading about how you ran your house and let Victor know who was the boss. We hope you've found loved ones over the Bridge who will obey and honor you, dear girl. We pray that your family will soon heal from your leaving and just remember the good times.

Tyler Tattles on a Tuesday

Tyler here for the big fat tattle on my mom. She disappeared again for a whole day and NIGHT again last weekend. When she came back, she had that aroma of strange cat on her. Each of us took turns investigating the smells on her arms particularly. She had been unfaithful. She even had strange tuxie hairs on her PJs. Now I know I've got a lot of siblings and they come in all colors and hues. What I don't have is a tux brother OR sister. Mom wouldn't talk, so today I broke into her iphoto and who did my little eyes spy but two tuxedo cats staring me down. Here's what I found:

Having found the evidence, Mom claims she, get this, "forgot to tell us" that she would be sleeping with our cousins. Well, she's in trouble now. I'm thinking up the proper consequence. Mom's a teacher and talks about consequences having to be natural and not punitive.  I don't know about that. I think the punitive ones are better. Or at least having her worried about the various punishments I may come up with is better. Of course I'm open to suggestions.Or perhaps you may refer me to a published list of acceptable punishments for the beans various crimes.  Especially, if they've worked with your person or people. Gotta run, take care. Thanks for any ideas you may have.

Mancat Monday

Hi, it's Jake here. And it's my turn to do Mancat Monday. I'm a year old now. Although Mom doesn't know my birthday, my Gotcha Day is June 6th. I was around 8 weeks old when she got me. So now that I'm a real man, do you think I'm any less hyper? Well, just a little bit. Last night I slept next to my moms head, which was a first. I let her cuddle with me while she fell asleep. Never before have I slept near her. Oh, I might snooze by her feet, where of course she couldn't touch me. It was sort of nice to be snuggled, but I haven't decided if I'm going to allow it to happen again. You'll just have to stay tune to a future Mancat Monday.

Knock, Knock. 

(Tyler, Kali, and Cookie: Um, Mom are you going to get the door?)

Knock, Knock.

(Sophie & Jake: Mom, the door!)

Knock Knock.

Who's there?

Nobel.

Nobel who?

No bell, that's why I knocked!

Okay that's our joke for Camie's Kitties'

  fundraiser. You should check it out!

Mom can't figure out how to format this post correctly, but that's what happens when she tries to post after 1 am.

Zoolatry is Wonderful!!!

 Both of the above graphics AND our brand new header are of course done by the very generous and lovely spirited Zoolatry. Mom is just overwhelmed with the beauty of these photos. Just look at how the color of Sophie's stars match her furs. Now Mom understands better how others feel when they drag out their children's baby pictures and SWEAR their babies are cuter than any other baby alive. Mom feels the same way about us. These graphics just thrill her to pieces. What a talent they have over there. We've always loved all the pictures of our friends that they've managed to create. To be included in such a wonderful group of kitties is an honor. We bow down to you and give you kitty kisses Zoolatry. We're very honored. 

Thank you PB&J!

We received our April Swap 'n Tail's package from PB&J. They gave us this fragrant bag of homemade nip. It is so strong that we just want to bury our faces in it. Mmm, mmm. Mom, it's time for a nip party or maybe you should just let So and I eat up the bag all by ourselves. Wow, they should market this stuff. I wish all you Nipheads could get just a little whiff. 

     

Enjoy your Sundays and the rest of the week. We hope to be around more often, but mom's work has been keeping her super busy. Hopefully we can convince her to help us visit you all and post. Bye!

Sophie: HI der friends! Happy lazy Sunday. Here I am in a cube that's suppose to be apart of a cat tree. Mom never put the thing together because the quality of the wood looked so cheap.  Jake and I love this cube though. We play "I'm going to bite you if you don't get out of that cube". The big cats sometimes stand on top of it and play with which ever kitten is inside. It is a fun place to hang out. 

Bye-bye, see you around the blogosphere. Thanks for stopping by.

You Found Me!

Shhhhh, please don't tell anyone you've found me. I'm hiding from my brothers and sisters. Sometimes a girl just needs some alone time.

