Settling In

 Spyro:  Today was a fun day.  Most of us were avoiding the camera in one way or another.  I was lounging under the coffee table in the living room and made Mom lie down on the floor to take my picture.  Making Mom get down on the floor is always amusing, especially watching her get up again.  Julius has turned out to be quite a little buddy.  He's already playing chase and snuggling with us mancats.

 Oja:  I don't think he's so great.  I spend a lot of time in this chair in the kitchen, where he can't sneak up on me.  I have gotten mostly over my snit and have stopped hissing and growling at the mancats.  I still hiss at Julius, though, especially when he shows an interest in my food.

 Rocio:  I was missing Austin today.  That blue collar was his and I dug it out of the drawer where Mom was keeping it, so she let me have it.  I have mostly ignored it for months, but I got it today and carried it around with me most of the day.  I guess it's having another orange cat in the house that made me think of him.

 Bambino:  I turned my face away just as Mom took my picture.  I have been having bunches of fun with Julius.  He chased me down the hall this afternoon and snuggled with me this evening just before dinner.  We even groomed each other a little.

 Horus:  I jumped just as Mom took my picture.  I like the new little dude.  He chased me down the hall, too.  We snuggled together on the couch for a little while this afternoon.

Karen Jo:  I am so happy to see Julius napping out in the open with another cat.  I think it means he is less afraid of me.  Until this afternoon, he always napped in a hidey-hole.

Julius:  I ducked my head just as the Lady took my picture.  This is as close as I will let her get to me before I run.  The other boys say I am being silly; the Lady is my Mom now and will always take care of me.  I think I trust her a little bit more now, but I won't let her touch me.  She gave me some more of those really tasty crunchies, which the others tell me are called treats.  I even figured out how to get her to give me some.  I just scratch on one of the cardboard things and I get treats.  Awesome!  I wanna eat in the kitchen with the big kitties, but that mean gray one with the curly tail hisses at me.

Rocio:  That's Oja.  Don't mind her.  She won't hurt you.  She just doesn't like newcomers.  I've been here for a year and she still hisses at me sometimes.

Bambino:  That's right.  She's harmless, just noisy and grumpy.  It was months before I managed to make friends with her.  Just remember not to pounce her and you will be fine.

Julius:  That's easy.  I don't pounce anycat.  I just half-pounce when I want to play.  Does Oja play?

Bambino:  Not much and only with Spyro and Horus and me.

Julius:  That's too bad.  I love to play.

After the Ball Is Over

 Oja:  I want to thank everycat for coming to my soiree yesterday evening and night.  Almost everything went perfectly.  I did wonder why so many of my guests, especially the gentleman cats went out to the patio for a breath of fresh air and came back smiling.  We did have the windows closed, as the evening got rather chilly, so maybe it got a little hot and stuffy in the living room.  The gopher hunting must have gone really well, because I saw Bambino going all crazy pants in the back yard.  I'm really glad I sent his silly self outside during my dignified party, because he doesn't even know how to act dignified.  The only fly in the ointment was my Mom.  Halfway through the evening, just after she got all the trays refilled with canapes and sushi, she said she needed to sit down for a minute.  She sat down in the easy chair by the window and promptly fell asleep.  I was so embarrassed.  At least she didn't snore.  I nearly had to go out to the patio for some fresh air myself at that point, but Jose and I had to get busy passing the trays of snacks around.

Spyro and Rocio:  Whew!

Oja:  What was that?

Spyro:  Nothing Oja.

Oja:  I didn't see you or Rocio all evening.  What were you up to?

Rocio:  We were outside, keeping an eye on Bambino and the younger kitties.

 Spyro:  Psst, Rocio, is Oja out of earshot?

Rocio:  I think so.  We got away with it, didn't we?

Spyro:  We sure did. High five, bro!

 Rocio:  Spyro and I really enjoyed putting one over on Oja.  She still hisses and growls and yowls at me.

Karen Jo:  She wouldn't if you didn't keep smacking her with your paw.

Rocio:  She insists on sitting in the chair I want.

Karen Jo:  This house is full of chairs.  I think you just enjoy annoying Oja.

Rocio:  That could very well be the case.

