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.

Progress?

Friends, it's me! Well, who else did you think it was gonna be? Hahah! Today, my human is very happy, and it has to do with that boring old trust thing again! Let me tell you all about it.




As most of you now know, Dogface has retired, so the human is having to use a white stick to get around places. She says the propper name for this is a long cane, but then she says that it's white and it's a stick and she likes to call a spade a spade. Now I don't know what a spade has to do with a white stick, or why she's bringing the vet peoples into this, cuz I'm not due to be spaded for ages! But she's a human, and so I just shake my head and get on with thinking about higher things when she has little turns like this.





Because she's now using the stick, she has to learn how to get places all over again, and so some peoples come to the house occasionally, and she picks up the stick and leaves with them. They go and teach her for a long time and then they come back. The human is usually tired after it cuz it's hard brain work for a people to learn a lot at once, and learning with the stick requires an enormous amount of concentration. She covered about two and a half miles in today's session alone, and that's a lot of walking, if ya ask me! But i'm getting ahead of myself.





So, today, one of these peoples came to the house. He was a manpeople, and he seemed to be quite nice, but you know my views on strangers, folks. Steer well clear! I have a thing about manpeoples too. Well, I have a thing about ladypeoples as well, but it takes me longer to like manpeoples than ladypeoples. When he came in, I didn't run away straight away, but I didn't tell him hello either. I might have hid a little on the human's lap, but can we just say that I jumped up there for a cuddle? It'd make me feel a whole lot better if we took that approach.





Then it was time for her to leave for her learning, and me to get in a quick nap. After a long time, they both came back in again, and it was then that the manpeople really came into his own. Do you know what he did? He said hello to me just like my human does when she comes in the door, and he didn't move quickly when he passed me. When they had both sat down, I went to snuggle the human just to say welcome home. I went right to the end of her knee and sat there for a long time just looking at the manpeople as he talked to the human. Any time he caught me looking, he would tell me hello again, but not once did he reach out to try and pick me up. I decided to be brave, and I jumped down from the human and went and sat by his feet. He reached down and he tickled me! Then he started to tell the human and me all about his mancat who is old now. Well, I thought, if he has a cat, and a mancat at that, he's surely got some trustability. With a deep breath, I jumped up on the chair beside him, but he did nothing other than tickle me! This was good, I thought as I breathed a sigh of relief and crept a little closer.





He and the human carried on talking about animals for longer, and they both were laughing about how they treat us like peoples almost too much and spoil us too much. I laughed too, up my furry sleeve of course, cuz I know that this particular human treats me better than a people. She told him all about how sick I got and how close she came to losing me, and he said that his old mancat would go soon, and he thinks he'll be upset enough that he'll have to take a whole year off the work hunt! Then he laughed a little at himself, but seemed reassured when the human told him that she, unlike many other peoples, totally understood this deep attachment and care for your cat. See? I've taught her well! All the while he was talking, I was getting closer and closer, and he was tickling and tickling, and by the time he was finished, I even gave him a head bumpy!





When he left, I didn't run away, even when he stood up, something I don't normally like. I enjoyed my time with him, and even gave him head bumpies when he was going, and asked him with a little miaow not to go. He laughed, gave me a tickle and told me he'd be back at some point, so not to worry. I really like him! And that's made the human very happy. She says it's a good thing that I am beginning not to be afraid of new peoples. She's wanted this for me for some time now, cuz she wants me to know that everybody that comes in will love me. Now I know that's not true, and I told her so. I will continue to pick and choose who I like, but perhaps I won't run away so often now, not if they're all like this nice people!





Have a good Thursday, friends, and keep checking back! I promise you there will be a few more pictures to come whenever I can get them! On Tuesday, there'll be loads. It will be the day I have my last bath before my big show next weekend, and now that that lovely student people has taken lots of pictures, I can talk you through the process, and even show you! Have you ever seen a purple ladycat before? You won't be able to say no to that question after Tuesday! Intrigued? Keep coming back and all will be answered very, very soon!

Fun on Friday

Sorry I haven't been around again for the last few days, friends, but I've just been so busy playing with all of the amazing toys I was sent! I have so much news to tell you today!





Ok, most important thing first, toys. Eventually, the human did give me my mat that smelled like catnip to play with, and you know what? It was a refillable catnip mat! There's a little zip in one side that the human can open and pour loads and loads of catnip in there. And it even came with a bag of its own! Is this a Boogie Mat? When Dogface came round (I'll tell you why in a minute) the human picked the mat off the floor so that she couldn't lie on it and get dogface stink all mixed up with the lovely smell of catnip, and she put it on a little table where she forgot all about it. Well yesterday when she was trying to find me, she discovered me on that table on my side with my feets stretched right out. Friends, I was soooooo zoned! I don't normally climb on tables, but the smell of that scrummy catnip was too much even for me not to go look! She still hasn't given me my nanner. She says I gotta wait for that too cuz I'm a spoiled cat at the moment with so many toys that I don't know what to play with next! I disagree. A ladycat can never have too many toys, right? She's put a lot of them away and is now rotating them which is fun cuz I get to discover new toys all over again every day, but not fun cuz I want to play with them all! now! All the time! Forever! Please friends, tell me how I can make her give me them all back? They're mine, and she shouldn't take them away from me!





But there's more news to come! I got another parcel in the post! Another one! And guess what? It had more treats and toys in it just for me! There was another letter, again very thoughtfully typed so that the human could get the talking man in the computer to read it to her. This one said that it was from all of my friends at The Random Felines.
You should go see them! Their people even put in a present for my human! It was chocolate with nutty stuff in (she told me the propper name for them, but whateva, I'm trying to get to the toys as quick as I can!). Anyway, she loved them, and says thank you, thank you, thank you to the Random Felines people for sending her such a yummy gift! She shared them, but she didn't want to!





now onto the important bit, the toys! They were lots of fun! I got a few sparkly things which are soooo much fun to bat around and chase. I did this for a loooooong time when the human gave them to me. I also got a ball with a feather on it. I tell you what, you toy makers in America are soooo clever. First you put feathers on a mousey, and now on a ball! It's sooooo cool to have a bird mousey and a bird ball in my house. I chased it and chased it and chased it, and when I caught it, I chased it some more!





But you know what else was in that package? Treats! More treats! I'm not sure what one type are called, so maybe if the people of the Random Felines could leave a comment, you can all see? But the other type? PARTY MIX! PARTY MIX! Did you hear me? PARTY MIX! I love, love, love, love party mix! Even though I'd had some not so long ago, as soon as I heard the packet, I came running, and I shouted so long and loud that my human had to give me more. Oh Random friends, thank you so, so much! It was such a nice parcel you sent! And the party mix was great!





This whole toy exchange has been so, so much fun. It's given me and the human such a look into what other peoples buy for the most important member of their household. Thank you very much to the cats at Amy's and to the Random Felines for agreeing to take part in this experiment. It's going to be tough to top this when it comes to the 200th post. I'd better start thinking of ways to celebrate!





Some of you asked about my favouritest hut in the universe that came out of Amy's parcel. It's called a Starry Night hut and I think it's made by PetStages. Amy, please correct me if I'm wrong, cuz the human had to do a search on the internet and hope that the product she found was the same as what you sent for me. It sounds the same, so let's hope! It has what they call peek-a-boo mesh all the way around it on the top sides so that my human can play peek at the cat to make sure I'm all right, and I can play peek at her to make sure she's getting my treats. Well, this doesn't work so well for the human cuz she can't peek, but the big opening in the front is her peek-a-boo mesh, cuz her hands come through there a lot to check what i'm doing, and to tickle me. My human put my favourite towel in the play hut, so I sleep in there a lot now. Round the sides is a band of material that has what we first thought were pokey dots on it. This had me a bit worried. Pokey dots didn't sound like pleasant bedfellows. You can't sleep if dots are poking you, can you! But it turns out they're actually really tiny little stars that apparently shine in the dark. This is so neat cuz it means I will always be able to find my favouritest hut, and I can go stargazing without ever having to get my ladycatness cold by going outside! Just to add to the perfection, my human stuck one of my pipe cleaners in the mesh in there, so not only is it a great sleeping place, it's a super thwapping place too! This hut is just perfect, and anyone who doesn't have one yet should kick up a torrential fuss until your people agrees to buy you one for every room in the house! It's not that you want one friends, you need one. Believe me!





