Friends, I'm being neglected in favour of suitcases and clothes folding, and I don't like it even one little bit! I know she has to do these things before she goes away for her trip, but I also know that it doesn't have to interfere with Tia time! Sometimes I despair of ever having this human fully trained, I really do. And I don't know what she'll get up to in these few weeks that she's away from me.
This is the longest she'll ever have spent apart from me, and she says she's not looking forward to how much she knows she'll miss me. After tomorrow, I won't see her again until the 13th of June! That's forever! But I've decided to give her a surprise when she does come back. While she's away, I'm gonna work real, real hard on growing a ginormously fat tummy! She thinks I'm like a little butterball at the moment. Well, you just wait till she sees me in June! Hah!
She cleaned out my stinky litterbox today and washed it with icky cleaning stuff. She says it's so that Dogman doesn't have to do it, that it's only fair cuz he's looking after me. Well, honestly! She should be doing it for my benefit, not for his!
She also got out a bag today and started putting my kittening kit together inside it. She says that as things arrive in the post, they'll go straight in there so she knows where everything is when the big day comes. Sensible of her for once.
Now, what else to tell you? Oh, I know, more pregnancy news, only this time, it's not mine! There are two pregnancies to talk about, one of them welcome and one not. Let's start with the good news, shall we?
You remember the ladypeople that came down to see us and see if my nimples were pink? The same one that had the Burmese babycats? Well, she also had another girl who, despite being off to visit a mancat quite a few times, was just like me and wouldn't let him have a dirty weekend with her. Well, she went off again day before yesterday and you know what? yesterday, she let him do his work. Not just once, but loads and loads of times! They're still at it today, so if she takes, there'll be more little Burmese babycats for my human to love on at the end of July!
Now the not so welcome news. Do you remember Phoebe? That tiny little babycat that belonged to the human's auntie and cousins? The one who was taken in as a feral off the street? Well, she's also pregnant, and she's only eight months old. The human and I aren't gonna do our rant here. Poor Mom Trish has already heard it all by email, and I'm sure she doesn't want to hear it again! In summary, they could have had her lady gardenectomy for very, very cheap on accounta she was a stray and the vet peoples will do it cheap for strays, but they didn't take her in. They let her out in the garden cuz she liked to go out there. Well, one day they must not have watched her. They called the human a few weeks back to tell her they thought she was pregnant, and the human advised taking her to the vet peoples to see if it was too late for a lady gardenectomy, but they never did. now it's too late. The vet people says she'll have them in a week, but the human thinks at least another two weeks, as nobody can see or feel babycat movement yet. She's furious though. I haven't seen her that mad in ages. Phoebe is too young to have babies, and even if she wasn't, it's irresponsible to put her at that sort of risk. Who knows what diseases the daddy could have carried, and what of all those other poor babies in rescues! Goodness knows where her babies will end up. The human doesn't want to think about that. She wishes she didn't know about the pregnancy, but prays that poor Phoebe will hang on until she gets there before she gives birth so that the human can help.
Oh, that's right, we didn't tell you that bit. When the human comes back from Alaska, she travels straight away to Ireland for a weekend. Her cousin, the one closest to her in age, is getting married and wants her to be there. By the time she gets to Ireland, she's gonna be beat!
The plane bird that flies humans in the sky will eat her and her bags at 3 tomorrow, and will then fly for ages and ages. When it gets to Seattle, it'll be so tired of carrying the heavy suitcase that she has with her that it told me it's gonna spit her out and make her get another plane bird to fly her the rest of the way to Alaska. It's only fair, really. One plane bird can't be expected to do all the work, after all! I hope it doesn't get indigestion! I've seen what's in that suitcase, and if I ate even a quarter of it, I'd be sick for weeks! I wonder if the RSPCA should be told? I don't know if they have a cruelty to plane birds department, and as I can't use the phone thing, I guess I'll never know.
Speaking of phones, Mom Trish tells me she did in fact see me yesterday! Well, if I'd known, I mighta pretended to be all shy and cutely embarrassed for her! mom Trish, no spying on me like that when I don't think you can see me! Naughty, naughty people, you are! And how come you didn't cuddle me! Oh, and when it comes to cats being bloated and picking out kitten names, why would you think I had anything to do with that? For the benefit of those who can't see me, my face is now angelically innocent, and it's accompanied by a lot of purring. Mommy Trish, maybe they're picking out names cuz they're so excited for me, but just in case they might have babycats themselves, you really should feed them more stinky goodness. It's essential for a healthy, problem free pregnancy, you know. Your cats wouldn't lie to you, so listen good and crack open those cans! Oh, and to the Random Felines, even mancats can have kittens! Just ask the Katnip Crew. They'll tell ya!
Admiral, the daddycat of my babycats is another Persian colourpoint. He is a cream point though, so his face, feet and tail are all cream, and his body is very white. He has a super flat face which my human doesn't like, but as we explained before, by combining his flat face with my open one, we'll get babies that are somewhere in the middle, but without all the health problems. So they're able to still be shown. Perfect!
Oh, tragedy struck today. You remember the wonderful toy I told you about yesterday? Today, it died! All of its feathers fell out and came off the string that makes them fly! I got so upset and cried so much that the human gave me a feather to play with, and taped the other one to the string. It's nowhere near as good, but it'll do until she brings me the real da bird which she says she'll get for me in Alaska. I can hardly wait! RIP, little pretend birdie. hmmm, I wonder if she could steal me a feather from a plane bird? I bet they're huge and fly real well! Have any of you ever seen one? Are its feathers worth having?
Anyway, that's all from me for a bit. I will pass this blog now into the hands of the human to do with as she will. She says she might write from time to time to let you all know what she's up to and share any updates on me, but she's making no promises. Check back though. We're thinking about that competition still! Until then, keep safe, dear friends, and remember to work on kitten names! Mom Trish and all the other good cat moms out there, repeat after me, and learn well. "I must feed more stinky goodness. I must feed more stinky goodness!"
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Katnip Toys
Friends, it's been a busy few days for the human, what with her getting ready to go to Alaska and having to order all the things for my babycats to arrive. She needs such a lot of different things, you know!
yesterday started with us being rudely summoned out of bed still early in the morning by the man who brings the big boxes that have stuff in them to our house. I'm not allowed to say hi to him any more, cuz the first time I did, I was so pleased to see him that I went right out the front door past him! To be honest, I didn't know what to do once I was in the big outside. It was all so huge and scary and it smelled so different! I just sat down on the garden path to look around and see where I was, and next thing I know, the human's begging him to help her get me back in, and he's picked me up and passed me back to her. I didn't mind all that much. The outside might be fun to explore, but I'm not desperate. Now when he comes, she closes the door on me so that I can't get out the front. Spoilsport human!
The parcel man brought loads of boxes this time! There was a zillion... and three! The first had nothing but tins of stinky Dogface food in them, as the human orders for Dogman to feed stupid Dogface. The next was slightly more interesting, but only slightly. it had a bag of dry dogface food in it, but it also had some nice fresh cat litter for me. But the third box? Oh, friends, the third box!
It started with food. Boxes and boxes of wet food all for me! So it must mean that Dogman is gonna feed me loads when she's away! Then there was a new scratchy post. It was a huge big tall one, but it didn't have a platform on the top. The human learned her lesson after buying me a platform one last time. I hardly ever scratch it. I mean, would you, given the risk of bumping your head on the underside of the platform if you really got into a groove scratching? This one is well over 2 ft tall, so I can stretch and stretch all the way up it. it's super cool!
Ok, you think that was good? Well, what followed next made that all seem way boring. She got out a long thin plastic covered thing, and when she opened it, I got interested right away. It was a long, well, a very long, metal pole with a string on the end. And you know what was on the end of that string? Feathers! The human says it's the pet store's own version of Da Bird, but I don't care. What it is is flippin' brilliant!
Persians, as a rule, don't play all that much. We're too interested in napping and preserving our reputation as the ultimate couch kitatoes of the cat world. Rarely do we play very much past about two years old. Although we still show a healthy interest in toys, we'd rather lie down and wait for the play people to swing the toy close to us so that we can grab it. Chasing requires way too much energy, and anyway, it's more of a challenge to train them to your way of playing than to leap about as they swing the toy wherever they want. We're also not motivated by hunting, so don't really see any need to go to great effort to catch something. if it's there, then fair enough, but if it requires us to move? Forget it.
However, when it comes to this Da Bird thing, you can forget all of that too! I couldn't believe my eyes when it came out of the package. It flipped. It spun. It glided. Because of the length of the pole, it skittered over the whole room. It not only bounced off the ground, but it flew, my, did it fly! I just had to have it. Friends, I haven't leapt about like that since I was a babycat. I lost all sense of dignity as I performed every maneuver possible to catch the pesky thing. I played for about 10 minutes solid, and believe me, that might just tip the record books for a Persian ladycat of my age! The human didn't give me a chance to get bored of it either. As soon as I stopped leaping, she'd take it away from me and go to put it away. I only stopped her by clambering onto her knee and hauling it back out of her hand. We've played with it twice more since then, and each time with the same reaction from me. I just love the thing! And cuz the human is so quick to put it away, it keeps me wanting more, more, more all the time!
As if that wasn't news enough, we have something even more spectacular to tell you! For once, I'm jealous that I don't do something the human does that I usually find pointless. I'm jealous I can't make talk noise on the telephone. Why bother wasting jealousy on something as stupid as that, I hear you ask. Well, I'll tell you why. Yesterday, my human spoke to the Katnip Mom, the real Mom Trish, in person, like actually the real her! How cool is that! They made talk noise for quite some time while I did lotsa different things to try and get Mom Trish's attention. I played with a pipe cleaner that Amy and the House of Cats sent me, I whapped my ball in the track, I even went behind the TV where I've been trying to make a nest (I chose here cuz I know the human doesn't want me to nest way back the cuz it's hard to reach). then I remembered that when a people is on the phone, it makes their eyes broken so they can't see me. The human says that's cuz they're still real far away, bubt I know that's not true. I can hear the talk noise they make, and I know that if they're far away, I wouldn't hear them. I don't know why being in the little phone thing makes their eyes broke, but it does, and I didn't want to miaow cuz I know it's rude to talk when someone else is talking. Mom Trish is helping us withsomething we need for my babycats. She's going to be instrumental in providing me with the best nest ever for my babies! I'll tell you more on that in another post. Katnip hoard, you have a super duper mommypeople, and that's saying something for a people!
,p>The human says that she was planning to get out her suitcase tonight and put stuf in it, but the more she thinks about it, the more she considers that going to bed early and spending a long, relaxing night watching TV might be the thing to do. Time enough for packing tomorrow. We have more parcels arriving tomorrow too, and then she'll go to a local pet store an pick up some kitten dry food so that I can have a variety down at all times. Now that's thoughtful! She's going to start putting things in my kittening bag now so that she doesn't lose track of what's been bought and what hasn't. Tomorrow she has to pack her case, pick up these parcels, go to the pet store, put on another wash for the laundry she has left, change the bed so that Dogman has clean sheets to sleep on, take a long, relaxing bath, oh, and cuddle me! She's gonna be one busy human! until then, friends.
oh, and just as a by the way, when you have convinced your human to give you one brand of stinky goodness and one only, wait until she puts in a bulk order for enough of it to last you through to the end of your pretend pregnancy (remember, friends, we're all pretending we have kittens). Then decide you don't like it and you're not going to eat it any more... I did. Happy Wednesday!
yesterday started with us being rudely summoned out of bed still early in the morning by the man who brings the big boxes that have stuff in them to our house. I'm not allowed to say hi to him any more, cuz the first time I did, I was so pleased to see him that I went right out the front door past him! To be honest, I didn't know what to do once I was in the big outside. It was all so huge and scary and it smelled so different! I just sat down on the garden path to look around and see where I was, and next thing I know, the human's begging him to help her get me back in, and he's picked me up and passed me back to her. I didn't mind all that much. The outside might be fun to explore, but I'm not desperate. Now when he comes, she closes the door on me so that I can't get out the front. Spoilsport human!
The parcel man brought loads of boxes this time! There was a zillion... and three! The first had nothing but tins of stinky Dogface food in them, as the human orders for Dogman to feed stupid Dogface. The next was slightly more interesting, but only slightly. it had a bag of dry dogface food in it, but it also had some nice fresh cat litter for me. But the third box? Oh, friends, the third box!
It started with food. Boxes and boxes of wet food all for me! So it must mean that Dogman is gonna feed me loads when she's away! Then there was a new scratchy post. It was a huge big tall one, but it didn't have a platform on the top. The human learned her lesson after buying me a platform one last time. I hardly ever scratch it. I mean, would you, given the risk of bumping your head on the underside of the platform if you really got into a groove scratching? This one is well over 2 ft tall, so I can stretch and stretch all the way up it. it's super cool!
Ok, you think that was good? Well, what followed next made that all seem way boring. She got out a long thin plastic covered thing, and when she opened it, I got interested right away. It was a long, well, a very long, metal pole with a string on the end. And you know what was on the end of that string? Feathers! The human says it's the pet store's own version of Da Bird, but I don't care. What it is is flippin' brilliant!
Persians, as a rule, don't play all that much. We're too interested in napping and preserving our reputation as the ultimate couch kitatoes of the cat world. Rarely do we play very much past about two years old. Although we still show a healthy interest in toys, we'd rather lie down and wait for the play people to swing the toy close to us so that we can grab it. Chasing requires way too much energy, and anyway, it's more of a challenge to train them to your way of playing than to leap about as they swing the toy wherever they want. We're also not motivated by hunting, so don't really see any need to go to great effort to catch something. if it's there, then fair enough, but if it requires us to move? Forget it.
However, when it comes to this Da Bird thing, you can forget all of that too! I couldn't believe my eyes when it came out of the package. It flipped. It spun. It glided. Because of the length of the pole, it skittered over the whole room. It not only bounced off the ground, but it flew, my, did it fly! I just had to have it. Friends, I haven't leapt about like that since I was a babycat. I lost all sense of dignity as I performed every maneuver possible to catch the pesky thing. I played for about 10 minutes solid, and believe me, that might just tip the record books for a Persian ladycat of my age! The human didn't give me a chance to get bored of it either. As soon as I stopped leaping, she'd take it away from me and go to put it away. I only stopped her by clambering onto her knee and hauling it back out of her hand. We've played with it twice more since then, and each time with the same reaction from me. I just love the thing! And cuz the human is so quick to put it away, it keeps me wanting more, more, more all the time!
