100!

Wow, wow, wow! It's finally here, our 100th post! Me and the human are finding it hard to believe. It doesn't seem like more than a few weeks since we started blogging, but actually, it's been months and months. We never thought we'd get to this point, but here we are, and what a time of year to celebrate our first hundred ! Christmas is gone, new year is coming, and this is the nice quiet in-betweeny bit... just perfect for a celebration!




We told you yesterday that we were going to do a few things to celebrate, but first of all, we have an announcement to make. It's a big one, friends, cuz it has to do with my human. If you allow your peoples to read, I'd advise that they get ready to scream! Ready? Set? Go!





The human got her physiotherapy job! We found this out before Christmas, but we knew this post was coming, so we thought we'd keep it secret for a big announcement. Even though peoples are silly enough to need her to constantly duplicate telling them how good she was (application form, personal development portfolio, CV, then the interview), they did manage in the end to see what I saw at a glance. My human is awesome! That's why I chose to train her, you know. Once they'd spoken to her, they said that they wanted her. She was surprised though. They ask questions about clinical knowledge in the interview, and she thought it was one of the worst ones she'd done ever, but when they gave her the job, they said her knowledge was far above and beyond what they would expect from someone of the grade of job she's applied for. This made her kinda mad and sad and cynical all at the same time, as she wonders about the other interviews she's done where she got no constructive feedback as to why she didn't get the job. She knows folks are scared of letting someone with broken eyes go work hunting for them, but it's hard to prove is all. She doesn't care though. This is a good place. It's the top unit in the whole of the UK for spinal injuries, and it's in a good place. She can even live in the house she lived in when she was in university, so she's reasonably familiar with the area too. Her closest friend from university even works in the same place! She is so, so happy, and I'm happy for her! I was even more happy when she told me the house we'd be living in is Dogman's! he's moving out, you see. So I don't even have to get used to a new place when we move! isn't that wonderful? She won't start her new job for a few months, as they need a lot of paperwork through to prove she's a good person and has no criminal record, but that just gives me more time to prepare her for what she will encounter.





So, on to how we're going to celebrate. First of all, we'd like to do something to help out other cats. As you know, our friend Chrystal is trying so hard to get enough money to build a house for all the super cats she's rescued. We'd like to help with that, but we don't have lots of moneys thanks to one thing and another, and my vets bills! Even still though, we'd like to give something. As it's been 2.5 years since the human started looking for a physio job to the time she got one, we're going to use that number to set our donation. So we will donate $25 to Chrystal's efforts! We're sorry it's not more, Chrystal, but we hope it helps in some small way!





Speaking of moneys, we bought an item in the auction for Chrystal's cathouse not so long ago. Debb sent us an email about how to pay for it, but the human has managed to lose it and doesn't know how to pay for the item she won. She only remembered about it when she thought of donating to Chrystal today. Debb, if you're reading, please could you email us again? So sorry it's taken the human so long!





Now to the second way we'd like to celebrate, and this one depends on you. Christmas is the season for giving and receiving, and I'd like to do that. Moneys are a people thing. I accept that they are useful, but they don't really mean much to us cats. I let the human celebrate her success with her moneys, but I'd like to do it in a moore practical way.





I know that many of my readers live in America and far, far away over the ocean. I'm almost a bit tentative to put this out here bearing in mind the response I had to my last competition, but I'm going to anyway. Different countries have different toys for us to play with. You Americans have things like Pawbreakers, for example, that we poor, deprived cats can only dream of! But then, we have super toys that you can stuff full of catnip, so I guess it balances.





I'm rambling again, aren't I? To come to the point, I thought it would be kind of nice to celebrate my 100th post by doing a toy exchange. I'd love to exchange gifts with one of you from a different country, so that you can see what kind of toys we have here and I can see what you have too. I know finances are tight around this time of year, so I'll understand if you would rather not, especially cuz Secret Paws is just done. But this is a different take on things. Rather than it just being toys, it would be country specific, or, more propperly, typical cat toys for the cats living in those countries. What do you all think?





My human is coming back to me tomorrow, and I can't wait to see her! It's been far, far too long since I got scratches from her, if you ask me. She has to get up at super dark AM tomorrow, even before the birds have come up! That's how she'll catch her bird to fly back to me, you see, cuz she'll be awake before him. I think she's going to sneak up, wait till he yawns, then jump into his mouth when he isn't looking. that way he won't worry about tummy ache as he did on the way over, and hopefully it will mean that he'll fly rather than cancelling. Paws crossed, please. I want her back with all possible speed!

Almost a Century!

Isn't that old? I think so. That's almost the age of my human. Ah, ignore the indignant noise she's making. Truth hurts! Seriously though, we are almost a century of sorts. Tomorrow will be our 100th post! isn't that crazy! Seems only like yesterday that I started blogging to you all, and now, here we are. I do plan to celebrate my nice round number of posts in two ways, but I'll talk to you all about that tomorrow, or whenever I make the big post.


Today, I don't really have much to report. I've been snoopervising Dogman and keeping Dogface in her place. I'm a bit worried about her, actually. I mean, what's going to happen when I leave? I'm not being condescending or anything, but Dogface's brain is so small that I fear she'll forget that place as soon as I hightail my furry little butt out the door. What's to be done about it? I feel for her, and want her to be able to remember her place in the world, but I also have a human to keep under the paw, and I can't do that whilst snoopervising Dogface in her new home. My responsibility has to end somewhere, but it's hard to just let go when you've owned something as long as I have. I mean, you might think that seven months isn't a terribly long time, but it is when you've spent most of it in training them. They've come a long way, the Dogface and the human. Dogface has learned to wait while I drink her water, and to jump off her bed as though someone had lit a fire under her tail if I show even the slightest inclination that I wish to lie there. I never do, by the way. I just stroll across it, then go do something else. I mean, why would I want to lie in Dogface smell!


As for the human, she's learned that a lap is for lying in, and should remain still and available at all times when I require it. She's learned to feed me stinky goodness on a daily basis, and has all but given up on feeding me silly things like people chicken. no matter how good it smells, I ain't touching it! She's not perfect, but they're both so much better than they were. So, you see, it's hard to stop feeling responsible for them when I've been working hard for the last few months and especially because I've been seeing results. I've started Dogman's lessons too, and he's picking up a few things. He's an abysmally slow study though. I mean, he hasn't even learned that a miaow means "scratch me now! No matter what you're doing!" That's fundamental. Ah well. I suppose the human was this slow once.


We're also super glad to report that our Secret Paws package has arrived! We can now reveal that our partner was Ginger Jasper! So sorry that we can't put a link, but the human can't visit the blog to get one. Every time she tries, the little man in the laptop box has a super grump and goes very quiet and won't say a word. he gets so mad that he won't even let the human close the blog window. So he won't read and he wont' close it. The human says this is what happens when the computer freezes. She says it's very frustrating, and I agree! We've seen Jasper's post on the Secret Paws blog, but I want to see what he wrote on his own one! Silly computer man, stop being mad! Anyway, we're so glad you like what we sent you, Jasper, and it's so super cool that we live near each other! If you ever need to hang out with a refined ladycat, you just let me know, Ok? This makes me even more excited to see what is in my own Secret Paws gift. I can't wait to get back and open it!


We also wanted to say a huge thank you to those of you who regularly comment on the blog, despite the fact that the human rarely gets to visit you. It means a lot that you keep coming back day after day after day in spite of the fact that we don't always leave messages on your blogs. I can't tell you what a happy feeling it brings to us to see what you all have to say. There really aren't words. Know that they mean perhaps more than you realise. Head bumps to you all!


The human has had an interesting time with her family. She's enjoying seeing them all, but she says that she misses her own home now and wants to get back. She's a fickle old thing, my human, cuz when she does get back, I know she's going to say that she misses the family and wishes she could be at home again. She's loving all the time with the young peoplekittens though. They've been extra special cuddly with her this time. One of the older ones who doesn't usually cuddle at all "because big boys don't snuggle, silly!" spent most of Christmas on her knee with his cheek against hers while they watched TV. The little peoplekitten that said she wouldn't open any gifts till the human got here kisses her every time she sees her, and her little brother was so desperate to sit on the human that he sat on top of his sister who was sitting on top of the human. It was a pile up! I can understand the desire though. If my human gets one thing right it's how to cuddle. She's just warm and squishy and soft and snuggly in all the right places. Those peoplekittens obviously have good sense! She even managed to get a couple of minutes of tentative purring out of Phoebe, but hasn't managed to replicate it again yet.


Speaking of that baby, she says hi to Gus and Stella, Amy's kittens. She wants to know if they can come play with her and show her how to climb the tree. I'm in the process of explaining about distances to her and how far they are away from her, but she's still young and doesn't get it at all. Santa Paws didn't bring her anything new for christmas, but the human kind of understands why now. She brought her a toy when she saw her yesterday (one of my mousies actually, that I sneakied into her suitcase to keep her company in Ireland and watch over her clothes and things), but as soon as he went on the floor, Pepper stole him! She defended him vigorously, so poor Phoebe didn't have a chance. The peoplekittens say the same thing happens with treats, and they're silly enough to refuse to lock the dog out while the poor baby gets her presents. Oh well. I guess lots of cats don't have many toys and cope just fine. Not me though, nuh uh! I have need of a Kazba Kitten parcel and a Secret Paws gift. Roll on homecoming!

She's Got Some Splaining to Do!

