Moving the ball

Huggy Bear tried to move the ball with telepathy, but before he could show his skills Maggie walked by and swatted it away.

Camera hog

Have I mentioned that Maggie is a camera hog? Well, she is. As soon as the camera comes out, there she is. She says it's just that she wants that dangly wrist strap, and that she has sworn an oath to put the toothy death on it any chance she gets, but if you ask me, I think she likes the attention. You see, er... actually, you can't because of Maggie, but if you could, you'd see that I'm being very cute in this picture, curled up nicely in the sink like big orange cats are supposed to do on hot South Carolina days. But then, here comes Maggie. Ugh, sisters!

Huggy pounces Maggie

Dad found the "burst mode" on the camera which allows you to take several pictures quickly. Without the flash, you end up with what almost looks like stop-action or slow-motion film if you flip through them quickly. Dad did this with a wrestling match between Huggy Bear and Maggie. (Don't feel bad for her, she eggs him on.) There are some really neat sequences, but for a single shot, this is our favorite. We lost some details, but there's such motion and you can really see how fluid Huggy Bear is in his pounce, even for a little chunk like him. (OK, don't tell him I called him a chunk because we usually play nice and I don't feel like getting the pounce right now.)

Morning sunshine

Josie just loves that morning ray of sunshine. Mom says she's just a perfect little tuxedo cat. I'd have to agree.

Zoom Groom

Thank you Edsel! Thank you thank you thank you ... On your recommendation, Mom and Dad picked up a Zoom Groom today and we just love it! Josie, who usually has nothing to do with brushes, keep coming back for more. And I thought that the brush was getting most of my loose hair, but then the Zoom Groom came along and it's "Hair City" now, according to Mom. Sure, it took them some looking. They finally found it at this great local pet supply store. So thank you once again Edsel -- the Zoom Groom is the best!

Dad's favorite author

Dad's favorite author is Neil Gaiman, and he keeps a Journal and he sometimes writes about his cat (the fact that he's a cat lover makes him my favorite author too, although I nap on books instead of reading them). Seems Fred has had some tough times, and is a polydaktyl cat, too...

[Dad says that Neil Gaiman's collection of short stories Smoke and Mirrors has a great story called "The Price" about a cat. Apparently it's reprinted here, most likely without permission.]

What are they thinking?

Admittedly, I'm an indoor cat. Always have been. Born in the shelter. Put in a carrier, to the car, to the house. Three brief trips out on the leash (playing with the leash seemed more fun than figuring out where the wind was coming from ... and one time they let me play in snow, yes, cold white snow!). So I speak as an indoor only cat when I say this, and maybe that's why I ask: What are they thinking? The other day, Maggie stepped out onto the back porch when Dad went to water some plants. Usually she is good and waits right at the door as Dad opens, then promptly closes, the sliding screen door. But the other day she decided to step on out. Twice! And then last night she got her head out before Dad almost closed it in the door. To top things, Huggy Bear got half his body out the front door when a friend was leaving yesterday afternoon. You'd think after his few outdoor outings -- a quick sprint as a kitten where Dad caught him by the tail and he turned back in, and two brief visits to the back porch -- that he'd get the idea that inside is better than outside. We have air conditioning, couches, ice cubes, toys, food, water, brushes, beds, food for crying out loud, creature comforts! What could they want outside? Haven't they seen Midnight's injuries, the scruffy tuxedo cat, the hungry kitten, the mean-looking cat with the big hoo-haas, and the skinny version of me Mom and Dad call Bizzaro Jasper? Huggy and Maggie have got to stop worrying Mom and Dad with this foolishness. I guess I'll just never understand...

Mixed signals

Last night I was sitting in the window watching my favorite TV show -- 24 -- with Mom and Dad and Maggie was being so sweet. She sat in front of me and I put my ears flat and she gave me a nice little head bath. It was sweet. Then today happened. She's been a wild child. She bit my butt and made me yelp. Mom has had to separate us a few times (I'm not proud of the fact that I out-weigh her by 11 pounds and Mom has to pull her off of me, but she has those little kitten teeth, and they're like mini-daggers or paper cuts and they hurt!) ... It's just so unpredictable living with a kitten. I think she's acting out in denial of her upcoming birthday (in two months).

Putting her stink on it

Maggie just can't get enough of putting her smell on everything -- not spraying, but just rubbing against stuff. Mostly it's her face, and usually it's Mom or Dad, or whoever else is visiting at the moment. It's not that I care that she's rubbing on them, just so long as she knows that doesn't make them "hers" and that she has to share them.

