Mercy Me!

Diary Pick with Friends!

Mercy Me! is a diary pick today, along with my friends Lily's Pad, The Quality of Murray, and Mr. Kibbles Tales! It's a nice way to start the day, and I thank you for your pawmails, comments, and gifts!

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I think my parents came home a bit ill from all the fatty foods they ate, but Dad dropped Quincy off for his weekly treatment this morning and Mom is going to work on putting up our Christmas pages today.

So, no fatty leftovers for us, so we'll stick with our plain chicken!

Love,
Mercy

How exotic!

OMC....Mom just ran around the house saying, "Cat, cat, look, there's a cat!" Look at him, isn't he gorgeous? Mom nearly broke her neck trying to take his picture. The battery on the camera died so she had to run and grab the spare that was on the charger!

Then she noticed a not-so-exotic visitor and took his picture too!

Wonder who that cat belongs to?

Love,
Mercy

World's Coolest Dog & Cat Show Finalists!

This is the first year that Mom actually forgot that the finalists in the World's Coolest Dog & Cat Show were being announced today!

I'm a finalist in Wet Cat, Melody and I in Daredevil, Reebok and Melody in Craziest Tail, Enzo in Best Friends, and Pixie in Scaredy Cat!

A big thrill this year is that Quincy also made it in the Best Friends and Craziest Tail categories! Since Pebbles is in his Best Friends photo and Enzo's Best Friends photo, we consider her a friendly finalist too!

Thank you for your votes! Congratulations to all the finalists and their photographers and good luck to all of you!

Love,
Mercy

Liv-a-Littles! Tag!

My parents went shopping yesterday, and one of the stores they went to was the Purrsnickety Pets boutique, which is one of Mom's favorite stores! They came home with a jar of Liv-a-Littles, which are chicken protein treats. Maybe you've had them before but it was our first time, and we think they are the feline ambrosia of treats! Mom also found a fabric collar on clearance that I'll model one of these days, and they brought home this stuffed squirrel toy for Quincy that he's already bored with!

Well, guess what was going on right outside the store? A kitten adoption fair! You know what words came out of Dad's mouth, right?

You can't bring home any cats!

There were all kinds of kittens, including one that looked just like Riley and one that looked like Milo! The one kitten that really caught Mom's eye was a beautiful long-haired calico. She had tiny facial features like Sofie, but that kitten took one look at Mom and said no way did she wanna go home with her and put up with ten cats and a dog!

We finally used the Amazon gift card we won and ordered the C.E.T. dental chews, though we don't understand why they couldn't put 100 chews in the bag instead of 96. Maybe the people who package them are allowed to sample 4 of them each time!

Okay, I usually don't play the Tag game, but I was tagged by Elise and will just answer the questions. Sorry, Elise, I won't be officially tagging any friends, but they are welcome to consider themselves tagged by me if they want to!

1. What color is your collar?
I do have a fabulous multi-colored collar with a heart tag and my name on it. Some of my friends will remember it. I haven't worn it in over a year because it ate some of my fur!

2. What kind of food do you eat?
We all eat Purina One with chicken, and Purina Pro Plan canned. We've tried other foods and this is the one we all like the best. We also eat cooked, plain, boiled chicken breast.

3. What are your favorite treats?
Temptations, Kitty Kaviar and now, Liv-a-Littles!

4. Do you have a Valentine or significant other?
MOL!

5. Do you get table scraps?
Not usually. Does licking Cheetos count?

6. What is your favorite toy?
Cat toys on a stick.

7. When is your birthday?
March 1st.

8. How many times a day do you eat?
Dry food all day, canned food twice a day. Lately, Mom has been giving me extra canned food at night when no one's looking!

9. Do you have a favorite color?
No, I like purple, red, and pink!

10. Do you hope all your pals put this in their diary?
They can if they want to!

Love,
Mercy

Shopping and Stuff!

We are very honored to be the special winners in Skeezix's Halloween Purrade! Mom misses our Wizard of Oz pages but she decided to have us trot towards the Thanksgiving holiday.

For the gift card, we had a choice of Petco, Petsmart, or Amazon, so we decided on Amazon. We started looking to see what we could buy and that's when we discovered that Drinkwell has come out with a stainless steel 360 water fountain which we hadn't heard about, but we're not going to buy it. We thought that was really cool, but we just replaced our Drinkwell Platinum with the plastic 360 because it started leaking. There is also one negative comment so far about it on the Petsmart website.

I think we had Amazon on the brain because my friend TT told me earlier that they sell the C.E.T. dental chews at a great price! I know that sounds boring, compared to a nice new bed, toy or furniture, but we have lots of those and no chews, so I have a feeling that we're going to end up buying the bag of 96 chews! We haven't had them in awhile so I guess we'll be chewing like there's no tomorrow.

So last night, we had an unexpected visitor, and it was a dog! Mom took Quincy out for a walk in the dark last night and they ran into his best friend Casey, another Golden Retriever who lives in the neighborhood, walking with his parents. Since they were close to our house, she invited them over to play in our backyard.

At one point, the patio door was open with the screen door closed and Casey spotted me sitting at the door looking at him. He has two kitty siblings of his own and walked over to check me out! We were nose-to-nose at the screen door for minutes, sniffing each other out real good. He really wanted to come inside to play with me because he was wagging his tail! If Mom had the camera outside with her she would have taken a picture but she didn't.

Mom has decided she's not going to bring me back to see the vet for another blood poking for maybe a couple of months, even though the vet suggested a month. Too much poking and she's not sure for what. I don't think I mentioned that I also had a special thryoid test done the last time along with a pancreatic test, so I think I've been tested for ALOT of stuff already.

I also got this new report called Patient Trending to compare numbers from visit to visit. I could have told them that I'm very trendy! I've been taking my Pepcid in Pill Pockets and licking up Lysine. Reebok and Pebbles are sneezing a little also, so they're getting the Lysine too. Any other nosey cat who wants to see what's on Mom's finger also gets some!

Seriously, I am acting normal, and will be under Mom's watchful eyes for any changes.

Thank you very much to all our friends who have been stopping by to visit with our family and leaving us rosettes, gifts, treats, pawmails, and comments. We've not been so good lately with keeping up with all our friends because of Mom's busier schedule these days, but she still has 15 days left of vacation days to take this year, and she's taking one tomorrow for Quincy's treatment which also means she'll get to spend more time with us!

If you read this entire diary entry you are a patient friend! MOL

Love,
Mercy

Not so bad!

We got my results from my long vet visit last weekend. Without getting too technical, all of my abnormal numbers got better, including my red blood cell count. The biggest improvement was that my high BUN went from 59 to 49, so it's still high but much better.

I really didn't need that B12 shot. One of the tests they ran was for IBD, even though my vet didn't think I had it, but now it's confirmed that I don't. And, I got a special thyroid test and that's normal too.

I have the sniffles but it's not too bad because I've been eating and drinking like normal and climbing and jumping and all that cat stuff. I also like the Lysine because I lick it off of Mom's fingers just like I do hairball gel.

Mom is going to continue to give me extra feedings, which I seem to like, to make sure I don't lose anymore weight. I think she would be happy if I gained a pound. Plus, we're getting that good boiled chicken breast. The challenge is to sneak me food when no other cat is around!

I'll also continue getting the Pepcid and my vet thinks I'm showing signs of needing a teeth cleaning but Mom doesn't want me to have it done just yet because even the vet said with my numbers I'm at a higher risk for being put under anesthesia. So we'll give it some time and see how it goes when I go for another recheck in another month or so.

In the meantime, Mom thinks she's going to start brushing my teeth! OMC...who does she think I am...Rocky Ann? Wish me luck!

Okay, now onto other stuff. We had to change our email address for Catster/Dogster for the second time because our provider was bouncing their notifications on comments, gifts, group posts, etc., so we didn't get them for a few days!

Since Dad started a new job a couple of months ago, he has a different work schedule so Mom has spent more time after work taking Quincy to the dog park. Of course she brings the camera, and if you've ever read my bio, you might remember that Mom found me in a tree just outside of the dog park, so tonight she took a picture of it so it'll stay on my page somewhere to remind me where I was found! I think it's more of an overgrown shrub myself, and one that has obviously been left unpruned!

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Love,
Mercy

Angel Calvin

Calvin left a huge hole in the heart of Catsterland when he made his journey to the bridge today. His Mawmee gave him a wonderful farewell gift by staying at his side on his way to heaven to receive his overflowing heart basket, even though it was painful for her.

We will never forget you, Calvin. You also left us with an overflowing basket of fond memories, and you'll forever be missed by your family and friends. The angels are going to learn a whole new vocabularly now with all your words.

Love,
Mercy and family

I'm Saucy!

I had a vet appointment at 9:00am today. My blood and urine are being rechecked even though I still don't have a real diagnosis as to why some of my numbers are abnormal. All I've been taking is Pepcid, but this time I got a vitamin B-12 shot which is used as a blood builder for animals suffering from anemia among other things. My gums are still nice and pink!

A couple of days ago, Mom noticed that I sounded a little congested and saw me breathe a bubble out of one side of my nose. Then when I was kneading her last night while she was in bed, I sprayed some of that bubbly stuff on her face! I got examined for that as well but seems it's nothing major and I got some L-Lysine for it. There's enough for any of the other cats who may need it. I've been eating and playing normally.

Well, let me tell you. I ended up having to stay at that vet place all day today because my bladder wasn't full enough for them to get a sample. Then when they tried to take my blood pressure I would have none of it, so they had to try a few times all day after I calmed down. That's why they said I was "saucy".

Mom was not too happy about leaving me because I hadn't eaten since last night and then I'd have to stay there all day, so she let them know how she felt even though she knew it'd be best to get it over with. I think Mom was pretty "saucy" today, too!

The ladies really like my AVIOR Pet Carrier. We bought it last year after hearing how much DIEGO likes it, or maybe it's his Mom that likes it! It's nice and wide but one of my favorite features is the opening on the top where I can stick my head out and can also be petted without being able to jump out of it. I'll be adding a picture of me in it while in the car after we had just gotten home.

I saw a cat there today. She's a Tonkinese and is being boarded there until at least December because her Mom is ill and the doctor said she can't be around her due to a risk of infection. I don't know all the personal details but she was walking around all over the place and was very friendly, not "saucy" like I was!

The other thing going on at the vet place today is that they have a pumpkin decorating contest on display and Mom got to vote for her top three favorites. I'm going to try to put a picture of them on my page on the right side of my profile to show you!

My dog brother Quincy is now in remission while undergoing chemotherapy, but we're continuing with the treatment to keep him in remission for as long as possible. He keeps his diary updated weekly and we all continue to wish him well. He is a super sweet doggie brother, though the prednisone he's been taking is making him hungry all the time and he stands outside of the room where we eat and stares at us through the pet gate!

Thanks also to our pals who have been leaving us stars, rosettes, gifts, and comments!

I'll let you know the results from my tests.

Love,
Mercy

Door Delight it's Not!

Mom ordered a replacement collar for Quincy from Doctors Foster and Smith. While doing so, she saw this combination cat scratcher and bed called Door Delight that hangs on a door knob and thought it was really cute. Better yet, it was on clearance!

It arrived today and I just added a picture of me in it. It may be cute but it's made for the weight of a kitten, which I'm not, so I didn't want to stay in it for very long. It'll be better on the floor or on a chair rather than hanging!

Door Undelightful if you ask me. No wonder it was on clearance!

Love,
Mercy

The Wizard of Oz

About a month ago, I asked the beautiful QUEEN OF DIAMONDS what theme they were going to be for Halloween this year because we were thinking of the Wizard of Oz theme. Now, if Mom wasn't on vacation at the time and had all that time on her hands, I really don't think she would have even considered doing any real theme!

After Mom saw that there were actually four Oz costumes for pets we could buy, she thought about what we had at home for the rest of the characters, and spent an hour going through our stuff to see what she could piece together. I guess we have lots of stuff!

Of course I had be Dorothy, and about my ruby red slippers, they're ceramic and were already hanging on the wall next to the words, There's No Place Like Home. Of course, I'm not actually wearing them which is why they didn't move along with me and I look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa in one of my photos!

Did you know this was the 70th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz? We watched it on Netflix last weekend. Mom told Dad he needed to call us by each of our character names for the month and he thought she was nuts and told her he has enough trouble remembering the names of people he works with!

Quincy had his first chemo treatment today and he seems to be doing well. As they were leaving, Mom yelled out to us and told us to "Purr for Quincy!" Since they had a couple of hours to spare, they went out for lunch and bought the digitized version of The Wizard of Oz, so we're probably going to have to watch it again, and again, and again!

As for me, I am still undiagnosed but show no worse for wear. My vet said one internist suggested I get an endoscopy done and another one said I should have a spleen aspirate. Mom has said NO to both, based on what they know I don't have, and my vet wasn't even sure they are the right things to do either so she wants to talk to another internist. Mom is going to talk to my vet later today so they could figure something out for me. I'm still eating, playing and twitching just fine and I don't appear to have lost anymore weight but I'm sure I will be rechecked again in a few weeks. Mom has also been bringing me extra meals on the side and I've been eating them.

We haven't been very responsive to your diary/photo comments, gifts, or pawmails lately, but have been reading them and thank you very much! Sorry about that, but it's not my fault Mom has been in a mood. I think we need to take her to see that Wizard.....

Love,
Dorothy

It's a Riddle.....

"It's a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, surrounded by an enigma". That's what Dad said and you know he got that off the internet somewhere!

The results from the serum protein electrophesis test came back and while it may have ruled out some things, my vet still doesn't have a diagnosis, so she's consulting an internist again because she's not sure what to do next. I say nothing, if you ask me!

I want to thank you again for your purrs, pawmails, comments, and rosettes. Friends are the best cheerleaders!

I do have some sad news, but not about me. My dog brother Quincy was diagnosed with Lymphoma on Monday and just wrote a diary entry about it. My parents were in disbelief and have been looking pretty ugly since. He was taken to the see the vet on Saturday because he was coughing. During that visit, the vet felt his enlarged lymph nodes, and it was confirmed on Monday.

We all love our brother Quincy. He has such a gentle spirit, and we hate the thought of him being sick. We don't like seeing our parents' ugly faces either. So now, both Quincy and I have bare bellies.

On Sunday, just to cheer herself up, Mom took our Halloween pictures. She got our pages ready a few weeks ago, so we will probably change our pages this week. As usual, she was the only one laughing but I think you're gonna laugh too, and we all need to laugh!

Love,
Mystery Mercy

Results!

We got my results from the last series of blood and urine tests yesterday. It's all technical, but the good news is FeLV and FIP were ruled out. They also checked for organisms and I don't have any bacteria anywhere. When they checked my blood count again, it was actually a little bit higher, though in the low range, and the vet said I could have non regenerative anemia but they don't know why and what might be causing it.

So guess what I did today? I had an ultrasound done. And guess what they found? Nothing, except that everything looks normal. They thought that if they saw anything unusual they would take a sample but they had no reason to.

Well, that is great news but there is one more blood test I'm having done called serum protein electrophesis to look at globulin proteins since mine is high. The vet also spoke to an internist who asked if this test had been done, so I think we're on the right track.

Yesterday there was some talk about an endoscopy and bone marrow aspirate but my parents say they are gonna just leave me alone for now and aren't going to put me through any of that invasive stuff! They just don't see a critical need to.

You don't really notice my fur looking ratty in my photos, but Mom says when I walk around I look like I have fur-scales on parts of me. She also thinks I'm a magic lamp because she keeps rubbing my body looking for the red blood cell genie to come out!

Well, I guess it was good to get all that out of the way, but I think my anemia is mild and I deserve a vacation!

Thanks for purring for me....

Still plucky,
Mercy

Somewhat Abnormal!

Like so many others, we've been purring for our heart pal CALVIN! We want him to stick around for as long as he can!

Well, last Saturday, I had my physical exam and also paid them to check out my blood and urine. When we got the results back earlier this week, it showed some abnormalities.

My Globulin is high (inflammation, infection, other), my BUN is high, but my Creatinine is normal (kidneys). I am also slightly anemic (red blood count on the low side) and the protein in my urine is high. My other numbers are normal. I've also lost a couple of pounds over two years.

Before I continue, I don't want you to envision me as lethargic or not eating because I'm eating like normal. My behavior is normal, so I'm climbing cat trees, scratching the carpet, and trying to paw human food out of my parent's hands whenever I can. My potty habits are normal too, but I do look a little thinner and my fur looks kinda crappy which I've mentioned before and the reason Mom gave me the bath that she did.

But yes, all this made Mom worry, so she and Dad took me back to see the vet today so they could have a longer discussion on what all the numbers mean. They agreed to have additional tests done on my blood including a recount, and more on my urine to check out those high proteins.

I don't have pale gums. It is almost impossible for Mom to sort out my poo from the others unless she catches me in the act, so they took some manually today to send out to the lab as well. While they were at it, I got a rectal exam and that and my anal sac is fine.

I was left there for a few hours because my parents thought it would be good to go ahead and get xrays done instead of deciding to do it later. The good news is that my vet said my xrays looked wonderful. She looked at my blood vessels, heart, kidney, liver, bladder, and lungs. But, we still know something is not quite right.

I'm sorry if I'm jumping around, but it's alot of info, and we hope to know more next week when the results from these next set of tests come back so we know what we're dealing with. Some possibilities were mentioned, but I don't want to name them because we'll be worrying about things that aren't definite.

For now I'm taking 1/4 tablet of Pepcid twice a day in case there are stomach issues and it won't hurt me. It's been a piece of cake because Mom just puts it in my mouth followed by hairball gel which I love.

I was very good at the vets today. The technician who did my xrays said I was so good she was able to do them by herself. I guess that means they didn't have to put a strait jacket on me. When I came home I wasn't mad and had to clean myself and let everyone smell me. Then I hung around wide awake for awhile but now I'm ready for a nap.

I sure spent alot of my parent's money today!

Love,
Mercy

Now onto my next job!

I am done supervising all the gardening now, but I'm afraid I am very behind on what's been going on with my Catster friends.

But just when I thought I had a break, the girls had to have new pictures taken today for Fall. It's slowly starting to feel like Fall around here so we're going to get ready for it because we will be busy getting our costumes together for Halloween and it will require some work!

I've been getting some modeling tips by being a member of FooPets because now they have a fashion show you can enter and a boutique to "buy" clothes to dress your pet up. The continuous fashion show is set up in Paris and all the pets strut down the runway and you can vote. You're basically trying to earn more points so you can buy more stuff to dress up your pet rooms. It is one of the cutest and realistic looking things we have ever seen but you can't see it unless you're a member.

We have two FooPets, a cat named Derby, who is on my page, and a dog named Trixie who is on Quincy's page. Their rooms are starting to look better than ours!

Love,
Mercy

I Don't Have to Scream for Ice Cream!

All I need to do is stare to get ice cream.

I was resting in my favorite corner of the couch next to Mom when I saw Dad eating vanilla ice cream in the kitchen, so I stared at him. It worked because he walked over and handed Mom a spoon with some ice cream on it and told her to give me some before I burn a hole in his head with my staring! Mind control.

I'm done supervising the gardening out front but I haven't been back outside in the Funhouse because it's been way too hot, so I stay by the window and watch my parents suffer in the heat instead. Tomorrow, I'm going to watch them suffer in the backyard when they do some work there. I hope they finish soon because it's been ages since they've let us out in the backyard.

Mom is still on staycation but went to a company dinner tonight. Going to a company dinner during staycation is one of the last things she'd want to do, but the only reason she went was because it was to honor her friend who is also the Mom of Coco and Chloe (Enzo's and Melody's littermates), so there was some cat talk! Of course this means Mom ends up telling some people who don't already know how many cats she has, along with a dog, and they always look so surprised and want to know if we're all inside!

Hopefully I will be spending more time on Catster soon.

Love,
Mercy

Feline Funhouse Time!

I'm taking a break from supervising the landscaping to let you know that I've been hanging out in the Feline Funhouse today. I'm going to add a picture of me from a side view. Mom put a bed in it but I was too busy looking at everything around me to use it.

We first checked it out last night in the house and I dived right into it. Then my siblings had to join me on and off. Pixie must need glasses because even though there are two zippered openings, she tried to pounce on me and landed on top of the netting instead.

I recommend getting the pad for the bottom to cover the netting material. The nylon pad makes a fun sound when you slide around on it!

Another cool thing happened while I was outside. The Dog Park USA group sent me a group invite and named me Spotlight Fur of the Week. Wow, they have 20,129 members, so I can see why they have over 65 admins! Thanks to Dogster Loki for the honor!

We still have work to do outside so after I add the picture I'll have to get back to my post!

Hope you're all having a great day or evening.

Love,
Mercy

Thank You and What's New

Thank you for your many kind diary comments, pawmails and gifts due to the passing of my brother Cosmo. My parents were touched by all of them and truly appreciate your thoughtfulness. Even though the wounds never really completely heal, they are fine, and we are all fine as well.

Mom had a very busy week at work, but for a good reason. She was trying to stay focused and get alot done because she is now on staycation with us for almost two weeks. Aside from needing mental and emotional rest, my parents have some home projects planned, so our time on Caster and Dogster will be sporadic for awhile.

Speaking of home projects, my Feline Funhouse arrived over a week ago, but with Cosmo being sick and making his journey, it's still sitting in the box unopened. But, since one of the projects includes planting shrubs and flowers in the front of the house, I will get to hangout in the funhouse and supervise, so I hope to post some pictures next week.

I know we have missed alot on what our friends have been up to but we think of you no matter how busy we are.

Love,
Mercy

My Brother Cosmo is an Angel Now

Friends,

Sadly, my parents had to make the difficult decision to send my dog brother Cosmo to the bridge this morning. He had been battling a mouth tumor and other problems and they knew the time had come to end his suffering.

I know I had never written about this in my diary before now, but it was something my parents had been dealing with for a few months and only Cosmo's diary was being updated. We will all miss Cosmo. He was a gentle brother to all of us cats.

We have not been on the computer very much so we have not been checking in with our friends and may not for a little while longer, which I'm sure you will understand.

Love,
Mercy

Feline Funhouse

This morning I scooted past Mom again when she came in from the garage. I know just how to run past her before I see that leg coming through. Of course I knew the door to the yard was open so I went out and did my usual perimeter stroll before Dad came to get me. It's not that I can't go out, but I can't go out and stay out unless someone stays there with me (or us) irregardless if we have the cat-fence or not. The good thing is that I never run away from my parents.

The painter came to the house Monday night to write-up the contract for the painting of the exterior of our house which will begin on Tuesday. He sat with my parents at the kitchen table while I sat on the kitchen counter. The last time he was here was about three years ago when he painted our front door, but he looked at me and asked if I was the same cat as he had seen before. So, Mom called me over and I sat in one of the chairs to make sure all "i's" were dotted and "t's" were crossed!

Now to the Feline Funhouse thing. After the painting is done, my parents will be doing alot of replanting in the front of the house during the Labor Day week, and Mom thought that I'd probably like to hang outside with them and supervise. She had seen this enclosure before on the internet and even on some cat pages (but she can't recall which), and always thought it was a great idea, so she decided to order one for me, along with the extra pad. I say "me" for now because she isn't sure if any of my siblings would be comfortable being out in front of the house. If the enclosure was inside the house, they'd probably all be in it. Actually, probably Pixie would do fine too, so we'll see.

Feline Funhouse - Outdoor

Love,
Mercy

Painting

I spent a good part of this past weekend at the window watching my parents rip up some shrubs in the front of the house because starting next Tuesday, the 18th, we're going to have the exterior of the house painted, so they thought this would be a good time to plant some new things after the painting is finished.

Mom ended up going to the paint store twice before finding the color she and Dad were happy with after testing it on the house.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this somewhere before, but we learned about Catster because my Dad is a member of an online forum called Timezone.com, which mainly consists of men who are into wrist watches. Someone mentioned Dogster on the forum back in 2004, so after Dad told Mom about it she created dog pages. Shortly after that, Catster was born, and here we are!