Oh yes she does, friends. The human, that is. Earlier today I was informed by a reliable source that another cat had been writing on my blog, and that my human had been fratternising with it. The latter I believe. She's difficult like that, and no amount of training will teach her otherwise, but the former? Surely not. As soon as Dogman turned his back, I had a quick peak, and couldn't believe my eyes! Who does this Phoebe think she is! What's going on here! Why is my human cuddling another kitten! I was so angry that when Dogman and she were talking on the phone, I miaowed very, very loudly and told her off repeatedly. Dogman was surprised at the amount of noise I was making. Just as well he doesn't understand felinese, cuz I confess that some of the language I was using was far from ladylike. You know what though? I don't care, and I'm not ashamed of it. That human needs putting in her place.




Once I was done telling her exactly what I thought of her, I found that my anger was manageable. I went back and re-read what the kitten had written, and my heart softened as my claws retracted instead of scrabbing. She sounds so lost, so misguided, so, well, kittenish. I have a soft spot for kittens. I can't help it. They're just so defenceless and impressionable. I decided that instead of shouting at her for stealing my blog as she deserves, I'd tell her rescue story instead, cuz she was a rescue you know.





Tori, Phoebe is not my human's new kitten, no. We did say we were getting one a few months ago, but unfortunately, it turned out that that baby wasn't the right way to be shown. So we're still waiting. no, this kitten owns the human's auntie people and her three kittens. The peoplekittens are quite old kittens now, but you know, they do stay babies for such an awfully long time. Anyway, Phoebe began life as one of a group of kittens in a feral colony. Mummycat was being fed by the auntie cuz she could tell that she was nursing and she wanted to help her. Phoebe and her siblings were born just as it was starting to get cold here, so mummycat could do with all the help she could get.





For about four or five weeks, everything was fine. Mummycat fed the babies and the babies followed mummycat everywhere. But then the peoples noticed that one little cat wasn't following so good. Mummycat was a very good mummycat though, and kept coming back for it and picking it up to take with her. But the peoples could see that the kitten wasn't well. They phoned my human and told her that the kittens eyes were gummed shut so bad that she couldn't see, and that she seemed sniffly and lethargic. When the human said that it was cat flu and would most likely kill her through her being cold or mummycat struggling too much and leaving her behind or her own immune system not being strong enough yet to fight it off, the peoples, particularly the oldest peoplekitten, got very upset. The human advised them on the best way to separate the kitten from mummycat and trap it with the minimum amount of distress.





It wasn't hard to do. The baby was so sick that she didn't even try to run away. When they took her inside, she was so scared, but too weak to run. The human told the mummypeople of the peoplekittens, her auntie, how to make up a saline solution and then how to safely bathe the baby's eyes to give her some temporary relief before they took her to the vet.





Now you know that I go back and forth on whether or not I like vets, but whether I love 'em or hate 'em, the fact remains that occasionally, they have their uses. This was one of those cases. They helped the auntie clean phoebe up good. She had fleas, she had worms, she had flu, she was too small to eat propperly just yet, and the auntie didn't have the money for any of it. The vet was so nice that he said the only thing they had to pay for was the eye drops for her eyes, and they had to promise to bring her back for her vaccinations. Super vet!





They took the kitten home. They got fleas, but they still didn't care. They just cleaned them out of where they landed, and kept cleaning the kitten. That's when she got named Phoebe. The oldest peoplekitten watches the TV show Friends, and on there, a people named Phoebe sings a song that goes, "Smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you". Now normally I'd take offence to this. After all, it's not terribly flattering to be named for a smelly cat. But the thing is, she was smelly back then, and anyway, Phoebe is the peoplekitten's favourite character, so it's kinda Ok. So Phoebe was her name, and it stuck.





The original plan was to clean her up, then put her back with the mummycat, but that lasted all of about two seconds. The human also mentioned the high mortality rate in feral colonies from things like FIV, and as soon as they heard that, they decided, well, the oldest peoplekitten decided, that they were keeping her as a housecat. They had no experience of cats at all, let alone tiny kittens, but somehow they managed to get her eating, and sort of pooping in her litterbox. I say sort of cuz she prefers to go on the floor right nearby. They didn't heed any of the human's advice on fixing the problem though, so she still does it. She's about three months old now, and is reasonably well adjusted. She's still not too sure about peoples, but that's more to do with the environment she lives in rather than her routes, we suspect. It's a very noisy and fast-paced household. Goodness, even I wouldn't be a huge people cat in that sort of house, and I love peoples! We have hope that she'll get better though.





So, that's Phoebe's story. This little kitten has found her forever home right in time to have her first Christmas. Isn't that great? What's not so great is that she stole my blog, but hey ho, she's just a kitten and I guess she doesn't know she's not sposed to. if she does it next Christmas, she'll get a good whapping, but for now, cuz she's tiny and cute, I'll say this instead. Welcome to the world, Phoebe, welcome to Christmas, welcome to your forever home, and more importantly, welcome to love! Soak it all up, baby. It don't get much better than you've got it. Oh, also, I've had a report from the human about the Pepper. Just so as you know, the Pepper is actually called a dog, and dogs are made for whacking! The human says she attacks you and bites you and chases you. She doesn't do it enough to draw blood or to really hurt. She's doing it more cuz she's jealous of the attention you get rather than cuz she wants to do you injury, but it's not acceptable! The peoples are too soft with her. They don't discipline her the way they should, so, baby, it's up to you! Those claws you have? Use 'em. I know you're starting to, cuz the human heard Pepper yelp a couple of times when you decided to chase her. Good for you! You need to do that now when she comes to bite you. Just remember, you are and always will be cuter than her, which means you'll always get more attention and she'll always be jealous. that means you gotta stick up for yourself. Claws, claws, claws! She'll be much happier once you've put her in her place.





Because it's Christmas, I'll allow you to cuddle my human too. Sit with her a while. She's a good people to teach you that peoples are not all busy busy and can be good, quiet, warm places to sleep which will scratch and tickle you when you ask for it. You're right not to bite though. The human is such a bore when even I do that. it's just not worth it. If you're nice, she'll bring you ribbons and things to play with. I'll tell her to.





Now, I'm done being nice. Dogface is here. I've got some whapping to do!

Guest Post: Christmas Kitten

Hi, hi, hi! Hi! Can you hear me? Huh? I don't know if you can, but the big noisy thing that calls itself the human says you can, so I'm excited enough that I'm gonna talk even if you can't. This is soooooooo neat that I can talk to other cats! Are some of you kittens, hmmm?? I'm a kitten and I'm called Phoebe and I live with more of the big noisy things that pick me up and cuddle me and feed me and play with me and walk at me so as I have to run away super fast so that their big paws don't step on me. Some of you other kittens might be ascared of them, but I'm not cuz I'm super brave. i do run away but that's just so that they won't step on me rather than because I'm afraid. I'm black and white, and I'm a big girl now! So big that I can even whap the little noisy yappy thing the big things call a Pepper or a dog or a "be quiet, you" depending on what kind of mood they're in. She's jealous of me and she bites me cuz even though she's small, I was smaller than her for a long time cuz I'm still only a baby kitten really, but now I'm big enough that I can smack her with my paws and she sometimes runs away. I did it today when she tryed to eat my food.




Today was a special day for the big noisy things. They call it Christmas. I call it a good idea. Why? Because there was a big bird thing that they left on the table and I got to eat it. Least, I tried to, but the big noisy thing that the smaller ones call mummy kept pushing me off when I tried. The third time, she even smacked my poor nose! I kept trying though.





Christmas is a scary time. it's when lots of the big noisy things come together and make a lot of noise to each other and they also bring boxes with them covered in paper. that makes noise too when they tear it off. I wasn't sure what to make of it all. I spent my time by either hiding out under one of the kitchen chairs or running around like crazy attacking everything that I laid eyes on! It was fun! Scary, but fun.





Then the big noisy thing that calls itself a human came. She arrived with two other big noisy things, one of whom I think you folks know as the HGG, and the other who is a family friend. They had all come to eat the bird and lots of other things, but they weren't interesting for cats, so I don't member what they were. Sorry, but I'm still small so my memory isn't too good yet. Sorry. The human called the mummy noisy thing her auntie, and the small noisy things her cousins, but I don't know what this means. Anyway, when she sat down, I ignored her totally, but it wasn't long before she scooped me up. I didn't know what she wanted. The noisy things I live with are very noisy, and they never sit still for long, so I'm not used to having lots of lap time sept in the evenings, so I didn't sit with her long. In fact, when she was tickling me, I even bited her... Hard. She told me off the first time, but I didn't listen. Even I know that big noisy things are silly enough that I can get away with biting them, cuz they think it is only a game, so I did it again. Then I got the shock of my life. It did something that I didn't know noisy things knew how to do! It put the mammacat grab on my neck and cuffed me! It didn't hurt, but I was so surprised that I bited it again, just to make sure I'd actually really seen that it knew how to do this. It did it again! I couldn't believe it! It was exactly how my mummycat used to tell me she'd had enough, so I didn't bite the human any more. I got quietly down off her lap with good manners instead of biting my way free, then runned away and bited shoe laces instead. They didn't scruff me or cuff me, so I decided they'd be more fun to bite instead.





The big noisy things got quiet for a while after that while they ate the bird. Then they all sat back and rubbed their tummies and said they'd eaten too much. I was glad to hear it. Means there would be some left for me! But they wouldn't give me any! I was so cross that I stayed in the kitchen when they all went into the living room. I'll admit that part of me wanted to watch the bird to make sure there was none that would suddenly appear for me, but it never did.





