BIRTHDAY THANKS #2

Oh, ah – what?! I was sleeping, Sleeper – do ya’ mind? Oh! (ahem), I’m not too good at public speaking…but here goes!

Thanks, first for all the assorted birthday wishes and the mice creem and fishes – hehehe… thanks for coming to the party, guys – that was fun!

And thanks Angels Wally & Alfie, the Bearzman, Milo, Kit Kat and family for the cool Forever Crown.

And those great birthday cards that you guys made and that Manytoes & Tundra and clan made – loved ‘em as always!

Tink and Snow, you sweethearts – how’d you know I’d be wanting a plain ol’ American hamburger after eating all that curry and dal?! Thanks!

And Tasty Tate – you make the bestest chocolate cupcakes!!!

And lovely party hat from the Angel Skids Kitty, booboo, Calie, littleboy and family – notice I didn’t lose MINE – I watch that Kringle like a hawk (oh, ‘cuse the stooped burd reference, Tabbies)

Samsara, Colette and the angels AND
Skyler, Mrs Murphy, Rusty DB, Skittles and family AND
Morticia ---- all left me hearts!

Luke, Tully Sammy & Natasha AND
Tony, Anna, Greystone, Sammy & family AND
Finney, Lacey and Angel Alex AND
Jez -----gave me ice cream – yum!!! Oh, and Jez also left me some cute little dancing smiley faces…I ate THEM, too!!! (hehe)

Nadia and Gump AND
Frankie, Grace, Casey and Leo AND
Zach and Zoe ---- sent me some watermelon (Hey – there’s BITES OUT OF ALL OF THEM!!!! Who DID that?!)

Tessa, Percy, Sawyer and Murphy gave me lemonade – ah, refreshing. Helps wash those little smiley stick legs out of my teeth!

There, I think I’m done. Sleeper says “Finally!” What – like SHE’S not long-winded…

PARTY TIME!

Check out the party at Sleeper’s Diary! The kitchen and the bar are open!

BIRTHDAY PARTY REMINDER #2 - IT'S HARLEY'S BD, TOO!

Sleeper reminded me that I should run her notice here in my diary, too - so here it is! And I'll add the part that she forgot the first time - come celebrate Harley's BD, too! (it's actually today. But then ours is actually Weds, so we're none of us having our parties on the actual days...actually.)


Tomorrow is our Birthday Party folks, at Sleeper's diary! We hope you will have a moment to stop by and say hi, and have a piece of birthday cake and maybe some curry and trout! And there's always the possibility that we can all see Tink dancing with a lampshade on her head again. That's got to be a good reason to come!

Anyway, the festivities will start around 5PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. And for those of you reading the story, we WILL be ending it TODAY - finally! Whew! Another runaway story out of control...Then we're packing our bags for India. The party is at the Maharaj's Palace - woo hoo!

BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Well, it’s finally happened – we’re hitting the big 01. That’s right – Sleeper and I are going to be one year old! And we’re holding a birthday party at Sleeper's diary this Tuesday:

You're Invited!

The setting will be at the Maharaj’s palace in Katni, India – hope everyone likes curry!

I HAVE A BOO-BOO

Well, it happened something like this: the pawrents had a book appointment to go to out of town, and left just before dawn. They got back sometime after 3PM. Sleeper was out in the cattery, yelling for them to hurry! They went inside, and...no Samhain, but the kitchen folding footstool is knocked over along with the (empty) trashcan - they emptied it before they left.
They're checking all the usual places: in the big computer box, behind the TV, in our room, in the shower stall, in the Mama's closet - no Samhain. Now the Mama is getting worried. Finally, they think to look under the Mama's desk. I'm crouched there and don't want to come out. When they get me out, it seems there's a problem either with my foot, my leg, or my hip - they aren't sure. So it's a trip to the V-E-T! Oh, NO!!!

The good news is, it was nothing serious - no broken bones or hip or spine problems. The not so good news is that it may have been Sleeper who bit my foot, because there's a puncture wound!!! Just a small one, but it's on the top of the foot, and the pawrents can't figure out how else I could have gotten it.

Oh, well - I suppose this will slow me down for a little bit, and maybe I'll stop playing so rough with my sister, who normally never bites ANYBODY! Oh, and the nice man at the vets gave me a shot, but I was very good the whole time, Mama says.

KITTEN REPORT

All kittens were present for the dinner bell when the pawrents got home, and Mama C. too. Still haven't seen Papa C. since the spaying, but he's probably just off licking his wounds - literally. He was never quite as "tame" - if you can call it that - as Mama C.

