Cuddle Up

Cute picture of the day:

Total Relaxation

Lucy was getting her hugs and kisses from Bear yesterday. She was in a state of total bliss.

More

And yet again, cats will always lay on whatever you leave laying around. More pictures to prove my point.

Lucy on Keith's discarded socks. (Yes, he shouldn't have left his socks in the middle of the living room floor but Lucy didn't mind.)

Mimi on Keith's magazine that he left laying on the bed. How comfy and crinkly.


And Mimi on my paper bag from Office Depot-more crinkly stuff for her to lay on.

Uh-Oh

Yesterday every time Mimi ate something she immediately started gagging and threw it back up. Lots of times yesterday.

So, it means a trip to the vet to see what is wrong with her, and according to the internet searches that I did, it could mean all kinds of problems. I guess there is vomiting, and then there is regurgitation, which is what Mimi is doing, the food doesn't even get as far as her stomach before it comes back up. Some of the answers I found while searching this issue are sort of like when you are searching why your head hurts or something-BRAIN TUMOR!!

The internet is great and all that, but sometimes the information you get is way scarier than what's really going on. Regurgitation in animals apparently could mean poisoning, intestinal infections, or just that they're eating too fast. All do agree on one thing, take the cat to the vet if it continues.

So, just like kids getting sick on holidays and weekends, we'll have to watch her today and then take her to the vet on Friday or Saturday if she doesn't stop hacking her food up. She seems just fine other than that, yesterday she was almost being a pest jumping on my shoulders and flopping down right in front of me as I'm walking through the house. She's such a small kitty that you almost don't see her until you've tripped over her.

Why

Do cats love to lay on your clothes? It never fails, if you fold some clean laundry on the bed, cats immediately lay on top of it. If you put the clothes you were just wearing on the bed, cats immediately lay on top of it. One of these days I'm going to do a little experiment and put random articles of clothing all over the house to see how many cats lay on it. Or will they become confused with too many choices of clothing to lay on and not lay on any? Will it freak them out if they find a pair of pants by their water dish, or a t-shirt by the couch, or some underwear in the bathroom? I'll do a laundry and cats study that I can turn into a documentary. Think I could get some government funding for my study?

Waiter, There's a Mouse in my Soup!

Lucy was getting a drink of water, seemingly oblivious to the big pink fuzzy mouse that had drowned in the water bowl.


drink drink drink...hey, what the ?!?


I can only assume somebody was saving this mouse for later.

Hungry Hungry Kitties

I woke up late this morning and opened the bedroom door to find five kitties all right outside the door waiting to be fed. There was no dry food left in their bowls from last night and they were hungry! Buddy always jumps onto the counter where I line up the bowls, so he gets his first. Pepper jumps onto the breakfast bar (she's fat and can't jump onto the counter without the help of the breakfast bar stool) so her bowl goes there, and Mimi and Bear wait not so patiently on the floor for their bowls. Lucy has never eaten canned food, for some reason she doesn't like it, and poor Harri is too timid to eat when all the others are around, so I either take some food into the bedroom for her or just let her come out and eat when she's ready.

Last night Keith left the bathroom door open so of course at about 3:30 am Buddy was jumping around on the bed wanting to play. I shooed him out and shut the door, not realizing that Lucy was still in the bedroom, so about 30 minutes later (right after I had finally gotten back to sleep) Lucy was jumping around on the bed. I made Keith get up and shoo her out, since he's the one that left the door open. And that is why I woke up late this morning.

Lazy Kitties

With the nicer weather this week, we were finally able to open the windows again, which the kitties just love. They sit by the open window and just smell the smells and hear the birds and watch everything that goes on outside.
I have to watch them like a hawk, though, their kittenness still comes out when they get a little excited and they start climbing the screen. Mimi managed to knock it out again the other day, but I caught her before she escaped.
We moved the bird feeder away from the window so it's not quite so tempting to try and get a bird now.

Cats and Boxes

What is it with cats and boxes? Any time a box or bag or any other kind of receptacle is out where the cats see it they are instantly fascinated with it. Curiosity indeed.


Even when the box is just a little too small they like to squish themselves in it as best they can.

If You Open the Cupboard

Chances are a kitty will jump into it.


Buddy got in there first and then along came Lucy to see what he was up to. Buddy left and got on top of the fridge, sticking his paws into the opening between the door hinges to bat at Lucy. I was afraid all the dishes would come tumbling out if I tried to make them vacate the cupboard, so I just waited until they got bored with it and left of their own accord.


Cats are just so nosy.

Feeding Time at The Zoo

Every morning and every afternoon it's time to open up that can of cat food for all the hungry kitties. They have dry food available if they are starving, but they know that when I get up in the morning, first stop-even before coffee-is getting all the kitty dishes out and popping open that cat food can. Buddy is the most aggressive and jumps up on the counter for his dish. Pepper jumps up on the breakfast bar because there is a stool that she can jump on first, then onto the breakfast bar. She's too fat to jump directly onto the counter. Mimi will wander around on the floor waiting for her dish, Bear hangs back hoping that she'll get some too, Harri is usually still hiding in the bedroom and won't eat with the others, and Lucy won't eat wet food, so she doesn't really care.

Buddy will eat anything and usually eats out of his bowl and then scavenges out of all the rest of the bowls. He has super hearing when it comes to that pop of the cat food can. In the afternoons he will be two rooms away or sleeping out in the garage and he can hear that can open. One morning I had opened the closet to get my robe, shut the door, gone out to the kitchen and opened the cat food can, put the bowls out, and no Buddy. What the heck? He's always the first one here! Oops, he was in the closet when I shut the door and so I had to go rescue him.

This picture was taken on a day when they were extra hungry and Pepper actually made it to Buddy's counter. I was amazed that they were eating side by side like this.