Well, this past weekend, some guy on the forum mentioned a YouTube video about picking paint colors and after Dad watched it he started laughing because he said it reminded him of Mom. After Mom watched it, she also laughed, but she said the difference is she would never trust anyone to go and pick the right colors of the house for her! MOL

Here's the link to the video if you'd like to see it:

Room Colors Scene from Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream house

You know how I like strangers around the house, so you can be sure I will be supervising the painting!

Love,
Mercy

5 Fun Years on Catster!

Surprise! Look at my new Catster cake! I stayed up to wait for it and what a thrill it was to do so.

Thank you Catster HQ! What a smart idea! Thanks also to our friends for celebrating with us and for making this a fun place to be!

Happy Catster Anniversary to me, Milo, and all the other cats who celebrate their Anniversary on this day!

Love,
Tutti Frutti Mercy

Tutti Frutti!

As soon as Mom got home from work tonight, she started calling out my name. I was upstairs sleeping in the cube bed and woke up. She told me that my hat and collar from Hazel Lucy arrived today and that I needed to have my picture taken before the sun went down. She was waving the hat in the air to show me, so I came downstairs and had my picture taken!

When I first saw this hat I knew I wanted it and that it looked like it should be called Tutti Frutti and Hazel Lucy liked that idea, so that's how it got its name.

I wanted to tell you what happened yesterday. Mom and Dad were doing whatever they were doing in the house, and suddenly I heard:

"You comin' in?"

I snuck by one of them when they came in from the garage and decided it was a good time to do my usual perimeter patrol around the backyard. Dad was startled when he saw me patrolling past the patio door and that's when he opened it and asked if I was going to come back inside.

I turned around and agreed to come back in because by then I had finished making my rounds and determined that my family was safe from harm, once again!

Love,
Mercy

5YCC!

My calendar reminded me that on Thursday, August 6th, I'm going to enter the 5th Year Catster Club (5YCC) and so will Milo. It's a club I just made up when you've been a member for five years.

I'm getting a new hat from Hazel Lucy, so maybe it'll arrive in time for my anniversary!

It's been a fun five years, and I plan to stick around for a long time.

Mom went to some store called BabiesRUs today. No, she is not pregnant, but her niece is, so she went to buy gifts for her baby shower. She printed out the list from the gift registry and picked out some really cute stuff. But the one item on the list that she said she had to buy was a big 16 oz. jar of:

Butt Paste

It's for diaper rash, which I know I don't have to worry about, but I bet Samoa could think of some other ways for cats to use it, aside from my brother Reebok, whom she claims has been graced with the Big Booty Oooty gene after seeing this picture of him!

Love,
Mercy

Dear Samoa BQ

Dear Samoa BQ,

Today I read a comment in your brother Calvin's diary from Alexis Tippy *PAWS*.

She complimented him on his funny diary entries and said he should get some sort of column or show because he's just as good as that funny Seinfeld guy.

I agree Calvin is funny, but I really think YOU should write a Dear Samoa advice column where you could feature some of our questions and give us your quick and witty advice. Nothing serious.

For example, I might ask you a question like,

Would it be okay for me to use chapstick?

What do you think, SAMOA?

Love,
Mercy

Friday DDP!

I had forgotten what it was like to be a diary pick because the last time was in March of 2007! I think it took the Diary Gal some time to pick me out again from the rest of the family because after awhile we all started to look alike.

Because of your nice gifts to honor this day, I spent it sitting under some beautiful trees, wearing a stack of crowns, rose behind one ear, slurping ice cream cones, and sipping drinks just before I tossed some beach balls around! Thank you!

Thank you also for your very nice pawmails, diary comments, group announcements, and many words of encouragement to add another cat to the family. I will share the latter with my Dad so that if we ever get another cat we can blame it all on my Catster friends instead of Mom!

Have a great weekend and thanks again for making my day super!

Love,
Mercy

MOL!

Sofie was getting ready to write a diary entry when we received an email from Dad's iPhone. He's at the pet store buying food for us.

This is what his message said:

Kittens!

Two black and two white!

And no you can not have one!

He attached one photo of a white kitten with some black markings on his forehead.

So typical of Dad! I think he likes to test Mom! He must want a kitten!

I know Samoa will say she has a white kitten we can have.

Love,
Mercy

The Red Cat Society!

Last night was a fun evening because when Mom came home from work she decided to organize our things that have been in bags and cardboard boxes and put them in plastic storage containers instead.

We helped by jumping into the containers and smelling stuff that was scattered all over the floor, including toys we had never seen before, so we got to play with them!

I walked over to Mom when she started giggling and asked her what was so funny. She came across a calendar called The Red Cat Society - Keeping Life Frisky, Fun, and Fabulous! If you've never seen this calendar before, all the cats are wearing red hats and outfits that are mainly purple, just like the ladies in the The Red Hat Society.

These are some of the quotes that the funny cats say:

Fifty?...Why, that's just thirty with twenty years experience, darlin'.

Perhaps one has to be very old before one learns to be amused rather than shocked. -- Pearl S. Buck

The Four Stages of Aging: 1. Deny it. 2. Decry it. 3. Defy it. 4. Stand by it!

I don't have hot flashes. I have power surges!

"Minnowpaws" - No Whining Aloud...followed by total system meltdowns.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. -- Dr. Suess

At our age, the only jogging we need is to our memories. The cat in this one is standing in the litter box scratching her head and saying , "Now, what did I come in here for?" MOL

I believe that every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises. -- Neil Armstrong

These colors don't run! (But they do sashay)

Four Keys to Living the Red Cat Way: 1. Never miss an opportunity to tell a sister how gorgeous she looks. 2. Learn to accept compliments gracefully. 3. Master the art of therapeutic loafing. 4. When in doubt, indulge.

Red Cat Workout Tips: 1. Start the day with stretches--your mind and your body. 2. Restrict lifting to eight ounces or less. 3. Work those cheek muscles--smile often. 4. Keep motivation high--always work out with the group.

Red Cat Mottos: 1. Fear No Age. 2. Laugh a Lot. 3. Explain Nothing. 4. Deny Your Age, But Not Your Appetites. 5. Cattitude is Everything.

This may be my favorite:

Be Yourself. Everyone else is already taken.

OMC, I think I might be approaching 50 in human years. Does this mean I have to wear a red hat and purple dress?

Love,
Mercy

Do you Flehm?

Ever get a good sniff of something and make a funny face? I just added a picture of me and my flehming face after I stuck my nose under Pixie's tail.

I can think of lots of reason to flehm. Like today when I went out in the backyard and Cosmo came out behind me. He went straight to one of the new flowers that Dad planted and peed over it. I don't think that's the best way to fertilize new flowers! That was almost enough to send me back inside the house.

The smell of the litter boxes can make me flehm too. That's when I know someone is slacking on their cleaning duties.

So what about you, do you flehm and what do you like to flehm?

Love,
Mercy

Quiet 4th, Happy 5th!

We had a quiet 4th of July because our city didn't have money for it so the big cheeses voted against it this year. Lucky for us, but even when they were allowed, they were never close enough to bother us.

Since several of you have asked, we got our "catbana" from eBay. It's actually a discontinued Seaside Cabana from the American Girl doll collection! It's broken right now because Sofie accidentally knocked it down, but Dad's going to fix it so we can mess around in it!

Today is also my Dad's birthday! He's a couple of years younger than Mom. No.....she didn't rob anything!

Love,
Mercy

Happy Independence Day!

I was born in the USA, I'm independent, and I was free!

Someone had a bright idea in this heat to plant some flowers out in the backyard today. It wasn't me and it wasn't Mom. It was Dad. He said it needed some color, so they went to the garden store this morning.

We can't wait to check out the pretty stuff, but some of us will be disappointed that our beloved dirt holes will be covered up. I might have to ask Quincy and Cosmo to dig up some new ones.

As you can see, I'm not outside helping in this heat and neither is Mom, but she did go and lay the flowers out where they should be planted and will go water them when Dad's done. The hard part! Well, it wasn't our idea!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!

Love,
Mercy

Wet Cat!

I got a bath today for the very first time in my adult life! Why? Mom said that I don't allow her to brush and comb me enough and my fur was looking ratty. She also said if this bath didn't make me look better then she was going to take me to the vet to make sure everything else is okay, even though I am acting like my usual self.

I watched Mom get ready for my bath in the downstairs bathroom. She brought in towels, kitty shampoo, the camera, and then me. Dad told her to bring gloves but she told him she wouldn't need them. Mom thought it would be best to get in the enclosed tub with me instead of worrying about me trying to jump out. It was a good decision because that was exactly what I tried to do. I also cried a few times but never once did I try to scratch Mom.

I'm going to add a picture of me after my bath and then Mom and I are going out in the backyard so that I'll dry off quicker, as it's very hot here today and the air conditioner is on. Then she's going to try to brush me! We're all due for our monthly flea meds too.

Speaking of fleas, my virtual brother Derby has to be treated for fleas now! He has eight FooPets friends, not including me, so we have fun playing and taking care of each other.

Love,
Mercy

The Pleasure Dome

All this talk about Take Your Pet to Work Day depresses me. If it were allowed, Mom would take me to work with her.

Mom's office is in a suite on the 4th floor with a window view. There are five other people with offices there and they joke and call it the Pleasure Dome. Am I allowed to say that? Ooops...too late!

I could pack a bed and take naps by the window. There's room for a litter box and I could eat my meals in private! I could walk around the suite and check out everyone's offices and sprawl out on the couches in the waiting area. I could talk to people and get all kinds of attention! I don't have fleas and I won't scratch anyone.

Who can I write to about this?

Love,
Mercy

Who's Your Daddy?

Haven't you ever wondered what your Furdaddy looked like? Some of you may know but I don't remember. I'm thinking my Furdaddy was some big orange dude or a tall tabby guy.

I love my human Daddy for all that he does for me, but I have to send a big thank you to my Furdaddy for bringing me into this world. I think he and my Furmommy must have been in love and that I had lots of littermates because I sure act like I don't mind all the siblings I have now!

Happy Daddy's Day to all of your Furdaddies and human Daddies!

Love,
Mercy

A Visit to the Humane Society's Animal Community Center

It took them almost almost three months, but Mom and Dad finally went to see the Humane Society's new ANIMAL COMMUNITY CENTER!

They said the place was very cool, and they saw dogs, cats, and rabbits. The habitats are really nice glass enclosures and people who sponsored the habitats added their own touches of color-coordinated bedding and stuff.

Mom went into the community room for cats, which is a large room where some adult cats live. A couple of them gave her love-bites when she petted them. Just like home!

There were a bunch of little kittens in large kennels, and a very cute little girl named Abbie batted at Mom's face through the kennel. Mom said she practiced restraint and never asked to take the kittens out to play with them. There was also a gray and white kitten by herself and a volunteer told Mom that "She really wants to be adopted!" MOL

I also heard that Mom told Dad that she wouldn't mind adopting another dog! OMC, I think she was serious!

I think we're all glad they came home with nothing but full stomachs, since they went out for dinner afterwards.

Love,
Mercy

Cheetos and Strawberry Shortcake!

I waited patiently for a taste of the Cheetos that Mom was eating earlier today. When I realized she wasn't offering me any, I used my paw and pulled her arm towards me so she gave in and let me lick the cheese off of one. Geesh, that's all I wanted!

You're probably wondering if she ate the Cheeto after I licked it or not. I'll never tell.

Just now, I had strawberry shortcake. Okay, I got to lick some of the cream, but it was yummy! I'm the only cat who got to do that.

It's the weekend, so it's okay to not worry about calories. That's my excuse!

Love,
Mercy

Whatever, whatever

I was reading how there's supposed to be a pecking order in a multiple cat household. You might think that since I'm the oldest I must be the Queen, but I think I'm more like the Queen of Whatever!

Want to add a new kitty to the family? Hiss. Okay, whatever!

Want me to sit and have my picture taken wearing clothes? Okay, whatever... just hurry up! Actually, we had our most recent photo shoot for Father's Day yesterday morning, and Mom says we all sat for photos extremely well. As long as I don't have to wear any fancy pants, I'm good.

I ran out the door to the garage again this morning. Dad was bringing the dogs back from a walk and I ran right between Cosmo's legs! Of course, I'm a comedian, so Dad knew I was just going to go around the back to the patio door so he just went in the house to open it so I could come back in. Whatever.

That made Mom think that I'd like to go to the Farmer's Market down the street today. I gave her that whatever look so off I went in the backpack carrier. I don't have a stroller, but since it's an airline carrier I guess you can say I pretended I was going flying. I was very quiet the entire time but I did get noticed by people, so I want to go again!

Whatever, whatever.....

Love,
Mercy

P.S. I also want to shout-out a big THANK YOU from our entire kitty family to our anonymous treat giver!

Memorial Day

I hope you're enjoying Memorial Day. At 3:00pm local time, we'll be observing the National Moment of Remembrance, where we'll pause from whatever we're doing for a moment of silence to reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to our country.

I just finished watching Mom through the window while she used the big hedge trimmer at the front of the house. The window was open and I told her to hurry up because we wanted to go outside. Pebbles was walking around the house with her toy banana crying, and Pixie was screaming too.

Dad took the dogs for a walk and told Mom before he left to remember not to cut the cord on the trimmer. Yes, she did that once when she got a little too hedge-happy. MOL

This means the garage door to the outside was open and you know what I did when Mom came in the house, right? I made a mad dash out to the garage but I didn't even notice the garage door was open and headed out the side door to the backyard instead.

My virtual brother Derby has two more FooPets friends now. TEEBO adopted Emmet. The description for Emmet is that he is a big strong cat, but loves to snuggle with you and purr. DAISY just adopted a little Daisy, and her description is that she was freed from a sad situation, seems delicate and may be lovable to you. Derby's description is that he is ready to please and wants to be loved, though I make him hiss once in awhile when I scratch the base of his tail the wrong way!

Seems like they need to make improvements on making it easier to become friends with another pet, but the easiest way we know of so far is that if you register and adopt a pet and come over here and feed or water Derby, it will log that action on our account, so we'll be able to find you that way and send you a friend request if you'd like to be friends with Derby!

The cats in the adoption shelter get adopted pretty quickly, so you have to keep checking back.

Fooed-out,
Mercy

Talking in my sleep!

We have a couple of beds on the couch in the family room and I always like to sleep on one of them whenever Mom or Dad are sitting there watching TV.

I was sleeping next to Mom tonight while she was watching So You Think You Can Dance. When I heard her giggle at some of the comments the judges made during auditions, I meowed with my eyes completely closed. There was this one performance that was pretty bad so I growled. I knew it was bad, even in my sleep! Or maybe it was the ice cream I shouldn't have eaten before I went to sleep! MOL

My virtual brother Derby has a friend now. His name is Freddie, and his Catster brother is my friend MAUS who has him on his page. He is super adorable and I saw some new kittens up for adoption at the shelter. Now Maus and I can help each other take care of our virtual brothers!

I also figured out how to make Derby knead and roll over...well, most of the time anyway. When he's awake and lying down, I can usually get him to roll over by clicking on his left paw a few times. Also, sometimes when he comes right up to the screen looking for attention, I can click on the top of his head and he starts kneading!

I know, I sound FooCrazy, but I'm trying hard to be a good virtual sister!

Love,
Mercy

Derby is in the Garden of Eden

I had to provide Derby with a garden. Why? Because I saw him walk over to the toy block that I bought for him and pee. Then he tried to cover it up!

I shopped all over the website for a litter box and they don't sell one--can you believe that? So, I had to spend some FooDollars so he could have his own Garden of Eden, and that's where he is now!

Derby is going to make sure I continue to take good care of him even if I break my FooBank.

Thanks to a new ARG for the Georgie Pordgie rosette! I just reported it to Samoa's Detective Agency and it looks like others received one too.

Love,
Mercy

Introducing Derby, my virtual brother!

My friend TIGGER introduced me to FooPets.

I don't know why I did it but I adopted a kitty brother and named him Derby. Oh brother!

I decided to let him live on my page so that I can remember to feed, water, and play with him daily. When I don't, I get email telling me he is being neglected! And if he's neglected for a long period of time, he gets sent back to the shelter for proper care! That's enough to make a cat feel really guilty.

I'm new at this. I have to earn FooKarma so I can get more FooDollars to take care of him. I can change his room scene and buy him stuff too. I already bought him a couple of things.

Derby is cute though, I have to admit. He loves to eat, drink, and play with his mousie. He also likes it when you tickle him with the computer mouse. I'm told he's supposed to change over time but I have no idea what amount of time that is! He sleeps too.

We'll see how it works out. If he takes up too much CPU on my page I'll be sending him back to the website and let Mom take care of him there!

Love,
Mercy

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all Catster Moms!

Our moms sure show us how much they love us, don't they? As I look around at all of your photos and diaries, I know it's true. They are so proud to be our moms and have so much fun sharing our lives. We are a lucky bunch!

My mom doesn't feel that having ten of us (plus two dogs and a husband) is stressful--at all. She never wants to go on any real vacation because her favorite vacation time off is with her family. And she'd rather skip having lunch with work friends so she can come home every day to see us, and we like that too!

Dad is taking mom to this quaint town tomorrow for tea. I would starve just drinking tea. Sounds like she should borrow my derby hat too!

The Pawsome Pages group is celebrating their 2nd anniversary! PJ also created a cool little "blinkie" which can be customized and I've added one to my page.

Enjoy your day with your Moms! Try to be good to them, though they'll still love you even if you're bad!

Love,
Mercy

Super Sunday!

Dad cleaned our carpet today. Super! Now it'll be clean when we dig our claws into it!

We hung out in front of some open windows today. Super! Even Sofie hung out with me and that is really super because it is so rare that Mom's eyes opened wide and she got excited. You know that Milo was Sofie's best friend and since he's gone she hasn't really attached herself to any one of us. Super-duper!

I gave myself permission to go out in the backyard today...again! That was Super-duperest! Mom was getting ready to take us out and went in the garage to put something away first. I was ready to make my mad dash out the door as soon as she came back in and succeeded. The door from the garage to the backyard is usually open when Mom and Dad are home because it gets warm in the garage with the cars parked in it, but we're typically let out through the patio door. I just thought I'd get a head start!

Hope you all have a Super week!

Love,
Mercy

Ready for the Kentucky Derby!

Mom came home from work and put together a hat for me so that I can go to the Kentucky Derby for the first time this year. We went outside to take pictures so that my siblings wouldn't try to eat my hat!

Whew! Modeling can be a tough job.

Love,
Mercy

My World Rocks

The earth must've been a little stressed around here today because I just felt it move! I thought we were pretty good at shaking up the house ourselves but this one had us beat because it had a magnitude of 3.6 and was about 9 miles away. Nothing got broken though.

It was exactly a month ago when I felt the last one. It had a higher magnitude but was further away. This is enough for awhile. I don't want any more!

I asked Mom why I don't have a hat for Derby Day. She thought about it and said she thinks she has one in the drawer that will work and if she has time to fix it up I may get to wear it. If not, there's always next year. At least I get to join the Pink Out stroll.

Mom also wanted me to tell you that if, and she said if, we ever adopted another boy kitty she'd probably name him Derby! She thinks that would be a great name.

Thank you to my secret treat giver(s) who have been keeping my treat jar full!!

Love,
Mercy

Family Affairs

Mom attended two family events today. The first one was a co-ed baby shower but Dad didn't go to that because they didn't want to leave us alone in the house for so long. Mom said we weren't forgotten because several family members asked how we were doing.

Dad met Mom and the family later to attend the First Communion for the son of one of Mom's nieces, who is also their godchild. They told me the man in the robe who did most of the talking was looking for me because he said my name several times! The choir sang my name too!

The part I liked about the communion was that the little girls wore cute veils. But I heard there was a young boy who walked up and down the aisle with a huge smile on his face while he was throwing water at everyone. Dad got his face wet, and he was standing up, so I don't think I would have enjoyed that part. Then there was bread, juice and dinner at a restaurant afterwards.

That's alot for one day and most of the night. I'll stick to being a cat!

Love,
Mercy

Earth, Wind, & Fire!

I think I'm getting used to the fact that the earth shakes because we had another earthquake yesterday, but it was hardly noticeable.

Monday was also Spare the Air Day. We had record setting temperatures and the air quality was considered unhealthy. I'm sure glad I was inside an air conditioned house! Hot, dry weather can lead to wildfires too, and nobody needs those.

Coincidentally, Earth, Wind, & Fire, the popular funk band of the '70s, and Chicago, the rock band, will be playing together in concert in our city in July! They're coming to the right place because Mom is likes EW&F and Dad likes Chicago, so they're going to see about getting tickets.

Love,
Mercy

Rest in Peace, Kashmere

We are shocked and saddened to learn that our beautiful friend KASHMERE suddenly passed away this evening. It was just four months ago that her baby brother Picasso went to the bridge.

Kashy was the only girl in the family and was going to celebrate her 8th birthday next month. Today was also her brother Cocoa's birthday.

Rest in peace, Kashy, we will miss you. Our love and thoughts are with you and your family.

Love,
Mercy and family

My Saturday

It's almost 80 degrees here and tomorrow it's supposed to be close to the 90's!

I modeled a hippie outfit today that Mom bought for me a few months ago. I'll be adding a picture of it to my page after I finish writing. The blouse had openings for arms but that sure didn't work out for me. Then, there's that headband which I shook off my head a few times because it reminded me of the headband that doctor's wear!

Have a fun weekend!

Love,
Mercy

Mom and Dad's 20th Wedding Anniversary

Today is Mom and Dad's 20th wedding anniversary. Thanks ROCKY ANN for mentioning this in your diary! I've been hearing that in this day and age, 20 years is a long time.

Tonight they exchanged gifts. Mom picked out a manly looking bag for Dad but when she saw the bag that Dad picked out for her she had to laugh. I just added a picture of what was printed on the bag to the right side of my profile. You may have seen it before, but I thought it was appropriate for my page!

Well, we're sure glad they're our parents because they have a sense of humor and we have a home!

Love,
Mercy

Bacon, ham, eggs, and the Bacon Queen's Birthday!

I hope everyone has been enjoying Easter!

I had a little bit of bacon, ham, and eggs for breakfast. If I don't get any people food when I want it, I use my paw and grab Mom's or Dad's arm and pull it towards me. Sometimes I win and sometimes I lose! Today I won, along with Pixie and Enzo. The rest of the gang were sleeping or just weren't interested.

Speaking of bacon, my bacon-loving friend DAISY is celebrating her 4th birthday tomorrow! She's the Queen of Bacon, though I've never been there, and her Mom promised her that she would make her some bacon tomorrow. She looks like she's ready! Happy 4th Birthday, Daisy!

We had beautiful weather today, so alot of windows were opened for us which we loved. We got to go out in the backyard as well and heard alot of birdies singing! They're building nests around the house like they do every year and what they're dropping on our patio on the way to their nests looks almost like wads of pet hair!

The photo-taking fool carried the camera with her almost everywhere she went around the house like she does just about every day. She says she doesn't want to miss those special moments but somehow she still misses some anyway. I think she should just have a camera built into her eyes so can take a picture with a blink, though that means she'd be blinking a whole lot!

Have a great week!

Love,
Mercy

A Package from a Bunch of Bunnies!

We received a package today from a bunch of bunnies, otherwise known as soon-to-be birthday boy COCOA and his family! Since it was addressed to Mercy and Co., of course I had to have my picture taken with everything first. We had to hurry before the rest of the gang took off with the toys!

Everything came perfectly packaged inside a cute Easter bag. There was a sweet card, very pretty catnip pillow that Cocoa's mommy made, pink bunny ornament, jelly beans, big pink lamb, and a white mousie which I'm sure Picasso made sure was included!

Thanks, Cocoa and family, we're going to have lots of fun!

Love,
Mercy

Intruders!

We had an earthquake here a couple of days ago. It measured 4.3. Seriously, we consider that mild. No one was home with us when it happened but we naturally know where to run when an earthquake dares to invade our territory!

