New Ham-mick

 Spyro:  The ham-mick that Mom won in the auction arrived!  I helped Mom put it together, then I got first dibs on being in it.  If you look closely, you can see that I have catnip all over my fur.  Forty Paws is generous in packing catnip with their ham-micks.

Karen Jo:  The main reason that Spyro got first dibs is that he was on it most of the time I spent putting it together.  He loves it.

 I got to test it next.  It's great.  I love it, too.

Oja:  I don't see why the boys got so excited about the new ham-mick.  I sniffed it, then decided to use the scratcher.

Spyro:  That's because you have never been in one.  Mom has been taking us outside again.  I got to go out for a long time yesterday.  I have gotten used to my harness and don't slink along on my belly anymore.  I even run with it on, making Mom run, too, just to keep up.

Going outside is great, but Mom made me come in early.

Karen Jo:  That's because there were two cars parked in the carport and on the driveway.  You were far too interested in going under them.  With the roads being torn up around here, I often have cars parked in front of my house.  I gave my neighbor permission to park in my carport and the other car just showed up.  I can't blame them.  Parking spots in this neighborhood are at a premium.

Oja:  I found out that the boys have some pretty cool toys.  See that box with the holes in it in front of me?  It has toys in it that I can fish out.  Some of them are so cool that I carry them to my room to play with them. I have gotten used to the mancat stink on everything and now I don't mind it.

Karen Jo:  There has been no hissing or growling for a couple of days.  Spyro and Oja play THoE together, taking turns chasing each other up and down the hall.  Herman and Spyro are closer friends than ever.  I am really glad that Spyro came here to live before Oja did.  I think he is the glue that will hold our little family together.

Invasion of the Workmen

 I am snoozing on Mom's bed.  We are having some enforced togetherness today because we not only have noisy workmen outside, we have them in the house, too.

Karen Jo:  I am having new windows installed.  The kitties and I are all in the back half of the house, with the hall door closed and the workmen are in the living room and kitchen.

Oja acted weird last night.  I was getting whiffies at the screen door and she came up behind me and got pretty close.  I turned around to see what she wanted and we touched noses.  Then, for no reason at all, she backed up and hissed at me.  I got even, though.  This morning when she got close to me, I whapped her on the top of her head.  That'll show her.

Karen Jo:  The hissing caught me off guard, too.  Oja hadn't hissed in days.

 Spyro:  I am in Oja's room, enjoying the sunshine.  Mom made a stairway out of these boxes to make it easy to get up to the top shelf of the bookcase and the windowsill.  Oja and I have been chasing each other for fun.

Karen Jo:  I know it's for fun because there is no hissing or growling involved.

I am on Mom's computer chair, which is one of my favorite nap spots.  Mom took the picture from this angle   rather than trying to get me face because she wanted a picture of my curly tail. This is how I usually carry my tail when I am walking around.

Karen Jo:  You can just see her very faint tail stripes, too.  Oja is silvery gray all over, except for faint stripes on her tail and faint marks on her face, like the sides of the tabby M.

Togetherness

 The sunshine was bright today.  I was hanging out in the living room, away from the other two.  When Oja first came out of her room, Spyro and I got closer to each other.  We would sit together and nap together, but not touching. Today something remarkable happened:

Spyro:  Oja let me come hang out with her in her room.  She's not so bad.  She hasn't growled at any cat today at all.  She stopped hissing at us a couple of days ago.

Karen Jo:  I don't know how long they were together like this, but I snapped the picture just in time.  Not more than a minute later, Spyro came back into the living room to see what Herman was doing.

Oja:  Spyro's not so bad.  I don't hiss any more at all and I have almost stopped growling.  I even let Herman get close to me, but I ran away when he tried to sniff my tail.  Nose-sniffing is fine, but I draw the line at tail-sniffing, at least for now.

