Abandonment, Salvation... and a toy!

Hi there, friends. I'll steal this opportunity to write to you all while the house is nice and peaceful. How can it be with a kitten in it, I hear you ask. Well, she's asleep after tiring herself out by running after our new toy, but more on that in a minute.

It feels like ages since we last talked, but I tend to let the kitten do her thing on here as she has so much to say and share with you all. She's so enthusiastic about the new things she's learning and all the places she's exploring that I think it's nice for her to be able to share. I tend to grab the quieter moments when I can write to you all because that suits me a whole lot better.

The human abandoned us last week, cruelly left us to fend for ourselves in the terrible elements. It got down to -18 degrees C over here, and she just didn't care! There's no point sending the RSPCA to our rescue, friends, cuz she'll just mutter something about "but they were indoors and the heating was on", and of course, because the RSPCA have only the brains of peoples which aren't great at the best of times, they'll believe her that we were at least warm. But friends, -18! That was horrendous! And trying to find your own foods in that weather is awful. Even the mousies hide! Again, don't send the RSPCA. She'd tell them that Dogman was here and fed us all the time, but there wasn't the variety, friends. my human rotates our foods for different flavours, and sometimes she mashes it and sometimes she leaves it in chunks. Sometimes she adds water, sometimes a crumbled treat on the top. Dogman? He just opened a packet, tipped it into a bowl and set it down. Why did I ever like him?

The human had the decency to come back just as we were both at death's door. The kitten was so distressed that she ran up to greet her straight away, meowing and purring and climbing on her in an obvious attempt to communicate to the dim thing, "Thank cod you're home. It was awful here without you, and look at how skinny I am! Ignore the tummy, please. It's bloated because I, um, didn't eat anything just a few minutes ago." I, on the other hand, was just too weak to move. I stayed in my near dead state cuddled into the only thick, fluffy blanket I could find, eyes closed, on my back, paws over my head (everybody knows you go belly up when you're about to die), and death rattling. My human says this was a snore, but everybody knows ladycats don't snore, and anyway, why would I be snoring when I was nearly dead? I roused myself as soon as I heard the rattle of the foods bowl, but that was instinct, pure self preservation. The rubbing round her feet and the miaowing wasn't my doing. it was my basic brain kicking in to tell me this was the best way of getting foods. The purring was just the icing on the cake, as was the human cuddling that followed shortly afterward.

I had recovered sufficiently by Saturday to consider attending a cat show, just to shmooze with my adoring public. I'm glad I did! As usual, I pretended to be a grump first thing in the morning (well, can't make it too easy, can I?) but this soon settled when I realised that I wasn't penned next to any stinky boys. Well, I did have one next to me, but he was a sweety really, and wasn't interested in doing anything that a ladycat doesn't talk about with me. Anyway, he was a brown tabby and white, and I know I can't do the unmentionable with a bicolour anyway, as my babies wouldn't be registerable. So I didn't get in a strop with him like I did with the very handsome colourpoint mancat at the last show. By the time the afternoon came, I was giving head bumpies to some of the peoples that came to cuddle me. One ladypeople held me so long that I even gave her a kiss, but only one, and only cuz she was so nice and she gave me kissies and said to my human and me over and over again what a pretty girlie I was and how she loved me. Of course, she said the same about the kitten, but that's understandable. She is my kitten, after all.

My human was all over the place, talking to peoples, putting on those funny white clothes which mean she'll be helping one of the judges with cats (stewarding, she calls it), cuddling other cats. I did permit this as it reminds her just how yummy I am. She did fall in love with a curly Selkirk Rex though, and said that one day we might have one of those too as they're so scrummy, but I just sighed and said nothing. She goes through these phases every now and again, and we always come out the other side minus the new cat, so I'm not too worried.

Soon the results came in, and I've never seen my human so happy in a long time. The kitten had got first prize in her open class, the most important one, and had even managed to take Best of Breed! Not only that, but she then went on to win another class which had a cash prize! I, on the other hand, scored big. I got my second challenge certificate and came first in my open. This means that I need only one more CC and I can then call myself a GCCF champion. How grand is that! I got third in a side class which I was also pleased about. In celebration, I instructed the human to go and spend Millie's winnings on a new toy for us. I thought that the kitten was too young to be expected to spend her moneys wisely as she was muttering something about giving it to the human so that we'd all have won something on the day, so I felt it better to take charge before that crazy notion got too far. My kitten's too nice, sometimes.

So off the human went, and came back with a toy called Under Cover Mouse from Panic Mouse. We got to play with it when we got home, and it's so exciting that I even overcame my initial nervousness that I have of all things new, and played with it without the human having to show me that it was all right and wasn't going to bite me. It's a circular bit of material which covers an electronic pretend mousie who zips around underneath it with only his tail poking out the edge. You gotta catch it under the cover and pin it, but whenever you do, he changes direction and runs away again. He's impossible to kill propperly! No matter what you do to him, he stays alive! For any cat who attacks feets and things under covers, this is such a good toy! Get 'em quick though, cuz they aren't making them for too much longer.

I finished up my day by yelling in the horrible PTU all the way home (well, it's the principle of the thing), then curling up for a good wash and a nap. I'm very pleased with myself and my kitten. We had a super day!

Well, until next time, friends. If you can't be good, be very, very bad... It's much more fun anyway.

Yummy Foods and Competition Time!

