Remodeling Redux

As noted, moving the speakers in my office to new shelves drove remodeling for the benefit of our feline overlords. Now, I have moved Katherine's office speakers to shelves that were also installed last month.

As for access to the now vacant top of the bookshelf, we moved a cat tower next to it immediately. The boys approve.

Remodeling

After Katherine saw one of the boys do the leap to the top of my bookshelf and back down, she decided I had great idea in moving a cat tower into my office. And she implemented it immediately. At 11:30 at night.

(Did we mention I was already up past my bedtime that night?)

This made the user of the office quite grumpy, but made the feline overloads, especially Whitey, pretty happy. Now he has his choice of easily accessible high or really high.

Photo Fridays to follow ...

Photo Friday: Belated Co-Existance

We never posted it, but we have in the archives a shot of Emily, Whitey, and Billy all sharing the bedroom with reasonable space between them. Likewise, at nap time the now departed The Gray Mouser (as Kageneko was known while here) and Billy could co-exist.



Update: Actually, we had posted a picture of Emily co-existing with the boys as early as their first summer. Note that Emily was actually larger than the young Catzilla brothers, which no doubt helped her teach them proper respect.

Come A Little Bit Closer

Billy enjoyed curling up with me overnight into Wednesday morning so much, he decided to snuggle even closer last night. Put another way, the feline has never heard of "personal space" or "restless sleeper".

He made even things more interesting by sleeping outboard of me, which I think was to be closer to the kitty treats in the bedside table, but that also means he had to move if I got up -- and I'm more prone to get up a cat keeps waking me when I move or feel pinned by the catzilla weighted blanket.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

This was in part being driven by Katherine being on a trip, which ends today. So tonight we'll be back to more meowing (I think they key off her being still up) and more space for me (she's their preferred organic cat warmer).

I'll miss Billy's love on my side of the bed ... but sleep better.

Wednesday Morning, 3 AM

After shutting Whitey in the closet for most of Monday night/Tuesday morning, I took special care to know where everyone was as I went to bed last night. They were free wander away to roam the house once I was asleep.

I woke up at 3 AM and realized two things: No one meowed from downstairs last night, and I had a pair of catzilla brothers neatly curled up in the middle of the bed, just far enough away that they weren't interfering with my own sleep. They were still there, quiet and sleepy, when I got up a few minutes ago.

Life is good.

The Kitten Who Cried Wolf

As previously noted, we get fair chunk of night time meowing which we find best to ignore -- Timmy isn't really stuck at the bottom of the well again, rather the boys either suddenly can't find the bedroom or are not so suddenly just bored.

However, when I put away the kitty treats last night, Whitey snuck into the closet before I could close the door, and I failed to check that it was empty.

Around 4 AM, a soft mew woke up me twice, and after the second time I realized it sounded too persistent and too far away to be a normal bored Whitey meow. I got up and looked around. Knowing he's been closed up before, I checked my closet first, and a relieved Whitey popped out.

Both he and my closet seem no worse for the experience.

And no, he didn't raid the treats, they go on a high shelf, inaccessible to even our acrocats

Able to Leap Tall Bookshelves in a Single ...

Okay, he started 38 inches off the floor for a 84 inch bookshelf. But Billy still leaped from the (uneven) top of my office printer to the top of the seven foot bookshelf, partially cleared now that as part of the tasks around the house my brother has put up a proper speaker shelf.

It startled me too, I didn't know he was around until he crashed back down onto the printer. I wasn't sure where he had come from until I put a kitty treat up on the top of the bookshelf and watched him do the leap again.

Yup. Mighty leaper indeed.

Security Begins at the Farm

It's the end of an era.

My brother, a professional carpenter, is visiting, and he's doing a number of handyman type jobs for us while here.

This includes putting magnetic latches on the cabinets.

Thus will end the era of self-storing cats putting themselves away where they don't belong.

Leap of faith

If I'd only had a camera...

