Wonderful Wednesday

 I am chillaxing on the bed, keeping Mom from making it up.

Emma:  I am chillaxing on the couch, wishing Mom would come and make Da Bird fly around.

It's supposed to be Whisker-Hump Wednesday.

Karen Jo:  I know.  I don't have any good pictures of your whisker-humps.  I will try to get some.

What's so wonderful about Wednesday, anyway?

Karen Jo:  It's the last day of my seven days in a row of work.  All I have to do is get through Wednesday, then something great happens.

What?

Karen Jo:  I'll tell you tomorrow.

Emma:  Some kitties have been sympathizing with me about getting chased by Herman.  Truth to tell, I usually enjoy it.  It's a fun game because he never catches me.  When I get tired of it, I have several hidey-holes and places I can go where Herman can't follow me.

You never chase me back any more.

Emma:  I only ever did that a couple of times, anyway.  I think it's more fun running from you.  You chased me away from the toy I was playing with this afternoon.

I wanted to play with it.

Emma:  You always want to play with whatever toy I am playing with.

If you are playing with it, then it must be fun and I want it.

Emma:  At least you don't always interrupt my play.  Sometimes you are just too lazy to bother.

I need my nap time so I can chase you some more.

Emma:  I really checked out the chicken Mom was eating to see why Herman likes it so much.  I decided that I didn't want any after all.

I think you're nuts.  The chicken is delicious and I ate a bunch of it.

Karen Jo:  I just wish that you wouldn't lick the last bite before you decide you don't want it after all.  If you just sniffed it and walked away, I could eat it.

It doesn't go to waste.  You give it to the ravens along with the cat food we don't eat.

Karen Jo:  The ravens really love your left over cat food.

Emma:  They were really making a racket about it the other day.

Karen Jo:  They sure were.  They must have been pretty hungry.

Emma:  I jumped up in the kitchen window to watch them.  I can stand in Mom's chair and look out the window.  I can get all the way up on the windowsill, but it's pretty narrow, so I would rather stand in Mom's chair.  Mom hogs it sometimes, though.

Karen Jo:  I only sit in that chair to eat my lunch.  You have it the whole rest of the time.

Mancat Monday

I am almost snoozing near the kitchen.  Mom has been eating chicken again and she is sharing with me.  I love it.  Mom says that after she finishes her seven days of work in a row, she is going to get something really nice.  She isn't saying what it is, but something is making her very happy.

Karen Jo:  That's right.  You will find out all about it in Thursday's post. You have been chasing Emma around quite a bit lately.

The weather has cooled off considerably and that makes me frisky.  What better way to use up that extra energy than chasing Emma?

Karen Jo:  How about letting me work on your mats?

That's not fun in any way.

Karen Jo:  I am really afraid that you are going to have to go in for a shave.  I am ordering a mat cutter to see if that will work, but if it doesn't, or you won't let me use it on you, shaving is all that's left.

It's cooling off.  I'll freeze.

Karen Jo:  You have a nice warm bed right by the heat vent.  If it gets cold, you can be all snuggly there.  You know that the mat on your flank is getting uncomfortable for you.

Yeah, I know.  I don't like for you to touch it.  How come I have to get these darn mats anyway?

Karen Jo:  You have very thick, long fur.  When the undercoat sheds, it gets caught in the outer coat and mats.  You don't groom yourself much, so it builds up.  You walk or run away from brushing and furminating, so I can't help you all that much.  I'll look into getting you a better brush than your slicker brush that will be more comfortable for you than the furminator to try to keep things under control better.

I hope that works.  I used to enjoy my slicker brush, until it started getting caught in the mats and pulling.

Karen Jo:  I will have to be more careful in brushing you, then maybe you will enjoy it again.

When am I going to get some new toys?  I haven't gotten anything new in a long time.

Karen Jo:  You don't need any more toys, really.  You don't play will all you have now.

That's because they are all old and boring.  I want something new.

Karen Jo:  I will look around to see if there is anything you don't have already.

You took away the kitten food.  That was mean.

