Catchup Thursday

 Mom has been a really bad blogger again and there has been so much going on.  We were offline and our friends Parker and Sammy left for the Bridge and we weren't there to tell them goodbye

Karen Jo:  I feel really bad about that.  I will go by their blogs tonight and say how sad we are that they left for the Bridge.  I don't have any really good reason for not blogging.  My allergies have been acting up and I have been spending a lot of time with my friend who is having a really bad time with her mother, who has dementia.

Spyro: I think Mom finally took a picture of my face that is in focus.  Can you see the little brown smudges around my mouth?  They are not from not washing after I eat.  They are just part of my markings.  I have found out that I really like Herman's ham-mick and Herman's bed.  I have my own bed in my room, but I have never been in it.  Herman doesn't seem to mind.

Karen Jo:  I really hope that this picture is sharp enough to make your Tabby Club badge.

Spyro:  You know what?  I played and played with Herman's tail while he was eating and he just ignored me.  All he did was walk away from me when he was finished eating.  I have to pounce him now to start a rasslin' match.

And I finish the rasslin' matches.

Spyro:  What do you mean?

You are always the one who runs away and I chase you just a bit.

Karen Jo:  What I want to know is which one of you is knocking over Spyro's dry food bowl and spilling kibble on the floor.

Herman and Spyro:  We'll never tell.

I need more kibble because Spyro eats some of mine.  He never eats his own until mine is all gone.

Karen Jo:  That's why I'm not trying to stop the kibble spilling.  Herman, you are about due for a weighing.  We'll see if I have to try to find a way to keep you from getting any of Spyro's kibble.  You are also due for some shaving.  You have gotten a bad mat on your flank again.

I don't want to do either of those things.

Karen Jo:  I know you don't like to be shaved, but you will feel better once that nasty mat is gone.  I think just a little spot shaving is all you will need this time.  If I let it go much longer, you might have to have a half-lion cut again.

I guess the spot shaving is better than the half-lion.

Fabulous Friday

I just told Mom that I wanted a treat by scratching on my Alpine Scratcher.  I got one, too.  Mom and I think today is fabulous for different reasons.  I think it is fabulous because the weather warmed up and melted all the snow and it even got warm enough for window whiffing.  We had lots of birds at the feeder and I talked to them.

Karen Jo:  I think it is fabulous because I finished my income taxes, even with your help.  Why were you sitting on my tax papers?

You put some of your dumb papers on my cushion on the table and I wanted to watch the birds, so I sat on the papers you were working on until you moved the ones off my cushion.  Then I got on my cushion and started talking to the birds.

Karen Jo:  You make such an interesting little sound when you watch the birds.  You don't chitter, you go keck-keck.

The food around here has been pretty boring.  Mom keeps eating chicken that she put herbs all over.  I don't much like it.

Karen Jo:  I try to give you pieces of the inside where the herbs aren't, but you still don't want it.  Don't worry, it's almost steak time again.

Yay!  I've been playing with my toys while Mom isn't watching again.  It's fun to play by myself.  I have found out that if I sit by the kitchen sink and meow pitifully enough, Mom will pick me up and put me on the sink and give me a drink from the faucet.

Karen Jo:  I should make you jump every time.  You need the exercise.  That pitiful meow gets to me, though, and I pick you up.

Mom isn't picking at my fur as much.

Karen Jo:  I have gotten out most of the mats.  You still have some around your armpit, though.

Oooh, that's a tender spot.  I really don't like you pulling my fur there.

Karen Jo:  I know and I'm sorry, but it has to be done.  You did one the hard way yesterday.

I was up on the couch, resting my head on Mom's thigh and getting petted when she started in on the fur pulling.  I jumped down.

Karen Jo:  I was still holding onto the mat and it pulled out when you jumped.  I have decided not to do any more mat picking during our bedtime petting session.  You don't like it and it is our special time.

Thank goodness for that.

Karen Jo:  I was out and about quite a bit today, doing errands and I saw lots of bugs.  I hope you are going to be a better bug hunter this year.

I am choosy about which bugs I hunt.

Karen Jo:  I have noticed.  You just watch flies, but you hunt and eat moths.

Moths taste better.

Snow!

 Mom left me over the weekend.  A nice lady came in and fed me, but I missed my Mom.  She got home Sunday, but she was too tired to turn on the computer.  She was going to blog yesterday, but the first thing she saw was that Scooby from Little Cat Feet had run off suddenly to the Rainbow Bridge and she didn't feel like blogging any more.  Today she wrote a limerick for Scooby and found out that Daddy Mark from Kattonic Cats had passed away on that same awful Sunday.  Now she is finally going to blog for me.  Above is the picture that she was going to post yesterday.  See how big that raven is?  You can biggify the picture a little bit by clicking on it. No way would I tangle with one of those, even if I could go outside.