Friends, it feels like ages since I spoke to you last, thanks to Millie sneaking on here last time to write to you! I know she told you I was too busy sleeping to come say hi to you, but honestly, did you believe that? I'd never pass up a chance to speak to my friends! I was taking a well earned nap after using up every scrap of my energy to wriggle out from the mound of blanket that the human had buried me in (she says she did it because she knows I like to snuggle in it, but really, I know she did it to make me work harder for my food!), jump all the way down from the sofa, then walk the ludicrous distance to the other end of it to reach the food bowl. Then I had to do it all over again to find my way back! Friends, it was horrific, and by the time I'd wiggled back down to find my warm spot in the blanket, I was too exhausted to write anything. you understand, don't you?

Anyway, enough about my dilemma. I just wanted to reassure you all that I still love you and that I wouldn't not write to you. Don't believe anything that little snip of a kitten tells you!

I have something exciting to tell you about today, and it involves food! Food's always exciting, isn't it? I mean, there's nothing better in the world! Except maybe tummy tickles or a sun puddle or Da Bird, but you get the idea.

A couple of months a go, there was a knock on our front door, and then a very nice man dropped off a huge bag of foods for me! Millie thought it was for her, but we know better, right? Anyway, the human brought it into the house... And then put it up high where I couldn't reach it! It was around the time that Millie and Paws had dodgy tummies, and she spouted some rubbish along the lines of "well, if they have it it might upset their tummies, and if I put it in your bowl they'll eat it, so you'll just have to wait." I really want to whap my human sometimes, you know.

Eventually though, the babies' tummies settled, and at last, it was time to crack open that bag of food! It's called NutriCat, and it turns out that the super duper peoples at NutriCat
sent us a big bag of it to review for them. You know me, friends. I know my duty, and when it comes to reviewing, I take that duty very, very seriously indeed.

NutriCat is nutritionally very similar to the yummy Royal Canin that the human feeds us already, which is good cuz she's very particular about what we eat. Ok, RC isn't the best dry food on the market, but every time she tries to change me over, I build up loads of sick, then go and leave it in presents for her all over the bedroom carpet. I do this cuz she's told me that that's the only one in the house that isn't stain proof, so I know if I puke there it'll have the biggest impact. So she gave up trying to change me over and just left me on the RC and supplemented it with lots of very good quality wet stinky goodness.

But I'm getting side tracked. Anyway, it's pretty much the same nutritionally. It comes in smaller bags than the RC, but that's Ok cuz it's so easy to get hold of. Tesco sells it, so you can have it delivered right to your door!

As we heard the bag rattle, we all gathered close, and when she opened it, oh my, oh my, oh my! The smell! It was heavenly! She took some out of the bag and got on the floor with us to let us take some whiffies nice and close up. Now, do you remember a few months ago I spoke about training my human to give me treats? I'd put my paws up on her leg and she'd give me a treat. she thought she was training me to put my paws on her for treats, but we all know better. Anyway, as soon as I got a whiff of the yummy stuff up came my paws and they planted themselves firmly on her leg and didn't move! She, well trained human that she is, presented the foods to me and I ate. Oh my cod did they taste good! I ate some more, then opened my mouth real wide and tried to eat everything that she had in her hand! I dropped most of it, but it didn't matter cuz I just picked it up again. I crammed myself full, cuz I could see that the babies were closing in and I didn't want to share.

Paws had never eaten from the human's hand before. He says he wasn't stupid enough to do that cuz he knew that food always came from a bowl, not the human, but the more he watched me, the more his nose twitched and the closer he got until, in the end, he pushed me out of the way and snarfled a big mouthful for himself! At this point, I was fighting to get my spot back, and Millie was attempting to climb into the foods bag to get at the biggest stash of all! She's resourceful, that girl of mine. The human had to actually remove the bag from our reach before she could carry on feeding us.

She put NutriCat
down in our bowls a few times, but she gave up on that very quickly. You see, normally, we pick at our dry foods, but when NutriCat was in the bowls, we cleaned them usually inside an hour or so! At the time I was starting to get a bit, ah, soft around the middle, and she didn't want the kittens gorging either so soon after having bad tummies. Instead, she filled up our treat ball every day which meant we had to work for our foods. Have I mentioned I'd love to thwap my human at times?

You know how much I love Dreamies, but friends, this food tastes just as good, so good that it's actually worth working for! And if you tell the human I said that, I'll deny it every time. Sadly, we've finished our bag now, but I've instructed her to buy more for us.

NutriCat is reasonably priced, but I did find the bits a little difficult to pick up cuz I'm a Persian and I need special foods to be able to pick them up easily. But this didn't stop me eating as much as I could cram in my mouth!

So, pros: Reasonably priced, very easily available, smells yummy, tastes incredible! Good nutritional profile for a dry food

Cons: Bag doesn't reseal very well, kibbles are hard for Persians to pick up, meat content could be higher (but it's pretty standard for dry foods, so we're not saying it's really bad!). We can't think of anything else bad to say about the food except that you might get fat on it cuz it tastes so good that you'll want to eat it all! But then if you put on a little extra wait, it's all the more yummy tummy for your peoples to snuggle, right? So this is another good point!

The human has written her boring words to review NutriCat over on The Moonspun Blog
and there's a competition there too, but oh, I haven't told you about our competition yet!