Karen Jo:  You need to lose some weight and the kitten food is high in calories.  You are doing fine with the duck and pea and the weight control formula.

I don't like that weight control formula all that much and Emma won't touch it at all.  Why don't you take that away and give us something good?

Karen Jo:  Because you need to lose weight. After the weight comes off, maybe I can get you another flavor of the Now.

The way things are going, that will take forever.

Karen Jo:  Run up and down the hall some more.  That will help.

That's no fun unless I am chasing Emma.

Sunday with Emma

 I am clillaxing in my computer chair.  Mom is messy and she has gotten all sorts of stuff on the arm and side of the seat.  Maybe some day she'll clean it up.

Oh, gross!  It's my turn to blog and you put in a picture of the litter box?

Karen Jo:  That's your paw print in the litter.  You were the first kitty to try out the Desert's Sand litter, just a few days after I put it in the new litter box.

That was a long time ago.  We are both using that litter box now.

Karen Jo:  I know.  I haven't been blogging because I have been working very hard and coming home exhausted again.  Right now I am in the middle of working seven days in a row and don't know if I will be blogging again until September, which is only a few days away.

You can blog more if you work at it.

Karen Jo:  I'll try. The Desert's Sand litter is mostly being used by Emma, though I have seen Herman in it. Some days they pee in the Desert's Sand and poop in the Swheat Scoop. Some days it's the other way around.  Most days they do a bit of both in both.

I am glad that you didn't take the kitten food away completely.

Karen Jo:  I put it up on the high shelf in your room, where Herman never goes.

He's too fat to get up there.

Karen Jo:  Emma, that's not nice.  Herman could get up there if he wanted to, but he has never wanted to.

The important thing is that now I get kitten food and Herman doesn't.  Hahaha!

Karen Jo:  You haven't eaten much of it.  You have mostly been eating the duck and pea when you eat dry food.

Herman eats the duck and pea, too, along with his diet food.  I don't know why he likes that stuff.  It's like the kitten food, but not as tasty.  The other day we ate so much duck and pea that the bowl was empty.

Karen Jo:  You don't understand why Herman likes people food, either.  He has been tasting my food almost every day lately.

Herman will eat almost anything.  He even ate that Greenie that I spat out.

Karen Jo:  I was surprised at how long it took him to find it.  He didn't find it for three days, until you kicked it off the chair onto the floor.

Herman sure has been chasing me around a lot lately.

Karen Jo:  The weather has been cooling off and that makes him more playful.

I found a new hidey-hole to get away from him.  He can't fit under your dresser.

Karen Jo:  That's true.  It's smart of you to duck under there when he tries to corner you.

Some of our toys have gone missing.  You need to go on a toy hunt.

Karen Jo:  In a few days.  I will have more time to hunt for toys soon.

Weird Wednesday

 I am always turning away from Mom as she takes my picture lately.  You get a good look at the inside of my ear, though.

Emma: I am also being wiggly when Mom takes my picture.  But then, I  wiggle ALL the time.

Tuesday was really the weird day.  We did things we don't normally do.

Emma:  I went for a ride in the stoller.  I loved most of the ride.  I only meowed a few times.  I got worried when we went inside, because the only place I have been inside in the stroller is the vet's.  It turned out not to be the vet's, though.

Karen Jo:The nice lady at the pet supply store wanted to see you.  She had never seen a cat in a stroller before. She even took a picture of you.  I wanted to get a mat cutter for Herman and a new litter pan to replace the one that broke.  I don't think the mat cutter I got will work on Herman's problem, but I can get another kind from a catalogue.

Emma:  You put the weird litter in the new litter pan and we still won't use it.  Hahaha!

Karen Jo:  I didn't know whether you recognized the litter pan from the evacuation and didn't want to have anything to do with it, or if it is the litter itself that you object to.  Next I will put it in one of your old litter pans to see what happens.  I tried to get more Swheat Scoop at the store, but they were still out of it.

After that it was my turn to for a ride in the stroller.  I still don't like it.  I meowed at Mom the whole way to the vet's and the whole way back.