 Bambino:  I sure had fun in the back yard last night.  Spyro and Rocio let me have just a little niptini.  I'm not that much underage.  I will be a mancat next month, I think.  The younger kitties and I played chase and sniffed the gopher holes and chased moths, though there weren't many of those.

Karen Jo:  That's because I don't have any flowers for them.  One or two of the peony buds opened, but the rest of them turned brown.  I don't know if it was lack of water (probably) or some bugs got them.

Jose:  I enjoyed the soiree very much.  I had never been to a dignified party before.  Oja and I danced together, then we danced with the other guests.  That is until the Mom fell asleep and we had to take over her duties of seeing that everyone got canapes, sushi, shrimp and catmint tea.

Karen Jo:  I apologize.  Throwing two parties in three days tired me out.

Karen Jo:  Now I want to bring up another subject.  Last summer, Spyro loved going outside in his harness and leash.  I think I spoiled it for him this year.  We had a warm day in April and I put his harness on him, but it had been a long time and I forgot how it went.  I got it on him wrong, took him outside and something spooked him.  He pulled strongly on the harness and got out of it and ran to the back door to be let back inside, then hid.  In late April, I tried it again, getting the harness on him right, this time.  Again something spooked him and he jerked the leash right out of my hand.  I opened the door for him and he ran, still wearing the harness and dragging the leash and hid.  I thought he was under the bed and that I would take his harness off of him when he calmed down enough to come out.  I heard a big meow from him and when I went to investigate, I found him in the hall without his harness.  He had gone into Oja's hideyhole, where there isn't much room, gotten the leash caught and managed to wiggle out of the harness.  I tried taking him out on his leash twice more, once in  May and once again today and he lets me put the harness on him, but as soon as he gets outside, he wants right back inside again.  Have I ruined his enjoyment of his harness and leash forever?

Meet Bambino

 Bambino:  It's about time my lazy Mom got around to letting me introduce myself.  I've been here since April   7th.

Karen Jo:  Sorry, Bambino.  I was greatly affected by Austin's running off to the Bridge.  Then I got involved with my income taxes and that along with the return of winter really got my spirits down.  I'm OK now and will start blogging more again.

Bambino:  I love this nifty cushion.  See all those papers?  I pushed them all off on the floor the other day.  I'm good at pushing things off.

Karen Jo:  I've noticed.  The last three mornings I have been awakened by loud crashes.

Bambino:  It gets your attention and I get hungry in the mornings.  I guess I should tell you how I got here.  Several months ago a nice lady found me as a tiny kitten wandering around on a busy street in Santa Fe.  She took me home and took care of me, but when she discovered that I was FeLV+ she had to keep me in a playpen most of the time to keep me from infecting the cat who was already there and started looking for a new home for me.  She was a volunteer for Felines & Friends, who rescued Austin and Rocio.  There were plans made to pair me with Rocio, but then Austin came along and they were perfect together, so I had to wait.  When Mom first brought me home and put me down in the living room in the carrier, no cat hissed at me, not even Oja.  Things soon changed.

I noticed right away that Rocio and Spyro were both bigger than I was and Oja was stockier and stronger, so I decided that it was best to stay in the safe room for a few days.  Monday, I stuck my head out of my room and promptly got hissed at by Rocio, so I scurried back into hiding.

Karen Jo:  I was surprised that Rocio hissed at you.  He had never hissed at any cat before.  I think he was still missing Austin a whole lot.

Bambino:  Monday evening, I crept out into the hall in slink mode and Oja growled at me, so I ran back into my room again.  Tuesday morning and afternoon, I ventured out just a little, but when running back to my room when I got hissed or growled at.  By Tuesday night, I had figured out that these bigger cats were all talk and no action, so I came out and stayed out.  I spent part of Tuesday night on Mom's bed, until Oja got hissed off that I thought I could sleep ON Mom instead of beside her.

Bambino:  It was only a few more days before I made friends with Rocio.  He saw all the fun I was having with Spyro and decided that I was OK after all.  Here we are playing with Da Bird together.  Spyro, Rocio and I all play chase and rassle together, though not all three at once.  Well, not rasslin' anyway.  By the amount of stuff that gets knocked off of tables Mom strongly suspects that all three of us play THoE at once.  Oja isn't always hissy with me any more and I try to stay out of her way.

