My new home!

Today I went to what they tell me is my new home. It's pretty nice. There are nice soft beds in practically every room - they belong to my new dog sister, Pico, but she lets me curl up in them. I have a cat perch of my own and my new pawrents seem pretty good - they pet me when I want attention but don't chase me around the house. And the food seems pretty good, although I really want some of what the dog calls "toothy food" and she won't share that!

Some weird things here

This is a good place, but there are a few weird things here!

Not only do the people take showers, the dog tries to get into the shower too - why would anyone WANT to get so close to water?

When I lived in a house before, I was supposed to play by grabbing and biting at arms. When I do that here, I get told "too bad" and they ignore me.

There is this weird animal in the yard here. It looks like a rabbit, it smells like a rabbit, but it's as big as me and the dog. When I tried to stalk it, it turned around and stalked ME! The dog says that's Jack-the-bunny. I don't know, bunnies are supposed to be scared of me.

There is also a weird rat-like thing that is apparently called a "chinchilla" in the basement. The dog and I aren't allowed to eat it. But apparently it doesn't really live here, it is looking for it's pawrents.

They have TV! TV is so cool! We almost never got to watch TV at the sanctuary. They even left the TV on today when they left me home alone. (Well, the rat-thing was here.)

Finally, my pawther wears these weird clothes - called a kilt - that makes it very hard to find a safe landing spot when you land on his lap. It feels good on the paws though!

Off probation!

Yesterday afternoon, we went to the vet. I don't particularly like getting in the kennel and driving because I never know if I'm going to a good place or a bad place. But once we got there, I figured we weren't anywhere too bad because the dog was completely relaxed - even more than she'd been in the car. Apparently, the way I feel compelled to mew when driving somewhere gets on her nerves, he he!

I got my rabies shot and I got my chip. [The dog was right and it doesn't hurt.] Julie says this means I'm off probation and I'm allowed out with less supervision! I was even allowed out in the front yard for a little while. (I'm really good and stay in the yard and generally come when I'm called - although sometimes I have to take my time about it to remind my pawrents that I'm not a dog and I don't have to follow their orders!) I was really good at the vet and didn't try to play rough and bite anyone like I sometimes do when I'm nervous.

Everyone said what a big beautiful cat I am! Actually, I lost weight! Earlier this year I weighted in at 24lbs - now I weight only 19.5 lbs! The vet said my teeth are really good, but I got my own bag of feline Presciption Diet T/D (what the dog calls toothy food) for treats because I've been trying to steal the dog's. It IS as yummy as it smells! Chomp, chomp!

Pants

Today, for the first time since I'd known him my pawther actually wore pants! It's much easier to jump up on pants than a kilt, but I spent most of the morning hanging out on the porch chair and he's been gone much of the afternoon and evening so I haven't really gotten to take advantage of it. He's supposed to be talking to his friend Jacob about putting in a special door for me so I can go in and out whenever I want, so I guess I can forgive him for not paying attention to me.

I'm really getting to like hanging out on the porch chair!

Exploring

Yesterday and the day before I went exploring. The backyard fence might keep the bunny and the dog in, but it's no match for a cat. The bunny says he could dig out if he wanted to but it's not worth the trouble. Whatever, I was so out of there. My pawrents were worried, I was just next door checking things out, I don't know what the problem was. The stupid dog over there is always barking at us, I had to go check out his yard. It's not like I was off miles away, although I'm not making any promises.

Yuck!

Last night, Julie said something about it was treatment day,went and got some treats and went into the bathroom. Pico was all excited as soon as she said treatment day, so I figured maybe this was like spa treatment or something. So Julie puts some treats on the counter and lets me start eating them. Then there was a yuck smell. Then Julie put the yucky smelling stuff on the back of my head! Gross! I struggled and tried to get away, but she made me stay until she squirted a whole tube of it. I ran off as soon as she let me, but the crazy dog just stayed there wagging her tail and she let Julie put the stuff on 4 different places! Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! And apparently they do this every month here!

Costumes

What is this costume thing anyway? The dog was running around in her dinosaur costume this weekend looking like an idiot. I heard a rumor that they are going to make me dress up as either the dog or Joan Bennet back from the grave. Hello, I have some dignity. I am not a dog and I am definately NOT a beauty queen, zombie or no! If I have to wear a costume, maybe the bunny will let me borrow his crown - king is much more my style!

Maine Coon

Well, my people finally figured out that I'm part Maine Coon. Hello - brown tabby, some extra long hair, I'm BIG. Sometimes people are so slow! (There's one thing Pico and I completely agree on!)

Dogs are actually good for something!

We have a bell hanging on the door to the backyard, and whenever we ring it, our staff come running to let us out. The dog already had them trained for me when I moved in! Strangely, she usually doesn't use it unless she's desperate - she waits for it to be convenient for someone to let her out. I just don't get dogs! Who cares if something is convenient for humans?

At any rate, that's really nice, but when I'm outside, I either have to wait to catch the eye of some human walking by, or walk around the outside of the house until I figure out what room they are in and mew loudly to get their attention. My pawther is really good about checking to see if I'm ready to come in yet, but he also tries to make me come in sometimes. Besides, I'm a cat, they should open the door for me whenever *I* want in!

So, one of Pico's dog friends passed on some informations about an outdoor doorbell made just for cats and dogs to ring with their paw. I made Julie find the URL for me, but I haven't managed to get her to order it, something about credit cards... Whatever! Maybe I'll do better with my pawther!

Anyway, check it out:

http://tinyurl.com/26x5ay

I need to get one soon so I can start training my pawrents!

Why I make Julie do the typing

Why do they make keyboards so cat unfriendly? I was trying to do my own typing today because Julie makes me be nice to her and the dog when she types for me.

I wanted to write some more about how much I want the cat doorbell and how specifically certain people are very slow about opening the door for me.

But I ended up with this:

^[[4~^[[6~^[[4~^[[6~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^ [[~^[[5~^[[5~^ ^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~^[[5~ ^[[5~5~]
|^[[1~^[[6~^[[6~^[[6~^[[6~^[[6~^[[6~^[[6~^[[5~^[[5 ~

Because I can't reach any of the letters without hitting one of the control keys on Julie's laptop!