Secret Paws, at last!

Hi there, friends, and thank you for all of your good wishes for our human yesterday. I just thought I'd stop in to say hello before Millie takes over the rest of this post too. My human has done better today. She's eaten well, and has stayed awake for most of the day which is quite an achievement! She's done some laundry and even managed to hang it all up before she got too tired to do more, so she's definitely improving. She's back at the human vets tomorrow so that they can steal lots of her bloods to do tests on just to make sure everything's all right. She says she's sick of the human vet, and I can understand that as she's been up there quite a lot recently. I can't believe she actually takes herself there voluntarily. I mean, would any sensible cat do that? Nuh uh. If it wasn't for the PTU, I'd not set paw within sniffing distance of a vet place. Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that she's fine and I'm fine and so everything's good! But it's time for our Secret Paws post. Yep, I know it's very late, but when you see what we got, it'll be worth the wait! I'm gonna let Millie tell you all about it seeing as it was her first Christmas and all.


Hihihihihihihi all you somebody friends! Oh,oh, oh, this is the most exciting post ever, cuz I get to tell you all about my Christmas and Santa Paws and everything that he bringed for me! And there's even pictures!


Our Secret Paws package came from Hannah and Lucy
and what a package it was! mummycat says that Santa Paws delivered a package from the girls last year too, and it was amazing then, but I know that this years' was even more amazing! Thank you thank you thank you Hannah and Lucy! Thank you lots and lots and lots! I musta been real, real, real good if Santa Paws telled you to buy all that stuff for me!


Let me tell you all about it. One day, the human came home from work to find two packages on our doorstep. She bringed them inside and set them down for a few seconds to take off her coat and shoes and work clothes, but when she came back, what did she find? One package had no paper on it any more, and the other one looked like a bag with a cute furry bum sticking out of it! the bag moved a lot, and my human's brave, cuz if I was her I wouldn't have went anywhere near it, cuz there was probly a monster in there. But she did go to the bag and she put her hand in and pulled on the thing attached to the cute furry bum and out popped... Me! Oh boy, oh boy, the smell of the present and the excitement was just too big for me, and I had to just get straight in there without waiting for anybody else! I also mighta taked all the paper off the box, but nobody see'd me do it, so I ain't saying if it was me or not! I like paper... See? Look. here's me here trying to help open my nice new mousie toy. I love my mousies!

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And the human said that as she was going away the next day and as I'd opened everything already anyway, today could be Christmas and I could have all my stuff. And I gotted real excited!

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And look at all the stuffs we got! There was loads of it! There was mousies and soft balls and sparkly pink balls and a ball that rattled and yummy treats and a super duper toy that you'll see in a minute, and a big catnip pillow and, and, everything! Look at all my toys!

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The first thing I hadda play with was my blue mousie. I loved him already, cuz he was the first thing I see'd in the parcel. I played and played and played with him lots and lots!

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And then I spotted the balls, and mummycat saw them too, and we both tried to decide if we would play with them.

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And then we both did, all at once! And we chased and chased and chased and killed them. And my favourite one was the pink ball. Just look at it!

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And then I taked my pink ball and my mousie and I put them near me and I telled mummycat that these were mine and she wasn't allowed them, pretty please, cuz I wanted them all for my own! So mummycat went instead and grabbed the big catnip pillow, and she bunnykicked it and she put the bitey on it and she rolled on it, and then i had to play too, cuz it was too good not to share!

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And then, friends, oh and then! My human opened the last box for us, and I went all crazypants like the Katnip cats do. Do you see my big springy toy? As soon as you touch itt, the whole thing moves and wiggles till you just gotta jump on it and kill it! And then it moves some more! And it's soooooo much fun! And I played and played and played and played with it till I gotted real tired. But look at it! Don't you want one too? It's the bestest toy ever! Sept for the blue mousie and the pink ball and the other balls and the catnip pillow and my Da Bird and my sparkly balls and my crinkle balls and everything else too. I have the bestest toys ever!

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But then my human taked out the last thing from the package, and oh my! It was treaties! And not just any old treaties. They were duck treaties! Real duck breast! And once me and mummycat heard that packet go crinkle crinkle crinkle, we climbed all over the human and asked if we could have some. And mummycat said Meow and I screamed till she gave us lots and lotsa treats! And even when she put the bag away, we kept asking for more which isn't what we usually do cuz we're clever and we know that when she puts the packet away there's no more treaties. But this time we asked so much that she gived us more anyway! Oh we love, love, love them! She has them hid on the sofa now and she gives us some if we sit nice while she's cleaning our eyes. And I like them so much that I actually sit almost all the way through now without trying to run away or without crying. Isn't that good?