I was sitting on the couch downstairs, with my head at one end and my feet just past the middle. Billy was sitting on the six-foot bookshelf to my left. Rather than take the long way down -- down to the shorter bookshelf, down to the floor, and around to the front of the couch -- he made a direct leap from bookshelf to back of couch, about four feet.

And then the soft poofy cushioned back gave way, dumping him onto my feet.

Which, fortunately, were protected by a blanket but which, in their unexpected rigidity, caused him to leap straight up in the air.

From whence he cascaded down to the floor.

I was still laughing when he hopped back up, carefully sniffing around for the strange foreign objects that had interrupted his leap. Poor Billy...

Fall back

Yes, the shift to Standard Time in the US was last weekend. But the boys don't wear watches.

This is merely to report that while it took a few days, the boys have smoothly shifted to Standard Time for feeding. They were up early a few days at the beginning of the week, but were polite (for them), and today there was no meowing until ten minutes before the human alarm.

We'll take it.

The Return of Spidercat

Spidercat The Space Catdet lives.

Background: The master bath at the Kitten Farm West is laid out such that the shower stall is next to the bathtub; they share a half-height wall which has the tub faucet in it. The tiled top of this wall is about four feet up and forms a smooth but otherwise cat friendly ledge, easily reached from the tub proper. From the ledge, the glass of the shower stall goes up another three feet. The top of that is not cat friendly, a metal rail perhaps at most a half inch wide with a seven foot drop on the far side to the hard floor of the stall.

When I stepped into the bathroom this morning, Whitey joined me. He explored a bit on the ledge ... and then he reached up, and used his three foot plus reach to haul himself from the ledge up to the top of the shower stall. As he wobbled from side-to-side, I charged into the stall prepared to catch him and called for Katherine (who was not exactly awake). But before I could tell her to hop in the tub, he managed to turn 180 degrees, and ...

(... as I saw just how far his claws were extended for traction, my life flashed before my eyes knowing he would use them to the fullest when he fell on me ...)

... he jumped down on the tub side, for a sufficiently loose definition of jump down. He was aiming for the ledge, but while it broke his fall he bounced off it and he landed in the tub proper. I checked him, and he didn't seem worse for wear.

He earned 0 style points, but as pilots say, any landing you walk away from is a good one.

The Return of Circus Cats

One thing while Katherine was gone that I didn't notice much of and certainly didn't miss was excessive meowing. The boys seemed to orbit closer to me, and when they are close, they generally don't just sit and yell. They will talk, but not as much, and it's more like a like conversation when you can answer them with words and eye contact.

However, they've decided with Mom home, everyone needs to know where they are. And that they can't be bought, but can be rented for kitty treats.

This is why I didn't sleep in past 7:50 this morning.

Makes me wonder when the circus is next in town, grumble ...

Hello, Kitten

I'm minding the store solo for a while again. I spent much of the morning
downstairs, and when I came up, I checked on the boys. Billy is on the stairs on sunbeam patrol, and his brother was curled up high in the library cat tower.

I say was because with no prompting from me, Whitey padded into my office, hopped on on my desk, and has settled down for a nap on the pedestal for the silver kitty warmer. This is despite the warmer itself being packed in my briefcase.

I guess he likes the company. It's mutual.

Sleep well, kitten.


Updated: I left, he left. I came back, he came back. I think he likes me.

Free upgrade!

A police officer got a free feline upgrade on a call to handle an annoying big cat, because it turned out to be a Big Cat.

No Mouser, No Problem

Poor Billy.

Whitey has reverted to using Billy as his favorite self-propelled cat toy. I swear that there have been hot pursuits around the upstairs several days in a row now.

Zoom!

A New Name, a New Happiness

From The Gray Mouser's new valet ...

Mouser (now known as Kageneko, for shadow cat in Japanese) seems quite content. He is now king of the upstairs (downstairs is still a future adventure).

That sounds like our mellow friend for sure.

S.W.A.T. Cat

During The Gray Mouser's tenure, he normally ate in the Library (aka His Suite), with the door closed to prevent any prowling Catzillas from stressing him. However, closed interior doors in this house (especially with food smells behind them) generate their own demand, and reopening them can generate a feline stampede to equal Filene's Basement Running of the Brides.