Spyro:  I came back into the living room because I was afraid Herman would be lonely.  A couple of hours after these pictures were taken, Herman and I curled up together on the couch, using each other for pillows.

Karen Jo:  You would wait until there wasn't enough light to get a decent picture.  This is the first time that I have seen Herman and Spyro snuggling.

Spyro:  I had to do something.  You wouldn't take me outside.

Karen Jo:  I apologize.  I was expecting a very important phone call.  I even delayed my dinner until it came. I told you that I would take you out as soon as I ate, but when I finished you and Herman were snoozing so peacefully together that I didn't have the heart to wake you up to go outside.

Karen Jo:  I have a message for all of you who have my e-mail address.  My ISP had two domain names and decided to drop one.  My e-mail used the one that got dropped.  That's why I couldn't get my e-mail.  The domain name changed from vla.com to losalamos.com.  If you forget, I am still getting mail addressed to vla.com, but I don't know for how much longer.

Things Are Getting Better

 I have spending a lot of time up off the floor since Oja came out of her room.  She doesn't hassle me when I am up here or on the couch or on a chair.  Mom finally has a good excuse for not blogging.

Karen Jo:  That's right.  My computer developed a persistent hard-drive glitch right after I finished blogging and visiting the last time.  I have been very busy setting up the new computer and installing software and downloading stuff.  I can do almost anything now, but use my e-mail.  I have spent hours trying this and that, but nothing works.  My ISP rejects my sign-in every time.

Oja has stolen my spot on the bed next to Mom.  I fought with Emma over that, but I am not fighting with Oja about it, at least not yet.  I have been able to sleep on Mom's feet while Oja has my spot.

Karen Jo:  Oja usually seems content to stay up by my chest while you and Spyro sleep at my feet.  Every once in a while, she snarls and charges, though.

Do you know how I got some attention from Mom yesterday?  I got up in her lap and demanded that she pet me.  I stayed for about 20 minutes.

Karen Jo:  I was amazed.  You have never done anything more than walk across my lap to get from the computer chair to the bed before.

 Spyro:  I think Oja and I may eventually become friends.  She will stay in the same room with me without getting snarly about it.  Mean Mom won't take my outside any more.  I wanna go outside!

Karen Jo:  I am sorry Spyro, but I have been really busy trying to get my new computer set up. Besides that, it has been raining almost every evening.  I would have taken you out tonight after supper, but it was pouring down rain.

Spyro: Bah!

Oja:  This is Mom's computer chair.  It has become my favorite nap spot since I came out of my room.  If I don't want to be disturbed, I still go to my room and get up on the high bookshelf or go into my hidey-hole.  I am getting used to the mancats.  I don't hiss at them any more.  I only snarl at them if I think they are crowding me.

Karen Jo:  Right.  You smacked Herman for walking under the computer chair.

Oja:  He got too close to me.  I don't tolerate Herman as well as I tolerate Spyro.  The other day I let Spyro into my room to play with my toys.

Karen Jo:  I tried to get a picture of the both of you playing with your toys in your room, but you chased him out just as I got back with the camera.

Oja:  He got too close to me.  I found out that the Turbo Track is fun to play with.

Karen Jo:  I suspected that you were playing with it, because the ball was in a different position in the track every time I came into your room, but the other day I actually saw you bat the ball around the track.

Oja:  Mom doesn't get mad at me for eating the food in the kitchen any more.

Karen Jo:  That's because Spyro does go into your room and eat your food.  I probably won't do much visiting tonight.  There are still things to be installed on the new computer.  I will try to get back to regular blogging and visiting very soon

Oja's Vet Visit

 I'm in the kitchen, looking disgruntled.  That little Oja wants to be Alpha cat and I have had just about enough of it.  Spyro and I hang out mostly in the living room and kitchen since she came out of her room to stay.  She won't let us sleep with Mom and I don't like it.  We don't even go wake Mom up in the morning for breakfast because she is in there and causes trouble.