As if that wasn't news enough, we have something even more spectacular to tell you! For once, I'm jealous that I don't do something the human does that I usually find pointless. I'm jealous I can't make talk noise on the telephone. Why bother wasting jealousy on something as stupid as that, I hear you ask. Well, I'll tell you why. Yesterday, my human spoke to the Katnip Mom, the real Mom Trish, in person, like actually the real her! How cool is that! They made talk noise for quite some time while I did lotsa different things to try and get Mom Trish's attention. I played with a pipe cleaner that Amy and the House of Cats sent me, I whapped my ball in the track, I even went behind the TV where I've been trying to make a nest (I chose here cuz I know the human doesn't want me to nest way back the cuz it's hard to reach). then I remembered that when a people is on the phone, it makes their eyes broken so they can't see me. The human says that's cuz they're still real far away, bubt I know that's not true. I can hear the talk noise they make, and I know that if they're far away, I wouldn't hear them. I don't know why being in the little phone thing makes their eyes broke, but it does, and I didn't want to miaow cuz I know it's rude to talk when someone else is talking. Mom Trish is helping us withsomething we need for my babycats. She's going to be instrumental in providing me with the best nest ever for my babies! I'll tell you more on that in another post. Katnip hoard, you have a super duper mommypeople, and that's saying something for a people!
,p>The human says that she was planning to get out her suitcase tonight and put stuf in it, but the more she thinks about it, the more she considers that going to bed early and spending a long, relaxing night watching TV might be the thing to do. Time enough for packing tomorrow. We have more parcels arriving tomorrow too, and then she'll go to a local pet store an pick up some kitten dry food so that I can have a variety down at all times. Now that's thoughtful! She's going to start putting things in my kittening bag now so that she doesn't lose track of what's been bought and what hasn't. Tomorrow she has to pack her case, pick up these parcels, go to the pet store, put on another wash for the laundry she has left, change the bed so that Dogman has clean sheets to sleep on, take a long, relaxing bath, oh, and cuddle me! She's gonna be one busy human! until then, friends.
oh, and just as a by the way, when you have convinced your human to give you one brand of stinky goodness and one only, wait until she puts in a bulk order for enough of it to last you through to the end of your pretend pregnancy (remember, friends, we're all pretending we have kittens). Then decide you don't like it and you're not going to eat it any more... I did. Happy Wednesday!
Monday, 23 May 2011
Mommacat Monday
Wow, friends, it's my second mommacat Monday already! Isn't time flying! The human says she wishes it would, so she obviously doesn't feel the same way. Since last we spoke, we've had an eventful few days!
It all started yesterday with a trip to the litterbox. Nothing abnormal about that, I hear you say, but the litterbox is the one not agreeing this time! Friends, to put it very politely, I was in a bad way, and came out of there leaving a stinking liquid mess behind me and with my poor lady bum covered in the stuff! The human found me, or rather, the mess found her when I jumped up on her. I thought if I pretended like nothing had happened, the mess would just go away. I know from experience that I can't clean that off, but was too embarrassed to ask the human for help. Do you know how that makes a girl feel? Very very small, that's how.
As soon as the human found me, she whipped me off to the bathroom to clean me up, but once there, she realised that the baby wipes (they should be marketted as cat bum wipes, cuz they're real good at this!) were in the other room. In the time it took her to get them and come back, something else had happened. A small amount of sticky liquid had dribbled out of me and made my fur very wet. the human went into uber panic. She thought it might have been blood, and if it was, it would mean that I was reabsorbing my babies for some reason. She still doesn't know whether it was or not, but she kept a very close eye, or should I say hand, on me all night long, and I didn't do the same trick twice. It may have just been a bit of left over litterbox stink that I couldn't hold onto when she started to clean, but neither of us are all that sure.
That first clean up was to be one of many, well, four to be precise, but each one was very liquid and incredibly stinky. It smelled just like it did last year when I got real, real sick, so the human spent a sleepless night worrying about me, and cleaning my litterbox before my feet had even touched the floor on the way out! She says you don't leave that stuff hanging around.
Well, all that sickness last year must have taught her something, cuz her clean up of me and the box was so good that this morning was my last bad episode and I haven't shown signs of having another. Two hours after my last one, I threw up a big hairball, so she's wondering if that had something to do with it, although I've never had the runs before when trying to get rid of one of these. The simple fact is that we don't know what caused it. She dosed me with a pro-biotic that breeders like her give to kittens who have the squits (she says that's what you call it when you have runny bum syndrome). She says it's really good not only for clearing squitty bums, but stopping them as well. It's called Fortiflora for anyone else who may need it and it's made by Purina.
I've been tired all day and very quiet. It takes it out of a girl to produce that much poop! The human thought my tummy had changed shape this morning and was convinced that I must have lost a baby or two, but when I did finally start to eat again, I plumped right out. She says she's gonna try and find her stethoscope as she should be able to hear baby heartbeats about now, but she doesn't know where the stethoscope is, so her and Mark are gonna have to hunt for it.
She's been busy ordering stuff for my babies all day. She says she'll make a list of all the things in her kittening kit on a post so that you all can see what kinds of things you need to have at hand. That will fill a post while she's away in cold, cold Alaska. She says she may even do the genetics post then too so that you can all have fun with trying to puzzle out what colour babies I might have! Oh, how about this for an idea? The human and i are thinking of running a competition but we're not sure what everyone else thinks. We'd like you all to guess how many babies I will have. I know the vet peoples said three, but as I told you, that doesn't really mean much at this stage. It would also be fun for peoples to guess how many baby boys and how many girls there would be. To make it really, really interesting, we could get you to guess colours too which would mean you'd have to read and learn about genetics! But this might be too involved for most peoples. What do you all think? Would you enter if you had to guess litter size and sexes? Would you still enter if you had to guess colours as well?
We gotta think about prizes too, and something kitten related to tie in with the competition. Any ideas?
Well, that's it for today as the human says she has to go out for a little while. See? no sooner am I better than she's abandoning me! Heartless human!
It all started yesterday with a trip to the litterbox. Nothing abnormal about that, I hear you say, but the litterbox is the one not agreeing this time! Friends, to put it very politely, I was in a bad way, and came out of there leaving a stinking liquid mess behind me and with my poor lady bum covered in the stuff! The human found me, or rather, the mess found her when I jumped up on her. I thought if I pretended like nothing had happened, the mess would just go away. I know from experience that I can't clean that off, but was too embarrassed to ask the human for help. Do you know how that makes a girl feel? Very very small, that's how.
As soon as the human found me, she whipped me off to the bathroom to clean me up, but once there, she realised that the baby wipes (they should be marketted as cat bum wipes, cuz they're real good at this!) were in the other room. In the time it took her to get them and come back, something else had happened. A small amount of sticky liquid had dribbled out of me and made my fur very wet. the human went into uber panic. She thought it might have been blood, and if it was, it would mean that I was reabsorbing my babies for some reason. She still doesn't know whether it was or not, but she kept a very close eye, or should I say hand, on me all night long, and I didn't do the same trick twice. It may have just been a bit of left over litterbox stink that I couldn't hold onto when she started to clean, but neither of us are all that sure.
That first clean up was to be one of many, well, four to be precise, but each one was very liquid and incredibly stinky. It smelled just like it did last year when I got real, real sick, so the human spent a sleepless night worrying about me, and cleaning my litterbox before my feet had even touched the floor on the way out! She says you don't leave that stuff hanging around.
Well, all that sickness last year must have taught her something, cuz her clean up of me and the box was so good that this morning was my last bad episode and I haven't shown signs of having another. Two hours after my last one, I threw up a big hairball, so she's wondering if that had something to do with it, although I've never had the runs before when trying to get rid of one of these. The simple fact is that we don't know what caused it. She dosed me with a pro-biotic that breeders like her give to kittens who have the squits (she says that's what you call it when you have runny bum syndrome). She says it's really good not only for clearing squitty bums, but stopping them as well. It's called Fortiflora for anyone else who may need it and it's made by Purina.
I've been tired all day and very quiet. It takes it out of a girl to produce that much poop! The human thought my tummy had changed shape this morning and was convinced that I must have lost a baby or two, but when I did finally start to eat again, I plumped right out. She says she's gonna try and find her stethoscope as she should be able to hear baby heartbeats about now, but she doesn't know where the stethoscope is, so her and Mark are gonna have to hunt for it.
She's been busy ordering stuff for my babies all day. She says she'll make a list of all the things in her kittening kit on a post so that you all can see what kinds of things you need to have at hand. That will fill a post while she's away in cold, cold Alaska. She says she may even do the genetics post then too so that you can all have fun with trying to puzzle out what colour babies I might have! Oh, how about this for an idea? The human and i are thinking of running a competition but we're not sure what everyone else thinks. We'd like you all to guess how many babies I will have. I know the vet peoples said three, but as I told you, that doesn't really mean much at this stage. It would also be fun for peoples to guess how many baby boys and how many girls there would be. To make it really, really interesting, we could get you to guess colours too which would mean you'd have to read and learn about genetics! But this might be too involved for most peoples. What do you all think? Would you enter if you had to guess litter size and sexes? Would you still enter if you had to guess colours as well?
We gotta think about prizes too, and something kitten related to tie in with the competition. Any ideas?
Well, that's it for today as the human says she has to go out for a little while. See? no sooner am I better than she's abandoning me! Heartless human!
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Three is the Magic Number
Friends, I'm sorry I couldn't update you yesterday as to the outcome of my vet lady people visit, but my human couldn't get Blogger to work again, so we simply couldn't post. Before I get to that though, a little ramble first.
To begin with, you should all go back and check Tuesday's post. The HG has left a comment, and just to reitterate, she is so, so thankful for all of your support. It really has meant a lot to her.
To the Katnip boys, let me assure you that you neither need to be a girlcat nor have ever had girlie bits to pretend that you're having kittens for the sake of conning more stinky goodness out of your peoples. Remember the mantra, "Peoples are stupid". They won't even realise that mancats can't have kittens. Actually, if you combine kittens with tapeworm you might be on to a real winner! Have a care though. Sometimes peoples get the urge to worm you if they think you've got 'em, and that requires foul tasting medicine forced down your throat. Not fun. Nah, I'd go with the kittens myself, even if you are a boycat.
Random Felines, those boys are already wrapped round my paw! Dogman looked after me at Christmas, and even though he said he wasn't a cat person (does such a thing exist?), me and the human knew that wasn't true. When she came back, it was to find me on his knee being hand fed the finest tuna... So much for him not being a cat person! Now he even makes up songs for me and miaows at me and everything! As for Mark, well, he said he hated all cats cuz he was allergic, but apparently he has no reaction to my floof, so he picks me up and cuddles me and gets sad if I don't come say hello to him whenever he comes in the house. I don't think I'm gonna have any trouble getting them to do what I want them to do! It might be glorious being rid of that over-bearing, stinky goodness rationing human for a couple weeks.
Hannah and Lucy, the human says that she doesn't know whether we'll be keeping a babycat or not. She says if one of my babies is particularly stunning then maybe, but if not, then we may let them all go to forever homes. She doesn't want to end up with eleventy zillion big cats in the house, you see, so needs to be selective about what she keeps. I'm not convinced though. I know my human better than she does, and I bet she'll end up keeping one for us. I don't mind either way. I'll have more babies, and I know eventually I'll get to either keep one of them, or keep a grand baby. As long as my human's around for me, I'm happy! Tori, the spray is a vinegar one that takes the lingering scent of imbedded weewee out of the litterbox. The human hasn't tried it yet, but will let you know when she has.
Mom Paula, that show sounds fascinating! The description of these pictures are too, although I'll confess that the human's eyes leaked the first time she read it. However, she does agree with Zippy and crew that they are very educational. Whicky, I'd love Oliver's help! Keeping babycats clean is a full-time job, so any help is welcome! Tell him I'll need him around 27th of June if that's all right.
Wow, that was more than I thought it would be! Anyway, on to the news from yesterday. You remember I said that I'd be going to see the nice vet lady people to have a look at my yummy tummy and see how many babies I have inside me? Well, we did just that. The human put me in the PTU that straps to her back, and off we started. It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the vet lady people's place, but it's a nice walk. It's past a kid's playpark and then up a little path with trees and hedges on either side. Even though there were loads of birdies to watch, I still remembered to complain loud and long occasionally about my incarceration. I mean, how dare she! I was admired by quite a few humann kittens on the way though, but I'm thankful of the mesh separating me and then so that their sticky little fingers can't touch me!
We didn't have to wait long when we got to the vet lady people's, and in we went. When she took me out and looked at me, do you know what the first thing she said was? "Well, she's certainly got nice boobs!" Friends, if I didn't already have a tortie face, I'd have turned bright red!I mean, it's one thing to look at the nimples and say I'm pinking up, but for someone to out and say that I have nice boobs? And she's a lady people! That's wrong on so, so many levels! Have you ever had anyone say anything as outrageous to you as that?
She proceeded to feel my yummy tummy, and I sat nice and still for her while she did it. She said she could feel at least three babycats in there. Now before you all get excited, even she says this is no guarantee. Vets can and do frequently get it wrong, and this should be treated more as an indication of the size of the litter than an exact number. Babycats can hide behind one another for one thing. For another, not all babycats make it to term and some can be reabsorbed by the mummycat. At least we know it's not a singleton kitten though. That's what the human was worried about. Singletons grow very large, and as we Persians have large heads anyway, it would have made birthing an absolute nightmare. Three is about right to keep babies a decent size without making it too hard for me to push them out, so we both hope the vet lady people is either right, or had underestimated the numbers of what's in there.
So there you have it! Three babycats at least... Hopefully! And we can be expecting pretty much any colour too. Boys can be red or seal colourpoints both carrying dilute (if you'd like, we can explain colour genetics in another post as it's very interesting, well, for the human at least), or blue or cream colourpoints. Girls can be either seal torties like me carrying dilute, blue-creams (also called blue torties), red carrying dilute, or cream, all colourpoints. The only thing we can't get are seal or blue girls. All of them may carry the chocolate gene as I do. This is something very, very desirable in a Persian. This is why it's very good to have your mommacat as a dominant tortie carrying dilute, cuz it means you can have just about any colour of babies, unless, of course, you mate her with a seal or red stud boy who doesn't carry dilute. Dilute is the thing which gives more colour possibilities... I'm gonna stop now, else I'll explain genetics in this post alone! If any of you would like to know about them, then just tell me and I'll get the human to work up a post.
Ok, onto the link. Remember that one with the pictures of babycats? One of you made a really good suggestion which was to give peoples the choice, i.e, put the link, not the pictures on the blog. That's what I'm going to do. Please, if you don't want to see pictures of babycats at different stages of development in the womb, please don't click this link.
Well, friends, that's all for today, cuz the human's just put down my breakfast... I'm off!
PS: The human here. I have amnaged to mis-label something and I'm trying to delete a label from the list so that it doesn't comxe up as an auto complete every time I type my labels into Blogger. Do any of you know how to do that?
To begin with, you should all go back and check Tuesday's post. The HG has left a comment, and just to reitterate, she is so, so thankful for all of your support. It really has meant a lot to her.