The super duper peoples at NutriCat
have generously offered one person the chance to win a whole month's supply of foods all for themselves! They say you may have to share with the other cats you live with, but I don't agree. If you win, tell nobody, then when the bag comes, go hide it away and keep the fact that you are in possession of the yummiest food ever very, very quiet!

So how can you win? All you have to do is visit the NutriCat website
and have a look at the different types of foods on offer. Then you just come back here and tell us what flavour of foods you'd like by commenting on this post. And it's as simple as that!

The competition will run until 12 midnight next Monday 5th of December. Each comment will be asigned a random number, and the winner will be chosen by a random number generator. Then the lovely peoples at NutriCat will send the foods out to you and you can start enjoying!

Remember, for those of you who are fixed on what you eat, NutriCat really is scrummy, and you could enter and use it as a treat food even if you don't have it as your main food every day. Yep, it's that good that you'll eat it as a treat too!

Right, enough from me, there's some more foods around here somewhere, and I gotta get it before Millie does. Good luck to you all and thank you very much, NutriCat, for my yummy scrummy foods!

Just to add that the competition is only available to those living in the UK. Sorry!

Millie Monday

Hihihihihihihi! Hi, hi, hi! I don't really know who I'm sayin hi to, cuz I can't see nobody, and the talky thing that my mummycat says is called Computer doesn't look like a nobody neither cuz nobodies aren't square and they don't have leads coming from them and they don't not move. Nobodies, ah, scuse me, my mummycat says they're somebodies, not nobodies, are warm and they move and if they're mummycats then they talk to you and clean you and sometimes give you milk and smack you when you're bad (I don't like that bit). And if they're people somebodies then they make strange noises at you and you can climb on the flat places they call shoulders and you can attack their nose things or their hair if they have any, cuz some people somebodies don't, you know. The one who's here all the time, The Human, has loads of it, and sometimes when I attack it I get stuck in it and need help to untangle myself, but her friend, the other people somebody, doesn't have any hair at all and if I attack where his hair should be he gets cross, at least, I think that's what he is when he makes the ouch that hurts noise, cus he pulls me off his head then and spoils all my fun.

Oh, I'm Millie, by the way, or at least, that's what the people somebodies have decided to call me. I kinda like it. Do you?

Introducing...Millie!

I find other fun though. I love my crinkle balls that mummycat says were hers from another somebody called Amy and her cats. Are all cats mummycats? I don't know. But anyway, I chase them everywhere, and I steal pipe cleaners and carry them in my mouth, and I sometimes hide them in the litter tray, but then the human spoils the game and throws them away cuz she says they're dirty but I don't think so. I'm learning to jump real high too. I jump right up in the air to catch the flying feathers that sometimes come out when the human is around, and I jump on people somebodies when I want them to pick me up so that I can get on their shoulders. The other morning, I jumped so high that I landed right at the top of the man people's (the one that has no hair) leg . He musta been really pleased, cuz he made the funniest gasp, then a sort of half squeal, then picked me up real, real quick and said to the human somebody, "Holy crap. That was too close for comfort!" I tried to tell him that it wasn't. I was quite comfortable now, thank you very much, and he shouldn't worry cuz I jump real good and I always remember to put my claws out to grip, and he only had on thin trousers anyway so I'd have got his skin if they ripped, so he shouldn't be afraid of me falling. Do you think he was?


Oh, I love, love, love the human somebody, perhaps even better than my mummycat although I don't know yet cuz the human doesn't clean me sept with stinky, nasty wet water like she did today, and mummycat's cleaning feels much nicer, and the human doesn't give me milk but sometimes mummycat does. But the human doesn't smack me either if I'm naughty, and mummycat smacks me all the time if I bite her tail or if I chase her or if I want a drink when she doesn't wanna give me one or if I don't do what I'm told. She's sooooo boring! Anyway, we got to go into a new room yesterday, my brothers and me, and we'd never been there before. And the stuff on the floor, carpet, mummycat says, was real, real soft so that your paws sink right in when you walk, and you make no noise when you jump, and it smelled different. And there was a big soft thing up high in the middle that the human called bed. It was real hard to climb up on, but the human put a tall scratchy post beside it and I'm real, real good at climbing. So if I climbed to the top and then gotted real, real brave and did a best jump ever across the space in between the top of the scratchy post and the bed thing, then I could be on there and look down and wait for my brothers to walk by below and then jump off the bed thing and onto their backs. Oh, I love, love, love that game, specially cuz they never see me coming!

I love to play!

It's hard work though, climbing and doing the best jump ever and being afraid in case you fall down when you do it, so one time I just went to the human to see what she was doing. The bed thing had mostly eated her, cuz I could only find her head sticking out from the stuff that covered it, so I went to lie by her head cuz I didn't want her to be eated. I'd miss her and have nobody to follow and have no more shoulders to sit on. She was making funny noises too, sorta like something my mummycat calls sleep noises, so I cuddled in real close against her neck and thinked that I could stop the bed thing from making her eated all up. And then it musta worked, cuz she stopped making the sleep noises and she moved and then the bed thing sicked up one of her arms cuz it wriggled out from under and came and tickled my tummy and then she said that I was real cute and that she loved me lots. She told me she's always wanted a cat to come sleep all snuggly with her, and that made me feel good. But then the bed eated her arm again and the sleep noises came back, so I stayed on her pillow and when she moved I moved too and snuggled in real, real tight, as tight as I could. And I didn't even attack her hair or anything!