Spyro:  I am reading the newspaper for Mom.  Mom reads the newspaper while she eats breakfast and lunch, but I would much rather that she paid attention to me, so here I am.  Pet me!  I wanna go outside!  We didn't get to go out yesterday.

Karen Jo: I'm sorry Spyro.  I sat down to read for just a little bit, then I was going to take you out, but I fell asleep.  When I woke up, it was raining, then it got to be too late.  I don't want to take you out while the noisy men are working.  If it isn't raining when they finally stop today, I will take you out.

Spyro:  The noisy men won't bother me.  Just take me out to the back yard.

Karen Jo:  I will take that under consideration.

Oja:  Here I am in my room again.  I hid when Mom was taking pictures, so she had to wait until I came out for a bite to eat.  It's dark because it was getting late when I finally came out.  I still nap in my hidey-hole in my room sometimes.  Mean Mom took me to the vet yesterday.  I got weighed and had something stuck where it didn't belong and my teeth looked at and then I got stabbed.  I don't like the vet.

Karen Jo:  You needed to go in for your booster.  When you were dumped at the shelter, they had no way of knowing if you ever got your kitten shots, so they started the series and didn't quite finish.  I was late getting you in, but they said I could still get you your booster.  You will be happy to know that you are very healthy.  You have gained 2 1/2 pounds.  The vet said you were getting fat, but weren't too fat yet.

Oja:  I didn't have much to do in my room but eat and sleep.

Karen Jo:  And play with your toys.  I saw you playing with your turbo track last night.

Oja:  Those mancats are getting mean.  Herman took a swipe at me and Spyro chased me today.

Karen Jo:  I think they are getting tired of your hissing and growling and charging them.  I am their Mom, as well as yours and you need to learn to share.

Oja:  What is "share"? Guess what?  I found out that there is food in the kitchen, as well as in my room.  I ate some of it, but Mom seemed to get unhappy about that.

Karen Jo:  The boys don't go into your room and eat your food, so I don't think you should eat theirs.

Oja:  I won't let them eat my food.  I didn't see anycat objecting when I was eating theirs.

Karen Jo:  Spyro didn't look to happy about it, but he was still leery of you.  I was actually glad to see him chasing you today.  I knew he wouldn't hurt you, as you ran straight into Emma's old hidey-hole in my room, between the TV stand and my dresser.  He can't fit in there and if you get much fatter, you won't fit, either.

Oja:  Now you're being mean.  I am not eating as much now that I am out of my room.  I have more to do and I'm doing it.

Oja Comes Out!

Karen Jo:  First off I would like to thank Ann of Zoolatry very much for the new header.  I love the old one, but Spyro and Oja deserve a place on the header, too.

I am watching Spyro play and deciding whether or not I want to pounce him.  In the end, all I did was bat his tail once.  He was too occupied to notice.  Mom wouldn't take us out Sunday, but we got to go out for a long time today.  Spyro got to go first, but I didn't mind too much.

Karen Jo:  As soon as you discovered that we were out you started meowing that you wanted out.

I don't get all spastic like Spyro does.  I had a lovely time exploring the front yard and the neighbor's front yard and the back yard.

Karen Jo:  I carried you from the neighbor's front yard to our back yard.  You were getting a bit to nosy about their carport.

I got to chew on grass and watch ravens fly overhead.  I checked out a couple of gopher holes, but didn't find them all that interesting.  Mostly I just walked around on the grass and looked all around.

 Spyro: Mom got out a nip ball.  I had never seen it before.  Boy, do I love it.  I batted it and smelled it and licked it and rubbed all over it and even tried to bunny-kick it.  I am holding it in my paws in the picture.  Mean Mom wouldn't let me out yesterday, even though I meowed and meowed about it.

Karen Jo:  I thought there was enough going on yesterday.  Besides, I had a ton of paperwork to get through.

