Food, Glorious Food!

 Spyro:  Mom is finally going to get back to blogging.  You know what prodded her to blog again?  Her cousin talked her into joining Facebook and that reminded her of blogging.  We all miss Brody very much, but he left behind some awesome food.

Karen Jo:  I bought Brody Elegant Medleys, Mornings, Delights and broth to tempt his appetite and it worked.  He ate right up until the day he left for the Rainbow Bridge.

Spyro:  Mom gave us some of this special food along with our regular Stinky Goodness.  It was delish.  We all had some, even Oja, who isn't supposed to eat anything but pate style Stinky Goodness.

Oja: That's because any canned food with gravy or lots of liquid gives me the runs.  Mom figured a little bit every other day wouldn't hurt me.  That was cool.  The really good food lasted longer that way.  Speaking of food, where's dinner?

Karen Jo:  It's not quite time for dinner yet.  You'll get it as soon as I finish this post.

Rocio: We have been up to all sorts of mischief.  Mom had this throw and a pillow on top of the table.  I pulled it off and made my own Mancat Cave.  I pulled off all her papers, too.  You should have seen her scrambling around trying to pick them all up again.  Hahaha!

 Bambino:  I enjoyed the special food, too, but what I like best is treats.  Mom is supposed to put my treats in that crystal bowl, so where are they?

Karen Jo:  You've had treats at least five times today.

 Horus:  I prefer the dry food to either canned food or treats.  I did enjoy the broth, though.  Spyro is on the other side of this box and I'm going to surprise him.

 Julius:  This is where I get my treats.  You can see Mom in the mirror again.  I have been letting Mom pet me while I eat my treats.  Three strokes is my limit, though.

 Cissy: Here I am in my cave.  I am getting bolder, though.  Mom bought a new cube and I went into the living room and got into it, until Oja came and chased me out, so she could get in it.  She sure is a bossy Alpha.

Tabitha:  I am growing.  Mom says I'm twice as big now as when I first came.  Mom has treats and I want some.

Caturday

 Karen Jo:  You kitties all read the posts on the Tabby Cat Club about how to drive your parents crazy, didn't you?

All:  Of course we did.  We all belong to the club.

Karen Jo:  One of you decided that Derby had a good one by yacking on the carpet and staining it.  I found two yak spots by the computer desk with Stinky Goodness and kibble in them.  Now who eats in the computer room and gobbles as much Stinky Goodness as he can hold?

Bambino:  Why are you looking at me?  I have never yakked up anything.  Horus and Oja are the yakkers around here.  Oja eats in the computer room and she's so . . . (Oja glares at Bambino) er, floofy that it was probably her.

 Oja:  I only yak up hairballs.

 Horus:  Don't look at me.  I hardly eat the Stinky Goodness.  I prefer the kibble.  I admit to nomming on grass when I escape and I did barf that up one time.

 Spyro:   I eat in the kitchen most of the time and I have never yakked up food, only hairballs.

Rocio:  I hardly ever eat in the computer room any more.  Oja and Bambino gobble it all up between them.  I am lucky to get a bite.  I have been eating in the safe room when I get any at all.

Karen Jo:  Oh, poor you.  I have seen you going around and checking every dish to see if there was any Stinky Goodness left and if there is you clean it up.  I guess the yak will remain a mystery.

Karen Jo:  Thanks to all of you for your responses to my post "Who's the Alpha?"  I am glad to know that there doesn't have to be an alpha cat and I will stop trying to figure it out.  I think I have figured out a little bit about Rocio's behavior.  The other morning Horus was annoying Rocio something awful.  I put a stop to it, but a few hours later Rocio started annoying Oja.  That one wasn't too bad, so I just told Rocio to knock it off and he eventually did.  A couple of hours after that, Oja and Rocio were giving each other nose kisses.  There was a blissful period of about 10 days when no cat was annoying any other cat, so I do think that Rocio has stopped annoying Oja just on his own.  He only does it now when Horus has been picking on him.  Why Horus picks on Rocio I don't know, unless it's some kind of status thing.  Oja is becoming more tolerant of Bambino.  She even licked the very end of his tail when they were both in bed with me.  Maybe all my cats will be friends with each other eventually.

Who's the Alpha?