Karen Jo:  I needed to get you some more Interferon, so I took you along to weigh you.  You gained two tenths of a pound. Do you know what that means?

No, but I don't think I am going to like it.

Karen Jo:  It means that I am going to have to put the kitten food where you can't get to it, but Emma can.

No more kitten food?  That's mean.

Karen Jo:  I am sorry, but you need to lose about three pounds. Switching you over to grain-free dry food took off six tenths of a pound, but now you have put two tenths back on.

At least I got some good stuff for supper.  Mom had steak for the first time in weeks.  I got a lick or two of sour cream and three bites of steak.

Karen Jo:  You got four bites, but you only licked the fourth one. Speaking of that, I found out something new about Emma.

Emma:  I am full of surprises.

Karen Jo:  That you are.  I found out that you don't like Greenies.  It is Interferon week.  Herman loves his Interferon and actually begs for it when I open the refrigerator in the morning.  You don't really care for it and resist taking it a bit.  I thought that I could get you to like it better by giving you a treat right after the Interferon.  I gave you a Greenie right after your Interferon and you spit it out.

Emma:  It was too big and too hard for me.

Karen Jo:  It is still sitting on the chair where you spit it out.  I am surprised that Herman hasn't found it yet.  I guess he will eventually.

Fungus on Sunday

 The rainy season brings up some surprising things in my yard each year.  In the front yard, I mostly get fairy-ring mushrooms, but the back yard produces huge toadstools. Each of these beauties is the size of the palm of my hand.  They are probably very poisonous, but I find them fascinating.

 Fungus?!? What about us?  This is our blog!

Emma:  Yeah!  We are supposed to be the focus of this blog.

Karen Jo:  Okay.  Tell me all the fascinating things you have done since yesterday.

I dodged the scissors once more and I really hid from that pointy thing.

Karen Jo:  That was a seam ripper that was recommended as a way to cut out your mats.  I decided pretty fast that you are far too wiggly for me to try to use anything with such a sharp point on it to get rid of your mats.

Emma:  The weird litter boycott continues.

Karen Jo:  The Desert's Sand remains pristine, untouched by kitty paws.  It's fine with me.  Now I only have to scoop one litter box.

Emma:  Herman, Do you think this new litter thing is really just a fluke, or is Mom being tricky?

I am not sure, but I think we better keep an eye on her.

Karen Jo:  I didn't have to share my lunch with any kitty, either.

You got out that stinky stuff that you put on your meat.  I don't like that.

Karen Jo:  I didn't put any horseradish sauce on the meat, just on my plate.  I dipped the meat in it just before I ate it.

I don't like the way it smells at all.  It put me right off.

Karen Jo:  Don't blame it all on the horseradish sauce.  You don't really like roast beef in the first place.

I like rib roast, but you don't get it any more, just like you don't get lamb any more.

Karen Jo:  Sorry, but both of them have gone beyond my budget in price. We will all have to wait for a big sale. Don't worry, I will be roasting some chicken again soon.

Yay!  Just don't put too many herbs on it.

Karen Jo:  What else have you been doing?

Emma:  Both of us have spent a lot of time looking out the windows. There have been birdies and rain and wind to watch.

There was a full moon tonight, but it was too cloudy to really see it.  It was nice and bright last night, though, and we looked at it quite a bit.

Caturday with Emma

Mom thinks that this is her computer chair.  I think that it is my chair.  You should see all my fur on it.  Now Mom wants a word.

Karen Jo:  I really apologize for not blogging in such a long time. This is a very busy time at work and I have been coming home exhausted.  I have also had a bunch of doctor appointments for which I have to get up early and that only adds to the problem.  It's nothing major.  I got a fungus on my hands which is proving to be a tiny bit stubborn and I had my eyes checked.  The eyes are fine; I just need a slight adjustment to my eyeglass prescription.  I will try to do better, but things are going to get even more hectic for a little while, then in September things will get a lot better for me.  Now back to Emma.