Spyro:  Mom took my out early this evening.  It had been cloudy all day and even rained a tiny bit, so it was nice and cool.  I still move with my belly low to the ground, but I go much faster now.  I chewed on the grass and rolled on the concrete and sniffed the spiderwebs.  Mom let me go wherever I wanted until I tried to step in the street.  Suddenly, I couldn't move forward.

Karen Jo:  That's what the leash is for.  You are not going into the street, ever.

Spyro:  I was sad when Mom took my back in.  Then she took Herman out and I cried and cried and jumped up on the screen door and tried to get out, but I couldn't.

Karen Jo:  I wish I had had the camera with me.  You had your front feet looped over the top bar on the screen door and your hind feet on the bottom bar.  I am really glad that the door has a hook-and-eye for when I leave it open all day.  The handle is just a pull-down type and you could pull it down with your acrobatics.  I might have to close the back door to keep you from opening the screen door when I take Herman out.

Oja:  Enough of the mancats!  The big news is about ME!  This is probably the last photo you will see of me in my room.  Sunday I decided that I didn't want to stay in my room any more and I came out and stayed out.

Karen Jo:  You came out when I got your breakfast, but went back in to eat.  When I left the door open for you to get your lunch and fresh water and litter box scooped, you came out and went into both my room and the litter box room.  You didn't go back into your room when you ran into Spyro; you chased him down the hall.

Oja:  Hahaha!  I chased Spyro all over the place.  By the end of the day I had been in every room in the house, except the one with the closed door.  I still go into my room to look out of my window and to eat and drink, but mostly I am in Mom's room or exploring.  Last night I got Mom all to myself.

Karen Jo:  Poor Spyro.  After I went to bed, he jumped up on the bed like he usually does and you chased him off.

Oja:  You are MY Mom and I want to sleep with you.  I claim my room and your room as MY territory.

Karen Jo:  I hope you learn to share more.  Herman and Spyro are used to sharing the bed with me.

Oja:  We'll see.  Right now I hiss and growl at the mancats almost every time I see them.

Karen Jo:  I have noticed that it's tapered off just a little bit, not much, but a little.

Let Freedom Ring

 It's hard to find a place to relax in this messy living room.

Karen Jo:  I am saving some boxes for a friend who is moving, but I think I better move the boxes to the forbidden room because there is just too much clutter.

Mom went to the pet supply store yesterday and she bought harnesses for both me and Oja.  I didn't fight my harness at all.  I didn't slink along on my belly, either.

Karen Jo:  You took to your harness like you had worn one before.  That is quite possible, of course.  I didn't take any pictures of you outside because I had my hands full with both you and Spyro out at the same time.  You both got to go out together again today.

I got more outside time today than Spyro did.  Mom took me out first, thinking she could just take us out one at a time.  I refused to budge from the screen door until she went and got Spyro.  I couldn't stand his crying.

Karen Jo:  I hooked your leash to the mailbox and went inside to get Spyro.  Then you wanted to go in different directions and kept my arms stretched out almost all the time.

That was funny.  It was also funny watching Spyro slink along on his belly.  Then you took Spyro inside because all he wanted to do was loll around in the driveway and took me to the backyard.  That was awesome.  I chewed on the grass and inspected a gopher hole and walked almost the whole length of the back yard before you picked me up and took me back inside.

Spyro:  I don't have any problem finding a place to relax in the living room.  I just take Herman's ham-mick  It's not fair that Herman got more outside time than I did.  I chewed on the grass a little, too.  I slink along because I'm not used to my harness yet, but I still love going outside.  Lolling in the driveway is fun.

Karen Jo:  I will take you out first tomorrow.  I still think it would be best to take you out one at a time, so you can each do what you want.  It would be easier on my arms, too.

Oja:  I am up on my blankie on the bookshelf by the window.  I am getting more adventurous, too.

Karen Jo: You sure chased Herman off last night.