The bed thing sicked all of her up when the bright thing in the sky called a sun came out from hiding, and that was good, and I was happy. So I climbed onto her shoulder thing and helped her make my breakfast which I eated lots of cuz she says I need to eat more so that I get big and strong like my brothers. I don't need to be though. When you're small, you can bite their bums and run away before they know it was you. Hahahahaha! Woops, mummycat heard me say that. Gotta go!


Human note: The Katnip mommy will put some pictures of little Millie up for me soon, I think, so check back to see what miss naughty looks like this week!

Sunday Sadness

Well, friends, I don't know what's wrong, but whatever it is, is't stopping all of my babies gaining weight, and I don't like that one little bit! I've been feeding them, honest I have, and the human even gave me some stuff she calls homeopathy to increase my milk flow, but nothing is helping. Porker actually lost 4 grams last night, and that's without me even bothering to scream at the human for attention. I've been super duper good, and it's still not enough! Am I a bad mummycat, friends? Have I done something to them by ignoring them for so long that now they've decided they don't want to be my mousies any more? I'm confused!






Tomorrow they'll be two weeks old, so there'll be some pictures for you to look at! They've gotten mighty big since the last pictures. They're almost twice the size they were then! In fact, Porker is easily twice the weight, even though he did lose some last night. Dogman's mummypeople says that Porker's colour is coming in round his mouth. Can you see it in the pictures?





There's not much else to tell you, sept that I got fish and chicken today! I didn't eat my morning foods and the human said I felt a tiny bit dehydrated, so she made me some fish and mixed it with my foods. Well, I wasn't gonna say no to that! She also fed me some of the chicken that she made for her, Dogman and his mummypeople for their dinner, and boy was it nice! She says I can have some more of that tomorrow with my food if I like. I say yes please!





She says she'll leave us all alone tonight sept for when my mousies cry. Then she'll come help. I've decided that I'm gonna be so good to them that they won't need to cry at all!





I've been in my propper litterbox again today. To answer your question, no, Tori, they don't eat anything yet, let alone litter. They just drink from me. And anyway, they aren't able to get into my box. They're too small. When they do they'll probly have a go at eating it, but every mousie does, and it's Ok cuz the litter won't harm them if they have a taste. They'll soon learn that that's disgusting and stop doing it though!





I learned something sad today though. It's part of the reason why I haven't been eating so good, as it quite took the heart out of me. My dear friend, Whicky, crossed the bridge five days ago. It was quite unexpected by us all, never mind his family, and he's left a hole behind him much bigger than he was. I had a soft spot for that handsome mancat. Do you know that he was the first cat ever to come see me and leave kind words? If you'd like to visit his blog, I know his peoples and his brothers could do with your love and support. The blog can be found Here."
Whicky, my friend, have fun up there at the bridge, and make sure to play as hard as you loved!





Well, that's all from me till tomorrow. It's the mousies' bedtime, and my time to think and remember.

Special Sunday

Do you know that this is the last sunday that me and the human will spend in this house? It's sad in a way, but in another, it's super exciting. We're just about to start on a new beginning, and I'm glad that she's taking me along for the ride with her! She's over-doing things though.





The human dreads moving for all the same reasons as everyone else, i.e, the packing, the organising, all of that, but she also worries because she has a bad back. Packing really aggravates it, but she usually manages. Well, this morning she woke up and was so sore that she could hardly move. She's spent a lot of time lying flat and getting into a hot bath and doing pretty much everything she can think of, but nothing's helping. I'm on nurse duty, cuz I want to make sure she can go to the work hunt tomorrow to earn the moneys I need for my stinky goodness!





Today is for special things though. Our last Sunday in the house is special. The human's back needs special attention, but what else is there to talk about? Well, there's trust and bonding.





The human says there's something wonderful and remarkable about watching the personality of an adult cat blossom in a new home, but I know that she's talking specifically about me when she says that. After all, I am the only wonderful, remarkable adult cat in this house, right? And my personality has indeed been flowering. Since the tummy rubbing and head rubbing incidents, I've just gone from strength to strength. Let me tell you how. Again, they're only small things, but to me and the human, they are special enough to be mentioned in this post.





Firstly, there's lap cuddling. I've always done this, and I've always enjoyed it, but I am a gentle-ladycat about it. Rather than just pushing my way onto her lap, I come and sit beside her and wait either for her to pick me up or to invite me on. Well, I used to. Only a few days ago, that all changed. She was tippy-tapping away on the computer keyboard, sadly not typing for me (you can't have it all, I spose), but doing something for herself. She sits on the big sofa when she does this, with the keyboard on her knee. Normally when I come and sit beside her, she'll wiggle her fingers at me, and if I climb on her, she'll put down what she's doing and give me love. If I don't come to her fingers, she knows I just want to lie nearby. Well, she wiggled at me and I ignored her, and so she went back to her own stuff. I watched her. I wanted attention, but I didn't want to come to her fingers. I moved around a bit to let her know I was there, but she just thought I was getting comfy and paid no attention. This wasn't good enough. I wanted attention and I wasn't getting it, and that's never a good thing! I went up close to the human, then sat down to watch again. Then, very tentatively, I put out a paw and touched her leg. It was just a little touch to let her know I wanted some loving, but again, she thought I was only settling down. She carried on typing.