Karen Jo:  I missed you, too, Herman.  It was very hard to get to sleep without giving you your bedtime petting.  April 1st was one bad Sunday.  I'm glad that the raven picture came out.  I was afraid that it wouldn't, since I was shooting into the light.  Yesterday afternoon it started snowing.

 Karen Jo:  This is what I woke up to this morning.  Here is the forsythia bush.  It didn't get cold enough to kill the blossoms, for which I am very grateful.  The snow and the blossoms make for a very rare sight.

 Karen Jo:  This is the snow piled up on top of my trash can.  You can see how deep it got.

This is what I thought of the whole snow thing.  Mom got a big box from Nip and Bones while she was gone.  It came in really quickly.  Inside was a Plague Rat, which she gave to me and something else that she put in the room that always has the door closed.  She says that one is for my birthday.  The Plague Rat is really smelly.  I sniffed and sniffed it and rubbed the top of my head all over it.  Then I grabbed my Mom's hand and bunny-kicked her arm.

Karen Jo:  You are supposed to bunny-kick the rat, not me.

I might get around to that later.  I really like my new rat.  I sniff and sniff and bite its nose.  Then I run around the house and want to play with Mom.

Karen Jo:  I am glad that you like it. Baby Patches said that they have some freeze-dried treats that you might like.  They are low-fat.

I don't care if they are low-fat.  I just care if they taste good.

Karen Jo:  I will check them out.  If they are not raw, I will get you some.  You can't have raw meat because of your viruses.

Mom has really been pulling on my fur since she got home.

Karen Jo:  I got out five or six little mats.  You still have some left, so I will be doing it until I get them all.

You said that if I groomed more, I wouldn't get mats.  I am grooming more, but I still get them.

Karen Jo:  You are doing a good job of grooming yourself now.  You always take care of your klingons by yourself.  I guess that your fur is just the kind that mats.  Between the two of us, we are keeping it from getting bad, though.

I'm glad about that.

Mancat Monday

I have been spending a lot of time in my ham-mick lately.  It's warm in the winter and cool in the  summer.  We finally got some window-whiffing time yesterday and just a little bit today.

Karen Jo:  I wanted to give you a whole day of window-whiffing today, but it has been too windy.

You have been a really bad blogger again.

Karen Jo:  Sorry, I have both been busy and feeling so overwhelmed with all that I have to do that I got down in the dumps again and didn't feel like doing much of anything.  It's like I am all full-steam ahead or just sitting on the couch reading.

At least you are back to it again.  I did get some corned beef and it was really yummy.  I got a little bite whenever Mom took a bite until it was all gone.  Mom has been trying to get a photo of a raven, so you can all see how big they are.  No way would I tangle with one of those, even if I got to go outside, which I don't.

Karen Jo:  I framed a shot through the window, but couldn't get the right perspective.  If I go out, they fly away.  Maybe one day I will just go outside with the camera and sit still, hoping they will get used to me and come where I can get a good picture.  They are still helping empty the suet feeder every day, but now the starlings and the flickers get a chance at it, too.  Yes, the flickers have shown up. There are signs of Spring everywhere now.  Some fruit trees are blooming, along with some forsythia bushes.  I saw a daffodil today.  The peonies are coming up and so are the iris.  There is only a tiny patch of snow left in the front yard. Even the beleaguered lilac bush is putting forth some leaves.  The gophers didn't manage to completely kill it after all.

I have gotten a bit friskier and am running around the house in the evenings and nights again.  I am even playing with some of my toys.  I am tossing my little mice all over the place.  I even play with Mom a little bit.  The problem is that all this activity makes me hungry and Mom is being really stingy with my food, especially at lunch time.  I had to get her up twice this morning: once at dawn for my canned food and again when it was high time she was up to refill my dry food.

Karen Jo:  You know what the vet told me about your weight and what to do about it.  I want you to be as healthy as possible.  Another sign of Spring is that you are getting little mats in your chest fur.

I don't like the way you get rid of them.  You pull on my fur until you get it out.

Karen Jo:  It isn't as bad as all that.  I separate your fur into smaller and smaller clumps until I can separate the mat out.  It only pulls a little bit at the end.

That's what you think.  I find the whole process uncomfortable.

Karen Jo:  Would you rather I let it get bad until you have to have your chest shaved again?

No!

Karen Jo:  Do you want me to use the scissors on your mats?

No!  I hate scissors.

Karen Jo:  Then stop complaining and let me brush you more.

That pulls, too.  I know, it only pulls what the brush finds some loose fur caught in the rest of the coat, but I still don't like it.  I only like it when it feels like petting.