Although Dogman's been here, I couldn't get him to take pictures of all my neat stuff. He only came to go to his sister's wedding you see, so he's been busy running around and doing stuff. So has the human, actually. She's been helping organise stuff, as she is very close to the family, so close in fact that she got invited to the family only bit of the wedding reception yesterday! That's also why we have had stupid Dogface in the house with us. Dogman and his mum couldn't look after her for the last couple of days. Well, they could, but time was tight and they were rushing around here, there and everywhere, so the human said she'd have Dogface for them to make things easier on them. I've been watching her closely. In fact, I'm dictating this message to the human from the hall where she is. But it's such a pain having her back in the house. She eats everything she sees. The human has to guard my foods and my toys for me, and it's soooo annoying. she also gets dog stink everywhere when she lies down or wags her massive tail. Dogman caught me hitting her again yesterday, but she'd just wagged me off the arm of the sofa again! It's impossible to keep your balance when a tail hits you in the face with that sort of force! Luckily, my human didn't laugh at me and Dogman didn't see it, so my dignity remained intact once I'd whapped her for her insolence. She goes home today, hopefully, and so does Dogman which is not so good. I'll miss him!





The human came back early from the wedding yesterday to look after us both, but Dogman didn't get back till late, and he smelled all funny. The human says he'd been drinking, but this doesn't make sense. We all drink all the time, and yet we don't smell funny like he did, and we don't get all tired and wobbly like he did. I was actually afraid he was very sick. Often sick things will give off a different smell, and when they're really sick, they might wobble like he does. But the human reassured me that he didn't need to be rushed to a people vet. She says this is what some peoples do to celebrate things like their sister getting married. I'll never understand them. how is getting sick a fitting celebration for a happy event?





He was sposed to be going back to his work hunt this morning which is very far away from here, but when the human went in to wake him up, he was still too sick to go. He's got to go back home today at some point, but for the moment, he's snoring his head off so hard that I can hear him all the way from the living room where I've just come into to see the human. She says she's going to go hold his nose in a minute if he doesn't be quiet. Then she laughed, a lot. Strange human.





Before I forget, Karen left us a comment a little while back asking about the surgery for the human's eyes, and, stupid as she is, the human forgot to answer. I'll do it for her. She still hasn't heard any more on the surgery. Nobody's gotten back to her yet which she's sad about. She says she'll probably give them till the end of the month and then phone them back to see what's going on. As soon as we hear though, we'll keep you posted!





Wow, that was a long post, wasn't it? I think I've said enough for one day. Oh, just to keep you going, I'm going to become a famous cat over this weekend if all goes according to plan, so famous in fact that I'll be used in a presentation to lots of peoples at a university! Want to know more? you'll just have to wait!





Happy Friday, Friends.

A Girl's Favourite Thing

Friends, on this glorious Sunday, I'm afraid I have a confession to make, and sadly, it involves Dogman.





Dogman comes here most weekends. When I first started to get to know him, I really didn't like him all that much. He smelled of Dogface, and he liked Dogface. But the last few times he's been here, Dogface has stayed at his mummypeople's house. Once he has himself a shower and changes his clothes, I noticed that he stopped smelling so much like Dogface. This led me to investigate him a bit more closely.





Every time I got close to him, he'd call me in a special voice and then tickle me when I came a bit nearer. Over the last few weekends, I'll come close to him much more easily, and I'm actually starting to like him tickling me... A lot. This weekend it got so bad that the human half jokingly said that I seemed to like him better than her. Although I came up and cuddled her just to make sure that I kept her snuggle training up, I didn't do much to dispell this notion.





When the human's in bed and she calls me, I'll only jump up from the floor if she offers me a treat, but when Dogman calls me, I come pretty much every time, and walk right across the human to get to him for a cuddle. Same thing goes if he's sitting beside her on the sofa. Since coming to the new house, I only spend part of every night in bed with the human, but when Dogman's here, I get in at night and I don't move a muscle! The human says that she hopes I won't get too fond of him, cuz she kind of likes the notion that a furry might love her the bestest. She thought she had that in Dogface until she met Dogman, then it just went out the window. She fears I'm going the same way, but I'm not telling whether I am or not. Friends, do you think it would be a bad thing to decide to own another people, especially a Dogman? I've got this one pretty well trained now, so I could move on without too much of a guilty conscience, as my work here is almost done.





Thank you for all the lovely things that you said about my picture yesterday. I hope I can get pictures up more often now! I still rely on someone else to take them for me though, so sorry if they're few and far between.





Several of you asked about the human's long hair. It's really long, isn't it? She says she's going to get it trimmed soon cuz it's getting a bit ridiculous, but I say she should leave it. She used this to teach me what a toy was, cuz I wasn't afraid to play with her hair when she made it tickle my tummy. It smelled like her, you see, so I knew it wouldn't hurt me. I still play with it from time to time, but now I'm more interested in the ribbon she keeps in her pocket for me. When I do play with it though, I go mega crazypants! the human jokes and says that at least her hair is good for flossing my teeth! That's cuz when I bite it I hold on, so she has to drag it back out of my mouth again. She'll only let me play when it's time for her to wash her hair... Can't imagine why.





Later this week, I'm going to post those Caboodle pictures. I've been told they are very graphic, so please prepare yourselves for them. I will warn you before I post, but they're coming.





Anyway, friends, have a super Sunday!

Wordy Wednesday and Pat Rick

Friends, it seems as though my human is now only going to allow me to blog once or twice a week, and I dislike her for it! Her excuse this time is that she had the HG and the HG's manpeople down to stay for a good few days, and just didn't have the time to write for me, but as I've said before, excuses are tiresome. I have a lot to tell you about today, so let's go!




Let me start by dealing with Caboodle. I appreciate all the comments left, and all the posts on other blogs. Please know that even if I don't comment, I am reading. I plan to do more on this story over the next couple of weeks. One of you asked for pictures, and those I now have, but as usual, I'm going to need help to put them up thanks to the human's broken eyes. I'd also like to know what they are before they go on the blog. Would one of you mind helping me do that? I'm also going to post references to links that Whicky left for me that tell the other side of the story. Dana has promised me an interview, so that will go up probably along with the pictures. We'll string this out over a few weeks, as we don't want the blog to only deal with sad things, and this situation is sad for all involved, not just the cats. I'm not losing sight of that, and don't want to add to rumour mongering. That's why both sides of the story go up. Then you can decide for yourselves.





As I said, the HG came down to see us, and so did her manpeople. I'm going to call him Mr Big from now on, cuz he's the biggest manpeople I've ever seen! he's also very, very scary. I had to run real fast away from him whenever he got anywhere near me, which he did with frightening regularity. The human and the HG tell me he was only trying to make friends, but I didn't want to be friends with Mr Big. He's too big and I'm too small and I, well, I'm not going to admit that I was ascared of him. Let's just say he made me uneasy, Ok? A ladycat doesn't lose face by admitting that, does she?