Karen Jo:  Bambino may not be the Sultan of Swat, but he is the Prince of Pounce.  He loves pouncing Spyro and Rocio.  From some yowls I have heard, he may have even pounced Oja.  I know that Rocio has been teasing Oja by jumping up the foot or side of the bed and taking a swat at her, then running away.  As a side note, I filed my application to adopt Bambino yesterday.  There is just a little more paperwork to do and he will be an official member of the family.

Mostly Mancat Monday

 Spyro:  I am inspecting the trash basket in the computer room.

Karen Jo:  That trash basket is a cat magnet.  It only holds some plastic and cardboard containers that some cables came in but fascinates all the boycats.  I put it upright and put the stuff back in and five minutes later (or less) some cat has dumped it over again.

Oja: I am on one of the living room couches giving the boycats the stink eye so they will leave me alone.  There are lots of nice fleece blankies on this couch and it is one of my favorite places.

Karen Jo:  You pretend to dislike the boycats more than you really do.  This morning I woke up with you beside me, as usual and Rocio jumped up on my tummy.  Also as usual he started to slowly slide off toward you.  You didn't make a fuss.  In fact you started to groom him a little when he got within tongue reach.

Oja:  I growled at  him, too.

Karen Jo:  That was very interesting.  You would groom him a couple of licks, then make a very small growl, then groom him some more, back and forth.  I think you are beginning to like Rocio.

Oja:  Never!

 Austin:  I am in the compter room, watching out the door.  Oja and Spyro just ran out and I am waiting to see if they run by again.  Oja is doing a lot more running and jumping these days.  Last night I saw her measuring the height of the kitchen counter.  Pretty soon Mom is going to have to move the boxes near the counter, or Oja is going to be able to get up there and eat Spyro's food.

Rocio:  I am resting up after the spat Oja and I had.  Mom opened the closet door to get her clothes out this morning and left it open.  Oja went in there to explore and I tried to follow her.  You should have heard all the noise she made!  First she growled, then she yowled, then she yelled.  I backed off after the yell.  Oja can really yell loud and it's scary.

Settling In

Spyro: About every other Sunday, Mom gets out the 'nip and today was 'nip day.  Now I don't know which toy to play with next.

Oja:  Silly boys!  I stayed up here on the couch and watched them all get silly.  It's not that I don't like 'nip, but no way was I getting down there among those crazy boys to get some.

Karen Jo:  I'll remember that for next time and bring you some of your own on the couch or your chair.

Spyro:  Today has been a really fun day.  Mom has been staying up after feeding us breakfast and playing with us.

Karen Jo:  When I was working I was a night owl  because my hours were 2-10:30 PM.  Kitty playtime was   in the morning between the time I got dressed and the time I ate, then again after I got home.  Since I retired, I was keeping the same hours, only kitty playtime moved to dusk, as they were more active then.  The first morning after the boys moved in, I went back to bed after breakfast and I heard noise:  THoE, toys getting knocked around and hissing.  That last one got me up and I have been staying up after breakfast ever since.  I never knew how active kitties were early in the morning.

Spyro:  The boys and I had lots of fun.  We are all friends now, mostly.  We played chase and pounce and rasslin' and the boys had some games I had never seen before.

Karen Jo:  The boys showed Spyro how to play box wars and cube wars and under-the-sofa wars.  Spyro has been very polite about playing with the boys.  He never joins in unless he has been invited.  He will run from Cool Dude to start THoE, but he won't pounce first. Spyro has decided that jumping in the box is an invitation to play box wars, though.  I also wondered just how long he would last watching under-the-sofa wars before he couldn't resist joining in.  It turned out to be about 15 minutes.  Cool Dude saw some movement under the sofa (which has cloth flaps hanging down almost to the floor, so you can't see much) and charged under to get Hissy Boy (he thought).  He came charging right out again when he found Spyro under there instead.

Spyro:  After all that, Mom decided that it was time for different toys and she got out the kitty with the catnip shorts and put new catnip in it and she got one of the fuzzy balls out of the catnip jar.  Party time!