While I was sleeping on the chair though, the big noisy human came out and picked me up. I remembered what had happened earlier and went nice and still in her hands as a kitten should when it is picked up by a mummycat, but she sat down with me and tickled and cuddled and scratched me. She did this when there was no other big noisy things around, and this was so strange for me that I actually let her snuggle me. It was kinda strange but kinda good at the same time. I thinked I liked it, so even though I runned away, I let her pick me up again when another few noisy things were there. I even purred for her and rubbed her hand with my face. But I didn't stay long. I'm just not sure about cuddling yet, sept when I am tired and want to go for sleepies on a warm big noisy thing. Then they're Ok.





While I was cuddling with the human, I sensed she was a little sad, but as I don't know her all that well, I didn't ask about it. I'm not sure I care either. I know that sounds rude, but really, I don't know her. All I know is that she had a bit of a rough Christmas. It ended better than it started, but it wasn't an easy day at all for her. I thought about licking her when I heard this, but just sniffed the ham smell on her fingers instead. Hope that was enough comfort. Then I runned away and fighted with the Pepper dog thing, just for fun.





So that was my day and it was long and it was exciting and it was scary and I think I like the human noisy big thing but I'm not sure, and I think I like cuddles but I'm not sure either, and I am surprised that the human knows the mummycat grab and I don't think I will bite her any more cuz it's not fun to bite her. Now I want some birdy. I'm gonna crawl on the table again and see if I can find any even though I know I'm not sposed to and I might make the big noisy things make a lot of noise (they call it shouting) cuz I'm up there. It's fun tormenting big noisy things!

Christmas Eve!

This will be a joint post from me and the human. I decided that I couldn't let her write alone on Christmas eve, so here I am.




It's been a quiet few days without the human here. Dogman is good, but he doesn't talk to me as much as she does. he's fun to follow though. The human says this is a good sign. I follow her around, so she thinks cuz I follow him it means I like him. What she doesn't seem to consider is that he's interesting to watch, that's all.





Some strange things happened today. For one, Dogface came back when she wasn't sposed to. Apparently, Dogman's mummypeople's daddypeople (so, Dogman's grandad) got rushed back to hospital. He's not very well anyway, but they were hoping he'd be Ok over Christmas. This meant that the mummypeople had to leave in a hurry to go see him, so Dogface got to come stay with me and Dogman. This meant some rearranging though. My foods and my box were out in the open, and if they were left there, Dogface would have gone scavenging. I'm not going to go into details of what she takes from the box. It's too disgusting for Christmas eve, but she eats all my foods too, so Dogman had to move them. This meant I went up in the world though, as I now have a whole room all to myself that Dogface can't get into. It has my foods and my box in there, and even a massive soft flat thing called a massage table for me to lie on. The door only has a little gap in it so I can get in and out but Dogface can't. Hah! So I can have my stinky goodness in peace! The human isn't so pleased that we won't all be separated though. She consoles herself with the fact that she tried.





Dogman's tree is very, very interesting. I keep considering really whapping one of the dangly things, but I'm too much of a ladycat to go attacking things. Instead, I stand up on my back legs and grab them with my front. My human has another one of her word pictures of me for you.





I heard a bit of a rumpus coming from the tree. Dogman has a lot of very expensive glass ornaments which, after heeding my advice, he hung nice and high, so although I knew she could only get at the plastic ones, I was worried about her potentially pulling the tree over. When I got to her, I found a ladycat with fluff on end which means she's in high play mode, and tail a-quiver. There she was with her two hind paws planted squarely on the carpet. Her two front ones weren't there though. They were stretched right up and holding onto one of the biggest baubles. She just held it there rather like you or I would hold a mug between our hands to warm them. Her head was down and she was sniffing like crazy as though she couldn't quite work out what this strange thing was. She was like a little statue until I lifted my hands, then the whapping started. Discovering that the ball stayed fixed to the branch though, she let out the most disgusted sounding meow, gave the offending item an almighty swipe, then pelted away from the tree as though it had bitten her. She sprinted to the other end of the house, then came tearing back like her tail was on fire.





Human, I only ran away to get a ping pong ball. They're much better. They roll. Stupid tree.





While my day has been relatively quiet, the human's has been hectic. She's been wrapping and distributing presents all day. Even though she didn't go out to other peoples' houses to wrap presents, lots of them came to see her and the HGG. She got to see the youngest humankitten in the family. He is only two years old, and it's funny cuz as soon as he saw her, he went crazy. He is deaf too, so instead of making the talk noise at him, she waved and made a big smiley face. He let out a big squeal and ran at her, right past the HGG, dived on her and gave her a big, sticky fat hug. His mummypeople says she's never seen him do that with anyone before. The human was pleased. I don't know why though. Little stickies pull your hair and put slobber on you and they're so noisy!





It's only 20 minutes till Christmas, and the human says the last visitor has only just left. She always gets up with the babies to see them open their santa presents, so there won't be much sleep for her. The HGg is very tired from all the visiting, and hasn't been too well today anyway, so she's going to have to put her to bed too and get her settled before she can sleep. Then once the kitten presents are done, it's time for her to open hers. Sadly, Dogman hasn't bought me or Dogface anything to open. I'm disappointed, but the human says that I shouldn't be. She says all the stuff she bought for Santa Paws initially will be mine, as we couldn't send it in our package after I got sick again, just in case Mr Bug had stowed away while we weren't looking. Plus we will have our own Santa Paws package when we get back from Hannah and Lucy, and we have the toys from the Kazba Kitten too. Oh, it's so exciting! But I want something now. The human says she'll tell Dogman to give me extra stinky goodness, but it's not quite the same. We don't know if we mentioned before, but we sent our Santa Paws package out way earlier this week, and we can only hope that it's reached the recipient on time!





The only thing that remains is for me and the human to wish you all a very, very merry Christmas. Thank you all for being with us over the last few months. we know they haven't been easy, what with us all complaining about being sick and all. We hope you all get everything that you want from Santa Paws or santa clause if you're a people, or santa claws if you're a cat who prefers the paw of guidance with claws extended. Either way, we hope you all have a peaceful and happy day tomorrow with lots of food and love and time with those nearest and dearest. I feel it only propper to remind the peoples that stinky goodness should not be rationed on this day of giving. It would be mean to do so! Also, laps should be available at all times for cuddling in, even if you see sitting still as an inconvenience. The turkey is for our consumption, so please don't be frustrated if we eat first. We promise we'll leave some for you.

Human Update

Hi there. The human here. Apologies in advance if this post is a bit disjointed, but I'm so tired that I can hardly work out how to type propperly!






I'm pleased to tell you that I got home yesterday. It took many delays and set backs, but I got there in the end. Hurray! Everybody was so happy to see me and I was over the moon to be home with them all. I spent what remained of last night and a lot of today running round to see everyone. I also picked up one or two last minute bits of shopping. Tomorrow will be a day of baking and wrapping and business.





Christmas eve around here is always incredibly hectic, but this year, rather than having a huge family get together, many of us are splitting into much smaller groups and doing our own things. I'm curious to see how it will work.





So, I'm home, and I'm happy. Miss Tia is cosying up to Dogman and seems happy enough, or so he says. I'm missing her already though!

Tortureshell: Birds

How, you might ask, am I able to do a Tortureshell in such a short time after coming to live at Dogman's place? I wish, friends, that I could tell you I was so good at tortureshelling that I can just pull them from nowhere, but unfortunately, it takes even me a little time to judge the best angle of mischief. No, this time, our Tortureshell is to do with the human and her bird. Let me tell you all about it.




She drove to the airport (this is the name of the place where the plane birds are coaxed in to land and eat) with Dogman and Mark who had agreed to take her cuz it was still very snowy and trains might not be running. They got there with only a few minutes to spare before check in closed, but were relieved that someone was still taking the bags from them. The flight, apparently, would still run, but with a two and a half hour delay. They went and got some food and took it easy for a little while. Then the peoples who help my human at the airport came and got her and they went through security. Then followed some waiting, and some more waiting, and then just a little bit more. Just five minutes before her bird was supposed to eat her and leave, the airport announced that it was closing due to bad weather. Her bird refused to take off, and refused to eat my human. He said it was cuz he didn't want to fly with the belly ache of her really heavy suitcase. he also said the sandwich she ate made her just too heavy to cope with. I can understand this. I mean, we cats are better than any bird, and I dont' think any of my friends could lift my human. There's just too much of her!





Because the bird wouldn't fly, my human had to come back home and book to take a new bird. The peoples who booked it (the airline, she calls them) offered to put her in a hotel, but she was worried about it. There were lots of peoples staying there due to the cancellations, and that would mean staff being stretched. normally, she knows staff are happy to help her get things like food, but she didn't want to chance it. The airline paid for a taxi back home for her. And here she stayed.





I must say, I was mighty surprised to have her walk in the door at dark AM on Tuesday morning, but I made the most of it. I even went so far as to give her some of my body heat to warm her up. She was so cold when she got back in! She stayed all day yesterday, but she says that her bird will be waiting for her again today, so she has to go back to the airport and try again. I half hope he won't eat her again, cuz then I get to have her for longer, but I know she wants to see her family, so I'm torn. She got really sad yesterday when her and Dogman went down town to pick up our things for Secret Paws and post them cuz it was all Christmasy and she couldn't help thhinking she might not get home. These weather conditions are set to last till the day after Christmas. Then this morning she logged on to Facebook, and saw this from one of the youngest children in the family.





Carly, when are you coming? I'm fed up waiting for you here. I want you to come home. I won't open a single gift till you get here. I promise.