As much as I hate to admit it, I was actually disappointed with the Hg. I mean, she didn't bring me toys or treats or tuna or nothing! She did, however, bring a stupid dogface with her that she called Nikki and Noodle and Poodle and lots of other names that she says are nicknames. It doesn't take much to confuse a Dogface, so I wasn't surprised that she answered to all of them, and even to ones that weren't her name! I know better. My name is Tia. Sometimes the human calls me fatcat. That came from when I started to put on weight when she got me so that I was a propper cat and not skin and bones. She always kisses me when she calls me that, so I don't take offence. She also calls me poodin or puddin depending on what she feels like, and I don't mind that either, but I won't answer to anything else, and I'll only come to Tia. The HG decided that me and Nikki were going to be friends too, but I had other ideas. I don't usually hiss, but when she came close, I spat at her good! My human says my hiss isn't scary at all. She says it sounds almost as though i have a lisp when I do it, but I know it's super threatening, and so does Nikki! Every time I did it she backed away from me, and I won! One time when she was lying on the floor I got in her face for a sniff and really just to show her that I was boss and would greet her on my own terms, but the HG mistook this for me thinking about being friends with her.





The HG is good at cuddling, but she isn't trained as well as the human yet. Whenever I passed the HG, she'd reach out and touch me, but she wouldn't give me a treat! Not even once! She says that if she feeds me, the Dogface will get jealous, but I say stuff the Dogface. Tell it to go away and leave me and my treats alone, and it'll all be Ok! She wouldn't though, whereas the human will give me one for no apparent reason other than that I come to her. She says the treats are good for my teeth and that's why I get them, but as I rarely chew them, that argument is spurious.





I had a practice show bath on Sunday, and this was a real show bath. First I had to be de-greased, and then I had lots of different shampoos applied to me. There was one to make my colour stand out, and another to give my floof some body and volume. The HG helped with putting the shampoo on me and washing it off, and here's where she really did come into her own.





When the human baths me, she just ignores my shouting, and she washes my bum and my tail whether I want it done or not. of course, I don't mind it being done, but one can't give in without a good bit of singing and squirming, otherwise they think they've won, and adopt this ludicrous notion that they might have trained you. The human doesn't put up with it, but the HG, well, most of the time she had to get the human to wash my bum and tail cuz she didn't wanna put me through it cuz I made a lot of noise. She also said she felt sorry for me all the way through, and that she probly wouldn't do this to her cat. Go HG! That's the kind of teaching you need to instill in my human! Sure, it means that I end up super floofy and clean, but seriously, one bath every few years is enough for any self respecting ladycat! And when it comes to hair driers? Well, HG, every people should take your attitude which is to say "Oh no, human, you can't do that to her. I feel so sorry for her!" Then you remove the poor cat from the nasty drying monster and just cuddle them in a towel until they are dry. As much as I hate to admit it though, I do actually need the dryer, as my wet floof makes me very cold cuz there's so much of it and so little of me. If you're gonna wet it, ya need to dry it, sadly. The end result was worth all the pain though. I've never been as floofy in my life!





After my bath, I was really beautiful, or so said the human and the HG. However, dogface Nikki was obviously jealous of all the attention getting a bath gets you, cuz when she went outside, she rolled in... Ah, I'm a ladycat and it's not polite to say the word! Ok, Ok, she rolled in poopoo! She was covered from head to tail in the stuff, and she stinked! Not content with me having the limelight, the stupid hound had to go in the bath herself, but she's not so good about it as I am. She splashed water everywhere, and it took the human and the HG to get her dry. They even hoovered her cuz there was so much dead hair on her and it was all over the house! She's not as lucky as me though. She only got to use baby shampoo and not my posh show stuff, so even though she had a bath, she didn't get the mostest attention. Hah!





I have another gripe. Because of stupid Nikki who likes to eat stuff, I couldn't play with my toys when she was here cuz she'd eat them and chew them all up. I couldn't even have a go with my ball in a track cuz mr Big sat on the beanbag right in my toy corner so that I couldn't get to it without going close to him. I wasn't gonna do that, so I had to be content with ribbon time with the human in the bedroom. Ribbon time is great. It's where you have to chase the ribbon all over the room real fast and jump on it and pin it down with your paws. You gotta be real careful though not to put the claws in too hard or bite too hard, cuz you don't wanna hurt the ribbon or else it'll not come to play again.





Although the HG is nice, her manpeople and her dogface are not, and I was glad to see them go. I'll be gladder to see the HG return with tuna and toys and without dogface Nikki though. I wonder if that's possible?





I got some really exciting news today. You remember I sent out some packages a couple of weeks ago? Well, the first two have arrived! Amy and the House of Cats
got theirs this morning, and Chrystalat the Daily Dose
had hers yesterday. You need to go check out their blogs to see what the furries think. Apparently everything was a big hit with my friends at Chrystal's place, but the excitement is still going at Amy's, as I haven't heard if my pals there liked the things I sent yet. I hope they do! The Random Felines should be getting their stuff in the next few days, as theirs was sent out a bit later.





To top off things today, the human says we have to celebrate something called St Pat Ricks day today. I'm not sure what this is, but some peoples talk about patting when they are touching dogfaces. Rick is a name, so maybe this is the day to celebrate patting peoples or dogs called Rick? I'm not sure I like this idea. I'm not getting within patting distance of a dogface in case it slobbers on me, and I don't know anybody, dog or people, called Rick. The human says that Pat Rick started in Ireland. Well, they do say the Irish are a little crazy, and with evidence like this in the public eye, I'd be a fool to disagree! The human says that the day is associated with green. I can understand this if it refers to the patters turning green with disgust and feeling sick when they pat the dogfaces called Rick. I would too. Now, call me stupid if you will, but I see nothing to be celebrated about patting a Rick, so you'll pardon me if I don't, eh?

Terrific Tuesday!

It is, friends, and for quite a few reasons. Firstly and most importantly, it's a great day because that lazy bum of a human of mine has finally decided to commit my dictations to paper once more! ok, computer, not paper. It's been too long, and she hasn't even been visiting my friends for me! She says she's still sorting things out from the house move, that she's had a lot to deal with, yada, yada, yada. Does she think I care for her pathetic, pitiful excuses? Cuz I don't. The fact is, she's been neglecting me, and there's no excuse for that!




There's more good news. Last week I had to go to the new lady vet people cuz my chest was sounding all bad and wheezy again. She gave me some more yucky tablets to take, and I finished those this morning. The human took me back today for a check up, and other than having some staining on my teeth, the vet lady people said I was in great health! The human still says she can hear a wheeze in my purr, but the vet lady people couldn't hear a thing when she listened with the listening thing to my chest, so I say the human's being a worry wart again.





The other thing is mancats. My own lovely little mancat is now very far away from me thanks to my human deciding to move house, so I've had to find another one, but you know what? I've done it! There's another boy, and this one's so posh that he's actually international. Isn't that neat? He was imported into this country to live with his peoples because he was so outstanding. the human says he owns his own house too. She says he's had other girls before, but he's a man of the world. Where as my first mancat would take no for an answer, this mancat knows what he wants. She says that he'll show me that having fun with a mancat isn't so bad really. I'll confess that I saw the last one off cuz I was a bit nervous, but if the new one will show me the ropes, I might just let him milk and tuna me!





And the good news doesn't stop there! After being stuck in the house for a week, the human had someone come today to help her learn the way to places with her white stick. She was a nice ladypeople. When the human was getting her shoes on, she said that the lady people could have a cuddle if she liked. As I've told you before, I'm a bit nervous of strangers, but the human says that she wants to show me that I can trust them just like I trust her. She wants to show me that everybody I say hello to will be nice to me, so she passed me over to the lady people. Even though I wanted to, I didn't struggle. While the human went off to get ready, the lady people gave me scritches and rubs and told me all about the two mancats she owns. She said that it was Ok, that she wouldn't be horrible to me and that I could relax. I might have purred a teeny bit, but I'm not saying. I did stare after my human as she left the room to find her keys, but I didn't jump down from the lady people's lap cuz her scritches were quite nice. I wonder, can other peoples be trusted? I mean, really trusted?





