Rocky's "adventure"

Our Aunt Tiff had a little scare last night. She had workers in the house and she thought she had wrangled all the cats (she has four now). Rocky likes to hide in the kitchen cabinet and can get behind the dishwasher, and Aunt Tiff figured that was where he was. Well one of the workers left a window cracked, and when Aunt Tiff couldn't find Rocky she figured he wasn't where she thought he was and that he had slipped out of the window.

Mom and Dad went over around 11:30 pm and hunted around the house inside and out trying to find that boy. He is rather skittish, very fast, and an excellent hider. Mom thought she saw him in a neighbor's fenced-in backyard, and they looked as close as they were comfortable at midnight (after all, they didn't want to get shot).

Eventually they all decided to call it a night, left an outside utility closet door open with some food in it so Rocky could get shelter and safety and Aunt Tiff was going to hit the streets today. Dad was thinking that Rocky may still be in the house because the window Rocky would have made it out of was about seven or eight feet up and the pine straw under the window wasn't disturbed (Dad's no Aragorn, but he figured an inside cat would have kicked up some dirt jumping and running off).

Well, at 4 am Aunt Tiff was awoken by Rocky meowing from inside the closed up guest room. Somehow he had slipped in there and found a place to hide. Now this room is pretty empty, so Rocky must be a Very Good Hider to have stayed away from Aunt Tiff and Dad when they searched the room. He was probably very unhappy with strangers in the house and decided he needed some alone time, and a little excited to be in a new room.

Thankfully he is all safe and with him Mom, sisters, and brother.

The betrayal of the treats

It happened again this weekend -- we were betrayed by the treats. You'd think we would learn, but those treats are just too good. Mom and Dad had a surprise party for Aunt Tiff's 40th birthday, but of course that means we get sequestered into the big bathroom. But that's also where we usually get our treats, so it's pretty easy for Dad to lure us in. Josie has actually learned to stop just short of the bathroom for her treats. Huggy Bear has learned to recognize the level of simultaneous cooking and cleaning as a sign for him to hide under the bed to avoid getting locked in the bathroom. He's very funny about it, because Dad will try to lure him out from under the bed with treats. But he'll just reach out one long arm like Hungry Hungry Hippos and pull the treat under the bed and eat it. This weekend Dad even wrapped Tiff's gift right by the bed thinking Huggy Bear would come out and help. Eventually Dad gave up and just locked HB in the bedroom. (Mom later came up and he was up on the bed, and she put him in with the rest of us, so he had food, water and litter box.)

But Aunt Tiff was very surprised by her party, which makes getting locked up OK, I guess. Tiff wanted a nice, low-key dinner with a couple of friends, so Mom threw her a big party instead. You only turn 40 once, and they've been friends for 35 years, so it had to be done.

Once the party was winding down we did get to visit and get some love and attention and wished Aunt Tiff a proper happy birthday with purrs.

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In other news, Dad has almost reached his fundraising goal for their big MS 3-day, 50-mile walk. Mom still needs some help. If you have a few dollars to help her out, every bit is appreciated. You can donate here. Thanks again for all your support.

No birthday cake pictures?!?

I just realized last night that we got preoccupied with little Rocky and never uploaded Maggie's birthday cake pictures. I will see about getting Mom and Dad to fix that tonight.

A little Rocky update ... He got to take a big road trip from Columbia to Atlanta. Aunt Tiff's mom was sick and in the hospital so Aunt Tiff took Rocky with her and went to spent some time with her Mom. Mom and Dad have been checking on Lucy and Ethel (as much as they can, since they are scaredy cats and hide under Aunt Tiff's comforter when Mom and Dad come over). But Aunt Tiff's mom is feeling better and will be out of the hospital soon, so Mom will be able to squeeze on Rocky some more. I hope that takes care of her kitten fever.

Visiting Rocky

Mom and Dad visited with Rocky the other night. He had a rough day the day before. Aunt Tiff had to take him to the vet because he was drooling excessively and foaming at the mouth. He's been very ill from the day he was trapped, so everyone is very cautious with him. But by the afternoon, Rocky was back to being a high energy kitten again. Mom and Dad think he licked a bug or some litter or something else that tasted bad. But since he only weighs 1.86 pounds, it's better to be safe.


Here's Rocky on top of his little BoyCat Cave.


Mom and Dad also got a rare Lucy sighting. Lucy and Ethel usually hide out when Mom and Dad go visit Aunt Tiff. But I guess since Mom and Dad were in with Rocky for so long, Lucy must have relaxed and got back in her cat tree. Hopefully they will eventually socialize.

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And here's a little non-cat related bit ... for the Moms out there: Mom and Dad went to see Rick Springfield in concert on Friday night. It was an outdoor concert, and 98 degrees, so Rick got a little hot and, well, this happened...