This from a humankitten that normally is the first downstairs on Christmas morning. She does like to open the things slowly though, and she always does it right in front of the human so that she can show her every little thing she gets. She's a very thoughtful little girl, and is one of the family's deaf babies (deafness runs in the human's family as well as the blindness). This baby had a Coclear implant (we don't know if that's spelled right!) at three years old which meant she had to learn to talk at that age. the human was still at home then, so taught her a lot of language herself. Once she learned, she never shut up, and would talk just for the sake of hearing herself, but the human knew how important language acquisition was as early as possible, so she talked back as much as she could. We think it was because the human rarely asked her to be quiet that the little one gravitated towards her, but she's always been close, and is usually the noisiest one at harping on and on and on "Mummy, mummy, mummy, Carly's home. Can we go to granny's and see her mummy? Can we? Muuuuuuuuum!" That quoted to the human by her mummy on Tuesday morning at 6 AM when she thought my human had made it home. Needless to say, it wasn't the mummy's idea of the perfect wake up call. The human got real, real runny eyes when she read what the humankitten had said though, so I think it's best for her health if she does make it home for Christmas. I don't want a sick eyed human on my hands. The risk isn't worth it. If it keeps her from the vet, then I'll make the sacrifice.





In other news, the Catnip Lounge crew are having a commentathon today in honour, once again, of Chrystal and her cats. I'm having real net trouble this morning, so I can't go and visit the Catnip gang. I know they read though, so please, if you don't mind, could you consider my mention of you on the blog as my comment in the commentathon? Also, if one of the others who posts for the blog could find a link and insert it, I'd be most grateful. I'd make the human do it, but the man in the box is being rude this morning and isn't talking to her and telling her all the things she needs to know. She doesn't know why, but doesn't have the time to pull him out and give him a good talking to either, as she needs to get ready for flying again.





In one last bit, thank you so much, Praline, for embedding my videos for me, and for Tori who suggested a way to do it. I'll try that next time. I can't remember who it was said they hadn't done snow angels since being ten, and the talking man won't let us check either, but I'm glad that you, at least, are more sensible than my human. When I mentioned this to her, she only said, "But Tia, I'd never made a snow angel before and wanted to try it." Stupidity? I rest my case.

She Did It!

The human managed, at long last, not only to get pictures of the snow from the falling sky, but actually got a video! Now I can at last show you all what a silly human I own.

Enjoy!

We can't embed, so Click Here



Because we still can't embed, Click here



And don't blame me for how silly she is!

She says it was lots of fun making the snow angel, but judging by the level of the teeth chattering when she returned to the warm house, i won't be making any cute cat snow angels.

A people one is all the excitement I can stand, I fear.

I'm making this post quick today, as the human is hoping to fly home very, very soon. Cuz of all the snow, she's leaving super early to be there on time, even though there's no guarantee that the planes are still going up in the skky. Isn't it weird that peoples will allow themselves to be swallowed by these plane birds to go flying in the sky? What's more odd is that the birds choose to eat peoples. I mean, have you ever tasted them? There's bound to be something better out there. Mousies for example. Nobody's so desperate that peoples are the food of choice, and yet, the planes continue to eat them, and the peoples submit. The whole affair is a bit worrying to me. The human says she might take me to be eaten by a plane bird one of these days, but I'm not so keen.

The human tells me that she's going to be gone now for a lot of days over Christmas, that is, if her plane bird can be persuaded to eat her, then fly in this weather. Poor bird, what a tummy ache to be flying with! Still, if it gets her to her family, then it'll be a job well done. I'm going to miss her though. I like having her around. Dogman's all right, but he's just not the human. he isn't as squishy nd cuddly as her. Oh well, I guess I'll cope.

The human says she'll blog for me when she can, but as she's not with me, she won't know what I'm getting up to in as much detail as she'd like to. She'll tell you all about her Christmas if you'd like to hear it though. I'm sorry in advance. She does tend to talk a lot about herself, and all my training hasn't gotten rid of this habit. I will talk to you all again as soon as I can, and will visit you as regularly as possible. I'll also let you know if the human's bird eats her later tonight! Paws crossed please. As you can see, the snow's pretty bad here, and those videos were taken after it had started to thaw!

Sweet Praline here: My Mom helped me embed Carly's snow angel videos for her.  Hope you enjoy them.

Dogface: The Conclusion

The human is awake very, very early this morning cuz I decided that I did care after all if there were mancats in the snow. I decided to invite them over so that I could still see them, but wouldn't get cold. Now, bear in mind that the front door is very good at keeping out the cold. This means, if you ask me, that it's also probably good at keeping in noise. Add to that the muffling affect of the snow, and you can see I really had to shout good to get any mancat's attention. This I did with gusto. I even sang a little opera to them, just to encourage them in, you understand. Sadly, the only reward I got was an annoyed human who told me that no mancats were coming. Well, how does she know? She's up anyway which means I get cuddling while it's nice and quiet. I've been taking advantage of it. I've also been biting the long lead hanging down from the side of her small computer box thing, a laptop she says, which she doesn't seem too thrilled with. Her hand comes out of nowhere when I do it and takes it off me straight away. Still, it's a fun game.




So we left you yesterday not knowing what had happened. I was incredibly worried. I'd given up my quiet, girls only Christmas at home to come up here for the sole purpose of helping the stupid Dogface settle in, and now she wasn't even here! But where was she? It was cold outside, and she's not used to that. Surely they hadn't just dumped her by the road? I started snooping, sniffing, asking questions. In short, being the best detective ever. From the clues, here is what I was able to piece together. This was later confirmed by the human.





When I sniffed shoes and coats, I smelled the smell of a strange ladypeople. now, sniffing alone would not let me work out who she was, so I had to go to the human for that. turns out that she is Dogman's mummypeople. Some further investigations told me that this mummypeople had been with Dogface and the human and Mark, so I suspect that the stop we made was at her house. Dogface went in, but never came out. I grilled the human most thoroughly on what happened inside, but she assures me that the mummypeople doesn't have a simmering cauldren of water waiting to pop Dogface into. I was worried about this cuz the human says the mummypeople made her and Mark a stew so that they would have something to eat after the long drive. I wondered if it was a Dogface stew, but apparently not. Obviously, even peoples have the capacity to realise she'd taste awful.





The only conclusion that I could come to is that Dogface stayed with the mummypeople, but I wasn't all the way sure until last Friday night when a ladypeople with the same smell as the mummypeople came to the Dogman's house. She was going to get a snow shovel for him, but when she came, she wanted to say hello to me. Initially, stews were still in my mind, so I kept my distance and tucked right in under the table against the wall in as small a ball as I could get. This is not because I was hiding, I promise you. It's just that I know how much it would distress the human to lose me to a stew pot, and I don't want to cause her upset. I'd never hide. I'm too brave for that. The mummypeople talked nicely to me for a while though, and, from her tone (she doesn't speak a word of felinese so I was reduced to listening to silly people talk noise and trying to piece together the meaning), I deduced that she wasn't intending on making me into a stew, so I came out and let her admire me. And admire me she did! She fell in love with my beautiful blue eyes. This is the mark of a good colourpoint Persian, actually, the bright blue eyes, and I have 'em. Many peoples say it's very unusual in a cat. The mummypeople certainly thought so. She said they were very beautiful. Well, thank you, mummypeople, for stating the obvious. It's kind of you to say so though.





Anyway, while the mummypeople was admiring, I managed to sneak in a covert sniff under cover of headbumping her, and there it was, Dogface's smell. So it's confirmed, friends, Dogface is with Dogman's mummypeople. The human is telling the truth. I was a bit annoyed about this. After all, as I said, I'd given up my Christmas. I told the human this in no uncertain terms, but she only replied that she thought it best that we were all separated for a period to let Mr Bug run its course and hopefully we'll stop having him round to stay. I've said before that I don't like mr Bug (sorry, I know that's rude to say about house guests, but I don't!), so although I'm mightily cheesed off at the duplicity practiced by them all, I understand the necessity. I just wish they'd told me is all.





Despite the lack of Dogface, I wasted no time at all in settling in. this was something the human had worried about, cuz when I first came to live with her, I hid for over a week. She wanted me happy before she left so that she wouldn't worry about me. She needn't have worried at all. She thinks I was so quick to settle cuz she gave me a natural herbal thingy that calms the nerves, but I know the truth. I'm just more confident now. Even without that herb I still would have busted the butt of Dogman's new house with my outgoing approach. I explored the bathroom, the hall, then the bedroom when the human opened the door. she let me see the living room and kitchen briefly, but didn't leave me there for long as she wanted me to learn where the box was before I could get lost in the new space. She's so silly sometimes. I'm not a kitten any more. Show me where the box is once, and I'm good.





When Dogman returned from the work hunt the next day, I kept out of the way as a token gesture, but then came out and paraded around the place as if, my human says, I'd always been here. this pleased her.





Speaking of Dogman, my human has worries. Not about him at all, but about me. you see, every time Dogman walks at me and gets close, I run and run and run like the biggest, growliest dogface ever was chasing me. I actually do this when most manpeoples come towards me, and I'm more hesitant usually about coming for a cuddle with them. The human wonders whether the manpeople in the last place wasn't particularly nice to me and so I've learned to fear a kick or being pushed off a lap or other similar things. She asked me about it, but I'm not telling. It's not something I want to talk about, and in any case, when Dogman's sitting down, he has a reasonably good lap. I sat on it yesterday for a few minutes but only cuz he coaxed me up there and cuz the human's knee was taken up with the laptop, but as soon as it moved, I climbed off him and onto the human instead. She's more comfy, more familiar. Dogman's nice though. I don't know why I'm so wary of him cuz he's never done anything horrible to me. He's come close to walking into me a few times cuz his eyes are a bit broken too so it's hard for him to see me in dim lighting, but the human does this and I understand it. It's just that instincts die hard, I guess. Actually, come to think of it, no manpeoples here have been nasty to me at all. some of them don't particularly like me, it's true, but they are never cruel or anything. They just don't ask me to come for a cuddle. I guess I'd better start getting used to the fact that manpeoples aren't all bad. Dogman certainly can't be, cuz he said to me last night that he'll be feeding me when the human goes away, and that he suspects this will help me come to trust him more. Well, I'm not for a second implying that my love is cupboard love and totally food dependent, but if a people feeds you, they're definitely not a bad people, specially if they give you stinky goodness, which he promises he will.





