Rowr! And I Mean It!

First, my fur-family and I want to thank some of our friends for the very nice gifts and thoughts.

As you know, mom's human daughter inflicted kittens on us when she went to Japan. The kittens seem to be adapting well, they know who's the boss and give me the respect, even the awe and fear, that is due me. So, no problems with them --- so far.

But, mom has a human son who has a DOG. Not just a DOG but a PUPPY! Her name is Rhea, a far too dignified name for a canine, if you ask me. She's medium sized and hyperactive (mom says it's normal, she's a puppy. I don't remember being like that when I was a kitten - even then I had gravitas). Anyway, mom's human son had to go on a business trip this week - for a whole week! The person who usually takes care of his dog when he's gone wasn't available, so guess who got saddled with this DOG - US! I'll tell you something - they say curiosity killed the cat, well I don't know about that, but it will certainly kill this dog if she doesn't keep her nose out of my face. Even Sophie, who has as little dignity as is possible for a cat, is appalled at her.

And, oh, she has peanut butter breath!

Sophie

Hi, I know I haven't been around for a while, but mom's gotten busy. She got a personal trainer, for dog's sake, and has been losing weight and eating lots of vegetables (I don't get it, but hey, she's a human and they're hard to understand). Anyway, she's gotten concerned about Sophie, her human daughter's cat. She's staying with us for a couple of years while human daughter goes overseas. It's because, well, Sophie is FAT!!!. She isn't even a year old and she almost outweighs Emma (who's hypothyroid and on meds so it's not really her fault). So, she's asked me to find out if there are personal trainers for fat cats.

Actually, what she'll probably do is just pick up our dishes when we've finished eating instead of leaving them out so we can eat at will. I don't like that at all because I'm skinny and need to eat when I need to eat. Mom can't even give me treats now without Sophie trying to steal them.

You know, I don't care if she was the runt of the litter, she's sure not a runt now.

Today, Yucch.

It started at about 1:00 pm. I heard Emma yowling and couldn't find her anywhere. Then mom came upstairs and picked me up. Next thing you know, I was in my carrier. It didn't take very long and both Emma, in her carrier, and I, in mine, were in the car and on our way to .... the vet. Apparently, because we're considered senior citizens, we have to go every six months for checkups. I really hate the vet - mom says he's a good guy and really likes us, but he's ... the vet! The vet tech, Megan, is cool, though. She clipped my claws without even hurting me, and Emma cozied up to her and let her brush her, even though when mom tries to brush her, she runs under the bed and won't come out (she weights 20 pounds, so if she wants to stay somewhere, she will - mom says it's like trying to wrestle 20 pounds of moving, fur-covered Jell-0 - whatever Jell-O is).

Anyway, it turned out I didn't even have to be there! Someone forgot to log in my last visit, so mom was told I needed a check-up now when I really don't have to go until October! So, except for getting my nails clipped, nothing else happened, but Emma had to have blood drawn and get shots - she's still mad.

Mom did give us both salmon treats when we got home, so it wasn't all bad.

Showers

Last night Mom was taking a shower (it should be noted, this isn't unusual, she does it at least once a day). The kittens were both standing outside the shower making distressed noises and pawing at the shower curtain. They've seen their person doing this, so I didn't understand why they were upset. I explained to them that most humans do this, or else they actually fill the tub with water and sit in it. I don't get it, but apparently they enjoy it. Sometimes they even put something called bubble bath in the tub full of water. This creates a solid looking mass of white smelly stuff that they seem to find relaxing and pleasant. Once my sister Bonnie tried to walk on the bubbles and fell through into the water. It was so funny I MOLed.

The kittens, however, remain unconvinced that this is normal human behavior.

Mmm, Naps

The older I get, the more I like naps. I especially like taking naps on mom's clean clothes. She'll put a stack of clean clothes on the bed to fold and go off to do something else (like start another load of laundry) and I'll crawl into the stack - those clean clothes are warm from the dryer and they don't smell like me or mom or even Emma, so I get to get warm and cozy and make the clean clothes smell like me. Then, when mom comes back to fold them or hang them up, I make her feel guilty, which means petting and snacks. It's all good.

Back on Schedule

The kittens had a different schedule than Emma and me. Their mom has to go to work, so everything revolved around her job. Getting up at 5:00 so she can do PT and still be at her desk by 7:30 or 8:00. Then she works - sometimes 14 hours or more. She lives on base so she can go home at lunch. This means the kittens got fed at 5:30, 12:30, 6:30 and a snack just before bedtime.

When they first got mom up at 5:00 for food, I thought maybe I'd gone to heaven - food that early - and Sheba, too! They may be pests, but their mom feeds them good food, not the senior diet stuff our mom feeds us.

The problem was that, when mom gets up that early, she goes to bed early. So Emma and I were getting her up at 12:00 to feed us - which the kittens liked.

Mom didn't like this at all. Humans aren't like us, they don't take catnaps all day long, they do all their sleeping at once with, maybe, one short nap during the day. If you interrupt that sleep they get cranky!

Anyway, mom decided to rearrange the kittens' schedule. You never heard such meowing and carrying on! But, mom's the only human I know, who can be more stubborn than a cat (not more stubborn than me, but definitely more stubborn than the kittens - especially when sleep is involved).

So now the kittens are on mom's schedule. And we're getting more of their food :).

Wow!

It was so neat to be chosen for Diary of the Day! I met lots of new friends. Thank you, everyone.

The kittens are still pests. I really have to watch my food because that Sophie is a little thief. The vet says she has runt syndrome - she was the runt of the litter so she had to fight extra hard for the food and now that she doesn't have to, she still does. She's fat, too - certainly not a runt anymore. Tessa walks on top of the snake's enclosure, which makes mom a little anxious, not because they could harm each other, but because it's a bad habit for her to get into. Tessa also pulled down a roll of toilet paper and three rolls of paper towels and shredded them completely - there were paper bits everywhere.

Meanwhile, mom is trying to figure out ways to keep Sophie from getting any fatter.

Newbies

Mom has a human daughter who's in the Air Force. Human daughter has two cats (kittens really) named Sophie and Tessa. So, human daughter has just been told she's going to Japan for two years. Japan has really rigorous requirements for pets entering the country, including a six-month-long quarantine (really, how long do you need to quarantine pets entering any country!?). Then, of course, there's the flight to Japan - 18 hours give or take. Mom's daughter has decided that this is too much to inflict on her kids. So guess who's coming to stay?

Don't get me wrong, I like cats - I am one, for dog's sake. But kittens? It's been traumatic enough around here, what with Persephone going to the Rainbow Bridge (it's funny how I miss her, Emma does, too) and Mom trying to adjust to that (I think Mom liked Persephone best, but that's ok, because Mom still likes me and Emma) - but kittens? Really?

I don't want to sound like an old furt, but really, I am one. I'm going to be 17 and Emma's going to be 12. And we're going to have scatty youngsters tearing around here. Well, they'd just better stay downstairs and remember who's in charge here. And they'd better remember who's Mom is who's, that's all I have to say.