Hi there friends! This is a picture of me on my new snuggle. It was made for me by my new friends', Camie's Kitties, mom. Can you believe she made five of these, one for each of us and sent them to us with a bunch of toys and treats just out of the goodness of her heart? We really like laying out on them especially when there's a chill in the air. Do you see the fluffy blue trim? There were two of those and three with pink trim. And we just happen to be two boy kitties and three girl kitties here. We're lucky to have friends like Camie's Kitties. Thank you Cody, Tavi, Tiki and Camie's mom! You're a very good snuggle maker! Oh and thank you for the toys and treats! You're the best. 

Jake's Hammock

This is a picture of me in my new hammock. Mom bought it just for ME because I often get chased of the big people's bed at night by Cookie. Since it is MINE, ALL MINE, no other cat better go near MY bed. Because it is MINE, MINE, just MINE. In this picture, I'm looking at my sister, Sophie. I'm giving her my back off, You. I see you eyeing my new soft sleeping spot. If you know what's good for you, you'll hop up on the people bed and curl up over there. There is no room for you here and besides this is MINE, ask Mom.

 

If you see anycat near my hammock, shoo them away for me please. I don't think they'll dare, because I've told them all to stay away.

"Oh this is comfy! That Jake can kiss my fluffy tail, if he thinks I'm going to stay out of this hammock. Brothers!" :::shaking her head:::.

I'm in the doghouse!

I was put in time out last night. By my own mother! Yes, I pounced on Kali. Yes, I meant to hurt her. But what Mom doesn't understand is that she was threatening my other sister, Cookie. Now I have been putting up with a LOT lately from that old sister of mine. She is constantly in my face telling me that I'm not the head cat, when everyone knows that's just a lot of bull. But when I heard her mouthing off at Cookie, I lost my patience. I've always protected her from Kali as long as she has been here. Another thing is that no kitty here gets along with her. She's mean to everyone except Mom. 

So today my plan is to stick close to Mom and show her how loving I can be. As soon as she leaves the house, I'm going to pounce that big sister again. But please don't tell mom, I don't need to be locked away again.

We're Back for a Visit, at least.

Three cheers for my aunt Ruth, who has lent Mom her work laptop while mom 's is being fixed. 

Auntie is also a teacher who's on vacation this week. Auntie's district distributes laptops to each teacher. Mom wishes her district could afford to do the same. Of course, since Mom has a habit of cracking laptop screens, perhaps it's best that she doesn't have a work laptop. There is finally a little good news regarding mom's computer. When she took it in to get fixed yesterday, one of the Apple employees recommended taking to a third party repair place, which Mom didn't even know existed. After calling them, she was quoted a price a little bit more than half of what Apple wanted for the same job.  Not only that, but the shop promise a 24 hour turn around. Whoo, Hoo! This is VERY good news. The store is a bit far away, but Mom's heading over there as soon as the traffic dies down.          

On to more important topics--US! Mom put together Jake's hammock and he loves it. What Mom? Later? Please forgive my mom's bad manners. She now "claims" that she has to run and take her computer to the repair shop, before the big machines stop up the freeways. Since it's our computer too and Mom says that it means more cuddle time in the long run, we're allowing her to post this without our news. Don't worry, we'll make sure she lets us back on here soon.

Bye, bye! We can't wait to get to your blogs and read them. It's been so hard being away from you all for this long.

Love,

Tyler and Sibs

Uh-oh!

I think it was just last month that I wrote about how Mom had destroyed her laptop by spilling water on it. Well, after spending quite a lot of money to fix it, she opened it this morning to find the screen cracked. And this is her third cracked screen within a two year period. We think the laptop may have dropped off of the recliner onto the carpeted floor when Cookie jumped down from the recliner. It was in it's protective case...but it wasn't the super-duper thick case that Mom bought after the last cracked screen. The one she swore she would use faithfully, until it arrived from Amazon and she felt how heavy the thing was....

Mom is feeling extremely stupid, careless and persecuted by the bad Macbook karma fairy. She also wishes she had asked Camie's mom (of Camie's Kitties) who wrote a comment saying that she had insurance covering her computer. Mom now really wants to know where does one get computer insurance. Is it part of home insurance? She asked our local Mac genius at the Mac store in the mall and he said that maybe it was conected to making the computer purchase with a credit card that offered such insurance. Now that would have been a smart move.

Mom hasn't figured out what she's going to do exactly about buying a new computer or having the old one fixed. Needless to say, we may not be around at all for the next week. Mom's going on vacation from work and that's where her current computer is located. Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!

