I'm SO SCARED!!

Poor old Buddy. He acts like such a big badass but every time the trash truck goes down the street he runs straight into the garage to hide from the noise. Why he thinks the garage is a safe place I don't know.

Today it was the street sweeper truck.

Keith was still in bed and Buddy runs into the bedroom and crawls under the covers with him, turns all around in panicked circles, and then finally cringes under the covers. He is still there after the street sweeper left a long time ago. It might come back!! OH NOES!

Lucy is adapting to living in the back yard after being banished from the house for her territorial attacking wild crazy behaviour. She has pretty much chased all of the other strays and outdoor cats that like to poop in our yard away. She also found a way to get up the tree out front and onto the roof of the house and was wandering around up there the other day.

Keith still wants to find her a home, but cats are a dime a dozen around here so the chances of that are slim and none. We are deciding whether to let her live out her life outdoors, but the indoor cats still get freaked out when she comes to the back sliding door and get all nervous that she might attack through the glass or something. We can't open the screen to let the breezes in because who wants cats screeching at each other through the screen?

More Mean Kitty

Well, I was hoping that Lucy was finally calming down and had even bragged about the uneventful day she had when talking on the phone with Keith last night. She hadn't growled at anyone or gotten into any fights. Mimi and Harri have been coming out into the living room again with no problems. But poor old Bear. She hasn't been out of the bedroom in almost 2 weeks now, only a few times crossing the hall to go into the front bedroom, looking out of the window for a few minutes and then scurrying back across the hall into the safety zone.

Last night I was sitting on the couch and Bear came all the way down the hall where she could see into the living room and then sat there staring at me with that kind of creepy stare that she has. I knew she was longing to come sit on the couch and get her face rubbed and petted but was too afraid to come any further.

I hadn't seen Lucy for a few hours and was kind of hoping that maybe somehow she got outside and ran away and I wouldn't have to worry about her anymore, but no, she was up on top of the entertainment center sleeping. So after Bear stared at me for a while, she crept into the living room, into the kitchen, and was going to go out the kitty door to the garage when Lucy saw her from on top of the entertainment center and immediately jumped down and was ready to attack, growling and ready for action. I grabbed the squirt bottle of water and Bear went into panic mode and ran back into the bedroom, me squirting and yelling at Lucy.

So. I really think that Lucy got it into her head that the bad cat that sprayed on the screen door is somehow Bear and she doesn't recognize Bear anymore and thinks that Bear is a new cat that shouldn't be in the house. That's the only explanation that I can come up with for the sudden I Hate Bear thing that is going on.

Better watch out, Lucy, a trip to the pound is still an option here even though it would break our hearts to have to do that.

Total Relaxation

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

This is My Spot

We have nice cozy cat beds and blankets and pillows and cat towers and every creature comfort for these furry kids, but where is Lucy's favorite place to sleep?

On the cold hard kitchen counter. And not just any part of the counter, it's always in the same spot.

Missing

We thought we had lost Lucy yesterday.

I had asked Keith to take the screens out of the windows so we could clean them-after all it's only been, oh, maybe 3 or 4 years since we cleaned the windows? Or maybe we've never cleaned the windows, who knows. Anyway, he got all gung ho and took not just the screens but the actual windows out so he could clean the runners which were indeed totally nasty.

So, here we are with the living room window wide open and no screen and of course the cats are really curious about this so we locked the cats we could round up in the bedroom. Then a little while later we realized that Lucy was nowhere to be found. Uh oh...

We looked everywhere, under the beds, in the closets, in the garage. Our house is really small so there aren't that many hiding places for little kitties. Well, crap, she must have gotten out the window.

So, Keith searched all the yards around us and no Lucy.

We were worried but finished up on the window job keeping an eye out for Lucy and hoping she would find her way home.

A few hours later Keith went into the living room and there was Lucy, innocently laying in the middle of the floor.

We still haven't figured out where she was hiding, but we were really glad that she was safe inside and not out wandering the neighborhood.

This is her favorite sleeping position-doesn't it look comfy?

Buddy the Bully

Poor little Harri. She is such a timid little thing, always looking over her shoulder to see if someone's out to get her, and always kind of staying out of everyone's way. Buddy just loves to chase her and make her hide somewhere, and even Lucy was getting in on the action the other day. If Harri would just stand up for herself and take a swipe at Buddy I think he would stop but she's just too timid.

Here are some Lucy pictures for the day. She sleeps in the oddest positions.

But she always looks totally relaxed and I guess if someone took pictures of me sleeping I might be in some strange positions too!

Sweet Little Lucy

Unlike Buddy and Mimi who will leap onto your shoulders when they want some attention, Lucy will very delicately put her little paws onto your leg and wait until you pick her up for her petting. She usually does this in the afternoon when I am working on the computer of course, so I pick her up and pet her and give her hugs. None, and I mean none of the other cats will let you pick them up and put them on your lap. Buddy and Mimi both struggle to get down and Pepper growls if you pick her up. Harri and Bear will tolerate it for a minute as both of them are very timid kitties, but the expressions on their faces let you know that they are not too happy about being picked up.

But, sweet little Lucy likes to be held and petted-for a few minutes at least.

Here she is being an itty bitty kitty again. I remember when all three of the little ones could all fit in this basket together!

Lucy The Water Baby

Lucy has always been fascinated with water. When Keith takes a bath, Lucy is right there on the edge of the bathtub, tail usually hanging down into the water. If you turn on the faucet, she is right there wanting to take a drink and will sometimes sit staring at the faucet like 'why isn't the water coming out?'
Sometimes I will turn on the water for her and then go off to do something else and forget thet I've turned on the water and come back 45 minutes later to find the water still running.

I Love How

Lucy's

little paws

curl up when she's sleeping.

The Kittens Saga

The continuation of the kitten rescue story.

After many trips to the vet, many many bottle feedings and bottom wipings-with new kittens you have to wipe their little behinds to get them to go pee after feeding them, just like mama cat does-and lots of medicine and tender care, our kittens began to flourish last summer.
Here they are last August, getting fat and sassy.

Since they had been so young when we found them, they still needed that sucking on mama thing, so they would suck on each other's bellies for comfort-and on each others genitals, which we had to put a stop to real quickly since that can damage their little private parts. As they got older, they would nuzzle into each other and get a flap of belly skin to suck on and you'd hear them just slurping away making each other's bellies soaking wet.
Whenever I'd find them sucking I'd make them a little plate of kitty milk mixed with baby rice cereal for them to lap up. These kittens were hard to wean, Buddy figured out food real quick and would (and still will) eat anything. Mimi wouldn't eat any dry food and lived on that kitty milk mixed with wet food for a long time. Lucy wanted nothing to do with the wet kitty food and only liked dry food, and still does. No canned Fancy Feast for her.
I think we finally got them done with kitten milk at about 5 months, they really liked that stuff.

Having three growing very active kittens in the house is something like having a three ring circus in your living room-constant motion and always something to watch. I wouldn't trade all the entertainment value of having three kittens for anything, though. Even the thousands that we spent on vet bills was worth it.

Sleeping Lucy

Lucy really really enjoys her naps and especially enjoys taking them right in the middle of the hallway so that you always have to watch your step around here.

I had to take all angles of this strange position-she does this all the time, sleeps in the most awkward looking arrangements ever.
She's so trusting of us that you can walk right over her and she never even flinches.


ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...kitty dreamland.