Anyway, it made our Mama feel better to see that the kittens and Mama C. were all reunited. She's being a good mother to these babies. I guess I forgive her for abandoning Sleeper and me.

KITTEN UPDATE 9-16-11

OK, no one visible yesterday, though the food was eaten. Could have been Mama or Papa C. but probably was "Uncle Bob", as the pawrents call the other younger black feral (doesn't look full grown yet) who we think "belongs" to our neighbor, but sneaks over to steal food sometimes.

Eventually we'll have to catch him or her, too, plus the 4 kittens, we guess, though the pawrents did talk to the neighbor about the spays and he sounded interested. He's complained in the past about too many cats around his house, but then he feeds them and doesn't do anything about birth control for them. He's also complained in the past about one of the blacks that he says has killed kittens. We say "Not the Papa!" as we've seen him eating side by side with the Mama AND her babies - no problems. I know that's not an ironclad guarantee that he didn't attack someone else's kittens, but still we don't believe it's him - if it is even true that it was a cat that killed the kits. There are plenty of other predators in the woods.

Mama C. did show up at 7:00 AM this morning and had a good breakfast. Our Mama, acting on faith, had set the food out and called "Mama - breakfast time!" though she didn't see her right away. She must have been waiting just out of view, though, because in the time it took our Mama to pick up the water dish to put fresh in it, she was there. The pawrents leave water out, but they always pick up any food just after dark, because of the raccoons and possums, and I should add - skunks, though so far none have ever come on the porch! They're out there, though!

About our neighbor: this is out in the country, not like the city or the suburbs. There's a lot of roaming space and farmland in all directions, plus a duck preserve, marshes and lakes only a mile away in more than one direction. Lots of wildlife - including cats. We don't really fault him for not catching and caring for every stray that wanders through his property; we certainly haven't! We DO think it's not right to encourage them to stay by feeding, and then complain that they do stay and continue to produce families (which, BTW, we have to deal with, too!) Hopefully, he'll be giving this latest development some thought, and maybe take care of a few of his "regulars".

As the Tabbies would say: OK, then.

FIRST STAGE MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

I won’t go into a blow by blow description, but it was an even better case scenario than the pawrents imagined: Mama C. is caught AND Papa C. is caught AND the kittens are still on the porch under the shelter. Thank the Cat Gods!

Do not think that this bland account reflects an easy fun-filled time. It was definitely stressful for ALL of us. And both Mama C. and Papa C. fought like banshees once they realized they were trapped in those cages. They will probably have a few bruises and scrapes from throwing themselves against the sides of the cages, but hopefully there wasn’t enough room to do too much damage. Couldn’t be helped, unfortunately. And once our Mama and Papa threw covers over the cages, they quieted down.

Because the spay clinic appt was for so early, it was necessary to take the chance last night while they were there for dinner to do the trapping. They could be gone again by morning, and then it would be necessary to wait for the next clinic a month from now. Which all translates to a long wait overnight in the trap – once again, couldn’t be helped. It’s the main reason our Mama has dragged her feet about the whole trapping scene – she couldn’t stand the thought of that uncomfortable terrorizing night in the trap.

I will say this - though the original plan was to only feed a little bit, enough to lure Mama C. in, the reality was that everyone had a very fine meal! It turns out Mama C. is such a lightweight, she kept getting the food without setting off the trap! And did I mention the kittens? They wanted to get into the cage, too. The pawrents actually caught one of them by itself, but it did a “Houdini” when they tried to transfer it to a giant cardboard box. Might as well have been trying to unload a bird into there – it flew out the top!

Oh, and the only reason they were able to get the Papa C., too, was that some neighbors loaned the pawrents a second trap. And, let me tell you that we, Sleeper and I, could tell that the Papa C. was seriously and literally pissed off! Fortunately, the pawrents were smart enough to put the cages in the greenhouse, where the Mama can hose the place down later!

And joy of joys, when our Mama went to put down the food this morning in front of the shelter, she could hear little rustling noises inside. And when she looked out the window, all four kittens were present and accounted for at the food dishes. Whew!

Now we just wait to see how the surgeries and post op go. Will post an update later.

KITTEN UPDATE

OK, so they're gone again since last evening after dinner. Mama Cat showed up for breakfast without them, and then took off again and hasn't been back all day. What next?

What the Cat?!

What is it with the CAT OF THE WEEK not ever changing now? That's just weird. We were gone for awhile, but I could swear that this Luke was COTW when we left, and there he is still! Not that he isn't a handsome devil, ya understand.