This really was intolerable. I wanted snuggling! I picked up a second paw and put it on her leg, then made sure that the first joined it. Now my two front feet were standing on her. I have to admit, when she did put the keyboard down and turn to me, I was tempted to pull back, and had to work hard not to. maybe I just should have waited for her to pick me up. Maybe I should have been more patient. Would she tell me off now for disturbing her? I tensed up as her hand came towards me, but all she did was tickle me and make a huge fuss over me and tell me how great I was for coming for cuddles all on my own. "Well,"I thought, "That was easy." I even got treats for it! If I'd known that it was that simple to get extra love and treats, I'd have done this months ago!





I've done it lots ever since, and now I'm confident enough to put all four of my feet on her lap all by myself. I even sat down today between her and the keyboard, and got strokes and scritches while she was typing. Only problem was that I had to boot the silly keyboard out of the way when I decided I wanted to sprawl out and get really comfy, but she didn't seem to mind too much. Good human!





The other thig I've learnd is how much fun it is to lie on the human's chest. Again, this is another thing I've done before, but while I've been up there, my head has been up and I've been kneading the whole time. no, when I say lying up there, I mean really lying, like sprawling right out then curling into a ball under her chin. The human usually has to use her arms to support me, but it's comfy, so I let her do this. I'll snuggle down there for more than five minutes at a time now, and I don't mind if my head has to lie on her a little bit in the process. She's so warm that I get quite sleepy very fast!





She says the next step for me is to start head-butting her for attention, which I'm very tentatively starting to do, and then to really snuggle up very close with her in bed. Again, this is something I'm starting, but I can only manage about a minute of curling against her before I have to move away and get my own space again. She always lets me go, which is why I know it's safe to come back the next time she picks me up and snuggles me. It's ok, as long as I have an escape route.





But we're not done yet. Special things come in big piles, and the very tippy top of our pile is friends. I love friends, and so does the human. many of you read the blog that the human writes and I dictate, and some of you even leave comments, but today, I'd like to recognise someone who makes me MOL, and the human smile with most of the comments that are left. They write an excellent blog, and, unlike my bad human, they actually have their people trained well enough that she posts every day for them! I wonder if they'd mind sharing some tips? I was going to do a Friends on Friday, but as she didn't write for me, I didn't have a chance. It's probably better that they're in the Special Sunday anyway, cuz they have some very special mancats there who agreed to be my valentine! Not that I'm recognising you just for that... I'm not shallow, honest! Well, not much, anyway. So, who are these friends of ours? Well, the only way to find out is to go visit The Catnip Lounge Cats
and find out! Keep up the good work, Katnip Krew!!





Hannah and Lucy want to know if my mancat friend is a handsome beast. Oh, girls, you have no idea! He is to die for! Mind you, so are those lounge cats. The only thing this one has that the other hunks don't is his man bits... Um, have I said I'm not shallow? Honest, I'm not! A ladycat's gotta have a good time sometimes though, and the boys without manbits tend to lose sight of what a woman really needs. That being said, they're much better companions. Manbits make most mancats interested in only one thing, where as others such as the lounge cats at least have the manners to milk and tuna you first! The human said that should be wine and dine, but I don't drink wine, and I only dine on the finest tuna! If only. Well, a girl can dream, can't she?





And that's exactly what I intend to do for the rest of the day, or at least for the bits where I'm not working on my elevator bum. I'll see you tomorrow! Happy Sunday!

Monday Monday

Ok, so I couldn't think of anything better for a title. I'm uncreative today.




Well, friends, a lot has happened over the weekend, and not just to me this time! I haven't been eating terribly well, and my human thinks it's cuz it's difficult for me to pick up the small chunks of stinky goodness that she's feeding me. Really though, it's cuz she puts the stinky powder drug in my food, and I want nothing to do with that! She's only a little worried that I'm not eating, cuz she thinks I'll be Ok again when my dry stuff goes back down. I'm not as snuffly as I was, but we don't know whether this is cuz I'm still taking the mucolytic or whether it's cuz I'm better. Today is the last day on that, and then I've only one more day of antibiotics to go. Then we'll see! I really hope it busts the infection though, cuz I sure as anything don't want to end up with pneumonia. I don't know what it is, but it sounds soooo nasty!





In other news, Bug has done himself injury. For those of you who don't know, Bug is the people that Kara, our guest Sunday poster, owns. Like me, she uses her people to do her typing for her, (well, why have a people and write yourself!), but this week, he wasn't able to do that. on Saturday, he was opening a tin of people stinky goodness, but it didn't open propperly, so he started to pull on it. Well, it slipped and sliced into the back of his thumb. He thought he was Ok, but went to the hospital to have it checked. He went back again on Saturday so that they could see how it was healing, but after more investigation, they found that the tin had cut right through the extensor tendon on his thumb. He had to have surgery to sew it back together again, and his hand is in a cast. He has broken eyes like my human does, and both of them use both hands to type, so it's really, really hard to do it with one hand. That's part of the reason he didn't write for Kara yesterday. But there's more.





They gave him very strong medication for the pain which we think blissed him out a little, but he was also due to move the last of his stuff yesterday. That went ahead, cuz his daddypeople came and helped him pack up the last of it. Do you remember last week that Kara said she knew she was moving? There's more to that story too. Yesterday was the day she moved. She's going to go and stay with Bug's daddypeople. She lived with him as a kitten, and she stays with him when Bug goes away, so it's a familiar place. Bug's family love her very, very much, and she likes it there too. But what's different this time is that she's not coming back.





