Happy 16th birthday to me!

Today is my 16th birthday! I had a nice relaxing day, kind of like my non-birthday days. I did get some birthday snuggling time in with Mom. Today is her birthday too (she's not 16 — maybe in cat years. Does that translate backward?). And as is our tradition, Dad fixed a Stinky Goodness cake shaped like the year. (It got a little blurry, but you get the point.)

The cake…

Whatcha doing?

Mom was trying to have a snack and play a game on her iPad while talking to Dad on the phone. We really wanted to know what she was eating (boiled peanuts). Forget that we all just had treats — her food was surely better. 

Loki's new favorite bed and Aslan's new job

Loki loves a good cozy bed. Mom and Dad were in Atlanta a few weekends ago and brought us this bed back. Loki took to it immediately and has loved sleeping in it.

He is so cute. I love how he is peeking over the floof of the bed. It makes Mom very happy to have a cat who actually sleeps in the beds they buy us. 

Also, Mom bought us a new Fish Taco Food Truck scratcher from Target. Aslan claimed it right away, and he's been sleeping all stretched out on the top of it the entire day.

I think he's going to get put to work if he stays this cute in the Taco Truck.

Missing Huggy Bear

 I really can't believe it's been two years since Huggy Bear crossed the Bridge.

 

Huggy Bear was my big brother, but he was also my best friend, and it was rare that you would see one of us without the other nearby. I guess I was his shadow the way Aslan wants to be my shadow (without all the hissing).

Huggy Bear was such a great cat, with an instant purr, and always so happy to see you whenever someone came into the room. And he was so funny because he loved to lay on the TV remotes. We all miss him so much, but we know he's at peace with Jasper and Josie. He would have had a lot of fun playing with Aslan and Loki. House Panthers are so special, indeed.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Today is Aslan and Loki’s second birthday! As is our tradition we had a Stinky Goodness cake in the shape of a 2. 

The boys let me sample the cake first. Aslan was a little skeptical because it wasn’t his normal wet food. 

Loki with the 2 cake. 

Loki was a good sport and wore the party hat. 

The cake!

Loki with Mom. We offered Mom and Dad some cake but they said “no thank you.” Aslan didn’t want to wear the hat. 

Loki being cute

 

 

Loki loves when Mom is home. He's such a sweet boy, and a super big helper whenever she is doing something. This past year with Mom working from home has spoiled him a little. 

In memory of Jasper on his birthday

Today would have been Jasper's 19th birthday. The photo on the left was Jasper as a kitten when he first came home to live with Mom and Dad. The picture on the right was Jasper at 15 years old. Jasper was a great big brother, and laid the groundwork for the rest of us McKitten-Cats. I wish Aslan and Loki had gotten a chance to meet him. He probably would have bopped them on the head with his big paws -- Jasper was funny that way. Well, maybe I'll bop them today for him. We miss you, big guy!

Still a little off

My tummy is still a little off so I had another vet visit yesterday and they put me on some meds that worked well in the past. The antibiotics just weren't cutting it so we're trying something else. If that doesn't work we'll do more tests, so paws crossed this does the trick. 

So, funny story. Aslan likes to put his toys in the water bowl. Last night he rediscovered a red fuzzy ball that he was having a blast playing with. In the middle of the night he must have put it in his water bowl, then decided to give it to Mom (while she's asleep). She woke up thinking the roof was leaking and really confused about this wet ball in her hand. (Better than a bug — that happened once too.) 

Aslan’s tuffet

It's so funny — Aslan was so unsure of this tuffet when Dad brought it home from Mom's theatre. (It was a set piece in a show and they didn't want it getting goofed up in storage so it came home for safe keeping — and cats.) Aslan would approach it like it was an intruder, pat at it, then take off. Now this is his favorite spot to be when we are all downstairs. (He's my shadow so he's usually near me.) He's awfully cute in this picture, showing off for the camera. 

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A little while back I had posted about a vet visit. I've been on two rounds of an antibiotic. I'm acting more like myself and, although my litter box visits are still not quite like they should be, things are improving. Thanks for the purrs. Keep 'em coming. 

Brothers

These boys are such buddies. They often lay exactly the same way, and while they don't snuggle, they do hang out together. Tonight, they are fussing about how Dad almost stepped on Loki coming down the stairs. Fortunately Dad sidestepped quickly but scared the daylights out of Loki. On the plus side, they got some extra treats out of it. 

Aslan is bored

Dad is having to do some continuing ed on Zoom. Aslan is not impressed with the current speaker. 

Vet visit

Well I had to go to the vet today. My tummy hasn't been right and I've been having some loose, nasty-smelling poops. I've been acting ok, actually playful like the boys, and not showing any distress. But my body was telling on me. It's a good thing I went. Turns out I have colitis and haven't been digesting my food. I'm a tiny girl and really can't stand to lose much weight. I also have an ear infection, which is rare for cats but I somehow managed to do it. So I have some meds and ear drops and am back home now. On the plus side, other than my white blood cell count being high, the rest of my bloodwork came back really good — kidneys and liver both looking good. 

Brothers doing brother things

"No, we're not up to anything..."

Channeling his inner Huggy Bear

Last night Aslan snuggled up against Dad the way Huggy Bear always would, stretched out and pressed up against Dad's body with his back leg up over Dad's arm. Huggy Bear would always kick that back leg up. This was one of the first times Aslan did this and it made Dad so happy. Aslan has his moments where he reminds us of HB and Jasper so much. He's such a good boy. 

Happy boy

Aslan loves Mom so much. He's so relaxed and happy doing upside-down cat as Mom pets his tummy. 

Yesterday I was curled up against Dad's leg and my other brother Loki came and plopped onto Dad's lap and half onto me. Dad thought it was kind of funny, except for the part where I got mad and left. Brothers! 

Buddies

Aslan is my shadow. He loves to be near me. Some days it makes me hiss. Tonight I'm just purring contentedly in my sleep. This picture made Mom and Dad very happy. 

Three years

I can't believe it's been three years since my sink loving big brother crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He was such a great big brother. I'm trying hard to teach Aslan and Loki how to be like him. Aslan certainly has his Jasper moments. Jasper, we miss you bunches. 

My remote

If Mom and Dad want to watch TV, they're going to have to pet me first. 

Happy to have them home

Mom and Dad made a quick trip* to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving to visit Dad's family. They hadn't seen them for a proper visit since last Thanksgiving. But now they are back home and Loki can't purr enough now that they are back. He's been laying on Dad for almost 30 minutes just purring and purring. Thankfully they aren't going away again soon. 

*Quick trip = left Wednesday and returned Saturday. The drive from Columbia to Cincinnati is about nine hours with traffic and gas stops. So Mom and Dad are a little tired. They were very cautious with the virus surging so they could have a good, safe visit. 

Rest In Peace Max

Yesterday was a tough day for the Cat Blogosphere. Our old dear friend Max crossed the Rainbow Bridge at 19-1/2 years old. He was, at least in my mind, THE veteran of the cat bloggers. His blog was almost exactly one year older than ours and he was one of our first friends back when you could visit every blog in about 30 minutes. I can't believe we've "known" him for 16 years. He truly set the standard for blogging cats. 

We've been sending all our purrs to his Mom today. It's doubly hard since Max's brother Buddah passed not too long ago. Please send some purrs their way. 

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I have been a lot more patient with Aslan after earlier in the week hissing at him all day. It's taken some time, but I'm getting used to his constant attention. Give a little extra love to the special people in your life today. Life is a precious and fragile thing.