me, Me, ME!

Okay, Okay, Okay! Enough about Jasmine and Mr Karate, and Gizzy and the Lady. Let's bring this blog back to ME! You'd think I was a second class catizen around here. Sheesh! I...

... uh oh, excuse me for a minute...

Ahem. Oops. That was Gizzy telling me not to get "my whiskers in a twist" because this blog has given Jasmine a lot of attention lately. She is an Older Cat and she Rules, and she lives her too, and has been for a lot longer than me, so I have to be nice.

All right. Uh, that means I have to write about something else. Hm. Oh yeah! The Lady was working in the sewing room. She worked there all afternoon and late into the night. She worked there really late last night too. That machine in there really got a workout. The worktable is very smooth. I ran onto it to see what was happening, and I landed on this thing she was making, and the thing and I slid right off the table. After that I spent my time in the cat hammock (as you can see).

The Lady said I should show off my famous leg. See, I am holding it out so all of you who had a hand in fixing it can see how good it looks. The Lady helped with it too.

And she bought me a bag of balls today. They are red. They don't bounce too good, and they don't roll all that well either. And the Lady keeps them on the kitchen counter, not where I can play with them easily. I don't understand, because when she buys me a new toy, she always gives it to me right away.

Jasmine is fine!

I just got off the phone with the Vet...

Jasmine is fine! Her blood is perfect! No diabetes, no kidney problems, no liver problems, no adrenal problems, no thyroid problems.

There is no specific test for cancer, so we can't even be sure she has that. We could do an ultrasound, but there really isn't any reason to.

The Vet wants me to keep checking her eye and let him know if it starts to bother her, but the tumor hasn't grown since July, so that's good. He also says to keep track of her weight, and monitor her grooming and behavior.

So, aside from the tumor on her eye, she's in terrific shape for a girl her age. And now Jasmine can sing "I am not dead yet!" to her heart's content (and mine).

the Lady

Jasmine went to the V-e-t

Jasmine went to see the vet today. He shone a bright light in her eye and looked all around. She has a tumor on her cornea, and he can't do anything about it, but he said it isn't fatal. Not great, but not anywhere near "the end." She has lost .4 pound since the end of July, and her eating habits and lethargy are more indicative of her age than anything else. Jasmine hasn't neglected her grooming, and this is a good sign. But this doesn't tell us anything new, and for that he took a blood sample to check her liver function, etc., and I'll know the results tomorrow.

He thinks getting Millie was a good idea. "Puts a little spunk back in these old ones."

As for getting Millie to the vet, he has the simplest and most interesting solution of all. "Start putting her food in a box, and gradually push it towards the back. One day when she's inside eating, close it, and bring her in. Any day but Saturday. We'll work it out; we'll give her an exam and spay her at the same time. This way she won't associate being handled with you."

Until tomorrow...

-- the Lady

Check this for the whole story about Jasmine.

Sneaky on the bed

Gizzy loves to hide under the covers before the Lady makes the bed. As you know, I learn from Gizzy. Here are pictures of me hiding under the afghan on the Lady's bed. (I am confused because I keep hearing about afghan on the news. Afghan? Afghan where? What afghan? Is an afghan a person or a thing?)

Anyway...

Can you find me in these pictures? I promise you I am in every single one.

And Looky! I am near Jasmine.

updates

1. The comforter is back. It smells funny. The Lady says it smells like fabric softener, and she really hates that smell. So instead of being on the bed, it is draped over the room divider in the picturebox room. Go figure.

2. Jasmine has an appointment with the v-e-t for tomorrow.

3. I have been learning how to drink from the faucet like Gizzy.

4. Jasmine has been sleeping in all my special spots. Under the bed, on the blue blanket, in the cat hammock. She is too big (or too proud) to get under the couch, where my pink blankie is.

5. The windows are all closed. I can't smell the outside except when the Lady comes in.

6. Actually for the last week, Jasmine has pretty much been in only two places. On the Lady's bed, where she can see everything that is going on, and on the blue recliner (another of my special spots).

7. She hasn't been eating much.

8. She hasn't even tried to drink the Lady's milk in the morning.

9. The Lady says no matter what, Jasmine will be coming back home from the v-e-t afterwards. I do not understand. Where else would she go?

What's in a name?

Gizzy tells me I have to straighten something out. I didn't even know it was crooked.

The boy isn't a boy. He's a man. But I can't call him the man because some people might think he belongs to The Lady, and he does, but not that way. The Lady is his Mom. I can't call him the Son because the sun is in the sky and that would be confusing. If he did live here, I could call him the Son because everybody would know he belongs here, but he doesn't. So what am I gonna call him?