Bug is moving countries. He was due to do this soon, but now thanks to his thumb, he'll be staying in family's houses until he has it treated. He decided, after long, long thought, that Kara would do better with his daddypeople. The flight to the new country takes a very long time, and she's an old cat. Even when he talked it over with my human, she agreed that she probably wouldn't cope with it. This was not an easy decision for him. He loves Kara dearly, and it took him many, many weeks to finally admit that it really was the best thing for her. So not only did Bug lose his house and his hand yesterday, but he lost his cat too. He needs a lot of well wishes right now, and he certainly has mine. Poor Bug. Me and the human hope he gets better real, real soon.





Now, it is Valentine's day today, so I'm conscious that I don't want to leave you with only bad news. The good is that I don't have to have no more stinky drugs in my food after today. Woohoo! The other good news is that I don't have so much snot in my nose any more! Now that I'm feeling a bit better, I've started thinking about the significance of today. It's supposed to be a day to share love, right? To be together? To appreciate each other? Doesn't that mean that it's the human's duty to ply me with chicken and tuna and cuddles and all the treats I can eat? I spose it also means I have to give her unlimited snuggles, but I can live with that. Now, I know a lot of you mancats already have valentines dates, but if you also could do with some tuna and snugglings, then you're more than welcome to come over! Don't worry, I'm not possessive. I won't tie you down! Hehehe, I know mancats like to be free and easy.





Right, I'm off to get things ready. I'll try my best to eat the last of this stinky drug foods so that whoever comes over won't be exposed to it. Then it's tuna all the way!

Kitten Dies Needlessly

We interrupt normal proceedings of the Tortureshell variety to bring you some very important and very upsetting news that we found yesterday. We feel that it is important and needs to be spread as wiedly as possible. We'd appreciate it if you made mention on your blogs too. The more publicity this gets, the more chance there is of something being done about it.


Warning, the story below is very upsetting. Please be aware of this before you read further.


This is the tale as written by the people of a kitten who was needlessly killed by neglegence from Delta Airlines. If you want to see a picture of her, I believe Pedda's Blog
has one of her at nine weeks old.

Kitten Dies on Delta Airlines

Hi Everyone, Last night our family experienced the worst tragedy I have ever personally experienced & I wanted to post this hoping to reach as many Sphynx cat owners & breeders as I possibly can.


We purchased an 11 week old Sphynx kitten from a breeder & her flight was scheduled to come in last night at 8:40PM on Delta Flight # 738 into BDL (Hartford). (Climate controlled cargo by Delta Dash)


We arrived at the airport at 8:15pm, camera & 2 kids in hand to pick up our long awaited new arrival. We immediately went to baggage claim where we would pick her up from her long flight from Utah.


When we arrived, we were told to go sit by the conveyors for luggage & that as soon as the plane was unloaded, they would bring our new family member out to us. We waited & waited & at 8:50 I went to the baggage claim & asked for an update. I told the woman that the kitten was a Sphynx & had no hair & that I was beginning to worry since it was only 7 degrees outside. I was told the flight had arrived on time (8:40pm), but to sit back down, that the cargo hold latch was stuck, but they were doing all they could & would bring her out as soon as they could.


I wasn't incredibly alarmed, After all, I paid $290 for her to be in a climate controlled cargo area. I figured she would be fine as long as she wasn't outdoors. At 9:30pm, they brought the carrier out to me & the woman who handed the carrier to me told me I should take her out & that the carrier was very cold. She removed the zip ties & I took the carrier to the floor & opened the door.


The kitten was ICE cold, limp, and unresponsive. I IMMEDIATELY put her into my coat, grabbed my kids by the hands & ran out of the airport to get her into my car & cranked up the heat putting all vents on her as I rubbed her trying to warm her up.


She couldn't lift or control any limbs, her breathing was labored, she had a blank stare in her eyes, and she let out a meow. As if to say help me -- please.


We rushed her to the emergency vet clinic, but to my utter devastation, on the drive, she let out a blood curdling cry & went completely limp as we frantically drove to the vet.


When we arrived, I literally ran in, and gave her to the nurse who whisked her into the back. After 10 minutes, a vet came out & told me that she that she was "DOA" and that there was nothing they could have done to save her. There was nothing I could have done to save her either.


The vet then explained to me that once a plane lands, the cargo compartment depressurizes & there is no longer climate control. She told me that she didn't stand a chance in this freezing weather sitting in the Delta Cargo hold for almost 50 minutes.


I spent the rest of the night last night crying & more or less having a nervous breakdown. She died cold, lonely & scared. Her last hour of life was spent frozen & unable to escape. I am so utterly devastated -- I cannot express to anyone how this feels. I am so sad for her, her little 11 week life lost for no reason. A tragedy that could have been prevented if the airline had valued her little promising life.


Delta didn't have much to say to me last night & I am waiting for the president of cargo to call me today, the bottom line is that they can't bring her back to me or my family, there is nothing they can say or do to make this whole. We don't want a new kitten, we fell in love with HER. She was our new child & there is nothing that can be done to bring her home to us. Snickers lost her life unnecessarily.


I just hope that by reading this, I can save someone else the devastation. If you are buying a kitten & live in a cold climate -- PLEASE RETHINK SHIPMENT WHEN IT IS BELOW 30 degrees. If you are a breeder -- PLEASE RETHINK SHIPMENT if you are shipping to an area below 30 degrees. You can put a kitten in a climate controlled cargo, but if it depressurizes -- IT IS NO LONGER CLIMATE CONTROLLED.


