New box!

We got a new box! This picture is us trying to share the box, but it didn't last too long. Maggie decided to attack the flap, and I just couldn't relax with all that going on.

Lots of adventures this week

We had a lot of adventures this past week. Early in the week Maggie was chasing me and jumped on the scratcher at the top of the stairs and ended up riding it halfway down the stairs like a sled.

Huggy Bear gave Mom and Dad a scare when he was eating a treat and got a little piece stuck in the back of his mouth. He started frantically flicking his tongue trying to get it out. Dad had to do a finger sweep but that didn't help much. Eventually he settled down but it was a little nerve wracking.

Saturday night Maggie and I found a little beetle bug in the house. Not that big a deal really, but hunting slow moving bugs can be fun.

But the highlight of the week was Sunday morning. Mom and Dad had let us go play in the garage. Josie managed to catch a lizard in the garage and carried it into the house. She had it halfway in her mouth with just its two back legs and tail hanging out. Mom yelled, Dad ushered Josie back into the garage before she could release the lizard in the house. Josie dropped the lizard once she was back in the garage and the lizard slipped away. She loves to hunt lizards, but I'm not sure how she got it in her mouth like that.

Mom's helper

We like to pretend that this doesn't happen. Sometimes you just have to turn a blind eye to misbehavior.


This is Leo, a miniature Schnauzer. When Mom has shows with her theatre Leo hangs out with her some during the construction phase. He belongs to the guy who runs the space that Mom's theatre is renting right now. Leo is a funny dog, and very sweet, so we allow it.

Hiding behind the pineapple

Maggie wouldn't leave Josie alone so she his behind the pineapple. I'm not sure if that's a great hiding spot or not...

Bird watching

Huggy Bear spotted something exciting out the front window -- a bird! This female cardinal was hanging out on the roof over the front porch while the male was flitting around the tree. She was unfazed by Huggy Bear (or never even noticed him). He watched for a few minutes then got bored. At least he didn't try to go through the screen to get her.

Dirty Dad

Sweet Josie thought Dad was dirty so she was cleaning him yesterday. After a minute of so Dad realized it was starting to feel a little raw where she was licking. Later last night the raspberry showed up on his arm. It looks a little better now than it did Saturday night. The lesson here: sometimes love hurts.

Sometimes we can be gross

Mom and Dad were relaxing watching TV when Josie came in to the middle of the living room and began to narf up all the food she just ate. Huggy Bear rushed over to her like he was concerned, then started to eat her ABC food, much to Mom's disgust. Dad quickly cleaned it up before he could eat any more, but that's a tough image to burn out of your mind.

Stinky Goodness Cake

I had my Stinky Goodness birthday cake tonight. As is our tradition our cake is in the shape of our year -- my 13 looks a little messy but it tasted good. Looks like I'm getting to the age where I need two cans of food to make my number.

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my 13th birthday! 13! Wow! Where has the time gone? I know a lot of people get stressed today because it is the deadline for filing your taxes, but don't think of it as Tax Day, think of it as Jasper's Birthday (with some paperwork) because birthdays are fun and exciting and an excuse to eat cake (or Stinky Goodness).


If I have any say about it, this is how I will spend my entire day -- laying on Dad's pillow snuggling with Mom. I can't think of much better than that.

Enjoy some Stinky Goodness today. I'll be having a Stinky Goodness cake tonight and will post some pictures.

Busted watching Netflix

Mom came home from lunch and caught me lounging on the bed watching Netflix.


See ... here I am looking cute while holding the Amazon Fire Stick remote. I usually wait and watch shows with Mom and Dad, but they weren't here and I wanted to see what was going to happen. We've all Netflix cheated on someone, right?

Challenge Walk MS

I've been away from posting because Mom and Dad have been busy walking -- first training for a 3-Day, 50-Mile walk, then doing the walk. This is their third year walking in the Challenge Walk MS 3-Day 50-Mile walk. The first two years the event was in Charleston, SC. This year they walked around Savannah, Ga. It was their first time in Savannah so they were very excited to explore a new town.


Mom and Dad walk for their friend Nikki, who was diagnosed with MS about nine years ago. (Well, they started walking for her, now they walk for Nikki and so many others.) Mom got to carry the Challenge Walk flag for a mile of the walk, which really meant a lot.


They had to get up bright and early every morning, beating the sunrise each day. Here's the sunrise at Tybee Island the final day. It was a beautiful place to stay and visit.


Dad met a bunch of cats along the walk. This one was really friendly and Dad got to love on him for a minute while Mom had a blister looked at.


Dad tried to get a good picture, but this was about as good as he could get. This guy was loving the attention, and walking in circles all around Dad asking for some love. He was a mix between my orange and Maggie's tabbiness.


Charleston was more of a dog town, and while there were plenty of dogs along the walk, Savannah felt a lot more like a cat town to Mom and Dad.


There were so many wonderful sights along the walk. This is the historic lighthouse on Tybee.


This is Mom at the final mile of Day One of the walk (21.5 miles the first day). It was a beautiful walk through a canopy of trees. Mom and Dad were told this was in a scene in Forrest Gump. It is the Wormsloe State Park.