Gizzy tells me that the boy (I'm gonna use that for right now) has a special thing he loves. He has belts. A white belt, a yellow belt, an orange belt, a purple belt, a blue belt, a green belt, a red belt, two brown belts and then a special belt (he couldn't keep) and then a Black Belt. Except that now he has a Second Black Belt. WELL! I dunno about you, but I haven't seen a people that can wear that many belts at one time. I think I'll call him Mr. Belt.

... uh oh... wait a minute...

Gizzy says I can't call him that. But he thinks I should call him Mr Karate. I think I should just call him Karate, but Gizzy says No, I can't do that either, because the boy teaches the karate and the students call the teachers Mr or Mrs whatever their name is. So the boy HAS to be a Mister something. So the boy is now gonna be Mr Karate.

Gizzy LOVES Mr Karate. Mr Karate was Gizzy's person. I like Mr Karate too. Here's a funny thing. Mr Karate has longer head fur (oops, I mean hair) than the Lady.

People are SO confusing!

more crazy lady stuff

The Lady does something else very weird. She puts this thing in her mouth and moves it around. It hums. I can hear it from the other room. She never talks when she does it. She does this every day, after breakfast and before she goes to bed.

She has these two things she uses to keep her head fur nice. I like to play with them, knocking them off the counter when she takes them out. My favorite one is kinda spiky. I got that one all the way to the table room once before she came chasing after me, looking kinda spiky herself.

This whole bit about getting all wet with water to take a bath is just beyond me. I mean, it isn't necessary for me to get all wet to get clean, so what's with her?

She says she and the boy went to a Chinese House today. Then they visited a Marble Head. She claims they didn't go farther than 75 miles away, but I don't believe her. China is a lot farther away than 75 miles, and nobody with a marble head is alive.

I may have been born at night, but I wasn't born last night.

buried treasure???

I saw something very strange today. The Lady was digging in the litterbox. She was digging up all the stuff I buried. I don't understand it. I sure as heck don't want that. Why she's looking for it I'll never know.

Anyway, I've got stuff to do.

What famous pinup are you?

I am Betty Grable. I dunno who she is, but she looks lovely. She looks fun!

You are Betty Grable

The ulitmate girl next door You're the perfect girl for most guys Pretty yet approachable. Beautiful yet real.