Karen Jo:  First I gave Hissy Boy the catnip covered fuzzy ball and he picked it up in his claw and shook catnip all over the place. Spyro pounced right on the loose catnip.  Cool Dude was looking a bit left out, so I gave him the kitty with the newly-filled catnip shorts.  Things got a bit wild and crazy.  Oja started making a sound like the beginning of a growl whenever they got really rambunctious.  I got out Da Bird to see what they would make of that.

Boys:  We like Da Bird!  We like it a lot.

Karen Jo:  Cool Dude was leaping way up in the air and catching Da Bird every time.  Hissy Boy was looking left out, so I grabbed the Kragonfly with the other hand.

Spyro:  I got tired just watching them, so I got in Herman's ham-mick.  Mom flipped the Kragonfly my way a few times, so I could play, too.

Karen Jo:  I waved the wand toys around until my arms got really tired, then I put them away, much to the disappointment of the boys.  They dragged Da Bird out again, but soon lost interest in it when it didn't fly.  Oja had gotten a bit agitated, so I sat down next to her on the couch and started petting her.

Oja:  It was high time I got some attention.  Mom gave me all her attention until that dang dryer buzzer went off.

Karen Jo:  I had started the laundry before I got involved in kitty playtime.  I went back to Oja after I took care of the laundry.  I had been getting a little concerned about Oja, as she didn't seem to be settling down very much.  In fact, Hissy Boy got too close and she ramped up to a full open-mouth hiss and a "One step nearer and I'll rip your face off" snarl.  Hissy Boy was too startled to hiss back.  I do think things are getting better, though.  Just before afternoon nap time, Oja jumped off the couch and made a tour of the house.  She checked out her favorite hidey-hole, but didn't go in.

Oja:  Those stinky boycats ruined it.  They had been in there and stank it all up.

Karen Jo:  Oja hissed softly at any boycat who looked at her, but mostly she just walked around, checking things out.  This made me feel better, because she had been staying up in her chair and on the couch in the living room, except to eat and use the litter box.  I think she is beginning to believe that the new boys won't hurt her.  It may be Tuesday before I can show you pictures of the Boycats and use their real names.  I forgot that Monday is a holiday.

Invasion of the Boycats

Spyro: Man, oh, man, what am I going to do with Mom?  First she doesn't blog in, like, forever, then she inflicts an invasion on us.

Oja: I've been spending a lot of time in my easy chair to keep away from them.  Yesterday a strange man came to the house and he brought a couple of stinky boycats with him.  After a while the man went away, but the boycats stayed!  And they escaped from the safe room!  Ugh!!

Spyro:  I think it's kinda cool, except one of them hisses at me.

Oja:  I don't like it at all.  When that one hisses at me, I growl back.  When I came back from the litter box, they were between me and my chair, so I stomped my feet as I walked and growled with every step.  They got out of my way fast.

Spyro:  That was a riot.  I laughed and laughed.  One of them is pretty cool.  He and I play chase a little.

Karen Jo:  A rescue group called me and said that they had heard about me from Herman's foster Mom.  They wanted to know if I could please foster two  boy cats, aged 7 months and 8 months because their present foster was moving and couldn't take care of them any more.  They are both FeLV+ so I said yes and now the cat population has doubled around here.  The boys didn't want to stay in the safe room at all, so I let them out and, aside from a little hissing and growling from one of the boys and Oja, there have been no problems at all.  I don't yet have permission to blog about them, so I won't say much about them, except that they are fitting in around here already.  The hissing and growling is all of the, "I don't know you, so keep your distance" type and I expect it to go away in a little while.

Karen Jo:  I am really sorry that I haven't been blogging.  I lose track of the time and forget to take pictures, etc and so forth and just don't get it done.  I still  haven't gotten the header redone and I might as well wait now to see if I get permission to blog about the new boys.  If I do, then there will be four little faces on the header, if I can manage to do it right.

Togetherness Report

 Having two ham-micks led to our each having one, which was great.  Somehow that led to this:

 Spyro:  If I hadn't heard Mom turn on the camera and lifted my head, you would have seen me using Herman for a pillow.

