Happy Birthday, Brody and Cissy!

 Brody: Man, it sure is hard to get out Mom to blog.  She was supposed to do this this morning.  It's our first birthday today and do you know what Mom gave us?

 Cissy: A trip to the vet!

Karen Jo: It wasn't that bad.  You just got looked over, weighed and had your temperature taken.

Brody: That's the bad part.

 Karen Jo: I also got you this.

Brody and Cissy:  We love that.  Now for our party.  We birthday kits--Julius, Brody and Cissy have taken over the living room for our Rock'n'Roll party.  We have the stereo turned up and Mom filled the dining room table with goodies for us.  There's a turkey on one end and a ham on the other end and in the middle is a whole grilled salmon.  We are serving meowgaritas now that we are old enough to drink them.  We also have meow-tais and nip Russians.  We can play endless games of THoE up and down the hall and play King of the Mountain on our new tower.  There are gazillions of toys lying around and Mom has promised to work Da Bird until her arms give out.

 Spyro: Horus and I have taken over the gas grill for our outside party.  We are cooking up hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks and salmon filets.  We have a picnic cooler full of niptinis and we filled up a big metal tub with ice and nip beer.  There is grass to run around in and it's pretty long on the side of the house.  The gophers have come out since the rainy season has started, so there are lots of mounds to sniff.

 Horus:  We can poop and pee out here, too.  In fact, Mom said it would be great if we pooped in the gopher holes.  Maybe we'll have a contest to see who can drop the biggest, stinkiest load in a gopher hole.  We can play in the front yard, too, but Mom says to stay out of the street or be sent home.  I should also tell you that there is a friendly min-pin who lives next door.  He will come right up to you and sniff.  Feel free to eat as much grass as you like.

 Oja: I am having my quiet, dignified party in the safe room.  I am serving cat mint tea and sushi and tuna and salmon tea sandwiches.  There are no rowdy boys allowed and I mean it! Gentleman cats may come in and join my party.  I am playing waltzes and there is a little room to dance.

 Rocio:  I will be moving back and forth between the outside mancat party and the birthday kits party.  I am staying far away from Oja's party.  She would hiss if I stuck my nose inside the safe room.

 Bambino:  I will also be moving back and forth between the outside and inside parties.  I may even visit Oja because now that I am two, I can act dignified when I want to, which is seldom, but her noms sound good.

Julius:  I will be at the Birthday Kits party.  I wanna start up a game of THoE right now.  Come one, come all and lets party!

Update from Julius: Mom says that since she was so late getting the notice up yesterday that we can party all day today (Friday), too.  There is plenty of food and drink and we are rested up and ready to go!

Happy Birthday, Julius!

 Julius: Today is my birthday and Mom almost missed it.  She's been saying that she would blog all day, but she is just now doing it.  I am one year old today.  I got a present.  It's an orange fish that makes noise and has catnip inside.  I love it.  We are having a really big party starting with a sleep-over tonight and going on all day and evening tomorrow.  Mom has a lot of catching up to do.

Karen Jo:  While I wasn't blogging, I missed special days for all my kitties, so we are having one huge party to make up for it.

 My Gotcha Day was March 20 and my Birthday was June 4. I am two now. I want a party with lots of THoE and rasslin' and toys.

 Oja: My Birthday was March 31.  I am four now.  My Gotcha Day was June 2.  I want a dignified party without any rowdy boys around.

 Horus: My Birthday was April 3.  I am also four now.  My Gotcha Day was April 28.  I want an outside party with lots of running though the grass.

 Bambino: My Gotcha Day was April 7 and my Birthday was July 6.  I am two now. I want a party with lots of playing and THoE and rasslin' and toys and food and treats.

Spyro: My Gotcha Day was April 24.  I want an outside party with lots of niptinis and food and chewing on grass and sniffing gopher holes.

Karen Jo:  I will see what I can do.  I will also show off the big gift that I got for all of you.  It will be one big blow-out of a party, I promise you that.

