Occupy the Bed

 The Krasota Kastle Cats started the Occupy the Bed movement and we decided to join in.  Here I am preventing Mom from making up the bed.  This makes the point that we think the bed should belong to the kitties.

Emma:  Mom keeps a soft throw at the foot of the bed and I have claimed it as my own.  It's dark and makes it hard to see me.  I nap here quite often.

We could take up more room if we would both occupy the bed at the same time, but we never do that when Mom isn't in the bed and we rarely do it when Mom is in the bed.

Emma:  The only times we are both in bed at the same time is when I beat Herman to bed and grab his spot next to Mom.  He has to be contented to sleep by her legs.

Karen Jo:  Thank goodness that little trick of yours hasn't started any spats, Emma.  You both respect the first cat in the bed gets the petting rule and don't get jealous (usually) unless I try to pet both of you.  Sometimes (rarely), neither of you comes to bed with me and I have to sleep all lonely.

It's that coughing and shaking the bed that keeps us away, I think.  Sometimes we get all comfortable in Emma's room or the living room and don't feel like moving just because you decide it's bedtime.

I got to go outside.  Don't worry, it was in the stroller.  I am beginning to enjoy the stroller more.  I didn't start complaining until we were almost at the vet's.

Karen Jo:  I just took you in for your monthly weighing.  You weigh exactly the same as you did last time.  I'll take that as good.  I don't know how you recognize the vet's before we go in, but your complaining goes up a notch as soon as the sign is really clearly visible.

You take me there every month, of course I would recognize it.  I had to really ramp up the complaining before you would take me home again.  You just stood there talking and talking.

Karen Jo:  OK, you recognize the vet's by the sign or whatever.  Why don't you stop complaining when we get close to home?  Surely you recognize home.

I do, but I am still cooped up in the stroller and I want OUT.

Guess what?  Mom roasted a cross-rib beef roast and I liked it.  The only beef I have liked before is steak and rib roast.  Mom gave me little bits whenever she ate some herself.  I really bugged her about it.  I even jumped up on the table while she was eating, which is a big no-no.

Karen Jo:  You got your fuzzy butt coaxed off the table right quick, too.  I am glad to see you jumping up so high again.  You even jumped up to the sink for a drink of water the other day.

I got it, too.  I love faucet water.

Emma:  I am totally all right again, all well.  Herman and I play chase and boxing again just like we used to.  Herman was really nice.  When he realized I was almost myself again, he started to play with me gently.  He jumped out at me and made me run, but didn't chase me and didn't try to swat me.  He waited until the next day to start playing a little rougher.  I have only run to my hidey-hole once since I got well and I didn't stay long -- just until Herman went away again.  I have also become a lap cat.  I sit in Mom's lap for at least a little while almost every day.  Herman watches sometimes, but doesn't try to do anything to make me get down.

I don't care if you sit in Mom's lap.  I don't want to sit there.  I think you get a bit more attention than you deserve, but I get attention, too.

Weird Wednesday

 I am always turning away from Mom as she takes my picture lately.  You get a good look at the inside of my ear, though.

Emma: I am also being wiggly when Mom takes my picture.  But then, I  wiggle ALL the time.

Tuesday was really the weird day.  We did things we don't normally do.

Emma:  I went for a ride in the stoller.  I loved most of the ride.  I only meowed a few times.  I got worried when we went inside, because the only place I have been inside in the stroller is the vet's.  It turned out not to be the vet's, though.

Karen Jo:The nice lady at the pet supply store wanted to see you.  She had never seen a cat in a stroller before. She even took a picture of you.  I wanted to get a mat cutter for Herman and a new litter pan to replace the one that broke.  I don't think the mat cutter I got will work on Herman's problem, but I can get another kind from a catalogue.

Emma:  You put the weird litter in the new litter pan and we still won't use it.  Hahaha!

Karen Jo:  I didn't know whether you recognized the litter pan from the evacuation and didn't want to have anything to do with it, or if it is the litter itself that you object to.  Next I will put it in one of your old litter pans to see what happens.  I tried to get more Swheat Scoop at the store, but they were still out of it.

After that it was my turn to for a ride in the stroller.  I still don't like it.  I meowed at Mom the whole way to the vet's and the whole way back.

Karen Jo:  I needed to get you some more Interferon, so I took you along to weigh you.  You gained two tenths of a pound. Do you know what that means?

No, but I don't think I am going to like it.

Karen Jo:  It means that I am going to have to put the kitten food where you can't get to it, but Emma can.

No more kitten food?  That's mean.

Karen Jo:  I am sorry, but you need to lose about three pounds. Switching you over to grain-free dry food took off six tenths of a pound, but now you have put two tenths back on.

At least I got some good stuff for supper.  Mom had steak for the first time in weeks.  I got a lick or two of sour cream and three bites of steak.

Karen Jo:  You got four bites, but you only licked the fourth one. Speaking of that, I found out something new about Emma.

Emma:  I am full of surprises.

Karen Jo:  That you are.  I found out that you don't like Greenies.  It is Interferon week.  Herman loves his Interferon and actually begs for it when I open the refrigerator in the morning.  You don't really care for it and resist taking it a bit.  I thought that I could get you to like it better by giving you a treat right after the Interferon.  I gave you a Greenie right after your Interferon and you spit it out.

Emma:  It was too big and too hard for me.

Karen Jo:  It is still sitting on the chair where you spit it out.  I am surprised that Herman hasn't found it yet.  I guess he will eventually.

Hiding on Sunday

 This is where I hide from the Fuminator.  It is also really handy for chowing down on the kitten food.