Please please please don't let another kitten die, be patient, let it warm up a bit. As we all know, these hairless creatures are the most loving wonderful animals, but they just don't stand a chance against a cargo area that is utterly freezing with employees who are more concerned with getting luggage to their respective owners. Value life everyone, I have just experienced something I pray no one here has too. Don't let Snickers lost life be in vain, I pray you guys read this & maybe another kittens life won't be lost to the cold & lonely Delta Cargo holds.


If you want to read the original thread that the story was posted on, please click Here

Tips for Flying with Animals

In response to reading this, the human and I thought that we should put together our thoughts on safe travel with a pet in an airline. From the start we'll admit that the human's never put a cat on a plane before, and I can't tell you what it's like cuz I've never travelled that way either. But common sense and a lot of reading have given us the insight for the below points. Bet you can't guess which ones I submitted?

Warmth

Aircrafts, however climate controlled they are, or pretend to be, still can get pretty cold. A kitten doesn't even begin to regulate its own body temperature until 4-6 weeks old, and it doesn't have total control until about 16 weeks of age. The younger the cat, the more prone to cold it is. Very old cats are also prone to feeling it more, but even a healthy cat can freeze in a short period, especially if it's used to being kept always in a house.


A PTU means that, even if we want to, we can't escape the cold, so it's important to provide us with enough cosy warmth in there. Lots of blankets are a must, and the warmer, the better. We should be able to snuggle right down and bury ourselves in it if we need to so that we're out of all draughts. Snugglesacks, sleeping bags for cats, are also very useful. For hairless cats or short-haired kittens, a sweater will also help, but do be aware that if it doesn't fit snugly, the cat may try and escape and end up tangled in it. If the airline will allow it, it's worthwhile wrapping a heat pack in layers of towel and placing it at one end of the PTU to provide extra warmth.

Food

This is a very important part of any journey. Some airlines suggest that food is removed before flying, but if you ask me, that's just wrong! Only the best, freshest tuna, the most juicey prawns and the total contents of a whole bag of treats will sustain your precious cargo long enough for it to reach the other end. The human says I have to tell you I'm joking so that you know that your cat can survive without it, but I'm not admitting that, even under torture! If I do, it means she'll know that my "I'm starving, feed me or I might just faint right this minute" lost kitten miaow doesn't indicate the dire circumstances it pretends to! The human says that it's fine for a cat to be without food for a few hours, but I don't agree. If you value your cat's sanity, then feed fish and treats. It's the only way!

Water

It's very important that your cat has water at all times. This should be provided in a bowl which attaches to the door of the PTU. This way, it can be refilled easily and won't spill over on top of them. If they are travelling in the height of summer, it might be a good idea to freeze water as ice cubes, as the cat will have fresh, cold water as the ice melts. Here it's also important to note that as well as getting too cold, cats can also over-heat. See my next point. Obviously, if it's winter and very cold, freezing the water isn't going to be such a bright idea.

Too hot to handle?

Temperatures can reach staggering proportions in some parts of the world, and this can be just as dangerous to your companion as cold can. Long-haired cats suffer the most here, unfortunately. When I went to my first show I got too hot, and that was without me being stuck in a stuffy cargo hold or left sitting in the sun for a long time. My human was able to keep me cool with ice and fanning and that sort of thing, but if you're on a plane, you won't have a handy people to cool you down. Suggest to them that they pack an ice-pack wrapped in layers of towel in with you. When you're packing though, whether it's a heat pack or a cold one, you must also make sure that the PTU is big enough to allow the kitten or cat to move away from the pack to equalise body temperature if necessary. This is super important, as without the room to do this, you could be causing the problems you're trying to avoid. Imagine lying on a block of ice for hours. You'd get far too cold!

Toys

This is an absolute must, even if you're only in a PTU for a short period of time. It's insensible and frankly insensitive of peoples to think that cats can survive in a PTU or in any area that doesn't have at least a gazillion ping pong balls in it. Sure you might be a bit squashed and pressed for space, but it's worth it to make sure that the ping pong balls make it to their new home safely. The peoples won't leave you behind, so if you have them in with you, they can't leave the balls behind either. A stuffed or rope mousey can also make for good company on the long journey, and when you get tired of conversation, he's fun for bunny-kicking.

Airline

Some airlines are more pet friendly than others. Some are dedicated only to animal transport while others treat us as no more than a noisy piece of luggage that needs to be tolerated rather than loved. I don't understand this myself, but they continue to take this attitude. Delta have many reported animal deaths every year, so unless you're flying with your peoples in the cabbin, I'd probably give that one a miss unless you're being transported at a time of the year when the weather is mild and comfortable. If at all possible, I'd make your peoples drive you there rather than flying at all, but I know that isn't always an option.


I hope some of those thoughts will help you if you are ever considering allowing your peoples to fly with you. Keep a close eye on them, friends, and make sure you're put at as little danger as possible! Today my human and I think of the family who didn't get lucky, of the kitten who was really too young to leave her mummycat and go travelling on her very own, and of the breeder who must be feeling the loss more than anyone as she knew the kitten for the longest. Let us hope that nothing like this ever happens again. If this post saves only one life, then we have made a difference. Perhaps the post on your blog will only add to the life saving that we can all accomplish together.

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!