Of course, as soon as Pepper abandoned her bowl, Buddy was right there eating what was left. Not like it's all the same food in each bowl or anything, he thinks there might be something just a little tastier in each bowl.

It Was Mimi the Whole Time

Remember the mystery of the pillows that belong on the window bench in my workroom but appear in the living room each morning? I figured out who the culprit is the other day while working on some things at my worktable. Mimi was sitting on the window bench with both pillows when I look over and see her picking up one of the pillows with her teeth and then dragging it over to the edge of the bench and dropping it on the floor. It was almost like the pillow was just really annoying her and she had to get it off that bench now, just like when you toss a throw pillow off your bed so that you can lay down. Then, she does the same thing with the other one, but after she drops it on the floor she proceeds to drag it over to behind the table. Now stay there, don't get back on the bench you pillow, you!

She is a very petite kitty, too, but apparently has some really strong jaws.

Buddy and Lucy pictures for the day.

Cats Have Short Memories

The little ones love to play and hide in the cat carriers. I guess they forget that cat carrier usually means vet trip. Lucy has apparently forgotten her recent torturous trip to the vet for her shots and the oh so humiliating ritual of taking her temperature with the rectal thermometer.


And, how do the cats all know that we are folding laundry in the bedroom and what is so exciting about folding the laundry anyway? Every time we are folding laundry on the bed, five or six cats all stream into the bedroom and jump on the bed and have to inspect the piles of folded clothes-to make sure we are doing it right?

Miss Mimi's Massage and Acupuncture

Is your back hurting from sitting at the computer too long? Neck and shoulders feeling a little tight and achy? A bit of a headache from staring at the computer screen?

Let Mimi from Miss Mimi's Massage and Acupuncture take care of all of your aches and pains in one simple treatment.

She will leap from the floor onto your shoulders in a single bound, massaging your shoulders as she turns and turns finding a comfortable spot, digging her needle sharp claws into your skin so that she doesn't fall off as she is turning and turning trying to find that comfortable spot. Then, for a few moments, she will sit and warm your tired muscles with her little belly as she lays on your shoulders. Then, up again, and more claws digging into your skin, turning and turning again, then once more laying on your shoulders, chirping and purring for the duration of your session. Sometimes she will even help your headache by slapping her tail against the side of your head. And, to help that carpal tunnel syndrome, she will frequently walk down the length of your arm to reach the computer desk where she will effectively block that screen that is giving you eyestrain and headaches. And then, back up the other arm to your shoulders again. For more walking and purring and chirping and needle sharp clawing.

Mimi is waiting for her next customer.

Whatever Are They Doing?

This is the window bench that Keith built so that the cats could look out the window in comfort.

There are two pillows that are usually on this bench so that the comfort level is even more comfortable. Can you see the pillows? No? Well, that's because somebody-and I'm not sure who-drags the pillows off of the bench, out the bedroom door, and into the living room.

Every night.


Each morning I wake up to find the window bench pillows somewhere else other than the window bench. I have yet to see whichever of the kitties becomes super kitty during the night and drags things through the house with just the strength of their little jaws, but I'd like to know what the motive is behind this. Do they sleep on the pillows after they've dragged them through the house? Or do they just enjoy my bewilderment each morning?

Another Awwww Moment

I came into the living room last night to find Buddy and Lucy squished together in one of the round platforms on the kitty condo, all intertwined, with Buddy licking Lucy's little face. Too cute!!

Buddy always has this very haughty expression on his face.

Yeah, I'm just too cool, but not so cool that I don't still love my sister.

Just Laying Around

Kitties do have the knack of making laying around an art form, don't they? It's nice that the three little ones still like each other and will hang out together. It's interesting to see how they relate to each other and I wonder how that will change as they get older. They still chase each other around and play fight, tumbling around and batting and biting at each other, but also have more and more times of solitude.
So, it was kind of unusual to see all three in the same space, although poor little Mimi does look a little third wheelish.

Charge!

We have never let the little cats into our bedroom at night, we always shut the doors and let them run around the rest of the house while we're sleeping. Not that we've never been woken up by crashing sounds coming from somewhere or found strange things in strange places in the morning. We just don't like kitties biting our toes or nuzzling our faces while we are sleeping. We do let some of the big cats in with us since they are not so full of energy anymore and will leave us alone at night. I think the big cats like the break from the constant motion of the little ones.

So, every morning, the little cats are waiting waiting waiting outside the bedroom door, and as soon as we open it, they run into the bedroom like it's the promised land and then look around like 'huh, not so exciting after all'. So, I go out and get their food, which is what they have been waiting waiting waiting for.

It's kind of like when wal-mart opens their doors for the after Thanksgiving sales and the customers squeeze and push through the doors to be the first one in-you just stand back and get out of the way!

Life is So Hard When You Are a Cat

Let's see, what's on my agenda for the day? Oh, yes, we'll start with a nice breakfast, then play with a toy or two, then race around the house for a little while, and then a nice nap. Then we'll wake up and stretch, go get petted, have a snack, play with a toy mouse, then another nap. And, then, before you know it, it's time to start all over again.
Just too much to do each day! How can I ever get everything done?
Sigh... my work is never ending!
So much to do, so little time!

How Rude!

Okay, this is the second time this has happened and I haven't figured out who the culprit is yet. I left a pair of pants folded on the floor in the closet, planning on wearing them again today, picked them up, and they had a big wet circle on them.

I know I didn't pee my pants, so somebody is using my pants as an extra litter box! What the...?

These cats have two big litter boxes that I clean twice a day, so why pee on my pants? Are you mad at me? Do I not feed you and pet you enough? I don't buy you enough catnip and kitty toys? What's going on here?

Or is someone just an evil kitty?