Karen Jo:  It's so tough being you.  You still get more food than you generally eat; you have more toys than you can play with; you have a full-time live-in human servant and you get all the petting you can handle at bedtime.

Put that way, I guess I am a very lucky kitty.

Out and About

I have just been brushed.  That's why my fur is sticking out a bit.  I haven't turned into electric cat again, but I am afraid that it is coming.  I found this great sun puddle and plopped down in it for a while.  Mom keeps fussing with my fur and pulling at it and threatening me with the little scissors.

Karen Jo:  I need to keep up with the little mats before they become big mats.  I got one out of your chest fur today, but it took me three tries.  You keep squirming away from me.  Tomorrow I will go after the one on your foreleg.  It beats me how you can get a mat in the short fur on your foreleg.

I am just talented that way. Mom deserted me for the first time since she got sick.

Karen Jo:  I had to go to the store.  I was going to go out again, but decided that it was too cold.

What was that yummy stuff you were making in the kitchen after you got back?

Karen Jo:  I am going to a Christmas party tomorrow and needed to make a snack.  I made a Braunschweiger ball and boy, were you interested.

It all smelled so good that I just had to have some.

Karen Jo:  I let you have a few licks of the Braunschweiger/Neufchatel mix before I added the seasonings.

It was really good.  I want some more.

Karen Jo:  Sorry, Herman, but it's for the party.  If there is some left over, I will bring it home, but you still won't be able to have any more.

Why not?

Karen Jo:  I added onion and horseradish and bourbon to it.  None of that is any good for you.

Rats.  If you eat any of it in front of me, you better be prepared for lots of begging.  Not much else happened today.  I curled up on the couch with Mom while she read after her chores were done.  I love the way she pets me while she reads.  She even put the book down and just petted me for a while.  Then she found the mat on my foreleg and I left when she reached for the little scissors.

I Wanna Treat!

I was giving Mom my "Please give me a treat" face just before she took the photo.  I looked down just as she pushed the button.  I did get my treat, though.

Karen Jo:  I think I am going to have to hold the treat or the treat bag in my hand next to the camera if I really want to get that look.

I have just about finished off my Duck and Pea and there is no sign of any more coming.  Sigh.  At least I still get my Medley and Stinky Goodness three times a day.  Mom got up early to go to the store to get the groceries that she would need for the next few days.  We are supposed to get a big snow storm starting any time now, but it hasn't started yet.

Karen Jo:  If I had known that the storm was going to hold off this long, I wouldn't have gotten up.  When I got up, it looked like it was going to start snowing any minute and there were tiny flakes in the air as I walked to the store.  Then at noon we actually got sunshine for a little while.

It made a big sun puddle on my big green pillow and I made the most of it.

Karen Jo:  It is certainly cold enough for a big snow storm.  The birdbath was frozen solid.  I couldn't get the ice out to put in water, so I just poured some water on top of the ice.  Hopefully, that will melt enough ice to get it out of the birdbath, so I can fill it with water.  The birds are really going after the suet, so I put out a new cake today.

You are doing something funny with your fingers and my fur.

Karen Jo:  You are getting little mats in your chest fur again.  I am trying to work them out with my fingers.  I don't want to try to cut them out because you have a thin fat layer and loose skin right where the mats are.  I am afraid that I might cut or pinch your skin.  At least you are enjoying your brushing again and don't run from me any more.

Most of my fur isn't long enough to catch in the brush, so it feels good.  You can forget that Furminator, though.

Karen Jo:  It's not that bad.  I need it to thin out your chest fur so you get to keep it for the winter.  Remember how cold you got last winter because you had to have your chest shaved for mats?

Boy, do I!  Did you find something good at the store?

Karen Jo:  I found some turkey thighs and a roast beef.  I will cook the turkey thighs, then get rid of the skin and bones and cut it up and freeze it for lunch meat.

Don't you dare put it in the freezer before I get some!

Karen Jo:  Don't worry.  I will save some out for treats for  you.  Tomorrow I will cook the roast beef. Then I will have lots of food to see us through the storm.  I will let you lick up the beef juice after I carve it.

Yay!  I love beef juice.

Mancat Monday

I am almost snoozing near the kitchen.  Mom has been eating chicken again and she is sharing with me.  I love it.  Mom says that after she finishes her seven days of work in a row, she is going to get something really nice.  She isn't saying what it is, but something is making her very happy.

Karen Jo:  That's right.  You will find out all about it in Thursday's post. You have been chasing Emma around quite a bit lately.

The weather has cooled off considerably and that makes me frisky.  What better way to use up that extra energy than chasing Emma?

Karen Jo:  How about letting me work on your mats?

That's not fun in any way.

Karen Jo:  I am really afraid that you are going to have to go in for a shave.  I am ordering a mat cutter to see if that will work, but if it doesn't, or you won't let me use it on you, shaving is all that's left.