We also have a black and white cat hanging around our house, just like DIEGO does, but we don't think it's a stray. He wears a blue collar and doesn't look hungry, so I don't think we'll be giving him a name or leaving food out for him!

This cat walks along our back fence and sometimes stops and has a staring match with us. He doesn't try to jump into our yard because of the way our cat fence-in is designed. Mom took pictures of him but for some weird reason she can't view the photos. She tried to take some of him again on a different day but by the time she grabbed the camera she only got him from behind and he was kinda far away. I'm sure he'll be back!

Now watch Samoa go and leave me a Voki message with some black and white cat. MOL

Love,
Mercy

New Place for Animals!

Dad told Mom about a new place our local Humane Society built, called the ANIMAL COMMUNITY CENTER.

Now, why did he go and tell her that?

They had a grand opening today but Mom and Dad didn't go. Personally, I think they should have gone because there aren't any animals there yet!

Mom asked Dad if he wanted to go see the place sometime and he said he did, but not because he wanted to bring any animals home. Sounds like they're playing mind games again.

The place looks super cool and is built on 4.8 acres. Any place is cool that helps animals, but I don't need any more brothers or sisters!

Love,
Mercy

New Fish in the Sea!

When we received a friend request from FISHER and saw his photo, we knew right away which family he belonged to. We'd recognize that bowl anywhere! This is one family who makes ours seem really small!

Now that the weather is warmer, we're seeing more bugs around now. You can tell when there's a bug crawling on the floor in the house because that's when you see us doing the huddle! We be buggin' Mom every day to go outside, too!

Dad is afraid to take us outside because he worries that he won't be able to get us back in. The only thing that used to keep Mom from taking us outside, other than rain, were June beetles. They creeped her out more than anything! But, she doesn't worry about them anymore now that we have artificial grass. Yes, that's why it always looks so green! MOL!

They got tired of the dogs ripping up the lawn and having to repair it over and over again, even though we loved the holes they made. Over time the dogs still tear up some of the groundcover, so we can still get nice and dirty!

We're always getting photographed, indoors and outdoors, and I remember when we had space for 50 photos on our pages and it didn't seem like enough. Now that we have 100, it's not enough either! *sigh*

I love Spring!

Love,
Mercy

New Eyeballs!

Dad had his eye surgery and is sleeping now. They've been home for over an hour but we were beggin' to go outside so that's what we did!

Mom got to watch the procedure through a window and they had a TV monitor too. It was pretty quick but her knees got weak a few times.

The place was called Furlong vision correction medical center and Tiger Woods got his eyes done at one of their centers so you know it must be okay! It was also across from eBay headquarters.

We thought Dad was gonna come home looking like a pirate with an eyepatch but it's a clear plastic patch. Mom told us they brought something back for us. Guess what it is?

An eyeball toy! Even Dad said it was a perfect ball for us and too small for the dogs. I just wanted you to know so that when you see a picture of it you'll understand where it came from. MOL

Love,
Mercy

Happy Spring!

Happy first day of Spring!

I decided to count how many times I kneaded Mom's shoulder last night with each paw without pausing, and the total came to 117. That may look like a big number, but I'm sure other kneaders out there can beat that. It sure helps me go to sleep every night!

Mom and Dad are both home today because Dad is having corrective surgery done on one eye, by choice. It's actually called Conductive Keratoplasty (CK), but don't ask me to say it three times fast! Mom has to play chauffeur.

Everything should go fine and when they're done, we expect Dad to feel like his old eye is young again. I wonder if I'll look younger to him too?

Love,
Mercy

About that White Cat

Mom exchanged emails with a lady at work about the white cat and the lady told that she had captured him about a week and a half ago!

She got him neutered, groomed, shots, de-wormed, etc. She also said that he wasn't feral and had either been beaten or been out and away from people for a long time.

The one bit of sad news is that he's FIV positive, but she said that she's placed a positive cat before so if she can get him to be less shy, she has hopes of finding him a home too.

Of course when she went on to explain that she couldn't keep him because she had too many cats, Mom mentioned how many she had. She was happy to meet another animal lover but she still didn't say how many were in her house!

As soon as the lady can get a picture of him she'll be sending it to Mom.

Love,
Mercy

Visions of White Dancing in their Heads

Dad said The Unicorn song that's on my music playlist is stuck to his head. He was talking to a guy at work about sports and instead of saying uniform he almost said unicorn! I hope his head doesn't hurt.

Mom hasn't seen the white cat at all this past week, but she really didn't have time to look very hard either. She took a peek around the dumpsters today but didn't see him and didn't see him around the cafeteria, though someone said they saw him on Monday. It can be noisy where the dumpsters are because they're at the loading dock so alot of trucks drive in and out. Not only that, the path she saw him take between the cafeteria and the loading dock is partially blocked off right now because trees are being trimmed.

Several people brought cat food to work, including Mom. Coco and Chloe's mom even bought a new feeder for the white cat. They don't think the guy who said he was getting a trap actually did. Also, they heard he was thinking of taking the cat to the Humane Society and Mom personally feels he is currently better off where he is, if he's still around, unless someone wants to take him home. Yes, they've thought about the TNR program too, but they can't really have outsiders go there without being accompanied the entire time.

Anyway, there are a couple of people Mom knows of who have traps and who have helped strays there before, but they are away on business trips, so when they return Mom will chat with them.

Okay, now you're gonna laugh. Mom had a dream about the white cat last night. In the dream he was in the background but he had a Persian wife with.........kittens! MOL! In the dream, she was talking with people who were feeding and caring for all of them. That's all she remembers!

Seriously, I think she had the dream because white cats keeps showing up on my Voki and leave subliminal messages!

Love,
Mercy

White Cat!

Around our house, the largest animal you'll ever see is a dog, but just 8 miles down the road to where Mom works, the facility is surrounded by mountains and fields, and there are also cows, boars, deer, and coyotes in the area.

Unfortunately, mean people sometimes dump cats around there. Fortunately, if they make their way inside the gated facility, there are enough animal-loving people who will watch out for them. It's not unusual for Mom to hear about a kitty that was found via an e-mail with pictures.

A couple of days ago when Mom was headed home to see us during lunchtime, someone called out her name. It was her cousin who works there and he was telling her they were throwing food to a white cat hanging around outside the cafeteria. They were up a little hill so Mom couldn't see the cat but she didn't want to backtrack at that time and continued on home.

When Mom went back to work, of course she had to go see if the cat was there and sure enough, it was still hanging around. She could see that beneath it's dirty fur was a beautiful long-haired white cat but when she tried to get closer it went around the building away from her.

Yesterday, the cat was even closer to the cafeteria building and was being fed by people throwing food to it again. Mom crouched down to get a better look and saw it's beautiful amber eyes. Just when she tried to take a picture with her camera phone so we could show you, it decided to walk away.

Today, Mom ran into a friend who had just finished feeding tuna to the cat, so the friend took her to where it was. It was walking back and forth outside the doors, waiting to see if there was more food. When they walked outside the cat decided to leave but Mom followed at a distance and saw it take a path down to where the dumpsters are.

Later this afternoon, Mom decided to go down to where the dumpsters are and look around. It was about ten minutes before she saw the cat. She was actually wondering if it was a female and had kittens, but she thinks it's a male.

Mom went back to her office and decided to send a chat message to Coco & Chloe's mom (The Furbies), who also works there, and now she wanted to go see the cat! So, the two of them went back and found him under one of the dumpsters.. The cafeteria was closed so they hit the vending machines looking for tuna and crackers and got a paper plate and bowl from someone on the way for the tuna and water.

While the two were on the ground, a few people walked by at different times and knew about the cat and what they were doing. Just so you know, there are over 2,500 employees there. One guy said he was planning to rent a trap and had already made the phone call to get one. He was also going back this weekend to leave him food. The cat doesn't appear to be old but he's not a kitten either, though obviously on the thin side right now.

In case it's crossed your mind, the answer is no, Mom does not want to bring him here. We really don't have a good temporary room for a cat that size and everyone would be miserable, especially Dad!

The cat should be okay where he is for now. He's already very popular! Mom is determined to get a picture of him.

Love,
Mercy

Happy 7th Birthday to PJ and Callie Jean on March 6th!

Thank you to my friends for leaving me new messages and presents for my birthday last Sunday. It's like buying me some extra time before I turn 9!

There are two siblings that will be celebrating their 7th birthday this Friday, March 6th:

PJ and CALLIE JEAN

If ICEBOX hadn't started the Pawsome Pages group and then made PJ and Callie Jean co-admins, we would not have had the opportunity to learn to decorate our pages.

Have a super 7th birthday, handsome PJ and beautiful Callie Jean!

Love,
Mercy

Great Day!

I got to eat some mashed potatoes because I was licking my chops while Mom was eating them! I was sitting in one chair and Reebok was sitting in the other, and you know he was licking his chops too!

I would have loved to have been able to go outside and soak up some sun except that it rained here today, so I took long naps instead.

Mom tried to brush me again this afternoon. I was sleeping in the bed in front of the computer monitor and she thought that was a good time to get the brush and do it. Well, I got right up and started circling around the monitor so that she could brush me each time I walked in front of her.

So that's the real reason why I walked around the ledge of the tub this morning. I was practicing my technique!

Thanks again to my friends who stopped by to leave me presents, posted my birthday in groups, left me messages on my Voki, sent me cards, pawmails, left me lots of treats, and wrote about me in your diaries! You're all pawsome friends and I appreciate each of you.

Thank you also to HQs for the paw rating and treats!

I'm going from Birthday Gal to Irish Gal. Don't be surprised if I change my Irish name once or twice before St. Patrick's Day gets here because I have a few friends who want to name me! MOL

Love,
Mercy

They Say it's My Birthday!

Thank you for all the presents and messages you've been leaving me on this special day, including the extra treats!

Happy Birthday to my friend CHEROKEE and all the other kitties who are celebrating their birthdays today!

We patiently wait for Mom to get out of bed each morning to feed us breakfast. When she got up this morning, I ran to her bathroom, jumped on the tub, walked around the entire ledge, then jumped off and ran to the food bowls in the other room. Then Pixie did the exact same thing! What a copycat. I think she wanted to know if breakfast tastes better when you do that first.

After breakfast, I went downstairs and found two new toys on the floor. One was a sponge from the sink, which I'm guessing Riley put there, and the other was a big pine cone, which I know Quincy brought back from his walk this morning, just for me!

I also got a request to join a dog group. I giggle when I get those from dogs that have no cats in their family because they'd rather have me in their group than Quincy and Cosmo!

I'll be home all day today (where else) enjoying my birthday and appreciating life and friends like you!

Love,
Mercy




I'll be home all day today (where else)

Hurry Spring!

Today is the last day of February, and I'm sure looking forward to Spring.

Our closet got cleaned out today, which are actually drawers full of our clothes in the computer room. I saw some stuff I haven't worn yet. Most of my time has been spent supervising the cleaning but Pixie was making it take twice as long because she had to play in the "trash" bag and had to bite everything going in it. Kids!

I need to be brushed badly because I'm forming little mats on my rump, but I just can't make up my mind if I like being brushed or not. I walk towards the brush, get brushed, run away, and then come back and repeat the same thing over and over. I just know the scissors are coming out next!

I've got to get back to my supervisory post. While supervising I even got one of my favorite treats---hairball gel! Yum.

Love,
Mercy

It's raining dogs.....or maybe a bear

It's been raining hard around here, but that doesn't stop Dad from taking Cosmo and Quincy out for walks because the three of them love the rain. They like to splash around in puddles, including Dad, when the thinks no one is looking! They probably sing, too.

When they come home they are soaking wet, but the best part are the towels that get laid all over the floor because we end up on them instead of the dogs.

Last night, I was hanging out with Mom in the computer room. As soon as she got up to go to bed I got up and followed her upstairs. I was the first to leap up on the bed, followed by my shadow Pebbles, and went to my spot between Mom and Dad.

A few minutes later, Quincy was downstairs and started to dream. He was so loud that it woke Dad up and sent Pebbles flying off the bed. When Mom told him it was Quincy, he said:

Gad! He sounds like a wounded bear!

Well, Dad went right back to sleep after that but it took ten seconds for Mom to think that was really funny, so she had to get up and I had to get up so we could go look at the bear! We couldn't really see where the other cats were but they were probably hiding.

Sure hope the neighbors didn't hear the bear.

Love,
Mercy

A Pile of Bandannas!

It's been a month since I wrote about how my mom started sewing bandannas ever since she bought some at a cat show. Well, guess how many we have now, including the ones we bought? 35!!

Mom spent last Saturday with my aunt and grandma, and also brought all the fabric she had precut with her. They went to the fabric store and Mom was happy to find some trim that the two fabric stores in our area don't have. My aunt and grandma both sew and bought fabric to sew pillows that look like dog bones!

For those who are into sewing, my aunt has a serger machine, which creates a finished seam, so grandma did all that for Mom before she sewed.

Mom has to add some finishing touches to some of the bandannas before we get to wear them. Even with 35 of them, she still has lots of different kinds of fabric left, so maybe she'll come up with some other ideas on what to do with all of it!

Love,
Mercy

Two Friends Journey to the Bridge

Two friends made their journey to the Bridge this week.

On Tuesday, February 3rd, my dear friend WRIGGLEY lost her battle with Lymphoma. You may not know Wriggley and her family, but we've been friends for almost three years and they've kept in touch with me all this time. Look at their photos and it will be obvious that they are a cute, happy, and loved bunch. Wriggley is terribly missed by her family.

Today, Thursday, February 5th, SCOOTER made her journey to the Bridge. It's a day her friends never wanted to come but I know she took lots of love with her. When I saw her pink page disappear earlier today, I knew the time had come. I'm so glad we can hear her voice on her page whenever we want to.

I'm glad that both of my friends had a peaceful journey and I thank them for leaving sweet memories behind. We always miss our friends when they journey to the Bridge, but we never stop loving them.

Love,
Mercy

We Interrupt my Valentine's Day Page

We're getting ready to watch Super Bowl XLIII tomorrow!

Dad got us four pairs of 3D glasses for the halftime show. One pair for him, one for Mom, one for me, and one for anyone who wants to chew on it! They weren't easy to get.

I can't wait for the Kitten Halftime Show and Puppy Bowl. Too bad that kitten show isn't in 3D!

Love,
Mercy

We were Smokin'!

Dad was up early this morning and fed us breakfast. Then we crawled back into bed with Mom. Next thing we knew, we were awakened by Dad letting out a little yell and wondered if maybe he hurt himself.

Mom got up and we all went downstairs to see what happened. That's when we smelled it. Smoke. Burnt bacon. That's why Dad yelled. MOL!

At least the smoke alarm didn't go off. The best part was getting the patio door and windows opened so we could stand behind them and check things out. Then Pebbles went and picked up that furry toy in her mouth and walked around the house in circles complaining.

The burnt bacon wasn't so bad...or the eggs.

Love,
Mercy

UPDATE: We told Dad that the bacon story made it to my diary today and he said:

"Whatever makes little hearts glad, that's what I do"

XOXO

It's a Love Sign

We were so disappointed that we couldn't shop in the Gift Shop last night and most of today. It was like a store that was closed for inventory, except that when it opened again there weren't any markdowns, but there were new gifts!

Seeing the Valentine's Day gifts in the store is putting us in the mood to put our new pages up. After the work we put into our pages, we aren't waiting until February. We've seen that some of our friends are already putting love in the air, so we will too!

Thank you to our anonymous "classic" blue rosette giver!

Love,
Mercy

Kitty Kabana

It's a new year, and we're getting new stuff! Our Kitty Kabana arrived today and Mom put it together on the table and hasn't been able to take it off of it yet because Melody got on it right after I left.

We got it here:

KITTY KABANA

Looks good for the price. It should make it to the floor sometime tonight!

Love,
Mercy

P.S. THANKS to my anonymous treat giver(s)!!!!!

Bandanna Mania!?!

Back on January 3rd, I wrote that Mom went to the Cat Show and brought home all these cute bandanas for us. She had also been thinking that they looked pretty simple to sew and that maybe it would be a fun reason to drag out the sewing machine table and use it for something other than to put stuff on top of!

Well, that's exactly what she did this past weekend! Grandma spent the weekend at our house, and being the thrifty woman that she is, was appalled that Mom spent $4.50 for a bandanna! It didn't help that she once worked as a seamstress for a living.

The two of them had a ball going to fabric stores and buying tons of fabric and trim. Mom took one of the bandannas apart that she had bought to see how it was made and then cut pattern pieces. Riley is modeling the first bandanna that she sewed and I'm modeling the second one! They are easier to put on and adjust because they have velcro closures.

Mom does not have time to sew much, but this is something she can handle on weekends. We'll still show you the ones that were bought which are very cute, but now we also have lots of fabric and trim already cut out and ready to be sewn, so I guess that means we might be wearing bandannas for a long time!

Love,
Mercy

What a Night

Remember that geek from the Geek Squad that came over on December 29th that I wrote about? He was rescheduled to come today. He called this morning to say he'd be here between 4-6pm.

Mom got home from work a few minutes before 6pm and Dad was not happy because the geek had not yet arrived. Then the geek called and said he'd be here around 7:30pm and Dad said no, so he's been rescheduled again.

What a geek.

It was just as well because we wanted the boxes that contained our new scratching posts opened and had to wait for Mom so she could take some pictures. The Ultimate Scratching Post is nice but The Mondo is da bomb. We had fun checking both out and also had to say goodbye to our two old scratching posts.

What a mess with the boxes and styrofoam peanuts.

The autographed photo of Skeezix that we won in the Muppet auction also arrived today. I'll take a picture with it soon. We're all tired now.

What a night.

Love,
Mercy

25th Annual Tails and No Tales Cat Show

Mom went to a cat show today. Dad didn't want to go because he said he could stay at home and look at cats. He also told Mom not to bring any cats home. MOL!

We got three new beds and a Star Chaser Turbo Scratcher. I know the scratchers are sold at pet stores but we have a small one and this one is bigger and the balls light up. I haven't even had a turn at playing with it yet!

Mom could not pass up these cute, cute, cute, bandanna collars that were sewn by an elderly woman. She bought one for each of us and we'll be modeling them sometime in the future.

There's more. She fell in love with prints by Laura Seeley, an author, illustrator and painter who lives in San Francisco, and bought five of her prints from her Kats for Kauses collection in the 11x14 size. Proceeds from sales benefit critical care for cats and dogs. You can see Laura's work on her website below--click on the individual images to get a closeup view:

KATS FOR KAUSES

Laura gave Mom a deal, which is always nice. The ones she bought are: On Safari I, The Prize, Best Friends, Party Time, and Party Night. You can see them in the gallery section under Feline Fantasies I. Mom bought frames for them and Dad will hang them up tomorrow in the family room, of course!

As for the cats and kittens at the show, of course they were beautiful, but Mom just looked at them and didn't ask to hold any of them.

Love,
Mercy

A Cat Diary

Our friends Midnight, Popeye, and Samantha sent this to us this morning. Since we didn't come up with our own New Year's Resolutions, I slightly modified these and assigned them to everycat in the house:


HAPPY MEW YEAR

The human obsession with New Year’s Resolutions interests me, which is strange because most human resolutions aren't worth what's in a cat's litter box. But Mew Year's Resolutions ... now, there is a way for a cat to set the house in order for the coming year. We''ll try it.


NIKE HEREBY RESOLVES TO:
Never eat the cat food I spill on the floor. As humans are always around, let them clean it up. If they can't put it in the center of the bowl, that’s their problem.

SOFIE HEREBY RESOLVES TO:
Not eat just anything the Big Owner lays out for me. I will do my best to hold out for superior brands of food – like Haagen Dazs and fresh chicken.

JOY HEREBY RESOLVES TO:
Never cough up hairballs in different parts of the house. I'll wait until the dead of night and lay them out on the carpet next to the Big Owner's bed and to watch her step in it first thing in the morning.

REEBOK HEREBY RESOLVES TO:
Extend the freshness of my cat box by using it only half the time.

ENZO HEREBY RESOLVES TO:
Never push items off the headboard on to the Big Owner’s head while she is sleeping. Unless, of course, she is sleeping in late. Then all bets are off. Late is defined as anything after my new 5:30 a.m. feeding time.

MELODY HEREBY RESOLVES TO:
Avoid the Vet. I will never again fall for the lure-me-into-the-carrying-case-with kitty-treats trick again.

PEBBLES HEREBY RESOLVES TO:
Purr. Owners love it when cats purr. I will purr as loudly as possible in my Big Owner's ear– most often at 3 a.m. when she’s trying to sleep and I am bored.

MERCY HEREBY RESOLVES TO:
Drive the Owners crazy trying to figure out if I want to go 'in' or 'out' the door each morning.

RILEY HEREBY RESOLVES TO:
Act more disinterested than ever in human activities. This will mean adding two additional hours to my sleep schedule every day. It's going to be tough but someone has to lead by example.

PIXIE HEREBY RESOLVES TO:
Act less human than ever this year by KEEPING all of my resolutions, which is easy because I don't have any. I'm the baby and I have no boundaries.


Love,
Mercy

Happy New Year!

Life is filled with ups and downs, and 2008 was no exception. We can't turn back the hands of time but we have memories that hopefully we can use to make a new year even better.

Thank you to our friends who made our year a memorable one. It's been fun sharing our lives with all of you and we look forward to another year of friendship. When it comes to Catster, you can definitely say we're living outside of the box!

When Mom drove into our development today, what did she see? Two tuxedo kitties playfully chasing each other down the street. Did she stop? Of course she did, but when they saw her they bolted and ran the other way. Dad said that he's seen them while out walking the dogs and that they belong to someone.

Then Mom walked with us out in the backyard and she kept thinking she heard kittens crying in some neighbor's yard. Oh no, you say! I think she was secretly hoping that maybe she'd have some new rescue story to make headlines with. But no, they were birds or something.

Enjoy the final hours of 2008 and best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy 2009!

Love,
Mercy and family

I Met a Geek Today!

I met a geek this morning, and he even drove up in a van that had the words Geek Squad on it. Dad had the geek come to do some general servicing on the TV. I'm not sure why, since it looks and sounds fine to me, but I guess Dad isn't geeky enough to do it himself.

Pixie and I wanted to see what the geek was going to do. Well, that was a waste of time because he didn't have the right bulb for the TV and it had to be ordered. Dad wasn't too happy about that since he waited for him before going to work.

Rescheduled!

I wonder if we'll see the same geek next time. Oh, it's going to be fun when he tries to calibrate the TV, just like Dad tried to do last time. If he's lucky, we'll be awake again and meow so that he gets an error message that says too much ambient noise. He just might be here all day!

Love,
Mercy

It was a Merry Christmas!

We felt good about donating to a couple of organizations this year for Christmas which we learned about through Catster:

Hurricane Pets Rescue, Inc.
Friends of the Blind Cat Rescue Sanctuary

They, along with many other organizations, can always use donations.

Mom and Dad had Christmas dinner at the mansion. The mansion is a nickname for the big house purchased by two of Mom's single nephews plus two of their friends. It is the ultimate bachelor's pad, and if we lived in that house there would probably be more cats!

During Muppet's auction, we bid and won a pair of sneakers with Skeezix's face on them. Mom wore them for the first time tonight just to show them off to her cat-less family, who thought they were the coolest! They're pink, black and white, and Mom did her best to match her outfit with them. We also won an autographed picture of Skeezix and when we get it she'll take a picture of me next to it.

Even though Mom's family is cat-less, I think they partied like cats. They ate, played games, and some of them took naps!

Love,
Mercy

'Tis the Season for Hats and Scarves!

For sometime now, Mom has been wanting to do something with the leftover fleece we have from the beds that she's made, so last night she did it, and didn't even have to do any sewing!

I think she did okay for her first try, and I think I did okay modeling my new hat and scarf!

Happy Holidays! Happy Winter! Happy 5th birthday to Boogers!

Love,
Mercy

Singing in the Rain!