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So we'd like to say thank you to Hannah and Lucy and to Santa Paws, and it was worth being good for! Who do I need to ask so that Christmas can be every day of the year?

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Strangers no more!

Hihihihihihihihihi friends! Man but I've been gone forever and forever and ages and then a really long time too! Actually, i haven't been gone. It's the human who's been gone sept she wasn't either, least, not for a long time. Let me explain.

Well, after I last writed to you all, she went away from the house and she didn't come back. Mummycat said she'd been eated by a big bird who flew all the way across lotsa water to another place called Ireland. She says the human goes here every year for Christmas to spend time with her mummypeople and her mummypeople's mummypeople who she calls her grannypeople, and all of the other peoples that are in her family. They all live there, see.

I thinked that she was gone forever and forever, but mummycat said it was only for a week. But when the human came back, she smelled funny and she was real hot and she made a big scary noise all the time that she said was a cough and then an "ooooouch!" and then another cough thing. And she went to bed a lot, and she didn't really play with me or anything, and I was sad cuz she wasn't like she used to be. I wondered if the family somebodies had maked her like this.

Then at night she gotted real, real sick, sicker'n I've ever been even when I was going to the litterbox all the time with a runny bum and even sicker than that time when I throwed up all of my foods on the scratchy mat all put together! And the next morning some different people somebodies came and they taked her away in an am-bue-lans, least, I think that's how you say it, and Dogman was very worried, and the human was still sick, and mummycat telled me i had to be a real brave little cat now and look after the human when she came back. She said the somebodies were gonna make her all better and that they weren't human-napping her, so it was all right if she went with them. She said they're like vets for humans. I don't know why my human was glad when they showed up then! I wouldn't have been.

And when she did come back, she was still real sick and she went to bed, and so me and mummycat took it in turns to sleep on her or get her to cuddle us cuz we knew that'd make her feel better. And I said purpurpur a lot to her and I climbed into the bed thing with her and I did a real good job, least, I think I did.

Me and mummycat didn't eat much over the next while cuz we were so worried about the human and upset that she was still sick and unhappy, but then we saw that this was making her upset too, so we started to eat again, but we taked it in turns so there was always one of us with her and she wasn't on her own. Human somebodies need looking afterwhen they're sick!

That's why we've been away for so long. When the human did start to feel better, she wanted to be up and about straight away, so she did this and just maked herself sick again. And in between it all, Computer man blowed up again, so we couldn't write for the blog or anything. And we missed our Secret Paws, but we gots pictures and they'll be up very soon! Sorry we're so late, but I hope you can understand why.

Our human is able to do small things now. She managed to fold all her towels today and stack them nicely again, but even that meant that she had to go to sleep for a couple hours just to recover! She's useless! Mummycat is beside her on the sofa now, all curled into a teeny weeny ball and snoring a bit. Shhhh, don't tell her I said that, but she does!

Thank you to those of you who stopped by to say happy Birthday to the human. She didn't do much for it, but she did get a lovely cake from her grannypeople all the way from Ireland! I didn't want any though. I mean, it had already been eated by a birdie to get it all the way here. I don't eat stuff that birdies have eated. That's yuck! Hmmmm, I wonder if that's why my human got sick? Do you think she mighta got sick cuz of flying in the big bird aeroplane's tummy? Should i tell her she's not allowed to get eated by birds any more?

Anyway, we're gonna have help to put up our Secret Paws post, so watch this space!

Smoochies to you all, and I promise we'll try to be around more, Ok?

Weary Wednesday

Friends, at long last, we're back! I think this has been the longest we've gone without posting, and I'm even starting to feel withdrawal symptoms. Is that normal?




Even though it's been a whole week, there's not much to tell you as the majority of the time was spent with the human putting things into boxes, then putting the boxes in a big, big, huge thing that moves like a car but isn't a car (she says it's called a van), then getting to the new place and getting the boxes out of the monster car and taking the things out of the boxes. It all seems a little long winded for me. I mean, what's the point in putting the boxes into the monster car if you're just going to take them back out again? Come to that, what's the point in putting the things into the boxes in the first place if you're just going to take them out again too! If the things have to go in the monster car, wouldn't it be quicker just to put all the things in the monster car and forget about the boxes?