Karen Jo:  I see this as a great advertisement for the sturdiness of Forty Paws' ham-micks.  This one is holding almost 27 pounds of cat.

Oja:  I still don't see what the big deal is.  I prefer to sleep on chairs or up on my windowsill or in a hidely-hole.

Mom got a new swivel chair and put it in the living room.  It's great for napping.  All of us have tried it out.

Karen Jo:  That one is for when I get my office set up in the forbidden room.  I have the desk and chair now.   All I need is the get up and go to get it organized and cleaned up.

Get up and go?  That's a laugh.  All Mom has been doing lately is lying around, watching TV.

Karen Jo:  The Olympics are on and it has been twenty years since I could really just sit or lie down and watch them.  My lying around so much has left you kitties to your own devices and what have you done?

We all made friends with each other.  Spyro and I both let Oja lick us, though Spyro is apt to turn it into a game of chase or rasslin'.

Spyro:  It's great.  I have two rasslin' partners now and one partner for chase games.

Oja:  I think it's OK.  Neither one of the boys has licked me, though.  I hang around next to Herman sometimes and I play with Spyro.  Mom is surprised that Herman and I don't fight over the bed.

Karen Jo:  Yes, I am.  Oja has taken Herman's old spot next to my chest at night and Herman doesn't seem to care.  When I am lying on the bed in the evening, watching TV, Herman will come up sometimes and claim his old spot.  That makes both of us very happy.  Last evening, we were together like that and Oja jumped up on the bed.  I thought that there would be a fight, but there wasn't.  Oja looked things over, then decided she would rather have the computer chair.  When Oja is next to me and Herman jumps up on the bed, he claims a spot near my feet.  Sometimes Spyro jumps up on the bed too, but he never stays long.  Spyro just isn't a bed cat, at least not in warm weather.  I imagine that they will all pile on when it gets cold.

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.

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?

Playful Sunday

We are both hanging out by one of the toy baskets, but at different times.  Today was cold, very windy and rainy.  For some reason, it brought out the playfulness in us. Emma woke Mom up really early for breakfast, so by the time Mom got up for real, after some petting for both of us, we were ready to rumble. By the time Mom got dressed, I had chased Emma up and down the hall three or four times.  While Mom was cooking her lunch, we were running all around the living room.  We were running around so much that Mom didn't get a chance to brush either of us.

Emma:  Mom got me my own brush and I get brushed now, too, when Mom can catch me.  I don't like it very much, but I tolerate it for a while.

Karen Jo:  I almost didn't get a chance to give Herman his Prednisol.  He would much rather play with Emma than let me put it in his ear.  By the time I went to work, both kitties were calmed down.  Herman was all stretched out on the floor and Emma was up on the big pillow on the table, watching the rain come down.

When Mom got home from work, we demanded to be fed, ate, then started up the chase games again.  I chased Emma into the kitchen really fast, then slid across the floor, trying to turn when she dodged under the kitchen table.  Somehow, she can turn on the linoleum much better than I can.

Emma:  I am a lot lighter than you are, so I don't slide as much.  I hid under the kitchen table until Herman got tired of waiting for me to come out.  When he went into the living room and lay down to relax, I ran right by his nose and the chase was on again.

Karen Jo:  Emma really does run by Herman, really close to him, to get him to chase her.  She enjoys the game as much as he does.  The toys were all scattered around from where I left them when I went to work.  I don't know if they are playing with them, or just running over them and kicking them by accident.  At least I know that they aren't just sleeping the whole time I am gone.  Herman has his old spot back when I go to bed at night.  Emma seems to prefer the rocking chair.  She joins me early in the morning, gets me up for breakfast, then comes to bed again for petting.  Sometimes Herman jumps up for early morning petting, too, and sometimes he doesn't.  When both of them are there, one usually gets on one side of me and the other on the other side.  I lie on my back and pet both of them at the same time.  There have been no more spats.  I have seen Herman in pounce position, watching Emma, so many times, but he never actually pounces her.  He just runs out and chases her.  I hope to see kitty wrestling some time, but with the huge size difference between them, it may never happen.