Fantastic Friday

 Bambino:  I feel a little better every day.  I am eating like I used to and drinking and using the litter box and doing the little things I used to, except play.  That may be coming.  Mom saw me running twice today.

Karen Jo:  The blood test showed just what I expected it to.  Bambino is definitely FeLV+.  I found out something I didn't know before.  Sometimes the virus causes FeLV+ kitties to develop a low grade fever with no other cause.  When the fever breaks they are back to normal.  I am encouraged to know this.  Bambino has been eating like he can't get enough again.  There is never any Stinky Goodness left, except the kitten food.  No cat seems to really like that stuff, though some of it disappears.  If Bambino isn't back to normal by Monday, he has to go back to the vet.  At the rate he is improving, I have hopes that he won't have to make that trip.  Thanks for all the purrs and good wishes.  With all that going for him, he should be well soon.

 I'm up on the couch with the Halloween bear.  Mom hasn't cleaned up since the last time the blurpy was here.  Horus and I both escaped the other day.  The fun thing is that Mom always goes after Horus first because he is harder to catch and I never leave the yard, but he does.  That means that I get to stay outside longer.  I don't like the cold white stuff on the ground, though it isn't everywhere and I can find some grass to munch.

 Oja:  Here I am in the cushioned chair again.  Mom is complaining that every time she gets out the clicky box, I am under here where it's really hard to get a good picture of me.  She should get out the clicky box when I'm out.  I don't know what's up with Bambino.  Mom was lying on the bed, watching TV and Bambino was lying on her, getting petted.  I came up close to get some petting, too, and Bambino whapped me.  He has never done that before.

 Rocio:  I understand now why this is Horus' favorite spot.  It's really comfy.  I have gotten fed up with Horus trying to intimidate me.  This time I growled and charged Horus.  That'll teach him.

 Horus:  Julius was playing with this stuffie a little while ago.  I'm trying to see what the attraction is.  Or maybe I'm looking for stray treats.  The blurp tosses them all around.

Julius:  Mom was a little slow with the clicky box.  When she started trying to take my picture, I was up on the pillow with Spyro.  I cuddle with Spyro lots.  Mom keeps trying to get a picture of my snuggling Spyro in the blue cat bed, but she has to get too close to get a good picture and I always run away.  The only time I come near her is when she is giving out treats or if she is lying in bed with other cats around.  Then I will lie next to her feet.

Caturday

 Spyro: Yes, we are still here.  Mom has a good excuse this time.  At first she was just busy with paperwork and paying bills and stuff, then she fell down and hurt her ribs.  She was in bed all day every day until just a couple of days ago.  At first it was all she could do to get up and feed us and water us and clean our litter boxes, then she had to catch up on the mail, which she hasn't finished yet, and do a bit of cleaning.  A friend of hers came over for about a week to take care of us right after she fell, because she couldn't even do that.  She is mostly better now, except she can't pick up anything weighing more than a few pounds and she can't stay up all day yet.  These are photos that she took before she fell, but we are still doing the same stuff.  I found this heat-reflecting pad that Mom got for Herman and I really like it.  It gets nice and warm when I lie on it.  Notice the nice sun puddle?  We haven't seen any of these lately.  We have been getting snow and more snow and we are due for even more tomorrow.  I ran outside yesterday when Mom opened the door to get the mail and ran right back inside.  Brrr!  I was a good boy while Mom's friend was taking care of us and didn't run outside even once.  You know what?  When your Mom has sore ribs, you can get her up for breakfast really fast by walking over her body.  Don't do it when she is really sore, though, or you will get yelled at.

 Oja:  Here I am in my favorite chair.  I haven't been spending much time here lately.  Mostly I have been lying beside Mom or on her lap while she lies in bed.  I love it.  I purr on her lots.  I even let her pet me more than usual.  Sometimes when I wiggle away from the petting, I hear her sighing.

Karen Jo:  I love having you lie beside me or on me and purr, Oja.  I am just sighing because I miss Herman.  He never got too much petting.  None of the four of you really like to be petted much.  All of you seem to like it for a little while, then wiggle or walk away from it.  Would you believe it?  One time I even had all four cats on the bed at once.  It didn't last long, but it was great to see.