We're still on the hunt for the memory card thing that Dogman needs for his camera. Even if he doesn't find it, I'm gonna send the human out to make a snow angel anyway so that she can tell you all about it. I don't mind her getting cold in the name of bringing you folks a good story. She says to tell you that going out in bare feet in the snow is an incredible feeling. For about the first 30 seconds it hurts as bad as having your tail stepped on, but after that it goes away, and then when you come back inside, your feet feel absolutely incredible. I'll take her word for it, I think. When she went out yesterday, the snow was well over the top of her ankles. She says it would have easily reached past my yummy tummy and probably about halfway up towards my back. That's a lotta snow!





the human is also looking forward to Christmas dinner later today. It's gonna be a lot of hard work, but she knows it'll taste good. They've bought a chicken instead of a turkeybird. They say they couldn't find any turkeybirds left in the food place that takes the moneys, and that chicken will be fine. My human puts an apple and an onion inside her chicken when it's cooking. She says it sounds strange, but the flavor you get from that is incredible, and you have the added bonus that the apple keeps everything moist and juicey. Wonder if they'll give me any chicken? I do hope so! She says she'll tell you all about her early Christmas tomorrow if she gets a chance.





Oh, Dogface is loving the snow, apparently. She's been running in the garden and getting very confused when Dogman's mummypeople throws snowballs for her, cuz of course, when she looks for them, they've gone cuz they explode when they land. This means she has to run around and eat as much snow as possible, just in case it's buried under there somewhere. She also helped the next door children make a snowman. her help consisted of running around like a crazy and licking small, cold hands to put some of her slobbery yuck into the snowman, but the children considered her as having helped build him, so who are we to argue? the human's so glad to hear all this. She couldn't have let Dogface even eat loads of snow when she was working, cuz it usually makes her sick, so she's very pleased to see that already Dogface seems happier as a pet than as a worker. It will make the final break that much easier when it has to come.





It's still very early in the morning, and I've given the human permission to go back to bed. I've been mousey quiet since the minute she got up, actually. For some reason, this really annoys her. Speaking of mousies, I lost mine. has anyone seen him?

Snowy Saturday

Friends, I have so much to tell you! I am going to start with the snow though. It's incredible, amazing, so deep!





The human heard on the TV last night that there was going to be a lot of snow, but she didn't know how much there would be until Dogman said this morning that it was up to the top of the seat in his garden! he took her outside in her bare feet so that she could feel exactly how deep it was. They offered me to come too, but once I heard the human squeal, I wasn't settin paw in that, whether there were mancats about out there or not! I decided to watch from the warmth of the house. The human says she's never ever seen so much snow. She's asked Dogman to take pictures for the blog, and he says he'll do better. She said she wanted to make something called a snow angel, cuz she'd never done one before and didn't really know how to, and he said he'd take a video of her doing it so that we can show you all how deep the snow is and how bad the human is at doing snow angels. I'm sorry. I won't be in the video. I'm not going in that snow. Nuh uh! So we'll post that as soon as we have it. It'll just be a link cuz we don't know how to imbed, but we'll try.





So, we're sorry we didn't blog for a while, but last week was super, super busy. The human spent all day on Thursday running around like crazy. She had to take Dogface for her last hydrotherapy session in the morning, then she managed to get an appointment with her own vet, so had to run off to that. On that subject, we now know why she has a hurty arm. The blood test has, for some reason, given her a massive internal bleed. She has a surface bruise that's about a five or six inch circle, and the bloods inside are so bad that they're actually putting pressure on the nerve. The doctor had not come across it, so was happy to let her help with treatment ideas, as she's a physio and knows about these things. he did suggest immobilisation for ten days which she agreed with, so she's now walking around with a funny white thing that holds her arm against her tummy. She calls it a sling. I put my head in there once, but then decided it was too small for me to wiggle into, so I didn't. She's also taking some tablets which she says are anti-inflammatories and pain relief. She says she notices a difference already, but whenever any peoples see the bruising, they always do this big gasp thing and then say ouch. This puzzles me. It's almost like they're sore, but they couldn't be. They don't have a bruise.





Despite the sore arm, the human was back at the vet peoples with Dogface in the afternoon for her final check up. They'd had her bloods back and to the human's worry, they noticed that Dogface's kidney values were up. But the vet manpeople said not to worry too much about it cuz with mr Bug, they could be up cuz she was fighting so hard to squish him out of her system. She has to have them done again in the new year and then if they're still up, we will start to take action I think.





While the human was out at the work hunt and the vets, a manpeople came to our place and let himself in. I'd seen him before. I kinda like him, but every time I come near him, he sneezes. The human says this is cuz my hair makes him sick, but this is just ludicrous. If hair made you sick, then I'd be sick all the time. I am sick all the time recently, but that's cuz of Mr Bug, not hair. But I got to feeling sorry for him. he sat down and I came to cuddle him, but he got up straight away to go clean. He's helping the human by putting bleach on all the hard surfaces to kill Mr Bug. Because he was making such an effort to help, I decided to do something nice, so I got vomit sick twice in a few minutes, just to show him that it was Ok that he was sick. It must have worked, cuz when I cried (I did this cuz I forgot how horrible feeling sick means), he picked me up and cuddled me and told me it was all right. He said to me that he was worried about me cuz I sounded so miserable, but that it was Ok and he didn't mind cleaning it up for me. Told you he was nice. When the human came in, he was still upset and asked her if I was Ok and could he do anything and was it normal that I sounded so miserable. The human had the audacity to chuckle and imply that I was perhaps not as forlorn as I was implying, and that he didn't have to upset himself so much, especially as I was, right at that moment, chasing two ping pong balls at the same time. He didn't get sick from my hair either though! The human says this is cuz he took anti-histamines whatever they are, but I know the truth.





The human came back with two peoples from Guide Dogs who did a lot of paperwork for Dogface's retirement. They asked the human for the harness, but she was too upset to give it to them, so she just told them where it was and they took it when they left. She then pretended that she was just taking Dogface to Dogman for a holiday, not forever, and she's going on pretending this still. It won't last forever, but it gives her a happier Christmas, so I decided to let her.





There was an awful lot of things to take from our house with us to Dogman's place. Dogface had a lot of foods left over,, and the vet peoples had said she had to stay on nothing but stinky goodness for a few weeks, so we had a bazillion tins of that to take too. Then there was the human's stuff for her trip to Ireland, then my box, my scratching post, my foods, my bowls, my ping pong balls, well, you get the picture. The human had to have bags on her lap in the front to make room for Dogface and me in back! i didn't like the idea of going in my PTU for a long time, and I told them! Of course, they didn't listen though.





I had a bit of an embarrassing moment on the way up too. Before I admit to it, firstly I'd like to tell you that I was in that box for four hours of driving, and they only stopped once, but by that time, it was too late. Friends, when you want a mancat, it's harder to hold in your peepee for as long. The urge to spray is incredibly strong, and that makes the bladder contract whether you like it or not. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I just had to have a peepee in my PTU. I was lucky though. The human had put a soft mat down, and there's a gutter round the edge of the PTU, so it caught most of it, and as the mat doesn't hold water, I had a relatively dry place to lie. I didn't like the smell though, and I yelled so much that the human asked Mark, the manpeople that came to our place and didn't get sick and who was driving us up, to stop so as she could see if I was Ok. She took me out of the PTU to give me a chance in the box, but I'd already done it by then. What's worse is that she didn't find it cuz the mat hid it from sight and it wasn't old yet, so their pathetic noses couldn't pick up the smell. So I had to put up with it for another hour and a half until I got to Dogman's house.





There was one further stop on the way. Dogface and the human and Mark got out of the car for a while, and they took some things with them. When they came back, Dogface wasn't with them! We drove for about another five minutes and then we'd reached Dogman's house. The human took me and my box inside to the bathroom straight away and let me out so as i could use it while they brought the rest of the things in from the car, and I presumed Dogface would be brought along soon. Accordingly, I shouted and shouted and shouted to be let out of the bathroom so that I could inspect the place to make sure it was Ok for us, but when I did get out, Dogface was nowhere to be seen! Where was she? Why had she not come back from that stop in the car? Was she Ok? I know they took foods from the car, but Dogface can't open tins. Was she lost in the snow somewhere, or did the woman people in the house that they went into have a hand in the dastardly disappearance of Dogface? You'll have to come back tomorrow to find out.