Mom didn't eat anything very interesting until today.  She cooked an oven roast and drove us crazy last night with the smell, but she didn't eat any of it.  She got it out again today and Herman went nuts.  He kept begging and begging for some, but only ate one bite.

Karen Jo:  I'm surprised that he even ate one bite.  Herman doesn't usually like roast beef, unless it's rib roast.  This was a sirloin tip.  You didn't want any at all, though you licked your bite.  I know, you just want your cat food.  You will be glad to hear that I got some more duck and pea for you.

That's good.  I like the duck and pea.  You did something weird with the litter boxes.

Karen Jo:  It was well past time for new litter.  I always get you Swheat Scoop, but they didn't have enough at the store for both litter boxes.  I got something called Desert's Sand for the other litter box.

It's weird and it's in a different box.  It's in the box that the crystal litter was in. Neither one of us has used it yet.

Karen Jo:  One of your regular litter boxes broke while I was cleaning it.  Part of the bottom just broke right out, so I had to dump the crystal litter and use the new box that I got during the evacuation for the sand litter.  I should say that I wasn't able to get regular litter boxes for a while, so I was using plastic storage boxes that aren't as sturdy.  I hope that you get over the newness and try it out.

Maybe.  Herman was mean to me again.  He cornered me in the entrance hall and made me cry.

Karen Jo:  I think it was more of a snarl than a cry, but he was being mean to you.  It did eliminate the speculation that Herman didn't like you using "his" litter box in the bathroom and was being mean to you over that.  The litter box in the entrance hall was the one with the crystal litter and neither of you had used that since the evacuation when you didn't have a choice.  I think he is just trying to make sure you know who is the Alpha cat around here.  You were mean to Herman this morning.

You were giving me my morning petting and he tried to muscle in.

Karen Jo:  That's not quite true.  He jumped up on the bed and just got close to both of us.  I never stopped petting you, but just reached out to give him a pet to let him know that I knew he was there.  You hissed at him and went at him with your claws out.

I didn't even touch him.  He is good at ducking.

Karen Jo:  He has to be with you being so jealous.  I thought you were over that.

Not when it comes to my morning petting. That is MY time and my time alone.

Karen Jo:  I will have to remember that from now on.  I have been coming home to find your toys all over the place.  Do you and Herman play with them together, or do you each play with some by yourselves?

We aren't saying.  It's cooler now, so we both feel more like playing while you are gone.

Mancat Monday

I am relaxing by the scratching post and showing off my magnificent tummy.  Mom came after me with the scissors again, but this time I gave her a warning.  I touched my teeth to her hand.

 Karen Jo:  I found a little mat on your flank.  I know you don't like me messing with your backside, but I wasn't that close to it.

You were close enough.  When are you going to stop with the scissors?

Karen Jo:  When I get all the little mats out.  I remember seeing an ad for something called a mat cutter.  I think I will look into it to see if it is something you might accept better than the scissors.

I don't like the sound of it.  I hope it doesn't make noise.  At last I got some chicken with cheese.  I got four bites today.  I turned my nose up at the fifth bite.  I was full.

Karen Jo:  Being full didn't keep you from sitting there and staring at me while I ate.  That's why I offered you the fifth bite.  Then you decided you were full.

I got six treats today.  Mom will only give me three at one time.  I asked this morning and again tonight.

Karen Jo:  Three at one time is plenty.  I probably shouldn't even be giving you that many.  You are due for another weighing.

Do I have to?  I don't like going out in the PTU on wheels, especially to the vet place.

Karen Jo:  Yes, you have to.  I need to know if you are still losing weight, staying the same, or gaining.

If I am losing, do I get some more treats?

Karen Jo:  No, not until you are down to where you are supposed to be. Even then I have to be careful, to make sure you don't gain weight again.

Man, this doesn't sound good.  I love treats and want more.

Karen Jo:  If you were as active as Emma, I bet the weight would come off faster.

No cat could keep up with Emma.  She runs all over the place all the time. I get tired just watching her. She doesn't even lie still for petting.