With the Mouser gone, we left the library open continuously until this morning, when I closed it for an hour (in part to check smells from the heating system, newly launched for fall). Katherine and I then checked the room before breakfast, and gave it a clean bill of health. As we were leaving we agreed the boys could go back in, and as we opened the door ...

... and lo and behold Whitey was in a crouch waiting for the door open. We stepped aside, and he leaped through the door like a S.W.A.T. team. His bound landed him in the middle of the floor, and he immediately checked left and right to locate The Gray Mouser.

Whitey looked downright confused when he realized his cat toy was missing, poor kid.

He'll get over it.

Once more, With Purring

Last night I got a short update from one of The Gray Mouser's new valets.

The Gray Mouser is calmly camping out under their bed, but he doesn't seem stressed. He certainly hasn't minded when the valets come by (down?) and pet him, and he's already come out to be cuddly at least once.

All that sounds much like how he was when he moved into the Kitten Farm, so I assume he'll be fine, and slowly will work his way into the new household (more than here, where the Catzilla brothers crimped his laidback style.)

Meanwhile, the Catzilla brothers are acting like they own the Kitten Farm, which, come to think of it, was how they acted with the The Gray Mouser here. But now they are exercising even more control now, for example snuggling Katherine even closer overnight.

Life seems good all around.

Found Cat

The Gray Mouser moved in with his permanent valets this morning. Thus ends a major part of his story which started when we first heard him meowing outside almost exactly four months ago.

It appears that we (I and his new valets) scared him when it was time to go. He hid under the bed, and we finally gently nudged him out with a broom. He wasn't that scared though, or he didn't know that his claws could hold him firmly in place on a wall-to-wall carpet no matter what a human did. Anyway, we pried him out, and he went stoically in the carrier. But no purring (from a cat that will purr for any trivial reason at all), so he wasn't very happy.

We expect he'll be fine.

The Long (but not Sad) Goodbye

Yesterday, I posted a link to the The Grey Mouser's help wanted ad in the previous post to a mailing list at work. A co-worker asked to meet him, and this evening she and her husband came over for the interview.

To make a long story short, The Grey Mouser will be moving in with his new valets this weekend. We have the remaining few days of this week to say goodbye.

At least he'll be moving via the MINI Cooper S of his new valets. One does have standards to maintain.

I am a little sad, but every time we see Whitey get the Mouser-as-cat-toy look in his eye, we know it's for the best.

Photo Friday: A Place to Call His Own

The Grey Mouser needs a new home in the Seattle area.

While we've decided that The Grey Mouser can peacefully co-exist with the Catzilla brothers, we think he should join a household in which he can be the sole feline lord and master. Then, he can relax and be the incredibly social and lovable cat he is, rather than spending a portion of each day assuming defensive positions in and under our library furniture to avoid the boys' attempts to play with him.

Click on the thumbnails for larger photos.

   


Various succinct details:

• He is a neutered male weighing ~ 9 pounds, and is about two years old.
• He likes most people with almost no introduction needed, and is quite mellow.
• We found him camped out under our patio table in May 2008.
• He is an indoor cat. He hated the aforementioned camping out.
• He has a clean bill of health, current shots, and has been microchipped by us.
• He can do without other cats, especially those that would bully him. We don't picture him as a dog lover, either.
• He's a long hair in the best and worst of ways -- his long silky fur is wonderful to stroke, but does need regular brushing.
• He can be vocal, chirping or sadly meowing, when he's hungry or lonely.
• He is infinitely pettable (he never gets bored).
• He likes to sleep on the bed near his human(s).

The Fine Print: Before you adopt him, you'll need to convince us that he's found a good home with a loyal valet. We'll expect a donation to a local cat rescue organization as evidence of your loyalty.

Updated: He has a new set of valets! See the follow up post.

Meow Institute of Technology

It turns out that MIT is cat friendly.

Need we say more?

