who loves the sun

I found the sun in the corner.

newcomer

Ziva the harlot discovered a new cat in the toy chest. Can you find him?

purrs

In contrast with my basso profundo meows, my purring voice is really quite soft and high pitched, more of a breathy warble.

beauty sleep

This is how I stay so pretty.

singing for my supper

My human is a harsh taskmaster. She insists that I sing for my supper. Or in this case, breakfast. But my secret is...when she thinks I am singing for her, I am scolding her.

Shadow of the Wind

I am a literary cat. See the background, I am reading Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind...

ears

Yesterday was wonderful, my human gave me an ear cleaning. It was like an ear rubbing that made my ears perfect again. Even my crumple ear feels good.

Also, my human put a snake cage on the floor for me to watch. And she brought me up to the loft bed for naps. Purrr....

the howl of the wind

The seasons are changing and I can feel it in my arthritic cat bones... The wind makes scary noises outside, so I yell at my human until she comforts me with petting. Leaves blow past the window and I watch them with saucer-wide eyes. Also, I think Moony may be changing into some sort of autumn-moon-monster. This season suits him.

fan footed cat

One could almost take me for a real feline, but my polydactyl paws betray me as an extraterrestrial.

waterboarding

I think my human may have waterboarded me today... I'm not certain what waterboarding is, but it was full of water and terror.

My human placed me in a shallow pool of warm water and began to smear it all over me, until I could even feel it on my skin under my fur.

I yelled and yelled in my deepest voice, but she didn't care. It was an excellent, booming basso profundo if you ask me. The other cats heard it and leered at me. Mackie sat on the toilet and watched, and Ziva kept sticking her head over the basin to harass me. What a harlot.

After minutes that seemed like days, my human hauled me out of the basin and wrapped me in soft towels. I reverted back to my higher pitched yowling.

I was wet, so wet. It took hours of licking and sunbathing to make things right again.

The neighbor across the street was very kind to me. He came and asked my human if I was alright, because my cries were so loud that he could hear them across the street. He also asked if I was Siamese. He is my hero.

bean shaped lady

Today I attempted the traditional "legless" cat position, in which all (three) legs are curled underneath my body. I normally do not attempt this maneuver because I lose my balance rising up out of it.

But today I discovered an ingenious way to get my feet back under me: I flop onto my side and gently unfurl my legs into the air, freeing them from their entrapment, like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.

I'm on display

heat wave

This is what happens when I wilt in the heat.

hidden in my blanket-lair

Sometimes my human puts me on the alpha-chair. The alpha-chair is the soft black chair where the master of all creatures in the room sits. Sometimes Moony tries to claim the chair, and mastery of the room. Sometimes the honey dog nervously climbs up there. But I never do, unless my human places me there. Today while on the alpha-chair, a blanket fell on me. It was like I was shrouded from the world on my throne of mastery. And I had my treasures with me: a catnip cigar and a pouch of honeysuckle.

futuristic hat

Today my human gave me a futuristic hat called an "electrode." I think I wear it well.

sleeping bag

Lately my human and I have been camping on the floor with the honey dog. We stay warm using a sleeping bag, which I allow my human to share with me. During the day I sleep at the foot of it. But when my human enters the sleeping bag, I hobble over the the "mouth" of the bag and present myself. Her body creates a cavern in the bag, which I use to my advantage. It is a good sleep cavern.

In the mornings, I exfoliate her face with my raspy-tongue until she wakes. Oftentimes I must exfoliate her entire forehead and nose before she opens her eyes. If the honey dog assists me, she awakens faster.

honey dog and her squid

The Honey Dog has been given a rubber squid to keep her company while the human is away. She seems at a loss regarding what she should do with it. The human urges her to chew it, but she does not understand. She puzzles over its purpose. Oftentimes she only stares at it intently. Sometimes she gives it some experimental licks.

She becomes anxious when the human goes away. She has the mind of a child. I, at least, understand that the human returns.

honey dog

The Honey Dog has come to visit. Some of the cats in the house are afraid of her, but I know she's harmless. She gives me kisses on my ears.