The human says that the HG is coming to see us on Saturday and is staying until Tuesday! I got real excited about this until I heard the next things. The HG is bringing her manpeople with her, and he's not so keen on cats. She's also bringing a stupid Dogface. Her stupid dogface is called Nikki, and does the same job as the human's stupid dogface did for her. She stops the HG from walking into things, and helps her find the way to go. I've decided that if she's like our stupid dogface and leaves me alone, I'll not mind her, but if she chases me or sniffs me, I'm gonna disappear. I can't be bothered with Dogfaces any more! Still, I can't wait to see the HG! Do you think she'll bring me toys? Or treats? Or tuna? Or nice stinky goodness? huh? The human says she's going to help with a practice show bath over the weekend. I'm not looking forward to that bit, but if the HG is there and she brings treats, then I'll put up with it for that... Maybe.





Ok, last bit of good news for today, but hasn't there been a lot! This is the biggest news for the human. Her friend's ladycat has just given birth to two happy, healthy, bouncing boy Burmese kittens! The people who belongs to the ladycat has been talking to the human and telling her all about the pregnancy so that she'll know better what to expect when I have my babies later this year, so the human almost feels as though she's had a part in the kittens who've just been born. It made her day! I can't say that I cared as much as she did. After all, I didn't know the ladycat. But I hope that mummycat and babies continue to do well and thrive. If you like, I'll have the human keep you updated on all the goings on with them!





Well, I think I'm all newsed out. Until next time, eat nip!

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?

Tricky Tuesday

I never have a dull day, do you know that? Well, I do, but they're few and far between at the moment. As you know, I was due to go home yesterday, but I didn't manage it in the end. Oh, sure, I got to the train station all right, riding in splendor as befits my rank on the lap of my human in the front seat of Mark's car. I'm getting braver now. The more I come to trust the human, the more I can explore without being frightened. Usually when we drive, I just lie down and close my eyes and have a sleep, but yesterday I stood up on my human's knee and had a good look at everything all around me as we drove, and I didn't get scared once!




I was good in the PTU at the station too. I sang, but as I'd had that nasty anaesthetic the day before, I felt it wouldn't be propper to over exert my vocal chords. It's bad for them, you know. Instead of the aria that I'd planned, I performed a simple pop song instead, much to the amusement of the people who works in the shop where the human bought some water. Just as we were about to head for the train though, we heard an announcement that said that it wasn't running. There'd been a fatality on the line, whatever that is. My human didn't want to talk about it, but she did tell me it meant that someone had been killed. Not a nice thought for a Monday afternoon, I can tell you. They'd cancelled a lot of trains and there were major delays. The human knows that four hours is about my limit for travel tolerance, and she can't expect more of me than that. It takes us four hours on a good day to get from here to Yorkshire, but with the delays, it might have been double that. We didn't chance it. Instead, we got back in Mark's car and came all the way back to Dogman's house again. And here we still are. We'll try again today to get on the train, and hopefully this time we'll actually make it back!





The human's medical for her new work hunt went well yesterday. They said she was fit for post whatever that means, so now she's only waiting on the last bit of paper, the risk assessment, to come back. Once that's clear, they'll confirm a start date for her, and we'll be all set.





Amy, just to clarify, we are indeed moving, but the post on Sunday was by Kara, a cat who owns a special people friend of mine and the human's called Bug. She's moving too. My human hasn't started packing our stuff yet. She says she's leaving it as late as possible to cause me less stress, but personally I think she's leaving it cuz she can't face the idea of packing up again, a presumption enforced by the long, loud groans every time she bumps into a box.





Karen, Dogface has settled beautifully into her new home. We see her when we come up here every time Dogman's around at the weekends. The human has tried to interact with her as little as possible so as to make sure she bonds tightly with Dogman without old ties and loyalties getting in the way... As if dogfaces could be loyal! Dogface was a little confused by this initially, but seems to be understanding now, and while she still comes for cuddles, she's more focused on Dogman for her attention. She still whacks me in the face with that stupid, stupid tail though, and it's so big that it invariably knocks me off whatever I'm sitting on. Then Dogman has the nerve to tell me off when I thwap Dogface with my claws when she walks past. And all because Dogface does this little jump as if to say, in her stupid way, "Eh? What was that? Where'd it come from?" I don't even hit her hard enough that she yelps, but Dogman still doesn't like it when I do it. Stupid Dogman.





Now that I'm trusting the human more and more every day, I've been practicing the kissie game. This is something that the human has always played with me ever since I started going and showing off my floof to the judges and peoples who think I'm gorgeous enough to give me prizes. the game involves her giving me kissies in the weirdest of places out of the blue, and me not being surprised or flinching away, and getting loads of cuddles in return. Getting kissies also appears to be something I wasn't used to in the old home, but it's important in shows. Judges will often give you kissies if they like you, and just to see how you react. Even tempered cats will take it. Affectionate ones will give head bumpies.





It's important for me to feel comfortable with kissies so that I won't get scared or worried if a judge gives me one. The human started by rubbing her cheek against my shoulder. I didn't like this for months and months and would pull away from her when she did it, but she kept with it until I learned that cheek rubbing means that I'm gonna get lots of great cuddles shortly afterward. Then she progressed to burying her face in my furr. I didn't like that either, but again, she persisted. Just recently she's started making the kissie noise which I really don't like. it startles me and I always pull away. But over the last few days I've let her get closer and closer with that silly kissie mouth of hers. Today, I actually let her propperly kiss my tummy and even the top of my head, something unheard of even a week ago. As smooshy as this is going to sound, I actually liked it, so much so in fact that I put my head straight up for a good, solid scratching session behind the ears. Do any of you get kissies from silly people kissie mouths? How do you deal with it if you do? Is it really the thing to do to submit to them and actually like them? I know I will do it for the judges, but they're important peoples, and it could mean that I get a prize for doing it. But do I really have to give in to this sort of smushy degradation on a daily basis at home? Please tell me I don't!

Pens and Birdies

Ok, I think my silence has lasted long enough. I didn't write for a few days cuz I wanted to ensure that the poor baby sphynx kitten had as much coverage as possible, and I didn't want to detract from it, but after events this morning, I just had to write. You see, I've got a bit of a problem. I've also got some exciting news, so let's start with that first.




The good news is about pens; not the type peoples use to write with, but the kittening type. The human, of course, has one of these already, but it's not very big and it doesn't have the right kind of opening in the top. It's about three and a half feet long by two and a half wide, and that simply isn't enough room for a mummycat and her growing kittens, if you ask me. It'll be enough when they're tiny and aren't doing much other than cuddling me, but when they start wanting to play, it's gonna be a nightmare.





This pen that we have is designed so that the top comes apart in two halves. You can leave these both closed, both open, or fold one of them back. It's important for a mummycat to have an escape from the kittens. As lovely as they are, we do need time away from them too. But that poses a problem. With the current design, the kittens could potentially follow me out onto the carpet by crawling and climbing up the side of the wire and then falling over the top. If I leave the pen, it's cuz I want a breather from the kittens, and if they follow me, it only means more work for me picking them up and dropping them back inside. Ideally, a kittening pen has a small door in the middle of the top so that I, with my super strong mummycat legs, can jump up and out but the kittens are stuck even if they do manage to climb the wire.





My human was looking at pens on the internet, but they're so, sooooo expensive. The cheapest good one is £400! I just couldn't afford to let her pay that. She doesn't have the moneys, and even if she did, it would mean less foods for me. That wasn't an option. She put an ad up at her work hunt place, asking if anyone could make her up one for super cheap. She got replies back from two peoples who said they could help. One came this morning to look at the current pen, and he even scratched my chin! He smelled strange though, of chicken, but not dead, ready to eat chicken. They had still been alive. He keeps them for their eggs, he says. I wonder if he'd give me one for a pet? At least it'd be fresh meat!