There was lots for me to do and snoopervise this week. When they were bringing the boxes in and out of houses, they put me in my own little room to stop me darting out the door. They shouldn't have worried though. I'm not interested in going outside. As soon as everything was in though, I got to come out again.





Now I know that many of you cats would be stressed by a big house move like this, but I haven't been, really. I have to thank my human for this. I know, it's strange, isn't it? But peoples will occasionally get things right. The human took me to the new house a few times before we moved in. Then, when we got there for the last time when all our stuff would be coming, she did a few things. Firstly she held me on the journey down, and this meant that I felt safe and secure. she cleaned the litterbox of all the poop, but she didn't change the litter. She also let the litter stay in the box a while so that my peepee would smell quite strongly. Now normally this isn't a good thing, but when I got to the new place, one of the first things the human did was to put down that smelly litterbox and show me where it was. my smell was very strong in there, and as you know, there's nothing more comforting than your own smell. Right away I had a place that I knew was mine, even if that place was a stinky litterbox.





The human also took the little blanket that Hannah and Lucy sent in their Secret Paws package with us. I'd made it a little dirty cuz sometimes I like to eat my treats straight off the blanket, but again, the human didn't wash it before we left. In fact, for the last week or so, every time she picked me up, she cuddled me on that blanket to make sure it smelled like me too. That went in my PTU for the journey, and then when we got there, it went onto one of the sofa cushions so that it smelled like me too.





All of the peoples that helped us move in were real nice to me, but I didn't have time to talk to them cuz of all the snoopervising I had to do. Wherever the human was, I had to be there also. Well, I was helping her decide on the best place to put all of our things, so I couldn't leave her side for a minute. oh, and guess what! I've taken over Dogface's old room where her bed used to be. now it's got all my things in like my toys and my PTUs and my litterbox. The human says it's a big cupboard that her and Dogman took the door off years ago when Dogface first came to live here (the human lived here when she first got Dogface). The cupboard was huge and wasn't being used, and as it opens right onto the hallway, it made a really cosy Dogface sleeping place when the front was taken off. Actually, without the door, it's basically just a big alcove in the hallway. It's super in there! I actually quite like hanging out near my litterbox now, just to ascert the fact that Dogface has lost her bedroom to me! Now there's the way things should be!





I've been hiding last night and today though. The human, as she always does, is worrying a little about this. She says that it's not like me to stick close to the litterbox and forego snuggling, so she's going to keep a good watch on me. I keep telling her that I might just finally have had enough of the stress of moving, but in her typical stupid way, she's refusing to listen.





Ah, it's so good to be back! Friends, you've gotta fill me in. Have I missed much?

Secret Paws!

Well, it finally arrived! Actually, it arrived some time ago, but it was so special that I instructed my human to wait to post about it until we had a whole post to devote. I've had quite a few toys this last few weeks, but none that compare to the variety sent by Hannah and Lucy. Ladies, thank you, thank you, thank you! The human thanks your people too. She actually tried to steal one of the things in the box for herself (more on that in a moment) but I wasn't having any of it. She got presents from other peoples, so she was just being greedy!




The Secret Paws was waiting for us when we got home from staying at Dogman's house. The human was going to make me wait some more to open it, but I hassled her until she gave in. I knew it would be good for her to watch me play, you see, cuz she was feeling pretty miserable about Dogface not being with us. This was her first night in her new home without us, you see.





The box was all wrapped up in tough brown paper to stop the post peoples from getting into it. It was really thoughtful of you, Hannah and Lucy, to instruct your people to do this, cuz if the post peoples had been able to see the goodies inside, they'd certainly have stolen them for themselves before I got a chance at them! I had to ask the human to open that bit, cuz I didn't want to bite it with my teeth. Under the brown paper was some lovely wrapping paper and a Christmas card. We don't know what the card said, but the human has put it up, even though it's not Christmas any more! I thought about ripping the wrapping paper, but then remembered that I keep this human around for a reason. I sat back and watched while she pulled it off.





There was a box underneath, and boy did it have some interesting smells! I'm sure that I sniffed Hannah and Lucy on it, cuz I spent ages and ages and ages inspecting before the human was finally allowed to take the sticky tape off (I love biting this, by the way, and had great fun!) and show me what was inside.





It started with a big, soft, plushy, cuddly thing. It was an animal with a long tail, and my human thinks it might be a cat! He was fun to bunny kick, and his tail was great for swatting. He has a crackly tail and ears too, which is great! The human says she'd like him on her bed to snuggle with, but I reminded her that's what my job was. Hannah and Lucy, was it a cat? I don't care anyway, he's a good wrasslin partner!





