My Brilliance finally recognized by Catster!

Wow! I am COTD! This is so very exciting! Simon usually gets all the attention, which allows me to plan my Coup de (Puddy) tat... Thank you efurryone fur all the purretty rosies - I will make sure I remember you when I take over the world!

Love in the time of revolution,

Miou

I've Been Tagged!!!

The rules: Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Cats who are tagged need to write on their own blog about the seven things and the rules. You need to choose seven cats to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to read your blog

Okay, 7 things about me:

1) I originally thought I was a dog, until I met Simon, since I imprinted on Ziggy.

2) I act all tough by day, but at night I love to lay my ears back, close my eyes tight, and suckle on my furry leopard blankie while its on my meowmy.

3) I howl when Ziggy goes outside and I can't be with him.

4) I like locking meowmy out of the house.

5) I think Torque is a dreamy kitty!!!

6) I can use my whole forearm to skim the dogbowl and spray efurryone with water around me.

7) I fell off a balcony and broke my paw. After 4 months of being re-set and not healing, they wanted to chop it off, but meowmy said no and took me home and made it better!

I tag:

Torque
Bra'tac
Amelia
Ashley Jay
Rocky Ann
Tux
Ele

Meowmie's sad tail...

Furriends, Catsters, Cattreemen, lend me your ears!!!!!!

As we all know, this is MY diary, My forum, MY soapbox and it is all about ME. However, there comes a time in an adult kitty's life, especially a MATURE kitty, when one's goals are best furthered by handing over the "reigns", as it were. As such, I am going to give this entry over to Meowmie, because only she can fully articulate her despair over her experience today. The floor is yours, Meowmie. Have at it!

Hi everyone (efurryone, as Miou would say). Today I had one of those moments where my heart dropped as I realized that an animal rescue organization in which I had a tremendous amount of faith turned out to be just as disappointing, just as HUMAN, as all the others. I stopped by the "Thrift Store" for that group, as I wanted to learn how to make donations since a well-to-do friend of mine was doing some spring cleaning and had some valuable items to donate. I had adopted from them before, but through their satellite kennels at PetSmart. I did not realize they had an actual shelter facility.

I went in to look at it and talk to the animals, as I often do (the conversation being quite refreshing after a day with people), and I was impressed! The facility was new, clean and well-staffed. However, as I walked through the room, I heard staff members talking about how this one cat had vomited. The cat had no history of vomiting and had been otherwise healthy for the duration of its stay. She was bright, alert and responsive, eating normally and with good color. The description of the vomit was, well, a small hairball. Saliva and fur. No bile, no food, no blood. Yet they were preparing to euthanize the cat because it was "sick" and "unadoptable". The staff had already marked the chart and they were getting the vet when I walked over to stop them.

I asked them what they were doing. They told me what I just wrote. I told them, I am no vet, but that cat is FINE. No, no... you just can't tell. OH YES YOU CAN!!!!! I replied. I have been in medicine for 10 years, human and animal and that cat coughed up a hairball! Well, the staff replied, they've put down entire rooms of cats because one or two get a respiratory infection, so this is sick enough.

WHAT!???!!

My heart broke. I envisioned that room, totally empty, because of a pre-emptive mass killing. Was this Waco? Was this China and the Bird Flu? What would possess a NO-KILL SHELTER to use medicine as an excuse to massacre a room of cats? Or this cat for a hairball? A HAIRBALL!!!!

What ever happened to the Hippocratic Oath? Do no harm? I know there has to be an ethic in veterinary medicine that is comparable. Or at least similar... But to manipulate one's medical knowledge and assessment skills in order to justify the performance of population control, execution-style, is unfathomable as a practitioner.

I told them to give me the cat. If they were going to put her down, I would take her. They said they couldn't send me home with a sick cat. I told them I would happy assume the responsibility of the cat's so-called ailments. They replied, "yeah, but we're not."

After going back and forth, I paid for and adopted the cat, just to make sure they didn't euthanize her overnight while I waited for her "medical release" tomorrow.

Hopefully she made it through the night...

Ali

Dark days ahead...

The days and nights grow long atop my perch, though the compulsion to keep watch overpowers the melancholy...

What is the future of the Feline Freedom Front? While my view is limited, I am disheartened by the prospects for our future. How can we assert our dominance when we can't get our own to stop playing in the toilet? How can we deign to establish our superiority when our fastest, brightest and strongest can't figure out to go after the pointer instead of the laser dot? HOW MANY LAPS AROUND THE HOUSE DOES IT TAKE???!!!??

Simon, the wizened elder of our community, even seems enchanted by bacchanalian pursuits. Eating, sleeping, bellyrubbing, pooping... he is a ghost of his former brawny tomcat self.

Hemingway... Humph. His sickening obsession with human affection is enough to curdle the blood. In exchange for a bit of earpulling and chinrubs, he will lick, and lick, and lick, and lick... Is the human THAT dirty or does he realize that underneath that tender skin lies meat? I think the latter gives him too much credit.

Even Sarah Connor, my last hope for those who have lived a hardened life, even SHE seems to have lost touch. Actually, I don't know if she ever had touch... In a daze, she wanders the house with the presence of an lab animal that has been tested on one-too-many-times... Perhaps I should just leave her alone, to continue sleeping on her back, purr-snoring like a vehicle from the Jetsons and sticking her tongue out like Michael Jordan... but I digress.