Happy First Birthday, Rocio!

Rocio:  Hiya, Dudes and Dudettes!  It's my first birthday and I am now officially a mancat.  Bring on the niptinis and meowgaritas!  We even have a bottle of Dom Perimeow nip champagne to toast me with.  Mom is really late posting this because she has been doing Mom things all day.  She had to go to the pet supply store and knowing it is my birthday, do you know what she brought home? A new PTU!  What kind of birthday present was that?

Karen Jo:  I also brought home a small bag of new treats.  I know it is a tiny bag, a sample, really, but you like them.  I had to get another PTU because I was one short in case I need to put all of you in PTUs at the same time.  I don't know if it has made the national news, but we have a forest fire near here called the Thompson Ridge fire.  It is growing due to windy conditions and rough terrain.  We are getting burned up pine needles falling from the sky in town.  I am hoping that if I have everything I need to evacuate, I won't have to.  The fire is still miles away, but if a strong wind blows up in just the right (wrong?) direction it can travel mighty fast.

Rocio:  Anyway, we are having a party tonight, inside only I'm afraid.  There is smoke and ash outside and it isn't very healthy.  We are having nip drinks for the grown up kitties and milk and water for the kittens.  We have a great stereo and lots of dance records.  Mom has put out a buffet with a whole salmon, tuna steaks, roast beef, a turkey and a roast chicken.  We have cheese cubes and sardines to snack on.

Mom says she will be happy to wave the wand toys around.  With all of us kitties, she has learned how to hold two wands in each hand, so there are plenty to go around.  We have toys galore including some almost new nip balls from Yeow!  that are really great. There is loose nip on a piece of paper on the floor, it you can get to it with Spyro trying to hog it all.  We have a nice hall for THoE and room for rasslin'.  There is plenty of furniture, both human and cat for napping or just resting.  The bird TV is turned off, sorry to say.  Mom filled the feeders and the birdbath, but we didn't have any takers.  Maybe the smoke has chased them away.

Let's turn on the music and dance the night away!

Happy Birthday at the Rainbow Bridge, Austin

Karen Jo:  It's kind of a sad day here.  Austin would have been one year old today.  I did manage to get him a birthday present.  A week or so ago some jerk came by and stole three of my four solar lights, including the ones marking Herman's and Austin's graves.  Whoever it was didn't get Emma's because I buried her right next to the house and her light can't be seen from the street.  Today I went out and got replacements for the stolen lights.  The store didn't have the stars, so I got a sunflower for the front yard and hummingbirds for Herman and Austin.  A hummingbird was what I originally chose for Austin, so he got a straight replacement.  I hope whoever it was doesn't come by and steal them again.  I did put Herman's and Austin's much farther from the fence, so someone would have to actually come into my back yard to get them.

We still miss Austin, Rocio in particular.  Rocio misses Austin the most at meal time.  I would feed the two of them in the safe room and close the door, so they wouldn't hassle Oja while she was eating.  These days, most of the time, instead of running for his dish, Rocio just lies on the floor, looking very sad.  I have begun placing his food next to his head when he does this, or he will just lie there and Bambino will eat his Stinky Goodness.  He rouses himself to eat and shares with Bambino, who insists on sharing with all the boys.

I know you are having a grand time at the Rainbow Bridge, Austin, but we miss you down here.  I imagine you and Herman play chase and kitty rasslin' a lot, while Emma watches.

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday, Oja!

Oja:  Welcome to my Easter/Birthday party.  We have plenty of food, nip and toys to go around.

 These are our Easter toys.  Mom rolled the bunny in catnip and there are treats in the eggs.

Mom is also throwing a huge nip party.  Austin and Rocio have already started.  We have tiny Spring moths to chase.  They have been drowning in our water bowls.  We aren't telling whether they had any help.  There are lots more toys than what you see, including wand toys that Mom will wave around for us.  For the cat who like to go outside and the woofies, there is grass to roll around in and gopher holes to sniff.  Mom filled up the bird feeders and water, so cat TV should be pretty good.  There is lots of cat food, both canned and dry, plus roast beef, ham and turkey.  Lots of fresh water is on hand, along with niptinis and meowgaritas.  When you get tired there are beds and sofas and chairs all over the place.  I am three years old today and I want to party!