It's cooling off.  I'll freeze.

Karen Jo:  You have a nice warm bed right by the heat vent.  If it gets cold, you can be all snuggly there.  You know that the mat on your flank is getting uncomfortable for you.

Yeah, I know.  I don't like for you to touch it.  How come I have to get these darn mats anyway?

Karen Jo:  You have very thick, long fur.  When the undercoat sheds, it gets caught in the outer coat and mats.  You don't groom yourself much, so it builds up.  You walk or run away from brushing and furminating, so I can't help you all that much.  I'll look into getting you a better brush than your slicker brush that will be more comfortable for you than the furminator to try to keep things under control better.

I hope that works.  I used to enjoy my slicker brush, until it started getting caught in the mats and pulling.

Karen Jo:  I will have to be more careful in brushing you, then maybe you will enjoy it again.

When am I going to get some new toys?  I haven't gotten anything new in a long time.

Karen Jo:  You don't need any more toys, really.  You don't play will all you have now.

That's because they are all old and boring.  I want something new.

Karen Jo:  I will look around to see if there is anything you don't have already.

You took away the kitten food.  That was mean.

Karen Jo:  You need to lose some weight and the kitten food is high in calories.  You are doing fine with the duck and pea and the weight control formula.

I don't like that weight control formula all that much and Emma won't touch it at all.  Why don't you take that away and give us something good?

Karen Jo:  Because you need to lose weight. After the weight comes off, maybe I can get you another flavor of the Now.

The way things are going, that will take forever.

Karen Jo:  Run up and down the hall some more.  That will help.

That's no fun unless I am chasing Emma.

Mancat Monday

I am relaxing by the scratching post and showing off my magnificent tummy.  Mom came after me with the scissors again, but this time I gave her a warning.  I touched my teeth to her hand.

 Karen Jo:  I found a little mat on your flank.  I know you don't like me messing with your backside, but I wasn't that close to it.

You were close enough.  When are you going to stop with the scissors?

Karen Jo:  When I get all the little mats out.  I remember seeing an ad for something called a mat cutter.  I think I will look into it to see if it is something you might accept better than the scissors.

I don't like the sound of it.  I hope it doesn't make noise.  At last I got some chicken with cheese.  I got four bites today.  I turned my nose up at the fifth bite.  I was full.

Karen Jo:  Being full didn't keep you from sitting there and staring at me while I ate.  That's why I offered you the fifth bite.  Then you decided you were full.

I got six treats today.  Mom will only give me three at one time.  I asked this morning and again tonight.

Karen Jo:  Three at one time is plenty.  I probably shouldn't even be giving you that many.  You are due for another weighing.

Do I have to?  I don't like going out in the PTU on wheels, especially to the vet place.

Karen Jo:  Yes, you have to.  I need to know if you are still losing weight, staying the same, or gaining.

If I am losing, do I get some more treats?

Karen Jo:  No, not until you are down to where you are supposed to be. Even then I have to be careful, to make sure you don't gain weight again.

Man, this doesn't sound good.  I love treats and want more.

Karen Jo:  If you were as active as Emma, I bet the weight would come off faster.

No cat could keep up with Emma.  She runs all over the place all the time. I get tired just watching her. She doesn't even lie still for petting.

Thursday Thoughts

The salt and pepper shakers that Mom won in Fiona's auction arrived yesterday.  Mom loves them.  She let me sniff them and I really checked them out.  Then I knocked them over and rolled them around on the carpet a little.

Mom brushes me all over every day, but I don't like her brushing my legs.  My mats are tiny ones just below my elbows on my forelegs, in the short fur.  Mom has tried brushing them, but I pull my legs away from her.  She did get one mat cut out yesterday and will try for the other one tomorrow.  Mom can't figure out how I got mats in my short fur.  My tummy is now touchable, at least down to the white spot between my back legs.  If Mom goes into the white area, I put the bitey on her.  I used to put the bitey on her if she touched my tummy at all, but now I enjoy having it petted a little.

Mom tried out some Newman's Own Turkey and Vegetables on me and I ate it all up.

Karen Jo:  I just hope it doesn't turn out like the Meow Mix singles.  You loved those the first time I bought them, then refused to eat any of it the second time I bought them.

Mom and I played ball a lot today.  We had a lot of fun, both before and after she went to work. When I tried to cuddle with her last night, she started making weird noises and I went back to the big room for a while.

Karen Jo:  I had an allergy attack, Herman.  The weird noises were sneezing.  The (bad word omitted) juniper trees have decided that it's spring already.  That's why I didn't blog last night.  It's hard to type and sneeze at the same time.  Luckily my allergy medicine quieted it down some and you came back to sleep with me,