Milla, long on tail, short on brains. If I could only harness that energy, that innate capacity for creating chaos and discord, that inherent talent for destruction, we could guarantee the success of the revolution! Yet it would come at such a steep price. Ahhh, Milla, little one, will she ever discover that the shower curtain is not a living organism? Highly doubtful.

I shan't even discuss the canine... His heart is too pure, his tongue too long...

Alas, my dysthymic diatribe is indicative of low morale. MY low morale, as the "troops" are so entranced by the hedonistic pleasures offered in the utopia created by the resident human that they do not even see the tragedy in our midst!

Perhaps the human planned this... Has she suppressed the Feline Freedom Front, subjugating even our most dedicated ambassadors, through the illusion of harmony? May our greatest ally be our demise?

This notion is even too much for me to bear... I must sleep on it.

...and snack on some tuna.


Miou

Virginia Tech Shootings

I usually focus on our evolving progress as the dominant species -- a process furthered by the self-destructive nature of humans. Unfortunately, this tendency has again reared its ugly head and the expense of some of those humans who really believed in furthering human progress through education. I just wanted to take a moment and reflect on the loss of these students and the grief that their families must be experiencing, knowing that their lives were lost in an environment we generally seek out as safe, intellectually and physically.

I hope the families remember that the education these students sought reflects well on them as people, contributing in their own way to a better world. That is not to say that those who were there for other reasons are somehow less valuable. Quite the contrary... educational institutions serve to bring people together from all walks of life, providing opportunities for so many individuals and communities. Education is a cornerstone of enlightened society -- whether it be formal or informal -- it is the pursuit of self-improvement that will help humanity prevail over tragedies like these.

Do not lose focus, humans! Do not abandon your hope to survive and improve the world, family, business, personal relationships, etc. because of the entropic acts of an individual who has bought into a destructive view of conflict resolution. While you must be brave and strong, you must keep your hearts and educational institutions open to all who need them. Too many aspects of human life have become closed out of fear... Do not let this fear prevail, do not close any doors to your fellow humans, as this is will only further the downward spiral that is taking the spirit and control away from the individuals that make humanity, well... human.

There are at least 32 people crossing the Bridge right now... may our catster and dogster angels greet them and guide them to a better place.

My thoughts and my heart are with all affected by this tragedy.

Miou

Siren's Song...

Usually our humble abode is abounds with fur and few bipeds. It is this that allows us all to conspire for the future of feline kind. Last night, however, was different. A new, large, relatively hairless human was in our midst, visiting mom from out of town. My first instinct was to attack and defend our territory but no, I used restraint and wisdom to use a different tactic: enchantment. This furless visitor is male, and it is best to lure the suspect into a false sense of security in order to learn their secrets and dispatch them when they are weak. With the bat of an eyelash, a subtle purrrrrr, a gentle rub and a shake of my sumptuous tail and he was under my powers. My spell allowed me to assess his plan... oh, he's just a friend visiting and then he'll go home. Oh, he's on vacation from medical school. Oh, he doesn't taste very good either. I guess I will let him live. Spell over. I'm going back to sleeeeep...

The Two Towers

Greetings from the Feline Freedom Front!

Construction has been completed on the highest tower in the kingdom thus far... The perches are so tall and large and I can stretch my back using the ceiling. It will be impossible to catch me off guard now! There have been a few attempts to storm the castle, as it were, by the kids - Milla and Sarah. However, their immature coup d'etat endeavors are no match for my superior wisdom and cunning. They don't realize that it is in their best interest that I occupy this lookout. I want nothing but the best for my furry compadres. However, I cannot tolerate their disruptions.

I have to admit, I stepped over the line trying to evict Simon. He is an important ally. He is just so, well, big. I felt like if the kids saw him up here, then they would be allowed and I couldn't deal with that level of insolence. So, here, publicly, I apologize to Simon.

I will continue my steadfast watch. I know it is here that I will realize the key to the kitty revolution. When it comes to me, you will all be the first to know.


Love in a time of War,

Miou-Miou

Day 1: Keeping tabs on the revolution

I suppose referring to myself as "Chairman Miou" is not quite appropriate on 2 counts: First, it should be CHAIRWOMAN. Second, I am benevolently omnipotent, not a dictator. However, it sounds pithy, so it'll hold for now.

I am lounging about, high above the kingdom, contemplating those below and trying to figure out how to best use them to further the progression of cats as the dominant life form, especially once humans kill themselves off by being stupid. It is unfortunate that one precludes the other... I have a human I wouldn't mind keeping around because she has sushi parties for me and loves to cuddle when I am in the mood. She also brings home good friends to play with and rule gently. I know that there must be some other humans out there we could co-exist with as the prevalent species... perhaps I should discuss this with them.

Simon is sleeping... surprise. Milla and Sarah are rolling about like idiots, but they are strong and will grow into little fuzzy feline Spartans. Hemingway is already strong, but his ties seem so close to the human... perhaps he will be a good liaison for our joint cause. First we'll have to work out his issues with Ziggy. Though he looks like a dog, he is really just a large, dumb cat. But he is my soulmate and I can't have a member of the feline freedom front that doesn't see his inherent value... I think it'll just take some time.

Well, enough writing. I must return to my post. If you wish to join the feline furtherance, send me a note! All cats and their good humans and dogs are welcome, and the CATSTER CONTINGENT self-selects for good humans.

Vive La Miou!

Miou-Miou