I just noticed that the Catster logo on the top left corner has snow on it!

Well, there's no snow over here but there's rain. I know because when Mom was coming in from the garage with groceries I ran out, and as usual, the door to the side of the backyard was open. I heard my name being called but I kept going.

Mom put the groceries down in the kitchen and not only did she see me standing at the patio door but she could hear me singing........

Raindrops keep falling on my head.......

I just wanted to go in so I could get my umbrella.

Love,
Mercy

Dinner Talk!

Mom and Dad were guests at a holiday dinner at an Italian restaurant Tuesday night with people Mom works with. One of the reasons the dinner was so pleasant was because they were among people who enjoyed talking about their cats and dogs, as well as others who enjoyed listening to the conversations!

The couple that sat across from Mom and Dad have two cats, so they were particularly interested in hearing about Catster. John works with Mom and he asked her to send him the link to our pages so his wife could check it out. Mom did that the next day at work and wrote:

After you see my pages, you'll probably really think I'm a crazy cat lady!

John's reply after seeing our pages was:

I always thought you were a crazy cat lady, but now I have proof!

Then he went to Mom's office to talk about it some more. Since Mom doesn't talk about it that much at work, she thinks he was amused at what he saw!

I don't know if they'll be joining the site but it would be cool if they did!

Love,
Mercy

Oh, Daddy!

Not my dad, but this one:

MONTE CARLO

Welcome to your new home, Monte, and to the world of Catster!

A lady from the bank came to the house the other day. She didn't carry a purse, otherwise I would have stuck my head in it, but she brought a pen and some papers. The bank made some big mistake and Mom and Dad had to sign some papers to help them fix it!

In the old days, people who came to the house for the first time would often say we had a beautiful home, even men. But, like I said, that was the old days! When this lady walked in, she looked around, up and down, then said,

You have cats!

Little did she know what we really had. Was it the cat beds on the dining table, our furniture, or the toys on the floor she didn't like? Maybe she didn't like the colors.

Well, Riley thought the lady was pretty so he walked up to her for pets but didn't get any. I walked up to her to say hi and she ignored me. Pixie knew what to do. She walked up to her legs, smelled them, then rubbed against her black slacks.

I don't think the lady will come back to our house again.

Love,
Mercy

Loving Picasso

The saddest news came to us tonight when we learned that our precious friend, PICASSO, passed away suddenly due to congestive heart failure. He was only two years old.

Our hearts ache along with so many who loved him. We remember worrying about him making it to his first birthday, but he made it to his second one, with bravery and under the great care of his parents.

You can read more about what happened today from BOOGERS' diary.

Thank you, Picasso, for all the wonderful memories. We'll love you and miss you forever.

Love,
Mercy and family

It was a Stretch!

Thank you to the judges who selected my photo as the winner of the Stretch and Yawn category in the World's Coolest Dog & Cat Show!

I could not have won this category without the votes from all of YOU out there, so I thank you all once again for sending me to the finals in the first place!

All the finalists, category winners, and Best in Show winner deserve a round of applause!

Love,
Mercy

Sleeping with One Ear Open!

Our internet connection was running awfully slow last week, so a strange guy came over to come check things out for us. When he arrived, I was pretending to be asleep on the bed in front of the computer monitor and I never got up the entire time he was here.

One of the things I heard Dad tell the guy was that his wife goes on Catster alot so that he could check the connection to the site as an example. Dad had to spell it out for him so that's when I knew the guy was an alien!

The alien changed some things and and it seemed to be running faster so he left. Then it got slow again! So, my Dad decided to check the ethernet cable and guess what he found? Itty bitty teeth marks! It wasn't me--I don't do stuff like that anymore. After the cable was changed everything was running fast again.

Duh. The good news is, since the alien's lack of knowledge led him to believe it was a problem on their end which he thought he fixed for us, we weren't charged.

I guess we know what to check first next time, and I'm sure glad I didn't get up for nothing.

Love,
Mercy

Beds and Collars

Two packages arrived yesterday afternoon. The first one was the bed that SCOOTER and DAISY told me about! It's a retro modern bed from LIKE KITTYSVILLE, and it came with a pretty little quilted satin blanket!

The next package that arrived were some new collars. Pebbles, Sofie and I are the only ones who have worn collars in the past and have been able to keep them on. We haven't worn them in months because they had gotten faded and it looked like it had rubbed some of my fur off, but we finally decided to order new ones from JAKE & MICAH. They sell unique items and our collars were packaged beautifully. Jake and Micah are also Catster members and sweet Micah recently and suddenly left for the bridge. You can visit Jake's page HERE and Micah's HERE.

Love,
Mercy

Thankful

I want to start off my morning by saying THANK YOU to SKEEZIX and his mom Karen for featuring some of us today over at the THE CAT'S MEOW!

I'm thankful for so many things, especially my friends here. The lastest example was that both SCOOTER and DAISY saw a bed on the internet and thought of me. When I saw it, I totally agreed and ordered it right away. Yes, another bed. Wow, it's like having personal shoppers! I'm sure we'll find a place for it, whether it be on the floor, dining table, kitchen counter, or computer desk!

Mom and Dad will be leaving us at home to go have dinner with family tonight, and we'll be patiently waiting for leftovers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
Mercy

A Bittersweet Day

Today has been a happy and sad day.

MUPPET's bucket is overflowing, but SPUNKY's Mawmee had to make the unselfish decision to help him journey to the bridge.

Rest in peace, Spunky, we know there was a big turkey feast waiting for you.

Love,
Mercy and family

Oh Happy Day!

I'm Diary of the Day today! Hope my fur looks like it's all in place and my clothes look nicely pressed.

When Mom came into the kitchen to tell me I was DOTD, I stretched up to the back of the kitchen chair and gave it a good scratching! Then she told Dad and he said:

She goes! She rocks! What does that mean?

I've been reading all the message that friends have sent me in pawmail, gifts, groups, and Voki! I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thank you!

I hope everyone has a full-bellied Thanksgiving!

Love,
Mercy

I'm Hep!

My Hepper Pod Pet Bed finally arrived today, after waiting almost three months! I fit in it just fine but I just read that they made some improvements to it that include a larger opening and I think that's a good idea.

Of course I had to model it for you first and then Pixie had to model it second! What's mine is eventually ours in this house.

Sure hope no cat mistakes it for the Litter-Robot!

Love,
Mercy

We're Mewsical!

Dad was in the family room watching TV and when Mom went to go talk to him he said:

Shhhhhh!

Then he explained that he was trying to calibrate the surround sound on the TV but that we were meowing! Every time he asked us to stop meowing a few of us would meow back. Of course we meowed back because we didn't want to be rude!

Dad said if we meowed in tune with the calibration it would be okay, but we were creating too much background noise. Personally, I thought we meowed in harmony!

We like to laugh at Dad, especially when he's not trying to be funny.

Love,
Mercy

Stretchin' Hippie!

I'm a finalist in the World's Coolest Cat Show in the Costumes and Shades and Stretch and Yawn categories, but so is my baby sister Pixie!

Thank you to everyone out there for your votes and congratulations and good luck to all of the finalists! I know your peeps are proud and they should be!

In case you're wondering, we're going to be voting for the kid in the monkey suit.

Love,
Mercy

Just Stuff

We received word today that our Hepper Pod Pet bed is expected to ship soon, so that'll be nice after a very long wait!

We had our Christmas photos taken last weekend. There was an outfit we wanted to get this year but it was new and not yet in stock, so mom pulled out some things we've never worn before. There was alot of laughing going on but it wasn't coming from my mouth!

Then on Monday, guess what happened? We received notification that the outfit that wasn't in stock is now in stock so we ordered it. I bet I'll be the first one to get another photo shoot and maybe the only one.

One of Dad's brothers called tonight. He has three cats and may have to move out of his apartment and into another one that doesn't allow cats, so we were the first ones he called to ask if we could take them. Unfortunately, Mom told him we couldn't but sounds like he also has a friend that wants them so hopefully that's what will happen.

Love,
Mercy

The A's to the Q's

I was tagged by Margo to play her silly tag game:

1. How mene toes duz yew hab?
18 tippy-toes

2. Is yew marreed?
I live in California

3. Duz yew hab short, medium, or long hairs?
Depends on where you wanna look

4. Duz yew likes tew dress up?
Yes, especially when I go to the opera

5, Hoo gots da stinkeeeest gas in yore house???
Woof! Woof!

6. How mene toys duz yew hab?
None that I can claim as my own

7. Is yore tale straight, kinked, curly, fat, thin, or jus rite?
Depends on my mood

8. Hab yew eber killed a reel mousie??
No real mouse would dare come into my house

9. Is yew beeyooteeful, hansum, or uglee??
I'm cute

10. Is yew da King ob da house, Kween ob da house, or da Serbint?????
I'm the Jester

Love,
Mercy

November 3rd Catster Newsletter!

We didn't receive our copy of the November 3rd CATSTER NEWSLETTER until this morning, but WALLY forwarded a copy of it to us yesterday when he saw that my picture was in it!

The picture of me that they used was a finalist photo in the Stretch and Yawn category in last year's contest, and the other nice surprise was that they also used Enzo's finalist photo that was in the Captivated Cat category! He and Melody were so tiny at the time that photo was taken, especially next to our dog brother Quincy.

Thanks to HQs and Wally!

Love,
Mercy

Hallmark Hall of Famer!

I was awarded the Hallmark Hall of Fame Award for the Greeting-Card-Ready entry of me in my Halloween pumpkin outfit in Skeezix's 3rd Annual Cat Bloggers and Catsters Halloween Costoom Contest! My prize is a $20 Shutterfly gift certificate. I also received an honorable mention in the Best in Show category for being in third place.

It was a fun contest with some awesome entries! I'll have to figure out what I'll do with my prize once I get it.

Love,
Mercy

Halloween Night

Last night, I stayed up in the cat tree watching Mom and Dad hand out candy just like I said I would. The dogs barked all night like I knew they would, the other cats hid, with the exception of Pixie, who stayed downstairs with me and ran around like she was thrilled to have the floor *almost* all to herself!

The trick or treaters were cute and polite, with the exception of one little girl. After Dad handed out the candy, she said:

No Butterfinger, I'm not going to eat them!

Dad's cheerful reply was:

That's what trading is all about! Happy Halloween!

MOL!

Love,
Mercy

Halloween Past and Present!

Years ago before Mom met Dad, she worked at a community college and Halloween was the biggest event of the year. A group of employees, including Mom, would dress up and hop on a transportation cart, normally used to help students get around campus, and go haunt the halls. They would also go and see the kiddies at the on-site child care center and some of the kiddies would laugh and some of them would cry!

Mom has worn costumes such as a bumble bee, witch, convict, devil, and oddly enough, a fisherman with a mustache! When she wore that fisherman outfit, her co-worker said she reminded her of her uncle, and she wasn't smiling when she said it.

Well, Mom no longer wears costumes on Halloween but she still attends all the celebrations at her current job, including the Haunted House, which she loves because she gets so scared she starts cracking up!

Oh, so NOW, after all these years, I know why she likes dressing us up!

I know exactly where I'm going to be Friday night--on top of the cat tree in the living room watching Mom and Dad open and close the door while listening to the dogs bark all night! We get anywhere between 50-100 trick or treaters every year so we hand out alot of candy. When Mom and Dad were at the grocery store this past weekend buying the 15+ bags of candy, the bagger said he knew which house he was going to for Halloween!

Mom has always had this brilliant idea of handing out candy through a window that looks out on the front porch while wearing a monster glove, so that the only thing anyone would see would be an arm, but she knows the little kiddies would get too scared. So, every year, the front porch is decorated with a big flashing witch and fake cobwebs and spiders, even though we have live cobwebs and spiders around the porch already!

I bet Pixie won't be hiding like the other cats on Halloween night. She is soooo much like me when it comes to loud noises and commotion.

Have a safe Halloween, friends!

Love,
Mercy

My Idea of a Dream House!

I was thinking about what Dad said to me the other day about getting the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team to build me a dream house. We have a two-story house so we have stairs to climb as well as cat trees, but I think the coolest thing to have would be a climbing post with perches the entire height of the house. Wow, we could really be a bunch of daredevils if we had something like that!

Back to reality, we got two new cleaning thingamajigs in the house this week. We're stuck sharing space with the portable one in the upstairs room where we eat, and I was on the cat tree in there while Mom used it for the first time today. After she was done, she showed me what got sucked up in the canister and what I saw was cat fur, litter, and "her" hair! The bigger thingamajig is mainly for the carpet and is much quieter than the last thingamajig but it's so powerful that I think it could suck all the fur off my body!

Mom's idea of a dream house would be one that self-cleans, with a couple of more rooms, for a couple of more cats. MOL

Love,
Mercy

Dad thinks he's Witty!

Last Saturday, Mom was gone most of the day because she spent it with Grandma. When she pulled her car into the garage Dad was there, and as usual, she asked how we were. He'll usually report on what happened when he took the dogs for a walk and whether or not he fed us. This time he told Mom that we missed her, and when she asked how he knew that, he said:

They spelled it out with treats!

Then last night Dad was watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and I was on the couch next to him. As the show was ending he turned to me, not Mom, and said:

Maybe they should build you a house for adopting all these cats!

Dad got all happy when he heard that I'd be writing about this in my diary. MOL

Love,
Mercy

New Carpet Day!

Our carpet on the stairs and a few rooms upstairs were replaced today. We sure had a mess in the house! Alot of stuff from upstairs got moved downstairs, including a few of our beds, so some of us camped downstairs in them last night.

While Mom and Dad were trying to move one of our taller cat trees, I climbed to the top of it. I complained when Dad took me off of it. Then Pixie jumped on it, followed by Pebbles, and then I jumped back on it! They made us get down and after it got moved we got back on it again.

All of the boys, plus Sofie and Joy, hid behind one of the couches downstairs during the carpet installation. You should have seen all six of them lined up behind the couch, but they felt safer being close together. Pebbles and Melody didn't hide but kept their distance. Pixie and I jumped over the mess and walked right past the workers so we could go upstairs to investigate, eat, and use the litter boxes. We're glad those rooms were taken care of last week!

Cosmo stayed home all day and Quincy went to doggie daycare down the street, but now things are back where they were, everyone has given the new carpet their seal of approval, and we can have a relaxing weekend!

Love,
Mercy

Dress Rehearsal

I had a dress rehearsal for a new picture for Thanksgiving and even though half of the outfit was too small and the other half was too big, we think we'll be using the picture for my page even though I think I look.........well, you'll just have to see next month. Mom laughed but I think was a compliment. You know me, I just sit there and say "whatever!"

Riley tried the boys' outfit on and it didn't "fit" him all that well either, so this could be the end of dress rehearsals for this month.

Love,
Mercy

We like it!

We like the new tile in our rooms and we so happy to have everything back in order...until next week, when we'll be getting new carpet put in. No one will be hiding under the big bed this time while that's going on!

I received yet another email informing me that the shipment of my Hepper bed will be further delayed until sometime in November! I'm not cancelling my order and losing my spot after all this time. Maybe it'll be here by Christmas!

Love,
Mercy

What a Mess!

While the workers were still here, Mom went to get Nike, Enzo, Riley, and Pebbles from under the bed. When she lifted the bedskirt and they heard her voice telling them there was a clear path out, Pebbles and Nike came out on their own and ran downstairs. She had to grab Enzo and Riley and carry them downstairs. Most of them ended up hiding behind the couch the rest of the afternoon!

After the workers left, two of our Litter-Robots got put back into our room on the plywood and then Dad put our food and water bowls back out so we could have dinner. Pixie, Pebbles, and I were ready to eat and go potty right away. Then Mom yelled "dinner!" and one by one the others came upstairs to eat and go potty too. Mom and Dad get to sleep with the other two Litter-Robots tonight, as well as one of the human toilets and piles of clothes and stuff!

Dad had to put the safety gate back up or else the dogs would be having some of our dinner and litter box treats! We all checked out the mess after dinner and now we're sprawled out around the house again.

The workers will be back tomorrow. Dad will be taking another day off but Mom will be going back to work, so he's in charge of making sure the workers don't leave any doors open.

Love,
Mercy

Micromanaging!

I was sleeping like a beauty when the two strangers arrived at the house this morning to start work on replacing some of our flooring upstairs. I heard them come in but didn't bother to get up since I assigned Pixie to first shift.

However, I just woke up to the sound of the smoke alarms going off in the house due to the hot sawdust they're creating from trimming some of the baseboards. That didn't bother me so much but Nike, Enzo, Riley, and Pebbles are still taking refuge under the big bed upstairs so I told Mom she has to get them out! Sofie was under the bed but she bolted downstairs when all that happened.

And, as usual, it's not going to take them one day like they said it would to lay the tile, so they'll be back tomorrow, and the new carpet will be installed next week. It's always something!

The strangers keep calling my Dad "Sir" when they have a question but I want to be referred to as "Ms."

It's going to be a long day.

Love,
Mercy

The Strangers are Coming! The Strangers are Coming!

Next Wednesday, we have strangers coming to the house, and you know how I like when new people come over!

We're having our flooring replaced on the stairs and all of the rooms upstairs. Next Wednesday, some guys will be coming over to install the tile in "our" rooms and the master bath. Then the following week, they'll replace the carpet!

I can see most of my siblings hiding during all of this, but not me! I'll be there to supervise, along with Mom and Dad. I can't wait to see all the goodies they'll be bringing into the house.

Love,
Mercy

45!

It took Mom about 45 minutes to put our Halloween pages up the other night. That all sounds good except she probably spent 45 hours getting everything ready! MOL

I have to thank Quincy's great pal HERSHEY for sending me the sweatshirt and skirt that I'm wearing. She wore that outfit last year for Halloween and when we told her how cute she looked, she offered to send it to us. If you go to her page you'll see the picture of her wearing it!

You might also notice that Hershey's bestest pal is Josh, who is BELOVED MAGGIE MOO's doggie brother. Hershey and Josh met on their own before we realized the connection.

We've sure seen alot of new kittens joining families lately, like CANNOLI, PORKCHOP, KARISMA, and VELVET ROSE. And then there's NEWMAN, who is still trying to teach his Rescuer and Driver that their names should be Mawmee and Daddy!

But...have you see LARKE??????

Love,
Mercy

94th!

I was looking at the Longest on Site stroll and discovered that I was the 94th cat to join the site on August 6, 2004. Milo was the 132nd cat, as others were creating profiles by the minute! I didn't look beyond that.

It was nice to see some familiar faces again, even though most of the cats we saw don't seem to be active members anymore.

Wow.

Love,
Mercy

Another Halloween Photo Shoot!

I had a second photo shoot done today for Halloween, can you believe that? Just because the dogs were having their pictures taken today, Mom was looking at our wardrobe and accessories and wondered how this would look with that. So, she asked me to try this and that on and I said "okay". Mom and Dad think I looked very cute but I think I looked as silly as their faces looked!

This is what happens when you have your first photo shoot done way early, or just because you have no choice!

October is just around the corner......it's almost time!

Love,
Mercy

Strike a Pose!

I really was going to do it, but Pebbles said she wanted to do it, so Mom and Dad were seriously thinking that maybe we'd both do it since we're both so sociable.

Do what?

This.....

PET PHOTO SHOOT

But now neither of us are going to do it because Mom called the closest store and it's going to be done outside of the store, and we're not going to stand outside while a bunch of dogs with tongues hanging out are watching us! Maybe Mom needs to call them back and ask more questions.

Quincy and Cosmo can't do it because they'd knock all the props down along with the photographer and the entire photo shoot would be over in five seconds! They're attention hogs....uhhh...dogs, and Quincy burps in your face too.

It's really too bad because it's to help support Best Friends Animal Society and also Delta Society, but we can still donate to them.

Love,
Mercy

Where Were You on September 24, 2005?

That's the title of BUDDIE's diary entry!

I know where Buddie was. He was getting married to HAZEL LUCY, and I know precisely where Sofie, Pebbles, Milo, Riley, Reebok, Nike, and I were too---at the wedding! The girls were bridesmaids and the boys, well, they were boys!

Hazel and Buddie are celebrating their 3rd wedding anniversary on Wednesday, September 24th. I love looking back on the events of the wedding which Hazel has a link to on her page. My 10th picture shows what I wore to the wedding.

Buddie, Hazel, and their moms are four of the most genuinely caring and sincere individuals we know, and we're glad we were a part of that special occasion.

Happy Anniversary Hazel and Buddie!

Love,
Mercy

I'm on Internet TV!

Earlier this week, we were checking out Catster Site Updates and the post titled "Top Dog Meows and Purrs about Catster on 'Internet Superstars'. The video streaming was slow for us at the time so we just gave up and forgot all about it, until......

ROCKY ANN watched it the other night and told me my Fall page was one of the pages shown in the video! So, we watched it again and there I was! It was very exciting to see it and also listen to what Top Dog had to say.

The second kitty to tell me that my page was on the video was VELVET ROSE. I think you should go and visit Velvet's page because you might be surprised to see who's family she just joined!!!

Thank you, Top Dog, for including my page in the video! Here's a direct link to the post if anyone is interested:

Internet Superstar on Revision3

Love,
Mercy

Ahoy, me Hearties! Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Aye, but me don't talk very good Pirateglish, so me will list Pirate jokes me did not make up:

What's a pirate's favorite socks? Arrrrgyle.

What does a pirate think happens at the end of time? Arrrrmageddon.

What's a pirate's favorite food? Arrrrrtichokes.

What's a pirate's favorite basketball move? Jump hook.

How do pirates make their money? By hook or by crook.

Why do pirates make excellent fishermen? They know how to hook the big ones.

Where do pirates find their birds? Parrots Without Partners.

Did you hear about the pirate's parrot that fell in love with a duck? The bird kept saying, "Polly wants a quacker".

Why couldn't the young pirate see the R-rated movie? There was no parrot-al guidance.

Why should pirates work for FedEx? They have the fastest ships in the shipping business.

What's it called when a pirate's sloop runs aground? It's ship out of luck.

Why don't pirates use a safe deposit box? They put their valuables in Davy Jones' Locker.

Who's the pirate's favorite actress? Diane Cannon.

Why did the pirate refuse to say, "Aye, Aye, Captain"? Because he's only got one eye.

What's the pirate's favorite restaurant? Trick question because it's either Jolly Roger or Long John Silver's.

How could the pirate acquire the ship so cheaply? Because it was on sail.

Why did the pirate not learn how to bowl? He had a severe hook.

Who was the pirate's favorite musician? Carlos Bandana.

Why couldn't the pirate stop thinking about sailing? He had ship for brains.

What has 12 arms, 12 legs and 12 eyes? A dozen pirates.

Me is better at Halloween talk. BOO! See?

Aaarrrggghhh,
Captain No Beard of The Pirate Ship Scurvy Eunuchs (aka Sealegs Mercy)

From the Pirate Ship of Scurvy Eunuchs!

WALLY looked up me pirate name and this is what came up:

Captain No Beard of The Pirate Ship Scurvy Eunuchs

Aye, I see a few eunuchs on me ship!

TRIPPER the PSYKO STRAY CAT wants to know if me will be his Pirate Wench! Me will have to use me Cat O'Nine Tails on that buccaneer.

How about this handsome lass? *NEWMAN* Me thinks Captains Calvin, Violet, Gleek, and Spunky found the best booty ever!

L'oe,
Captain No Beard (aka Sealegs Mercy)

Ahoy, i want t' be a pirate!

Arrrgghhh, me friends be pirates!

Morgan the PirateGato, Calvin and Bros., Diego, Rocky Ann, Boogers, Captain Jack Sparroweater and family, Lancelot, Pansy, Bob, Margo, Tripper the Psyko Stray Cat, Lucy, Arnold P. (Iron Tom Flint).......

Ahoy, i will be a pirate! Tonight, just wait and see. Me parrot concurs.

Aye, whar's my clothes, Aye.