Photo Friday: The Cat's In the Cradle

The Grey Mouser visited my office window cat tower last month to check out the view.

Kitten Food!

from the boss ...

After looking at the weigh-in spreadsheet, it looks like Whitey is losing a little too fast, while Billy isn't losing at all. So, please adjust menu as follows:

Whitey: 30 grams morning, 35 grams evening
Billy: 35 grams morning, 40 grams evening
Mouser: 40 grams morning, 45 grams evening

Ferocious Attack Kitten Available

Forwarded by a friend, a ferocious attack kitten is available.

Ray of Hope

Yesterday, Billy actually went up the stairs and around the Gray Mouser (sitting on the edge of the landing) with no one threatening bodily harm.

We'll take what we can get. The Mouser still gets his private suite at night for the time being.

The Boys Are Back In Town

When I woke up this morning, I discovered two tigers on the bed at Katherine's feet. This made me smile. At the same time, all is not well in the Kitten Farm West -- the Catzilla Brothers comfortable were on the bed because we're back to quarantining the Grey Mouser at night.

Basically, we don't think the Mouser is adjusting to the boys. He's comfortable enough to defend his personal space and to visit with humans upstairs, but sharing is not on his agenda at all.

Katherine was actually traveling (again) during the scratched nose incident, but she got her own dose of Mouser vs. Catzilla Round XXXVII when within a few hours of her arrival home on Saturday when vocal expressions of pending warfare came out of the library.

This is not say that Whitey and Billy don't share some of the blame for intruding. However, they were here first, and we (and her Emilyness) taught them rules that the Mouser doesn't follow.

We're back to looking for the Mouser's original owners, and unless the Mouser adjusts to the Kitten Farm better while we search, after that we'll gently work on finding him a new home where he can be the sole lord and master.

Photo Extra: Mouser Leads with his Nose

The newest development between the Mouser and the Catzilla brothers is not good; I think was Billy who put a bloody scratch on the nose of our gray overlord. Minor, really, but it doesn't show things improving between the boys and the new arrival.



It may be time to look for a new home for the Mouser. He will not go to a shelter. We'd keep the Mouser here under supervised quarantine first, and it has yet to be even near that state of affairs. But it is a quality of life issue for all concerned, human and feline.

Leaps Tall Railing in Single Bound

I screwed up. I threw a kitty treat from over the hall railing down to the landing when Billy was at the landing end of the hall.

He leaped up to the railing ... looked down ... measured the distance ... and dove head first seven feet straight down in pursuit of the treat.

Then again, he hit, snarfed the treat, and bounded back of up the stairs for another one, so his genetics (not mention four years of practice) are not for naught.

The Dawn Patrol: TGM Edition

The Gray Mouser has decided the preferred place to sleep at night is between Katherine and me. This provides snuggles and protection from the Catzilla Brothers.

Originally, he would come to be bed minutes after me or not at all. Now however, he sees to prefer joining us (or me, for this week) in the early morning, often about 4 AM.

This didn't work well this morning, because for reasons unknown to me Whitey was camped out half way between the bed and door. And this wasn't a napping kitten -- this a wide awake sitting up Quiet Hunter.

I know all this because the audio exchange was quite emphatic. No blows were exchanged, at least.

The Mouser ended up not joining me.

Photo Extra: Flight Safety

We generally never post bear pictures (this is not a bear blog), but this does serves as an announcement that the inmates will once again be running the place for the next five days while Katherine does her annual summer trip to San Francisco.

In any case, John Harvard Bear is packed for the trip in a four point harness as about secure as you can get if you're only eight inches high.



John Harvard Bear was bought for 1994 edition of this same trip. He's mostly retired now due to wear and tear, but he always insists going on the trip that he joined us for.

Photo Friday: Rubber Kitten at the Vet

From the Mouser's first visit to the Vet, we have him stoically hanging loose waiting for his lab results to come back. For a cat that just got poked and prodded, he's chilled right out. No escape attempts, and he had his usual supply of purrs for when pettted.



(That's not a depressed cat, it's a bored cat.)

