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.

Missing HB

Yesterday marked one year since Huggy Bear crossed the Bridge. We spent the last few days celebrating the boys' birthday, since it was just a few days earlier. I'm convinced that Huggy Bear sent these two boys to Mom and Dad, because Loki is a lover much like Huggy Bear was, and Aslan has a lot of HB's personality. I loved Jasper and Josie, but Huggy Bear and I had a special bond. It was usually "Maggie and Huggy Bear" -- rarely just one of us.



Aslan is trying to fill Huggy Bear's role, and I give in every now and then. You have to give him credit for trying hard. It is nice to have a couple of little brothers who think you are a rockstar.

Happy Black Cat Day!

I saw on Simon's Cat that today is Black Cat Day so Happy Black Cat Day to all my house panther friends out there, and especially to my brother Huggy Bear! Black cats get such a bad rap, but they are some of the most precious and loving cats Mom and Dad have been around (I've only been around one, but if he's a good representation then they're all OK in my book).


This is an older picture of Huggy Bear (2008 -- wow!) but this is how you'll usually find him, snuggled up as close as he can be to Mom.

Black Cat Appreciation Day

Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day! This is an older picture of Huggy Bear (from 2008) but it shows his nature so well. Huggy is the perfect name. He is so affectionate. As soon as Dad is out of bed in the morning he is in Dad's spot, or snuggling up with Mom. He certainly is our lover, ready with a purr the instant he walks in the room.

Also, Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day to some of my favorite house panthers -- William and Fwankwin!

Finally July...

June was just a stupid crazy month for Mom and Dad. They just realized last night that Maggie never even got her birthday cake, so that's happening this weekend. They do have a good excuse, with Mom's work having to move before the wrecking ball shows up. Mom has worked pretty much every day for three months.


Sometimes we just have to pin Mom down and force her to stop moving. Huggy Bear and I are very good at making Mom stay in bed. It really is a team effort.

Mancat Monday

We haven't done a Mancat Monday in quite some time...


Here is Huggy Bear on the back of the couch enjoying some sun. It can be difficult to get a good picture of his face, but the light was perfect to see how handsome my little brother really is.

Sharing Dad's couch

Sometimes the secret to getting along is having a barrier.


Josie and Huggy Bear decided they both wanted to be on the couch with Dad. Josie was in place first. Otherwise, I'm not sure how this would have worked out.


Huggy Bear got good and snuggled in against Dad's leg, and checked to make sure it was OK that he share the couch with Dad and Josie.


Josie was in her own world that night. I'm not even sure she knew Huggy Bear was on the other side of Dad's leg.

This is just a test picture at the bottom to see the new Flickr option of embed vs html:

Waiting for Mom and Dad

Huggy Bear was sitting midway up the stairs last night waiting for Mom and Dad to come home. We are all pretty good about welcoming Mom and Dad when they get home. That is especially remarkable since their schedules are not always predictable.

Last night Huggy Bear was in a perfect cat pose to show off his great haunches. Mom loves when he sits like that.


Here he is. He's even showing off his University of Tennessee collar, which you usually can't see because of all his floof.


Josie was ready for us to be done with our photo shoot, and decided to run by while taking pictures. Siblings are great for photobombs.

We all love to hang out on the stairs. The higher the perch, the better, I say.

Secret Paws is here!

Hooray! Hooray! It's one of our favorite days! Our Secret Paws package arrived! We got a  very intriguing package from Crepes, Rocky, Niles, Mrs Peabody and Doodle from Cat in the Fridge.


Maggie was the first to investigate the box.


Being the oldest cat I have to set a good example and read the card first.


We got a tin of really cool Christmas colored balls to play with. (You'll see these again...)


And look! Cat grass! We needed this!


Huggy Bear helped me pick out a catnip mouse to play with. He was so excited that he got blurry in the picture.


But really, how could you help but not get excited with all these cool gifts!


Maggie likes to check out the box and make sure Mom and Dad got everything out.


Josie showed up a tad bit late to the opening, but she still got to pick out a ball or two to play with.


There were peppermint striped balls, and green ones, and they jingle when we bat them around.


Josie had trouble deciding.


Huggy Bear had no trouble deciding -- it's the crinkle butterfly for him.


I was partial to the heart-shaped mouse from the tin of catnip mice. I kept knocking it under the dresser so Mom and Dad would have to get up and get it for me. It's a really fun game. I highly recommend it.


And then there was the Catnip Stogie! This this is amazing! It is compressed catnip in the shape of a cigar. Maggie just couldn't contain herself. She licked it and put her stink on it so we all knew it was hers.

There were Temptation Mix-Ups too -- some of our favorites! (I know I got a picture but I don't see it right now...)

Thanks to all the cats at Cat in the Fridge for the great Secret Paws! We are having so much fun with all the awesome toys. We can't wait for the grass to grow so we can eat it.

[We made a mini version of this post on the Secret Paws site.]

Belated Birthday!

Oh Dad is in big trouble! He got distracted with helping Mom with her play and totally forgot to do Josie and Huggy Bear's birthday celebration! Guess who is going to the pet store to get some stinky goodness today?


Here are Josie and Huggy Bear giving Dad the stink eye for not making a huge big deal about their birthday. I mean, sure it's MY blog, but someone's got to help me type. So it's no my fault...

