Rain!

We almost didn't get our pictures taken today.  When Mom got up it was all cloudy and looked like rain, so she went to get her allergy shot as soon as she could.  She said it rained on her all the way home, which was great.  We haven't had rain in such a long time.  It really cooled things off and it smelled great.  Once the rain was over and the sun came out, Mom went for her camera, but she couldn't find us.

Karen Jo:  Once I had good light for photos, all of you had gone to your shady hidey-holes for a nap.  Herman was under the couch; Spyro was under a chair in the living room and Oja was in her hidey-hole under the corner table.  I waited until I was afraid that I would lose the light and decided to just take a picture of Spyro under the chair.  It looked like there was just enough light for that.

Spyro:  It's really comfy here and it stays fairly cool.

Karen Jo:  Then I decided to visit Oja and put on my sweat shirt, since it was a bit cooler, to see if she would come out for a visit, taking the camera with me.  I waited for quite a while, but finally Oja came out, yawning and stretching.  I was in the easy chair and she jumped up in my lap.

Oja:  I mostly stayed in Mom's lap, though I did smear some cat drool on her face.  I even stayed still long enough for a picture.

Karen Jo:  Looking at this picture, I wonder if you qualify for the froot-bat club.  It looks like it to me.  After my visit with Oja, I walked back to the living room and Herman had come out and was stretched out in the light, so I got a picture of him, too.

Oja:  I want to tell about my adventure today.

Karen Jo:  You did have quite an adventure.  I always leave Oja's door open while I go to get her fresh water, so I don't have to open the door while holding her water dish.

Oja:  Spyro started peeking around the door jamb as soon as Mom left.  I watched him but he didn't bother me, so I didn't hiss at him.  When Mom got back with my water, Herman was following her.  He stood in the doorway, but didn't come in, so that didn't bother me either.  In fact, I walked a little closer to him, then hissed at him.  He didn't do anything; he just stood there in the doorway, swinging his tail slowly back and forth.

Karen Jo:  That is Herman's way of expressing interest.

Oja:  I went a little closer to him and growled at him.  He meowed softly to me and that intrigued me, so I walked right up to him and we touched noses and introduced ourselves.  Then I got a little spooked and backed up and hissed and growled at him again.  This is when Mom usually closes the door.

Karen Jo:  I couldn't close the door.  You were standing right in front of it.

Oja:  I finally walked away from him and Mom left, closing the door behind her.

Karen Jo:  I am really pleased with this development.  Herman was the perfect gentlecat.  He never moved any closer to Oja, letting her decide how much contact she wanted.  Oja didn't arch her back or poof out her tail, just hissed and growled.  Oja hasn't shown any more interest in leaving her room, but this evening Herman followed me a little way into her room when I went in to tell her good night.  Oja's reaction to that was her little "I don't like this" meow, but she didn't hiss at him.  I shooed Herman out and closed the door.  I am beginning to think that things may work out after all and Oja may eventually leave her room and really join the family.

Herman Goes Nekkid!

 Mom did it!  She went and got me a full lion cut.  She took this picture the day I got shaved, but I look pretty much the same now.  I didn't enjoy having it done at all, but I am glad she did it.  I don't have any more mats and I feel much cooler.  Before the shave, I was just lying around all day, not doing much of anything.  Now I have my energy back and I'm playing with Spyro again.  I even spent some nights snuggled up next to Mom, which I hadn't been doing because it has been so hot.  It's been too hot lately to do that any more, at least not for the whole night.

Karen Jo:  I am glad that you are enjoying your cooler lion cut, Herman.  I love it when you sleep next to me at night, but I really understand why you are doing it so seldom now.  It's been in the 90s everyday for a couple of weeks now.  I have been a really bad blogger and I apologize, but the heat got me down.  I will just have to make myself do it.  It's not that I don't enjoy it once I get started, it just seems like too much work in the heat.  I know that 90 isn't so hot for a lot of you, but it used to be rare up here in the mountains and I'm not used to it.

 Spyro:  I am sleeping under the kitchen table on one of the chairs.  I like this one because it has a soft cover on it.  It's cooler here where I can catch the breeze that blows from the kitchen window to the living room window.  I still play a lot, usually in the mornings and evenings.  Herman and I both sleep a lot in the afternoon.  Know what I discovered?  When Mom opens the screen door just wide enough to stick her arm out and grab the mail, I can slip outside.  I got out three times today.

Karen Jo:  It amazes me how small an opening you need to slip out.  Luckily, you never go anywhere.  Once you are out, you just stop and look around and it's really easy to get you back in.  Once I just told you to get your furry little butt back inside and you obeyed.  I am either going to have to figure out how to get the trash cans out without your getting out, too, or shut the kitchen door to the living room before I open the screen door.

Oja:  Can you believe it?  Mom finally got a decent photo of me.  You can see both my beautiful eyes and my curly tail.  There has been some progress since the last post.  A couple of days ago, Mom left my door open for about 15 minutes and when she came back, I wasn't in my room.  I decided to explore Mom's bedroom, or at least under her bed.