Anyway, my human gave him the spec of what she wanted, and he says he'll go away and cost it up for her. She has the second people coming to look tomorrow. Unless it's very cheap, she won't be buying any pens, thanks to my humungus vet bills that she's still battling with, but if it's manageable, she says she really needs to get it. When we move to Oxford, things will be a whole lot more expensive, you see. They think they're posh up there, and charge accordingly, and as she's taking a pay cut in this new job, it'll be even more difficult. So we'll just have to wait and see the figures that they come back with.





Now to my naughty little problem. Friends, this is another one of those shame moments, I'm afraid. Let me tell you the story from the beginning.





Today was hoover day. The human usually does this on the weekends cuz she has more time to do it all. When I first started owning her, I was so scared of the roary hoover that I used to run and hide every time it came out. Now though, I just walk off out of its way until it's done eating the dirt off the carpet. Because it hoovered up Dogface hair for such a long time, it still stinks of Dogface when it's used, so the human likes to open all the windows and doors for a few minutes to air the place out. In our living room, we have two big French doors which open onto a pretend balcony. I say it's pretend cuz it's basically just a set of pretty railings in front of the doors to stop you walking off the edge. There's nowhere to stand out there or anything.





Anyway, when she opens these doors, I like to go and have a peep outside. She has a screen up so that I can't fall through the railings or escape, but she needn't worry. When I first came here, there was no screen, and even though she was careful, I never went anywhere near those doors. This morning I went for my usual look outside, but, as the human was right by them, I felt brave and actually stayed for a little bit. I was being careful though. I'd take a quick, sneaky look outside, then turn my head round quick as a flash so that all I could see was the living room. I always had the human there so that I could rub my face for reassurance, but every time I looked away, I had the horrible fear that she'd leave me. The breeze in my fur made me keep looking back though. It smelled so, well, interesting.





It was on one of those fertive glances that I spotted it. A bird! A big flappy thing in the sky that made lots of noise! Friends, a war started in me. on the one hand, it was fascinating, so much so in fact that I could hardly take my eyes off it. But on the other, it was a bird and it was flying and the only thing between me and it was this flimsy little screen. I tried to make a dash for it, but my human wasn't having any of it. She knows I take pleasure in sniffing the outside air, and she knows I like to watch the birdies when the doors are safely shut. But it's different then. I can't smell them. I can't really hear them. And there's glass between us. It's safe. It's familiar.





The human scooped me up, plonked me back on the sill in front of the open door, and talked and scritched me like nothing at all had happened. I was a bit confused. Why was she not showing fear? I always associate strokings with good things. Could the birdie be a good thing? I teatered, half poised for flight, half absorbed in what her hands were doing to my chin and yummy tummy. It felt so good, but the risk! And the birdies were so interesting. I had to keep looking back at them, cuz there was now more than one.





the next time I moved, I just stepped off the sill and crept behind the human for a bit, but she coaxed me out with wiggling fingers. Again, I couldn't resist. I know they mean more rubbing, and I really like that. Very, very slowly, I came out. My eyes flicked between the human and the birdies, but I just couldn't help it. She made me follow those fingers back to the sill.





She sat with me a long time there, but I was still a bit nervous. Then she got the idea of picking me up. She held me close to her, stood on the sill and gave me some loving, just as she does when the door is closed. Now I could watch the birdies and only occasionally have to look at her. She couldn't sneak off when she was holding me, after all. I snuggled down for a good watch. I was still feeling uneasy, but they were interesting to look at, and the human was right there for all the comfort I needed. A win win situation, if you ask me!





After a time, the human put me down again on the sill and moved away a bit, but that was too much for me to handle. I cried and cried and begged her to come back to the door with me, but she said that I needed to be brave now and do it on my own. She knew I could do it. She was going to do more hoovering, but I miaowed so pitifully that she relented. "All right, " she said in people talk noise, "I'll sit on the sofa so that you can still see me and watch them. But only for ten minutes!" As soon as she sat down, I ran to her, climbed up on her knee, but then moved right to the end of it and crouched. From here, I could still see the birdies you see.





And that's how we stayed until it was time to have the door closed again. as soon as it was, I was happy to go and sit by the door and watch. But that's my problem, friends. I don't know what to make of birdies when the door is open. I feel a bit ashamed because I'm a cat. Birdies shouldn't scare us. But they're just so unfamiliar. The human doesn't think I ever got to see them from an open window in my old home. It's unsettling now when I'm faced with it. Although I'm an outgoing kind of cat, I've attached deeply enough with this human that I like her to be there when I experience a new situation, and there's another problem. I shouldn't be dependent on such a feeble-minded thing as her. It's not healthy. And yet, I know that she offers safety, warmth, and a love that understands when I'm frightened and supports me through it. I don't know what to do about this. I want to be used to birdies, but without the human around, I don't know how to make myself face them. I want to be less dependent on the human, but again, I don't know how to be. It really does pain me to admit it. I used to chide mummycat for being ascared of everything. She did take it to huge levels, mind you, cuz you could only be scared of my human for about five seconds. That's all the time it takes to realise that she only wants to love you instead of hurting you, but Mummycat could never even master that side of her fear totally. Peoples were always an unknown. She never completely trusted them, even the ones who were nothing but nice to her. I can understand a little better now how hard it is to face a fear.





The human is going to use the old kittening pen to put me in the garden in the summer, to let me have some outside time but without the risk of me getting lost, so I'll need to learn that birdies aren't scary before I do go out. It's such a worry. I mean, whoever heard of a ladycat ascared of birds! It's ridiculous!





So, there you have it. I don't mind sharing my dirty little secrets with you all, cuz friends are sposed to understand your weaknesses too, right? At least, I hope they are!

Mish-Mash

I couldn't think of a better title for today's post, because it is a bit if a mish-mash of lots of different things. Do you realise that I haven't blogged for almost a week? I do, and boy did I make sure the human did too! I mean, it's one thing her not writing for me for a day or two, but almost a week? It's punishable! That being said though, I suppose I should go a little easy on her. She did have the funeral, after all, and all the travelling and the teaching, and, well, you get the picture. But while she was off doing her stuff, I was doing mine. I'll mish-mash the two and tell you all about it. Let's start with travelling.




I mentioned that we'd be taking a long journey to get to Dogman's house, but I wasn't really prepared for how long it was, nor the human's reaction to it. She'd done a full day at the work hunt, and as I've mentioned before, when this happens, she's super tired when she gets home. she usually has what Bug calls a surprise nap somewhere in the middle of the evening, but of course, she couldn't do that on Wednesday, cuz we had to go on the journey. I don't know if I said that my walking jacket and backpack carrier arrived, but they did, so we had a chance to test them. The human had even put a special pad in the bottom so that if I had to do a peepee again, I wouldn't be embarrassed or upset cuz it would soak it all up. I'll tell you now that I didn't need to use it!





Now, you know my views on PTUs, whether they're super smart backpack ones, or boring old plastic ones. I don't like 'em. In fact, I hate 'em, and I don't keep my thoughts to myself. On the bright side, it does give me the opportunity to perfect some of the more challenging arias around, but the human never seems to appreciate it. Now, I do plan to do a review of the PTU, as does my human, so I won't say too much about it here except that it certainly gets me noticed! I had lots of peoples making those stupid cooing baby talk noises through the windows of the PTU at me as my human took me along the platform to the train. I, of course, sang to them in my loudest, strongest voice, which in turn got more of them staring at me. The human got quite embarrassed by the end, although I really don't know why.