What Famous Pinup Are You?
~~~
Jasmine is Brigitte Bardot!

You are Brigitte Bardot

Naurally sensual and beautiful You're an exotic beauty who turns heads everywhere You've got a look that's one of a kind

What Famous Pinup Are You?

oh yeah, my current favorite little toy is the tiny box of earplugs!

my favorite little toys

I have a lot of toys, but there are a few that I really love playing with. I love batting them around. Some of them make really neat noises. Can you guess which one is my current favorite?

In case you can't tell, there is a super ball, a pencil with a special grip for the Lady, who has artheritis (oops) arthritis in her hand, um, a pink mousie stuffed with nip, a pill bottle filled with popcorn kernels, a pack of earplugs, a piece of velcro tape rolled into a loop and a ping pong ball. I had an aluminum foil ball, but it got squished.

I really wanted to put a picture of Gizzy because he is my most favorite of all but the Lady says he is not a toy and besides, all these toys are little and he is big.

uh oh...

The Lady is upset with us. One of us peed on her new down comforter. She doesn't know which one. Of course, we're not telling.


Now, this annoys me on so many levels. I usually make the bed right after I get dressed in the morning, but I am coming down with a cold so I was running a little late this morning. It was warm last night, and I pushed the comforter off the bed. This morning I didn't get into the room to make the bed until after breakfast, when I discovered... the wet stinky spot. Eeew!

So which cat did this and why? I empty the litterboxes every day. Was one of the cats marking his/her territory? Jasmine is the cat that sleeps at the end of my bed. During the night she'll go someplace else, and when I wake up, Gizzy will be on the bed. Usually he'll be heat-butting me or tapping me on the neck to wake me up.

Millie wants to play. Before I fall asleep, she'll run across the bed, either chasing or being chased by Gizzy. Jasmine will hiss and chase her. Sometimes I'll toss them all out of the room. I can understand Jasmine wanting to mark her territory. I can understand Millie wanting to leave her mark. Would Gizzy do it? I don't know.

Cat bloggers, have you got any ideas or suggestions?
-- the Lady


Update from the Lady~
I am feeling more that this is Jasmine marking her territory. I found some good information on territorial marking. It also recommends a good medical checkup. Since we already know that Jasmine is not well, that will surely be my next step. And it is also not a surprise that a new item (the comforter) was marked. So I have work to do.

Growing Up

The Lady thinks I've grown. She knows I've gained weight. She thinks my body is longer, she thinks my body fits the size of my head. I dunno about that. I think that sounds really weird. I think I'm just the right size. I can fit all kinds of places the big cats can't.

Any-way, she took a bunch of pictures tonight. She got really close up with the camera. She doesn't like to take pictures of us cats with the flash because she thinks our eyes look like jewels or headlights. But taking pictures without the flash means sometimes the pictures come out fuzzy because us cats don't like to sit still. And us black and white kitties are hard to photograph because we are, well, black and white. The Lady says our black fur looks really dark and our white fur gets "blown out." I don't know what that means, either. Anyway, here's a really nice picture of me and we also updated the picture in my profile.

Of course I'm still pestering Gizzy, teasing Jasmine, jumping on the table, and letting the Lady pet me a little bit when I am eating my stinky goodness. Life is pretty good.

see ya!

Thirsty cats

Jasmine likes milk too. See her drinking out of the Lady's big glass. It's funny because this is as far as she can jam her face into that glass. She tries this every morning, but usually gets it before the milk is halfway down.

Gizzy practically gets into the bathroom sink to drink water running from the faucet. If you look closely you can see the water is dripping on his head, and then rolling down into the sink, where he drinks it as it pools near the drain.

I drink my water from the nice bowl the Lady leaves out near my food tray. And I try to get some of her milk in the morning too, but I have to do it real fast because Jasmine thinks it is all for her.

You can click on the pictures to biggify them.

Lying Pictures

If you look at the top picture, you think we are a happy cat family. But it is lying. It looks like I am near Jasmine, but the bottom picture shows I wasn't really close. She didn't know I was there. If she had known, she would have chased me off the bed, hissing and growling.

I made sure she didn't find out. Heh.

Weekend post

The Lady and her Boy and the other lady and her man and their boy will be going to the circus tomorrow night. So the computer will be off. But I decided to show you some really terrific pictures tonight that should keep you all satisfied for the whole weekend (or at least till Sunday).

I've told you Gizzy loves me. Well, here are some pictures of us together.





You may have noticed the long list of Art Museum links in the sidebar. I am an artist; my son, mother, sister and brothers are all artists in one medium or another. Art is very important in our family, and I believe it is vital to all of us. I encourage you to visit your local art museum, even if it is not listed here. Visit in person or online.

I hate the Lady

I was playing by her feet tonight. She was squeaking. She caught me and I scratched and scratched. She wanted to trim my claws. I was really really really mad. I hissed and growled at her. I ran away to hide.