Karen Jo:  When I didn't see you in my room, I went back to your room and you let out a "Merp!" and ran back into your room and into your hidey-hole under the corner table.  Later I came and got you and put you down a few feet away from Spyro (Herman was nowhere to be seen at the time).  You hissed at him, so I took you back to your room

Oja:  I can't help it.  Those big kitties are scary.  Mom left something interesting in my room.  I have been moving it around.

Karen Jo:  It's a silver vine-stuffed fish that I got from Nip and Bones.  Herman and Spyro weren't that interested in it, so I brought it to you.  It's the first toy that I have found moved from where I put it on the floor.  I think you like it and I hope that you are playing with it and not just kicking it with your feet as you move around the room.  I think I will switch it around with some other toys and see if you will play with them, too.

Karen Jo:  I have solved the problem with getting so many claw-pricks when I visit Oja.  I can't believe it took me so long to figure it out.  All I have to do is put on a sweat-shirt.  Oja occasionally gets a paw down the neck of the sweat-shirt and I get pricked, but it doesn't happen often.  We spent the longest time together ever tonight.  I was with her for over half and hour.  She has settled down some, which is really nice.  She used to be all over my face all the time and it would get rather unpleasant. First she would rub my face with hers, cheek to cheek, which was rather nice.  Then she would turn around and we would be cheek to cheek the other way, which wasn't so nice, especially when she whapped my face with her tail.  That short, curly tail is really strong.  I would get fur up my nose and in my mouth and kitty drool all over my face.  Oja drools, usually out of the left side of her mouth.  Ten to fifteen minutes of that was all I could take.  Tonight we did the face to face and butt to face bit for a little while, then she moved down to my chest and just looked up at me and let me pet her.  After a bit, she moved down to my lap and just enjoyed the petting for a long time.  I pet her until she decided that she wanted back up on the bookshelf beside the window.  It's cooler up there and it's where she spends the night.

Oja:  I want more sessions like tonight's.  I really liked it.

Tuxie Tuesday

But, Mom, you have to make a Tuxie Tuesday post.

Karen Jo:  I just had two really busy days at work and I'm exhausted.  My back is screaming and I can barely keep my eyes open.

You were the one who asked if I could join the New Tuxedo Gang Hideout and they let me in.  The least you could do is my Tuxie Tuesday posts.

Karen Jo:  All right, I'll make a deal with you.  I will stop moaning about how tired I am when it is time for your Tuxie Tuesday posts if you will let me do Wordless Wednesday posts, too.

Wordless?  Does that mean I can't talk?

Karen Jo:  That's right.

But I like to talk.

Karen Jo:  I am very aware of that.  You are a very vocal kitty.  I miss doing my Kitty Limerick posts and if I can do Wordless Wednesday, that would give me some time to research and work on limericks for the other kitties.

I guess that will work.  Oh, hi.  Guess what I am doing in my photo.  Yup, chillaxing on the carpet again.  I just got through playing with that ball.  Guess what else happened today.  The temperature got up in the 80s today and Mom opened all the windows and left them open.  Yay!

Karen Jo:  I just turned the thermostat all the way down again.  I like open windows as much as you do.

I am going to make all the kitties very jealous.  Several of you have commented that you envy my three bowls of food in the photo from yesterday.  I really have SIX bowls of food all the time.  Two canned: Fancy Feast Elegant Medley and regular Fancy Feast.  Four dry:  Friskies Seafood, Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea, Purina One for Sensitive Systems and Purina Kitten Chow (for the extra protein).  There are two reasons for this.  #1  I am a picky eater and what I scarf down today I may not touch tomorrow.  #2  This is the most important one.  There are three varieties of Feline Leukemia.  One attacks the lungs and brain; one attacks the bone marrow; one attacks the digestive system.  I have the last one, which is the mildest form.  When it flares up, it takes away my appetite and gives me horrible diarrhea.  The food I do eat just goes straight through and I get very little nourishment from it.  The weight just melts away.  This means that I should be encouraged to eat as much as I like when the Feline Leukemia is inactive, so I have reserves to fight off a flare-up. Mom is ecstatic that I weigh 14 pounds now and have a little furchin.  It is very unusual for a cat in my condition to put on extra weight at all.  So that's why I have such a large buffet.

Now for some more fun stuff.  Did you know that if you prick the end of your human's nose with your claw, it gets them out of bed for breakfast very quickly?  It even works at oh-dark-thirty, which is when I want my breakfast these days.  I went for a while being content to wait until the sun was up, but I changed my mind and want my breakfast earlier now.

Karen Jo:  It is very effective.  I want to assure everyone that it is just the tiniest prick, but it does get my full attention.

Are you going to sleep late in the morning?

Karen Jo:  Yup.

Oh, goody!  More cuddle time.