We had to spend four hours on the train, but the human had anticipated this. She knew that if she took me out of the PTU, I would know that song practice had come to an end and I could relax until the next time I had to change trains. Now this is good human training. Why? Cuz she took me out of the PTU and kept me out. She put my walking jacket on me which is also super smart, attached a leash, then let me lounge at my leisure on her knee. Again, peoples seemed very interested in me. They said they'd never seen a ladycat on a train before, and especially not one who sat so good and quiet and who wore a smart jacket. I, of course, showed off to my adoring public, but I didn't let them touch me. I don't like it when hands come out of nowhere to try and stroke my beautiful furs. I mean, can you imagine all the cleaning you have to do to get their people stink out of a long, fluffy coat? It's disgusting!





Now I mentioned that the human was tired, but she took that to new levels on the train. Instead of paying me attention, she leaned back in her seat, fixed my lead round her upper arm so that I couldn't run off (as if I would!), then drifted off to sleep! This had me quite alarmed. It's all very well her having a surprise nap on the sofa at home, but on a train? What if we missed our stop! I knew something had to be done. Accordingly, I went into action. I stood up, stretched, climbed the human's tummy, stood on her chest and began to shout in her face and knead for all I was worth. This caused some peoples to laugh, but I wasn't paying them any attention. The human still didn't wake! I decided that it would be fun to try and get in the neck of her top. It was low already, and my kneading had made it drop a little further. Peoples are sensible in one regard. They don't like other peoples to see their poor, bald, hairless skin, so I knew that if she felt the neckline of the top move, she'd be awake in a flash. I had one and a half front paws in there when she jumped awake, pulled me out and fixed her clothing up again. Hah, victory was mine! As soon as she opened her eyes, I miaowed sweetly, gave her finger a little kissie as a reward, and went on kneading. She was cross, but ended up just laughing and giving me a cuddle. Good human!





When we arrived at the last train station, Dogman and Mark were there to meet us. Mark has a pet name for me that he uses as a joke. He calls me cooking fat, something that the human and Dogman find really funny when Mark explained that it made two kind of different words if you changed the first letters around. Mark pretends he doesn't like cats, but I know this is his way of showing that he really does like me, cuz when he says it, he usually gives me a sneaky cuddle. The human has caught him at it. Plus, he doesn't complain when I get out of the PTU in his car, nor when I sing to him. In fact, he's more sympathetic than the human! Add to this that this washis daddypeople's pretend name for one of their old pet cats that Mark loved very, very much, and I take it as a compliment. it would be bad if he really meant those other words that it makeswhen you change the letters around, but we're certain he doesn't. He just likes the play on words, and the fact that it makes peoples ask why he's calling me cooking fat. I think it's just as good as Dogman's song for me. I got to sit on


Dogman's knee on the drive home, and he and Mark practiced their miaowing for part of the


journey. They thought it was really funny that I kept miaowing back to them, but really, I was


only giving them language lessons. I was teaching them propper pronunciation, you know.





I didn't take long to settle in. I'd only been gone a few weeks, after all. Dogface was there.


I tolerated her, even when she jumped all over the human to say hello. Honestly, she has no


reservations at all, that mutt!





I slept good that night. So did the human, despite her surprise nap. The next day, she left


early in the morning. Dogman had an appointment at the eye hospital which she attended with him


in a professional capacity. Mark came and took them, but they left Dogface behind! When they came


home again, they had warm chicken with them, but they wouldn't let me have any! Shortly after


that, the human gave me a cuddle and explained that she would be leaving me for the night to go


and teach with Dogman in another far away place, and off she went. I didn't mind at all. As I've


said before, I kinda like Mark, and I know he likes me. I played the "attack the people feet


under the covers" game with him when he went to bed... All night long! If his shouting was


anything to go by, he enjoyed it a lot. I also played ping pong in the middle of the night, and


when I visited the litter tray, I came in and sang to him of my doings. Again, his talk noise,


lots of it, sounded as though he liked the fact that I kept waking him up. He was so pleased that


he was still talking about it when the human came back the next day!





She came back without Dogman. He was at his grandad's funeral, and the plan was that the human


would come home and look after Dogface and the little kittenpeoples who are Dogman's nephews, so


that the big ones could all go to the funeral. Well, the little peoples didn't turn up, and


apparently they all went with their mummypeople, so the human used the opportunity to head off


with Mark and finalise the paperwork for her new job. Yes, friends, there was more of it to be


done! They left me behind again... Starting to sense a pattern here, are you?





To take a side tangent for a moment, I heard the human mention last week how cute purr-miaows


are. To illustrate, I'll post a Youtube video, or I will when the human gets home from the work


hunt, as she's not allowed to access Youtube in work. Well, I took this comment of hers to heart,


and while she was gone on Thursday, I got to practicing. When I got hold of her on Friday, i


climbed all over her and purr-miaowed my heart out! I do like to please her from time to time,


mainly cuz i know that it often leads to tuna, but still. It got me extra cuddles, and she


started saying how much I reminded her of Mummycat, who also used to do that. She remarked on how


odd it was, cuz I've only rarely purr-miaowed for her before, but over the weekend, I was doing


it all the time. Well, if you say a thing, you gotta expect me to pick up on it!





Anyway, Saturday they all went off out again, and when the human came back, she was cold and


tired. They said they went out to look at stuff. Nothing really exciting happened that day,


except for something really, really huge! I'll leave it till the end of the post though, cuz it's


real big news, or at least, it is for us.





Yesterday, it was time to go back in the stinky PTU again to get on the train, but this time,


I'd had enough, and boy did I shout! It was so bad that the human actually thought I'd peepeed


again, but of course, I hadn't. I mean, what self-respecting ladycat would peepee in her own PTU? Last time wasn't my fault. I was calling for a mancat, and you gotta peepee more when you're like that. I couldn't help it! I was just sick of being stuffed in that thing! Even when she took me out on the train, I carried on shouting. I made her embarrassed all over again, but you know what? I didn't care! She said it was the longest few hours of her life, and she wishes I had an off button. It did get me plenty of attention though. Because of my smart jacket, one little girl even thought I might be a guide cat, cuz it was kinda like the thing Dogface used to wear when she was a guide dog, only mine was a lot nicer of course. I did settle down eventually, but I still wasn't happy, and I kept letting her know with grumbles from time to time.





We got back pretty late last night. All I wanted to do was eat, and all she wanted to do was sleep, but she had to have a shower and do some washing and make the bed and unpack her suitcase, and even make phone calls. It was Bug's step-dad's birthday yesterday, and it was the birthday of the middle humankitten that lives with Phoebe, so she called them to say hi. She also called Bug, but almost fell asleep on the phone with him. I was helping though. She can't stay awake when I cuddle her tummy, which I was doing last night.





Boy, it's good to be home again! I like travelling, but there's a lot of moving around involved in it, and it becomes a bit tiresome from time to time. The human says I tolerate it well, and so I do. I don't get worried or stressed in new places so long as the human is around, so she feels worse about leaving me behind when she goes places when compared to taking me with her. I'm happy to keep it this way. I like seeing new bits of the world.





But now, on to the big, big news. You remember I mentioned a while back that I would hopefully be having kittens? Well, the human, as you know, calls herself a breeder. However, as we've mentioned, she loves all her cats so much that we are members of the family first and foremost. As her breeding gets more serious though, she knows that other members will be added to our family. Now, she's of the opinion that all those living in a household should like each other and get along, but she also knows that when a mummycat is allowed to keep a kitten with her, they tend to be very exclusive with one another and pretty much ignore others, if they're closely bonded, that is. When you have a bonded group of two cats, it makes it easier for them to shun the rest. But of course, if she is to continue breeding, then some of our kittens will have to stay with us, right? This posed a lot of problems, as she didn't want to create little isolated groups of cats in the house, but what to do?