We will post if we can tomorrow, but the human has to make Christmas dinner for peoples. Well, she doesn't have to, but when she's here with Dogman, it's her tradition that she does her Christmas dinner for him and his mummypeople and exchanges her presents so that she can have a Christmas with them before she goes to Ireland. I'm sad. I won't have a Christmas present. The human got me some, but she left them all behind. Our secret paws package didn't arrive on time either, and although we're very excited that our Kazba Kitten package that we won from Marg's Animals
arrived, the human wouldn't let me open them either. She says she didn't have time cuz it arrived only two minutes before we left, but she also says it's better to wait, cuz when we get back, I can play with them and not infect them with Mr Bug which means she won't have to ever throw them away. I saw lots of cool things in there like birdy balls and jelly beans and everything! I can't wait to play! I have ping pong balls and a mousey up here which will just have to be enough for me, unless of course, Dogmans mummypeople brings me something. She usually gets Dogface something for Christmas, so maybe she will find something for me too.





This weekend, The California Five are holding a commentathon at Chrystal's Daily Dose blog.
Me and the human read it all the time, and are going to do a feature for her adoption campaign. It's very exciting and we're gonna do something special, but we won't say what yet. All we hope is that the slightly different approach will generate some interest for all those super cats that own her at the moment! Please go over there before the end of the weekend though and leave a comment, cuz for every one left, the California Five's people will donate some moneys to Chrystal's new cat house which is very, very important!





We're still working on pictures. the human has some of her cake which apparently looked awful (she was super amused by this), and she got some of the peoples at the work party. We'll also put the snow angel video up as soon as we can.





Update: No pictures, no video. Stupid Dogman forgot the memory card he needs for his super camera! If he can find another, we'll put some up. Stupid people.

Wednesday Winners and Other Things

Well, I don't really know what to say about the winners. They are super cats, and peoples of course. They won last week too, and were the only ones to enter this week. Nevertheless, congratulations to you all! The human promises she'll post them to you, Karen, when all the Christmas madness is over.





We're a bit disappointed that the give away hasn't been more successful at generating interest. Because of this, we're going to take a break with the last two weeks until after Christmas. That way, it gives peoples a chance to get the holiday business out of the way. hopefully then they'll come and visit us and enter! Super congratulations to you, Karen, and your furries. It's awesome to win twice! Double the fun, eh?





Now, I told you I'd tell you about the human's arm today, and I better had, as she's whining that it hurts to type, and please can I be concise instead of rambling as I usually do. Rambling? I do not! I speak nothing but words of wisdom, and sometimes griping. no wonder she thinks it's rambling when it deals with all her shortcomings.





Anyway, her arm. Peoples, I have learned, have vets too, but they call them doctors or GPs which stands for general practitioner. I've always wondered why peoples feel the need to have multiple talk noise words for the same thing. Doctor? GP? General practitioner? Personally, I think vet is quite appropriate. So, she went to her vet when I was at mine, to be tested too to see if they could help us find out what the mr Bug was. They stole lots of things from her. Peepee, even poop! How disgusting is that! She allowed them to do it, didn't even spit or anything! I vow that I will work on her training for this.





Ah, where was I? Oh yes, stealing. They also stole some of her bloods, not once, but lots of times. They took four lots of blood in two separate lots, but the second time, when the needle was coming out, it really hurt, and the human's bloods kept coming out lots and lots even though they shouldn't cuz the stealing was done. When they went back inside to hide again and stopped coming out, her arm still hurt really badly, but she thought nothing of it. It's happened before when they've hit the muscle, and she knows it goes away in a day or two.





It's now been five days since they stole her bloods, and rather than getting better, the arm is getting worse. She can no longer get it all the way straight, and is having to take tablets to keep the pain at a manageable level. It hurts when she picks me up, and she's finding it difficult to do things like type or hold a pen for signing things at the work hunt. She even struggled to get my food open last night! What good are thumbs if they don't work propperly? This worried me enough that I insisted she went back to see the vet again. She says she's gonna call early tomorrow morning and try and get in to see him before we all head off tomorrow evening. I hope they don't have to amputate. It would be very inconvenient to be burdened with a human that couldn't open food for me.





In other super exciting news, our Secret Paws partner wrote to us today, and it's Hannah and Lucy! They said they made their people send a package on Monday, and we are very excited! I made my human go to the post office today to see if it was there, cuz if it was, we could have told you all about the super things inside. The human said I could open it early cuz I wasn't gonna be around for Christmas. Unfortunately though, it wasn't there. Hannah and Lucy, if it arrives tomorrow, is it Ok if I open it? Then I can take toys with me to Dogface's new home! If not, I can wait until after christmas. Your choice!





Now to a matter super important. Friends, I have a problem. I need a manly mancat to come visit me right here, right now, and I can't find one! I've been shouting and shouting for one, but they don't seem to be able to hear me, and the human says she's not taking me to see my man friend who owns his own house cuz I'm still having pudding poo and she doesn't want him to get sick and anyway, I said I was going with Dogface and I can't do that if I'm with my man friend. Ah, but all that doesn't matter now. My promises to Dogface are nothing compared with my need.





I've left him signs in both of my litter boxes. Many ladycats scent mark (peoples call it spraying) when we want to find a mancat. This surprises a lot of humans. They think it's only mancats that do it, but it isn't. Where many ladycats spray on people things, I won't. Firstly, if a mancat does come, I don't want him interested in people things. I want him interested in me! Secondly, it wouldn't be polite to scent mark the human or the things she calls clothes or the sofa where I sleep. After all, I wouldn't like it if she marked me everytime a manpeople came here. I'd stink!





With all this in mind, I choose to mark my boxes instead. I do this frequently, probably about once every half hour or so, and when I do, I shout and shout and shout no matter what time of the day or night it is, just in case he's listening. He hasn't come though. What am I to do! Friends, is there any way you know of to smuggle a mancat in here? More to the point, are there any mancats out there who would like to come, um, see my place for a bit? The human and Dogface are leaving tomorrow, so we could have all the house to ourselves! Mancat, Mancat, wherefore art thou Mancat! Maaaaaaaancaaaaaaaaat!!!

Tortureshell Tuesday: Poo to That!

Well, friends, times are hard around here. I decided to try and be nice and not have tortureshells until Santa Paws has been and gone, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't win!





Last week, the human sent me to the vet peoples cuz I was pooing way too much, so when I came home, I decided I wasn't going to do that again. Now that she's trying to collect samples for the vet peoples, she says I'm not pooing enough! I've only done one since I came home, and that one was very much a pudding poo. She says she knows I've been once cuz, to my shame, I got a little bit on my fur that I didn't manage to clean, just a little bit mind you, but she spotted it. It's hard to clean it when it's pudding poo and sticks to you, specially when you have long fur like me. When she looked for it in the box though, there was nothing there, sept a tiny bit that she thinks could have been left over from last nights when she cleared it. I really don't get it. I wish she'd make up her mind. To poo or not to poo? That is the question, and I sure as heck wishyou'd give me an answer you're prepared to stick to, human!





Our competition really isn't going well. In fact, we've had no entries sept the peoples who entered last week and won! That's really not good, considering, so we're hoping like crazy that someone enters before it closes tonight!





We gotta apologise for not answering many comments lately. The human is desperately busy trying to get all her paperwork in order for her physiotherapy interview thingy. There's so much you have to show just so they know you're good. her current file stands at a whopping 82 bits of paper, and she's not done yet. She won't even let me play with them, let alone all her certificates which she has in a separate folder. Then there's all the packing to do, and oh is that fun or what!





I told you how much I liked Dogman's suitcase when I found it when he was here, but that is nothing, nothing, nothing compared to the human's ones. She has two out at the moment, one full of mine and Dogface's stuff, and another full of hers and Christmas presents to go to the Ireland place with her. But the best bit is that when she got them out this morning, I saw my ping pong balls hiding in one. So I jumped in and whapped them good! I made them fly all over that case, and I could hurl myself after them and not get hurt too, cuz the super case protected me. Then I got to go explore in the human's one. I snuggled down in all of her clothes, only to hear her say, "Ah, cat, why'd you go and do that after I'd de-haired 'em all!" Ungrateful human. I could see there was no hair, and was trying to do her a favour! I just scrunched down smaller, pushed the carefully folded clothes around with my feet, and made room for myself. Admittedly, this didn't leave much space for her clothes, and she did start muttering something about "What's the point in even trying to fold them when you're in there?" but who cares? She can repack another day.





I also came and sat on her when she was folding her tops. She said this made things very difficult cuz if she let them rest on me for folding, not only would they get hairy, but I'd get up and run away. I don't like things on top of me, you see. She ended up using the already folded clothes as a table to do the fresh ones on. At least she has her priorities right. Don't disturb me when I'm comfortable! The suitcases are still out, and I know my fun isn't over yet!





But I'm getting side tracked. We were talking about comments. The human was very surprised that so many of you are able to see your owners when they are with the vet peoples. over in the UK, that's not common at all unless your owner is seriously ill and expected not to last too much longer. I certainly wasn't like that, or at least, not for long, so she wasn't allowed to come see me. Kassey, I never bring the bloods when I bite the human. I find it counter-productive, as it means a swift and unceremonious dumping from her lap, a lot of whining about how sore she is, and a delay in the arrival of my food. No, to bring the bloods isn't desirable at all. In any case, too much stick is not good in the human training. It scars them too badly too quickly. Catnip Crew, I hope none of those kissies were for Dogface! you'll never get the taste outta your mouth... Trust me on this. Once, but never, never again shall I try!





Speaking of Dogface, she had a bad tummy again today too and went for a check up. They stole her bloods and her peepee (about time they stole from her too!) and are sending it off for testing. They've put her on Dogface stinky goodness too to apparently give her tummy a rest and a chance to heal. It's disgusting! She gets about a squillion times more than I do, and not only does she still try and grab mine, but the human won't let me eat hers even though she has 63 times more than me! And what did she do to deserve it! Did she crawl up on the human's lap and purr for her? No. Did she miaow at her lots and lots today? No. Did she head bump her? Ok, she does this. Um, did she groom her with a loving tongue? Um, ah, moving on. But you get the point, don't you? Life's not fair sometimes.