To the Katnip boys, let me assure you that you neither need to be a girlcat nor have ever had girlie bits to pretend that you're having kittens for the sake of conning more stinky goodness out of your peoples. Remember the mantra, "Peoples are stupid". They won't even realise that mancats can't have kittens. Actually, if you combine kittens with tapeworm you might be on to a real winner! Have a care though. Sometimes peoples get the urge to worm you if they think you've got 'em, and that requires foul tasting medicine forced down your throat. Not fun. Nah, I'd go with the kittens myself, even if you are a boycat.
Random Felines, those boys are already wrapped round my paw! Dogman looked after me at Christmas, and even though he said he wasn't a cat person (does such a thing exist?), me and the human knew that wasn't true. When she came back, it was to find me on his knee being hand fed the finest tuna... So much for him not being a cat person! Now he even makes up songs for me and miaows at me and everything! As for Mark, well, he said he hated all cats cuz he was allergic, but apparently he has no reaction to my floof, so he picks me up and cuddles me and gets sad if I don't come say hello to him whenever he comes in the house. I don't think I'm gonna have any trouble getting them to do what I want them to do! It might be glorious being rid of that over-bearing, stinky goodness rationing human for a couple weeks.
Hannah and Lucy, the human says that she doesn't know whether we'll be keeping a babycat or not. She says if one of my babies is particularly stunning then maybe, but if not, then we may let them all go to forever homes. She doesn't want to end up with eleventy zillion big cats in the house, you see, so needs to be selective about what she keeps. I'm not convinced though. I know my human better than she does, and I bet she'll end up keeping one for us. I don't mind either way. I'll have more babies, and I know eventually I'll get to either keep one of them, or keep a grand baby. As long as my human's around for me, I'm happy! Tori, the spray is a vinegar one that takes the lingering scent of imbedded weewee out of the litterbox. The human hasn't tried it yet, but will let you know when she has.
Mom Paula, that show sounds fascinating! The description of these pictures are too, although I'll confess that the human's eyes leaked the first time she read it. However, she does agree with Zippy and crew that they are very educational. Whicky, I'd love Oliver's help! Keeping babycats clean is a full-time job, so any help is welcome! Tell him I'll need him around 27th of June if that's all right.
Wow, that was more than I thought it would be! Anyway, on to the news from yesterday. You remember I said that I'd be going to see the nice vet lady people to have a look at my yummy tummy and see how many babies I have inside me? Well, we did just that. The human put me in the PTU that straps to her back, and off we started. It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the vet lady people's place, but it's a nice walk. It's past a kid's playpark and then up a little path with trees and hedges on either side. Even though there were loads of birdies to watch, I still remembered to complain loud and long occasionally about my incarceration. I mean, how dare she! I was admired by quite a few humann kittens on the way though, but I'm thankful of the mesh separating me and then so that their sticky little fingers can't touch me!
We didn't have to wait long when we got to the vet lady people's, and in we went. When she took me out and looked at me, do you know what the first thing she said was? "Well, she's certainly got nice boobs!" Friends, if I didn't already have a tortie face, I'd have turned bright red!I mean, it's one thing to look at the nimples and say I'm pinking up, but for someone to out and say that I have nice boobs? And she's a lady people! That's wrong on so, so many levels! Have you ever had anyone say anything as outrageous to you as that?
She proceeded to feel my yummy tummy, and I sat nice and still for her while she did it. She said she could feel at least three babycats in there. Now before you all get excited, even she says this is no guarantee. Vets can and do frequently get it wrong, and this should be treated more as an indication of the size of the litter than an exact number. Babycats can hide behind one another for one thing. For another, not all babycats make it to term and some can be reabsorbed by the mummycat. At least we know it's not a singleton kitten though. That's what the human was worried about. Singletons grow very large, and as we Persians have large heads anyway, it would have made birthing an absolute nightmare. Three is about right to keep babies a decent size without making it too hard for me to push them out, so we both hope the vet lady people is either right, or had underestimated the numbers of what's in there.
So there you have it! Three babycats at least... Hopefully! And we can be expecting pretty much any colour too. Boys can be red or seal colourpoints both carrying dilute (if you'd like, we can explain colour genetics in another post as it's very interesting, well, for the human at least), or blue or cream colourpoints. Girls can be either seal torties like me carrying dilute, blue-creams (also called blue torties), red carrying dilute, or cream, all colourpoints. The only thing we can't get are seal or blue girls. All of them may carry the chocolate gene as I do. This is something very, very desirable in a Persian. This is why it's very good to have your mommacat as a dominant tortie carrying dilute, cuz it means you can have just about any colour of babies, unless, of course, you mate her with a seal or red stud boy who doesn't carry dilute. Dilute is the thing which gives more colour possibilities... I'm gonna stop now, else I'll explain genetics in this post alone! If any of you would like to know about them, then just tell me and I'll get the human to work up a post.
Ok, onto the link. Remember that one with the pictures of babycats? One of you made a really good suggestion which was to give peoples the choice, i.e, put the link, not the pictures on the blog. That's what I'm going to do. Please, if you don't want to see pictures of babycats at different stages of development in the womb, please don't click this link.
Well, friends, that's all for today, cuz the human's just put down my breakfast... I'm off!
PS: The human here. I have amnaged to mis-label something and I'm trying to delete a label from the list so that it doesn't comxe up as an auto complete every time I type my labels into Blogger. Do any of you know how to do that?
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Things on Thursday
Friends, it's gonna be a bit of a hodge-podge of things today I'm afraid, but that's the only way I can tell you stuff that I need to tell you.
The HG hasn't read the post on Tuesday yet. Me and the human still don't think she's ready to, as she is still a bit of an emotional wreck after Nicki Dogface's passing. However, I know that when she does, she will be so, so thankful for all of the support you showed her. I'd like to thank you all as well. I know you didn't know her, so it's so thoughtful of you to come and wish the HG well. We really do appreciate it more than we can say!
The human says that my pregnancy is coming along well. She noticed the first tiny sign of a bulge yesterday, and today, I asked her for another portion of stinky goodness only about half an hour after eating the first... And that was half a pouch! She gave it to me, and it's all gone already! I've gone back to eating my dry food, cuz she says I'm getting no more wet until bedtime. Heartless human! Doesn't she know that babycats are eating the stuff in my tummy too? She says she's fully aware of that, but also knows that I don't need to double my food intake just yet. I shouldn't eat more until the end of this week apparently, but she's not sticking to that religiously. She says she'll give me a little bit more when I want it, within reason of course. Why do they have to work on reason! Why, why, why! Sure, if I get fat it will make babycats a lot harder to push out, but when it's a choice between that and stinky goodness, does she really think I'll care?
You remember the ladypeople who came to see us on Monday? Well, she left me some really, really, really nice treats which the human held out of my reach until Tuesday night. They're called Thrive, and they're dried cubes of chicken. My goodness are they nice! Ok, you gotta chew them cuz they're too big to swallow whole... I know this. I tried it, multiple times. I don't like chewing. But when you do eventually bite them, boy are they ever nice! I'm only allowed 2-4 bits twice a day though, and that's the not so good part. You should make your peoples buy them for you, even if they are so expensive that my human says I'll only get them on very, very special occasions once this jar is done.
Speaking of the human, she was talking to me today, and one of the things that came up was her suitcase. Now don't get me wrong, I like suitcases a lot, but I know that when they come out, it means the human will be going away for a little while. She confirmed this today when she told me that she would be heading off to see Bug a week from today. It's in a place called Alaska. The human says I wouldn't like it there cuz it's cold and there's snow a lot of the year, but I reminded her that a ladycat in my condition wouldn't let an aeroplane bird eat her anyway. It'd be too much stress. She agrees, and says she's asked my other favourite person, Dogman, to come stay with me for most of the time she's gone. There's only four days when he won't be here, and then Mark, my sort of favourite people, will come stay for those nights. He's only my sort of favourite cuz he doesn't like it when I play attack the feet under the blanket with him when he's making the snore noises in bed.
I will miss the human, but she's gone away and come back before, so I'm not worried about her staying there. I will use the time wisely and concentrate on growing my babycats big and strong. I bet she'll see the difference in my yummy tummy when she comes back! She says we're taking a trip to see the nice vet lady people tomorrow so that she can have a feel of my yummy tummy and tell the human whether she thinks I'm having a big litter or a small one. You can't really get more accurate than that at this stage, so there will still be an element of surprise with the number of babies that come out of me.
The human has been getting things ready. She's ordered lots and lots and lots of kitten food, but she says that this is for me instead of my babies. She says I'll have that all eaten before they start eating, and as she's only ordered 48 pouches of stinky goodness, I agree! That's hardly enough to last me until she gets back! I say that banking on the fact that if I cry enough, Dogman and Mark, who are much less heartless than my human, will believe that I'm starving to death, that the boring dry food is poison, and that I can eat nothing but wet. I'm Ok with that! Hahaha! While the human's away, this cat will play!
She's also ordered me a new scratching post, as she says one of mine is getting too ratty to use propperly now. I love that old post, no matter if it is only a kitten one that I have to really crunch down to scratch on. She says in a few weeks, I won't be able to even do that any more cuz my yummy tummy will be too big. That's not the point! She says I've also got two new toys coming which are supposed to get me more active, as it's very, very important for a mummycat to keep good muscle in her yummy tummy. It makes pushing babies out much more easy, you see. She won't tell me what they are though!
She spent a little of today trying to put together the names of peoples on the waiting list for one of my kittens. We had three, but one of those is looking doubtful, as she still doesn't have her own place to live yet, and none of my babies will go to an uncertain future. If any of you know anybody wanting a little colourpoint Persian baby of mine, please do let me and the human know, and we'll arrange to call you for a chat.
Hmmm, now, what else? There's not much more to tell, actually. The human says she will have a long bath tonight, which means I get to warm her towels for her. She puts them down so that I can sit on them and keep an eye on her while she washes. I'll never understand why they try to drown themselves in a whole tub of water, but that's a whole nother post! I do keep a close eye though. Just like kittens, the human can't be trusted to wash propperly without my snoopervision!
until next time, friends, demand stinky goodness! If you pretend to your peoples that you're pregnant, you might even get it!
Disclaimer: Lady Gardens not essential for pretending you're pregnant. Peoples are stupid. It'll work anyway.
The HG hasn't read the post on Tuesday yet. Me and the human still don't think she's ready to, as she is still a bit of an emotional wreck after Nicki Dogface's passing. However, I know that when she does, she will be so, so thankful for all of the support you showed her. I'd like to thank you all as well. I know you didn't know her, so it's so thoughtful of you to come and wish the HG well. We really do appreciate it more than we can say!
The human says that my pregnancy is coming along well. She noticed the first tiny sign of a bulge yesterday, and today, I asked her for another portion of stinky goodness only about half an hour after eating the first... And that was half a pouch! She gave it to me, and it's all gone already! I've gone back to eating my dry food, cuz she says I'm getting no more wet until bedtime. Heartless human! Doesn't she know that babycats are eating the stuff in my tummy too? She says she's fully aware of that, but also knows that I don't need to double my food intake just yet. I shouldn't eat more until the end of this week apparently, but she's not sticking to that religiously. She says she'll give me a little bit more when I want it, within reason of course. Why do they have to work on reason! Why, why, why! Sure, if I get fat it will make babycats a lot harder to push out, but when it's a choice between that and stinky goodness, does she really think I'll care?
You remember the ladypeople who came to see us on Monday? Well, she left me some really, really, really nice treats which the human held out of my reach until Tuesday night. They're called Thrive, and they're dried cubes of chicken. My goodness are they nice! Ok, you gotta chew them cuz they're too big to swallow whole... I know this. I tried it, multiple times. I don't like chewing. But when you do eventually bite them, boy are they ever nice! I'm only allowed 2-4 bits twice a day though, and that's the not so good part. You should make your peoples buy them for you, even if they are so expensive that my human says I'll only get them on very, very special occasions once this jar is done.
Speaking of the human, she was talking to me today, and one of the things that came up was her suitcase. Now don't get me wrong, I like suitcases a lot, but I know that when they come out, it means the human will be going away for a little while. She confirmed this today when she told me that she would be heading off to see Bug a week from today. It's in a place called Alaska. The human says I wouldn't like it there cuz it's cold and there's snow a lot of the year, but I reminded her that a ladycat in my condition wouldn't let an aeroplane bird eat her anyway. It'd be too much stress. She agrees, and says she's asked my other favourite person, Dogman, to come stay with me for most of the time she's gone. There's only four days when he won't be here, and then Mark, my sort of favourite people, will come stay for those nights. He's only my sort of favourite cuz he doesn't like it when I play attack the feet under the blanket with him when he's making the snore noises in bed.
I will miss the human, but she's gone away and come back before, so I'm not worried about her staying there. I will use the time wisely and concentrate on growing my babycats big and strong. I bet she'll see the difference in my yummy tummy when she comes back! She says we're taking a trip to see the nice vet lady people tomorrow so that she can have a feel of my yummy tummy and tell the human whether she thinks I'm having a big litter or a small one. You can't really get more accurate than that at this stage, so there will still be an element of surprise with the number of babies that come out of me.
The human has been getting things ready. She's ordered lots and lots and lots of kitten food, but she says that this is for me instead of my babies. She says I'll have that all eaten before they start eating, and as she's only ordered 48 pouches of stinky goodness, I agree! That's hardly enough to last me until she gets back! I say that banking on the fact that if I cry enough, Dogman and Mark, who are much less heartless than my human, will believe that I'm starving to death, that the boring dry food is poison, and that I can eat nothing but wet. I'm Ok with that! Hahaha! While the human's away, this cat will play!
She's also ordered me a new scratching post, as she says one of mine is getting too ratty to use propperly now. I love that old post, no matter if it is only a kitten one that I have to really crunch down to scratch on. She says in a few weeks, I won't be able to even do that any more cuz my yummy tummy will be too big. That's not the point! She says I've also got two new toys coming which are supposed to get me more active, as it's very, very important for a mummycat to keep good muscle in her yummy tummy. It makes pushing babies out much more easy, you see. She won't tell me what they are though!
She spent a little of today trying to put together the names of peoples on the waiting list for one of my kittens. We had three, but one of those is looking doubtful, as she still doesn't have her own place to live yet, and none of my babies will go to an uncertain future. If any of you know anybody wanting a little colourpoint Persian baby of mine, please do let me and the human know, and we'll arrange to call you for a chat.
Hmmm, now, what else? There's not much more to tell, actually. The human says she will have a long bath tonight, which means I get to warm her towels for her. She puts them down so that I can sit on them and keep an eye on her while she washes. I'll never understand why they try to drown themselves in a whole tub of water, but that's a whole nother post! I do keep a close eye though. Just like kittens, the human can't be trusted to wash propperly without my snoopervision!
until next time, friends, demand stinky goodness! If you pretend to your peoples that you're pregnant, you might even get it!
Disclaimer: Lady Gardens not essential for pretending you're pregnant. Peoples are stupid. It'll work anyway.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Woofie Tuesday
Friends, it is with a heavy heart that I write this post, and this says much when it has something to do with Dogfaces.