Cat masseuse

Have you seen the cat masseuse video yet? It's going around email, I guess, but I found it on Cat Addiction. The sound seemed bad on this video, unfortunately. Either way, I think it's nice of the cat if it's what the cat wants to do. Otherwise, the dog is just taking advantage. Also, I found another massaging cat video while looking for the first.

(I always think it's funny to go to a new blog and see me and my friends linked from it...)

Cats get revenge

Aunt Cathy posted these pictures of her brother's cats left out in the rain. Poor guys. But it looks like the tuxedo got revenge...

2006 Catolympics

We missed the signups for the 2006 Catolympics but it's probably best since they are on Mom's birthday. But we're looking forward to watching for the results. Good luck everyone!

Home!

Mom and Dad made it safely home yesterday in time for us to celebrate Mother's Day with Mom. We were so happy to have them home and we all took our turns snuggling with them last night while they slept. No party while they were gone because Aunt Tiff is coming today and we had to have the place looking OK for her visit.

Lounging by the door

We are loving these mild spring days. Last weekend (before the rain) we lounged by the back door while Midnight lounged on the little tables out back. Mom and Dad are going out of town this weekend for their nephew's high school graduation so we won't get open-door time this weekend. I'll be left in charge, and Josie backs me up pretty good. Huggy never causes any trouble (except for opening all the cabinets). Maggie's the only one who gets wild, but the three of us should be able to wrangle her in if we need to. Even though I'm in charge, I'll still be eager for Mom and Dad to get home.

Gracie plays on our scratcher

I forgot to post this picture from Gracie and Lisa's visit two weekends ago. Gracie it seems is forced to make due when she visits. Our place isn't really "kid equipped" although we are pretty well "cat equipped." Gracie turned our Apline Scratcher into a slide. I guess we can share since she's cute and gives us treats.

It's not easy being green

This guy better watch his back. Dad spotted him hanging out on our porch and if he's not careful Midnight may make a snack out of him. We didn't have these in Iowa (too cold in the winter) but they sure are fun to watch. (By the way, technically he's climbing up a column here, but it looked better this way...)

Programming advice

Uncle Doug often receives programming advice from Grey. Sometimes that advice is "take a nap."

Warning: Cute

This is too cute, all of this! Do not let your beans see it or you may have a new cuteness standard to live up to.

Kangaroo cat

The other morning Dad ran out to Hardees while Mom was still in bed. Then Mom heard this skritch, skritch sound like claws on metal. Her first thought was that Midnight was outside clawing at the front door begging for treats. She stepped out and saw Maggie and Josie by the front door getting something in the bottom right corner. Mom couldn't see anything at first. Then she noticed the silver magnetic clothes pin down by the corner of the door. This clothes pin is usually in the middle of the door for notes and reminders to Dad (forgetful). Well, Mom put the clothes pin back where it goes, and right away Maggie goes back to making the skritch, skritch sound Mom had awoken to ... jumping almost all the way up the door to knock the clothes pin down! For a little girl, she can really get up there. When Dad got home, she was still doing it! Amazing... (You can kind of see the silver clothes pin in the picture in the middle of the upper + of the design on the door just above Maggie's head and left paw. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was trying to look out the peep hole.)

Who is that?

Mom got her hair cut off today for Locks of Love. I think Maggie was a little slow to recognize her, but she sure looks cute with her new "sanitary cut" ...

Cleaning Midnight?!?

Have your beans ever tried to help a feral cat? They don't quite get what you're trying to do.

Mom and Dad first started feeding Midnight late last summer after he came visiting and it was apparent he had gotten a little torn up in a fight. He had lost some hair on the left side of his face. Well, now his right cheek is torn up. Again, he is missing hair down to the bone. This morning, it looked a little bloody, like he had either tousled with someone or got itchy and he scratched it. So this afternoon Dad went out with a damp paper towel to try to clean it a little. He only wasted about two minutes, walking within a foot of Midnight before Midnight would give him the "come on man, I just got comfortable and now I have to get up and scamper away from you" look, and walk away from Dad. While Dad is circling Midnight, Midnight keeps rubbing his exposed jaw on corners to scratch it. Ugh! The definition of futility, really.

Dad decided maybe he'd just put out some ice water for Midnight instead.