Two more things, then I promise i'm done. Firstly, we won something at the latest auction! The human is very pleased. She says it's a crystal plate thingy that she's gonna display on her shelves... When she gets shelves. Second thing is that we're sorry to Karen for not emailing you sooner with the details for your Soft Claws after you won last week. The human's just been so caught up in all her own stuff as I said. Selfish person! She did manage to make the cake for her work peoples tomorrow, and although she said she promised and she couldn't let them down, I think the email was more important. I did tell her so, so have no fear, I'm fighting your corner! She's actually very amused by the cake. She got little chocolate figures to put on the top, thinking that there would be a people here to help her decorate it, but the people had to leave early, so she wasn't around. The human couldn't work out what way up a lot of them went, so we think we might have upside down santas on the cake! It's impossible to get chocolate topping all the way smoothe too when you have to touch it to know where to drop the shapes on, so she's worried about fingerprints. She's sure it won't look very nice either, but even that amuses her. She works for an organisation which works with a lot of peoples with broken eyes, so she says the cake, in all its messy glory, will be perfect! If it looks outlandish enough, we'll try and get someone to take a picture of it to show you. Sorry we can't take a picture of the taste though. We'll also try and get pictures of everyone in their silly Christmas things tomorrow. The secret santa at work was to find a silly thing for everyone to wear when they go out to eat tomorrow. She thinks it'll be fun!





Ok, so I lied, there's more than two things. The last one is about Santa Paws. Praline's people gave my human some good ideas about sending things out, cuz we're worried that if they'd been in this house, they may carry the bug that we have to other cats. We really don't want that. Praline's people suggested ordering from a shop, but the human has been speaking to her family peoples in Ireland. She arrives there on Monday, and if she goes out the very next day and buys all the stuff and sends it straight away, then it will still be with our partner by Christmas. It also won't be covered in Mr Bug. So that's what we're gonna do. The ordering from shops was a good idea, but the human wants to put the personal touch to it, as it's our first time doing this. We're a little worried cuz our package hasn't arrived yet, and cuz we're leaving the house on Thursday. If it hasn't got here by then, we'll just have to hope the post office holds it for us till we get back. Also, it's going to be interesting trying to work out who it's from. the human doesn't have the working eyes to read any messages, and if they're hand written rather than typed, mr computer voice won't be able to read them either. Still, it'll definitely be a surprise!





Ok, that's really it now. The human's arm is sore typing anyway. more about that tomorrow though, if she gets a chance to write. Until then, stay outta this horrible outside cold!

Human Merrits?

Friends, I don't mean to startle you, and what I am about to say may at first seme ludicrous, misled, even a little insane, but I have discovered today that the human species have merrits. More than that, they have initiative. I didn't want to say that right off, cuz I feared some of you would be so shocked you'd drop where you stood. Better to ease into it slowly. They do though, or at least, mine does... Or should i say did. Why, I hear you ask? Cuz she sprung me from prison, that's why. And she says she didn't even need a rope concealed in a pie to do it! I don't know what ropes or pies have to do with anything, but humans are weird. I accept this.





As you know, I had a sick tummy again last Friday which meant I had to go to the vet peoples. What you don't know is that this was code for I have to go to prison. I really hate the vet prison. A PTU is bad enough, but at least you know you can get out of that in a short while, and at least you're in it alone. At the vets, the PTU doesn't move and is bigger and called a cage, but there are just so many other cats and nasty smells and the litter in my box is different and it isn't even my box and, well, the list goes on. As if that's not bad enough, peoples will periodically come, take you out of the PTU that isn't a PTU, then poke and prod at you until you're blue in the face with swearing at them. not that I'd swear, of course. It's not my fault they interpretted my gentle "get off, you fat, blithering idiot" as swearing. If they can't speak felinese, it's not my fault, is it? They should have studied languages harder at school. My human speaks it, so there's no excuse.





The vet peoples always insist on thieving too. This time they stole my bloods a few times, and they started poo pinching too. I held out for as long as I could, friends, but when you're there for days, when you gotta go, you just gotta go. The idea of them stealing that disgusts me so much that I try and hold back where I can, so I only went once since Friday, and that was hard, I tell you, as I've been eating like a horse and there just isn't room for any more in there!





I heard my human talking to the vet peoples a few times on the phone, but finally, today, she got the message; I want to go home. I know she'd been trying to bust me out of there for ages, cuz I could hear the vet peoples saying I wasn't ready, but today they said they wanted to keep me in just for another poo sample. The uman said she wasn't happy with that, and would happily collect a sample at home so that I could get out of there. I don't know what else she said, but my heart leapt, then dropped as they hung up the phone and didn't come get me straight away. I was so, so disappointed.





Here's where the strange part comes in though. After a while, they did come and get me for no discernable reason. They put me in the PTU and brought me to a little room where the human was waiting. I don't know how she did it, but she did. Perhaps they're just so afraid of her that they daren't refuse to hand me over when she's there in person, or perhaps it had to do with the fact that the human had a prearranged pick up time. I'm with the former.





Now, sit down, friends, cuz there's another shock in store. When I saw the human, I went crazy. I mashed my face on the front of the PTU, I called to her. In fact, I was so vigorous that she was worried I was going to hurt myself. This is all part of the conditioning though. I had to reward her for good behaviour in busting me out so that, next time, she'll remember the good things she got and will come bust me out again. So I put up bravely with all the rubbing and the chin tickling and the scratching and I may even have purred for her and I may even have really smushed her hand with my face, but if I did, it's all part of the conditioning. Oh it's a hard life being a trainer.





None of the results have come back from my stolen bloods, and the human is going to steal some of my poo whether I like it or not, so we'll have to keep you informed once we know more. We would, though, like to extend heart felt thanks to everyone that came to wish me well while I was in prison. It means a lot to know that there are so many out there purring for you every day. We're so sorry to Amy and her House of Cats that we didn't do a propper post to say thank you for featuring us in Friends on Friday. Amy, we both really appreciate it!





To make sure the human is put back in her place, I bit her when I got home. I rolled on my back, pretended to show her my yummy tummy, then grabbed her with all four feet and bit. I had to do it before she got to thinking that all that purring and smushing was to be the norm. Carrot and stick, trainer friends, carrot and stick. I'm lying on the self heating heating pad which is her lap right now. Kind of her to make it available for me. Not so kind that there's no food down. She says that I'm having nothing but stinky goodness for the next few days. That means though that it can't be down all the time, cuz it goes bad quick. It's to give my tummy a rest and let it recover from all the bad stuff it's been doing. Well, ya don't hear me complainin', do ya!

Another Day in Prison

Sadly, that's still where Tia is. We haven't managed to spring her. It was looking hopeful yesterday, but this morning, her temperature had gone right back up again. She's refusing to poo for them still, even though she's apparently eating like a horse. The vet said that even though her temperature had come back down, he was still concerned. She feels like she has normal poop to come out first, but behind that she still feels all girgly and runny, so they're worried about a relapse of diarrhoea. I'm very upset that she's in for another day. I know it's silly, but I had myself set on her coming home today. I was looking forward to it, to having at least an evening with her where there's no work to get in the way, where I can watch her closely. Even if she's Ok tomorrow, I can't pick her up till gone 5 when I'm out of work, and then I need to be preparing for this physio interview all this week, plus packing for Ireland etc, so there won't be much quality time to spend with her before I go away for christmas. Add to that that I want to spoil molly and there's just too much pressure for the next few days. Today was due to be a bit quieter. Although I'm cleaning and baking a cake for my work colleagues, the urgency is less because I have more time to do it all in on a weekend. It just doesn't feel right with her not here, and sleep, unbroken sleep, feels so unnatural that I've started to wake myself up and go looking for her before I realise she's not here. Poor girl. It can't be much fun to be cooped up for all that length of time in a horrid little cage with no space to run and no toys to play with. She must be so bored and miserable.





Our vets don't let you visit the animals either, so I can't even see her in between. So if she's home tomorrow, and that's looking like a big if, I'll have three manic evenings with her before we have to head out to Oxford. Then I'll have a weekend, but she'll spend most of that hiding because she's in a new place. Just as she'll be venturing out, I'll have to go for my flight to Ireland. I won't see her for ten days then. The timing of this sucks!

An Update on Tia

The human here again with some good news and some bad news.


Tia is doing as well as can be expected. Since she's gone in, she hasn't thrown up, but she also hasn't pooped, something which we were hoping for so that we could send off more samples. She was dehydrated and ill enough that they put her on IV fluids straight away yesterday, but her vein blew this morning, so they had to take her off them. They decided to see how she'd go without them in light of this set back, and she's been managing Ok with eating little and often, and drinking. She lost 250G of weight since her last episode with Mr Bug, which isn't so good, but she's alert and watching the people at the vets, so she isn't as lethargic as she was. They were giving her opiates because she was very uncomfortable, but when the drip came out, they stopped too, and she appears to be managing.


Preliminary blood work shows nothing abnormal. A couple of the levels hint at dehydration, but we knew this already. A more detailed blood screen is due back on Monday, so hopefully, that coupled with my own tests will give us more of an idea.