It's going to be a short one, as the human has just got the news and her eyes are leaking badly enough that she needs to go get tissues. Do you remember our HG? The nice ladypeople who went to the cat show with me and bought me a toy? She has a dogface that did the same job as the human's, you know, the guide dog thing? yesterday, she noticed that the Nikki dogface had a lump which she was worried about. Thinking it was an enlarged splean, she contacted the Guide Dogs organisation who came and took her to a super duper vet nearby to be checked out.
Unfortunately, they found cancerous growths and tumours which couldn't be totally removed. At most, Nikki dogface would have only a few months left with us as the cancer got worse, and nothing could be done. Reluctantly, the Hg put her own heartache aside and made the decision that was best for Nikki, not her. Today while still peacefully asleep under anaesthetic, Nikki crossed the rainbow bridge, and the poor HG is heart broken. I'm writing this here cuz I know how much support helped my human when I was sick, and I also know how much others who have had pets cross the bridge have valued it too. I know you know her only a little through this blog, but please spare a thought for her today. She reads often, so will see comments and this post when she's ready to.
Nikki dogface, my human and you may not always have seen eye to eye, but know that she will miss you deeply. You don't know what you've got until it's gone, and in this case, it's very true. Be at peace as you wait at the bridge for your HG human.
HG, we love you lots and both of us wish we could give you a huge snuggle right now. Please be strong.
It's going to be a short one, as the human has just got the news and her eyes are leaking badly enough that she needs to go get tissues. Do you remember our HG? The nice ladypeople who went to the cat show with me and bought me a toy? She has a dogface that did the same job as the human's, you know, the guide dog thing? yesterday, she noticed that the Nikki dogface had a lump which she was worried about. Thinking it was an enlarged splean, she contacted the Guide Dogs organisation who came and took her to a super duper vet nearby to be checked out.
Unfortunately, they found cancerous growths and tumours which couldn't be totally removed. At most, Nikki dogface would have only a few months left with us as the cancer got worse, and nothing could be done. Reluctantly, the Hg put her own heartache aside and made the decision that was best for Nikki, not her. Today while still peacefully asleep under anaesthetic, Nikki crossed the rainbow bridge, and the poor HG is heart broken. I'm writing this here cuz I know how much support helped my human when I was sick, and I also know how much others who have had pets cross the bridge have valued it too. I know you know her only a little through this blog, but please spare a thought for her today. She reads often, so will see comments and this post when she's ready to.
Nikki dogface, my human and you may not always have seen eye to eye, but know that she will miss you deeply. You don't know what you've got until it's gone, and in this case, it's very true. Be at peace as you wait at the bridge for your HG human.
HG, we love you lots and both of us wish we could give you a huge snuggle right now. Please be strong.
Monday, 16 May 2011
Mommacat Monday: To be or not to be?
Well, friends, the big day has arrived. The day of reckoning. The day of revelation. The day... Ok, my human says enough now.
Friends, today is the day the human learned the truth about whether or not I have mommacat status. I'm still gonna make you wait though! I have to tell you stuff that happened before. Ok, well I don't have to, but it's all about building tension, you know.
True to her word, the human has been a cleaning demon this weekend. This madness does hit her from time to time, but thankfully not very often. Don't get me wrong, she keeps the place clean, but as she said to Bug on the phone this morning when he asked her what on earth was going on, "It's not good enough to clean things when I'm like this. They need to be squeaky clean." And believe me, friends, if the amound of cleaning products is anything to go by, everything should shriek, never mind squeak!
Oh, I have something to tell you about squeaking in a minute, but before that... Kittens, look away now please. What follows is horrific and not for tender ears. She got the sucky monster out and it ate all of my fur on the sofas and everywhere else! Then she got water and cloths and icky smelling cleaning stuff and scrubbed the kitchen floor. Next she got out a cloth to go and take the layer of dust off stuff. Then it was off to the bathroom with a scrubber and some more stinky stuff to make the bath, sink, and even the horrid smelly human litterbox bowl thing squeak! She put loads of washing on the line outside. She let loose the sucky monster twice on the sofas to make sure all of my fur was gone! She even arranged my toys to make them look neat! But that lasted all of about ten seconds till i jumped into the middle of them and scattered them. She got the hint after that!
Thanks to so many of you who invited me over to yours to escape the madness of Casa de Tia. If you happened to notice a bit of your food was missing, or a warm spot in a comfy place, it was only me, so no need to worry! I, on the other hand, must.
Why? Cuz some of my food has been going missing! Not enough for the human to notice, but I sure do. She got an idea of what was going on night before last though. She was lying in bed when she heard the noise of my kibble being eaten. Sleepily, she stretched her feet down the bed... Only to encounter me at the bottom of it! she froze, listening hard. There it was again. Crunch, crunch, and it wasn't me! She could hear tiny noises coming from the food bowl, and she knew. So did I. We had a mouse, at least, she thinks we do. I stood up quietly on the bed, watching. It was fascinating. I decided to jump down and say hello to it, but as soon as I did, it ran away real, real quick. I didn't want to chase it. I don't kill things, you see, so I just let it go. For some reason, this really didn't please the human. She won't sleep in our bedroom and has the door closed tight, as if that'll stop it! She's also left a few kibbles out just to make sure she wasn't imagining things. Last night, none of them were taken, but she's gonna give it another night, as she thinks she's found his hole and wants to be sure. If it takes the food, she'll have to put measures in place to get rid of it. She won't tell me what those are. Says that I don't need to know, but that I'm not allowed in the bedroom for a while in case I eat stuff and get sick. This doesn't make any sense to me, but there's little I can do about it, as the door's closed and I can't open it. She says that she's taken all my food outta there, sept the bits she left down for mousey, so I'm not to worry that he's stealing my dinner!
This morning, the human reminded me that her friend would be coming to see her today, but also wanted to see me. Sure enough, she arrived, and do you know what the first thing she did was? She bent right down, started giving me scritches, and told me just how beautiful I was! I decided I liked this ladypeople. She obviously has a lot of sense! Her and the human made an awful lot of talk noise for the longest time, and she brought the human lotsa stuff like litter trays,a special spray for mine to stop anything smelling, some yummy food, some soup for the human and some super duper treats! And you know what? She even brought a present all for me! She's a quilter, and she had some scraps left over, so she made me my very own brightly coloured quilt! It's big and gorgeous and so, sooooo comfy. The human spread it on the sofa, and straight away I climbed on top of it and went to sleep. I absolutely love, love, love it, and it's all mine! Just for me! Especially made! No other cat in the world has one exactly like mine. How cool is that! It's all made from scraps, so has lotsa different colours and textures in it. Oh how I love it!
While she was here, she taught the human to cut my nails without hurting me. She also checked me over. Ok, Ok, I spose I've made you wait long enough. So, here's the bit you've been waiting for.
The ladypeople flipped me over to look at my yummy tummy and my, well, my nimples (I'm not saying the real word. It's not polite!). She said my tummy was indeed yummy, but I decided I didn't want her to see the colour of my nimples. I didn't want to give up my secret after all! No matter how much I shouted though, she persisted until I lay still and let her look. Friends, my nimples, all of them........................... Were pink!!!!!!!!!! That means that I am definitely carrying babies! Friends, I am gonna be a mummycat!
Now that I've told you, I'm glad I have. It's so good to finally be able to talk about all this, to tell you all how excited I am. Oh how super this will be! Nobody knows how many babycats I have inside of me yet, but that doesn't matter. At this stage it's hard to be sure anyway. But I have definitely pinked up, so there's no doubt now. My babies will be born around the 27th of June give or take a few days. I'm so, so excited, and not least because this means that I get nothing but the best food, and as much of it as I want, too! I think that's the bestest thing ever!
My human would like to post a link so that you can all track my pregnancy along with me. It shows pictures of babycats at different stages of development inside a mummycat. However, she's not sure whether she should or not. Obviously, the babies pictured didn't make it. They were taken from cats whose owners wanted them spayed even though they had babycats in them, and we know this will be distressing to many peoples and cats alike. But if we do post it, you'll know exactly what my babies look like as they're getting bigger inside me. What do you all think? Would you like to see, or would you rather not know?
Well, I'm so, so happy today, and that's nothing to the size of the smile my human has on her face! Neither of us can wait until babies arrive!
In quick other news, you should all go and visit House of Cats
where it's Barney's 2nd birthday today. I'm sure he could do with some help celebrating!
Happy, happy mommacat Monday to you all!
Friends, today is the day the human learned the truth about whether or not I have mommacat status. I'm still gonna make you wait though! I have to tell you stuff that happened before. Ok, well I don't have to, but it's all about building tension, you know.
True to her word, the human has been a cleaning demon this weekend. This madness does hit her from time to time, but thankfully not very often. Don't get me wrong, she keeps the place clean, but as she said to Bug on the phone this morning when he asked her what on earth was going on, "It's not good enough to clean things when I'm like this. They need to be squeaky clean." And believe me, friends, if the amound of cleaning products is anything to go by, everything should shriek, never mind squeak!
Oh, I have something to tell you about squeaking in a minute, but before that... Kittens, look away now please. What follows is horrific and not for tender ears. She got the sucky monster out and it ate all of my fur on the sofas and everywhere else! Then she got water and cloths and icky smelling cleaning stuff and scrubbed the kitchen floor. Next she got out a cloth to go and take the layer of dust off stuff. Then it was off to the bathroom with a scrubber and some more stinky stuff to make the bath, sink, and even the horrid smelly human litterbox bowl thing squeak! She put loads of washing on the line outside. She let loose the sucky monster twice on the sofas to make sure all of my fur was gone! She even arranged my toys to make them look neat! But that lasted all of about ten seconds till i jumped into the middle of them and scattered them. She got the hint after that!
Thanks to so many of you who invited me over to yours to escape the madness of Casa de Tia. If you happened to notice a bit of your food was missing, or a warm spot in a comfy place, it was only me, so no need to worry! I, on the other hand, must.
Why? Cuz some of my food has been going missing! Not enough for the human to notice, but I sure do. She got an idea of what was going on night before last though. She was lying in bed when she heard the noise of my kibble being eaten. Sleepily, she stretched her feet down the bed... Only to encounter me at the bottom of it! she froze, listening hard. There it was again. Crunch, crunch, and it wasn't me! She could hear tiny noises coming from the food bowl, and she knew. So did I. We had a mouse, at least, she thinks we do. I stood up quietly on the bed, watching. It was fascinating. I decided to jump down and say hello to it, but as soon as I did, it ran away real, real quick. I didn't want to chase it. I don't kill things, you see, so I just let it go. For some reason, this really didn't please the human. She won't sleep in our bedroom and has the door closed tight, as if that'll stop it! She's also left a few kibbles out just to make sure she wasn't imagining things. Last night, none of them were taken, but she's gonna give it another night, as she thinks she's found his hole and wants to be sure. If it takes the food, she'll have to put measures in place to get rid of it. She won't tell me what those are. Says that I don't need to know, but that I'm not allowed in the bedroom for a while in case I eat stuff and get sick. This doesn't make any sense to me, but there's little I can do about it, as the door's closed and I can't open it. She says that she's taken all my food outta there, sept the bits she left down for mousey, so I'm not to worry that he's stealing my dinner!
This morning, the human reminded me that her friend would be coming to see her today, but also wanted to see me. Sure enough, she arrived, and do you know what the first thing she did was? She bent right down, started giving me scritches, and told me just how beautiful I was! I decided I liked this ladypeople. She obviously has a lot of sense! Her and the human made an awful lot of talk noise for the longest time, and she brought the human lotsa stuff like litter trays,a special spray for mine to stop anything smelling, some yummy food, some soup for the human and some super duper treats! And you know what? She even brought a present all for me! She's a quilter, and she had some scraps left over, so she made me my very own brightly coloured quilt! It's big and gorgeous and so, sooooo comfy. The human spread it on the sofa, and straight away I climbed on top of it and went to sleep. I absolutely love, love, love it, and it's all mine! Just for me! Especially made! No other cat in the world has one exactly like mine. How cool is that! It's all made from scraps, so has lotsa different colours and textures in it. Oh how I love it!
While she was here, she taught the human to cut my nails without hurting me. She also checked me over. Ok, Ok, I spose I've made you wait long enough. So, here's the bit you've been waiting for.
The ladypeople flipped me over to look at my yummy tummy and my, well, my nimples (I'm not saying the real word. It's not polite!). She said my tummy was indeed yummy, but I decided I didn't want her to see the colour of my nimples. I didn't want to give up my secret after all! No matter how much I shouted though, she persisted until I lay still and let her look. Friends, my nimples, all of them........................... Were pink!!!!!!!!!! That means that I am definitely carrying babies! Friends, I am gonna be a mummycat!
Now that I've told you, I'm glad I have. It's so good to finally be able to talk about all this, to tell you all how excited I am. Oh how super this will be! Nobody knows how many babycats I have inside of me yet, but that doesn't matter. At this stage it's hard to be sure anyway. But I have definitely pinked up, so there's no doubt now. My babies will be born around the 27th of June give or take a few days. I'm so, so excited, and not least because this means that I get nothing but the best food, and as much of it as I want, too! I think that's the bestest thing ever!
My human would like to post a link so that you can all track my pregnancy along with me. It shows pictures of babycats at different stages of development inside a mummycat. However, she's not sure whether she should or not. Obviously, the babies pictured didn't make it. They were taken from cats whose owners wanted them spayed even though they had babycats in them, and we know this will be distressing to many peoples and cats alike. But if we do post it, you'll know exactly what my babies look like as they're getting bigger inside me. What do you all think? Would you like to see, or would you rather not know?
Well, I'm so, so happy today, and that's nothing to the size of the smile my human has on her face! Neither of us can wait until babies arrive!
In quick other news, you should all go and visit House of Cats
where it's Barney's 2nd birthday today. I'm sure he could do with some help celebrating!
Happy, happy mommacat Monday to you all!
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Saturday Stuff
Well, friends, this time, I can't even blame my lack of posting on the human! It's a sad, sad day when I can't find a reason for blaming her. I feel like I'm a failure somehow! This time though, it was the fault of stupid blogger who decided it was going to have a crash. It broke itself somehow for days, and deleted our Thursday and Friday posts. How naughty of it! I'm glad it's back, cuz without it, there's nobody to read my writing, and no reason for me to use smacky-paw on the human to make her type what I'm telling her.
Let's see now, what have I been up to? Not much, truth be told, but I've done a few more things that make the human happy. I'm still scratching for love, and got so confident with it that I even scratched Dogman's leg to make him pick me up. It worked wonderfully! He got all mushy cuz I'd showed him I wanted attention, and he loved on me big time. He even sang me some special songs, all about me! you remember we told you that Dogman makes up songs for Stupid Dogface? Well, I started out with just one song, but now I've got three! And all because I scratched for love!