Karen Jo:  Here is Angel Herman, as he looked exactly a year ago.  His lion cut was growing out, but he wasn't in full floof yet.  I have been thinking about him a lot lately and he fits right into the subject of this post.  I thought I understood about alpha cats, but I don't think I really do.  Do all groups of cats have an alpha?  I never had this many cats before and I don't think I really know which one is the alpha in my house.  I read up on feral cat colonies and how the alpha cat is almost always the oldest healthy female.  That would be Oja in this house, but I don't really think she is the alpha.  Things were simpler when Herman was here.  He was the alpha cat from the minute he figured out that he was staying with me.  With no other cats to boss around, he bossed me around.  He woke me up for breakfast, told me where he wanted his food bowls and water bowl, let me know that the litter I was using was unacceptable and that I better change it fast, told me when it was playtime and scolded me from the bed if he thought I was staying up too late on the computer.  Emma, Spyro and Oja all acknowledged him as the head cat without any fuss.  Well, Emma fussed, but that was because she was terrified of him.  After Herman ran off to the Rainbow Bridge, Spyro and Oja basically treated each other as equals, though Spyro would eat Oja's dry food.  I felt sorry for Oja because she was on her diet and I moved Spyro's food station to up on the counter, so she couldn't eat his food.  At bedtime if all of Oja's dry food was gone, but Spyro's wasn't, I would put Spyro's food at Oja's food station.  The diet worked anyway and Oja lost two pounds.  Then came the parade of new kitties.

 Spyro is friends with all the other cats.  He is the only one that I have seen grooming each of the other four.  Here he is hanging out with Rocio.  By the way, Rocio's hissy fit was just that. Everything is totally back to normal today.  Rocio and Bambino were having a big rasslin' match and Rocio gave Bambino a soft hiss.  I think he was daring Bambino to pounce him again.  Bambino took him up on it and the match continued.  They were having a great time together.  Rocio is friends with Spyro and Bambino.  I have seen him grooming both of them.  He used to tease Oja and chase her off her favorite chair in the computer room, but he doesn't do that any more.  Maybe it's because Horus is teasing Rocio now.

 Oja is only friends with Spyro and Horus.  She wont let Rocio or Bambino get close enough to her for any mutual grooming.

 Bambino wants to be friends with all the other cats, but Oja won't let him be friends with her.  I have never seen Bambino groom another cat, though I have seen Rocio and Spyro grooming him.

Horus is the newest addition.  He is friends with Spyro, Oja and Bambino.  He has been a bit mean to Rocio and I have never seen the two of them rasslin'.  This could be because Horus is the kitty least likely to be seen in a rassin' match.  I have seen him rassle Spyro and Bambino, but he would rather play THoE any day.

So who is the alpha cat here?  I can rule out Bamino and Rocio immediately because I have seen them defer to the older cats.  Herman commanded the respect of the other cats and no cat messed with him.  That lets Oja out, as Rocio was certainly messing with her.  On the other hand, maybe Rocio stopped messing with her because she convinced him that she was the boss.  Horus defers to Oja and Spyro, though not to Bambino or Rocio.  Neither Spyro nor Oja defer to any of the others.  I did see one thing that makes me think that Spyro may be the alpha.  Spyro was eating Oja's dry food and Oja whapped him one between the ears.  Spyro looked at her and went on eating, so she whapped him again.  He still went on eating, so she whapped him a third time.  When that didn't make him leave, Oja went off to find another food bowl.

Who do you think is the alpha or is there one?  I am just curious.  It won't change anything around here, I would just like to know.

Snowless Sunday

Spyro:  I always like to be where  Mom is, so I follow her around the house, unless I am napping.  I hate to hold still for the camera, though.  I am up on this thing that looks like a table, but isn't, in the boys' room, watching Austin eat.  I ran outside today, thinking that I would get to stay for a while because of Mom's ouchie ribs, but she came right after me and grabbed me and carried me back inside.

Karen Jo:  My ribs are hardly ouchie any more, unless I try to lift something heavy.  Luckily, Spyro isn't quite heavy enough to set off the pain.  I still can't stay up all day without getting really achy.  Every once in a while I have to get back on the bed and spend some time there to soothe the ache.  I still haven't heard from my doctor what the damage was, so it wasn't severe.  She thinks I may have cracked a rib or two and I think she's probably right.  I should be back to normal in another week or two.

 Oja: Except for eating and using the litter box, I have spent the whole day on Mom's bed.  She got new flannel sheets and they are wonderful.  Every time Mom gets up, I grab the warm spot.  When Mom lies down, I get next to her for her warmth.  Happiness is a warm kitty.