There were some zombies at one of the rest stops, too.


The zombies provided "finger food" and brains.


Mom and Dad also saw the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile!


Be careful, because you might get attacked by sharks on Tybee Island!


Dad got attacked twice!


On their way home Mom and Dad found a restaurant for us to visit (if we're ever willing to go for a long car ride).

Maggie's collar

Maggie's collar went missing about a month or so ago. Mom and Dad were convinced that it was in the garage and would turn up on a nice Spring day when they pulled everything out and reset the garage. But tonight Mom found it, right there in the closet where they should have seen it, except it was in my other favorite box so it was covered in Jasper fur, and also usually covered by Jasper. But we've all got our collars back on, except me because I am a master at taking mine off. Maggie's is the most important so we're warned if she's about to pounce, which she does often.

Kitty Cat Nap Time

OK, Kitty Cat Nap Time is almost all the time, but there's a particular time in our house when we all decide it's a good time to nap, and it's usually around 2:00 in the afternoon. We all retreat to our favorite spots and chill out.


Maggie has lots of spots, but on cold days like we've been having lately she really likes the heated cat bed. I'm in my favorite box. You can see how Mom and Dad put the cat bed beside my box in an attempt to lure me out of my box and into heated luxury, but come on, look at that box! I'm pretty sure this doesn't count as us snuggling, but it might be the closest we've come to napping together in some time.

Small box, no problem...

Dad ordered new blades for his razor from Harry's (he really likes them ...) and they came in a little rectangular box. It was a tiny box, but Maggie didn't care.


She was determined to get in the box. She tried for a minute before Mom just opened the box flat and let Maggie sit on it. That still counts, right?

We got a Nano Bug for Christmas. It is like a robotic bug that vibrates around the kitchen floor. We had another one that never really got our attention, but this one has a fuzzy purple tail, and we really like to hunt this one.


Here's Maggie and Huggy Bear investigating the bug. Huggy Bear is really drawn to purples and pinks for some reason, so he was all over this guy.


Huggy Bearin action -- whapping the tail to check things out.


Of course, no hunt is complete until you put your mouth on it. Huggy Bear got a little excited and almost ate the purple tail, so Dad put it away on an old bread in the kitchen. We usually ignore that table, but Huggy Bear wouldn't be denied, and continued to look for the bug and found it on the table. Dad eventually had to put the bug in a drawer and give Huggy Bear some treats for all his hard work.

Our bug came from Target in the cat toy section, but they have other versions with the kid's toys too. If you don't have one, I highly recommend getting one.

Where else should she sit?

Since Mom's laptop wasn't available Maggie decided to sit on her iPad instead. It only makes sense, really.

Walking to end MS

Mom and Dad have a good friend who has MS. Their friend Nikki was diagnosed about nine years ago, and while she has been doing well recently, it has not been the easiest journey. Several years ago, Mom and Dad started joining Nikki for three mile MS Walk events in Marietta, Ga outside Atlanta near where Nikki lives. Three years ago Mom and Dad did their first 3-Day, 50-Mile Challenge Walk. They did the same walk last year, too, and this past fall they biked 100 miles over two days with Bike MS.

They are gearing up for their third 3-Day, 50-Mile walk, this time in Savannah, Ga. So far, Mom and Dad have traveled 227 miles and raised over $7000 for MS research and patient services. Well, it's fundraising time again, and while I don't do this often on the blog, I wanted to put the request out there for a little support. Mom and Dad each have to raise $1500 to participate in the 3-Day walk. This is one of their favorite events, but the fundraising is so challenging (more challenging than the 50 miles, for sure).

Any support is welcome and greatly appreciated. You can click here to donate to Dad, or click here to donate to Mom. (It's not a competition ...)

Thank you so much! We love the support we get from our amazing cat friends!

Cats cooking their food

So the other day Mom was in the kitchen prepping some meat for dinner and Huggy Bear was begging for some of it. Mom looked at him and said, "Silly Bear, you can't have this. It's not cooked." At the point she realized that you don't see cats sitting around a campfire like hobos cooking the food they just caught. No, we actually eat fresh raw food that we catch. Now we still didn't get any raw meat from Mom, but it certainly was a funny mental image.

Perfect napping spot

Huggy Bear thinks Mom's new iPad is a perfect spot to nap.

Secret Paws 2014

We got a wonderful Secret Paws package from Samantha Black!


Look at all these gifts! She really spoiled us this Christmas!


We didn't even know where to start. That Christmas tree toy is a lot of fun, and the snowman too. And we love all the balls!


Maggie didn't even want to wait until the wand toy was out of the package to try it out. She's impulsive like that.


Josie picked out a piece of tissue paper. The tissue had a nice nip smell to it too.


Look at all these treats! We're stocked. We've really enjoyed the Tumblers!


Huggy Bear says "Thanks for all our great stuff, Samantha!" She was even nice enough to send something for Mom and Dad. Merry Christmas! We love doing Secret Paws.

The morning after...


Dad left the box with the tissue in the kitchen so of course we played with it all night. (The laundry basket on the counter was to carry supplies to a friend's house so Mom could cook dinner.)

