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.

TCC News

 Rocio:  See this ratty-looking scratching post?  If I scratch on it, I get a treat.  I am trying to decide if it is worth the trouble.  Bambino, Jose and I are all exceited.  Mom finally put in our applications to join the Tabby Cat Club and Gracie said we could consider ourselves unofficial members until her computer comes home from the computer hospital.  Yay!

 Bambino:  I am trying to decide if I want to give Jose a whap for trying to take my sparkle ball that was dipped in nip.  See my raised paw?  I am the only full tabby cat here.  The rest of you are tuxie-tabbies or Russian Blue tabby.

 Jose:  Mom has been trying and trying to get a picture of me full face with my eyes open, so you can see what she calls my Egyptian eyes.  This is as close as she has come so far.  My eyes are a light green and with  my brown eye-liner I look quite exotic.

 Oja:  Ha!  I have you all beat.  Everyone should go right over to the Tabby Cat Club and look at the wallpaper.  That's me!  Right there!

Spyro:  All this excitement!  I was the first to join and tuxie-tabbies are just as tabby as full tabbies.  No that is not a smudge of Stinky Goodness under my nose.  That is just part of my markings.  I am getting screen door whiffies and trying to figure out how I can get outside without my harness.  Mom is getting too fast for me and I hardly escape at all any more.

Karen Jo:  Thank you all for the good advice on calming things down between Rocio and Oja.  I have been basically letting them work it out, until Oja yowls.  I don't want a full-fledged fight.  Until the Feliway arrives, which will probably be a waste, because it is finally open window season here and the sockets where I could plug it in are right under the windows, I have tried Brian's suggestion of acting the MomCat.  Rocio got Oja cornered in the litter box room last night, so I got behind him down on all fours and hissed at him and chased him into the bathtub.  This morning, he tried it in the computer room and got I down beside Oja, facing Rocio and hissed at him again.  He ran away and hasn't been a pest to Oja since.  I don't think this means that the problem is solved, but it is working.