Prince Diaper -- sad, but not sad

If you haven't visited this little guy yet, you really should. Start at the beginning ... it is quite a story and worth the time. Sad, and uplifting at the same time because you realize in the face of overwhelming adversity there are good people out there who step up.
(Thanks Scooby, Shaggy and Scout for passing this one along.)

Goodbye Lucy

Uncle Doug and Aunt Cathy's dog Lucy crossed the Rainbow Bridge today. She was the companion of their eldest son Tommy. Lucy was a sweet golden mix who suffered with arthritis but still managed to show love and affection to the entire family. Three days ago, she just stopped eating and drinking. Her suffering ended today. I hope their suffering ends soon...

Flower time

Mom and Dad have bought some flowers for the big pots on the back porch. Josie likes to watch Mom and Dad work out back on nice sunny days.

Gray and white kitten

We haven't seen our little gray and white visitor for a few days. We're starting to think that he may have been adopted. He was very cute and friendly and, according to Mom and Dad, oh so soft when they picked him up for inspection. Keep your fingers crossed that he found a home!

Gracie visits

Gracie came for a visit last weekend and played with Maggie. Gracie likes to visit us and for a Sticky Person, she sure plays nice (most of the time).

Sleeping Maggie

I don't think Dad will ever tire of taking pictures of Maggie like this...

My portrait

Dad thought this was a really neat picture of me. He just happened to capture it tonight and the way the light shadows around me it looks like I got a portrait done without having to go to a picture studio.

Speaking of picture studios... I really don't tell too many stories about the cat who came before, but when Mom was a little Sticky Person herself, she had a cat named Fluffy. And despite the name, Fluffly was the Prince of Cats in the neighborhood, patrolling outside and enjoying visits inside. Well, when he was a little kitten, he was very good to Mom, playing all kinds of games (Mom says she used to dress him up in baby doll clothes and stroll him around the neighborhood) and he even tolerated a trip to the photographer's and posed with Mom to get his picture taken. I just couldn't imagine doing that. Fluffy must have been a special cat.


Mom with Fluffy circa 1981.

Looks like trouble

Well, if this little thing doesn't spell trouble, I don't know what does. He has recently started visiting us on the back porch and will talk to us and play with the other outside cats. Tonight, he managed to incite Huggy Bear enough that for some crazy reason he took a full leap onto the screen, all 15 pounds of him, up there just hanging halfway up the screen door. Dad brought him down, then he did it again and got sprayed with water. Silly ol' Bear...

Here comes the rain again

Josie was watching the rain fall tonight with the windows open. We just love the smell of the rain coming in on the cool breeze. And look how good her eye looks!

Bath time

Maggie just loves giving Huggy Bear baths, especially when he's lounging by the back door. Lately we have had perfect "sit by the backdoor" weather. Even though it got hot this past weekend (highs in the 90s already!) it is cooling down this week and may even finally rain...

Favorite words

Merlin, Shadow and Ko Ko tagged us with our five favorite words (other than "Give me some treats now") ...
1. "Stinky Goodness" seems to be a universal favorite.
2. "Bear trap" is Maggie's game she plays. She lies on the floor looking cute, showing a little soft underbelly, and when Mom or Dad goes to pet her she snaps closed like a bear trap and catches their hand.
3. "Cat standing" is when I nap in the wire mesh plant stand. Mom and Dad now leave a space for me instead of putting another plant up in it because it's one of my favorite places to be.
4. "Chunky monkey" is what Mom and Dad call Huggy Bear.
5. "Sweet baby" is what we are called when we're loving on Mom and Dad when they are getting ready to sleep. This is usually applied to Josie as she gets under the covers and cuddles against Mom's leg and Mom will say "Look at this sweet baby" and we know at that very moment we've made her so happy.
I think most everyone has been tagged with this one, but if you haven't, consider yourself tagged...

Hunger strike

Dad thought he was being all smart. It was time for us to take our second installment of dewormer pills. Mom and Dad tried to get us to swallow them -- ha! fat chance. Maggie took the first one, then it was a no-go from there on. I got the tongue-out action going and Huggy Bear did too. So out of frustration came Dad's big idea. "Mix it in some stinky goodness." How gullible does he think we are? We snubbed that wasted stinky goodness. So Dad took our dry food away. We still said no. Eventually, he tried to force a little in my mouth, I foamed and drooled like Ol' Yeller, and they gave up. Sure, it might mean another vet visit, but I think the first pill was good enough. Mom and Dad hope I'm right.

Where's Maggie???

Where in the world did she go???

There she is!!!!