Dad said it was a great concert. And they got to hear Jessie's Girl live...

Here's Rocky!

Aunt Tiff picked up Rocky yesterday around noon. She brought him by the theatre for Mom and Dad to meet him, and it was right before rehearsals so Rocky got lots of love by all the great kids in Camp Rock.


Here's Mom holding Rocky in Mom's office. He's still getting used to different surroundings. He's very fast and likes to hide under stuff. But he's getting more comfortable by the minute. Later last night Dad went to Aunt Tiff's to visit Rocky again. Dad turned Rocky's purr on. He has a very good, loud purr. It was late, and Rocky almost purred Dad to sleep. At first Rocky wanted to climb out of Dad's hands, but by the end Rocky was curled up on Dad's lap.

Well, Rocky is a brave bot for sure. We were having horrible storms last night with lightning and thunder and Rocky got right up in the window to take it all in. I can only imagine what kind of life he had before he was rescued. Non one really know how old he is, but he is pretty tiny -- about two hand fulls.

His sisters (Lucy and Ethel) are getting introduced to him slowly. They are undergoing scent neutralization (rub a washcloth on him, then on them, and vice versa, and then leaving the cloth near their food so they associate him smell with something good like food). There was some hissing yesterday, as expected. But it won't be long before there's a big cat pile, because they are all snugglers.

We are very happy for Aunt Tiff. But we are especially happy for Rocky.

Finally Friday

Oh good, it's finally Friday! Too bad Mom's not feeling hot. But you know what that means...


...we get to curl up in bed with Mom and make her feel better.

Yesterday was Aunt Tiff's birthday, but we get to celebrate with her tomorrow! Hopefully we'll get more food like at the Super Bowl (and maybe get to eat some this time). It's supposed to be nice this weekend, like maybe open-window nice. We're hoping. I hope you all have a great weekend, too.

Huggy Bear perched on the bed

This is Huggy Bear's favorite pose -- he loves to perch on the edge of the bed, especially in the morning while he snoopervises Mom and Dad. The Beans are heading to Atlanta for Dad's cousin's wedding, which means Aunt Tiff is going to come over and squeeze on us (but mainly Maggie).

Moving Aunt Tiff

Aunt Tiff is moving into her own place this week, which is exciting for her, but a little sad for us. That's one fewer person to give us treats and pets and squeezes. On Friday, Mom and Dad helped Aunt Tiff move her bigger items over to the house she's renting. On the very last run, moving the very last large heavy box, the ramp on the U-Haul wobbled and Mom took a tumble and landed hard on her left elbow. It's pretty painful and swollen and she can't straighten it all the way, or bend it up all the way. So tomorrow they're going to Dad's office to get an x-ray. Keep your paws crossed that it's just a bad bad bump and not broken.

Update: Mom's elbow is feeling better this morning. She's been icing it a lot, and Dad wrapped it for her last night (only one clumsy bump to Mom's elbow while wrapping it) and can move it better today. If it's still giving her trouble she may still go get an xray, but for right now she's feeling better. And yes, Aunt Tiff is only about 10 minutes away, and will surely be by for dinner.

Big day today

Today is a very big day. First, this morning, our Aunt Tiff is taking her NCLEX nursing exam today. Please purr for her. She's very prepared, but a few purrs wouldn't hurt.

Then tonight the musical that Mom has been dedicating so much time to as producer opens. We have company coming in, so we'll also have a few extra people in the house.


And while I'm doing an update, last weekend Mom and Dad were visiting at Lisa and Brian's where the kittens from last month live, including Jackson, who helped with some of the birthday gift opening for Lisa and Brian's girls (Gracie and Clara Ann).


But the gift unwrapping wore the little kitten out and he fell asleep on Gracie's new sleeping bag curled up with her gifts.

Hanging with Aunt Tiff

Mom and Dad went over to Sunset Beach (in North Carolina, not the soap opera) to catch up with some old old friends. Thankfully we have Aunt Tiff to tuck us in, open the door to the garage and give us treats. But Mom and Dad will be back Saturday night, hopefully with pictures of seagulls and beach life. (Rumor has it they are cavorting around with four dogs at the beach, so they better bring us something good back if we are expected to tolerate that kind of behavior.)

Maggie Monday

Maggie has accepted Aunt Tiff as part of the family for sure. With Aunt Tiff living with us for a little while, we were a little thrown off at first. But as you can see, Maggie has taken her in:


Maggie snuggled up on Aunt Tiff's UVA blanket right up against Aunt Tiff.

Everyone, please send helping purrs to Sweet Praline. She has us worried and she needs to get better.

Finally Friday

Well, since I missed making a post yesterday I will show you a very special picture:


The girls must have been pretty cold because it is not often that Josie will let Maggie snuggle with her (despite Maggie's many efforts). But Wednesday night there they were at the foot of Mom and Dad's bed, sleeping against each other like it was their normal thing. It actually lasted a surprisingly long time.