 Austin:  This is my favorite spot in the house.  I am the shyest one, but I have been in to see Mom and lie on her and purr while she has been in bed;  I usually do it when the other cats are doing something else.  Oja still doesn't like me a whole lot, but she is getting better.  One evening Oja was lying beside Mom and I jumped up in Mom's lap and snuggled down.  I slid my head over and laid it on Oja and she didn't react to it at all.  We stayed like that for quite a while until Oja realized whose head it was lying on her side, then she growled at me and I moved.

Rocio:  I can't decide whether I like the ham-micks or the cat beds best, so I keep moving around.  I even sleep in the cat bed in our room that Mom says no cat has slept in before.  She got it for Emma, but no cat liked it before.  I don't know why; it's a nice bed with room for both me and Austin.  I have been spending some time lying on the Mom and purring, too.  She likes it and pets my head and back.  I have a new game. I chase Oja down the hall until she jumps up on the Mom's bed and growls at me.  It's fun to watch Oja run. She moves her back legs together like a bunny hop.

Karen Jo:  I think having the boys around has gotten Oja to exercise more.  I think she has lost some weight or gotten stronger or both.  She is getting up into places that she never went before, like the window sills in my bedroom.  It's a much bigger jump than getting up where Austin is in his picture.  She has also been eyeing the kitchen counter and that is quite a jump for her.  I will be adopting the boys.  I got some of their paperwork today and will start the process tomorrow.  Oja still growls at them occasionally, but she let Rocio groom her for a minute and let Austin lay his head on her for a while.  Spyro loves being big brother to them and they all three have so much fun playing together that I couldn't stand the thought of breaking them up.

Austin:  Hear that, Rocio?  We get to stay!

Rocio:  YAY!

Starting the New Year

 Spyro:  Look at all the new balls we got for Christmas!  I hardly know where to start.  Oja tried to butt in and I pushed her away.

Oja:  Spyro finally made his choice, the orange plaid ball with the feathers, and I got a chance to check them all out.  I like all of them and knocked them all over.

Karen Jo:  My apologies for not posting and not visiting.  I haven't been feeling very good lately and haven't been doing much of anything.  I am all better now and will really try to post and visit much more often than I have been.

Spyro:  We also got more snow for Christmas.  I finally got a chance to run outside and check it out.  I don't like it.  It's cold and wet.  Mom keeps telling me that it is too cold for kitties outside, but that doesn't stop me from trying to get out every chance I get.

Karen Jo:  I hoped that you would learn how cold it is outside and stop trying to get out, but that didn't happen.  Oh, well, I can still stop you from getting out most of the time.  Luckily for me, when you do get out, you only go to the patio in back and sometimes you come back by yourself very quickly.

Busy Mom

Spyro:  I love napping in Herman's bed.  It's comfy and warm and it smells like Herman.

Oja:  I have taken to napping on this blankie on the couch.  Mom often lies down on this couch to read and I like to get up on her legs when she does.

Karen Jo:  I was lonely last night.  No kitty came to sleep with me.

Spyro:  We were mad at you.  You left us in the night and didn't come home until 0-dark-thirty.

Oja:  We were starving.  Dinner was very late.

Karen Jo:  My friend took me out for a while, just to get me out of the house and to take my mind off Herman for a few hours.  It worked and I felt a little better.

Spyro:  You were up so late that I decided I better get you up for breakfast.  It was easy.  All I had to do was jump up on the bed and you were awake.  I don't know why Herman made such a fuss about how hard it was to get you up.

Karen Jo:  The only time Herman had a hard time getting me up for breakfast was when he decided to get me up before dawn.

Spyro:  I came in later to get your lazy buns out of bed and I'm almost sorry I did.  All day yesterday and all day today you have been busy, busy, busy.  I've never seen you do so much work around the house.

Karen Jo:  I have to keep busy, or the negative side of my mind tries to lay a guilt trip on me about Herman.  I know perfectly well that there is absolutely nothing to feel guilty about, but I hate the thoughts that crop up, so I just keep busy.  The same thing happened when my Mom died.