I didn't want to do it. But she was hurting me. I really had to catch her to trim her claws. Since she's been getting closer to me lately, I didn't really want to do it, since I knew she'd be upset and freaked out. But I had to. So when she got close, I grabbed. OUCH! She scratched me so bad on my palms that she drew blood. I had no choice but to let her go so I could wash my hands and put some antibiotic and band aids on the scratches.

She found me, and closed the door to the sewing room. She moved some stuff around. I hid on the windowsill, behind the curtain. She was talking softly. "I'm sorry Millie, but I have to trim your claws. I promise I won't hurt you." Blah blah blah. I'm not buying it. I keep trying to make myself smaller and smaller, but she isn't going away. She touches me with that black thing covering her hand. Finally she picks me up. I'm not happy, and I try to get out, but she's got me good, "Millie, you're such a good girl..." Yeah right.

I had to put on some black gloves so I wouldn't get scratched. I trimmed her claws, telling her she was a good girl and that I wasn't going to hurt her. She didn't resist as much as I thought she would. When I was finished I carried her into the bathroom and we both got on the scale. She's gained a half a pound. I told her she was a good girl and let her go. ...but... I'm smarter than she is. I have control of the food around here. I knew she deserved a treat. So I went right into the kitchen and broke up a couple of pieces of roast beef into a small bowl.

Finally I got loose, and I ran the hell away from her. I was really really pissed. There was NO WAY I was gonna let her get close ever again. I heard her calling my name. I ignored her. But my nose couldn't ignore the smell of roast beef. She bribed me with a whole bowl of beef. Oh. Oh. Oh. She put it under the bureau. I am the only cat that can fit under the bureau.

I ate it all.

Honorary Hot(M)BC Catizens

Yay! We are happy to be honorary catizens of the House of Mostly Black Cats.

Of course, our house is the House of Black and White Cats.

Gizzy is our Alpha Cat. He's 14. He's mellow and friendly. He talks. He wants to know everything and know everybody.

Jasmine is 13. She's shy and retiring. She's an excellent hunter. She guards the Lady.

Millie is me! I'm about 6 months old, and I've lived here six weeks.

(See our handsome pictures in our sidebar, to the left)

Sitting with the Lady

Tonight Gizzy was sitting next to the Lady in her chair. I ran right up, climbed onto the arm of the chair and started to play with him. Yeah, I know the Lady was Right There. I climbed on his back. I chewed his ear. He wasn't objecting. I started to pretend to chew his head. "Millie, be nice, I don't think Gizzy likes that. He's going to bite you back." I didn't stop. Gizzy finally got up and moved away. I followed him. The Lady stayed where she was. I was feeling pretty good. She didn't try to grab me or anything. A little while later he jumped on the side table near her. I jumped on the arm of the chair and leaned against her. She didn't try to pet me, or grab me. She did look at me and smile. I stayed there for a bit. Then I ran away to play with Gizzy.

Another ordinary day

Well! You would think Gizzy gets it by now. That I love him, and that he likes me too and he knows I'm going to follow him around, and snuggle with him whenever I can. I dunno what his problem is. Tonight he actually wrestled me down, and then had the audacity to curl up and take a nap in MY SPOT on the blue blanket! I just don't understand. So when he decided to go sit on the big table in the table room, naturally I had to follow him. He sat there, teasing me by swinging his tail back and forth. He was inviting me to play, so I tagged his tail. And he got all hissy and huffy. Sheesh! You'd think I attacked him or something.

Curiosity

I dunno what this is.

But I like it.

And I want more of it.

Lots more.

Sunday Sunday

The Lady slept late. We couldn't wake her because she kicked us all out of her room during the night.

It was kinda cool today. The Lady went out for a long walk and came back with the boy. They watched the tennis (again!). They had steak, and I got some. I played. I napped. I pestered Jasmine. It was a good day.

Uh oh...

The Lady and the boy went to a concert today in Boston to see James Hunter. (She says he has great dimples.) Afterwards they went here to get dessert and she had a "Flirtini Martini." Now she's giggling and getting ready for bed. She isn't even going to watch the Ladies with the sticks, I mean the tennis. Wow! Maybe Gizzy shouldn't wake her up tomorrow morning at 6 AM.

Maybe not!

Sunny Friday

Gizzy and I watched the ladies tennis today. Together.

The boy came over. The Lady cooked them dinner. Afterward, the Lady gave me some real live dead cooked chicken. I ate it out of her hand. I could have as much as I wanted, and I wanted a lot.

The Lady is planning to learn more about H-T-M-L. She wants to do this so she can have links to all my cat blogging pals on my blog, like other kitties have. You may have noticed she added a link to Malcolm's blog where he describes finding me. Anyway, she wants to learn more, but since she is a "geek" for her hunting job, she doesn't like to do that stuff at home. She has been on vacation this week, and she didn't want to do any work stuff. Of course, she checked her work email about 26 times a day.

Beautiful Day

It was sunny and warm today. When the Lady gave me my stinky goodness this morning I purred some big strong purrs. And I meowed a little bit, trying to hurry her along when she was getting it ready. I have a tiny squeaky meow that's more like a "mew" but I'm practicing.

Later I played with Gizzy. Well, we played kinda rough because he wasn't really in the mood, but since we napped together in the cat hammock all afternoon, he obviously got over it.

This picture is me trying out the Lady's chair in the table room. I figured out how to get on the big table using it.