Then on Thursday, the human picked me up for a cuddle. Even though I'm now comfortable with her cuddling my head, and actually quite like it, I never normally look at her or turn my head towards her when she's stroking me. I prefer to keep my eye on other things. Understandable really. Peoples are ugly things after all. On Thursday though, I was enjoying the tickling so much that I suddenly caught myself looking at her so that she could tikcle both sides of my chin at once. As soon as I realised what I was doing, I tried to look away again, but the human kept cuddling, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I snuggled my head right under her chin with my face buried against her neck. She really, really, really liked that, but I wasn't so sure. It's a scary thing to put all your trust in a people, even the human, and not be able to see anything else around you. The human lives in hope that another day will come though.
She gave me a different variety of stinky goodness last night, and, true to form, I didn't do more than lick the gravy off it. I threw up this morning though, and there was loads of it. I did this the other morning, but there was a massive great hairball in it, but as I've done it again today, the human's wondering if the hairball was more a bi-product of morning sickness than the actual cause...
Speaking of morning sickness, I have news about the pregnancy possibilities. Admiral, you asked if I had babycats in my tummy. The answer?............ you're still gonna have to wait until monday! Hahahahaha! Remember, dear friends, if it were just you cats reading, I'd tell you in a heartbeat, but I know your peoples sneakily read too, and it's fun to make them wait and sweat!
The human had a meeting with her new work peoples yesterday. I can't remember if I've allowed her to tell you, but the start date of the new job was delayed due to them needing to finalise paperwork and things, and then because of her broken eyes, they needed to do a risk assessment. That's what she went in to talk about yesterday. They'd identified areas where they weren't sure how she'd cope, like mobilising and suctioning patients safely, that sort of thing, and she had to give them the solutions she's used in the past to overcome those hurdles. They say that they need to then take the results to senior management and they would have the ultimate decision. Either way though, we should know by the end of next week. The human doesn't really want to start until my babies are up and grown though, so although she's happy that this is moving forward, she wishes that it had started either sooner or later, cuz starting a new job when there are babycats around is goign to be very stressful for all of us! I'll let you know as soon as she finds anything out though.
Today, the human has made a new game for me. She has wedged two ping-pong balls in between the cushion and the edge of the sofa. If I lie belly down on her knee, I can reach out my front paws and try and get the balls out. As soon as I do, she takes them and puts them back and then I get to whap them all over again. It's an awful lot of fun!
She says I'd better be ready for house cleaning big time today and tomorrow though. She's gonna dust, scrub the kitchen floor, drag out the sucky monster and, horror of horrors, de-fur everything! I know, it's awful! She says she's even gonna de-fur me with a brush so that I can't fur it all back up once she's done cleaning it. how heartless is she! I don't know how I'm going to manage. Anybody got a spare corner I can crawl into and hide? I might even whisper you my secret about the babycats while I avoid the sucky monster!
Let's see now, what have I been up to? Not much, truth be told, but I've done a few more things that make the human happy. I'm still scratching for love, and got so confident with it that I even scratched Dogman's leg to make him pick me up. It worked wonderfully! He got all mushy cuz I'd showed him I wanted attention, and he loved on me big time. He even sang me some special songs, all about me! you remember we told you that Dogman makes up songs for Stupid Dogface? Well, I started out with just one song, but now I've got three! And all because I scratched for love!
Then on Thursday, the human picked me up for a cuddle. Even though I'm now comfortable with her cuddling my head, and actually quite like it, I never normally look at her or turn my head towards her when she's stroking me. I prefer to keep my eye on other things. Understandable really. Peoples are ugly things after all. On Thursday though, I was enjoying the tickling so much that I suddenly caught myself looking at her so that she could tikcle both sides of my chin at once. As soon as I realised what I was doing, I tried to look away again, but the human kept cuddling, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I snuggled my head right under her chin with my face buried against her neck. She really, really, really liked that, but I wasn't so sure. It's a scary thing to put all your trust in a people, even the human, and not be able to see anything else around you. The human lives in hope that another day will come though.
She gave me a different variety of stinky goodness last night, and, true to form, I didn't do more than lick the gravy off it. I threw up this morning though, and there was loads of it. I did this the other morning, but there was a massive great hairball in it, but as I've done it again today, the human's wondering if the hairball was more a bi-product of morning sickness than the actual cause...
Speaking of morning sickness, I have news about the pregnancy possibilities. Admiral, you asked if I had babycats in my tummy. The answer?............ you're still gonna have to wait until monday! Hahahahaha! Remember, dear friends, if it were just you cats reading, I'd tell you in a heartbeat, but I know your peoples sneakily read too, and it's fun to make them wait and sweat!
The human had a meeting with her new work peoples yesterday. I can't remember if I've allowed her to tell you, but the start date of the new job was delayed due to them needing to finalise paperwork and things, and then because of her broken eyes, they needed to do a risk assessment. That's what she went in to talk about yesterday. They'd identified areas where they weren't sure how she'd cope, like mobilising and suctioning patients safely, that sort of thing, and she had to give them the solutions she's used in the past to overcome those hurdles. They say that they need to then take the results to senior management and they would have the ultimate decision. Either way though, we should know by the end of next week. The human doesn't really want to start until my babies are up and grown though, so although she's happy that this is moving forward, she wishes that it had started either sooner or later, cuz starting a new job when there are babycats around is goign to be very stressful for all of us! I'll let you know as soon as she finds anything out though.
Today, the human has made a new game for me. She has wedged two ping-pong balls in between the cushion and the edge of the sofa. If I lie belly down on her knee, I can reach out my front paws and try and get the balls out. As soon as I do, she takes them and puts them back and then I get to whap them all over again. It's an awful lot of fun!
She says I'd better be ready for house cleaning big time today and tomorrow though. She's gonna dust, scrub the kitchen floor, drag out the sucky monster and, horror of horrors, de-fur everything! I know, it's awful! She says she's even gonna de-fur me with a brush so that I can't fur it all back up once she's done cleaning it. how heartless is she! I don't know how I'm going to manage. Anybody got a spare corner I can crawl into and hide? I might even whisper you my secret about the babycats while I avoid the sucky monster!
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Food? What food!
Friends, my human is a cruel, heartless ladypeople, do you know that! She is absolutely awful to me, and I'm sure what she's done this time will kill me!... Or somethin equally as dramatic.
She's messing with my food! Lately, she's given into my desires for only one type of stinky goodness. Problem is that the brand I've chosen is one of those that's low in meat and high in grain, and it's also very expensive. Who cares, I say, as long as I get what i want. But she's not convinced. For months she's tried to insist that I eat stinky goodness that has more meat and less sugar in it, but other than the last few weeks when I've sort of cooperated, I haven't been interested. I blame the last few weeks on the possibility of kittens. It's not my fault if my food tastes change!
The human knows that an expectant mummycat needs to have more wet food available to her so that she can fill up on that, so instead of giving me half a poutch each day, she upped it to a whole one which she gave me at night before she went for her sleepy time. By the time morning came, I'd pretty much finished it, but this is where the problems started. She always leaves boring old dry down for me, cuz she knows that cats should have access to food whenever they want it. Sensible human! She also knows that pregnant mummycats need to fill up whenever the urge takes them. But I wasn't doing that. I loved this stinky goodness so much that I wouldn't eat my dried food at all. Now, this is a problem because we Persians don't really eat much at all, and 70% of stinky goodness is water, so we need to eat a heck of a lot more stinky than dried to get the same nutrition. Because our faces are flatter, we tend to eat less on the whole, which is why the dry food has to be super high calory to keep us looking plump and gorgeous. Problem is, as my babycats grow bigger in my tummy, I will need to eat more and more, up to four times what I'd normally need to keep me looking pretty. The recommended feeding is 2 pouches of this stinky goodness per day, so when my babies are growing, I'll need to eat up to eight in a day to get the same nutrition, and that just isn't possible. I won't have the room in my tummy for that much! Nor will I be able to eat it. It takes me all night and sometimes well into the morning to finish even one pouch, let alone trying to cram eight in in a single day!
My human tried to peak my interest in my dried again by hand-feeding me a bit. I ate like I really wanted it, but when I went to the bowl, there was no stinky goodness there. In an attempt to make her give me more, I stopped eating the dried in the bowl, knowing I could hold out for my stinky goodness which always came at bedtime.
Except last bedtime, it didn't. She went into the kitchen as normal. She opened the cupboard where my stinky goodness is kept, but all she got out was a bottle of water for herself. I shouted at her to remind her it was feeding time, but she didn't listen. She just closed the cupboard, picked me up, put me in front of my dry food bowl and carried on getting ready for bed. Of course, I didn't eat, but followed her into the bedroom instead. I have another bowl of food there too, and when my crying got really loud, she set me in front of this one. Again, I ignored it and kept asking for stinky goodness, and again, she ignored me. "Tia, I need to balance your needs against what you want," she said in an entirely too smug tone for my liking. "When those babies grow, you'll need a concentrated form of nutrition as well as your wet food, and I can't have you getting into the habit that dried isn't a food source, because then you'll not get enough of what you need, and both you and babies will suffer. I was prepared to give you as much wet as you wanted, but only if you ate the dried in between without a fuss." She went on to explain to me that she knew I was hungry and that's why she wasn't feeding me stinky goodness, cuz she knew I'd eat the dried before the night was out. I swore I wouldn't.
When she woke at 0 dark thirty to the sound of my kibble crunching, she was nice enough not to comment, and this morning, we both pretended like it didn't happen. But I've nibbled at my bowl today, so the human is pleased. She says she might split the pouches in half again so that I can't just fil up on wet and will still remember where my dried food is. Then she will give me a little bit morning and evening and make me eat dry in between. What do you think, friends? Isn't she cruel? Please, tell her how horrible she is and maybe she'll change her mind! I want stinky goodness all the time! Double what I usually get is not enough!
She's messing with my food! Lately, she's given into my desires for only one type of stinky goodness. Problem is that the brand I've chosen is one of those that's low in meat and high in grain, and it's also very expensive. Who cares, I say, as long as I get what i want. But she's not convinced. For months she's tried to insist that I eat stinky goodness that has more meat and less sugar in it, but other than the last few weeks when I've sort of cooperated, I haven't been interested. I blame the last few weeks on the possibility of kittens. It's not my fault if my food tastes change!
The human knows that an expectant mummycat needs to have more wet food available to her so that she can fill up on that, so instead of giving me half a poutch each day, she upped it to a whole one which she gave me at night before she went for her sleepy time. By the time morning came, I'd pretty much finished it, but this is where the problems started. She always leaves boring old dry down for me, cuz she knows that cats should have access to food whenever they want it. Sensible human! She also knows that pregnant mummycats need to fill up whenever the urge takes them. But I wasn't doing that. I loved this stinky goodness so much that I wouldn't eat my dried food at all. Now, this is a problem because we Persians don't really eat much at all, and 70% of stinky goodness is water, so we need to eat a heck of a lot more stinky than dried to get the same nutrition. Because our faces are flatter, we tend to eat less on the whole, which is why the dry food has to be super high calory to keep us looking plump and gorgeous. Problem is, as my babycats grow bigger in my tummy, I will need to eat more and more, up to four times what I'd normally need to keep me looking pretty. The recommended feeding is 2 pouches of this stinky goodness per day, so when my babies are growing, I'll need to eat up to eight in a day to get the same nutrition, and that just isn't possible. I won't have the room in my tummy for that much! Nor will I be able to eat it. It takes me all night and sometimes well into the morning to finish even one pouch, let alone trying to cram eight in in a single day!
My human tried to peak my interest in my dried again by hand-feeding me a bit. I ate like I really wanted it, but when I went to the bowl, there was no stinky goodness there. In an attempt to make her give me more, I stopped eating the dried in the bowl, knowing I could hold out for my stinky goodness which always came at bedtime.
Except last bedtime, it didn't. She went into the kitchen as normal. She opened the cupboard where my stinky goodness is kept, but all she got out was a bottle of water for herself. I shouted at her to remind her it was feeding time, but she didn't listen. She just closed the cupboard, picked me up, put me in front of my dry food bowl and carried on getting ready for bed. Of course, I didn't eat, but followed her into the bedroom instead. I have another bowl of food there too, and when my crying got really loud, she set me in front of this one. Again, I ignored it and kept asking for stinky goodness, and again, she ignored me. "Tia, I need to balance your needs against what you want," she said in an entirely too smug tone for my liking. "When those babies grow, you'll need a concentrated form of nutrition as well as your wet food, and I can't have you getting into the habit that dried isn't a food source, because then you'll not get enough of what you need, and both you and babies will suffer. I was prepared to give you as much wet as you wanted, but only if you ate the dried in between without a fuss." She went on to explain to me that she knew I was hungry and that's why she wasn't feeding me stinky goodness, cuz she knew I'd eat the dried before the night was out. I swore I wouldn't.
When she woke at 0 dark thirty to the sound of my kibble crunching, she was nice enough not to comment, and this morning, we both pretended like it didn't happen. But I've nibbled at my bowl today, so the human is pleased. She says she might split the pouches in half again so that I can't just fil up on wet and will still remember where my dried food is. Then she will give me a little bit morning and evening and make me eat dry in between. What do you think, friends? Isn't she cruel? Please, tell her how horrible she is and maybe she'll change her mind! I want stinky goodness all the time! Double what I usually get is not enough!
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Scratching for Love
Friends, I know it sounds a bit strange that you could possibly scratch your people and they would give you love, but you know what? It's true!
Do you remember ages and ages back that my human and I were training each other when it came to treats? I'd put my paws up on her leg and she'd give me a treat. Reciprocal training, and as it had benefit to me, I liked it! Well, ever since then I've been really comfortable at putting my paws on the human when we're cuddling, or padding on her arms or her tummy or, well, wherever my paws happen to be. Whenever I do this she makes silly love noises at me and sometimes even gives me the dreaded kissie torture, so I know she likes it. This week, I decided to try something new. Let me tell you a play-by-play of how I did it today.
The human was tap tapping away on the flat keyboard thing that makes the man in the computer box talk to her. I didn't like the fact that he was getting all the attention. After all, that spot should perpetually be mine! I walked over to her and sat down at her feet. No reaction. Well, that was silly of me, cuz I'd walked quietly so that my bell made hardly any noise, and with the chattering of that silly little man, she probably didn't hear it. I wondered what to do next. now that I might have babycats in my yummy tummy, I don't think I should actually have to go to the trouble of jumping up to get a cuddle. it might upset them! I thought about it, then I remembered what I used to do for treats. But I'd put my paws on her thigh cuz she'd kneel down so I could do it. Cuz she was sitting, her thigh was too high for me, but I thought it might work anyway.