The vet said they wanted to keep her in at least until monday so that they could collect the poo sample, but I wasn't particularly happy with this, as I find Tia copes better at home. She poos more regularly, eats better and is much less stressed. So far, poo samples have been sent a total of five times (from the dog, me and her) and not one of them has showed anything positive, so I don't think it's justified keeping her in an extra few days for the sole purpose of getting another poo sample, as I doubt it will show anything. I told him this and he agrees, so if she manages to get her temperature down to a more acceptable normal rather than in the upper range of that, and carries on maintaining her fluid intake on her own without throwing up or having the runs, she will be allowed to come home tomorrow. Boy am I glad of that! If she doesn't get any better though, they'll keep her in regardless, which I agree with.


I spoke to Dogman today to work out whether, in light of this, he will still have her for me at Christmas, and while I was talking, I had a thought. If this bug is indeed a zoonotic one, this next few weeks poses the optimum opportunity. I will be in Ireland and Molly will be in her new home. Two of us will already be out of physical contact with each other, so if I can do the same for Tia, hopefully this bug will have a chance to run its course, and when we all see each other again, we will not be infectious. Dogman's mum has had Molly to stay with her numerous times, and Dogface says she would be more comfortable with a dog than a cat. Add to that that Dogman was here the first time Tia got sick, and knows what to look for in time to get her to a vet, and you come to the conclusion that it would be better for Tia to be with him. His house is also an awful lot more quiet too.


As he's happy to have her, I'm going to ask his mum if she'd mind having Molly for the two weeks I was planning to leave the pair of them with Dogman. If she says yes, this is two solid weeks of isolation from each other. it gives us the best chance of overcoming this thing totally. I'm going to have help too, as Dogman's friend is coming to collect us all in his car, and he's said he'll help me bleach everything with a strong solution to hopefully kill the bug, whatever it is. I'm going to arrange to have my carpets cleaned on the same day, and will see if I can get hold of a steamer to do the soft furnishings like the sofas, bed etc. Then it will have two weeks of no living hosts, and while I know this might not be long enough, it's still better than nothing.


So that's where we are today. Things are as good as they can be, I suppose.

What a Day

The human here, and I don't have the heart to write a very long, entertaining post, so I'll cut right to the chase. Tia is once more at the vets. She had diarrhoea twice this morning, and threw up three times inside a quarter of an hour. She didn't even finish her wet food, something unheard of. I rushed her down straight away, and she's in for treatment again. I have no idea how long they're keeping her this time, but I'm heartsick of this. It needs to stop.


I've spent all day phoning national zoonosis organisations (the disease is zoonotic, as it spreads between species). I've also been to my own doctor to demand further testing as I had a relapse earlier this week. I had to fight tooth and nail to have any testing done at all. By the end of it, it had pretty much degenerated into a screaming match, but thanks to my medical background, I got my own way and the tests have been done. There's definitely an infection there. Urine shows increased leukocytes, but I need to wait for the others to come back.


I am so, so worried about this. I just wish we could identify what it is. I'm running out of options now, and I don't know where to turn to next. Sorry this Friday isn't more cheerful.

Wednesday Winners, New Competition and Lots of Other Stuff

We've got lots and lots and lots of things to tell you today, but we'll start with the most important thing; the winners!





Thank you all so much for telling me and the human about the naughty things you do. Some of them were very bad indeed. Well done to you all, and thanks for taking the risk of admitting your pranks. I promise, I won't let Santa Paws see them.





Our winner for this week though is Pixil and his human Karen. Well done to you both! The human says she's going to check and see if they do the combination you asked for, cuz we think they will only do one colour in each pack. Could you please email us with your address and I'll send her to the post office to post them to you? Thanks so much for entering!





This week is similar to last week, only we've got a different website, still for Soft Claws, and a different question. Here are the steps you need to enter.





1. Visit The new Soft Claws website
2. Tell us one thing that's nice about it, i.e, one thing they did well.
3. I know this is asking a lot for you to admit this, but also tell me one thing nice you do. It's embarrassing to admit you can be nice to the peoples for any other reason than that you're training them, but console yourselves with the fact that Santa Paws will be more generous to you if you're nice.
4. Tell us what size and colour of Soft Claws you'd like.





As before, the competition will run until midnight GMT next Tuesday, and, as before, please don't enter multiple times if you've won already, sept if you're winning the Soft Claws to help out cuz green papers are an issue. If they are, we'd love to see you win more than one pack!





We got some more news today, and we can't decide if it's good or not. I'm going for mixed, and so is the human. We finally got the retirement date for Dogface. She's struggling to do the work hunt now that it's winter and cold and her arthritis hurts. Personally, I think she's jealous of me and it's just an excuse to stay home all day like I do, but the human and the vet peoples believe her. It's hard being smarter than everyone sometimes. Anyway, her retirement is set for Monday 20th which is also the day that the human leaves me yet again so she can go and see other peoples. These peoples are her family though. It's good news cuz at least we know when Dogface will be leaving, but it's bad news for the human cuz it doesn't give her a lot of time to say goodbye.





We're just waiting on confirmation from the Guide Dogs peoples, but when the human spoke to them today, they said it was pretty certain that Dogman would be allowed to take her to his house so she can live with him and he can be covered in Dogface slobber and hair for the rest of his life. Personally, I can't see what the attraction is, but they obviously love each other. Each to his own, I suppose. They're going to officially confirm tomorrow. The human says that if Molly has to go, this is absolutely the best place for her. She's going to somebody she lived with for years when the human first got her, and where she visits to stay when the human goes on holidays. Dogman loves her and she loves him as I've said, and he spoils her rotten. To top it all off, the human will still be able to see her whenever she wants.





Now, for those of you who have come to read my musings for quite some time, you will know that, in times of need, I can be a selfless kind of cat. I sent my human to help train Babycat's people, Bug, even though it cost me dearly. Friends, I'm about to do something similar, and I suspect I'll live to regret this just as much as I did the last time. Now, the admission that follows shall only be spoken once, and shall be destroyed directly after you read it. If I'm ever questioned about it, I will deny all knowledge of ever having said it. Here goes.





I feel sorry for Dogface. yep, you heard me. Even though she knows the people she's going to live with and the place where she's going to live, she doesn't know she's staying there forever this time. She's too stupid to realise that. I'm not though, and I feel for her. That is why I have made a hard decision.





This Christmas, the human is going away for ten days to see the HG's mummypeople. I guess she'd be called the HGG. I've actually met the human great grandmother a few months ago. She's really nice and very warm and soft, and she's the best HGG in the world cuz she always said how yummy and lovely I looked and she always brushed me and cuddled me. She even wanted to take me home when it was time for her and the horrible manpeople to leave (human note: a family friend who is a neat freak and kept cleaning Tia hair off the sofa every time she so much as brushed past it. A real pain!). In short, she's wonderful! Anyway, I'm getting side tracked. Impossible not to when you're talking about a person who thinks you're the best cat ever. So, the human's going off there, and I'd planned a quiet few days in the house without her and Dogface. A girl needs some alone time, right? But i've decided that, for the sake of my fellow cat, or unfellow Dogface in this instance, I need to put it on hold. Reluctantly, I have come to the conclusion that if I want Dogface to be happy, I need to oversee the settling in period. Accordingly, I have made arrangements and will be travelling to Dogman's house with Dogface and the human at the end of next week. I will stay there until the human comes back, and will make sure Dogface has a familiar person to look at while she works out that this is her new home. And if that's not selfless, I don't know what is!





Self destruct initiated!





In other news, I got a new toy today. It's a ball with feathers on the top and it's all wrapped in rope and rattles when you whap it. The human roled mine in catnip before she gave it to me today. Actually, she tried something else first, another toy, but I can't tell you about that one cuz we bought one the same for the Santa Paws. I didn't like it though, or at least, I pretended I didn't. I knew there were more toys in that bag, and why be contented with one when, if you play your human just right, you know you'll get more! She eventually gave in and I got the ball. And oh what fun it is! When you pounce the feathers, they move. When you chase them, the ball runs away! If you try to bunny kick it, it slips out of your grasp and tries to hide somewhere else. Oh, what fun it is! I love, love, love it! I only played with it for a few moments though. Can't have the human thinking that she's worked out my toy preferences, and anyway, it wouldn't be dignified to turn into a big pile of kitten at the sight of a new play thing.





The human also did something today that she's very proud of. It's gonna sound small, but I don't care. I'm proud of her too for this cuz I know how worried she is about it. When she's not with Dogface, she uses a long white stick called a cane to help her not bump into things. It's been so long since she's had to use it exclusively though that she's very nervous now. She needs to build her confidence up. Today on the way out of the work hunt, she got her PA to walk with Dogface and she used the stick, right through the middle of the main corridor of the hospital at its busiest time. There were peoples everywhere, it was noisy, confusing, they kept getting in her way, but she still didn't give up, and made it right all the way to the exit. She was nervous doing it, but now that Dogface's date is set, she knows she needs to get good at it real quick. Well done human for forcing yourself to do it before you absolutely have to. I think if peoples get in your way next time, use the stick to thwap them with. Then you'll be Ok.





In our last piece of awesome news, somebody somewhere thinks my human is the best human ever, or good enough to offer her something called an interview at any rate. It's for a physiotherapy work hunt job. She says an interview is where you go and talk to peoples who have read the application form papers you wrote, then tell them all about you. Well, isn't that what application papers are for? I'll never understand all this time wasting! The interview is near where I am staying for Christmas, so the human is going to take us up there the night before, then go for the interview, then spend the weekend with Dogman and us before she goes to see the awesome HGG.





So it's mostly good news all round today. I'm glad of it. I'm also sorry for the long, long post. She goes from not writing anything to writing everything all at once, but we just had to share all the joy today!