Spyro's Forgotten Birthday

 Spyro:  My silly Mom completely forgot my birthday late last month.

Karen Jo:  I had to figure out a birthday for you.  Your adoption papers didn't even have your age on them.  When I took you to the vet a few days later they told me you were about one-and-a-half, but didn't assign you a birth date.  I added six months to your vet visit, but forgot to write it down.  When I was checking on Herman's dates I realized that your birthday must have been forgotten, so I dug out your papers and sure enough, I spaced it out.

Spyro:  Mom brought this thing into the house and thought that she could get the tags off and hide it from me until today.  Hah!  One of these dangly things has a FEV-VER on it!  No fev-vers can get by me.

Karen Jo:  Spyro wants to hand-wrestle me and his claws are sharp, so I got one of these gloves with dangles on the elongated fingers.

Spyro:  I pounced it before she could even get her hand in it.

Spyro:  Once she got it on, I not only attacked the dangly things, I went after her hand, too.  See me put the bitey on?

Karen Jo:  I am going to enjoy this glove, too.  Spyro will put the bitey on just about anything.

Oja:  I got to play with the dangly things, too, but they spooked me at first.  Mom had to hold really still and let me check them out.

Oja:  Spyro wanted his glove back almost as soon as I started playing with it, so I attacked the Plague Rat instead.

Karen Jo:  This photo is for Baby Patches and his Mom at Nip and Bones.  They wanted to know if Herman had enjoyed the toys I bought from them.  He did.  I thought I would show them that the toys are still being enjoyed.

Karen Jo:  Happy Belated 2nd Birthday, Spyro.  I will try really hard to never forget it again.

Party Time!

This party is really rockin' the house!  I want to thank all of you for coming to my 5th Birthday party.  I just had to take a little nap, but there is plenty going on.  It's toasty warm (mid 70s), so the windows are open.  The Bird Channel is on because Mom put out the last of the bird seed and fresh water.  For you kitties who can go outside, there are snapdragons and roses to sniff and plenty of gopher holes to check out.  Just please stay in the yard and come in before sundown.  Mom isn't kidding about the coyotes.  She even found coyote poop in the back yard.

Like a good host, I got Mom up for breakfast at dawn.  She wasn't up to anything more than Stinky Goodness and Tiki Cat, because some kitties kept her up late with all the dancing and THoE.  Lunch was great with a huge buffet of turkey, chicken, roast beef, ham, shrimp and salmon.  Mom will keep the buffet open all day and night.  There's a niptini fountain, meowgaritas and nip champagne that Mom will get for you and fresh water and cat milk for the younger kitties.

Spyro:  The games are well underway.  I already led a rousing round of Help Mom Make up the Bed, followed by lots of fun in Help Mom Sort the Laundry.  Why is Mom doing laundry during the party?  Nice warm sheets and towels in the laundry basket, of course.

Karen Jo:  It beats me why you kitties would want warm sheets and towels on such a warm day, but they are there in the laundry basket right now.  I will be disappearing from time to time to be with Oja, who is a bit overwhelmed by all the goings on, but I have plenty of time for wand toys and I'll get out the laser toy when it gets dark.

We have had a moth infestation this year, so there are bound to be some in the house.  Oliver, Gerry and Mungo were nice enough to bring over six English churchyard mice and they are running around the house, ready to be chased.  The party officially ends at midnight, but Mom says that any kitties who party a little too hearty are welcome to spend the night.  There will be dancing this evening.  Come on over, we are having a great time!

Happy 5th Birthday, Herman!

It's my 5th Birthday and we are having a party!  Mom forgot all about it until she saw it on the Cat Blogosphere.

Karen Jo:  I did not.  Why do you think I took two pictures of you yesterday afternoon?