Well, it just so happens that both Dogman and Dogman's niece and even her mummypeople are all wanting a Persian cat. Isn't that great? Dogman has been thinking about it for some time. He loves me, but he had a real soft spot for mummycat which has never really gone away. He says he's been fighting with himself not to get one, but since I've been staying with him, he says he really misses me when I'm not around. His niece has wanted a Persian for years, as has her mummypeople who she doesn't live with any more. This is excellent news for me, and for the human. For me, cuz my kittens, well three of them at least, are guaranteed to find super duper homes and stay close enough that we can both go visit them if we like.





The human had a conversation with Dogman and the niece and explained the problems she foresaw. Both of them seemed thrilled, and she couldn't work out why until they made it clear. Many peoples believe that an animal must have a litter in order for maturation to be complete. I tend to agree in part myself, cuz I know that I'm missing out on something, something that my mummycat had, and all the others who had kittens had. On the other hand, if there aren't good homes for kittens, then it's irresponsible to bring babies into the world. Anyway, enough on that. So ideally, Dogman and the niece wanted their cats to have at least one litter of kittens before they got their ladygardenectomies. This suited the human just fine, cuz it means that she can have a kitten from one or both of the litters, and bring them into our house. As we won't be mummycat and daughters, it means that they will be treated as any other cat would. Sure we might bond, but it's unlikely to be as close as that of mummycat and daughter, so it still leaves room for the other cats in the house. So the human has agreed that, as long as they will let her have the first litter, she will give them each a kitten, and handle all the hard parts of the breeding herself like the birth, the stud, the mating. It also means that her programme progresses much more quickly. Realistically, if I have kittens this year and even one of them is a keeper, she can be on the third generation of her breeding programme within a year. This allows her to establish her lines very quickly, and to make sure that, not only does she have the best, most healthy and beautiful ladycats for breeding, but that her kittens find really good homes. As we've said before, Dogface couldn't have found a better home with Dogman, and even with me she


has to tell him off for spoiling me too much... He gives me whole tins of tuna, not just portions! I like his niece too. She talks real nice to me and she even brushed me too and gave me good chin tickles. She looks after Dogface sometimes too, and she loves her.





Wow, wasn't that a long post? I told you a lot had happened! I'm sorry that I haven't been round to visit you others. The human says she will try to do it at some point today, but she's still trying to catch up on washing and work hunting, as she did have two days off last week and there's a lot needing doing! I will help her by lying on the keyboard, headbutting her right when she's trying to concentrate, and crawling on her to force her to turn away from the computer. I will also do my impression of a cat statue in repose on top of the clean, cat-hair and wrinkle free ironing. I hope she appreciates my hard work!

Short and Sweet

Sorry, folks, but this is going to be a short post as the human, selfish thing that she is, says she's too busy to write for me today. Why, you might ask. Well, allow me to tell you.






It's because we're going on a journey. We're heading up to Dogman's place tomorrow evening cuz the human needs to help him out. he had some important teaching to do at his work hunt place in the evening on Thursday, but what with his grandad and all, he just hasn't had the inclination to prepare anything for the session. It's top level massage stuff which the human knows well cuz she's a physio. For her, there's no preparation needed, really, but she said she'd do it for him so that he didn't have to worry.





Grandad's funeral is on Friday, so she's going to stay up there for that. She says she won't go. She hates hates hates funerals, and would rather just remember them as they were, without having the final closure of the ceremony. So she'll travel back to Dogman's house (the teaching place is a little bit away, so she'll stay over that night, then come back to Dogman's the day after in the morning). That means she can look after Dogman's sister's humankittens when they come home from school, so that Dogman's sister can go to the funeral too. She'll also be looking after Dogface so that Dogman doesn't have to worry about her for those few days.





But there's more, cuz guess what? I'll be coming too! Oh yes I will. The human says she'd rather have me with her for the weekend so that she's not worrying in case I get sick or anything. She says if I liked the cat sitter that she uses, she'd not worry about leaving me, but when that lady comes, I hiss and spit and hide from her, so she wouldn't really be able to check me out to make sure I wasn't sick. Anyway, I like being with the human better, and I know Dogman's house now, so it won't be stressy or anything. Plus, I get to try out my new backpack carrier. It came a few days ago. The human got puppy training pads for the bottom of it cuz it's going to be a long, looooong journey. So if I do have an accident, it doesn't matter. It'll soak up real good. That's a relief for me, cuz that was mighty embarrassing last time!





But that's why she's busy tonight. us ladycats don't travel light, you know. There's litter and foods and a box and more foods and ping pong balls to be packed. There might be some room left for human stuff to go in there too, but just maybe. She's doing all that tonight, plus cleaning my boxes too (I have two in the house) so that they're all nice and fresh for when I come back. nice of her, isn't it? But it means she's running around like crazy tonight trying to get it all done, cuz we leave straight after the work hunt is over tomorrow.





Shoot me for saying it, but I'm kinda looking forward to seeing Dogface again. The house just hasn't been the same without her idiocy. The stupidity highlights my cleverness, so it did have its use. Ah well, I'll have a weekend of it. I will update you when I can.

Happy Birthday, Human!

It's finally here, oh yes it is! My human gets a year older today. I don't understand how she gets a year older overnight, but she does, and who am I to argue?




I've been thinking and thinking on what to get her as a present, but I'll admit, I was struggling. I ensure she's good to herself most days, so what do you buy the human who has everything? Ok, she says she wants a yacht, but I don't like the water, so poopooed that idea. A car? Well, she can't drive. A new house in the country with servants, a swimming pool in the garden and a fat bank balance? Well, the place she has in Oxfordshire is small, set near a park, gets puddles in the back garden and has a fat bill balance... Close enough for me.





Still, The Catnip Crew gave me a super idea for a present. They recommended I give her a sand-papery kiss. Now, this is something I give her on a reasonably regular basis, but she does seem to love them so. And when I say she's got everything, she doesn't have a sandpaper kiss, cuz you can't hold them or put them in your pocket, you see. Once they're given, they're gone.





Accordingly, I got her up super early this morning even though she hadn't had much sleep the night before. I crawled up to the top of the bed, snuggled down beside her, and decided that while I was grooming myself, I should include her. I tell you, her hand has never been so clean! She seemed to enjoy it though. Her face got that happy expression on it where the corners of the mouth turn up and stay that way. I think they call it a smile.





I think I might even allow her to give me treats today, just as an extra present. She's had no birthday cards in the post yet, and has no presents to open, but she's remaining cheerful. She was supposed to be going out for dinner tonight, but her friend cancelled on her at the last minute. I consoled her with the fact that sitting in and snuggling with me will be much better fun anyway. After all, her friends wouldn't play catch the mousie with her, so it would be boring! She says some cards will hopefully come today, but despite that, she's had something that's very much brightened up the start to her day. I will say no more for now, but if and when the time is right, I shall reveal a very special present the human got given. It made her do the smiley face again!





In other news, my walking jacket (doesn't that sound so posh?) was put in the post yesterday, so should be here tomorrow. Dogman is also coming up at the weekend, but isn't bringing Dogface. The human asked him to leave her behind, as it's still too hard for her to see her again just at the moment. He's coming to do a late birthday celebration with the human, and get this! He bought her a present, but it was for me! It's a new PTU, but this one is so posh that I might actually refuse to look at it as a PTU. It's a backpack that the human wears and I sit in to survey the world as we walk. It's all soft, so it won't have the nasty hard feel of PTUs, and it won't sway half as mush as we move, given that it's attached to the human and all. If I decide I like the walking jacket, we can even use the two in combinations so that I can go on long walks with the human and whoever happens to be with her at the time. This is something the human has been wanting for a long time, as she really struggles to carry a PTU in one hand and work a dog or a stick with the other. We can't wait to see what it's like!