The Wrath of Mouser

The Gray Mouser differs from the Catzilla brothers in one very important way: he's not much of a climber. He'll scramble up onto a sofa or bed if he's invited, but he doesn't jump and he certainly doesn't come close to Whitey's acrobatics.

Perhaps because he himself doesn't climb much, he doesn't seem to think in three dimensions. He'll let the boys get much closer vertically than horizontally. This two-dimensional thinking clearly manifested itself this afternoon.

The Mouser was lounging on the floor in the library, between the end table and the library cat tower. Whitey was sitting on the end table, more or less directly above the Mouser. He reached a paw carefully downward, but retreated when the Mouser glared at him. So he adjusted his position, judged the distance, and leaped from the end table to the top of the cat tower, a straight line distance of more than four feet. The Mouser didn't flinch, even when the tower rocked and rattled the window blinds.

I was especially impressed by Whitey's respect for the air rights over the Mouser. He could have cut the distance in half by jumping straight across, from the end table to a lower level of the tower, but that would have carried him through the Mouser's personal bubble. Instead he went for the much more difficult vertical leap. Clearly, our SpiderCat still has it.

Oh, sh-t!

Just as I finished the last post, I thought I heard a hair ball being coughed up.

When I went look, no hair ball, but some funny cat-expelled liquid (pre-hairball?) was in the track of the Turbo-Ball in the library, and someone (perhaps the same cat), had a left bowel movement on the rug.

The latter is very troublesome, because both the Catzilla brothers and the Grey Mouser always use the litter box.

(The Mouser being perfectly litter box trained was one of his endearing qualities. The boys miss the target some times, but that's different issue from not using it.)

For someone to ignore the box may be a stress level problem, and that could be really hard to fix.

Fast Forward

An update on The Gray Mouser

We still haven't put posters up around the neighborhood. That's bad.

I did put an ad on Google a couple of weeks ago, which taught some me some cool stuff about Ad Words (like location restricted ads!), but was probably two weeks too late.

Meanwhile, the Mouser is now free to roam in the house all day, given privacy only for meals.

His personal space has shrunk dramatically, which in practical terms means he's not constantly prepared to defend a bubble 5+ feet around him. He will sound off if a tiger strolls to almost within reach.

Yesterday evening he joined us downstairs to watch the Celtics win their 17th NBA championship, crashed for part of the game on top of the sofa where Katherine or I could pet him while the boys lounged in their usual spots (window and kitchen counter). A week ago, the Mouser was afraid to be downstairs for more than 60 seconds or one noise, which ever came first.

Last night he decided to sleep on Katherine's pillow, until he got booted by the owner. Then he slept between our pillows. The Catzilla brothers were no where to be found, which was odd for Billy but not a worry -- during the summer they aren't nearly (literally) the heat seekers that they are in the winter.

Gray's Anatomy

Yesterday, I took The Gray Mouser (TGM) to the vet. All sorts of small questions are answered:

1. He is a neutered male.
2. He is about two years old
3. He does have not a chip. :-(
4. He has a clean bill of health.
5. He is a very good patient.

No one at the veterinarian recognized him, either. Alas.

He's the most stoic cat I know, and I lived with Her Emilyness for two years. He didn't complain when he was put in the cat carrier, and he only gave one small meow in each direction in the car. At the same time, he wasn't frozen with fear when let out at each end either -- he hopped out, looked around, and didn't complain when I gently kept him on the exam table.

His shots are now updated, and he has been dewormed as a precaution. We're also going to keep him from away from the Catzilla brothers for a week in case he has any respiratory ailments he needs to get over without sharing. That's fine, as it allows him to settle into part of the house without the glare of the boys.

If we don't find his owner and he adjusts to both the boys and living indoors, he'll go back for booster shots and a chip in 3-4 weeks.

The Gray Mouser Goes House

Whitey is not sure what's behind the door. No wonder, because he's never experienced this before -- a new cat in the house.