Spyro:  Late this afternoon, I finally got tired of it and tried to get you to stop playing with your papers and play with me.  I sat on your papers, so you had to slide them out from under me.  When you were writing in your little book, I put the bitey on your pen.  When that didn't stop you, I put the bitey on your little finger.  Finally, when you got up to get something, I pushed all the papers and your pen and your little book off the table.

Karen Jo:  I had let the mail pile up and I had some bills to pay and I put the order in for Herman's grave marker.  I pet you a little between opening envelopes.

Spyro:  It wasn't enough.  I wanted your undivided attention.

Karen Jo:  After I put the peas on the stove to cook for supper, I gave you all the attention you wanted, as long as it lasted, which wasn't long.

Spyro:  Oja came into the kitchen and I decided to hop down and greet her.

Karen Jo:  And chase her into the living room and play with her.

Karen Jo:  To change the subject, the Bird Channel is on Cat TV again.  It snowed just a tiny bit Saturday night, so it's safe to put out the bird seed, suet and water again.  The bears have gone into hibernation.  I put everything out yesterday, but the birds didn't find it until this afternoon.  Spyro and Oja haven't discovered the birds yet, but it won't be long.  They get a little noisy in the mornings.

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.

We're Back!

 This is my Christmas loot.  The wooden ball is from Mom. The rest is from my woofy cousins.  I also got two packages of Temptations -- one from Mom and one from my cousins.  I like the wooden ball best.  It doesn't look like much, but it was well marinated in really good nip.  Actually, I like the Temptations best of all.

I am chilling out on the couch next to where Mom sits to read.  Mom is really sorry about us being gone for so long.  When she got back from her Christmas visit she started going out every night.  After New Year's all the excitement was over and she got a bad case of the sads. She is all better now and promises to be a much better blogger and visitor.

Karen Jo: Herman gave me quite a Christmas present.  I got back much later than I expected on Christmas Day and was too tired to blog.  I sat in my rocking chair to watch TV and Herman actually got on my lap for a few minutes. He hasn't done it again, but he does get up beside me on the couch when I read and puts his head on my leg.  I guess I don't expect him to ever become a lap kitty, but he is very affectionate.  When I go to bed he is there almost immediately and stays most of the night, just getting up to eat and use the litter box.

I like being next to you at night.  You give me such good chest scritches and belly rubs.  It's been kind of boring around here.  There aren't many birdies to watch and Mom hasn't been doing much.

Karen Jo:  I am getting better about doing stuff.  You are very particular about when you will play with me.  You haven't responded to me much at all.  There are fewer birdies around than there were last winter.  It is colder with more snow than last year, so maybe more of them went farther south this year.  I haven't found the bird feeder empty in a very long time.  I only fill it up now if it is more than half empty, which takes a couple of days.

I only play with you when I feel like it.  I play by myself sometimes.  Most of the time I would just rather be near you and get attention.  I am letting you brush me a lot more and I even let you snip out that mat on my leg that you have been trying to get to for weeks.

Karen Jo:  Yes, you were really stubborn about letting me get that mat off your leg.  I enjoy brushing you, especially when you start purring while I am doing it.  Hopefully, now you will let me brush you enough so you won't get any more mats.

Don't count on the mats staying away.  My fur mats easily and it's growing back now and getting nice and long.  It's a good thing, as we are having another snow storm tonight.

Karen Jo:  It's supposed to get pretty cold tonight and the snow is supposed to get about three inches deep on top of what we already have.

I am snuggling close tonight.

Tuxie Tuesday

I decided not to get up when Mom did.  I like her pillow as much as she does and the flannel sheets are nice and warm.

Karen Jo:  I can't blame you for not wanting to get up.  We are having a big storm today, with lots of snow.  I didn't go out at all, except to feed the birds and take out the trash.

Mom finally found a small fresh turkey and cooked it yesterday.  I stuffed myself when it was done.  Mom kept offering me bites and I kept eating and eating.  I ate so much turkey that Mom didn't give me any cat food at my dinner time.