My human has created a soft mound on the floor for us to sleep on. I sleep at the human's feet, and the Honey Dog sleeps up by her side. The soft mound is a very good creation.

still life with eggplant II

The unthinkable has happened... There exists a second eggplant likeness, using a more rotund eggplant. I am also in a recumbent position this time. I do not appear so powerful lying prone like that. Nor is it especially slimming this time.

throne cats

We are a king and queen on our throne.

high altitude

Today I visited the highest point in the world as I know it: my human's loft bed. It must be 20 feet tall! She carried me up the ladder and allowed me to lounge in the vast expanse of softness, far above the troubles of the world. I stayed there for three glorious hours.

still life with eggplant

Humans have sometimes remarked that my body is shaped like an eggplant. I'm not sure I agree, but one of my humans from the Southern homeland has created this likeness of me. I have mixed feelings. It doesn't seem like the most dignified portrayal of me, but...on the other hand it is quite slimming. Others might have chosen a more rotund eggplant for the purpose.

the vertical axis is mine

I have recently become a vertically oriented cat.

The floor is no longer my only natural habitat: I range freely from the ground to the air above! I climb my skyscraper as usual, and now I sit in my human's desk chair. Gravity is no longer my master; I have conquered it! I can scale heights of up to three feet!

so embarrassing

Today I fell down in the litterbox. I was trying to turn around inside it, but I lost my footing and went down. It was so humiliating.

gag reflex

This afternoon was glorious. My human let me sit on her lap for an hour, petting me all the while. There was one small incident...

When she began to scratch the base of my tail, I became overexcited and started to accidentally swallow her shirt sleeve. But then I gagged and everything was ok again.

When she scratches me in the good spots, I like to chew on her.

intruder!

The intruder made an appearance on the skyscraper! The very tip-top forbidden platform!

It all began when my human carried the harlot Ziva up to her bed. After receiving petting, Ziva began to moan and look for a way down. Apparently the uppermost platform of the skyscraper was the best place to jump down to.

Once on the skyscraper, she seemed conflicted. She was pleased with the vantage point it provided, yet she was anxious to be in enemy territory. And rightly so! This is my room, and Moony's!

She continued to moan, but made herself comfortable watching the scorpion scurry around in its cage in the closet. Sometimes I like to watch the scorpion too. But I don't moan as much as her.

my human is finally learning

I think my human is finally learning from my example. For the last couple of days she has been lying around, barely even leaving the room. This is how things should be.

I try to lead by example, living a life of relaxation and sleep. My human is doing especially well in the sleeping arena. The lounging is only interrupted by coughing and the preparation of some sort of fizzy medicine drink.

My influence is apparently vaster than I thought.

I have secrets.

Last night I got to the second level of my cat skyscraper all by myself. My human awoke and discovered me there. I'm not disclosing how I got up there; it's a mystery, even to my human.

new room!

I live in a new domain now. Two days ago humans started moving objects around in my old room, and it scared me. Sina put me in the living room on a cushion, so I wouldn't have to be scared anymore. I fell asleep, and when I woke up my old room didn't smell like me anymore, and everything was new and different. My smell was now emanating from the room next door!

Sina brought me into that room, and I found all my old things in there. It was very exciting! She and my friend Benji started hammering on pieces of wood, and it didn't even scare me. I slept, and demanded attention.

Moony has been a little confused, but is mostly doing well. He stares in the mirror at himself for long periods of time. I wonder what he's thinking?

horned paw

It's quite embarrassing, but I have a condition called horned paw. I have little claw-shaped calluses growing out of my pads underneath the real nails. It makes me feel very self-conscious, because I already have too many toes, too few legs, and too few ears. It's so alienating, and the other cats in the house probably laugh at me. At least my human accepts me the way I am. And Moony doesn't judge me, even though he's grouchy sometimes.

I am in the eyrie.

Sometimes my human puts me up high on the carpeted skyscraper. It is like I am an eagle surveying my domain; my heart beats faster and I feel so powerful. I turn and scratch the carpeted post until I feel satisfaction. I then curl up in the warm embrace of my own majesty. My eyelids droop and my tongue sometimes protrudes from my mouth.