There is so much to post about and so little time. Mom will post again tomorrow to tell of happier news. Right now we have to get going. Hugs and headbutts to all of our friends. We hope to convince her to just get that new computer, right now.

It Already Arrived!

Mom came home and found a white box by our front door. When she looked at the return address she was pleased to see that the hammock had arrived. She brought it in and put it down quietly because in the other hand she had a shopping bag from our favorite store, Pet Club. 

Right away Jake convinced Mom to play chase with the new wand toy with him and Sophie. Jake has so much energy that he's taken up the habit of finding a stack of Mom's important business papers and just tearing them up. He lies on top of the papers and reaches down with his mouth and just rips away, moving his head from side to side, as if he were chewing a mouses head off. Mom figured out the boy is bored. Even though he has several play-it-alone toys, he requires at least two half an hour sessions of play with mom a day.

 
Fairly soon Cookie came over and went into a sniffing frenzy around the white box. Mom knew that it could be the wonderful smell of the Forty Paws gang, but with Cookies intensity, she thought there must be something else besides a hammock in that box. When mom opened the box, I, Cookie, Jake and Sophie all scrambled a top her to get a wiff. Uh and after reading the note, it was confirmed. Primo organic NIP had been sprinkled throughout the contents of the box. Cookie who doesn't play around where NIP is involved, claimed the soft fleecy fabric for herself. She plopped her entire fat self right on top of the fabric part of the hammock that was on Momma's lap and that was that. She growled at all us other cats who tried to sniff the fabric. We had to content ourselves with nip that was deposited on the PCV tubes. Mom said we have to wait until the weekend for her to assemble the hammock. She needs to rest up before attempting the mechanical thinking that she fears may be involved. This is a very busy week for Mom after work. Friday is her turn to bring in treats for the school staff. She likes people to feel taken care of, so she likes to provide different foods, for different palates.

Besides, Jake has been sleeping on the bed this week with Cookie mysteriously sleeping in other secret spots. So no one will suffer if she waits to assemble the hammock.

Returning to the topic of Jake's hyper nature...he absolutely has a fit when mom tries to put our harness on him, so she ordered a new type of harness. This is a picture of a different kitty in it. We just ordered

it yesterday.

Mom also ordered extra balls for his "Peek-a-Prize" Toy Box, a Panic Mouse and other toys that will hopefully be self-entertaining. She even ordered him new cat DVD's called "Mewvie DVD Collection." She's hoping to create a toy rotation system to keep the guy happily busy. He has become the most affectionate of cats. When mom scratches his back he covers her hand with kisses. 

Does anyone have advice for dealing with a hyper kitten? We're grateful that Mom picked him because he's the type that would drive other people insane and may have been returned to the shelter for his misbehaving ways. As naughty as he is, he's five times as cute, or so my Mom says. He's not going anywhere. Except maybe up a wall.

Don't Tell Jake, but He's Getting a Hammock

Jake: Mom, why did Maw say that I had to watch out for the guy in blue shorts on Monday or Tuesday?

Mom: Oh, there might be a secret something coming your way.

Jake: I like it when the blue short guy rings the doorbell because then I get a chance to run, run, run. 

Mom: Uh Jake, I'm going to be at work when your blue shorts guy comes. Nobody's going to be answering the door. 

Jake: Drat.

Mom: Have you forgotten that you're getting something special from the Forty Paws?

Jake:Can I have a hint?

Mom: It's something that all of your sisters and brother cats have been admiring.

Jake: And it's just for me?

Mom: I got it with you in mind, but I imagine you'll be sharing it.

Jake: I like to share!

Mom: We'll see if Cookie feels like sharing it wth you.

Jake: Mom, last night she growled at me and wouldn't let come into the sleep room with everyone else. 

Mom: I know, Sweetie. She can be such a tyrant that girl. But you do sort of stalk her during the day, and get on her nerves.

Jake: I like to see how close I can get before she hisses at me.

Mom: Oh Jake.