There was next a flat, folded thing in the box, which my human didn't open straight away. Why? Cuz as she lifted it, I saw what was underneath, and I wasn't waiting for no flat thing. There were ping pong balls in there! A gajillion of them! And even more than a gajillion! They were all in little packets in the box, and I wanted them so bad! My human usually gives me one at a timej, which I promptly lose, ahem, I mean hide, under the TV cabinet or the sofa, but today, she gave me all gajillion cuz I asked so hard. The human says there were eight in total, but honestly, there were loads. I just didn't know what way to run! And there was still the call of the box!





There were more goodies in there, oh yes there were. Next came a packet of three mousies. They were all made of rope which is great for scratching, and they had long tails to bite while you kicked them, and they rattled, and, and, and, they smelled of catnip! And there were three of them! So now I had eight ping pong balls and three mousies and a cuddly cat wrasslin bud, and there was still more! I didn't know what to play with! I batted one mousey, then threw another one, then pounced on a ball which ran away from me, then whapped another one right into my human's leg!





Then I heard it, the rustle, the crackle, the snap of a treat bag being opened. Only one type of treat in the world makes that noise, and I knew it well. Dreamies! They're sooooo good. They're little hard squares that have a soft filling. you can get cheese and chicken and fish and beef and one other I think. Yet again, Hannah and Lucy had outdone themselves, cuz I didn't just get one bag. I got two! Two whole bags, just for me! and the human had instructions that she wasn't allowed to withhold them, so she fed me from both packets until I didn't want any more. Friends, that takes some doing. Have I mentioned that I love Dreamies? Cuz I do. I don't know what flavours these were, but they were sooooo good! I even had to lick up all the crumbs from my human's hand just to make sure I didn't waste a single bit.





But there was still more! you remember that flat thing? When the human opened it, it turned out to be a blanket all for me! I've never had a blanket before. My human got me a few beds and things, but I didn't use them at all. It's more fun to fur up the sofa than to lie in your own bed you see, but this blanket is special. It's denim type stuff on one side, but if you flip it over, it's the softest, plushiest stuff on the other. As soon as the human felt it, she begged me to let her have it for her own, but I wasn't giving in. I permitted her to put it on the sofa beside where she sits, where I usually lie, so that she could touch it while she stroked me. This she reluctantly did, and since that day, it's become a regular routine that I get treats on there. She sprinkles some of the Dreamies all over it before she goes off to the work hunt. Oh, it's so great! I even lay on it twice, and that's saying something for me! The human really, really loves the plush material. She says she wishes she knew what it was, cuz she'd make a big blanket from it.





Hannah and Lucy, thank you over, and over and over again for all of the goodies you sent me. They were simply amazing, beyond what I was expecting. I couldn't even tell you what my favourite thing is, cuz they're all my favourites! They're all still out on the floor, and my human is still stepping on those gajillion balls, but it's such good fun to have them all out! thank you, thank you, thank you!





There are even more toys to tell about from a different source too, plus a delivery from Chrystal's auction, but those can wait till tomorrow, or maybe later this week, as we have other things to tell you. Oh, Secret Paws, I love you!

Apologies

Friends, my human is slacking again and I don't know what to do about it. Over the last few months I've tried various methods to keep her writing, but none of them work consistently. Cuddling might make her feel like writing one month, then not work even a few days later. The firm paw of guidance whips her into shape occasionally, but at other times all it gets me is a rather abrupt removal from her person with a strong admonition not to do it again. I'm starting to wonder if it's time for me to do another poo on the sofa, just to get my point across, you know? But then I can't help but remember the prison she put me in last time. What to do!


The frustration of the thing is that the human always has an excuse to explain why she hasn't been writing for me, but the thing is, that's exactly what they are, excuses! When you get right down to it, she's disorganised and fills her time with meaningless things like laundry, house cleaning, cooking for herself, going to the work hunt. Ok, that latter isn't a total waste of time. It does provide the means for getting me foods, but really, does it take eight hours to catch foods? That's one mighty inefficient way of hunting! It only takes me five minutes to catch a toy mousey.


Speaking of toys, I got to open my Secret Paws when I got home! Thank you so much, Hannah and Lucy. The present was so special that I'm going to devote a whole post to it when I can whip this lazy human butt into shape, so you're all going to have to wait just a little bit longer for the grand reveal! Let me just say though, it's fabulous and I love them all!