Oja:  You left the door open to come in and give me my good-night petting and Herman came in to inspect my food dish.  I charged him and he left quickly.

Karen Jo:  You came out of your room three times today, too.  I left your door open when I went to get your lunch you went into my bedroom.  You came running back for your lunch, though.

Oja:  I was hungry.  I came out again when you left the door open  to get my fresh water and scoop the litter boxes, too.  I saw you coming with my water and ran back to my room, but left again when you left.  Then there was some excitement.  Spyro sneaked in again while I was gone.

Karen Jo:  I was surprised when I came in to scoop your litter box to find Spyro in your room and you gone.  I was finished with your box before you came back.  You chased Spyro right out of your room again.  I am beginning to think that you are not afraid of Herman and Spyro, you just don't like them.

Oja:  Bingo!  You finally figured out that I will play with toys, if they are new and don't have mancat stink on them.

Karen Jo:  That's right.  I got you a tin of Yeow Stinky Sardines (catnip) yesterday and put one out and I couldn't even find it today, so I put out another one.

Karen Jo:  Now I want some advice.  I worry about Oja's quality of life.  She has been in that room by herself for a month and is just now starting to explore a bit.  I got her a harness, too, but wonder if she would even like to go outside.  I don't want to do anything that would scare her, but I also want to give her more things to do.  What do you think about seeing if Oja will accept a harness and go outside?

Happy Independence Day!

 Happy Independence Day!  We are all going to tell you how we are celebrating our freedom today.  I am celebrating my freedom from hot heavy fur by running and playing with Spyro.  I am also celebrating my freedom to move my head whenever Mom snaps a picture.

 Spyro:  I am celebrating my freedom to go outside with my harness and leash by making the most of it.  I mostly stayed in the carport because Mom took me out in the hot part of the day.  I did see a butterfly, but it was too high up to even try to catch.  I did investigate a big bush and sniff a lot of spider webs.

Karen Jo:  That was a mistake on my part, Spyro.  Yesterday I took you out in the evening and you enjoyed it much more.

Oja:  I am celebrating my freedom from scary mancats by staying in my room.  I also greatly enjoy my freedom to climb all over my Mom and get loved on.  Mom is spending more time with me.  She even got that yucky Intereferon in me.

Karen Jo:  That's because you have stopped being up in my face so much, so being with you is more enjoyable.  Your Interferon is not yucky.  It has no taste at all.  I am not so sure that you are so scared by the mancats.  You didn't seem scared last night.  While I was visiting blogs last night, it began to rain.  It brought the temperature right down and it felt so good that I thought I had to share it with Oja.  I went into her room and left the door open, so she could feel the cool breeze and sat down so she would come out for petting.

Oja:  What neither of us noticed was that Spyro sneaked into my room and went into my hidey-hole under the corner table.  When I had enough petting, I jumped down and went to get a bite to eat.  I sensed Spyro behind me.  Well, I was having none of that.  I dashed around the easy chair and into my hidey-hole and chased him right out of my room.  Then I sat in my doorway and growled at him.

Karen Jo:  I don't know how Oja know Spyro was in her hidey-hole.  She moved faster than I had ever seen her move before.  Spyro sped out of  the hidey-hole like a fury was after him.  I couldn't close the door until Oja moved away from the doorway.  She growled at Spyro and I think she may have growled at Herman when he showed up to find out what was going on.  Oja certainly knows how to defend her territory.

Karen Jo:  I am celebrating my freedom from going to work by watching A Capitol Fourth on PBS.  I haven't been able to watch it since 2002, as I was always at work.  We will have no fireworks locally because of the fire danger.  I am also being thankful for all my other freedoms.  I am very fortunate as I have freedom from want, hunger and fear.

