RIP Gray

Our cousin cat Gray crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Wednesday. She was Uncle Doug and Aunt Cathy's outdoor cat, a master hunter of mice and birds (and the occasional bat). Uncle Doug put together a nice slideshow of this pretty cat. It is very sad, but the six-year-old did help lighten the mood at the hillside funeral -- when asked if he wanted to say any words, he replied, "Yes. She's gonna come back as a zombie cat." 

Why I have issues with Hobbes

So when Mom and Dad were in Atlanta visiting friends last weekend, their cat Hobbes got some love from Mom and Dad -- lots of love.


He is a very cute cat, as you can see here. He got on the back of the couch, except he but his paws and chest on Dad's shoulder, then fell asleep. This, in turn, forced Dad to have a nap too.


He even put his stink on the t-shirts that everyone got for raising money for the Walk MS.

He looks an awful lot like me, so I guess Mom and Dad got confused and that's why they were loving on him this weekend. Maybe he was just a surrogate since I stayed at home. Yeah, that's it...

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Everyone's posting diva pictures in honor of Sweet Praline ... you'd think this would be easy to find with the sisters I have...


Here's Maggie demanding Mom's attention by laying across her grocery list.


Josie is so sweet it's hard to call her a diva, but here she is claiming a new blanket and ball.

I'm so happy that I was able to introduce the Cat Blogosphere to Sweet Praline. I wish she was still here, I know we all miss her. But I always try to look at the positive -- she had a full life and gave her Mom so much love. And she trained her Mom for those two sweet kittens.

Walking for MS

Mom and Dad did their 5k walk for MS this weekend in Atlanta with their friend Nikki (and several other friends, too, but Nikki is the one with MS). It was a very good weekend for them. Thanks for all the purrs of support for Mom and Dad.

But we are going to have to have a little talk with the parents when we can sit them down.

First, there's the issue of our food. Thank goodness Aunt Tiff was coming by to check on us because while Mom and Dad were doing their walk-a-thon, we were having an eat-a-thon, and finished off all our dry food. All of it! Even the morsels that Huggy Bear drops on the floor for Mom to step on. So Aunt Tiff got us some wet food. Savior!

Second, there's the issue of Nikki's cat Hobbes. Now I'll give him a little bit of a pass because he's an orange cat, too, but he was loving on Mom and Dad just a little bit too much. And I heard they were singing his praises about how good he is (even though he slipped out the front door and hid under the bushes), and how Mom and Dad would bring him home if they could (seriously, are we not enough to handle?).

And lastly, the walk ended at a farmer's marker in Marietta Square (a very nice farmer's market that Mom and Dad love and wish was here), and there was a lady trying to give away some kittens. And you know what? Mom looked! Yes, she looked, and even said to Dad, "do we need a kitten?" If they weren't so far from home we might have had a kitten. Yikes! What has gotten into Mom?!?

But they are home now, and we have food, and all is good. (Although I'm going to get some pictures off Dad's phone as evidence as to why Hobbes is in trouble...)

Stinky Goodness cake and gifts

So as is our tradition I got my Stinky Goodness cake in the shape of a 10 for my 10th birthday last night! As an added bonus, Mom diced up some chicken to go along with it.


Here I am licking the juices off of the cake. It was so good.


Then I shared it with my brother and sisters. You can see I stay up on the counter so I can eat in peace. I'm not much for competing for food.


I don't play with toys a lot, but Mom and Dad know I like a good scratcher, so they got me a new wavy scratcher from Target, then loaded all our scratchers up with nip. Maggie and I really liked the nip!


You can see I even shared with Josie. It's good to share -- a lesson from a mature mancat. I also got a toy mouse from Aunt Tiff. I plan on hunting it later... it has an elastic string to hang from the door, and I love to chew those in half!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. My cat friends make me feel so special!

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my 10th birthday! Yes, the BIG ONE-OH! I can't believe I've been around that long ... I'm such a mancat to still behave like such a kitten so often! I've come a long way since I was born in that kind no-kill shelter in Moline, Illinois. I was such a tiny kitten with such huge paws -- Mom and Dad just knew I'd grow into a big mancat, and I sure have.


Here I am as a kitten ... This was from my Gotcha Day. You see that phone charger plugged into the wall behind me, yeah, I wasted no time chewing through that on day one. I still like to chew cords to this day.


And here's another Gotcha Day picture. Yes, this is my birthday, but these are the earliest pictures Mom and Dad have of me. As you can see, Maggie's not the only one good at unrolling toilet paper!