Lo'e,

Mercy

He Said, She Said

He: The Fall pictures came out nice. Where did you find the collar for the girls?
She: At the fabric store.
He: They sell cat collars there?
She: Nope, but they sell upholstery trim! I got the gourds, pumpkins and squash there too. It came in a set.
He: Did you buy the tablecloths you used for the backgrounds from there too?
She: Nope, I already had those. (You can't expect Dad to recognize our tablecloths)
He: Don't tell me you got the boys' jacket from there too.
She: Nope, the internet!

We received an email today about the Hepper Pod Bed we ordered. Unfortunately, it looks like Hepper will not have the Pod Beds for another 5-6 weeks, pushing back our ship date near the end of October! We were given a choice of cancelling our order or waiting so of course we said we'd wait!

It's like waiting for the latest iPhone.

Love,
Mercy

Samoa Says

Halloween!

I just read SAMOA's diary about us having our Halloween photos ready. We do have them ready but we aren't nearly as creative as I'm sure their costumes will be. I think their Mawmee is a playwright, don't you?

We think Halloween is one of the funnest and funniest times of the year on Catster and Dogster. The reason we have our Halloween photos ready is because we have a schedule planned for the rest of the year. October is not only reserved for Thanksgiving pictures but you know what else begins in October right?

The World's Coolest Dog and Cat Show!

I assume, anyway. We're ready for that too. The photos we plan to enter are all in a special folder this year, unlike previous years. They're subject to change but at least they're there.

So, now I think you know what November is reserved for!

About that studio umbrella light we just got, Mom has to learn how to use it properly. She was moving it around during our Halloween photo shoot and the colors we are and the colors we wore made all the difference. I think she needs to take a photography class!

Love,
Mercy

Waiting for the Pod

I was notified today that my Hepper Pod bed is backordered and won't be available until the end of this month. I'm not really surprised because we saw that comment on every web site we visited that sold it. Until then, I think I have a few other beds I can sleep in!

Last weekend when Mom put me in the backpack carrier and took me to the Farmer's Market down the street, I enjoyed it. The most interesting thing we bought were some long green beans that were purple. That was the last weekend they were there so I'm glad I got to go. I think I should start riding in the backpack when the dogs go for their walks, too!

We had our Halloween photos taken today, not including the dogs. The funny thing is, we were almost dressed by a dog! Quincy has a Cocker Spaniel pal named Hershey that we thought was dressed so cute last year so she offered to send us her three-piece outfit! It's a skirt, sweatshirt, and bandanna trimmed in lace, but they're too big for the girls. Quincy and Cosmo don't know it yet, but Mom is thinking the skirt will fit around their necks! I'm sure we'll be able to modify what she sent to us so that we can wear it in the future!

Love,
Mercy

From Hippie Pad to Hepper Pod!

I finally picked something out to buy after seeing it in the Luxury for Cats book that I wrote about on July 27th. It's another bed!

Hepper Pod Pet Bed

We ordered it in green and one of those fleece beds that Mom makes can go on the floor underneath it so we can sorta be like "two peas in a pod" when we want to.

Sure reminds me of our litter-robots but it won't be going in the same room with them!

This is the last weekend of the Farmer's Market down the street, so as Mom promised, "this big kitty is going to the market....." in the backpack carrier!

Love,
Mercy

Hippie Car!

While Mom was driving on the highway today to go spend the day with Grandma, she spotted a faded red VW Bug up ahead. On the roof was a pink tricycle, old trunk, and something else she couldn't see very well that was blowing in the wind. The car also had bumper stickers all over it. This might not sound too unusual except that the stuff on the roof wasn't on a luggage rack, it was attached to it!

Mom had to take a detour so she couldn't take a look at the driver, but you know which direction he/she was headed, right??

San Francisco, of course!

Love,
Mercy

When Bad is Good!

Dad just told Mom she was bad! She and Pixie just came home from Pixie's vet appointment and shopping at the local Farmer's Market. About ten minutes later, Dad told Mom that I was sitting outside the patio door waiting to come in! MOL!

I just joined Mom in the computer room and we're both laughing. She promised me that the next time there's a Farmer's Market I get to go in the backpack pet carrier just like Pixie did. I will like that!

I'm still enjoying the great Summer weather but I'm also looking forward to the Fall season, and right now I'm happy about a few things:

1. I don't have to go back to school.
2. There won't be as many bees in the backyard so I can go outside more, even though I seem to find my way out there without permission anyway.
3. That we've gotten rid of Pixie's ringworm because I wouldn't look good with bald spots, don't want to take meds, get bathed, have lotion put on me, and be banned from the computer room.

Love,
Mercy

Meet Me at the Track!

Twice in the past week, while Mom was going in and out to the garage taking care of chores, I made a mad dash past her. I see her trying to open the door slowly, getting her leg ready to block the door, but from my height I can spot the perfect time to make my move!

I know when she's home she leaves the door from the garage to the backyard open because it gets so hot in there, so I go running outside while I hear:

Mercy.....Mercy.....Mercy!!!

I continue running around the side of the house until I get to the patio door, swishing my tail, so that I can go back inside and plot to do it all over again. And I did, twice in one week! We do get to go outside, but only if Mom is out there to supervise.

We haven't spent much time watching the Olympics since Mom spends so much time keeping Pixie company in her room, but if I were to compete it would be in Track! I have to keep up with the youngsters in this house.

The Los Angeles Times reported: In Olympic track, it's the clash of the dash!!

That could be our house!

We have some relatives that live in China, but we've never met them. Mom has made it as far as Hong Kong but has never been to China.

Off to practice!

Love,
Mercy

P.S. More THANK YOU'S to friends who have been gifting us with collars and much more. I also got my first Gold Medal from Rocky Ann for Track! Last, but not least, thank you to "Sandy" for the Voki message--have we met???

Cats Rule!

Funny, I was just reading ROCKY ANN's diary, and aside from her funny story about the kid she saw during her evening stroll, she meowed about some toys and litter mats from CATS RULE.

We just received our order of litter mats from them. We like them because they are soft on our paws, trap litter well, colorful, and large. They can even be cut to size and thrown in the washing machine. It's lined at the bottom and has soft foam ridges. Some litter can work it's way through the holes but won't go through. Eventually, the foam can be scratched up, but even with our large family, we have never left a pile of it on the floor; it's very minor.

Mom even used it once as a background for one of Sofie's birthday pictures, before we used it, of course!

You can also find them at most Target stores and we heard at PETSMART too.

Love,
Mercy

Four New Angels

Sadly, I have four friends who recently became angels, and each of them are listed at the top of the Get Well Soon>Catsters in Need of Serious Purring thread.

KILA
ASHLEY
COLE
BOUDIN

When our kitty friends go to heaven I know it makes Mom think about alot of things. The one thing she lives by is never to do or say anything to us that she will regret.

Dad said it best to Mom once when she was complaining about him leaving crumbs on the table. His quiet reply was:

"One day you'll miss those crumbs"

Our hearts go out to all of the grieving families.

Love,
Mercy

Wall Words

Since we're getting ready to place an order, I thought I would share a nice website where you can get words and other stuff to express yourself on walls and other things.

We have several in the house already but they are pretty high-up so you don't see them in our pictures.

WALL WORDS

So what words are we thinking about ordering? Something very familiar like this for our room upstairs:

One can never have too many cats!

But we saw so many new things that we might have trouble making up our minds. We saw cats and even pet quotes!

Love,
Mercy

4 years on Catster!

Milo and I celebrate 4 years on Catster today! I got my 4th candle but I guess Milo didn't get his because he's celebrating privately in kitty heaven. That's okay because he is remembered by us every day. *blows kisses to Milo*

Thank you to our friends for your continued friendship and for celebrating with us!

Love,
Mercy and Milo

****UPDATE****

Milo has 4 candles on his cake now!!!! Rocky Ann reminded us twice that our anniversary was today and she was the first to tell us that Milo got his 4th candle. Thanks, Rocky Ann!

Don't Worry, Be Hippie!

I had just finished sharing some vanilla ice cream with Dad when Mom walked into the room. This is the conversation I sat there and listened to:

Mom: Did you use the same spoon?
Dad: No, that one's in the dishwasher
Mom: That's not true love!
Dad: Sorry, but I draw the line somewhere. They walk around all day smelling each other's butts.

Mom said I was gonna be hippy from eating that ice cream, but I told her I was already hippie!

A couple of Sundays ago, Mom spent the day with Grandma and they went to JACK LONDON SQUARE, which is very close to where Grandma lives. Mom was disappointed to see how quiet it was around there compared to the past, but there was a musician playing on an outdoor stage, people shopping or waiting to ride the ferry, and some local artisans selling handmade goods under white tents.

It didn't take long for Mom to spot the tye-dye clothes hanging all over one of the booths and right away she had to see if there was anything she could buy for us. Sure enough, there were some t-shirts designed for dogs (of course). Because of our various weights, she bought a small, medium, and large. Then she bought a little hat that was displayed with some children's shirts and a hat for our dogs.

I got to be the first to try on the shirt and hat since I will sit still anywhere in the house, and that's when we found out that I fit the large. Ooops! I was supposed to wear flowers in my hair or something like that, but we stuck with the hat and I borrowed Reebok's guitar that his best friend Jeter Harris sent him.

The hat would still work on the big boys and everyone else can wear the shirts and hats, but since Mom liked my picture she let them off the hook for now, so I'm the only hippie chic in the family!

Love,
Mercy

P.S. Thank you for all of the fresh-smelling collars!

Cole is at the Bridge :(

My dear friend Cole had to make his journey to the bridge today, shortly after 12:00pm Central time. His heartbroken mommy has updated his diary.

Here is the link to Cole's page:

COLE

Hugs and love to Cole and his family. Cole was such a great friend to me and I will miss him so much.

Love,
Mercy

Purrs and Thanks

Our family is grateful for all of the time our friends have spent sending us Febreze collars! We started to send some out yesterday but it's been a slow process for us. Our email account is overflowing with messages for each of us about your gifts, but we do thank you very much for thinking of us!

I will be spending alot of time purring for two special friends:

COLE

ASHLEY

I hope they both know how much they are loved by their friends.

Love,
Mercy

Catzowey!

That's GUIDO The Italian Kitty's favorite expression. Guido was also Catster's Cat of the Day on July 7th, and has a Blog!

I just received a big book that was pawsographed by Guido, titled Luxury for Cats, edited and written by Patrice Farameh. Guido recently hosted the Purrfect Paw Signing Party on July 17th at the Cat Safari campground (cool place) to benefit the San Francisco SPCA's Animal Assisted Therapy program. I couldn't attend the event but purchased the book to support it. Guido showed me some photos from the event and someone from Catster HQs attended too!

The book is in five languages and Guido himself appears in the book! It seems to be available at certain Borders and/or Barnes & Noble bookstores and Amazon. I'm ooing and awwing over the chapters and photography, from Fashion & Accessories to Lifestyle, and I've seen so many things I want to buy. I'll have to meow to Mom about that!


Love,
Mercy

It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over

I just had the song by Lenny Kravitz in my head while thinking about Pixie's ringworm.

We've been well over the incubation period of 10-14 days since Pixie was diagnosed with it on July 1st. For those who are not familiar with it (and we're learning about it ourselves), it means that exposure to the fungus and establishment of infection occurs during this timeframe before any lesions occur. Mom hasn't found any lesions on us and believe me, she looks!

Then there's Dad. One of the ways the vet checks for ringworm is by using a Wood's Lamp, which is an ultraviolet light, like a blacklight. If ringworm is present the area will fluoresce into a bright apple green. We don't have a Wood's Lamp at home but we have a blacklight, so you should see my Dad when he checks us with it. He likes to check all of us, stuff around the house, and Mom! I think he's curious about it and even rubbed his hand on Pixie's lesion and then put the light on his hand just to see. He's no doctor!

We know it's not over yet, as Pixie needs to have some cultures done even after it appears to be gone, and that could take a couple of more months depending on her progress, but it's looking good so far.

I haven't seen the bodysuit Pixie got yesterday but if all goes well she'll be out and about once in awhile, teaching us how to scuba dive!

Oh, we got our fourth Litter-Robot yesterday, and you know who was the first to check it out and use it! Now that there are two of them in our guest room, Mom doesn't think she's going to add anything else that's big in the room.

Love,
Mercy

New Kid on the Block!

Not on this block, but in Michigan, at the home of KLEMY Q-TIP! They just adopted a beautiful baby sister named KIRA and I'm blabbing about it. She's got extra toes for extra cuteness!

Congratulations to their wonderful family!

Love,
Mercy

Baby I'm a Star!!

The sofa bed was picked up as planned and we just received a Hollywood Famous Feline Cat Bed from ROCKY ANN to help us fill that empty space right back up! She said she got one for herself too.

I had to be the first one to try the bed and I had to find something fancy to wear. What better choice to go with the bed from Rocky Ann than a necklace that HALEY ANN made for me a couple of years ago!!

When it comes to having special photos taken, Mom asks me to sit and I sit. She asks me to lay down and I lay down. Heck, I listen better than the dogs and that's why I get to be first.

Thank you Rocky Ann, and you too, Haley Ann! Maybe the new theme of the room should be Hollywood!

Love,
Mercy

Operation Sofa Bed Removal!

Mom was all prepared to help Dad take out the sofa bed tonight to set it out on the curb for pick-up tomorrow, but as she was driving up to the house, she saw that it was already sitting outside!

Dad gets home from work about 4 hours before Mom does. After he took the dogs out for a walk, he removed the gate to the guest bedroom and took the sofa bed out. It's a twin size and bulky, but he carried it and took it down the stairs, one step at a time. We were good about not tripping him!

When Mom said "Wow" to Dad about carrying it down himself, he flexed his muscles. MOL!

Mom went upstairs to look at the room and laughed at what she saw where the sofa once was. There were seven mousie toys and a little rubber one! It took alot of effort for us to get them there because the legs of the sofa are really low.

I told Mom to give the toys to Pixie as an incentive to make sure she sees to it that no boogie men come in the middle of the night to take the sofa or the old carpet cleaner; otherwise it'll end up being a donation of twenty-five bucks to the city. She's enlisting the dogs as back-up security!

We're definitely getting another Litter-Robot and something else, but we're not sure what yet.

Love,
Mercy

Goodbye Sofa Bed!

It worked! Mom and I made a suggestion to Dad this morning to get rid of two things in the house; the sofa bed in the guest bedroom where we eat and where one of our Litter-Robots are, and the old carpet cleaner.

Dad liked the idea of getting rid of the carpet cleaner so that he can go get a better one that will actually heat the water and also clean hard floors. This is good for all of us.

Mom was giving Dad a few good reasons why they should get rid of the sofa bed. No guests would ever want to sleep in our room, it takes up space, and the chenille fabric attracts hair.

What Mom really means is that she'd like to get another Litter-Robot so that we'd have four of them, maybe a second cat condo for the room, and move a cat bed or two in there.

Thursday is our trash pick-up day, so the sofa bed and carpet cleaner will be put outside on the curb and picked up if we pay the city some extra bucks.

I've put Pixie in charge of making sure the items get picked up on Thursday, since she'll have the best view from her room.

That's what big sisters do, they delegate.

Love,
Mercy

Do You Need a Few More Cats???

That is what Mom's friend at work asked her. Her friend's daughter can no longer afford to feed both her three cats and children and is looking for a new home(s) for them.

Mom told her friend that she doesn't need anymore cats and that she has as many as she does because she loves cats, but she wouldn't be able to take in three adult cats. Since we are a fairly young family, it is easier for us to adapt to a younger cat joining the family and vice versa. I wish the best for the three cats.

We're having Mom talk Dad into getting rid of the sofa bed in the guest bedroom upstairs where we eat. We never have company sleeping in there anyway, as we don't think they'd like sleeping with our food bowls and a Litter-Robot. The other two Litter-Robots are in the adjoining guest bathroom and we have no place else to move them unless we want to feed our dogs cat candy! It's a good thing we have big dogs because they can't fit through the opening on the gate that allows us to go and in and out of the room.

We could have had a second guest bedroom upstairs but that was turned into a loft and, of course, one of our taller cat trees is there, along with some of our toys and beds. MOL! If we have any overnight guest, it's usually Grandma, and she sleeps in the computer room downstairs and has her own bathroom.

The way I see it, we're getting more room for more stuff for us, so hurry up Dad, let's get rid of it!

Love,
Mercy

Feeling Plucky!

Many of our friends know by now that we added another girl to our family named Pixie, and I think she's going to be as plucky as I am!

Every new addition to our family has to have their own "room" for awhile for all of our safety, and this time it's the office. Pixie is getting to spend lots of time with Mom while she's using the computer, plus Mom took the week off. She has to like her room since Mom will be going back to work next week.

Pixie already knows she's going to have to wear my hand-me-downs and she says she doesn't mind. In the little time that she's spent out of her room, she just darts all over the place! She doesn't seem scared of much, doesn't cry, and likes having her picture taken! Yep, she's plucky alright, and very cute.

I'm feeling plucky about having a new sister and also that I have a couple of friends who will be celebrating their birthdays on July 4th:

VIOLET will be 9!

COLE will be 15!

Best wishes to Violet, Cole, and all other 4th of July babes for the pluckiest of birthday celebrations!

Love,
Mercy

Stuck in an Elevator!

Mom got in the elevator at work late this afternoon when there was hardly anyone around, hit the button to go up to the 4th floor, watched the doors shut and then........nothing! None of the buttons worked after that. She picked up the emergency phone for Security and the dispatcher became more panicked than Mom and repeatedly told her not to hang up while she contacted someone to help her.

During the 10 minutes or so that Mom waited for help, she thought about the elevator scene in Damien: Omen II. Then suddenly, before any help came, the elevator kicked in and she went down to the 1st floor! She walked up the stairs after that and went back to her office.

Another 5 minutes later, she heard someone knocking on the elevator door asking if someone was stuck in there. Help had finally arrived! It was one of the Security officers. He apologized for the delay because he couldn't find anyone in the Maintenance department. The only reason Mom didn't get too upset with him is because he was the same officer who bandaged and put ice on Mom's foot when she twisted it at work a couple of weeks ago. They put up some signs and caution tape on each floor after that.

Geesh, and we were waiting for Mom to come home early from work today too. Good thing the elevator wasn't stuck between floors!

I'd rather be stuck in the vet's office than in an elevator. Mom said there was no elevator music, but told me that the last two times she was at the vet's office in the waiting room with my siblings, she heard the song Mercy that I have on my music playlist!

Love,
Mercy

The Chicken and I - New Video

In addition to receiving a new hat, collar, and scarf from Hazel Lucy today, Mom made a few video clips of the chicken and I so everyone can see what it really does!

It has sound, so it's best viewed by either turning off my music player or by clicking on the title of my video, "Hot, Hot, Hot!"

Love,
Mercy

Call me Mercy Buckets!

Back on March 30th, I wrote a diary entry about how FELIX MENDELSSOHN'S mom said that whenever she sees me, she thinks of the name Mercy Buckets!

That made me think of a bucket-style hat, so I consulted "Cousin" HAZEL LUCY about designing one for me in "lemonade with red trim". Well, guess what came in the mail today??? My bucket hat, along with a matching collar and thick scarf as bonus items!

I didn't waste any time and just had my picture taken for my page so that I could model these fabulous items!

Thanks, HL!

Love,
Mercy

Guess Who Visited My Page Today?

SPARKY!! In case you didn't know, Sparky belongs to Top Cat/Top Dog at headquarters. He left me a trophy with a nice message about my page. Without Sparky's dad and his team, I wouldn't even have a page, and without the Pawsome Pages group admins, wouldn't have so much fun making them.

I ran right over to the doggie cookie jar and left Sparky a bunch of bones. I'm going to have to visit Sparky's dad in his office one of these days.

Love,
Mercy

Spa Sunday

That's what it felt like today!

It was a hot day and I got a steam bath in the backyard for about 10 minutes. Then I was told it was time to go back inside and as usual, I listened and strutted back in the house. My siblings were sound asleep so they didn't get their steam baths today.

Mom trimmed my nails and then combed me. I have a love-hate relationship with the comb. I like it at first, then I protest and walk away, and then come back to be combed, back and forth. After that, Mom decided to dab a Q-tip in some oral cleansing gel we got from our vet to clean my gums and teeth. That stuff tasted nasty. I'm not sure why the instructions said "preferably at night" because I wouldn't want to sleep with that taste in my mouth! My siblings got their nails trimmed too but none of them had to taste that gel stuff, at least not today.

I pulled a fast one on Mom today. Every time she or Dad comes in the house from the garage, they have to make sure none of us runs out to the garage, especially me. Today I ran past her as soon as she opened the door. The door from the garage to the backyard was open so I skipped out there, with Mom following behind me, and went around the back to the patio door. Mom opened the door and I went right in. I was only kidding!

Father's Day is coming up on June 15th! After my page was finished earlier this week, Mom asked Dad to take a look. He liked it and wasn't insulted by my silly picture in a beanie hat and tie. I "knew" he had a sense of humor!

Love,
Mercy

For Dad

I had to take a break from the beach to honor Father's Day on June 15th, and to thank whoever increased my treat count to over 1,000 today! I'm not going to be able to fit in my bikini!

My dad has many great qualities and I'm representing a few of them on my page:

1. Beanie hat - for his sense of humor (my photo will surely test this)
2. Tie - he works hard for the money
3. Background - he fixes things around the house
4. Love songs - isn't that what it's all about?

On behalf of all of my brothers and sisters, we thank our dad for taking care of us and just for being an all-around cool guy. We love you, Dad!

Happy Father's Day to all dads!

Love,
Mercy

A Dollop of Daisy

I'm talking about this DAISY. I've been ready for the beach since last month but I wanted to wait until this weekend to make my first trip there. Daisy bet me at the beginning of this week that I wouldn't be able to wait and well, she won! Not only am I at the beach, my whole family is here too.

ROCKY ANN just joined us and even brought some purple sunscreen gel so we could rub it all over our fur and then roll in the sand! The gel is made by Hello Kitty, of course. Have you seen RA's surfboard? I need my own.

We sure hope to run into more of our friends this Summer at the beach or at our house for some BBQ!

I'm waiting for Daisy to show up at the beach so I could throw her into the ocean. Daisies float, don't they?

Love,
Mercy

For the Love of Simba

Friday, May 23rd, will be a sad day for so many of us, as it's the day that SIMBA makes her trip to the Bridge. But no one could be as sad as Simba and her mom Jen, who will be separated after 20 years together. Twenty years is a long time but we're sure it's not long enough for them.

Through Simba's diaries, anyone could see the bond that they shared and how devoted they were to each other. Even with Simba's health issues, she and her mom maintained a sense of joy and showered Simba's friends with lots of GLOMPITY GLOMP GLOMPS. Simba sent the funniest images along with the newest rosettes and they always brightened our day.

We've always loved her "Mommy 'n Me" videos, and they are even more precious now. It's so obvious when you look at Jen's smile from when she was a child and now as an adult, that she kept Simba going all these years.

We'll all miss Simba so very much, but we find comfort knowing she'll be taking lots of love with her when she makes her trip to the Bridge in her own home and in the arms of the one person she loved the most.

Love,
Mercy & Family

Memorial Day

Dad asked Mom last night if she was going to make new pages for us in honor of Memorial Day and she replied that she wasn't planning to. Then Dad said, at the least, I should have one, and so I found myself having my picture taken last night with a collar I had not worn before.

During dinner tonight, Dad said that I should include the Marines' Hymn on my song list. He comes from a big family of 10 children (7 boys, 3 girls) and they smacked each other alot growing up, just like we do sometimes, but much worse! Dad is the middle child, and he and his four older brothers, father, and grandfather served in the Marine Corps. His oldest brother, father, and grandfather were laid to rest at the Arlington National Cemetary in Virginia.

Let us remember those who died serving our nation and those who are serving our country today.

Love,
Mercy

Dad's Do List for Mother's Day

Dad made his own to-do list today. He offered to cook Mom breakfast this morning, but Mom wanted a bagel with lox and cream cheese along with white chocolate mocha coffee, so that's what Dad went out and got her. Let's not forget the whip, which I got to taste!