Behind the door is the lost cat we posted about. He has since acquired the title The Gray Mouser; he's clearly the former, and he's demonstrated the latter.

The Mouser was rescued out of the rain by Katherine at my request. We had already tried this once this morning and failed when he had a vet appointment.

We'll get another appointment for him ASAP. We need three pieces of information:

1. Who is he? (Does he have a chip?)
   
2. How healthy is he? (Can we let him near the boys?)
   
3. What kind of cat is he? (Indoor, outdoor? He? She?)
   

Update: The Gray Mouser sees the vet at 11 am Wednesday (today)

Lost Cat?

We heard a very sad meowing outside during the day today, then again this evening. The source, an adult gray long-hair cat, sounded lonely and lost, and he didn't go away, so we went out to investigate.

After I sat quietly for a while, this guy came up to sniff my hand and eventually eat from a bowl we set out for him. From the condition of his fur, I'd guess he's only been living outside for a little while. He's skittish, but seemed basically comfortable around people.





Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

Update: His name is Nemo. His person contacted us through our vet. He hasn't gone home yet, but we're headed in the right direction.

Another Update: Back to square one. After a few days, the mystery cat came up and said hello to Nemo's person. He's a sweetheart, but he's not Nemo. Is he yours?

(And to clarify, we didn't actually know if this cat is male or female. )

Update: He has a torn ear, healed, as an identifying mark.

Not all prey can escape

Since we never know when we'll need kitty treats, we tend to keep bottles scattered around the house, topping them off from a larger bottle as needed. For obvious reasons, we keep the supplies in kitty-proof locations: Drew's office closet, my office closet, Drew's nightstand drawer.

Except the nightstand drawer is only kitty-proof when closed, a detail that Drew apparently forgot after he filled that bottle. And so, when I went in the bedroom a little while later, I found the bottle open, on the floor, with an inquisitive Billy pushing it around with his paw.

The bottle was half three quarters empty. Uh oh.

The good news is that both boys were present to share in the feast. If it were just Billy, he really would have made himself sick.

Updated by Drew: The bottle was fuller (and emptied) more than she realized. Lucky for us me, no one tossed their snack overnight.

Photo Friday: Kitten Warmer, Improved

Our return of Photo Friday brings us Whitey back on the Silver Kitten Warmer, which is improved for all concerned by having its cover closed. This is possible from a working point of view (not that it matters to Whitey) by putting it next to my new larger monitor.



Unfortunately, with Whitey more active, he may get booted anyway -- all his jumping around can't be good for my portable's hard drive.

Dawn Patrol: Whitey Punks Off Dope

Having watched our rocket kitten the past couple of days, he has reverted to the feline fiend we know and (mostly) love.

He sleeps like a proper cat, but not quite as much, and he responds to cat nap interruptions with more interest.

Like a true Spider Cat, he's been climbing more, including hopping up into a bookshelf we didn't know he could fit into. In more subtle way, one can see just by how he moves that his natural athleticism is back on display, with sharp defined movements be it walking, jumping, or just cleaning himself.

Unfortunately, his second night off drugs he celebrated by staying up and meowing at 3:30 AM, but he seems to be have burned off most of that excess energy now. He was quieter last night.

His brother seem does a little tired, and is not wanting to play with me as much. We think Billy has been chased around the house a few extra times by his now alert brother. :-)

Rocket kitten: activate!

For the last several months, we've been giving Whitey amitriptyline. It's an antianxiety drug used to help cats with interstitial cystitis. (Suggested by our vet after we ruled out infection, blockage, and similar urinary tract issues.) It works great for that purpose, but the side effect is lethargy. All cats sleep a lot, and Whitey's always been less active than his brother, but lately he's been sleeping pretty much all the time.

So, after several months with no signs of anxiety, we've taken him off the medication. And it was like flipping a switch. He started the morning (earlier than usual) by chasing his tail around the bedroom cat tower, he's been chasing his brother, and right now he's rocketing around the upstairs hall in pursuit of turboballs during what's usually prime nap time.

It's good to have our Spider Kitten back. Here's hoping his other symptoms stay gone.