Spyro Goes Outside

Spyro: Oja's picture came out all black and Herman got up and walked away after Mom pushed the button on the camera, so it's just me today. See me tasting the grass?  It's mostly brown from the heat and Mom not watering it.  She really needs to get up and water it on watering days.  Today Mom picked me up and showed me the back yard.  At first I just snuck around on my belly, but after a while I got used to my harness and started to walk normally.  I explored about half of the back yard.  I rolled on the patio and chewed on grass and found some dirt to dig in and roll in.  I even found an interesting hole and stuck my paw in it, but didn't find anything.  I sniffed an ant and chased a moth that flew up when I explored a bush.  Mom let me stay about about 15 minutes.  If she had let me stay out just a little bit longer, I might even have peed outside.  The first thing I did when Mom took me back in and took off my harness was pee in the litter box.  Then I tore all around the house and meowed to be let out again.

Karen Jo:  I am surprised that you didn't find the gopher holes more interesting.  Maybe the visible holes are all old and don't smell much like gopher any more.

Why didn't you use one of my old pictures?

Karen Jo:  They show you with all your fur and your friends might find that very confusing.

I didn't have much fun today.  Spyro picked a fight with me to take over the ham-mick.  We had quite a smack down, but I finally gave up and got out of the ham-mick.  Spyro jumped in it, then decided he didn't really want it.

Karen Jo:  I think you have fun rasslin' with Spyro.  You really cried when I took Spyro outside.

It's not fair.  He gets to go outside and I don't.

Karen Jo:  The harness isn't big enough for you.  If I got you a harness, would you wear it?

I won't know until I get to try it.

Oja:  I was nice and stayed still for a picture.

Karen Jo:  I guess there wasn't enough light.  All I got was a black square.  You didn't take your Interferon again.  That's two days in a row that it got wasted because you jerked your head away at the last instant.  I hope you licked it off your fur.

Oja:  I don't like stuff squirted in my mouth.

Karen Jo:  I can't even bribe you into starting to accept it because you don't like treats.

Oja:  I played with my fish today.

Karen Jo:  I noticed, but you wouldn't come out, even though I left the door open for quite a while.

Oja:  Spyro was at the door.

Kare Jo:  You could have come out just far enough to meet him.

Oja:  I don't want to meet him.  He scares me.

Spyro's Big Adventure

 I have mostly just been relaxing.  It's gotten hot again.  I do play with Spyro and look out the windows quite a bit.

 Spyro:  The day before yesterday Mom went out shopping for our food and came back with this.  That first day she just put it out on the floor and let me sniff it.  I didn't find it very interesting.  Yesterday she tried to put it on me, but I wasn't having any of it.  Today I let her put in on me and just relaxed once it was on.  Then Mom showed me what it is for:

 Looky!  I'm OUTSIDE!  I got to sniff the bushes and vines and chew on the grass!  I got to chase bugs!  I got to hide under a bush and watch woofies go by!  I got to roll on the concrete!  I got to roll and dig in the dirt!  Sometimes I snuck along on my belly, but sometimes I walked normally.  I even jumped at a bug.  This is my best present ever!  When Mom brought me back inside, I ran around like crazy, then cried and cried at the screen door to go out again.  Mom says I can go out every day.  I'm so excited!

Oja:  This is a terrible picture of me.  You can hardly see me next to the black box.

Karen Jo:  I had to use this old, rejected, picture because you haven't been cooperating.  You won't let me take your picture.  You won't take your Interferon.  It's been three weeks and you don't show many signs of ever wanting to come out of your room, though that doesn't really matter.  You can stay in there as long as you like.

Oja:  I let that Spyro explore my room without hissing at him.

Karen Jo:  That's true.  Spyro sniffed all over your room and you just stayed up on the bookcase and watched him.  I'm not trying to push you out of your room, but I think you would have more fun with the whole house to explore.  You haven't even been playing with your fish lately.

Oja:  I haven't felt like playing.  It's been awful hot.

Karen Jo:  You don't get much air circulation with the door closed.  I'll leave it open more, unless you object.