Dad walked the dogs, went grocery shopping, went to the pet store to buy us food, and then washed Mom's car, which was generously visited by birds this past week while her car was parked at work. Then he cleaned out our Litter-Robots and installed the new odor-control filters and seals they came out with. He's doing laundry, vacuumed, and is cleaning the toilets and windows, until they have to meet the family tonight for dinner for Grandma.

Mom appreciates all that Dad is doing today, but she said the only gift she wants from us is that we stay happy and healthy.

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms!

Love,
Mercy

A Song for Mercy Me!

My friend **KYANDE KISU** meowed me a pawmail this morning to tell me she heard a song that immediately made her think of me and that I should add it to my playlist. It's called Mercy performed by Duffy. So, Mom and I listened to it and we agreed!

Thanks for thinking of me, Kyande, and a big "Kisu" to you!

We hope everyone has a great Mother's Day with your moms this Sunday. We know we will!

Love,
Mercy

Pretty in my Bib

A friend wrote and said that he loves my bib and that I'm "prettier than Gwen Stefanie, whatever her name is". And all this time I thought I was wearing a scarf, but now it *is* starting to look like a bib. MOL!

Bring me some BBQ baby back ribs and watch me lick my paws.

Love,
Mercy

Gwen Stefani, No Doubt!

I took the celebrity quiz and got my results! Mom was happy to find out I was like Gwen Stefani since she likes her and if she likes her she must like me! I really should add a couple of her songs to my playlist, but I've got the badge on my page for now.

Here's what it said:

Your cat is Gwen Stefani!

A stuff-strutter and a trend-setter, Mercedes is rock star Gwen Stefani!

There's no doubt that Mercedes was born to entertain—her vintage look mixed with her modern style keep her public (not to mention her owner) coming back for more. Her jaw-dropping looks may mean that she's a common occurrence on the PetStar Magazine 50 Most Beautiful Pets list, but a player she is not: Mercedes is as loyal as they come. Despite the amount of attention she receives from devoted fans, it's not hard to see that underneath that well-groomed rock and roll coat, Mercedes is, after all, just a girl.

Love,
Mercy

Happy National Animal Crackers Day and Other Stuff

Did you know that today is National Animal Crackers Day? Here are some recipes you can try:

ANIMAL CRACKERS RECIPES

SING ALONG!

"Once mother said: My little pet,
you ought to learn the alphabet."
I learned them all from A to Z
And now my mother's giving me:

Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop;
Gosh, oh gee, but I have fun
Swallowing animals one by one!
In every bowl of soup , I see
lions and tigers watching me;
I make them jump right through a hoop,
Those animal crackers in my soup.
When I get hold of the "big bad wolf"
I push him under to drown;
Then I bite him in a million bits,
and I gobble him down,
When they're inside me, where it's dark,
I walk around like Noah's ark.
I stuff my tummy, like a "goop,"
With animal crackers in my soup!

I'm glad I'm not a cracker.

I enjoyed having Grandma stay at our house last weekend. I just hung out with her, especially whenever she was watching TV. I knew she came over just to see me, anyway!

Oh, I just heard some of you in the Midwest felt an earthquake this morning! As you know, we get those once in awhile. It's an interesting way to get the stuff in your house rearranged for you without being asked!

Our friend SETZER was sick and had to go to the hospital, but he's back home now and doing much better!! Yay!

Finally, Saturday, April 19th, is GROVER'S 11th Birthday! Happy Birthday, Grover!!! We're coming over for cake!!

Love,
Mercy

Good Company!

Mom took the day off today so she can go pick up Grandma to come stay with us for a few days! Grandma lives about 50 miles from us but with traffic, going to her house seems like 100 miles. She's welcome to sleep in any one of our beds but I heard she'll have her own bed, which I intend to test. We all know that I'll be the first one to greet her when she arrives, and we promise to decorate her clothing tastefully with fur while she's here!

As for Going Orange for Animals on April 10th for ASPCA Day, even Mom wore orange to work and someone told her the holiday she was dressed for wasn't until October. That person got educated quick! I had a sign on my page that I thought was cute, so I'm going to include it in my diary:

Top Ten Reasons to Go Orange:

1. Animals need YOUR voice!
2. Animals won't tell anyone what you look like naked.
3. Animals would never multiply YOUR age by 7.
4. Animals are happy to see you when no one else is!
5. Animals do a better dance of joy than anyone.
6. Hooves, paws, wings, and fins are WAY COOL!
7. Animals will listen to your problems and not charge a fortune.
8. Because even if you can't sing, you're still their idol.
9. Because 4 out of 5 animals surveyed prefer the color ORANGE!
10. Who SAY animals don't see in COLOR????

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Mercy

Mercy Buckets!

FELIX MENDELSSOHN told me that every time his Mom sees me, she thinks of the name Mercy Buckets. She got the nickname from a friend with a very Texas-drawled pronunciation of merci beaucoup!

Felix and I are discussing whether or not this would be a good nickname for me. Would I have to pose for a picture sitting in a bucket? That wouldn't be too hard. Or better yet, maybe I can wear a bucket hat! Hmmmm......I think I will go consult with HAZEL LUCY.

Love,
Mercy

Photo Capturing

Dear Friends,

Over the course of our membership here on Catster, a handful of people have used methods to copy our photos without permission to recreate special images for us and return them as gifts. I have avoided writing about this publicly but it is time, as the photo security feature set on our pages requiring "owner permission for use" is not being respected.

While we appreciate the thought behind the gesture, on behalf of the entire family, I am making a request for all of our friends to not do this, under any circumstances, for any occasion, for whatever reason, big or small.

Thank you!

Love,
Mercy

Painting

Dad had suggested to Mom earlier this week that they go to the town of Los Gatos today to walk around and have dinner. Mom loves to go to Los Gatos because that's where her favorite pet boutique is! Dad wanted to go into this art gallery so they did, and after about 30 seconds of looking around, Mom saw this 24x36 painting hanging on the wall.

Click on this to see it:

Painting

Surprise for Mom! It just got hung in the living room. My Dad is pawsome!

Love,
Mercy

Spring has Sprung!

Dad has been home all week allowing strangers on our property!

A tuxedo cat from the neighborhood visited us twice this week. He perches on top of the fence in our backyard and we have a staredown. The Furbies' birth mom is a tuxedo but it's not her.

We've been having trouble with our wireless router, so a strange guy came in the house a couple of days ago and used a ladder to check the cables running through the attic. I was trying to climb the ladder, so Dad had to bring me in the office with him and shut the door. I just wanted to say hello and help! When Mom came home for lunch, she knew I'd be out and about, so she went to check under the bed and saw 8 pairs of kitty eyes! Just like the dogs, I believe that anybody who comes to the house is here to see me!

Yesterday we had more strangers come to visit! A guy came to replace our water heater which is in the garage. I listened by the door and heard him give a quote to Dad that was higher than what he was quoted over the phone. Of course, when they give quotes on the phone, they give the low-end to the high-end and it always ends up being the high-end. Why is that? Anyway, the guy quoted above the high-end and Dad was ready to send him away so they talked to the supervisor over the phone and they lowered the price!

Quincy, the younger of my two dog brothers, likes to tease Mom and Dad by pulling up patches of grass from the backyard. Eventually, those areas become nothing but dirt which we love to lay and roll around in, so yesterday some more strange guys were here and brought all kinds of strange stuff into our backyard. We're getting new grass and I have to supervise from inside the house! They're supposed to be finished today. I hope so, because we all want to go outside and enjoy the warm weather we're having.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring to all our friends!

Love,
Mercy

We have a Winner!

In my March 7th diary entry, I asked if anycat wanted to guess where Mom had misplaced her car keys.

The first to send a pawmail was BOOGERS. He asked if Mom left her keys in the car ignition!

SAMOA made two guesses in my Voki, the refrigerator and the pants pocket!

Well, well, I just received a pawmail from HAZEL LUCY who correctly guessed where the keys were.....

**IN THE BATHROOM!**

It figures she would guess the bathroom since she's dealing with ginormous poopies at the moment, according to her March 5th diary entry. I hope she resolves this issue before Easter because if she doesn't, I don't think her Mom will want to eat any Easter eggs!

Back to where the keys were. We keep the lids down on the toilets in the house, and Mom was hoping she didn't flush the keys down the toilet! So, she went and lifted the lid and then *cling, clang, cling, plop*, the keys fell into the water! Apparently when she used the bathroom her keys somehow got caught between the lid and the seat!

Thanks, Boogers, Samoa, and Hazel Lucy, for playing my unofficial contest! MOL!!!

Love,
Mercy

Flor!

No, I'm not missing a letter in my diary entry title! Mom was asked about all the pet fur she must have to vacuum up and while there's always fur for her to vacuum up, this product has helped on hard surfaces. We have it in our kitchen.

FLOR

Flor manufactures modular carpet tiles. While this may not have the "look" or "feel" of plush carpeting and/or area rugs, it's easy to maintain with vacuuming, doesn't move around, can be cleaned, or if you order extra tiles you can just replace them if you need to. It looks neat and design possibilities are endless, which makes it fun for your moms! You can take it with you if you move, too!

Check it out!

Love,
Mercy

Mom's Losing It!

Mom doesn't work far from home so she comes home for lunch everyday. She pulls the car into the garage, leaves her purse in the car, and sticks her car keys in her pants pocket. When it came time for her to go back to work, she realized her pockets were empty!

We had all been outside so she went looking there, then she looked around the rooms and places she had been inside the house, including garbage cans, the bathroom, the refrigerator, and the cupboard since she gave us treats. She did this several times for about 15 minutes and finally called someone at work to tell them she'd be late getting back. She started wondering if she really did put them in her pants pocket so she checked inside and outside the car. Nothing! Then she thought maybe they somehow fell out of her pocket and we found them and pushed them under furniture or maybe one of the dogs found them and hid them, but surely she would have heard something?!?

Another 15 minutes had gone by and we were getting tired of following her around the house trying to figure out what she was looking for. Then another thought crossed her mind.....that maybe...hope not....but maybe.....and sure enough, she found her keys! But where?

Hmmmm.....maybe I'll tell you in my next diary entry. MOL! Wanna guess? If so, the hint is that it *was* in one the places she had already checked but she just wasn't thorough enough.

When Mom got back to work, once again, she enjoyed telling the people who have offices near her about what happened. The first thing they did after laughing? Looked at her shoes to see if they matched!

Love,
Mercy

The Party's Not Over

But my birthday page will be, by tomorrow sometime. I'm ready for Spring, I have a few new pictures to add, and I'm ready to help Enzo and Melody celebrate their 1st birthday on March 19th!

A big THANKS again to Calvin for making me his Pal of the Week and to all my friends who joined me in celebrating my 7th birthday! Mom looked but couldn't find anything new to buy me for my birthday but at least she got me a Voki!

So, as long as there's cake on my page, you can continue to help yourself to some!

Love,
Mercy

P.S. Grandma's surprise 80th birthday dinner tonight at a restaurant was wonderful, just like she is. She knew her daughters and their families were taking her out to dinner but was really stunned when she saw all the other guests waiting for her to arrive. She got emotional, and so did everyone else, but it all turned out great!

Leaping into March!!

I smiled when I read what CALVIN wrote about me in his diary today since I'm his Pal of the Week! He sure had alot of things to say about me, and they were all nice! Everyone knows he is part of a very special family and one that I'm honored to be friends with. Thanks, Calvin!

One of the things Calvin wrote was that I knew how to dress. I think I need to start giving Mom some fashion tips. Dad took the day off today and when Mom came home for lunch, he looked at her and said, "Why do you have two different shoes on?" MOL! Now, let me tell you how bad it was. She had on one black closed-toed shoe and one brown open-toed shoe! Go figure! Both were slip-on types and she wore socks today. You would have thought she was embarassed but after she changed her shoe and went back to work she couldn't wait to tell everybody!! She knows that if anyone noticed this morning they definitely weren't her friends because they didn't say a word!

Did this have something to do with it being Leap Day today?

Yes, my 7th birthday is being celebrated tomorrow, the 1st of March! I'm afraid I will only be on the computer until the early afternoon because tomorrow is also my Grandma's surprise 80th birthday dinner! Enzo and Melody will be celebrating their 1st birthday this month, and even Mom's birthday is near the end of month! She's what you call an afterthought, born after about 10-12 years later than her two sisters.

Well, friends, make sure you grab a party hat, sing a song, dance, and have some birthday cake! Thank you for being my friends today, on my birthday, and everyday!

Love,
Mercy

Calvin's Pal of the Week!

I just received a trophy from CALVIN telling me that I was going to be his Pal of the Week! I can't wait to see what he's going to write about me in his diary! I put Calvin's badge on my page to remind me of this honor and just because he's plain cute! Thanks, Calvin!


Love,
Mercy

Alot of Memory!

First I added a song called Memory to my music playlist, then Dad went out and bought more memory for the computer, and today I sent Mom on a walk down memory lane when I climbed our Japanese Maple tree in the backyard. She comes home for lunch every day when she works and as long as the weather is nice, we all get to go play outside for a bit. She always brings the camera with her, of course, so she took pictures of me climbing the tree and added one of them to my page.

We have the Cat Fence-In system now, but I haven't tried to climb any tree in the yard for about six years! She'll never forget the couple of times she thought I was going to stay in the yard with the dogs and then would disappear when she turned her back for a few minutes. I would never reappear when she called out my name even though I could hear her. The only person I would reappear for was....you guessed it...my Sugar Daddy! As soon as I'd hear his voice I would jump up on top of a neighbor's fence and strut back to him. He'd pick me up, put me over his shoulder, let out a big sigh, and hand me over to Mom! Guess she didn't learn the first time it happened, but that was fine with me. I never worried about a thing because I always knew my Dad was going to come for me.

Those were the good ole' days, and now we have that fencing system, but today just seemed like a great day to climb a real tree! But, I don't think Mom or Dad wants me to make it a regular habit and have a bunch of copycats either! Enzo and Melody looked very interested though.

Love,

Mercy

Birthday Page

Finally, my birthday page is up, for the most part, anyway! Mom started working on it this morning and Melody wanted to sleep on her lap. Nike was deliberately walking back and forth in front of the computer monitor, and then Dad wanted to check some things on the computer so he could go out and buy more memory for it. If I ever start to lose my memory, I know who to go to! Then the phone rang and Mom said to Dad, "If it's for me tell them I'll call them back"! And, just now, while trying to finish writing this diary entry, the neighbor's kid just delivered Girl Scout cookies we ordered and Dad wasn't home to answer the door, so Mom had to answer it because we owed them money!

Since I was asked, the answer is always "YES", I'm really wearing the birthday hat. Anything that might lead anyone to think I/we don't actually wear our outfits might be due to Mom making color and lighting adjustments to our photos, but that's about it.

The family birthday dinner Mom and Dad were supposed to attend tonight has been postponed because the guest of honor has the flu, so we're glad they are stuck at home with us!

The sun is shining brightly today, so we're all ready to go for a romp in the backyard!

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Mercy

A Rose from Sugar Daddy!

My Sugar Daddy sent me an anonymous "rose" and signed it with a really sweet message! He must have read my last diary entry and felt really guilty! Not only is he a Sugar Daddy but he's a magician because the rose appeared while he was sleeping!

Thanks "Sugar Daddy"! Happy Valentine's Day! (MOL)

Love,
Mercy

Celebrations!

Happy Valentine's Day! When Mom got to work this morning, the lobby receptionist sent her a message on their internal instant messaging system asking if she could please go down to the lobby to sign for her delivery as soon as possible because the counter was full of deliveries already. Mom thought it was funny but hurried to pick up her delivery of a gorgeous arrangement of long-stemmed red roses from Dad. As soon as Mom got to the lobby, the receptionist complained that she hadn't even had a chance to finish her oatmeal. MOL! Dad has never forgotten a special occasion in 18 years.

Mom and Dad just exchanged cards and gifts. Dad has great taste! He picked me as his favorite kitty--see what I mean? Their plans to go out for dinner are being delayed until next weekend because of a very important birthday celebration for Mom's brother-in-law this Saturday. He is the husband of my Auntie Sue who passed away recently.

Speaking of birthdays, Reebok and Nike are going to turn 3 on February 23rd and I'm celebrating my 7th birthday on March 1st which means my birthday page is going to be up and running real soon. This year, March 1st is extra special because my Grandma is going to be 80, so Mom and her other sister are planning a big surprise dinner for her.

Gotta run and see if my Sugar Daddy bought "ME" anything for Valentine's Day! Probably not! Hmmmmmph!

Love,
Mercy

I Have a Valentine!

Before I tell you about my Valentine, I will tell you a little about the beautiful memorial service for my Auntie Sue this past Tuesday. Over 200 people attended the service to celebrate her life, including some of Mom's childhood friends. Instead of the traditional music, Auntie Sue's children and husband decided to play some of her favorite Motown songs and one song by Madonna because of her cheerful attitude towards life. The only traditional song was one sung by her daughter's friend who flew in from Atlanta just for the day.

Mom has not been to work for the past two weeks and spent time working on decorating our pages, adding new photos, and a couple of other things as a means of distraction, so we hope our friends understand this.

Now, about my Valentine, don't get too excited. You should know by now that the only Valentine I'll ever have is my Dad. We're all close to our Mom but I've always been Dad's favorite and while Mom was on the computer one day this week, she overheard this conversation in another room:

ME: Meow! (purrr....)
DAD: What's up Girlfriend!!?!!
ME: Meow! (purrr....)
DAD: Mom's messing around with your page on the computer again.
ME: Meow, meow! (purrr....)
DAD: You have a Valentine page.
ME: Meow! (purrr....)
DAD: Wanna be my Valentine?
ME: Purrr.....

This is a true story. I have a loud purr. After that conversation with my Dad, he picked me up, put me over his shoulder and brought me to hang out with Mom in the office.

Mom was going to let us out in the backyard right after this diary entry before it started raining heavily, but it just started to hail! So much for that.

Have a fun Super Bowl Sunday!

Love,
Mercy

In and Out

We've been on and off Catster since the passing of our Auntie Sue last week while Mom and her family plan for the memorial service on Tuesday, the 29th. Our Grandma is staying with our other auntie right now and we're hoping she will come stay with us next week. Mom will not be returning to work until February 4th.

On a lighter note, Mom took my Birthday pictures, even though it's not until March 1st! You'll probably see them after Valentine's Day. Until then, you'll have to guess whether I'll be "Sassy Seven", "Silly Seven", or "Sexy Seven"! Of course, there's always "Sweet Seven" too.

Love,
Mercy

Auntie Sue

Just a short while ago, Mom's niece, Christina, called to tell her that her Mom (our Auntie Sue) passed away just a few hours ago, after battling a long illness. Mom and Dad are driving over to be with the family now and is worried for the family, especially Grandma.

We will be away for awhile......

Love,
Mercy

Valentine's Day is Coming!

Mom wasn't going to change our pages until next week, but she decided to make the time today between watching Football (sorry Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers fans), and doing house chores. The computer locked up on her a couple of times (it figures) so it took forever!

Someone asked where we got the stuff we're wearing, particularly the heart around the girls' necks . Do you really wanna know? Okay. Aside from reusing a background fabric from a couple of years ago, the heart is actually from a party head bopper that actually had two hearts on it that I once wore as a "bra" for pictures! Mom took it apart and next thing you know, it was on my neck! The bow on our backs is actually from some roses Dad sent to Mom which she kept. She also discovered that she never used the cap and bandanna the boys are wearing, so that was nice. We were thrifty this time, weren't we?

I'm going to miss my Disco page, or at least Mom will, since she lived that era (yes, she was a club hopper), but maybe it'll be back!

Back to looking for extra "stuff" to add to our pages. Have a good week!

Love,
Mercy

I'm Not a Traitor!

MOL! MOL! Mom helped me mail a package to my friend Big Bad Baby Twinkle (BBBT) and her sister Cee Cee a couple of days ago, in care of her Meowmie, Azar Attura....."Ace" for short.

Well, BBBT's Meowmie received the package today and told Mom that the package was addressed not to Ace Attura but to.....are you ready.....MOL.......

THIS PERSON

MOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I sure hope SAMOA, my boss at the Samoa Detective Agency, doesn't think I'm a traitor!

*runs off laughing*

Love,
Mercy

Happy 2008!

While we're in Times Square ringing in the New Year, Mom and Dad decided to celebrate it quietly at home. Besides, the next door neighbor is having a loud party at his house and the music coming from there is shaking up the neighborhood! But, we have to give him some credit, as he was nice enough to stop by our house to tell my parents about the party and told them to let him know if the music got too loud. How can you not appreciate a neighbor like that?!?

Guess where my parents went a few days ago? They decided to visit the SAN JOSE ANIMAL CARE CENTER for the first time since it opened in 2003. When Mom made the suggestion to go there, Dad replied, "Why do you want to go there? You want to adopt another dog?" MOL! Anyway, my Dad is a cool guy so off they went.

Even though people can view the dogs in their runs and cats through glass windows, you have to fill out an adoption form before a volunteer will take you to a special room to let you spend time with them, so that's what they did. There was only one solid gray kitten available and he was adorable and very affectionate! He's probably been adopted by now. They also spent time with a couple of adult cats and Dad actually commented that he thought adopting an adult cat would be a good idea since kittens seem to get adopted much quicker, but Mom is not so sure about that as far as we're concerned.

They saw other things besides cats and dogs. There were rabbits and Dad joked that they should bring one of them home. A lady was crying as she was surrendering a puppy to the shelter and others were picking up their dogs from the Lost and Found area.

There will always be animals that need homes and our home will always be open, but only responsibly and under careful consideration for existing family members. So far, so good!

Cheers to all of our friends and to new friends we'll meet this year!

Love,
Mercy

Daddy's Dreaming of a Mercy Christmas!

My Dad not only snores but he talks in his sleep! When Mom tells him about the vivid conversations he has with others while sleeping (usually job-related), his response is always that she should be glad he's not dreaming about another woman! Well, I might have something to say about that.....

Last night we crawled into bed after Dad was already asleep. Within a few minutes, the following came out of his mouth.....

"Mercy Me! Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk!"

MOL! Mom had to get back out of the bed after that because she started laughing.

Nice to know somebody dreams about me once in awhile.......

Love,
Mercy

No-Sew Fabulous Fleece Beds!

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UPDATE!! Enzo has photos of the second bed on his page along with a new diary entry
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I'm modeling another new bed! You've probably seen the no-sew fleece blankets with knots at the ends, but in case you didn't know, there's a pattern for no-sew beds too! It's McCALL'S pattern #M5410, and beds can be made 26", 36", or 46" in diameter. Mom found some cute fabrics and made our first 26" bed last night at the cost of around $10.00!! It's a fun project that took her about 2 hours the first time because she was being fussy but she learned some tips that now cut the time in half!

We'll be putting this bed through the test!

Love,
Mercy

Fuzzy Hammock Beds

We've been asked where we got our new fuzzy hammock beds so I thought I would share that information in my diary since we're lovin' them! Mom saw them on the internet some time ago but thought they were a bit expensive. Then one day while we we were meowing with ARNOLD P., he mentioned where his mom found them for a good price (more than half of the price of what we saw originally) and so we jumped on the deal! Thanks, Arnold!

You can find them here:

REVIVAL ANIMAL HEALTH

We have the small fuzzy ones in lilac and lime green, but they also come in pink and black. I have a picture of me in the lilac one and Sofie has one of her in the lime green one. They also come in other colors in the nylon fabric. Very cute and comfy!

Happy shopping!

Love,
Mercy

Bringing in Cheer

Christmas used to be Mom's favorite holiday for decorating the house. There would be a freshly cut tree decorated in a special theme, lights in nearly every window, lighted garland wrapped around the bannisters, stockings, and on and on and on. But that was when there were just a few kitties in the house. Now, Dad hangs lights outside and if we're lucky the fake tabletop tree is brought down from the attic.