Karen Jo:  You couldn't have possibly eaten any cat food after all the turkey you put away, so it would have just been wasted.  You really do love your turkey.  Every time I get it out, you meow and meow until I give you some.

Fresh turkey is the best.  It is even better than chicken or roast beef or steak.  I hope we have it for a long time.

Karen Jo:  Not for too much longer.  I will have to cut it up and freeze it soon.  Turkey goes bad fairly quickly if it isn't frozen.

Rats.  I will have to see how much I can eat before that happens.  There was some excitement out the window yesterday.

Karen Jo:  I saw you get all excited and jump up on your platform.  There was a little calico kitty outside in the snow.  She ran away when I approached her.  I hope she got home all right.

Not much else has been going on around here.  Mom went to bed way early last night and I got lots and lots of petting.  She was pretty boring today, just sitting at the kitchen table doing something.

Karen Jo:  I finally got going on my Christmas cards.  I got them all ready to mail.  Now I just have to get them to the post office.  The storm is supposed to end tomorrow at noon and the sun is supposed to come out.  I'll go then.

I have been getting some nice cards in the mail and by e-mail, too.  I wish Mom would put up my e-cards so I can share them.

Karen Jo:  I will get started on them soon.  Copying photos from e-mail gives me a "not responding" error sometimes and that can be a pain. As soon as I can I will get them all up on your sidebar.

Caturday

Mom didn't get a picture taken of me today.  This is an old one that she took at night with the flash.  You can see why she only takes pictures of me during the day.

Karen Jo:  I got behind getting ready for work today and just didn't have time for a photo shoot.

Things have gotten interesting around here.  We got about a foot of snow yesterday.  The bird bath not only froze, it got all covered over with snow.  Once Mom filled up the feeder, there were lots and lots of birds to watch outside.  Am I ever glad that I'm not an outside kitty any more!

Once Mom got home, I started asking for treats before she even got her coat off.  I had to wait for a little bit for my treats, though.

Karen Jo:  I really needed to visit the litter box room before I did anything else, Herman.  Walking home when it's really cold has that effect on me.  You did get your treats.  I was surprised that you could eat so many and still want your supper.

I didn't eat much supper, but treats aren't everything.  I will probably eat more of my supper later.  I did a good job of eating the food you left for me before you went to work.

Karen Jo:  You did indeed.  You ate almost all of your Medley and some of your Stinky Goodness and quite a bit of your Purina One.

There's not much to do around here but eat and sleep while you are gone.

Karen Jo:  Says the cat who has more toys than he knows what to do with.

Storm

We are having a really big snowstorm. Mom took both a still picture and a few seconds of video of what was going on at our house about noon today. She thinks that the still came out better.


I sat on my platform and watched it come down. I even watched my Mom go out in this and fill up the bird feeder. I think she's a bit nuts, but the birds put on a good show after they got fed. I didn't even want to play I was so engrossed. I finally told her that I wanted to play this afternoon when she was getting her coat to go to work. I missed out on my afternoon play time and I was unhappy about that, but this was just so much more interesting.

Karen Jo: It's still coming down. I got some snow in my boots coming home from work and the top of my boot is 8 1/2 inches high. I was going to snap a picture of what the same scene looked like when I got home, but I would have had to take off and put on my boots again and I was just too tired. I will show you another picture tomorrow.

I didn't even want to play with my Mom when she got home. She was really surprised. Once she feeds me and gets into her PJs we usually play like mad for a half hour or so. She took a picture with the flash of me just lying there looking at her, but the camera was pointed at the lamp as well as me and you can't even see me. I finally decided I wanted to play about an hour later.

Karen Jo: I need some suggestions on how to play with Herman. We just do the same old things day after day and I am afraid I am beginning to bore him. We play bat the ball back and forth and I toss him rattle mousies or other toys. I bounce his balls for him and sometimes he just ignores them. Da Bird scares him and I haven't found a smaller lure for it yet. He likes to play with my hand, but he uses his claws frequently and it hurts. He likes the laser dot, but gets frustrated with it. I give him a treat when he bites at it, but he still walks away from it after a while.