Dogface has really gone now. I have to confess, I still can't really believe it's true, and neither can the human. She keeps getting up and half going to the door to take her out for a pee before remembering she's gone. It's also funny to watch her walk towards the kitchen. Dogface's bed was on the wall next to the kitchen door, and even though it's not there now, the human's so used to stepping round it that she still does it. So she avoids this giant patch of blank floor. She says that when your eyes don't work, your feet programme themselves into routes so you don't have to feel with them all the time to make sure you're not gonna step on things. She says she'll eventually reprogramme herself to remember the bed isn't there, but it'll take a while. That made me think, it must be quite difficult to have broken eyes. I mean, I just look at the floor and know I can stand there and I won't step on Dogface cuz she's not there. No wonder it takes her eight hours to catch food. I guess I shouldn't be so hard on her, eh? I mean, if she had a good sense of smell, hunting with broken eyes would still be relatively easy, but peoples smell is pathetic.


So, me and the human are still adjusting to the absence of Dogface. The human had a friend over last night. I've spoken about her before. She brought the tiny puppy Dogface called Alice, and her guide dogface Jack, but she really came to keep the human company and stop her thinking about the fact that there was a blank patch of floor instead of Dogface on her bed. There was a problem though. Alice wasn't smaller than me any more! And what's more, she was far too interested in me for my liking.


Now, I've told you before that I never show fear. I'm a brave ladycat, I am. In true warrior fashion, I took up post right in the corner beside my litterbox, then didn't move. corners can be dangerous places, and this one needed defending! When the Alice Dogface came for a sniff, I stood my furrs up and hissed at her and I even growled. It was all fighting though. I promise you, none of it was cuz I was scared of her cuz she's bigger than me now. And when the human had to shut them out so that she could coax me to come to her to be lifted to safety? Ahem, I mean to a high vantage point on her shoulder. you can defend better from up there, I decided. Well, I only made her shut them out so that I could leave the corner and be assured it wouldn't be attacked in my absence. I was thinking of our safety.


She put me up on the ironing board then, a place I'm not normally allowed to go, but from there I can step either to the back of the sofa or to the massage couch and then from there jump into the kitchen. It's up high too, so she thought I'd feel less threatened up there. Really, I instigated it. Now I could protect lots of places at once! I stayed up there till she came and got me and put me on... Ah, but that would be telling, wouldn't it? She put me on something we got from the Secret Paws on the sofa, and there I stayed for ages, till I felt like it was time to defend my box again. Alice was showing an unhealthy interest in it. The good, brave human kept pushing her head out of it, but I didn't like the fact that a Dogface was so close to my box!


It gets worse though. They stayed over! I went to bed with the human and she shut the door so that they couldn't get in, but I could still hear them! Jack is Ok. Even though he chased me at first, he's settled now and is more like our Dogface that lived here. He just lies down and watches me. I don't mind him close to the box cuz he doesn't try and get in it, and he doesn't hassle me when I walk near him. He just needs to learn not to watch me now and I'll be happy.


The human got leaky eyes today when she had to go to the work hunt alone. I offered to come with her. I told her I'd even let her put on my harness without a fuss and I'd be her guide cat, but she didn't think the hospital would let me in, so I stayed behind and slept all day. She took her stick with her and used that to get to work and back again. She says it was hard, and that she feels like she's walking much slower without a Dogface to help her, but her PA says she's not that much slower. She only got lost a little bit once, so she's doing well! I'm cheering her on all the way, cuz she now needs to really build her confidence up. Poor human. Everything's very frightening and sad for her right now. No Dogface, a house move and a new job ahead, new environments to learn at work both here and in the new job, new PAs to find... It's all change for her.


Karen, you asked if Dogman was going to keep Dogface, and the answer is yes. Guide Dogs agreed and signed all the paperwork. They gave her to him on a two week trial. It's a formality they have to stick to just in case something goes terribly wrong, but they all know it won't. As soon as that's signed off, she belongs to him! He's happy and Dogface is happy, so the human is too, or as happy as she can be.


So that's life for us at the moment. My efforts over the next few months will be devoted to helping the human boost her confidence, and forcing her to do new, and for her, scary, things. I have two agendas for doing this. Firstly, it means that I will have a happier, healthier, and infinitely more trainable human if she's not worrying all the time. Secondly, if I rehab her well enough, she may never need to get another Dogface! Now who in their right mind would pass up an opportunity like that!

100!

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




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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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

Almost a Century!

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


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


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


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


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


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


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