Human Vs Cat

Friends, I feel the need to begin this post with an apology. As you are no doubt aware, i normally attempt to stay pretty philosophical and even tempered and toleratn (and all the rest of that jazz) over my human's various stupidities and lacks and general shortcomings. I have frequently said that they aren't her fault, that I mustn't judge her harshly because she has a small brain and does the best she can, that I need to remember to cut her some slack. But this morning, she did something so ridiculous that I didn't even have the capacity to be truly mad at her. I ended up laughing, which really isn't a kind thing to do, bearing in mind that, with her capacity, she's making the best that she can. That being said, what she did do, as well as displaying ape-like intelligence, is give me food for thought, and I don't mean the stinky goodness kind. Allow me to elaborate.




As I mentioned yesterday, the human has started this ritual, a very pleasant one actually, of sprinkling some yummy treats on my new blanket before she leaves for the work hunt. This has met with nothing but favour on my part, for why complain about free food, and nice food at that. Now, my motto is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but in my eight months of training, I haven't managed to get that across to the human yet. Accordingly, she decided to fix it.





When I want something badly from her, or when I simply want a snuggle when she's come in from work and decides to head straight to the litterbox room instead of to my sofa for cuddle time, I will follow her, then, when she stays still, put my two front paws up on her knee and wait. I know this melts her insides to mushies which is why I do it, cuz she can't refuse me anything after that. Regardless of whether she's on that litterbox or not, I get my own way! The human decided she wanted to encourage me to do it more, although in a, by her standards, more appropriate place and at a more appropriate time. I've mentioned my background to you previously, so you'll understand it when I say that, when I've done it, I've been a little timid about it. It was a new thing for me. In order to minimise the timidity, the human formulated a plan.





This morning, instead of simply giving me the treats, she crouched on the floor and held one in her hand just above her leg. Because she was crouched, the leg provided a flat platform kind of thing, but still, I wasn't going to climb for a treat. I waited. I've done this before, and I always manage to wait her out. It semi worked this time, cuz she lowered her hand down to me, but kept it close to her knee, so that I had to come forward a few steps to get the morsel. Oh, and how good it was! She picked up another one, and this time, her hand went a little higher so that I had to stand right up on my tippy-toes and push in against her knee to get it. The third one went right back above her leg. I wasn't jumping. I've told you, I don't work for treats. I waited, but nothing happened other than that she started to coo at me to come up. I ignored her, and instead turned my attention to the box of treats open on the floor. But friends, I hadn't even got my nose into it before she whisked that away to the heights too! I still wasn't worried at this point. I could still wait her out.





Except that I couldn't. For an eternity that lasted a full minute, my nose twitched and the treat called. So did the human. Eventually, I hopped up with my two front paws on her knee really quickly, grabbed the treat and jumped back down again. Oh, it was so good! She picked up another one, and again I waited, and again she waited, and another eternity of thirty seconds passed! Do you know how hungry and near to starvation you can get in thirty seconds? I was seeing pink mousies and everything! But the call of the treat was too strong, and up I hopped.





Ten treats later, and the human was having to tell me to get off so that she could teach me to put my paws on her for a treat. This was fun. Without knowing it (and that pains me to admit), I'd trained her to give me treats on demand, and all I had to do was put my two front paws on her leg. how simple! As she stood up from giving me the final food, she said in a self-satisfied voice, "Well, that was a good first training session." Well, it's unlike her to admit I'm training her, so I was surprised but gratified, that is, until she continued. "I'm really making headway with her." um, what? Lady, you ain't making nothing with me sept more treat time!





The concept that the human thinks she's training me when I'm actually training her is so ridiculous that, even now when I think of it hours later, I am forced to shake my head in amazement, then wipe a grin off my furry face at the very idea. Humans are so simple, bless them.





We had a repeat of the training session when she came home from the work hunt, and again she mentioned that she was doing well. In the midst of my laughter though, I began to think. To think really about reciprocal cause and effect. I put my paws on her leg because I know she likes it and that will subsequently generate a treat, so, in essence, I put my paws on her leg because I like the treats. She, on the other hand, gives me a treat because she wants my paws on her leg because she likes the feeling. So, in essence, she provides the treat in return for something she likes. What that boils down to is this. I give her something she likes in return for something I like and vice versa.





Training is all about cause and effect, in essence, you do something to get something, or you do something to receive pleasure. Even stupid Dogfaces understand this concept, so it's in-arguable really. Now, if you apply that definition to the last paragraph of what I said, well, friends, it provides a frankly terrifying conclusion. We are training each other, and what's worse, we are doing it in a mutually pleasant, mutually beneficial way.





The thought of the human having influence over me is very unsettling, and yet, that then begs another question. Should it be brought to a brutal end? Should I cease doing what she wants in order to get what I want? I tried that today, namely the waiting game, and it didn't work. So in essence, do I deprive myself of a good thing just so that I can be content that I am not being trained? There hardly seems any point. This exercise provides benefit, not hardship, whereas to refuse to participate gets me nothing but terrible deprivation. And still there is the looming, and even larger question to be answered. If I allow myself to be trained in this way, will I do so with other things? Will the human be resourceful enough to always provide me with a benefit for doing what she wants, and more importantly, will I feel that this benefit is one I do not wish to go without?





I have no answers. I need help.

Secret Paws!

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




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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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

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!

Guest Post: Christmas Kitten

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




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





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





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





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





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





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





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

Christmas Eve!

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




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





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





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





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





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





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





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





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