I balanced myself on my shapely ladycat back legs, and I put my front paws on her shin. Then I scrabbled at her to get her attention. You know kinda like you would with a scratching post? Sept I did it with only the tips of my claws out, so instead of scratching her I was just about snagging her jeans. Well, I tell you what, that got her attention good and fast! She put down the keyboard, bent over and started giving me all sorts of rubs. I'm sad to say I even got the kissie nasty thing a few times too, although it was offset by all the snuggling. I took my paws off her straight away, but to my surprise, she reachd under my chest and put them back, so it must be ok to have them there. she made a big fuss of me while I was standing against her leg. She says she wants me to feel comfortable enough to climb all over her when I want a cuddle if she's not paying me attention, and I must say that after today, I think I'll try the scratchy thing again! It didn't go down so well when I scratched the carpet at her feet instead of her trousers though, cuz that time i had my claws right out. She put her hand on me, tapped my paws and told me no in a very, very firm voice that she doesn't use often with me. As a mark of how brave I'm etting, I didn't run away and hide, ahem, I mean protect my territory. Even a few months ago I wouldn't have been that brave. I did give her ahead bumpie to say I was sorry though, and I haven't scratched the carpet again sept for a tiny bit by my scratching post, and I stopped as soon as she told me to.,/p>
So, scratching can gain you a no if you do it on the carpet, but boy does it bring the good stuff when you do it on a human!
oh, and just in case you haven't seen it, the post belowthis one is my yummy tummy picture post! you should all go and have a look. My human remembers when that picture was taken and she says that she could have eaten my yummy tummy all up! Personally, I think she's been mixing with Mom Trish and he Admiral's Mom too much. Their ideas are starting to rub off on her! Let's just hope neither of them threaten to eat me too! If they do, I'm running for the hills!
Do you remember ages and ages back that my human and I were training each other when it came to treats? I'd put my paws up on her leg and she'd give me a treat. Reciprocal training, and as it had benefit to me, I liked it! Well, ever since then I've been really comfortable at putting my paws on the human when we're cuddling, or padding on her arms or her tummy or, well, wherever my paws happen to be. Whenever I do this she makes silly love noises at me and sometimes even gives me the dreaded kissie torture, so I know she likes it. This week, I decided to try something new. Let me tell you a play-by-play of how I did it today.
The human was tap tapping away on the flat keyboard thing that makes the man in the computer box talk to her. I didn't like the fact that he was getting all the attention. After all, that spot should perpetually be mine! I walked over to her and sat down at her feet. No reaction. Well, that was silly of me, cuz I'd walked quietly so that my bell made hardly any noise, and with the chattering of that silly little man, she probably didn't hear it. I wondered what to do next. now that I might have babycats in my yummy tummy, I don't think I should actually have to go to the trouble of jumping up to get a cuddle. it might upset them! I thought about it, then I remembered what I used to do for treats. But I'd put my paws on her thigh cuz she'd kneel down so I could do it. Cuz she was sitting, her thigh was too high for me, but I thought it might work anyway.
I balanced myself on my shapely ladycat back legs, and I put my front paws on her shin. Then I scrabbled at her to get her attention. You know kinda like you would with a scratching post? Sept I did it with only the tips of my claws out, so instead of scratching her I was just about snagging her jeans. Well, I tell you what, that got her attention good and fast! She put down the keyboard, bent over and started giving me all sorts of rubs. I'm sad to say I even got the kissie nasty thing a few times too, although it was offset by all the snuggling. I took my paws off her straight away, but to my surprise, she reachd under my chest and put them back, so it must be ok to have them there. she made a big fuss of me while I was standing against her leg. She says she wants me to feel comfortable enough to climb all over her when I want a cuddle if she's not paying me attention, and I must say that after today, I think I'll try the scratchy thing again! It didn't go down so well when I scratched the carpet at her feet instead of her trousers though, cuz that time i had my claws right out. She put her hand on me, tapped my paws and told me no in a very, very firm voice that she doesn't use often with me. As a mark of how brave I'm etting, I didn't run away and hide, ahem, I mean protect my territory. Even a few months ago I wouldn't have been that brave. I did give her ahead bumpie to say I was sorry though, and I haven't scratched the carpet again sept for a tiny bit by my scratching post, and I stopped as soon as she told me to.,/p>
So, scratching can gain you a no if you do it on the carpet, but boy does it bring the good stuff when you do it on a human!
oh, and just in case you haven't seen it, the post belowthis one is my yummy tummy picture post! you should all go and have a look. My human remembers when that picture was taken and she says that she could have eaten my yummy tummy all up! Personally, I think she's been mixing with Mom Trish and he Admiral's Mom too much. Their ideas are starting to rub off on her! Let's just hope neither of them threaten to eat me too! If they do, I'm running for the hills!
Yummy Tummy!
Well, don't you just hate computers? We had technical difficulties getting it up, but at last, here it is!
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Oops, I may have slipped!
Friends, I'm ashamed of myself. I may have slipped and let my secret out of the bag, but not totally! Let me tell you all about it.
Dogman came up to spend the night last night cuz he needed to get some things done up here before he went back to where he works during the week. I've told you before that I like dogman a lot, so this morning, when he made noises about wanting to see my yummy tummy, I didn't think anything of it! Oh, if I can convince the torturing Trish people from the Katnip Krew, I might even put a picture of my yummy tummy up here, and then I may even be able to enter the competition of the OK Cats! I don't know if it's too late, but I can ask.
Anyway, the human asked him this morning if he could have a look at my nimples to see if I was pinking up. I've kept things very quiet whenever the human's had a feel. Some peoples say that the nimples enlarge when they go pink, and others say they don't, so I wasn't too worried about her having a feel. She tries not to check every day so that if there are any changes, she'll notice them more. Anyway, I'm getting off topic again.
Dogman asked the human to take me into the kitchen today where the light is strongest. His eyes are broken too, but not as badly as the human's. He can see, but it's only a little bit, so he needed the light to help him. Well, the human, trator that she is, distracted me with lotsa lovin' so that I got all big and long and stretchy and relaxed on her shoulder. Then she started to tickle my yummy tummy. What I didn't know was that she was parting the fur around my middle nimples so that Dogman, who is now a trator too, could take a sneaky peak. I mean, a man, whether he's a cat or a people, is not sposed to look at a ladycat's nimples! "Yeah," was his only word to the human for a long time, but then he followed up with, "But I'm not sure. My eyes might be playing tricks, but I think so." The human showed him some more of my nimples just to make sure, then she took me into the living room and put me on my back on her knee. She carried on tickling my yummy tummy, lulling me into a false sense of security. She knows how much I like that! So, here is what she found.
Dogman thinks my nimples are pink, but that's in no way conclusive as his eyes do play up and pink is one of the colours he struggles most to see. The human found that the two nimples that are in the middle (not the set closest to my back legs but the next set up) are enlarged compared to the other ones... A lot! They're firmer to the touch too. Now this could be cuz they're right on the beautiful round swell of my yummy tummy which means they stand out more, but the human has never noticed them so big and prominent before. However, all of my other nimples are still quite small. They may be a wee bit bigger, but if they are, it's not by much at all.
Am I just starting to pink? Will the other nimples enlarge over the next week? Does this mean I'm having kittens? Well, I'll leave you to ponder about that. I'm still not telling! Let's see what you think when you gaze again upon the floof which adorns the Tia tummy! Mom Trish, would you mind? I might stop calling you torturer!
Dogman came up to spend the night last night cuz he needed to get some things done up here before he went back to where he works during the week. I've told you before that I like dogman a lot, so this morning, when he made noises about wanting to see my yummy tummy, I didn't think anything of it! Oh, if I can convince the torturing Trish people from the Katnip Krew, I might even put a picture of my yummy tummy up here, and then I may even be able to enter the competition of the OK Cats! I don't know if it's too late, but I can ask.
Anyway, the human asked him this morning if he could have a look at my nimples to see if I was pinking up. I've kept things very quiet whenever the human's had a feel. Some peoples say that the nimples enlarge when they go pink, and others say they don't, so I wasn't too worried about her having a feel. She tries not to check every day so that if there are any changes, she'll notice them more. Anyway, I'm getting off topic again.
Dogman asked the human to take me into the kitchen today where the light is strongest. His eyes are broken too, but not as badly as the human's. He can see, but it's only a little bit, so he needed the light to help him. Well, the human, trator that she is, distracted me with lotsa lovin' so that I got all big and long and stretchy and relaxed on her shoulder. Then she started to tickle my yummy tummy. What I didn't know was that she was parting the fur around my middle nimples so that Dogman, who is now a trator too, could take a sneaky peak. I mean, a man, whether he's a cat or a people, is not sposed to look at a ladycat's nimples! "Yeah," was his only word to the human for a long time, but then he followed up with, "But I'm not sure. My eyes might be playing tricks, but I think so." The human showed him some more of my nimples just to make sure, then she took me into the living room and put me on my back on her knee. She carried on tickling my yummy tummy, lulling me into a false sense of security. She knows how much I like that! So, here is what she found.
Dogman thinks my nimples are pink, but that's in no way conclusive as his eyes do play up and pink is one of the colours he struggles most to see. The human found that the two nimples that are in the middle (not the set closest to my back legs but the next set up) are enlarged compared to the other ones... A lot! They're firmer to the touch too. Now this could be cuz they're right on the beautiful round swell of my yummy tummy which means they stand out more, but the human has never noticed them so big and prominent before. However, all of my other nimples are still quite small. They may be a wee bit bigger, but if they are, it's not by much at all.
Am I just starting to pink? Will the other nimples enlarge over the next week? Does this mean I'm having kittens? Well, I'll leave you to ponder about that. I'm still not telling! Let's see what you think when you gaze again upon the floof which adorns the Tia tummy! Mom Trish, would you mind? I might stop calling you torturer!
Friday, 6 May 2011
The Ones Who Came Before
Hi there to all of you. Well, again it's been a few days since I've written, but that's mainly cuz there's not much to tell. I've been good, believe it or not!
The human has been watching me very closely to see whether I'll reveal if I have kittens inside me or not, but so far, there's nothing conclusive. Sorry, mom Trish and the Katnip Krew. I'd tell you cats of course, but I know your Trish people wants to know real bad, and given the way she tortures you by putting your treats out of reach and preparing you for the stew pot, I'm not sure that it's worth your lives giving you a secret that she wants. it would be on my conscience forever if someone like the very handsome Scoutey got made into cat stew!
I've been very affectionate with the human, coming for cuddles and sleeping on her whenever she'll let me. She got hopeful, as this is one of the signs of pregnancy, but normally it doesn't get to be seen until much later. To put paid to that notion, I ignored her all day yesterday.
She's making sure I have stinky goodness down at all times. It's important for a mummycat to have excellent nutrition and stay very well hydrated. For the last week I've eaten it all. Again, the human thought I might be pregnant. Just like ladypeoples, we cats also have cravings and taste changes when we're pregnant, and she thought my preference might have changed to stinky goodness. I even ate a brand that I'd told her I didn't like before! But then yesterday I stopped altogether, and today I didn't eat any either, so she filled up my dry bowl again and I've been crunching into that.
It's still too early for me to pink up too. There's an online pregnancy calendar that the human is following that tells her that today, my babies will finish implanting into the wall of my uterus, so today the pregnancy cements itself. In the next week I should begin to pink up nicely, although we'll not know until my human's friend comes to see us. you remember the ladypeople whose mummycat had that litter of six? Well, she's coming Monday after this one, and she'll look at me to see if I'm pinking by then. Only then will it be Ok to divulge the secret of whether I'm carrying kittens. I'm sorry to hold out on you all, but I don't trust those nosy peoples! Anyway, it's fun to make them wait!
There were a couple of questions raised after my last post which i'll try to answer in brief here.
We did have mummycat for a few months, but she didn't settle in the house and spent most of her time hiding in her dirty litterbox which resulted in her getting fungal infections and all sorts. Mummycat had been shipped around a fair bit. First she started off as a babycat with her first breeder, then was sold to another breeder. That's where I was born. For some reason, that other breeder sold her and me to a new home, so mummycat's third. That was where the human found her, but in all the other houses, she'd been kept in a cattery setting; one room where all the cats were. When she came to a house, she just couldn't cope with the change. If she was put in a small room with the door closed, she'd come out, but only when things were quiet. It took my human ages and ages for mummycat to feel comfortable with even her, and as soon as any stranger came even into the house, never mind in her room, she was back in her dirty box again. She was lonely in there, constantly crying for another cat, but when her door was opened, she couldn't deal with the extra space or the noises of a house like the horrible sucky monster which I ignore now, and the little man in the computer and the TV... And goodness help us if a visitor came! We wouldn't see her for days!
She started to lose weight and wasn't eating so good. Even apetite pills didn't really see her right, and the only time she was even sort of happy was when there was another cat in her room with her. The human didn't want to make another cat live in just one room, knowing that they would then turn out the same way as mummycat. She called the breeder and asked if mummycat could come back to an environment where she was happy. Although the human doesn't really approve of keeping cats in catteries, she knows that breeders will always do it. If cats were being kept there anyway, Mummycat could join them. The human knew that this was probably the only place where mummycat would be happy. Sometimes help just comes too late for some of us cats, and in mummycat's case, this was true. My human cried buckets and buckets when she brought her back, and even considered going home when she was halfway there, but ultimately she knows that her responsibility lies in doing what is best for the cat, not the heart of a people. So no, we don't have mummycat any more, but the human still gets a massive big lump in her throat every time she thinks about her and what she could have been if she lived with peoples who keep their cats with free run of the house like she does. Mummycat touched a part of the human's heart so deep that I can't even get there. She says every cat does this in a different way and that I have my own special place, but I keep telling her that I'm her bestest cat, so I should have it all! Still, I sort of like it that I share a heart with mummycat.
As for Anna, she also was rehomed. As a kitten, Anna was perfect for the human. She loved a cuddle, she purred a lot, she enjoyed being picked up. She wasn't destructive. In short, she was an angel! But overnight all that seemed to change.
In the space of one weekend, Anna decided that she didn't want to be picked up at all by the human. She had occasionally pooped outside the litterbox, but now she started doing it in random places, and doing it all the time. She began to scratch things up real bad. She started trying her hardest to bolt outside every time there was even a hint of a door opening. These were only some of the problems. Anna had many more, and they kept growing by the day.
over many, many months, almost a year i think, the human tried everything, and I do mean everything, to get her to at least want to be cuddled. Because of her eyes being broken, touch is really important to her. That's part of the reason I let her snuggle me so much, cuz she needs to feel my beautiful floof to appreciate it. If Anna had just allowed the occasional cuddle, the human would have done her best to cope with the rest. But there was nothing doing. My human knew she was unhappy. She was so desperate to go outside, and the human just couldn't let her do it. Eventually, after many failed attempts to make herself do what would make anna happier, she plucked up the courage and rehomed her to where she could go outside and do all of the running she wanted to with peoples who didn't need to pick her up cuz they could see her fur and could watch her play. She was going to tell you about the night when little Anna left, but she can't. She's got all upset all over again just telling the story, specially as it's so close to Anna's birthday. She was 2 on the 26th of last month. The human still misses her like she only left yesterday, and she says she doesn't think that this is going to be one of those aches that gets easier in time.