This year, Mom found a new tabletop tree and added a picture of it to my page. The base is heavy because it's electronic and the multi-colored string of bulbs are securely wrapped into the branches. It plays a variety of holiday songs and the bulbs "dance" to them depending on the setting you choose. So far, Enzo is the only one that stretches up on the tree but all he's been able to do is bend some of the branches, but not enough to do any damage.

Cards are starting to arrive in the mail and some of the presents that Mom and Dad bought for us are also starting to arrive, so we're looking forward to seeing what goodies they have for us! And as usual, when Mom orders via the internet, she always writes in the comment section, "Okay to leave at front door, do not ring doorbell" because it makes our indoor doggie brothers bark and spooks us!

In other news.....

Pebbles and I had our physical exams last Saturday. Originally, Sofie was supposed to accompany me but she ran under the bed so Pebbles got to go instead. Mom decided to have our vet do a little blood and urine check on us and she called today to tell us that the results looked boring. Boring is good!

Rest in peace WALLY. You are sorely missed.

Love,
Mercy

McKenna has gone to Heaven

We are between heartbroken and numb over the news that McKENNA went to Heaven on November 27th, just a couple of days after her brother BUDDIE. When we first met them in 2004, they had McKenna, Buddie, and RICKI. We can imagine the pain their parents are going through without them.

Messages for McKenna and Buddie can be left here:

Memorial thread for McKenna

Memorial thread for Buddie

Candles may be lit for McKenna and Buddie here:

Light a candle for McKenna

Light a candle for Buddie

Love,
Mercy

Buddie has gone to Heaven

We just received the dreaded news that our sweet BUDDIE has gone to heaven. What a brave boy he always was and unselfishly spread his love and support to others in the Catster community. Mom was just talking to Buddie's Mom yesterday about him. We will miss him so much but are happy that he was able to spend quality time with his family in his last days on earth.

You may leave a message for Buddie and his family here:

Memorial thread for Buddie

You may light a candle for Buddie here:

Light a candle for Buddie

We send our deepest sympathy to Buddie's Mom, Dad, and sister McKenna. They all need our support.

Love,
Mercy

Thanksgiving 2007

I hope everykitty had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Our family is very thankful for the friendships we have formed here on Catster and are also thankful for many of the same things that you are.

Mom and Dad just got home from having a delicious dinner with family. Last year, Milo wrote a diary entry the day after Thanksgiving HERE. It mentioned Mom's niece, Caitlyn, now 5 years old, who has always favored Milo out of all of us. Coincidentally, I have a little story to share this year about Caitlyn and it relates to Milo as well.

Caitlyn's Mom actually encouraged our Mom to tell her about Milo's passing. Mom really didn't want to bring it up but when Caitlyn asked how all of us were and if we were playing or sleeping at home, Mom told her that Milo had gone to heaven. Her response was "awwwwwwwwww!" So then Mom told her he had angel wings now and Caitlyn insisted on seeing them so she had to show her his Catster page. It is not easy sometimes for Mom to look at Milo's page but she did it with Caitlyn on her lap. Caitlyn "awwwwwed" at all of Milo's pictures and then wanted to watch his video again. Then she gave Mom a big hug. She is a little sweetheart.

After a dinner that included turkey, prime rib, cranberry sauce, and tons of other food, the adults sat in front of the TV and watched a show called Chowdown. The first set of contestants had to chow down as many cans of cranberry sauce as they could within a time limit and the winner was a slender woman who ate 13lbs of cranberry sauce. The next set of contestants were each given a 20lb turkey to chow down on. Enough of that........

The one thing that made Mom laugh really hard was when they came home and were pulling into the garage. Shattered Dreams by Johnny Hates Jazz (an 80's song), was playing on the radio and Mom commented that she liked that song, but it wouldn't be something she'd put on any of our Catster pages. (Note how music=Catster these days) Anyway, so Dad's reply to that was "No, unless none of the cats win in the "contest". He didn't crack a smile. Mom thought that was hysterical because it would be so unlike her to do anything like that! Laughter is good right now.

We are thrilled that Mom is now on vacation through all of next week and is planning to take our holiday photos and get some holiday shopping done.

Love,
Mercy

Prayers for Buddie and his Family

We are sad to hear the latest news about everybody's sweet friend, BUDDIE. He is very sick and needs prayers. Through his ups and downs he has always been cheerful and unselfish to others.

Buddie & Family, you know we love you and so does the Catster community. We're all here for you.

Hugs,
Mercy & Family

World's Coolest Dog and Cat Show Finals

Congratulations to all the finalists in the 3rd Annual World's Coolest Dog and Cat Show, and thanks to voters who helped get Enzo, Reebok, and I into the finals this year. Best of luck to all the finalists in being named Best in Show and/or being the category winner!

We skipped having photos taken for Thanksgiving but we'll definitely have new holiday photos taken in the next couple of weeks or so. Until then, have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. There are alot of things to be thankful for that we should not take for granted.

Love,
Mercy & Family

Moving On

On behalf of the family, I want to let everyone know we have been doing fine since the loss of our loving brother, Milo, on November 1st.

We have not been on Catster very much except to check on updates but we want to acknowledge and thank each and every one of you again for the tremendous amount of love and support you have shown to our family. There are no plans to keep Milo's diary updated and if he makes any appearances around Catsterland they will be very rare.

Mom picked up Milo's remains yesterday from the vet as soon as she got off work, and was so pleased that the urn was much nicer than what she and Dad expected. It stands upright, made of a really nice wood with a black marble face, and Milo's name is professionally engraved on it along with beautiful designs. That made Mom happy, so not a single tear was shed. Instead, she picked it up and said, "Let's go home, Milo".

Initially, there were plans to have us in "costume" for Thanksgiving, but Mom changed her mind and will just decorate our pages with a Fall theme.

We will love Milo forever.

With love to all of you,
Mercy & Family

Sad News for our Family

Thank you to my friends who have congratulated me for being a diary pick today. I can't even remember the last time I was a diary pick so it must've been a long time ago.

But, today is a very sad day for our family, as our brother Milo left for the bridge this morning and Mom updated his diary with the details the best she can for now.

Milo joined the family right after me. As a matter of fact, he was adopted to keep me company. He was just a 2lb little baby at the time, and we became very close and wrestled alot. He has always been a loving brother that no one ever gets mad at. The best kitty to snuggle with. We were sad to say goodbye to him this morning and will miss him deeply.

Thank you all for your friendship.

Love,
Mercy

Earthquake

Wow, shortly after 8:00pm tonight, we had an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 and we were about 10 miles from the epicenter. It lasted about 30 seconds and that is a very loooonnnnng time. We (the kitties) scattered and ran for cover because the house was rocking and shaking. Our dog Quincy got up and started barking while Cosmo just continued to lay in his bed batting his eyes. There were about 10 aftershocks that we hardly noticed but Quincy sure did because he would be quiet then suddenly start barking again.

Mom and Dad had been on the couch watching TV and when it started Dad extended his arm out in front of Mom like he was prepared to protect her, but they both just stayed there waiting to see if things were going to start falling off the shelves or if it was going to get worse. After it seemed like it was over, they went walking around the house to see if anything had fallen, and the only thing that fell off a shelf was a beanie baby. They started calling out to us to let us know everything was okay and one by one we started poking our heads out from behind couches and under the bed. It didn't take us long after that to feel safe again.

Glad that one seems to be over with for now!

Love,
Mercy

We Did It!

As of today, the kitties in our family are all dressed for Halloween. We have our own dressers for our clothes and accessories but I think we really need a trunk!

Riley's costume just arrived on Friday. I was supposed to be Cleopatra and Nike was supposed to be Napoleon, but I've actually had more fun being a Wild Witch so it worked out well. Mom went to the local pet store today to see if she could find a costume for Nike. She tries not to go on Saturdays because that's when they have the adoption fairs (MOL), but today was an exception. Of course she had to go see the kitties and as usual plays with all of them and even sits on the floor to play with the ones in the lower cages, but she didn't come home with a new brother or sister for us. There was a kitten that looked almost identical to my baby brother Enzo.

Okay, Mom is already planning our Christmas outfits! Actually she has the outfits for the girls already and the one for the boys will be coming soon. That's next month's project.

Hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Love,
Mercy

Change in Costume Plans!

Well, although Riley, Nike, and I have been waiting patiently for our costumes to arrive, Mom just came back from her favorite pet boutique with a costume for me. Actually, it's a t-shirt with a pumpkin face on the front and the hat was separate. She had a choice of purple, green, or orange hair. There wasn't anything there she liked for Riley or Nike so we'll just continue to wait for their costumes. My photo shoot went by pretty quickly! I think I have the same hairdresser as my California gal pal JORDAN!!

I also added a picture of me with a "beary" cute ghost from BOOGERS, HONDO, & FIDO! They also sent a cute card and have such good pawmanship!

Love,
Mercy

Another Costume Update

We received 7 out of 10 costumes yesterday! Hopefully, my costume, along with Riley's and Nike's, will be finished soon. I didn't get to go first as I thought I would, but Mom had photo sessions with Milo, Reebok, and Pebbles today and started their Halloween pages. There will be another photo session tomorrow with at least Enzo and Melody. That should be fun!

Stay tuned!

Love,
Mercy

Costume Update!

Since inquiring minds want to know, we just got word that our Halloween costumes are almost finished and we can expect to have them by the end of this coming week. So.....that means Mom will start our photo shoots next weekend and will can start fixing up our pages. She's ready!

I think I'll go first. As they say, "age before beauty". Wait...did I just insult myself?

Love,
Mercy

Keeping up with the Joneses

I received a distressful pmail from my pal JORDAN yesterday. It was about her mom's attempts at taking pictures of Jordan and her siblings for Halloween. Oh, what fun! I wanted to share this with you as it's funny and not-so-funny at the same time:


Subject: Help Us, Miss Mercy!

Oh, Mercy...you just don't know what's going down in the Jones house, girl!

Mom really needs your advice. We started taking our pics for Halloween yesterday. Rock & I went first & no problems. Then, Buckie, who was less than thrilled, but went with the flow. Then all cat hell broke loose.

Spring was being such a brat and wouldn't stand in one place and BIT MOM! She actually bit her! Mom was heartbroken. Then she tried to do 4ounce and he didn't want to sit in one place so he GROWLED AT MOM. Not once, not twice, but 3 times! Mom was so sad, she cried a little....she and Ounce have a very special bond & it really hurt her feelings that he did that.

Oh, Queen of the Costumes, what are we doing wrong? Dad says she should just leave us alone. It's obvious we don't enjoy it. But mom really likes when we dress up and works really hard on setups and little costumes for us.

Oooohhhh, the confusion. The turmoil.....Any advice?????

Your Cali Pal,
Jordan

P.S. Mom is still working on getting that dog she wants. Keep your paws crossed, sister!


MOL! I don't know that I'm the Queen of the Costumes, but every holiday is always interesting around here, too. Still waiting for our Halloween costumes to arrive in the mail...............

Love,
Mercy

Eavesdropping!

This is a conversation I overheard yesterday when Dad said he wanted to go buy some new DVDs. He asked Mom if she wanted to go but she didn't. Here's how it went:

Dad: I want to go look and see if there are any good DVDs out. Do you wanna go?

Mom: No, thanks, but can you see if you can get me "Shall We Dance?"

Dad: That's a Chick movie!

Mom: I'm a Chick!

Me: *rolls eyes* Shall we Dance is a movie that stars Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere, and Susan Sarandon. Mom hasn't seen the movie, but one of the songs on my music playlist, Sway with Me, performed by the Pussycat Dolls, is in the movie.

After Dad returns home:

Dad: Sorry, Hon, the movie isn't out on DVD yet.

Mom: Oh, okay.

Me: *looks at Dad suspiciously* He came home with some movie they both ended up watching that had a really dumb ending. I won't even tell you the name of the movie.

What about Halloween? Are we dressing up? Unfortunately, yes, as soon as our costumes arrive in the mail, so stay tuned!

Love,
Mercy

Top 5 Most Frequently Asked Questions

Here is a list of the top 5 most frequently questions I'm asked. My responses vary but I thought I'd share them with you:


1. QUESTION: Wow! You sure have a big family! My Mom would like to get more kitties but she's afraid that all the litter boxes are gonna stink up the house! How many litter boxes do you have?

RESPONSE: We have 3 Litter-Robots. If your Mom is afraid of the smell I don't think she should get any more kitties because that would *really* be scary!!!


2. QUESTION: How do you keep your house so clean? Do you have a maid?

RESPONSE: Yes. Her name is Mom.


3. QUESTION: You're so cute and funny! I was just wondering...do you want to be my girlfriend?

RESPONSE: Oh, no, I'd be a terrible girlfriend. I'm way too busy being funny to give you all the attention you deserve!


4. QUESTION: Do you like living with all those cats? Do you get along with your brothers and sisters? What about those dogs?

RESPONSE: Do I have a choice? I know this answer sounds boring but we do get along, though a little smacking around now and then doesn't hurt. What dogs?


5. QUESTION: I see that you and your brothers and sisters wear clothes occasionally. How does your Mom do it? Do you like it?

RESPONSE: Very carefully but quickly. Sometimes she makes funny sounds come out of her mouth and bangs on the walls to get our attention for the camera. Do I like it? Hmmmm.......


Love,
Mercy

Auntie Linda and Mom

Back in my diary entry of July 4th, I wrote about seeing Auntie Linda again. She's the mommy of Midnight, Popeye, and Samantha. Anyway, it wasn't until this past Sunday that the two moms got together.....finally!! They went to their favorite pet store, Purrsnickety Pets, in Los Gatos, CA. Funny thing was, every time one of them picked an item up that they thought was cute, the other one would grab it and say "Okay, I'm buying that for your kitties". So, they ended up shopping for each other as well as for themselves, and also bought gifts for friends! One of the items that Auntie Linda bought for me is the colorful bandanna I'm wearing. It's reversible and very hippie-ish!! She also bought us some toys and a bandanna for the dogs. They had a nice lunch then came back to our house.

Auntie Linda obviously loves kitties, and she even brought her camcorder to videotape us as well as take our pictures. She was hugging and giving us smoochies, too! Quincy, our dog, became her best buddy. Cosmo is friendly, but being he's much older, after awhile he just plops and goes to sleep. We even let Auntie Linda spend time on our computer since her parents don't have one, so she got to see her kitties on Catster. She misses them so much! Later that night, Mom took Auntie Linda back to her parents' house and they all went out to dinner. Dad didn't go since he goes to bed early when he has to work the next day.

We're sad though because Auntie Linda is moving her parents back to Chicago with her, so this will probably be the last time we will see her. Because of that, we are going to make sure we see her again before she leaves.

Love,
Mercy

P.S. Thank you to whoever gave our entire family (including the dogs) extra fish and bone treats!!

"HAPPY CATS TOGETHER" Salt and Pepper Shakers!

We received a gift today from ROCKY ANN! Since Milo and I are celebrating our 3rd Catster Anniversary, she picked out these adorable "Happy Cats Together" salt and pepper shakers to send to us. They aren't just ordinary shakers; they represent Catster Love because they're two cute kitties hugging each other and coordinate with Catster colors!! Both Milo and I have a new picture posing with our Catster-loving kitties.

A really cute card came with the gift. It's a pretty blue card on the outside and sunny yellow on the inside. There's a cut-out of a cat on the front so that the yellow shows through it.

I was also thinking about how salt represents Milo since he has alot of white fur and how I'm peppery-colored! Isn't that Rocky Ann clever?

Thanks, Rocky Ann!!

Love,
Mercy

Steak, Shrimp, and Cake!

I stayed up a little past midnight waiting in anticipation for that THIRD candle to show up on our cakes, but Mom finally said we had to go to bed because she had to work today. Well, leave it to Rocky Ann to be the first to see them show up shortly after we went to bed, and she let us know immediately, though we didn't see it for ourselves until this morning. I noticed earlier today she was giving us a big shout-out for this special occasion but I think she finally had to give her lungs a break. Thanks, Rocky Ann!!

Boogers was right behind Rocky Ann in seeing our new cakes. He's been drooling over the thought of having more cake to eat, and I know he's even happier now that there's steak and shrimp too! Poor Boogers, he's been waiting all day for Milo and I to have our pieces first, so that he can have his. We've had our pieces of cake now, so Boogers, you can dig in, along with everycat lined up behind you!!

I noticed Violet announced our anniversary on his marquee, so I want to thank him for that! Violet is full of Purple Power!

Thanks so much to my friends who sent me Stars and Rosettes to honor this special occasion! You've made being here so much fun! I will be sending each of you personal pawmails, even if I don't get to all of them tonight.

Love,
Mercy

How Many Years Does it Take to be an Olde Catster Furt?

I don't know how many years it takes, but Milo and I will be celebrating our 3rd Catster Anniversary on Monday, August 6th!! Yep, diehard Catsterers!

Mom went digging in our closet last night for something for Milo and I to wear and we came out PURPLED. Bet VIOLET will like that. HAZEL LUCY, BOOGERS, and ALFIE have already pawmailed us about this upcoming occasion, GROVER sent us both congratulatory rosettes, and I did some Detective work and found out ROCKY ANN wrote about it in her diary! Thanks, pals, you cats are fast!! *giggles*

I've had a fun year with my old and new friends and appreciate each of you very much. Can't wait for another year full of good times!

Please stop by for CAKE, though you'll have to form a line behind Boogers...MOL.

CHEERS!

Love,
Mercy

Tranquilized by Hazel Lucy!

We are HAZEL LUCY'S first customers and proud owners of one of her Tranquility Blankets! You can see a picture of me lounging on it on my page. It's red and purple, measures approximately 20x24, and is nice and thick (double-strand). Not only that, included was a lime-green bonus blanket in the size she's been making for shelters, which you can see on my sister Pebbles' page. Customers can choose their two colors and will have a choice of a bonus blanket, hat or bonnet. But, no matter the color or size, it's special just because it was made with lots of Hazel Lucy love! Hey, maybe we need 9 more to keep things tranquil around here.

Thanks Cousin Hazel Lucy and her mommy! We'll make very good use of it!

Love,
Mercy

Big Bad Baby Twinkle - Diary of the Day!

I was happy to see that my funny gal pal, Big Bad Baby Twinkle (BBBT), was featured as Diary of the Day today (July 20th)!! She's the one who sent me the cool badges that are on the slideshow on my page. We exchanged pawmail on and off all day because she was just so excited!

I've often wondered what it would be like to sit in a room while BBBT, Skeezix, and Jeter Harris were having a conversation with one another! Wouldn't that be fun?!?

Love,
Mercy

Happy July! Happy Summer!

July and Summer is sure to be a fun time around here. There were lots of celebrations in and around our city today in honor of the 4th of July, with fireworks that will light up the skies tonight. This Summer will bring lots of outdoor festivals, arts and crafts shows, and music concerts that will offer a rich cultural experience for everyone, and I hope that means for us fur kids too!

This month, we also get a special visitor that we haven't seen since this past January. Auntie Linda, the mommy of Midnight, Popeye, and Samantha, will be visiting us again! You can be sure she and our Mom will be doing alot of shopping, including making a return visit to the Purrsnickety Pets boutique in Los Gatos, CA. Auntie Linda wants to go to San Francisco, too!

Tomorrow is a very special day at our house, because it's our DADDY'S BIRTHDAY! WOOHOO! Mom got him a Blue Ray High Definition DVD Player and we got him a couple of bottles of wine. They're going out to dinner at their favorite French restaurant called La Foret tomorrow night, and maybe we'll get some yummy leftovers!

Hope everyone has been enjoying the 4th of July holiday and Happy Summer to you too!

Love,
Mercy

Getting Ready for Fourth of July!

In case you're wondering about the bow that me and Melody are wearing on our heads, it's the same bow tie collar that my brothers are wearing. Mom was fooling around and look at what happened! Sofie, Pebbles, and Joy were lucky....this time, anyway. The collar came from our cute friends, Cali and Leo, whose mommy makes collars like these as well as mats, toys, dresses, and outfits! You can check out their mommy's website at PoshPetsByC.

Love,
Mercy

My Dad

That's right, my Dad is the King of My World! No shoulder is better than my Dad's to take a ride on. We have one-on-one conversations with each other and he understands me. And although he loves all of us, I have always been his favorite. For one, he likes the fact that even though I'm the oldest kitty in the house, I don't have that "Queen" mentality, and am just a happy-go-lucky type of kitty. Anyway, we know if Dad is the King than Mom has to be the Queen! *giggles*

Look at how many kitties there are in our family now, plus two doggies. Many of our dearest friends remember that when we joined Catster, it was just me and Milo. Believe me when I say my Dad is no pushover, but he has a heart of gold and, of course, he has a hard time saying "no" to the Queen. *laughs*

Happy Father's Day, Dad! Thanks for EVERYTHING that you do for our family!

Love,
Mercy

Mom's Got Buttons!

Mom received an unexpected package today from the meowmie of my gal pal Big Bad Baby Twinkle (BBBT)!! Her name sounds tough but she's just a softie. When you mention my brother Milo's name to her, she turns into butter. Anyway, inside the package was a sweet note and 16 buttons. There are a couple of buttons with pictures of me and a couple with pictures of Milo. Others have messages such as "Save a Life, Adopt a Pet", "Cat Lover", "Wuv Me", and "Amo Mi Gato". But, Mom's favorites are the ones that have pictures of BBBT herself, and her sisters Sweet Cee and Princess Queen of Kitties!

Thanks BBBT and her meowmie! They will be proudly worn and displayed by my mom, but not before me and Milo take some pictures next to them!

Love,
Mercy

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Can you believe there are 10 cats in this family now? When we first joined Catster in 2004, it was just me and Milo. As you can imagine, there are just not enough hours in the day to keep up with everything we'd like to on Catster in a timely manner, but we're doing the best we can. One of the things I enjoy doing in my spare time is playing the role of Detective Mercy and helping Samoa solve anonymous rosette mysteries. She's a great boss!

I've been a nice big sister to Enzo and Melody. As a matter of fact, when I found them sleeping in *my* spot in the bed next to Mom the last couple of nights, I just went and slept at the foot of the bed instead. I do my "zoomies" every morning and have been trying to get them to chase me, but they usually can't get up to the high places that I do. I know it won't be long before they can though.

Mom is often asked how she manages with all of us. Well, we don't fight over food, beds, or toys. The most we ever do to each other is tackle one of us when he/she doesn't feel like being tackled! We've gotten rid of all of the houseplants and snagged all the drapes we've wanted to early on in our careers. Automated litter boxes--a must!!!

I'm looking forward to Cuppycake Joy's and Cuppycake Dexter's 1st birthdays tomorrow! Can't believe they are turning ONE already, and they are just too cute in their matching birthday outfits!

Love,
Mercy

Mother's Day

Hope all Catster moms had a great day today!! Our mom enjoyed spending the entire day with us!

I caught the suspect who *helped* us send a card to our mom. I was right! It was Klemy Q-Tip and family....sneaky but sweet!

About Enzo and Melody, I have been very nice to the little cuties. I guess I'm just use to this by now!

Thanks to Hazel Lucy, Snowmitts & Co., Wally, Bellsnickles, Hannah, Midnight, Simba, and Mercy for the Mother's Day Rosettes and to Rocky Ann for the Mother's Day Star! I also received a nice anonymous rosette today from the Alpha Cat!

Love,
Mercy

Mother's Day Cards

Rocky Ann sent our mom a very sweet Mother's Day card last week! Thanks to Rocky Ann and her mommy for being so nice!

Another Mother's Day card came in the mail today and it was signed on behalf of all of the fur family members in our house, including the dogs! The return address says it's from the "Furbabies", but we didn't send it. This is a case for Detective Mercy! My clue is the postage meter stamp that says it was sent from Royal Oak, MI! I think I know who sent it and I'm going to accuse them right now!

Love,
Mercy

Furbabies = Furbies!

The kittens that Mom and Dad rescued have their own page! Check out these cuties and follow their stories.