I added a link in my sidebar to the page in Malcolm's blog that tells about how he found me. I have had some comments asking about my "back story."

Flirting with Domesticity

(Click photos to biggify)


Here are some of the things I have learned since I joined the family here:

1. There is always food.
2. The water is always fresh.
3. There are plenty of good places to hide.
4. I can run faster than both Gizzy and Jasmine.
5. I like stinky goodness better than crunchies.
6. The Lady is pretty smart – she can find me wherever I hide.
7. Breakfast is at 6 AM. I get fed after the big cats.
8. I’m the only cat that really plays with the toys, which is fine.
9. Jasmine doesn’t like me no matter what I do.
10. The Lady will give me some of whatever she’s eating if I ask nicely.
11. If I pester Gizzy or Jasmine too much at bedtime I can get squirted.
12. The blue fleece blanket on the couch is my spot.
13. The Lady’s closet is Jasmine’s special spot and I have to stay out of it.
14. When I hear the crinkle crunch sound I know the Lady has treats for us all.
15. I do not like the Rug-Sucking Monster
16. Cheese is really really good. I love cheese.
17. When the Lady calls my name, I can find her.
18. Gizzy loves me, he just won’t admit it.
19. I am safe even if I take a nap right out in the open.
20. It’s okay if the Lady pets me sometimes.
21. I am not flirting with domesticity, no matter what the Lady thinks. I flirt with Gizzy.

My One-Month Gotcha Day Anniversary

Today is my one-month gotcha day anniversary. It's been good. I like it here. Plenty of places to nap, good food, nice windows to look out of, a good people to take care of me, a good big guy to have fun with and one big cat to avoid. Works for me.

Oh yeah, another BIG thing... no cars. I think I'm gonna celebrate by taking a nap right here on the couch.

Getting comfy

The Lady watched a lotta Tennis today. She cheered for Justine, Raffa, then Roddick, then Amelie. I think it's a lotta Tennis. In between she rooted for a Tiger. Here are Gizzy and I hanging out in the sewing room. We were having a nice nap until she scared us by jumping up and down when somebody won a good point.

Stinky goodness vs. crunchies

The big cats get crunchy food. I have been getting crunchies and stinky goodness. The last four or five days I have only been getting stinky goodness for breakfast. Yesterday, I didn't get any stinky goodness at all. I think the Lady must be trying to get me to eat only crunchies. I eat the crunchies, but I like the stinky goodness better.

This morning I didn't get any stinky goodness. I wasn't much interested in the crunchies, so I left them alone. After the Lady came back from her walk, she noticed I hadn't touched my crunchies, so she opened a packet of stinky goodness for me! Oooh! I was so hungry I practically inhaled that wonderful stinky goodness. I even let her pet me the whole time.

Now I know how to get stinky goodness when I want! Heh.

Cheese!

The Lady was gone most of the day today. She came back really late. She was helping the other lady paint something. When she came back, she ate something that smelled really good. Jasmine got close and had some, but when I tried to get some she hissed at me and I had to go away. But then she left and I went back. The Lady had cheese! Oooh! I really like cheese! I had a lot of it, and then the Lady ate the rest, but she gave me some more later.

She's watching the Tennis again. It's funny, the guys she really likes have no hair.

Jealousy

After breakfast this morning, Gizzy and I played for a little while. We actually -- play -- together a bit, without Gizzy growling. I think that’s really cool. Jasmine was watching, but she didn’t bother us.

Later, I was playing with the Lady’s toesies while she was putting the sheets on her bed. There’s a sheet that surrounds the bottom of the bed, so I can hide underneath it and nobody can see me. I was under the bed. Gizzy was on the bed, and all of a sudden, Jasmine jumped on Gizzy and started growling and biting him!! I could hear Gizzy growling back. They wrestled, rolled around and made lots of angry noises. The Lady told them to stop, but they didn’t. Then I heard a funny sound, and both big cats ran away. I came out to see what was going on. “It’s a squirt bottle, Millie. It has water in it, and I squirt the big cats when they are being very naughty.”

Well, I still wanted to play, so I went to find Gizzy. But Gizzy started acting really snarky with me, and even with the Lady. He played rough with her and started to bite. She pushed him away, and told him he was a bad boy. When he came near me, he hissed at me as if he didn’t like me. I don’t understand.

The Lady says Jasmine is jealous of me. She doesn’t want me around, and she’s worried that Gizzy and the Lady will like me better than her. So if I play with Gizzy, she gets mad at him!

The Lady ALSO says I am NOT going anywhere, no matter WHAT Jasmine thinks, and that JASMINE has to get over it. That makes me feel a little better.

I let the Lady pet me again this morning while I was eating my stinky goodness. And I have been getting a bit closer to her when I play in the picture box room. But when she sticks her hand in my direction, I back away. I remember the last time she grabbed me and I’m not going to let that happen again. Of course, if she has treats, I’ll eat them.

Friday follies

People really ARE strange. The SAME two guys with the sticks… I mean the same two guys that played tennis last night are playing AGAIN tonight. The talking heads said it was raining, but it isn’t raining here.

The Lady has been yawning all evening. You’d think she’d take a nap, but no-o-o-o, she’s in her chair with the lapbox, tippy-tapping away. She said something about a vacation. Doesn’t mean a thing to me.

Gizzy and I have been playing together. He hasn't been hissing at me as much, so we have been having a little fun. Here we are tonight on the Lady's chair.