Ok, I'm gonna stop writing now. I have a human to snuggle until her eyes stop leaking. I suppose this level of upset just serves to remind me how much this particular human loves all of us, even if we have only been with her a few months, or destroyed her house or refused to love her in return. Hmmmm, maybe I will give her kittens after all. Then she'll be too busy to be upset over other cats, and will have someone loving on her all the time! Snuggle those peoples, friends. Sometimes, just very occasionally, they deserve it... But mostly only if they've got a treat in their pocket!
The human has been watching me very closely to see whether I'll reveal if I have kittens inside me or not, but so far, there's nothing conclusive. Sorry, mom Trish and the Katnip Krew. I'd tell you cats of course, but I know your Trish people wants to know real bad, and given the way she tortures you by putting your treats out of reach and preparing you for the stew pot, I'm not sure that it's worth your lives giving you a secret that she wants. it would be on my conscience forever if someone like the very handsome Scoutey got made into cat stew!
I've been very affectionate with the human, coming for cuddles and sleeping on her whenever she'll let me. She got hopeful, as this is one of the signs of pregnancy, but normally it doesn't get to be seen until much later. To put paid to that notion, I ignored her all day yesterday.
She's making sure I have stinky goodness down at all times. It's important for a mummycat to have excellent nutrition and stay very well hydrated. For the last week I've eaten it all. Again, the human thought I might be pregnant. Just like ladypeoples, we cats also have cravings and taste changes when we're pregnant, and she thought my preference might have changed to stinky goodness. I even ate a brand that I'd told her I didn't like before! But then yesterday I stopped altogether, and today I didn't eat any either, so she filled up my dry bowl again and I've been crunching into that.
It's still too early for me to pink up too. There's an online pregnancy calendar that the human is following that tells her that today, my babies will finish implanting into the wall of my uterus, so today the pregnancy cements itself. In the next week I should begin to pink up nicely, although we'll not know until my human's friend comes to see us. you remember the ladypeople whose mummycat had that litter of six? Well, she's coming Monday after this one, and she'll look at me to see if I'm pinking by then. Only then will it be Ok to divulge the secret of whether I'm carrying kittens. I'm sorry to hold out on you all, but I don't trust those nosy peoples! Anyway, it's fun to make them wait!
There were a couple of questions raised after my last post which i'll try to answer in brief here.
We did have mummycat for a few months, but she didn't settle in the house and spent most of her time hiding in her dirty litterbox which resulted in her getting fungal infections and all sorts. Mummycat had been shipped around a fair bit. First she started off as a babycat with her first breeder, then was sold to another breeder. That's where I was born. For some reason, that other breeder sold her and me to a new home, so mummycat's third. That was where the human found her, but in all the other houses, she'd been kept in a cattery setting; one room where all the cats were. When she came to a house, she just couldn't cope with the change. If she was put in a small room with the door closed, she'd come out, but only when things were quiet. It took my human ages and ages for mummycat to feel comfortable with even her, and as soon as any stranger came even into the house, never mind in her room, she was back in her dirty box again. She was lonely in there, constantly crying for another cat, but when her door was opened, she couldn't deal with the extra space or the noises of a house like the horrible sucky monster which I ignore now, and the little man in the computer and the TV... And goodness help us if a visitor came! We wouldn't see her for days!
She started to lose weight and wasn't eating so good. Even apetite pills didn't really see her right, and the only time she was even sort of happy was when there was another cat in her room with her. The human didn't want to make another cat live in just one room, knowing that they would then turn out the same way as mummycat. She called the breeder and asked if mummycat could come back to an environment where she was happy. Although the human doesn't really approve of keeping cats in catteries, she knows that breeders will always do it. If cats were being kept there anyway, Mummycat could join them. The human knew that this was probably the only place where mummycat would be happy. Sometimes help just comes too late for some of us cats, and in mummycat's case, this was true. My human cried buckets and buckets when she brought her back, and even considered going home when she was halfway there, but ultimately she knows that her responsibility lies in doing what is best for the cat, not the heart of a people. So no, we don't have mummycat any more, but the human still gets a massive big lump in her throat every time she thinks about her and what she could have been if she lived with peoples who keep their cats with free run of the house like she does. Mummycat touched a part of the human's heart so deep that I can't even get there. She says every cat does this in a different way and that I have my own special place, but I keep telling her that I'm her bestest cat, so I should have it all! Still, I sort of like it that I share a heart with mummycat.
As for Anna, she also was rehomed. As a kitten, Anna was perfect for the human. She loved a cuddle, she purred a lot, she enjoyed being picked up. She wasn't destructive. In short, she was an angel! But overnight all that seemed to change.
In the space of one weekend, Anna decided that she didn't want to be picked up at all by the human. She had occasionally pooped outside the litterbox, but now she started doing it in random places, and doing it all the time. She began to scratch things up real bad. She started trying her hardest to bolt outside every time there was even a hint of a door opening. These were only some of the problems. Anna had many more, and they kept growing by the day.
over many, many months, almost a year i think, the human tried everything, and I do mean everything, to get her to at least want to be cuddled. Because of her eyes being broken, touch is really important to her. That's part of the reason I let her snuggle me so much, cuz she needs to feel my beautiful floof to appreciate it. If Anna had just allowed the occasional cuddle, the human would have done her best to cope with the rest. But there was nothing doing. My human knew she was unhappy. She was so desperate to go outside, and the human just couldn't let her do it. Eventually, after many failed attempts to make herself do what would make anna happier, she plucked up the courage and rehomed her to where she could go outside and do all of the running she wanted to with peoples who didn't need to pick her up cuz they could see her fur and could watch her play. She was going to tell you about the night when little Anna left, but she can't. She's got all upset all over again just telling the story, specially as it's so close to Anna's birthday. She was 2 on the 26th of last month. The human still misses her like she only left yesterday, and she says she doesn't think that this is going to be one of those aches that gets easier in time.
Ok, I'm gonna stop writing now. I have a human to snuggle until her eyes stop leaking. I suppose this level of upset just serves to remind me how much this particular human loves all of us, even if we have only been with her a few months, or destroyed her house or refused to love her in return. Hmmmm, maybe I will give her kittens after all. Then she'll be too busy to be upset over other cats, and will have someone loving on her all the time! Snuggle those peoples, friends. Sometimes, just very occasionally, they deserve it... But mostly only if they've got a treat in their pocket!
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Gotcha!
Friends, it's my very first ever gotcha day! or at least, it's the first one that I know that's been celebrated. It was a year ago today that I left my old place and came to live with the human. This would be my forever home, although I didn't know it at the time. Today we both will tell my gotcha story, the human from her point of view and me from mine. I'll let the human start, as mine will follow nicely on from hers.
Do you remember me telling you about my little Russian white kitten? You know, the little nightmare girl that I loved so much but knew I couldn't keep? Bit of an odd place to start with Tia's gotcha story, but it does all start with Anna.
As I say, I knew I couldn't keep her. I'd tried everything else, and I do mean everything, to sort out the problems she was having... Except one thing. Would another, older cat give her company, and through that the happiness and contentment that she obviously wanted so desperately? I knew I'd be devastated if I had to give her up. I knew that it probably wouldn't work getting another cat. I also knew I'd regret it forever if I didn't try.
I set out with very specific requirements in mind. I wanted a cuddler. After Anna not allowing herself to be handled, this was a huge thing for me. I wanted a cat who didn't bite or scratch. I wanted one who got on well with others (after all, the reason for getting her was to be good company for Anna). I wanted her to be a short hair. I didn't even care if she was a he, just as long as the criteria were met. So I began my search.
My fiance was over for a few weeks this time last year, so we decided to take a trip up to Hereford to spend the bank holiday and catch up with some of my old friends. We decided to have a look in general for cats in that area, just on the off chance that there'd be something suitable. We came across an ad from a woman who was ending breeding and selling off all of her cats. But they were Persians. I discarded it, but myself and Bug just kept returning. In the end, he convinced me to go and see her with the idea that even if I didn't like the cats, I'd at least know what a Persian looked like. We were in Hereford anyway, so why not?
Well, we went, he wiht an open mind, me with a closed one. I knew I didn't want a Persian. They had health problems. They had way too much coat (I was already struggling with Anna's shorter hair in relation to my asthma, but of course, what I didn't know then was that shorter hair floats and is breathed in much more easily). I didn't want to devote the time every day to grooming, detangling, eye cleaning, special feeding, ridding the bum of cling ons after them being in the litterbox... Still, I went. Why? To this day, I can think of no good reason why I gave in. It's not my normal practice if I've decided i don't want a particular type of something!
We never did get to see where the cats lived, and in heinsight, I'd never make the same mistake again. Tia and another little cat were brought down to see us. The small one was a year-old kitten. The breeder admitted she hadn't been socialised propperly and advised against having her. Even though she was frightened, she didn't bite or scratch. She didn't even have a name. I was still too naive for this to ring alarm bells.
While I spent my time feeling sorry for the baby, Bug cuddled Tia. he's a good person to have with you when looking for cats, as he'll test them to see what their first reaction is to different things, some of which they don't like. For example, he'll rub their bellies. If they tolerate it, well and good. If not, he wants to see whether they defend themselves with claws and teeth, something I definitely didn't want, or whether they are more gentle and polite and will walk away, or swat with claws in. Remember at the time, I'd only ever had one kitten of my own (our family had cats, but none belonged specifically to me), and I wasn't as confident back then as I am now. I didn't know as much either.
Well, to get back to the story in hand, eventually I had a cuddle with Tia. She was a nice enough cat, definitely cuddly with strangers, but I still didn't know. We went away to think about it. Well, I did. Bug was already set.
I remember saying to him how I didn't expect a Persian's coat to be greasy or full of dandruff. I didn't know enough then to know this was through a lack of bathing. We talked for many hours, me wondering whether I could put up with all the extra work, he reassuring me that she was a lovely cat, and would do my heart good. He knew just how sore I was over Anna's total rejection of me after being such a cuddly kitten. He knew I was beating myself up, convincing myself it was my fault despite having tried every approach under the sun. He knew more than I did just how much I needed this cat, and even how much I needed the commitment of extra care. I needed to see something blossom under my touch.
After a further talk with the breeder, we arranged to pick Tia up on Monday for the long train journey home. I'll never forget that trip. Me and Bug managed to get on a train and had already gone 20 minutes before I realised I'd forgotten my handbag! So it was back to Hereford, then off again. All the while, Tia sat as quiet as you like in her carrier... Oh how times have changed! I took her out a few times for a cuddle on the way home, but she didn't seem amused. All my old worries set in, and were further added to when I got home and she refused to acknowledge anyone, preferring instead to hide behind the toilet. I knew cats hid. I knew it took them time to get used to new people, but I wanted so badly for her to not go the same way as Anna that I just couldn't be rational about it. Oh how I wish I knew then what I do now!
Wow, that human can talk! I too remember my gotcha time very well, for it was a big change in my life.
Before the human came for me, I lived in a room with lots of other girlcats. The human says that it was 14, but I don't know. I don't bother with counting. My mummycat still lived with me then too, and the little blue baby that the human told you about also belonged to mummycat, although she had a different daddycat. I remember being taken to see the human and Bug. Bug was all right, but I could sense the sadness in the human as soon as I went to see her. I was on my best behaviour. I only thwapped her once! And I didn't put my claws out very far. It was enough to make her think twice though. I could see it in her face, and I regretted my actions. I don't know why, but I kinda wanted to go home with this human! I was also a bit embarrassed about the state of my coat but was relieved when she asked the breeder to give me a bath before going with her, if she agreed to take me, that was. She says this is to remove the scent of other cats and make integration into the house more easy. I was just glad cuz it meant I could look my best when I went to the new place!
On the Monday, I was put into the breeder's PTU and taken to a house. The human says this was her friend's house. There I was put into the human's PTU. It was nice and scary all at the same time. I could see out much better, but everything was so new! I stayed real quiet, wondering if I'd made the right decision in thinking that this human was the right one for me.
I stayed like that the whole way home. Even when the human and Bug tried to cuddle me, i just sat quietly. I never scratched or bit. I don't do that when i'm scared. The human tried very hard to comfort me, and although I was still just as frightened, it made me feel good to know that she seemed to already care.
When I got to the new house, I could smell another cat, and it wasn't long before I saw her. As soon as the human set my PTU down to open the bathroom door for me, she came and had a sniff, then hissed and spat and screamed at me through the door. of course, this made me want to hide, and I did this for many, many days before I'd let anyone touch me for long. I went from behind the toilet to behind the sofa, but every time I came out, that mean Anna would hiss and spit and really shout at me!
The atmosphere in the house wasn't good. The human was upset cuz Anna was no better and was now even bullying me. I never really made a move to ascert myself. Even now I will only hiss and spit when a stupid dogface or something comes into the house, but I'll never launch an attack. I avoided her as much as possible, but it didn't matter. Even when I was hidden, she'd walk around really grumbling at nothing in particular! The person who rehomed her said that she was like that even after months of being in a house with other cats, and even when she was separated, they never got past the stage of scent swapping with her, cuz she'd even growl at that, no matter how long blankets and bedding were left with her!
Back to my story though. A few weeks later, the human's grannypeople came to stay. She told the human that she saw me crouched in the middle of the floor with my head tucked right down, while Anna held me down with a paw and swatted me repeatedly round the head with the other, claws out, for a long time. The grannypeople is too sick to get down and separate us, and although she shouted, Anna ignored her and I was too busy protecting my eyes to move away!
Grannypeople was a turning point for me though. I knew she was sick. I also knew how much she wanted to cuddle me, but how she couldn't cuz she couldn't pick me up from the floor. One day, I jumped up to see her and find out if I was right. I was a little nervous, but the grannypeople had been nothing but nice, and her face got all smiley when I climbed on her. I quickly worked out that one of her hands wasn't so good at supporting me, so I got comfy and just lay there. She couldn't quite manage a stroke, but she patted me gently instead, and although I didn't like it as much, I purred anyway cuz she was warm and squishy and comfy to lie on. The human came in a few minutes later, and when the grannypeople told her she was trying to cuddle me, the human went and got a very soft baby brush that she was using on me to get me used to grooming. She held the grannypeople's hand with the brush in it, and helped her give me strokes with that. oh how nice it was! I stretched all the way out and went right to sleep, cuz I knew that if Anna wanted to get me, she'd have to come up on the grannypeople, and the grannypeople would protect me! From there, my llife went from good to even better. Every day i discover something new and pleasurable, from stinky goodness to tummy rubs, head stroking to sleeping in bed with the human.
So that's my gotcha story. I loved the human right from the start, and, once her heart had allowed her to believe that my love wasn't just a passing thing as it had appeared to be with Anna, the whole depth of her love was mine. She always loved me, she says. She was just afraid to let her heart get hold of that notion cuz she was so tired of it being sore.