Emma:  I am playing with Da Bird by myself.  Mom doesn't give me nearly enough play time with it.  Mom has been a bad blogger again.

Karen Jo:  Sorry about that.  I had a really hard week at work.  I had to work overtime almost every day.

We haven't been getting any good food.  Mom has been eating chicken out of the freezer that we don't really like and she is cooking a pot roast in the crock pot.  We don't like pot roast at all.

Karen Jo:  That's just too bad.  I like pot roast.  It's not like the two of you are starving.  You aren't even eating all of your Stinky Goodness these days.

It's too hot to eat a lot.  Mom popped me into the PTU on wheels and took me down to the vet to get weighed.  I lost half a pound.

Karen Jo:  It's called a stroller and lots of kitties like to go for rides in them.  You meow and meow the whole time you are in it.

I hate being confined. Besides, the only place we ever go is the vet.

Karen Jo:  I bet you would complain just as much if I just took you for a walk.

Emma:  I want to go for a walk in the stroller.  I enjoyed the ride when I went to the vet.

Karen Jo:  I have to go get more medicine for Herman next week.  I will take you along and weigh you.  I am glad that Herman lost half a pound, but I want to make sure that you aren't losing.

Emma:  I am looking forward to it.  Herman isn't much fun these days.  Mostly he just lies around.

It's too hot to do much.  I move around at night.  I am not even snuggling up to Mom at night any more.  It's too hot to snuggle.

Karen Jo:  Would you like a lion cut for the summer?

No way!  I find going nekkid embarrassing.  I think you should set up the fan like you did last summer.

Karen Jo:  I got out the fan, but I can't remember where I put the extension cord.  Once I find it, I will set up the fan and run it for you.

That sounds good to me.  Hurry up and find that cord.

Fuzzy Tuxie Tuesday

Many of you have wanted to see a picture of me in my stroller.  I didn't cooperate.  I am a bit fuzzy in the photo because I jumped out of the stroller as Mom was taking the picture.  Mom put me in twice, but I didn't want to go for a ride this morning.  Mom will keep trying.  She wants me to get used to it.  We won't be going outside any time soon.  It snowed a little bit today.

Karen Jo:  I was hoping that your first reaction to the stroller meant that you liked it.  This time you gave your complaining meow when I first put you in the stroller and jumped out almost immediately.  I put you back in and just managed to get a picture.  I know you don't like being confined, but this is meant to be fun.

It's only fun if I can get out whenever I want and I wanted out.  Mom actually found some good food in the freezer.  She found a package of chicken and rice and I helped her eat it.

Karen Jo:  You surprised me again.  When you first came here, I gave you microwaved chicken bits from the freezer for your elevenses and you liked it, but not for long.  Since then you have turned your nose up at anything I got out of the freezer.  Maybe you liked this because I thawed it first and the chicken had no herbs on it.  I am going to cook sweet and sour chicken tomorrow, which you probably won't like, but I will also make baked chicken, which you do like.  I think I will make the baked chicken with Swiss cheese, which you went nuts over the first time I cooked it.

Yummy, fresh baked chicken.  I can hardly wait.  I fooled you again about what I want.

Karen Jo:  Yes, you did.  I was giving you nip treats tonight and you went and scratched on your platform again.  I didn't really believe that you wanted me to change treats, but I did and gave you an Indoor Adventure treat.  You ate it but turned away from me and didn't ask for another one, so I put them away.  Luckily, I hadn't put the nip treats away.  I showed you the package and, sure enough, you wanted more nip treats.  So what was the platform scratching about?

I just felt like having a scratch.  I love to keep you guessing.  It's fun and I still get what I want.

Strollering

Mom got this picture just as I decided to move, so my front paw is a bit fuzzy.  Mom did put me in the stroller yesterday and we went up and down the hall.  She kept her promise and didn't zip me in, so I could jump out if I decided that I really didn't like it.  I surprised her by staying put.  I put my head out of the side where the zipper is, but I didn't even try to jump out.  I didn't even meow as we went up and down the hall.  Mom will try to get a picture of me in my stroller tomorrow.  I am going for another short ride.

Karen Jo:  It looks to me like you might even enjoy strollering.  You just watched the world go by as we went on our way.  Usually you complain like mad if I put you in something and move you around.  It isn't nearly warm enough to go outside yet, but I am looking forward to that.  Your wellness exam is going to me in early March and I hope we have a nice day for it.

Mom did make meatloaf and I did try it.  I got several tiny bites.  Mom just gave me very tiny bites to make sure that I didn't get any onion.

Karen Jo:  There was only 1/2 cup of onion to two pounds of meat and I didn't dice it up very finely, so I figured it would be all right.  I know that onion isn't good for kitties, but I made sure that there weren't any onion pieces in the bits I gave you.  You seemed to like it last night, but you didn't want any today.

You know how I feel about leftovers.  Tomorrow is steak night, isn't it?

Karen Jo:  Yes it is.

Lots of kitties want to know how I trained my Mom so well.  First, make sure that you pick a push-over for a Mom.  It helps to be an only kitty, too.  Be as cute and loving as you can most of the time, so she will feel willing to give into any demands you make. When you really want something, be insistent.  When you want her up, start softly, then up the ante.  First, I pat my Mom's cheek with my paw.  I will try this several times.  If it doesn't work, or if she turns her back on me, I put my paw on her scalp and sloooowly extend my claws. So far that has worked every time.  Keeping her up is more difficult, but once I have been fed, I don't really care if she goes back to bed.  In fact, she is often very susceptible to suggestions to pet me after she goes back to bed after my breakfast, if I don't get her up too early.