Secret Paws!

We got our Secret Paws package last week from Samantha Black! She did an amazing job putting together some great gifts for us, and even something for out Mom and Dad. I have a bunch of pictures that I will upload this weekend. Family was in for Christmas so it threw off my posting, but I just wanted to acknowledge the great gifts from Samantha. Thanks again! Merry Christmas to everyone!

And an awesome box...

The truth is in the pupils

I had to go back to the vet again for a check-up -- hopefully the last one for a long time.


There was a talkative Corgi at the vet's right beside me. Let's just say I wasn't liking that dog very much today. Pupils don't lie. I was done. I had to huff at him several times.

And then the vet said he wants me to lose half a pound a month. I'm not sure how that's supposed to happen. Dad said something about putting the food away for part of the day. We'll see. I don't want diabetes either, so I'll do my best.

On the plus side, I'm getting better. But I'm done with these adventures. I'm ready to nap in my box in peace again.

Thumbs help

This is one of my favorite comics...

http://www.gocomics.com/dogeatdoug/2014/12/08

Not on our tree

Mom and Dad were out shopping and saw this ornament. I'm pretty sure it would last about 30 seconds on our tree before we killed it. I mean, just look at that tail. It's asking to be smacked.

Oh the indignity

Well I went back to the vet yesterday for a follow-up visit and it seems like my bottom is healing up well, although they want to check it again next week. But to top things off it seem I have gotten an eye infection from cleaning my bottom. So now I get eye ointment. At least everyone at the vet said I was a very good boy and I didn't fuss at anyone or hiss, so that's got to count for something. And I am getting a bunch of extra treats because of all I'm going through.


Here I am getting some love from Mom. You can see how they shaved my belly too. I had lots of knots in my furs and they were nice enough to clean them up while I was under for my procedure last week. (They had to shave my nether region too, but I'm not showing that off.)

I'm very good at hiding

Jasper: very good at hiding.

Mom and Dad called for me and shook treats but I wouldn't come out so after searching every possible spot they resorted to looking at the storage under the stairs and found me. I was kind of done with Maggie hissing at me and found a nice spot to relax and not be bothered.

A (literal) pain in my butt

Well shucks, it looks like it wasn't an abscess after all, and Maggie is off the hook. What my emergency trip to the vet turned out to be was a ruptured anal gland, and boy did it stink. Even the vet tech who is around stink all day said it smelled bad. I guess if I'm going to do it, I should do it right.

So I had to have a minor procedure to repair it. I had to be put under for them to do what they needed to do, but I'm up and moving around now. I get to come home at 5:30 all patched up and sporting a fancy new haircut for Christmas.


I had to do some investigating of the vet's office once I calmed down some.


After all was inspected and the office was determined to be OK, I settled back in to my carrier. (Mom really had to fight me to get in it at home, but at the vet's I was OK hanging out.)


I think all this had Maggie a little stressed out. She needed to snuggle up in Mom's lap for a little bit. She's a snuggler, but not often a lap cat. (Mom is wearing compression socks because Mom and Dad have been walking to prepare for another 50 mile walk in March.)

Not happy ...

Ugh. I'm at the vet right now and I'm not happy about it. I had another abscess rupture from Maggie biting me on the butt. It had to be Maggie because she's the only one who bites me like that. Fortunately Mom was working from home waiting for a new kitchen table to be delivered so she could get it taken care of right away. I don't have a regular vet I go to so I'm seeing the guys at PetSmart because it was the closest and easiest to get in to. I'll probably get my mats cleaned off that I won't let Mom and Dad can't get off of me while I'm here too. Not how I planned on spending my Thursday...

Happy to have them back

The happiest part of a Happy Thanksgiving for us is when Mom and Dad come back home. Mom and Dad traveled up to Richmond, Va, to visit Dad's grandmother, who is 96 years old. Most of Dad's family converged on Richmond from Cincinnati, Knoxville and London, England so Dad's mother and father, sister and her husband (and dog), brother and his wife and 3/5 of their kids, and his cousin who lives in England now were all there. They had a really nice visit, and got to see Nanny's new place. At 96 she just moved from independent living to assisted living in her retirement community, and even then the people at the retirement community were resistant because "there's nothing wrong with you." She has balance issues when standing, but is otherwise healthy, and there's little more you could ask for than that.


Here's Dad with his grandmother.

Homecomings are wonderful things because we get to put our stink back on Mom and Dad.


Josie wasted no time claiming Dad's lap. Of course, Mom and Dad were also happy to be back in their own space and catching up on TV shows.


My favorite spot is between Mom and Dad's pillows with my head resting on Mom's pillow. They travel with their pillows so it was nice to have these back.


I even let Maggie curl up near me. She was tucked right against Dad in this picture.


Mom and Dad brought back some doughnuts from Dixie Doughnuts in the Carytown district in Richmond. This one was our favorite because it looked like a cat. Unfortunately we didn't get to eat any of them.


Huggy Bear was happy to have Mom and Dad home. He worries a lot about them, so once they were home he could relax in a ray of sun that was hitting the cat bed.


Also, there was a scary clown...