Oh! An action shot! I loved that mouse so much ... I know it's still around here somewhere. This was my first mouse I ever had!


You can see the mouse better in this shot. Maybe I'll have to break that out and play with it for old time's sake.

And of course there will be Stinky Goodness cake later tonight. I can't wait!

Spoiled Huggy Bear

Dad has gone and spoiled Huggy Bear. Now, sure, we're all spoiled because we know that, after Dad is finished shaving and deodorizing and tooth brushing, we get treats. Well, Huggy Bear was snuggled up with Mom one morning so, instead of making Huggy Bear leave Mom for his treats, Dad gave him his treats in bed. That way Mom was able to still get her Huggy Bear love, and he could get his treats. Well, now that this has happened a few time, Huggy Bear expects the treats to come to him. So Dad is trying to retrain Huggy Bear to come when he hears the treat bag shaking. This has several benefits, like if we are where we aren't supposed to be and need to come somewhere else. But in the meantime it is a tough time for Dad and for Huggy Bear. Mom and Dad like spoiling us, but we have to follow certain rules (not many, but a few...)



But look at that cute face ... how can you not spoil him?

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Mom is still raising money for the MS Walk. Thanks to anyone who can chip in, and thanks to all who already have!

Walk MS

Mom and Dad have a dear friend (Nikki) who was diagnosed with MS several years ago. Three years ago she decided she was going to participate in the Walk MS 5k in Marietta, Georgia, which is really out of character for her. So when she said she was in, Mom and Dad signed up right away. The first walk was a little more than she expected, and Nikki needed a little break midway through. The Georgia heat, combined with the exertion, is a little tough on the MS. Last year's walk went better, although Nikki was having some issues with sensation in her feet and legs. But Nikki powered through. This year looks to be a great time for the walk. Mom and Dad will be joining Nikki in two weekends as she does another 5k.

Now I don't often try to fund raise on the blog, but the walk is quickly approaching and Mom is off her goal. Mom set a big goal of $750. Dad, knowing they pull from many of the same donors, set a "free t-shirt" goal of $100, which he has met thanks to the wonderful generosity of DKM and Max's Mom. (They've done their share of walking, so they understand.) I know times are tough for everyone right now, and we all like out catnip and treats, but if you have a spare dollar or two and are able to support this worthy event, I know Mom and Dad would appreciate it greatly. I don't have fun prizes to raffle off, but maybe we'll do that for next year (I think Mom's looking at trying to do a big walk with DKM and Max's Mom).

If you'd like to support Mom, you can donate here.

Thank you for any support you can give. If you can't donate, then purr. That helps too, and we appreciate purrs just as much.

Published picture?

We received a request through someone on Flickr who would like to use a picture of Maggie in a book of funny cat pictures. There's no pay, although Mom and Dad would get a photo credit. We're debating giving them permission. It would be kind of fun, and we would get a copy of the book if the picture is actually included. But we just get apprehensive about giving the rights out, ya' know.

Here's the picture they liked: Toothy Death.

Happy (belated) Easter

I hope everyone had a very happy Easter. We were locked up for most of the day because Mom and Dad had a brunch with lots of eggs and bacon and goodness that we'd want to help ourselves to. Usually all four of us end up in the master bathroom when we have company. But Huggy Bear had other plans, and camped out under Mom and Dad's bed. Dad tried to lure him out with treats, but Huggy would only come to the edge of the bed and pull the treat under with his paw. It was very cute, even if it was a little frustrating for Dad, who was afraid that Bear would decided to come out and paw at the carpet when he realized the door was shut. But it was all OK, and HB actually did get some bacon out of the deal.

Our desktop computer is being a little goofy and sometimes runs like normal, and sometimes just freezes up and becomes unresponsive. Dad is going to back up all of our cat pictures this week in case it decided to stop working at all (scary thought).

Streaming video of kittens!

Here you go: live streaming video of kittens! I think I'll kick back and watch this for a little bit, but then I may need to nap (or watch penguins).

Rest in peace Scooby

One of our oldest and dearest cat blogging friends Scooby passed away very suddenly yesterday. We are in shock because he wasn't ill. He died in his mother's arms, which I think is where all of us want to be when our time comes. His blog is one that, when I make my rounds, I always check in with, and they were one of the first to start following us back when we started blogging so long ago. Although we never met in person, I truly feel a void today. We've lost a good friend. Scooby, you will be missed.