So Josie and Huggy Bear turned nine on September 15. I really can't believe they are nine, or that we've even lived in Columbia long enough for them to be nine. Time is going by so fast! I have become a better cat because of my brother and sister. Josie joined the family first. Huggy Bear was a foster who stole the hearts of all of us with his kind nature and amazing purr. They helped me learn to cuddle and purr and eat treats, and for that I am very thankful.

We'll all be getting some extra treats for sure tonight!

(On a side note, if you are typing quickly and get off a letter, Bear becomes Brat, which he is not.)

Putting on the pink for Skeezix

Today the Cat Blogosphere is going pink in honor of Skeezix. I would change my template to pink, but I'm not confident I would ever get it back right again. So my text is pink instead. Skeezix, you are missed...

And in keeping with the pink theme we're also posting pictures of Huggy Bear's favorite pink friend -- pink mouse:


Huggy Bear loved pink mouse the most. He didn't care if people say pink is for girls -- this was HIS mouse. 


Sometimes he would share pink mouse with Josie (but you can see Huggy Bear snoopervising way in the background).


You can see how he loved all the feathers off pink mouse's tail.


Eventually pink mouse was loved a little too much... We need a new pink mouse, but Target doesn't carry it anymore and we can't find it. This makes us sad.

Happy Cinco de Meow-O!

We hope all of our cat friends and their people have a very Happy Cinco de Meow-O! We don't put hats on for just anyone -- this is special just for you! Go easy on the nip as you celebrate. Those nip hangovers are no fun, and if you're going to be catnapping, let's make it because we're cats and not because we're still loopy! 

Happy Secret Paws!

We received an amazing Secret Paws package all the way from France from The Poupounette Gang. They sent us some great stuff, including two packages of Catisfaction treats and some great cat toys. We also received from chocolates for Mom and Dad.


Here we all are checking out all the prizes.


Josie really enjoyed the Catisfaction treats (French Temptations).


See -- Catisfactions...


I was reading the card, but got distracted by the box.


Here is a closeup of the front of the card.


And here's the inside.


Thanks Poupounette Gang for the incredible Secret Paws gifts! And Merry Christmas to everyone. It was a great day.

Happy birthday Josie and Huggy Bear!

Happy birthday to my wonderful sister and brother Josie and Huggy Bear! I can't believe they are eight years old! My how time flies (so fast, that I missed posting this on their actual birthday on Saturday ... oops.)


Here we are back in the day, when Josie and Huggy Bear were still tiny and recently came to live with us. You can see how happy I am to have a new brother and sister. My life has gotten so much better because of having them around.


They were very cute and playful kittens. Josie and Huggy Bear were two of four kittens that Mom and Dad brought in to foster and find homes for when we lived on our apartment. Mom fell in love with Josie the minute she saw her. (Yes, we loved Huggy Bear too, but there was something about Josie that reminded Mom of Fluffy who came before us.)


It's hard to imagine Huggy Bear being this tiny, since he grew into such a big mancat, but he was originally my little buddy. He's still the friendliest, lovingest cat in the house. And he still purrs the instant he enters the room that Mom and Dad are in.

This weekend was very busy with the show at Mom's theatre starting, and Dad going to see Neil Gaiman speak and hosting two of the other participants in the event. To top it off, our fridge went on the fritz. Fortunately we have an extra refrigerator in the garage that is now stuffed. So we'll be getting birthday cake later this week when live gets back on track.

Thanks to the Cat Blogosphere for always being there and remembering our birthdays, even when we get behind and (almost) forget. As always, you are the best bunch of cats out there!

New nip mouse

Dad went to the pet supply store to get our cat food and picked up a purple Kong corduroy mouse that you can refill with catnip. He is on the hunt for a new favorite mouse because our favorites are no longer in the store and one day they will have to go. (We still have a wish list for some toys from William's Feline o' Mine store, if Mom and Dad would just get around to ordering them.)


Here's Josie meeting the new mouse.


And of course, you can't have a new toy without a new toy standoff.


Huggy Bear was very happy with have a new mouse to hunt. He likes to hunt throughout the night and bring toys to Mom and Dad's room.


I even got a turn with the mouse. (I'm not sure why my picture has an orange hue to it. I guess my orange-catness just overwhelmed the camera.)

The nice thing about this mouse is that, when the catnip loses its potency, Dad can empty it out and refill it. We're hopeful that this will become a new favorite.

Grasshopper or Glasshopper?

Huggy Bear found a grasshopper on the glass door. Does that make it a glasshopper instead?


This guy is huge. And he's been hanging out because Dad saw him around the deck the next day too. Huggy Bear wanted him to come inside and play but Mom and Dad said that was a bad idea.


Here's a close-up of him.

Making sure they'll miss us

Mom and Dad are getting ready to go to the beach for a couple of days. They are going back to Fripp Island, where they went last year and saw vicious deer and alligators and a baby sea turtle. (OK, the deer were very nice, and ate out of Aunt Tiff's hands, but you can never been too cautious.)

Since Mom and Dad will be gone, we have made it a point to be extra cute so they will miss us.


Here's Maggie curled up on a reusable grocery bag. She was sliding it around the bedroom like a sled.


Huggy Bear turned the laptop into a cattop.



And I decided to try to get the string hanging off of the leg of Mom's pjs.

Josie decided to play hard-to-get instead. Mom said we didn't have to do anything to make sure they'd miss us, because they always do. But they also said they need to get some sun and sand and salt water so they can be better humans again. So we'll let them go, this time. Hopefully they'll bring us back some shrimp (but not a deer).

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!

Wordless Wednesday: Window Weather