When it's time to get down, I can't do it by myself. My human comes and deposits me in my natural habitat, the floor.

This morning, though, I vaulted off the skyscraper without my human's assistance. It was an act of desperation. The scary men with noise machines came into the backyard. They wear masks over their noses and mouths, and they wield long sticks with blades that shear the grass outside. There are also long tubes that blast air at leaves and create tornadoes. They point their machines at my natural habitat, the ground. Surely they mean me harm. When I saw them approach the window, I evacuated the skyscraper and thudded to the ground. I took refuge under the couch until the noise abated.

carpeted skyscrapers!

This has been a very exciting night. My human came home when the sun was setting, wearing her clothes that smell like many types of animals. But she was carrying a large carpeted structure on her back, which is not typical of her. At first it scared me, because it was so large and heavy, and she was making lots of noise trying to fit it in the door.

But then I found out it was for me and Moony! (And possibly Ziva, but I don't like to think about that.) The bottom is perfect because it has a nook that even I can crawl into. Moony likes the octagonal second tier because he can jump higher than me. There is a third tier way up high, but no one has ventured up there yet.

I never want to go up that high, it's too scary and I would fall.

a small square of tranquility

My human brought a soft green pad home and placed it on my couch. It's very cozy, but that's hardly the most remarkable thing about it.

In this small space, Moony will tolerate my existence without hissing or batting at me! It's like the old days when we used to be best friends. Today we cuddled for hours on the wonderful square.

magical water fountain

My human gave us a device called a Drinkwell. Water continually flows out of it like magic. At first it scared me, but after Moony drank from it several times with no ill effects, I tried it. The water tastes very good and fresh. It's the envy of all the other cats in the house! The imp comes and tries to drink from it stealthily, it makes me mad. Sometimes my human will catch her in the act and she runs away, abashed. That makes me so happy!

Three of the cats escaped to the outside lands today. The two grey brothers and the harlot Ziva made it through the screen door and romped in the backyard. At least Mackie and Ziva had the good sense to let my human catch them. The angry stripey one would not allow himself to be captured. He crawled under the house and then fled to the neighbor's yard. I don't understand why he would put himself in such danger. There are noises and movement and nighttime out there!

playing hard to get

I've been testing my human's dedication to me by crawling under Jeff's bed. If the human really cares about me, she moves the bed and extracts me. I pretend that I don't want to be caught, but when she collects me I feel the greatest satisfaction...

bold and brash

I am a great adventurer... During the past couple days I have ventured into the far reaches of the hallway and living room. I have scaled the cliffs of couches and struggled to surmount heights of two feet. (Sometimes Paul helps me.) I have laid on throw rugs in the open expanse of the hall and I had not been afraid (most of the time).

Sometimes I even walk around during the day.

Last night was scary though. Moony was sleeping in my den-bed, which doesn't make me angry. But when he emerged, he hissed and hit me in the face. Then he went into the corner and coughed for a while. My human was trying to make sure he was ok, so she couldn't comfort me until later, which I understand. I am as patient as I am bold.

Maybe tomorrow I will shuffle all the way to the fireplace. Who knows what the day will bring?

everyone is preparing...something for me?

Everyone has been rushing around and staying awake all night. I assume my human has realized that I need more attention during the night, and that I need her to stop sleeping at that time. All the activity must mean they're making something for me! I bet it's great!

Also, there is a pervasive smokey smell in the house. The humans must be cooking something enormous for me! They keep calling it a "jesusita." That sounds like a Mexican food, the type of thing Ziva would like.

snake TV

There is a very interesting snake on the bottom shelf of my human's closet, in prime viewing position. It moves a lot more than the other snakes, slithering laps around the tank over and over. I like to crouch there and watch it. I don't think it sees me if I stay very still and only bat at it every once and a while. Sometimes the imp comes and watches it; I don't like that.