Sophie:  I'm sitting here waiting for my darling meezer Castor to show up for a good long snuggle on this lazy Sunday morning. Once he gets here Mom's going to open the stinky goodness to share with him. Since his family had to leave him and his brother Pollux we've been transporting back and forth a lot. His brother looks so much like my sweetie that I have to be very careful who I curl up with. Pollux is a lot of fun to be around too because he likes to play with the toys. Although I'm shy like Castor, Pollux and my brother Jake have a wonderful time together racing through the house and wrastling each other. Everyone here loves it when the Meezer Brothers make there way over here. Happy Sunday everyone.

Fangs on a Sunday Morning

This is my "Hurry up already, Mom, or else," look. 

I'm Really Angry with Mom

I've been reeducating mom today. She came home from work and lied down for a short nap. I stayed away until I finally heard her calling for me.  I stayed away a little while longer. When I felt as if I'd punished her enough I finally jumped on the bed but instead of curling up in a ball near her head, I turned around and gave her my butt to stare at. At first she was very confused, she asked me if I was feeling sick. "Yeah, I'm feeling sick alright," I thought to myself. "Sick of not getting my proper greeting when she comes home. And sick of her immediately starting to PLAY with the kittens instead of calling out to me as she used to do when she first came through the door." Finally, she realized the errors of her ways and she fussed over me for a good half an hour. She told me she knew that I was alpha kitty and that I should be the first one to get her attention. Later on when she got out the Greenies, she told all the other cats that I was to get mine first. I purred and made lovey eyes at her for that. Her reeducation was complete for the day. I hope she remembers her lesson well, so I don't need to repeat it anytime soon. Sheesh, sometimes I just don't understand that woman.

Raining Like Cats and Dogs

There has been nothing but rain here for quite a while now. Mom's feeling a bit down. When mom doesn't get enough sun she gets depressed. I don't know why. She has us to cheer her up. What else would a woman possibly need to keep her happy?

Fishy Friday

Last month mom took this awful picture of something quite special. It's a photo of the only Great White Shark in captivity (at the time).. The shark is on the right and a dolphin-fish is on the left. Mom took her class to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is their third Great White that they've kept. It was released earlier this month. Mom asked one of the aquarium staff members why the sea turtles weren't in the tank. The expert told mom that they like to have their backs scratched so they swim in front of the sharks then slow down so that the sharks run into them. They were doing it on purpose! Their games were stressing out the fish so the staff took them out of the aquarium to give the others a break. 

Here is a beautiful picture of the same shark.

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Gifts

Our first Swap 'n Tails package arrived! It came from sweet Miz Allie herself. This month's theme was red. Mom's sorry she didn't grab the camera. But as you can imagine, there were several red cat toys that Jake has already taken and hidden. The early cat gets the kibble around here. He stood over the package as Mom opened it. The lady of the house also received some gifts. A box of chocolates and a heart shaped foam picture frame that has a magnet on the back. Perfect for my picture. I look good in red.

We also received a package of goodies that mom ordered. There were some cat toys that were hand crocheted (spelling?). Many of the toys were infused with honeysuckle scent because the website claimed that the cats go wild for it. Unfortunately, there were catnip items in the same package, so everything came out smelling of nip. We did go wild over the packages Mom opened, but we think it was the nip  smell not the honeysuckle.  There was even a nip spray that Mom sprayed onto one of the crocheted balls and I spent the afternoon in nip heaven with that piece of yarn. 

We wish everykitty a wonderful Wednesday. Mom's headed out of town for the day. So much for a weeks worth of  "us" time. Oh well, she's going to try to make it back very early on Thursday. 

It's Tabby Tuesday!

Mom said that I could have my picture put on Tyler's blog today because I'm a tabby and he's not. The poor guy doesn't even get his own day of the week because none of the days start with "b" for black or even "p" for panther.

The only bad thing is that I'm not the only tabby. But my tabby sister has only been looking at the camera with murderous eyes because she doesn't like the flashy thing. And my big sister, Cookie is really good at looking mean. She hisses and growls at me daily. Of course that just makes me want to be even closer to her. I long for the day that she stops growling and actually welcomes me with a headbutt or even a nose smooch. Sometimes when she's asleep, I come up to her and sniff her furs. Then she usually wakes up and hisses me away again. She's a very good hisser. She could probably teach a thing or two to a snake.

Look what I got! Thank you Cat Realm for this honor. You are too kind to me. It was easy to help you in such a small way. This award was created by Ruis, Carl's life partner. That's a picture of his REAL PAW. I'm going think about who I want to pass this on to. There are so many deserving kitties.