 Austin:  I am in the easy chair in our room.  Of all the kitties, I spend the most time in here.  I like to get up on the bookshelf by the window and look out and I like to nap on the couch.  Sometimes, I like to go see the Mom in her bed and last night I had to put Oja in her place.  I jumped up on the bed and hung out for a while on the Mom, getting just the right amount of petting.  Then I wanted to walk across the Mom and up to the head of the bed to jump into the rocking chair.  Oja was lying next to the Mom and I had to walk past her to get where I was going.  Oja growled at me, so I backed up a little and stared at her.  Oja kept growling.  I don't know why.  I just wanted to walk past her.  I got fed up and lunged at her.  She squeaked and jumped over the Mom.  I walked where I wanted and jumped into the rocking chair.

Karen Jo:  I think Oja is losing in her bid to be Alpha cat.  Whenever Austin or Rocio invite her to rassle, she declines by running away.  I think it is Rocio who chases her down the hall, but it could be Austin as well.  It usually happens when I am in bed and I can't see who is doing the chasing.  I think Austin is going to be the Alpha.  He is the one who starts most of the rasslin' matches, except the ones between Oja and Spyro.  He is the one who won't put up with Oja's attempts to be bossy the most.  Spyro doesn't care who is Alpha, as long as it isn't him.  Rocio doesn't seem to care, either.  Spyro and Rocio nap together, as do Austin and Rocio.  Oja will now tolerate one of the boys napping near her and even touching most of the time.

Rocio:  All I want to be boss of is the toys.  This morning I was chasing a fuzzy mousie all over Mom's bedroom.  I like to drop the mousie in one of her boots, then fish it out again.  I say, let Austin be the boss cat.  He isn't mean about it.  He will rassle with me until I run away, then he will pounce Spyro.  One time we finished our match and the only kitty watching nearby was Oja,  Austin looked like he was going to pounce Oja, but as soon as he started his wiggle-butt she squeaked and ran away.  Oja growls and sounds tough, but she hasn't got what it takes to back it up.  Maybe she is scared of us and is putting up a brave front.

Karen Jo:  I thought of that when Oja was getting used to Herman and Spyro.  It soon became obvious to me that Oja wasn't afraid of them, because she didn't run from them or cower before them, she just doesn't like mancats all that much.  The growling and hissing incidents are getting fewer and fewer and may stop in a month or two.

Karen Jo:  We were supposed to get a big snowstorm with up to a foot falling today and so far I haven't seen one flake.  It has been very cloudy all day, but no snow.  Darn it, there were things I would have gone out and done if it hadn't been for that forecast and the threatening, but apparently empty, clouds.

Mostly Mancat Monday

 Oja:  Spyro is over at The Tabby Cat Club today.  If you just have to see him, you can go over there.  Meanwhile, I am snoozing in my warm bed by the heat register.  We are having clouds and freezing rain for the third day in a row.  I want my sun puddles back!  The boys are being onery, too.  Austin was lying just where I wanted to walk, so I hissed at him to get out of my way and he ignored me.  I smacked him with my paw and he had the nerve to smack me back.  After a few more smacks, I gave up and walked around him. Boys!  Cant't they tell that I am the oldest and should be in charge around here?

 Austin:  While Spyro is gone, I have taken over his spy tower.  It's great up here and that hissy Oja can't get anywhere near me.  I learned something new today.  I have seen how Spyro does something, then runs over to a certain drawer and the Mom gets him something out of the drawer and he gets pretty excited about it.  Rocio started doing the same thing a couple of days ago.  I have even seen Oja do it.  Today I found out what it is.  I scratched a scratching post and the Mom went over to the drawer.  I ran over to find out what it is that she takes out of it, but so did Rocio.  Mom tried to give me something in her hand, but I was up on the back of the couch and fumbled it over the back twice trying to get it before Rocio did.  I finally got one and it was yummy.

Rocio:  It took you long enough to figure it out, Bro.  Whenever we scratch on scratching posts or scratchers, the Mom gives us a treat.  They are yummy, but you have to watch out when Spyro is around, or he will steal it.  Oja hissed at me today, too.  The Mom sat on the couch and I went to get next to her and Oja hissed at me.  It's like that silly girl is trying to claim the Mom as hers or something.  I just got on the other side of the Mom and we each got to be next to her.

Karen Jo:  I really know very little about the social dynamics in a group of cats, but it looks to me like Oja is making a bid to become Alpha cat.  She is trying to boss the Boys around, but they are having none of it.  Austin pounces Rocio and Spyro for chase and rasslin', but he ignores Oja.  Oja pounces Spyro for rasslin', but ignores the Boys unless she feels that they are in her way.  If Oja gets too hissy with one of the Boys, the other one will come to the rescue and Oja will run from the pair of them.  I don't know how it will turn out, but it is fascinating to watch.