Maggie decided to play a little game of hide-and-mom-go-seek the other day. BTW this is Maggie's new favorite blanket. She is such a silly kitten!

I guess we're busted...

If you missed Uncle Doug's link from his comment on Maggie's Big Air check out this picture. Seems he's figured out what we actually do when Mom and Dad are gone for the day, with guest appearances from the gang from This Blog Is Full of Crap. Thanks, Doug.

Maggie's big air

Maggie was really getting some air the other night trying to get the crinkly ball Dad was throwing for her. Mom timed this picture just right, but the ball is just out of the frame because Maggie smacked it real good.

Nice story

Cat Saves Baby's Life ... nice short article worth reading.

My 4th birthday!

Happy birthday to ME! I'm four today ... it's just after midnight and I'm so excited about my birthday that I just had to go ahead and post about it! It snuck up on me this year, what with taxes and everything (that's a joke, cats don't file taxes ... hehe), so I didn't get to plan a party. I guess I share a birthday with Luna, a blogging cat from Spain, and Meep just had a birthday, too, so it looks like I'm in good company.

I'm still working on that tuna cake from Mom ... she's pretty creative, so maybe, just maybe, she'll pull this one out of her sleeve and surprise us all.

My birthday wish is that Josie's eye clears up completely and that it never gets goopy like it is again. Ever since Maggie's eye trouble, Mom is so sensitive and nervous about eyes. And poor Josie is not herself right now. She'll have good parts of the day, then bad, with a little discharge and a lot of squinting (sure, she tries to play it off as a flirty wink, but we know the truth).

So let's all think clear eyes, tuna cake and happy birthday wishes all day today! Thanks...

I feel big

Does Maggie make my butt look big?

Doing better

Well it looks like Josie's eye is doing a little better! Mom and Dad were Johnny on the spot with the eye ointment and I think that has been a blessing for her. Thanks for all your well-wishes.

Ouch!

Well, it looks like Josie's eye got scratched again. We were all rough housing last night and I guess we played a little too hard. We still have some eye ointment left from her last scratch so Dad's coming home at lunch to help Mom put it in. Hopefully she'll heal quickly since they are responding quickly.

A thief in the night

We were enjoying a late night with Mom and Dad this weekend, the air was fresh and cool and the windows were open. Out of nowhere, we heard the most awful "ree-oww!" Right away, the back porch light was on. We wanted to see if there was some viscious cat fight out back. We were all startled by what we actually saw -- a grey fox!

There has been some construction down the road from us and they are encroaching in on the woods behind us and who knows, maybe this fox came hunting our way.

Dad went out right away and Midnight was out and OK, another tabby came out too when Dad looked around. Mom saw a cat climbing down from a tree (quick internet check shows foxes can climb trees too...) We think maybe he made a move on one of the cats because Mom saw one who looked tussled, but things seem back to normal now.

But you outdoor cats out there ... be careful!

Talking cats

I guess these cats gave up on their people ever understanding their meows and decided to start speaking English instead...

Birdbath cat

Now this cat has a good idea. (Cool picture) This is my "cat-cousin" (Uncle Doug and Aunt Cathy's cat).

My new favorite spot

My new favorite spot! I can't get enough of these...

Metal boxes

I love my new metal boxes Mom picked up at Target. When Dad gets his hair cut, Mom will wander Target. That's when great things like this come home!

Stretch

After spending so much time curled up in my metal box, I just needed to stretch out some!

... but I didn't even eat any tape!

"Tapeworms." That's what the vet said. "Tapeworms." I sat on the cold, metal table in the small room with odd smells -- violated and humiliated -- trying to processes what she said. "I didn't eat any tape, or any worms, and yet there they are," I thought to myself while Mom and Dad talked about pills, having to bring Huggy Bear and Maggie back to be examined, and Advantage. I guess I got a flea and the flea got me. I don't really blame my siblings, even though I never had a flea issue until they came into the picture, but the vet did say that in South Carolina fleas are just more common due to our climate, and Mom and Dad could even bring them in on their shoes by walking through the grass! So yesterday afternoon was not how any of us planned to spend it. I went to the vet, then because the vet had never seen Huggy Bear he had to be taken over, and Maggie went along to be weighed (7.1 pounds -- little thing). They said HB and I are both "overweight" although I know I'm just a big cat and HB is still growing into his appetite. But what're you gonna do? So I took my medicine, we all did one way or another, and life goes on. But still ... tapeworms? Ugh!