This has been a pretty big week at the McKitten-Cat house. Aunt Tiff moved in on Tuesday and will be here for a little bit while she looks for a nursing job. This is very exciting for us. It's another person to spoil us, and she also brought all kinds of boxes and bags for us to sleep on and put our hairs on.


This has been my favorite napping spot since it was brought in to the house.


But there's no denying that a duffel bag makes a great pillow.

Thursday Thirteen #40: Christmas toys

Sweet Praline asked where I was in yesterday's picture. I was here:


Aunt Tiff brought us Christmas presents when she came for New Year's Eve.

Here are thirteen Christmas presents we got:
1. The motorized feather ball from yesterday that wanders around the kitchen teasing us with feathers.
2. Spikey rattle ball.
3. Fuzzy ball.
4. Another rattle ball.
5. A fuzzy wand toy that Huggy Bear keeps carrying around.
6. More balls.
7. There were lots of balls in the package.
8. I mean a lot of them. I know the picture is blurry, but look at all the balls!
9. A Crazy Cat Woman book for Mom just so it's official.
10. Catnip mouse.
11. A fuzzy mouse.
12. A mouse with a really long tail.
13. The fuzzy ball is worth mentioning twice, because we all keep taking turns hunting it.


Thanks Aunt Tiff for all the great toys! We love them, and even though we have the spread out all over the house, Dad hasn't stepped on any of them and broken them yet, so that's good too.

Finally Friday

Yes, finally Friday! Mom and Dad are running up to Atlanta for a quick overnight to see Aunt Tiff. Aunt Tiff just graduated from nursing school and we are all very excited for her, and Mom and Dad are going up to celebrate with her. But they'll be back tomorrow and then we get our Christmas trees!

Easy Like Sunday

The other day, Dad went to Target to get kitty litter and they were running the special again where if you bought two, you got a free $5 gift card. So when Mom and Dad went back later, did they use that $5 gift card to buy a bunch of treats or toys for us? No, they bought Maggie a penguin t-shirt!


Here's Maggie showing off her t-shirt. She didn't mind this one as much as the other two shirts she has worn, but this one is more of a cape and less form-fitting. She wore this for Aunt Tiff, who is visiting for the weekend. Aunt Tiff is a big penguin fan, so Maggie agreed to wear it. But I think she needs some lessons from Daisy on how to properly model. (I don't think "death roll" is a good modeling technique.)

Tattle Tail Tuesday

Well, this is where you might normally expect to see a Tabby Tuesday or a Tuxie Tuesday, but since this is the Week of Jasper today is a Tattle Tail Tuesday instead, and boy do I have a beef with Mom. You see, Aunt Tiff came for a visit this weekend for Dad's birthday (I have a really cute picture of her with Maggie, but this is the Week of Jasper and I can't derail it with a Maggie picture, no matter how cute it is -- it will just have to wait for next week.) When she arrived she had this action figure for Mom. It is a Crazy Cat Lady action figure. Unknowingly, Aunt Tiff busted Mom, because plain as day, all of our likenesses are there along with the crazy cat lady. I think Mom has sold our likenesses to this action figure company and is keeping the cash monies all for herself.


I inspected this very closely, and I'm pretty sure this is me.


If you look you'll even see, along with me in the lower right, Josie (top right), Huggy Bear (middle right) and Maggie (middle left) all represented and not compensated. I think we're going to have to talk to Mom about this, for sure.


On the back there is a checklist to let you know if you are a crazy cat person (like there was ever any doubt). Click to biggify it on Flickr if you can't read it.

Mancat Mousie Monday

Me and my mousie
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Our Aunt Tiffy gave us about 4 million toys for Christmas. Here is Huggy Bear with his new favorite mousie. Mom says he doesn't look very Mancatish in this picture - she says he looks like a sweet pie. Come on mom, he's a big ol' mancat no matter how cute his big round eyes are.

Note from mom: Aunt Tiffy spoils the McKitten-Cats rotten. She gave them about 40 mousies and balls and a thing of catnip. Thanks Aunt Tiffy!

Floofy Friday

Dad says we are starting to get our winter floof. What do you all think? Is anyone else getting their winter floof? I have tons of extra floof between my toesies. I guess I'm supposed to go outside in the snow or something. I don't think so. We are indoor cats. It's nice and cozy in here. (Also we don't get much, if any, snow here in South Carolina.)
PS Aunt Tiffy - I will trim my toesies before you come and visit for Christmas. I know how my toesie floof bothers you. But if I trim my toesie floof for you, what are you going to do for me? I hope whatever it is it comes in the shape of catnip or a new mousie. Thanks!!