But you didn't get me a present.

Karen Jo:  Poor Herman!  You have gotten lots of presents lately.  A couple of months ago I got you a Plague Rat.

Yeah, that was pretty awesome.

Karen Jo:  I got you the turbo track you are sitting next to.

And gave it to Spyro.

Karen Jo:  Nothing is preventing you from playing with it.  Just a few days ago I got you a Neko Kragonfly.

Which I don't play with.

Karen Jo:  Yesterday I brought you home a new sister.

Big deal.  I tried to check her out in the PTU and she snarled at me.

Karen Jo:  She was scared.  Her family dumped her off in the drop-off box at the shelter and she was in a cage for days.  Give her a chance to get used to her new family.  Anyway, we are having a big party and you can invite all your friends.

Come on over.  The party starts now with a sleep over.  There is not quite as much room as last year, as Oja is in the safe room, but we still have the living room, kitchen, litter box room and Mom's room to play in and sleep in.  We have loads of toys to play with and Mom has promised to work the wand toys and laser toy for those of you who like that stuff.  There are plenty of places to sleep.  There's my ham-mick and bed and all the couches have comfy blankets on them.  There is a big pillow on the table, which also has a fuzzy blanket on it.  There are chairs and my platform, too. For you kitties who like to sleep with a human, my Mom has a full-sized bed with room for lots of kitties.  The best part is that Mom is retired now, so we can party all night.  There is a stereo for dance music and a great hall for THoE.  You can all meow a hello to Oja under her door.  We have plenty of Stinky Goodness and Tiki Cat along with ham, turkey, shrimp and salmon to eat, with nip cake and ice cream for dessert.  Of course there are plenty of drinks, too.  Niptinis, meowgaritas, catnip champagne and cat milk for the younger kitties.  We want to have a big blowout because this is a very special birthday for me.

Karen Jo:  It sure is.  For kitties who get FeLV when they are young, like you did, the most dangerous time is from the time they first get it up through four years old.  You are now five and are through that period.  Your chances of living a normal lifespan are now much improved.  I am thrilled.

Does this mean I don't have to take my yucky medicine any more?

Karen Jo:  Hardly.  You will probably have to take it for the rest of your life.

Rats!  At least I can wash it down with a meowgarita.  Let's party!

Spyro:  Don't forget that there are lots of things to knock down and push off tables.  Let's get started!

Birthday Party

Sammy, Andy and Shelly's Mom, Judi, sent me this great birthday card.  Thank you so much.  As you can see, my birthday is actually on Friday, but we are going to celebrate today, as Mom has to work on Friday.  The party starts right now and will go on all day, right up to midnight on Friday.  Mom has been stocking up on cat food, so we have plenty of Stinky Goodness and Elegant Medley for everyone. We also have lots of  healthy grain-free dry food, if you like that sort of thing.  There will be lots of chicken and roast beef and salmon, too.  Mom also stocked up on treats, so we have Temptations, nip treats, Greenies and Party Mix. Mom will be mixing up niptinis and meowgaritas for the adult cats and serving tuna juice and milk for the kittens. We have a good supply of nip and tons of toys to play with. We have lots of places to sleep for the kitties who want to start partying tonight and sleep over. Since Mom doesn't have to go to work tomorrow, she says that we can play THoE all night if we want to.  Mom has a full-sized bed with lots of room for kitties to crash on.

Tomorrow, I get to open my presents and the party will really get into high gear. The weather looks like it is going to stay warm, so we will have lots of open windows  Mom will feed and put new water in the bird bath, so the Bird Channel will be pretty interesting.  Mom promised to post updates on the party tomorrow and I intend to see to it that she does.  Come on over and let's celebrate my fourth birthday.