They say a purr has health benefits. in this case, the purr has heart benefits. Our love grows stronger by the day. On this day of all days, we would both like to say a huge thank you to Bug. If it wasn't for you, Bug, my human would always have been too afraid to make the commitment, and I would never have met her. Thank you for helping us both heal! Oh, and for telling my human that us cats need tuna as part of our daily diets! For that, I praise you the mostest!
Human
Do you remember me telling you about my little Russian white kitten? You know, the little nightmare girl that I loved so much but knew I couldn't keep? Bit of an odd place to start with Tia's gotcha story, but it does all start with Anna.
As I say, I knew I couldn't keep her. I'd tried everything else, and I do mean everything, to sort out the problems she was having... Except one thing. Would another, older cat give her company, and through that the happiness and contentment that she obviously wanted so desperately? I knew I'd be devastated if I had to give her up. I knew that it probably wouldn't work getting another cat. I also knew I'd regret it forever if I didn't try.
I set out with very specific requirements in mind. I wanted a cuddler. After Anna not allowing herself to be handled, this was a huge thing for me. I wanted a cat who didn't bite or scratch. I wanted one who got on well with others (after all, the reason for getting her was to be good company for Anna). I wanted her to be a short hair. I didn't even care if she was a he, just as long as the criteria were met. So I began my search.
My fiance was over for a few weeks this time last year, so we decided to take a trip up to Hereford to spend the bank holiday and catch up with some of my old friends. We decided to have a look in general for cats in that area, just on the off chance that there'd be something suitable. We came across an ad from a woman who was ending breeding and selling off all of her cats. But they were Persians. I discarded it, but myself and Bug just kept returning. In the end, he convinced me to go and see her with the idea that even if I didn't like the cats, I'd at least know what a Persian looked like. We were in Hereford anyway, so why not?
Well, we went, he wiht an open mind, me with a closed one. I knew I didn't want a Persian. They had health problems. They had way too much coat (I was already struggling with Anna's shorter hair in relation to my asthma, but of course, what I didn't know then was that shorter hair floats and is breathed in much more easily). I didn't want to devote the time every day to grooming, detangling, eye cleaning, special feeding, ridding the bum of cling ons after them being in the litterbox... Still, I went. Why? To this day, I can think of no good reason why I gave in. It's not my normal practice if I've decided i don't want a particular type of something!
We never did get to see where the cats lived, and in heinsight, I'd never make the same mistake again. Tia and another little cat were brought down to see us. The small one was a year-old kitten. The breeder admitted she hadn't been socialised propperly and advised against having her. Even though she was frightened, she didn't bite or scratch. She didn't even have a name. I was still too naive for this to ring alarm bells.
While I spent my time feeling sorry for the baby, Bug cuddled Tia. he's a good person to have with you when looking for cats, as he'll test them to see what their first reaction is to different things, some of which they don't like. For example, he'll rub their bellies. If they tolerate it, well and good. If not, he wants to see whether they defend themselves with claws and teeth, something I definitely didn't want, or whether they are more gentle and polite and will walk away, or swat with claws in. Remember at the time, I'd only ever had one kitten of my own (our family had cats, but none belonged specifically to me), and I wasn't as confident back then as I am now. I didn't know as much either.
Well, to get back to the story in hand, eventually I had a cuddle with Tia. She was a nice enough cat, definitely cuddly with strangers, but I still didn't know. We went away to think about it. Well, I did. Bug was already set.
I remember saying to him how I didn't expect a Persian's coat to be greasy or full of dandruff. I didn't know enough then to know this was through a lack of bathing. We talked for many hours, me wondering whether I could put up with all the extra work, he reassuring me that she was a lovely cat, and would do my heart good. He knew just how sore I was over Anna's total rejection of me after being such a cuddly kitten. He knew I was beating myself up, convincing myself it was my fault despite having tried every approach under the sun. He knew more than I did just how much I needed this cat, and even how much I needed the commitment of extra care. I needed to see something blossom under my touch.
After a further talk with the breeder, we arranged to pick Tia up on Monday for the long train journey home. I'll never forget that trip. Me and Bug managed to get on a train and had already gone 20 minutes before I realised I'd forgotten my handbag! So it was back to Hereford, then off again. All the while, Tia sat as quiet as you like in her carrier... Oh how times have changed! I took her out a few times for a cuddle on the way home, but she didn't seem amused. All my old worries set in, and were further added to when I got home and she refused to acknowledge anyone, preferring instead to hide behind the toilet. I knew cats hid. I knew it took them time to get used to new people, but I wanted so badly for her to not go the same way as Anna that I just couldn't be rational about it. Oh how I wish I knew then what I do now!
Tia's Story
Wow, that human can talk! I too remember my gotcha time very well, for it was a big change in my life.
Before the human came for me, I lived in a room with lots of other girlcats. The human says that it was 14, but I don't know. I don't bother with counting. My mummycat still lived with me then too, and the little blue baby that the human told you about also belonged to mummycat, although she had a different daddycat. I remember being taken to see the human and Bug. Bug was all right, but I could sense the sadness in the human as soon as I went to see her. I was on my best behaviour. I only thwapped her once! And I didn't put my claws out very far. It was enough to make her think twice though. I could see it in her face, and I regretted my actions. I don't know why, but I kinda wanted to go home with this human! I was also a bit embarrassed about the state of my coat but was relieved when she asked the breeder to give me a bath before going with her, if she agreed to take me, that was. She says this is to remove the scent of other cats and make integration into the house more easy. I was just glad cuz it meant I could look my best when I went to the new place!
On the Monday, I was put into the breeder's PTU and taken to a house. The human says this was her friend's house. There I was put into the human's PTU. It was nice and scary all at the same time. I could see out much better, but everything was so new! I stayed real quiet, wondering if I'd made the right decision in thinking that this human was the right one for me.
I stayed like that the whole way home. Even when the human and Bug tried to cuddle me, i just sat quietly. I never scratched or bit. I don't do that when i'm scared. The human tried very hard to comfort me, and although I was still just as frightened, it made me feel good to know that she seemed to already care.
When I got to the new house, I could smell another cat, and it wasn't long before I saw her. As soon as the human set my PTU down to open the bathroom door for me, she came and had a sniff, then hissed and spat and screamed at me through the door. of course, this made me want to hide, and I did this for many, many days before I'd let anyone touch me for long. I went from behind the toilet to behind the sofa, but every time I came out, that mean Anna would hiss and spit and really shout at me!
The atmosphere in the house wasn't good. The human was upset cuz Anna was no better and was now even bullying me. I never really made a move to ascert myself. Even now I will only hiss and spit when a stupid dogface or something comes into the house, but I'll never launch an attack. I avoided her as much as possible, but it didn't matter. Even when I was hidden, she'd walk around really grumbling at nothing in particular! The person who rehomed her said that she was like that even after months of being in a house with other cats, and even when she was separated, they never got past the stage of scent swapping with her, cuz she'd even growl at that, no matter how long blankets and bedding were left with her!
Back to my story though. A few weeks later, the human's grannypeople came to stay. She told the human that she saw me crouched in the middle of the floor with my head tucked right down, while Anna held me down with a paw and swatted me repeatedly round the head with the other, claws out, for a long time. The grannypeople is too sick to get down and separate us, and although she shouted, Anna ignored her and I was too busy protecting my eyes to move away!
Grannypeople was a turning point for me though. I knew she was sick. I also knew how much she wanted to cuddle me, but how she couldn't cuz she couldn't pick me up from the floor. One day, I jumped up to see her and find out if I was right. I was a little nervous, but the grannypeople had been nothing but nice, and her face got all smiley when I climbed on her. I quickly worked out that one of her hands wasn't so good at supporting me, so I got comfy and just lay there. She couldn't quite manage a stroke, but she patted me gently instead, and although I didn't like it as much, I purred anyway cuz she was warm and squishy and comfy to lie on. The human came in a few minutes later, and when the grannypeople told her she was trying to cuddle me, the human went and got a very soft baby brush that she was using on me to get me used to grooming. She held the grannypeople's hand with the brush in it, and helped her give me strokes with that. oh how nice it was! I stretched all the way out and went right to sleep, cuz I knew that if Anna wanted to get me, she'd have to come up on the grannypeople, and the grannypeople would protect me! From there, my llife went from good to even better. Every day i discover something new and pleasurable, from stinky goodness to tummy rubs, head stroking to sleeping in bed with the human.
So that's my gotcha story. I loved the human right from the start, and, once her heart had allowed her to believe that my love wasn't just a passing thing as it had appeared to be with Anna, the whole depth of her love was mine. She always loved me, she says. She was just afraid to let her heart get hold of that notion cuz she was so tired of it being sore.
They say a purr has health benefits. in this case, the purr has heart benefits. Our love grows stronger by the day. On this day of all days, we would both like to say a huge thank you to Bug. If it wasn't for you, Bug, my human would always have been too afraid to make the commitment, and I would never have met her. Thank you for helping us both heal! Oh, and for telling my human that us cats need tuna as part of our daily diets! For that, I praise you the mostest!
Sunday, 1 May 2011
May Day! May Day! I Need Help!
Friends, I do indeed need help! I'm in a right state, and it's all because of that human! I'll tell you, but I beg any kitten readers not to read any further. What I am about to discuss is so horrid, so foul that no young cat should have to hear about it. Well, here goes!
The day started normally enough, that is with me attacking the human's feets under the blanket thing and then, just as she got really, really cheesed off, crawling up beside her purring so sweetly that she was helpless and just cuddled me. Victory! But friends, it was not to last for long. Oh, if only I'd known!
As normal, she got up, but here's where the trouble started. Normally in the morning she'll give me a portion of stinky goodness which I turn my nose up at. I do this with all stinky goodness cuz it keeps her buying new varieties to try me on, and means that my diet is nice and varied! Forget the stress it causes her to find something I'll like. I just sneak a few bites when she's not around. Anyway, this morning, she didn't give me it! I did still have dried down, but that's soooooooo booooooooring! I did shout and shout at her, but she just ignored it. Later she told me she'd forgotten to give me stinky goodness. Forgotten? I could have starved! Died of hunger with only an endless supply of dried stuff to sustain me! Honestly, friends, I felt quite faint every time I looked at that empty spot where my stinky goodness dish should have been.
So, I wasn't in the best of moods, but when she went into the hall, I followed her on appropriately shakey legs, and with the right amount of piteous crying. It still didn't soften her. She went to my litterbox room and she started to clean the boxes. I have two now. She says she's trying to change me to a litter that is better for the environment and that is more hygienic. It clumps so that all my pee can be scooped out, but if one of my babies eats it, it isn't harmful. It's not clay based, and the clumps do break down if they get too wet, so any eaten stuff passes right through their tummies. However, she remembers what happened last time when she changed my litter and I peed and peed on her sofa, so she says she's gonna give me the choice. So far I've been using both trays, but I'm slowly going more and more in the new one. in fact, most of my pee and, um, number twos are done in that tray now, but I do use the old one occasionally just to make sure she doesn't take it away!
Anyway, back to my story. So, she started to clean. Where's the problem with that, I hear you say? Well, there's no problem with her cleaning, but there was a huge problem with where she put the stuff she took out! I watched in disbelief as she went into her litterbox room, opened the lid on the bowl of fresh water, broke up my clumps and put them in there! I've told you about this before when I spoke of her disgusting, wasteful litterbox habits, but I was hoping this would stop. I watched her make trip after trip to put my clumps in the water, and with each journey, I got angrier. I got in her way a few times. I even purred at her thinking that if I could distract her by making her cuddle me, she'd not keep fouling perfectly good water. But friends, she wouldn't be put off!
When my trays were clean, she went and pulled a lever on the water bowl. A lot of water came into the bowl and washed my clumps away, and suddenly it was all clean water again. But I still can't come to terms with the waste of water that would have kept my thirst away for weeks! What is it with these peoples? They have no respect for things! They don't share their stinky goodness with us. They ration what we eat, what we poo in, how many fresh water sources we have, and yet, when it comes to their own habits, they are more wasteful than, well, than anything else!
How can I stop her doing this? She may care about the environment, but I care about my water! I need a solution, as none of mine appear to be working! I anxiously await your replies.
The day started normally enough, that is with me attacking the human's feets under the blanket thing and then, just as she got really, really cheesed off, crawling up beside her purring so sweetly that she was helpless and just cuddled me. Victory! But friends, it was not to last for long. Oh, if only I'd known!
As normal, she got up, but here's where the trouble started. Normally in the morning she'll give me a portion of stinky goodness which I turn my nose up at. I do this with all stinky goodness cuz it keeps her buying new varieties to try me on, and means that my diet is nice and varied! Forget the stress it causes her to find something I'll like. I just sneak a few bites when she's not around. Anyway, this morning, she didn't give me it! I did still have dried down, but that's soooooooo booooooooring! I did shout and shout at her, but she just ignored it. Later she told me she'd forgotten to give me stinky goodness. Forgotten? I could have starved! Died of hunger with only an endless supply of dried stuff to sustain me! Honestly, friends, I felt quite faint every time I looked at that empty spot where my stinky goodness dish should have been.
So, I wasn't in the best of moods, but when she went into the hall, I followed her on appropriately shakey legs, and with the right amount of piteous crying. It still didn't soften her. She went to my litterbox room and she started to clean the boxes. I have two now. She says she's trying to change me to a litter that is better for the environment and that is more hygienic. It clumps so that all my pee can be scooped out, but if one of my babies eats it, it isn't harmful. It's not clay based, and the clumps do break down if they get too wet, so any eaten stuff passes right through their tummies. However, she remembers what happened last time when she changed my litter and I peed and peed on her sofa, so she says she's gonna give me the choice. So far I've been using both trays, but I'm slowly going more and more in the new one. in fact, most of my pee and, um, number twos are done in that tray now, but I do use the old one occasionally just to make sure she doesn't take it away!
Anyway, back to my story. So, she started to clean. Where's the problem with that, I hear you say? Well, there's no problem with her cleaning, but there was a huge problem with where she put the stuff she took out! I watched in disbelief as she went into her litterbox room, opened the lid on the bowl of fresh water, broke up my clumps and put them in there! I've told you about this before when I spoke of her disgusting, wasteful litterbox habits, but I was hoping this would stop. I watched her make trip after trip to put my clumps in the water, and with each journey, I got angrier. I got in her way a few times. I even purred at her thinking that if I could distract her by making her cuddle me, she'd not keep fouling perfectly good water. But friends, she wouldn't be put off!
When my trays were clean, she went and pulled a lever on the water bowl. A lot of water came into the bowl and washed my clumps away, and suddenly it was all clean water again. But I still can't come to terms with the waste of water that would have kept my thirst away for weeks! What is it with these peoples? They have no respect for things! They don't share their stinky goodness with us. They ration what we eat, what we poo in, how many fresh water sources we have, and yet, when it comes to their own habits, they are more wasteful than, well, than anything else!
How can I stop her doing this? She may care about the environment, but I care about my water! I need a solution, as none of mine appear to be working! I anxiously await your replies.
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