Who called the Plumber?

Katherine has been doing that travel thing again, so Billy (it would appear), got bored. So he disassembled the upstairs water fountain. Twice. When I was in bed. Even with shake cans piled on it the second time.

Explain to me again why my new call phone has him and his brother the inscrutable bum as the wall paper?

Timing, Billy, timing!

Lately Billy and I have been playing a new game. I toss one of his toys -- usually a furry ball with a bell in it -- up to the top of a cat tower. He bats the toy around for a while, then drops it near me for me to toss again. It's very sweet.

Except when he brings the toy into the bedroom at 3 AM.

Whitey is famous!

He's an Internet star, even!

(Actually, the cat in the photo has slightly different markings than our own International Cat of Mystery. Maybe he's just in disguise?)

The Daily Stench: Who Done It And Why?

In our time away away from the blog (did you miss us?), the daily stench has been routine: One of the boys might over spray the litter box when a catzilla sized butt is too close to edge, and we find the occasional hair ball or very rare lost breakfast. Beyond that, the routine is ... nothing.

That unfortunately changed this evening, when someone left a dry stool in the middle of the dining room. I suspect Whitey because he was in and out of the litter box twice in ten minutes this evening; nothing is for sure.

The bigger question is why. Was someone not feeling well or was he voting with his paws about the litter box, which was already scheduled to be changed today? No idea.

Happy Birthday!

It was on this day in 2004 that Billy and Whitey were born.

They got cat milk at dinner in lieu of a cake.

They may be full grown catzillas, but they'll always be Katherine's kittens.

Photo Friday: The Mighty Lounger

Why Billy would lounge (and nap) in the lowest shelf of the upstairs hall table instead on the softer rug (or cat tower across the hall) is beyond me, but he's in charge...

Photo Friday: Mighty Napper

If we have seem to have a lot of pictures of cute cats napping, that's because we have cute cats who nap a lot. Case in point, Billy sleeping on our cradle tower in my office.



If you think we have too many sleeping cat photos, you may need to find a different blog to read.

The Product of the Year

Whitey continues to get his medication nightly, delivered by Katherine's deft fingers with kitty treat appetizers and chasers as both reward and insurance he swallows.

However, Katherine needs to go back to Boston for business and Aikido for a week, and my fingers are anything but deft. So it was off to the big box pet store together to find a pill shooter (pry mouth open, fire pill down throat).

The helpful salesperson actually knew his stock, but did not hear us properly -- he took us into the correct aisle and then handed us something called "Pill Pockets", which are hollow cat treats to hide pills in. We accepted them, and then found the pill shooter we came for and took that too.

Pill Pockets win. We haven't touch the pill shooter since it got home. Katherine took one look at how Whitey gobbles the pockets with the pill inside, and her deft fingers are now devoted to stuffing Pill Pockets too.

This product find is right up there with the catzilla sized scale and the Cat Paper.

Photo Friday: Chesshire Cat

Just because the new travel case for Katherine's chess equipment is even flatter than a brief case doesn't mean Billy doesn't want to relax in it.

In The Mews: Suitcase Cat

A tabby catten smuggled itself into a suitcase for a trip to Dallas, and then the suitcase got lost.

Mew!

A stench update

Actually, it's not much up of an update, which is the way we like it.

Mostly, the boys have been leaving hairballs once or twice a week lately. Never the same place, and we can't even tell which brother. Boring.

Photo Extra: The Kitten is now a Catten

Our niece Bootsies is not as small as she used to be.

Photo Friday: Kitchen-Spider-Kitten Revealed

We previously showed Whitey peering into the front hall from high on a kitchen cabinet, but we didn't show what it took for him to get up there. It's a pretty good jump up, even for a Catzilla. Whitey prefers to make the jump from the slightly raised opening to the living room, or not go up there at all in favor of the refrigerator (not shown) as an intermediate step to the cabinets on over it.



Incidentally, the pillow on the counter is Billy's, for when he wants to keep tabs on the living room and kitchen at the same time.