Birthday Party

Things went so well at the vet that Mom agreed that I needed a birthday party. I nicely let them shave off my mat and I have gained more weight. I weigh 11.2 pounds now. Happy Birthday to me! I am three years old today. Mom says we can do anything we want inside the house and out. There is plenty of food: lots of Stinky Goodness and crunchy food and roast beef and turkey and ham. There are niptinis and meowgaritas and cat milk and fresh water to drink. I have a nice big litter box full of fresh litter. The house is fairly big with a nice hall to play THoE down. It will be great to have company running down the hall. The couches have soft blankets on them for resting and anyone can use my bed, if they like. There is plenty of room on my platform and the table with the soft blanket and big pillow on it for watching the bird channel on cat TV. Mom will fill up the bird feeders for us. I have lots of toys to share and Mom says she will wave the wand toys for us. There are curtains to climb and chairs to curl up in. For you kitties who like to go outside, there are gardens to dig in and gophers to hunt. Oh, we are going to have so much fun! The party starts now and lasts until midnight, or maybe longer.

The party is going great. A whole bunch of kitties showed up for the sleepover last night, though we didn't do a whole lot of sleeping. We played Thundering Herd of Elephants up and down the hall, dumped out the toy basket and knocked toys all over the house, ate, drank and had a ball. In the wee hours we put the stereo on low and slow danced for a while. About four we got Mom up to replenish the buffet. By five there were kitties crashed out all over the place. The couches were full and so were the platform and the table and a bunch of kitties joined Mom in her bed. At seven we got Mom up for breakfast, as more kitties were arriving all the time. Mom staggered back to bed and we played fairly quietly until ten. Then Mom announced cuddle time in bed and we kept her busy for an hour giving ear and chin scritches and general petting and cuddling. Then it was time for my Interferon and Mom broke out the cheese and sardines. All the cheese was grated for easy nomming and it didn't last long. We had cheddar, cojack, provolone and Swiss. Then we put Mom to work getting the toys out of all the hard-to-get-to places we had whapped them into. Next it was time to feed the birdies and we watched cat TV for a while. There was curtain climbing and couch bouncing going on. We even had a litter flinging contest. The corn litter isn't much good for distance flinging as it is so light, so we tried to see who could fling out the most litter in one fling. Then we made Mom clean it up so we could do it again. For lunch Mom added pork roast to the menu. The wand toys are getting a good workout. Come on over if you aren't here already.

OK kitties, now it's time for the cake. Mom made this cool cake, but don't worry, there's no chocolate in it. It does have catnip in it. Mom used a spice cake recipe, but she used catnip instead of spices. The other stuff is colored whipped cream. Dig in. We have been having so much fun. There's a great gopher hunt going on in the back yard. All the windows are open, so we indoor kitties can cheer on the hunters. Khyra and Merdie are having a great time out there, along with the kitties who go outside. There's lots of sniffing going on, but I haven't seen any gophers yet. Meanwhile, indoors there's lots of kitties at the buffet and the niptinis and meowgaritas are flowing again. We are about to crank up the stereo for dancing again. Pretty soon it will be dark (in another hour or so) and we'll let the moths loose. That should be fun.

The kitties and woofies are coming in from the gopher hunt, as it is getting dark. I don't know if they caught any, but Artemisia is looking pretty smug. It's that magical time when it is dark enough for the moths to feel at home, but not so dark that we can't see them. The Katnip Lounge kitties brought the moths, so, Felix and Salem, would you like to do the honors and open the jar? Wheee! Lookit 'em fly!

Wow! The moth chasing was great fun. The moths have all been caught, or found really good hiding places now, so it's time for dancing. Mom will fire up the stereo and we have lots and lots of dance music records. Sweet Pea, thank you so much for cleaning my ears this afternoon. Would you like to dance with me?

Mom is going to bed at midnight, because she says that we tired her out. She did say that any kitties who want to can spend the night, just no more THoE after midnight. We can keep the stereo on, as long as we play it quietly and of course we can still drink and nom and play with the toys, as long as we don't make too much noise. Tomorrow is a work day, so everyone will have to teleport home by 10 am, so Mom can get the house back to normal and get ready for work. Thank you all so much for coming. I hope you are having as much fun as I am.