Oh, we've just remembered, the human does have a present! It's from the HGG who gave her it when she was over at Christmas to take back with her and keep until today. We've also just had word that the HG, who is the HGG's daughter and the human's mummypeople, and the... Oh, what do I call him! He's an HG too, although he's the human grandad, father of my human. Hmmm, I spose I'll have to come up with a name for him when I meet him. Anyway, the pair of them sent the human a really posh slab of chocolate in the post. They say it'll get here on Saturday. Wow, quite a haul there, for me and her both!





I must go now. She's itching to open that present from the HGG. Before I do though,
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear human
Happy birthday tooooooooo yooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu

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!

Happy New Year!

I really do wish you all a happy new year, and I hope that it brings you nothing but happiness, sun puddles, stinky goodness, cuddling on demand and all the ping pong balls your heart could desire! My human made a good start on my new year. She came home as she should have done on Thursday. She was very tired when she got here, but then I guess I'd be tired too if I'd been swallowed by a bird, digested for an hour, flown across a lot of wet stuff very high in the air, then regurgitated on the other side, stuffed on a train then on a bus, then finally dumped at home. That's quite a lot for one poor human to go through! She managed though.




When she got here, I pretended like I hadn't missed her at all, even though I had. Dogman was here, you see, and I couldn't have him thinking that I'd gone soft and that I actually could be swayed by emotion. Once the peoples learn that, they have you over a barrel, so I'm always careful to keep 'em guessing. I ignored her until she came to cuddle me on my special chair that I've claimed as my own. It's right near the warm heater, and Dogman doesn't even dare sit on it any more. When she came, I purred for her, but didn't do much else. I was planning to hold out until Dogman disappeared so as I could show my human how I really felt, but after five minutes, I could stand it no longer. I don't think the human could either. I jumped down off my chair and walked casually towards my room, you know, the one I told you about which is just mine? I kept looking back at the human, asking her to follow me with my eyes. I'd been able to train Dogman to do this over the last week. Even though his eyes are broke, they're not as broke as the human's, so he can see what I'm up to. When the human didn't come, I remembered, and started to talk to her instead. She's a good human. She came when I did that. I kept stopping often to let her get nice and close before I took a few more steps and called to her again. I took her right into my room like this, and behind the door where Dogman couldn't see. then I waited till she sat on the floor. When she did this, I walked all over the room, calling to her now and again so that she could hear where I was and how big the room was. I showed her where my foods were, where my water was and where the box was. Then I came back and made a huge fuss of her for being such a good human and doing what I told her. I might have gotten a little carried away with the head rubbing so that I actually lost my balance and fell over on my back, but I'm not saying nothing.





A very, very long time later, I let her leave the room, but once my big fuss was done, I came and sat with her on the sofa. I climbed up on her chest for a propper cuddle. It's good up there, cuz it means she has to put her arms up to hold me and I can snuggle right down and feel real, real cosy.





After a while, she went back to the suitcase, and I got a bit worried. Was she going away again so soon? She'd only just come back! I watched her anxiously for a while, but all she did was pull a funny looking small soft thing from the case. She pulled it from its packaging, then opened a small tub. Well, that got my attention right away! The smell of potent new catnip was unmistakable. She put the catnip into the soft thing, and when I looked again, I could see it was a little chicken! I was so excited that I started to play with it even before she'd finished filling it. She made me wait cuz I was scratching her hands in my excitement. I was kinda sorry about that, cuz it was nice of her to bring me a toy back, but I was just too excited to wait! When she finally let me have it, I killed that chicken good! She made Dogman take pictures and videos. We'll get the videos up as soon as we can, and whenever we have them, we'll get someone else to post the pictures. Keep checking back! There's even a photo of me standing over it and holding it down after I'd killed it. You will be able to see what a brave ladycat I was to do that! That chicken is fierce, you know, but I showed it who was boss.





The human and Dogman went to Dogman's brother's house for dinner the same day she came back. I was a bit put out. How dare she leave me alone so soon! Yesterday night they went out too. They said it was new year and that they were going to Dogman's mummypeople's house. I asked them to take Dogface with them to get her out of my fur, but they wouldn't listen, so I had to put up with her hogging the TV. She lies right in front of it! That means I can't get close enough to bat the screen, so it annoys me.





This morning though, tragedy struck. Dogface got a poopy bum again, real, real bad. But that's not the tragedy. Well, it is for the human, but there's worse to come from me! As soon as Dogface went and showed the human her runny bum in the garden, the human came in, and friends, she stole my chicken and put it in her pocket! What's more, when I climbed up on her to retrieve it, she not only prevented me from getting it, but put me in my room and closed the door! her reasoning is this: Dogface had stolen my chicken a few times, so it had been in her mouth. If this is a recurrance of the bug, I can't be allowed to chew on the same chicken Dogface has slobbered all over. She says I can have it back, but not before she's dipped it in something called coloidal silver. It's stuff that's sposed to kill all bacteria. But friends, she's locked me up! She says that Dogface has never been in my room thanks to the baby gate, and, of course, my ferocious defending of my territory. So if she has the bug, the only place that's guaranteed to be free of it is in my room. There I must stay, but I tell you something, I'm not happy about it! It might be much bigger than a PTU, but a prison is a prison, no matter which way you dress it up. Sure, I have a comfy massage table to lie on, and carpets so soft that your paws sink right into them until you can hardly see your claws, and she did give me almost a half a tin of tuna with the reasoning that I'd eat my fill and then sleep most of the day and be less distressed, but it's just not the same. I need to leave my mark on this place, and on stupid Dogface, before I leave tomorrow.





And that's another thing. Tomorrow. I have a three and a half hour stint in the horrible PTU in the horrible car tomorrow to get back home. The thought of it fills me with dread. I don't like being stuck in them for that long, specially not when I need to go to the toilet like I did last time. It's frankly less than comfortable! But endure it I must, apparently. I'm gonna make them pay for it. I'm gonna sing all the way!





Thanks so much to everyone who came to visit me on my 100th post. It was lovely to see you all! I'm also really flattered that three of you wanted to do a gift exchange with me! If there had been lots, my human was going to pick one at random, but as there's so few, we might just exchange with you all! One thing though. Admiral, I'm sorry to have to do this, but my human's being a dreadful bore. She knows you're sick at the moment, and is terrified of introducing another bug to our household. She knows your people wouldn't send anything intentionally, but she's so scared of me getting sick again that she asks if we could wait a while before exchanging gifts with you. I tried to tell her that you'd ensure mr bug didn't smuggle aboard, but she's a worry wart as you know. Do you mind terribly? To Amy and the Random Felines, thanks so much for agreeing to exchange with me! Is there anything in particular you like when it comes to toys? My human was hoping to get to the toy pet shop while she was staying with Dogman, but she hasn't managed to yet, so she will probly end up ordering everything off the internet instead. This means it might take her a week or two before she can send. Is this all right? could you drop us an email with your postal addresses and how many cats you share your house with? thank you so much! The human says you can write to the address in her profile, but she doesn't want to put it here to make it easy for spammers. If you have any trouble, just let us know.





We also hit our 1000th visitor over the new year too! So not only have we had 100 posts, but we've had ten times as many visitors! I'm so shocked that so many peoples and cats read what I have to say! Oh, everything's so exciting today! Sept the fact that I'm stuck in my prison. Does anyone have any escape plans which have a guaranteed success? My human has only came in to cuddle me three times in the last hour. it's not enough! I'm dying of loneliness here! my tuna is all done too, and I'm dying of starvation! It's just too much to bear! Heeeeeeelp!

She's Got Some Splaining to Do!

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




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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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