I would like to be bald, please

It's so very hot, I'd like it if the humans sheared off my fur. It would be scary, but it would be easier to stay cool. I am moving even less than usual, maybe three times per day instead of four. That includes moving for breakfast and dinner.

Sina's absence

She went away for a while, as she does sometimes. While she was gone, there was a human storm. Lots of thunderous voices. But the humans gave me love, so it was ok.

When Sina returned, I announced my presence with loud trumpet-meows. After I was sure that she had noticed me (because she was petting me), I relaxed into soft murmuring meows.

Also, she brought something amazing with her from the place that smells like our old home... A black nylon string! At first she tried to disguise it from me, by attaching it to a laundry bag. But I soon saw its potential and removed it.

strange new toy

Sina brought home a strange new cat toy. It is like an antenna with a feathery top and it emits a giggling noise when it swings.

The overall appearance is extremely gay... I think that's why Zander likes it so. I overheard Tracy saying that Zander would decorate his own apartment with that same zebra print and flamboyant featheriness... My own taste is much more conservative. My ideal house would be a large, dark nook with softness everywhere and no one could see me.

Things have been quiet

The muppet dog is gone. The days go by without incident. Benji has come to visit quite a bit, and I have tried to give her lots of love-hives. I watch a particular fish in the glass water box, it moves around a lot.

A sinister muppet intruder

There is a black and white muppet dog in the house, and it is highly disturbing. It trots around like it owns the place with a silly happy expression, but I think there is a method to its madness. I will monitor the situation as it unfolds. My tail has been poofed up like a feather duster all evening.

Pictured: top, evaluating the situation under a chair; bottom, the intruder's anti-gravity superpowers.

Videogenic

These silly humans filmed me just going about my usual business.

I miss the girl who comes to visit

Benji hasn't come to see me for a few days, and I miss her. She pets me even though I give her hives. It's very flattering.

my friends

I like it when Jeff and Paul pet me. Sometimes Paul takes me out of my bedroom and gives me attention. It scares me at first, but then I like it. I like to go into Jeff's room and hide under his bed. I go to the far corner and let the world go by around me.

a break-out

Last night the imp and the gay cat got out through a window. I don't understand why anyone would want to go out into the scary dark. I was not involved in the rescue mission, but they were recovered. I was playing with the edge of a throw rug.

being a base 6 cat

Even though I have three legs, I have almost the correct number of toes. I have six on each paw, totaling eighteen. Sometimes the nails on the extra toes get very long, I don't like it.

Adversaries

There are some cats in the house that I don't trust. There is a small imp of a cat named Mira that tries to play with my tail, and when I flick my tail and puff it up to show my displeasure, it only seems to encourage her. She moves too fast for my liking.

The imp's mother is named Ziva. Ziva doesn't harass me, but she is very intimidating. She is a trash cat, and she's always getting into trouble. I disapprove. I'm told that I'll have to live with her for a long time, so I hope she learns to behave herself.

There are also two grey cats in the house. We don't spend time together, but they seem ok. I think the stripey one might be gay...

I love the fireplace

Sometimes when it's cold, a fire appears in the wall. I go and sit next to it.

Sometimes Moony is scary

We've known each other for a long time, but he's turning into a madman!

a very frightening experience

Today I noticed someone coming up behind me in the hallway. I was terrified, and I tried to run away but I slid on the throw rug. I haven't mentioned it on my blog before, but I have three legs. I flopped onto the rug and turned to face my assailant. But it was just Sina! She carried me to my room and I was safe again.

Excitement

Tonight lots of people came over and petted me. When they left I went to sleep.

I am lurking behind a pole. Can you see me?

My tongue got stuck in the "out" position

Some have said I am an alien

Others say I am a cylon.

A duck comes to visit

I'm looking at you

I'm not on your lap. Why??

Madness

I sleep next to Moony on the couch. Sometimes, he will forget I'm there. When he notices me again, he hisses at me. He has lost his mind...

I like my bed

I like to fall asleep in my bed and cover my face with my paws. Sometimes I fall asleep on my back with my face to the ceiling of the bed.