Love,
Mercy

Rescue Mission a Success! New Picture Added

YAY! Earlier today, I wrote that my Mom and Dad were working on rescuing five kittens from a neighbor's yard. The neighbors could not handle the situation (another story to be shared elsewhere), but were open to letting my parents try to get the kittens. Anyway, they were able to lure three of them out from under some bushes with food, lots of human meowing (MOL) and patience. Mom was amazed at how easy it was to pick them up and put them in the carrier. The last two were more difficult to find so Mom and Dad had to take a break and brought the three home and put them in one of our bathrooms.

After making some phone calls to rescue places who gave great advice but really did not have "room" for more kittens, my parents went back to the neighbor's house. This time, momma cat had lured the remaining two babies to the front side of the house under lots of shrubs but ran away when Mom approached. This new location actually turned out to be a good thing.

The two remaining kittens had scooted off and were between the wood fence and a shed. It was a small area that my parents could not just walk into. So, Mom crawled under the shrubs to get to one side of the fence while Dad went to the other neighbor's yard to borrow a ladder so he could get to the other side. The cute thing was, Mom saw a little kitten butt and tail sticking out on her side! She could barely get her hand between that area but was actually able to get one of them out with a couple of her fingers and thumb! That left one more which she could see through a hole in the fence. Once Dad got into the other side she had to tell him where the kitten was and the kitten huddled and just let Dad pick him up. Amazing.

My Mom wants me to tell you that these kittens are adorable of course! No fighting, hissing, or scratching. She thinks they are about 4-5 weeks old and they all have a vet appointment on Monday. They have to stay in the bathroom until then to protect us.

I don't believe 13 cats are in our future on a long-term basis, but they are safe with us right now. My parents and another neighbor (our cat-sitter) are working together to trap the momma cat. Can you see my Mom dressing up 13 kitties for Catster holiday pictures?? MOL!! Maybe you can, but my Dad can't, even though he was there through the whole operation and is really a special guy.

If you're interested, please pawmail me before my Mom starts naming them! *giggles* If she gives them real names she's going to have to start practicing crying too!!

Love,
Mercy

Rescued Kittens Need Good Homes

Dear Friends,

Mom and Dad have just rescued three out of five kittens from a neighbor's backyard. They will be going back to try to rescue the other two today and hopefully also trap their momma cat sometime soon. Momma cat came around while they were there but ran away when Mom tried to talk to her.

You can see a picture of the three on my page (photo 10). They are tabby/white, gray, and a tortie. They look pretty good..no obvious eye infections, but of course have to be examined by a vet, which we are trying to get done today as well. The tortie is squinting only because of the camera flash. They are in one of our bathrooms for now and are eating canned food on their own. So far, all the rescue centers are full but are being very helpful. We're continuing to make more phone calls.

If you're interested in any way, please pawmail me. Mom and Dad are here to do whatever possible to help them find great homes!

Love,
Mercy

Detective Mercy Solves her First Case!

I solved my first case as a detective for Samoa's Detective Agency! See that cute "Dancing Cat" image on my page? No, not the one of me....the little one! That image was used in the anonymous rosettes that were making the rounds on Catster pages and making us all smile and dance!

The perpetrator was........ Detective Oly!!!

We were visiting the page of our little friend Tang yesterday when we noticed that Oly's sister Mercy had signed his Guestbook. Then we went over to visit his brother Tinker's page and saw that he received a "Dancing Cat" rosette just this past Saturday! Tinker and his family don't post in the forums much (that we know of) so we knew it was someone who recently visited his page and sent that rosette. I sent Mercy and Oly a p-mail and Oly confessed today!!

Thanks for all the fun Oly!!!

Love,
Mercy

P.S. Thanks also to the cat that left me a sweet BLUE anonymous rosette! I wish you would tell me who you were! There are still a bunch of anonymous rosettes I haven't been able to figure out!

Cute Pants!!!

I received an anonymous Star today that said "Cute pants"!!! I looked down and all around but didn't see any pants!!! Maybe I've lost them!!?? Seems like I have a personal mystery to solve. If anycat finds my pants laying around, let me know!

Thanks for the Star, whoever you are!

Love,
Mercy

A New Job and a Sweater to go with it!

I'm officially a detective for Samoa's Detective Agency and I have a badge on my page to prove it! I haven't been very good at helping to solve any cases yet but I'm working on it. Thanks for hiring me, Samoa!

Next, I have a new sweater that Mikimoto's mom knitted for me! It's neon green so now I can be seen a mile away. Not good for detective work unless I'm going undercover. Miki's page shows her wearing one in neon green and one in purple passion! The sweater was packed nicely in a box with the words "bark' n boots" grip trex, all-condition, all-terrain, all-season, and paw wear, all over it! Why? Because Miki has a wonderful dog brother named Otto, a registered service dog!

Thanks Miki and Miki's mom! I'm taking over my mom's closet!

Love,
Mercy

Boomer the Birdy

It all started when I set up my guestbook for my birthday back on March 1st. One day I saw a post from Boomer the Birdy from Petster! He told me he had been visiting my page for over two years and was my birdy fan!! It was so cute and he still drops in occasionally and leaves me messages in my guestbook. I noticed something else when I visited his page tonight...he seems to have many kitty fans, but the one that caught my attention was our very own Cheyanne. I haven't chatted with Chey in quite awhile and should drop her a line. I think Boomer may have or still has, a dog on Dogster?! I'll have to ask him!

Love,
Mercy

Ever Have One of Those Days? Anonymous Rosette

Okay, who's the funny kitty who just left me that hilarious anonymous rosette with the video clip of the penguins????? Mom is cracking up!! Does this have something to do with what happened Saturday night when we were kenneled with the exception of Milo? If so, the penguin doing the smacking was more like what my Mom felt like!!! You would not have wanted to be in our house that night for sure. I'm glad we, including Rocky Ann, were freed by morning, and sorry to hear it happened to some others as well.

Thanks for the laughs anonymous rosette-giver! Mom needed that!!

Love,
Mercy

A Package!

The much anticipated package from Wally arrived!! He had this cool crinkle bag made for me and I have a picture of me playing in it on my page. I love the bold colors and butterflies on the fabric plus all the noise it makes. But, that wasn't the only thing in the box. There were treats, including catnip pawbreakers, unique toys, and a really cute magnet. Oh, and I have to mention the tissue paper, which was super fun, too! Mom took lots of pics of us playing with everything and we'll have to share some of those with everyone soon.

Thanks, Wally!! That was very nice of you to take a pause from "dancing on the ceiling" to get the package out to me!

Love,
Mercy

I Fell Out the Window!

Yep! I fell out the window last Saturday! Don't worry, I'm fine, and actually found it fun. Mom had opened the screened window in the office, which is about three feet from the ground. She knew several of us were looking out the window from the cat condo that was in front of it but we were fairly quiet. Next thing you know, there was a loud bang, sending Reebok, Pebbles, and Nike running out of the room. The screen had fallen on top of the bush outside. When mom stuck her head out the window she saw me behind the bush, calm and ready to do a little exploring. Then she came outside and instead of grabbing me, she talked to me and coaxed me to the front door, but not before I sniffed everything along the way! Luckily for her, I have always been very good about coming when called. A sure sign that the screen needed replacing, but what fun that was for me. I wanna do it again!

Love,
Mercy

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh...I Got a Blue Attitude!

When I was first approached about entering the Babes in Blue contest, I said I probably wouldn't but that I was interested in donating a prize or two. We don't have much blue stuff in the house, even though we know we could send mom out to shop. Then, one night, we were looking at the stroll and thought maybe it would fun just to enter me, but probably not my sisters. We did have the blue collars already (I'm wearing two of them), and thought maybe we could come up with something. One night, after mom came home from work, she went and got the only blue dog bed in the house and put it behind me. Then she put the collars on me and wrapped the blue scarf she knitted, which she happened to wearing that day, around my body. Well, so much for just entering "me" in the contest because now all the girls in the family are in it!

Thanks Apache for hosting the contest! We're having fun!

Love,
Mercy

Daily Diary Pick!

If only I stayed up an hour or so later last night when I updated my diary, I would have seen that I was one of Catster's Daily Diary Picks today!

Thank you to my pals for the rosettes, group posts, and pawmails today congratulating me! I think I slept through most of the day. This Daylight Savings Time stuff is throwing me off-schedule so I didn't check my email right away.

I saw that my friend Spot is the Diary of the Day today and I want to send my congratulations to him! His sister Haley Ann is one of my gal pals and jewelry designer!

Love,
Mercy

Babes in Blue

Sofie and I thank the anonymous rosette giver who left each of us a Random Act of Catness rosette yesterday! Seems as though we were noticed in the Babes in Blue Contest Stroll. Going "blue" has been fun so far and we just might get a little bluer very soon.

Love,
Mercy

Is the Party Ever Over?

Mom has gotten so behind in taking pictures of all the wonderful gifts our friends have sent to us in the past couple of months. The truth is, even though Mom showed us the gifts, she kept them in the pretty boxes and bags until she could take pictures. Our house looks like a Hallmark and pet store combined!!! So.... to make it up to us, we're having a toy and treat party at our house this weekend!! That's right, as of yesterday, these gifts are taking over the entire house!!

I just added a slideshow on my page that shows only *some* of the nice things we've received. I'll be adding more pictures to it or we'll add additional slideshows to our family pages. Honey P. Sunshine sent us all these treats, mousies, and fun toys, "just because".....you'll see toys from Ripley.....toys from Grover and Dexter.....Klemy Q-Tip sent Reebok, Nike, and myself a variety of toys and handmade cards for our birthdays.....Jeter Harris sent Reebok and Nike a bunch of toys and even signed the card himself.....Cinderella, Ashlye, Sock, Simi, Awnee, and Jinx sent Reebok and Nike two of everything for their 2nd birthdays last month, which included "crazy circles", tons of treats, and other toys...PLUS, I just received a big box from them today and inside was a Cat Spa (!!!!), yummy treats, and a bag of toys I can take to my next slumber party!! I was also told by another friend that I'll be receiving yet another package. THANK YOU!!! We sure had some fun today at our house!!! We just hope Mom and Dad don't trip on our toys.

We can't begin to thank our friends enough for the generosity you've shown to our family with your gifts, cards, pawmails, treats, rosettes/stars, and most of all, your friendship. We really do appreciate all of you!

Love,

Mercy, Milo, Sofie, Riley, Pebbles, Reebok, Nike, and Joy

P.S. Our Dad is doing fine, thank you! We're still trying to catch-up with our pawmails, diaries, etc. (sorry)

The End of a Great and Not-So-Great Week

What a great birthday week, thanks to all of you! I'll be taking down my birthday page in the next hour or so and I think I'm going to miss it, so I plan to leave my guestbook on my page for a little while. I was really tickled today when I saw that "Boomer Birdie" from Petster left me a message in my guestbook! He doesn't live with any dogs or cats and wrote that he has been visiting my page for two years! I have a bird fan and I never knew it until now!

My apologies for being so far behind in answering pawmails and thanking each of you personally for a great week. The typical excuse is that my Mom has been working alot of overtime. The new excuse is that my Dad just had a procedure (Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) closure) performed on Friday to close a hole in his heart that he was born with which was considered big. He is doing as good as can be expected. Our neighbor checked on us while Mom and Dad were gone and the dogs were kenneled and groomed. Speaking of the dogs, we did share some laughs when we saw the bows on their ears and collar. As soon as Mom took their pictures, Dad made sure they were removed quickly!

Thank you all again--we'll be playing catch-up in the coming week.

Love,
Mercy

Happy Birthday to Me!

Thank you to my wonderful friends who have been celebrating my 6th birthday with me!! I appreciate each and every one of your pawmails, rosettes, stars, and messages in my guestbook. It means alot to me!

My birthday party page will stay up through the weekend so you can let it "all hang out" over here as often as you'd like. My parents won't be home to chaperone the party on Friday and possibly Saturday, but since they see a few "guard dogs" at the party, they're not as worried. (Oh, really?)

Love ya!

Mercy

Birthday Party All Week!

My "Sweet Sixth" birthday is on Thursday, March 1st, but the party has already started right here on my page and will end sometime on Sunday, March 4th. Everyone is welcome to attend! If you're not shy, you can even sign my guestbook, as many times as you want. It shows ten posts per page, but you can read all the posts from the pull-down menu. It's my first time putting one on my page, so I hope it's reliable. I owe a big thanks to Dakota for the idea. Yep, he's a dog, but you'll probably recognize his kitty family. Our dogs attended his birthday party recently and had a great time, so I hope you do too!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE 02/26/07: I was given another white Random Act of Catness anonymouse rosette, telling me the anonymouse rainbow rosettes were not given by the same giver!

I was visited by the "anonymouse" rosette giver again! This time he/she left rainbow rosettes on Riley's and Pebbles' pages with no messages, until they got to mine. Another complimentary-type message with no signature, except they added *giggle*. I know they got that from my earlier diary entry today, probably to make fun of me. *giggles* THANKS!

Love,
Mercy

Random Act of Catness Anonymouse Rosette!!

Gee, thanks to the giver of my white "Random Act of Catness" rosette! For a moment after I saw the email notification, I wondered if I was going to be hit by the mysterious Blues Brothers, but there was no signature. However, this rosette came in around 2:11am Catster time, while I was still awake, and not only that, it came in just after we left Fido a rosette congratulating him for being Diary of the Day!! (Sorry, Fido, I can't link to your page because I can't find your id on your page). If in fact HQs is behind the big mystery, they know I'm living a bit "too close to home!" When I saw the latest clue in Fido's last anonymous rosette mentioning "West Coast 101" that was too easy. Just because I don't post in forums much or write in my diary that often, doesn't mean I don't read! *giggles* Besides, has anyone looked at Sparky? Looks like a bandit to me!

Love,
Mercy

Bada Bling!

Yay! I received my new bling collar that Haley Ann's mom made, just in time for my Birthday! Her mom made several beautiful necklaces for the girls in our family some time ago. This time, my mom asked her to think BIG, FUN, and REDS!! Haley's mom was worried that it would come out looking like a caterpillar on drugs, but now that she's seen me model it, she is sooo proud and pleased, and she should be! For those of you who saw my Christmas 2006 picture where I was hoping Santa would bring me some "real" pearls, I got several of those too as an added surprise!! I'll be sharing those with my sisters.

Even Wally's grandpaw approved! I've seen a picture of Wally's grandpaw and he's cute! Don't be jealous, Wally.

I feel glamorous, thanks to Haley Ann's mom!

Love,
"Happy Girl" Mercy

Samantha's and Shadow's Valentine's Day Wedding!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today we are honored to be part of the wedding between beautiful Samantha and handsome Shadow, who will become fur-husband and fur-wife. Please have a seat and join us for this special occasion at Samantha & Shadow's Wedding Page .

Congratulations Sammie and Shadow!

Love,
Mercy

P.S. Don't get any ideas fellas, cuz' I'm never getting married! More about my love life in my next diary entry.

Sunshine of our Lives

Much to our surprise, we received a very curious box this week. When we opened it, our jaws dropped!! We found a basket that was stuffed, and I mean "stuffed" with a huge variety of kitty treats! Digging further in the box, we found the cutest card and then a gift bag "stuffed" with kitty toys, enough to keep us happy for a millenium. Oh, and there were even a couple of canned green beans for the dogs which they truly appreciated, along with Milo, who loves to drink the juice.

Who do we have to thank??? Honey P. Sunshine, one of our dearest and first friends that we met on Catster back in 2004.

Thanks, Honey, you are the SUNSHINE of our lives, and we love you!

Hugs,
Mercy, Milo, Sofie, Riley, Pebbles, Reebok, Nike, and Joy (a.k.a. the Kitty Gremlins)

Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride

For the second time in our Catster lives, most of our feline family members are going to be bridesmaids (Joy, the flower girl) and groomsmen at the virtual wedding between Samantha and Shadow. Their wedding date is set for none other than February 14th, Valentine's Day. How romantic is that?! They're very excited and so are we.

The color theme is rose-pink, so we'll have fun shopping for the right outfits and also the purrfect gifts for the bride and groom. Read about our shopping plans in Sammie's diary.

The girls just received their bridesmaid/flower girl gifts from Samantha today. I put a picture of my bracelet on my page and Joy put a picture of her bracelet on hers. They're beautiful.

Love,
Mercy

Shopping Spree Between Two Catster Moms

As mentioned in my last diary entry, we got to meet Midnight's, Popeye's, and Samantha's mom, also known as my Auntie Linda. First, my Mom went to pick her up at her parents' house and they were so nice to her. Then she brought her to our house to meet us. Of course, she got to meet sociable me first because I like to greet all visitors. She also got to meet Milo, Riley, and Pebbles. Joy started to head downstairs but when she realized someone new was in the house, she ran back upstairs and went under the bed where Sofie, Reebok, and Nike were. Auntie Linda talked to us, petted us, and even took our pictures. I even squirmed and wiggled for her on the cat tree while she was talking to me. Then she went and looked at the others under the bed.

The two Moms headed off to the town of Los Gatos where they had a nice lunch and talked about us, of course. Then they went shopping and spent the most time at the Purrsnickety/BowWowzer pet boutique. They were talking about how none of us really favored wearing hats but tolerated them for short periods for pictures. So then what did my Mom buy? TWO hats for us and no toys! Well, actually, Auntie Linda insisted on paying for one of them and also found lots of goodies for her own kitties as well as gifts. After a few more stops and a coffee break, they went back to Auntie Linda's parents' house and chatted some more before Mom came home. They had a good time.

We're looking forward to seeing Auntie Linda again later this year when she returns to our area, and you can be sure they'll be making a stop in Los Gatos again.

Purrs,
Mercy

My Mom Meets Another Catster Mom!

Yep, what better way to start the New Year than to meet a Catster Mom in person!

Last year, Mom and Dad went to South Lake Tahoe, CA and met Cassie, Doogie and their human parents. Tomorrow, they will meet the Catster Mom of Midnight, Popeye, and Samantha, who is out here in our town visiting her parents. Isn't that cool? Being the social butterfly that I am, I plan to be the first to introduce myself (not including my friendly dog brothers who have a hard time controlling themselves).

The two moms plan to spend most of the day in the town of Los Gatos, where one our favorite stores, Purrsnickety/BowWowzer pet boutique, is located! I am sure goodies will be brought back for us!

More soon....

Love,
Mercy

Another Year Gone By

It's hard to believe another year has gone by. Our family would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your friendship this past year. It's been alot of fun. This is also the only way we know how to thank the anonymous rosette and star givers. One of these days, we hope to figure out who they are!

Enjoy the final days of the year 2006, and best wishes to you all for a wonderful 2007!

Love,
Mercy, Milo, Sofie, Riley, Pebbles, Reebok, Nike, Joy, and Mom

2006 World's Coolest Dog and Cat Show

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners of this year's World's Coolest Dog and Cat Show! Nike and I are honored that our pictures were chosen as the winners of the Captivated Cat and Sitting Cat categories.

Thank you Catster/Dogster HQs, the sponsors, judges, and everyone who took the time to place your votes for us. The contest was alot of fun to enter and we got to see so many of your great photos. It took us a little over a week to enter all of our photos. Mom is the photographer in the house, but it was my Dad who suggested that my winning photo be entered in the Captivated Cat category.

We're going to spend the next year getting ready for the 2007 contest!

Love,
Mercy

Morgan the Pirate Gato Makes the News!

Most of you don't know this, but Morgan the Pirate Gato's foster mom and my mom are friends who work together from opposite sides of the States. So today when Morgan's foster mom IM'd my mom at work to tell her that Morgan was FAMOUS because he is featured in a news article, she was excited for them and wanted me to share the news in my diary. Read the article here.

Morgan's foster mom is a volunteer with Save a Sato and is currently making kitty beds to help with Morgan's much needed cataract surgery. Busy lady! We're placing our order for new beds this weekend.

Purrs,
Mercy

Look Ma, No Hats!

After wearing hats for Halloween and Thanksgiving, Mom decided we would not need to wear hats for our holiday pictures. The funny thing is, our dogs ended up wearing the hats that originally were going to go on our heads!

We put together a holiday video that is on my page and really go crazy while listening to it. Let me know if it has the same affect on you. We were inspired to use this song after hearing it on a video that Love Muffin had on her page. Thanks for the inspiration Love Muffin!

Love,
Mercy

Bubble Trouble

I just finished taking a "bath", but not by choice. I like walking around the edge of the tub while it's being filled with water and fragrant bath bubbles. For the fourth time, I slipped off the edge and into the hot steaming water. Each time mom was there to grab me while I was hanging on the edge with my front paws in a struggle to get out.

Mom likes all of the bubble bath mixtures made by Bath and Body Works, and this month's fragrance is Brown Sugar and Fig. She must be thinking about that brown sugar she'll be using for the candied yams for Thanksgiving. But what about fig? All I know is, I smelled pretty good and looked quite "bubbly". After I was towel-dried, I read the label on the back of the bottle:

RICH - This enticingly warm fragrance combines ripe fig, creamy coconut milk, caramelized brown sugar, and soft, velvety musk.

Naturally Pampering Ingredients: Soothing Chamomile, Conditioning Sweet Almond Oil, Comforting Honey

Maybe next month's fragrance will be Candy Cane and Pine?

Love,
Mercy

Photo Shoots

We're often asked about our photo shoots for holiday pictures so I thought it was time to write a diary entry about them. I'll tell you what Mom does to prepare for them as well as what generally goes through our minds during them.

Mom picks a day on the weekend and sets everything up in one room and gets it all done within four hours with breaks in-between. Being curious kitties, we're always around to see what she is doing and she lets us hang around to smell and play a little with the outfits before they're put on us. She brings toys and treats in the room to get our attention for the camera. When she's ready, the door is shut and the lucky kitties who are in the room at the time go first! Some of us squirm a little more than the others while we're getting dressed but we've never hissed or tried to hurt Mom. She works pretty quickly though she looks pretty silly sometimes trying to help position us and get our attention.

This is how we generally feel:

Me: "Okay, what am I this time?" I think we can all do without the hats but I stay pretty relaxed even though sometimes I'd rather walk (not run) around.
Milo: "This is so boring." Milo usually turns his back to Mom and curls up and tries to take a nap. Then she has to turn him around and get him to stay awake.
Sofie: "Eeek! Is this outfit going to eat me?" Sofie stays still because of this and she can be camera-flash sensitive, which is nothing new for alot of us. But, even without clothes on, don't we all sometimes have that sheepish look?
Riley: "I'm cool with this." Riley is super easy. At first it's as though he wonders if he can actually walk with clothing on so he'll just sit there.
Pebbles: "Oh, my!" Pebbles is always bright-eyed for the camera.
Reebok: "What will my best friend Jeter think?" Reebok is very calm.
Nike: "How do I get out of here?" Hey, one out of eight isn't bad.
Joy: "Nobody warned me about this!" Joy did so well with her first photo shoot for Halloween.

That about sums it up. Mom says shutting the door to a room beats chasing us around the house with the camera. She's very proud of how well we do. We're just glad she doesn't take all day to do it!

Love,
Mercy

VideoEgg and Instant Messaging Fun

We've been having alot of fun adding videos to our pages and watching the other videos, especially the live ones. After corresponding with so many of you and looking at your photos, it's really special to see you living and breathing in your own environment. Our favorite feature on VideoEgg is not the full size view, but the full screen view, which is awesome.

The other new feature we've been having fun with, when time permits, is Instant Messaging. We've even used the webcam feature and showed some of our family members to others while chatting and vice versa. That has brought on lots of giggles. Last weekend while I was IM'ing with Sunrise, she asked if I would be one of her Catster sisters. When I asked what would be expected of me, her reply was "Just to love me like a sister". That was so sweet.

Love,
Mercy

The Hawaiians

We enjoy all the letters we receive but thought this one was particularly cute, mostly because an 8-year old animal lover has given our family a special name. With their permission, I am posting the letter:

Hi--

This is Misty, Sunny, and April's human mom! My 8-year old son loves looking at Catster and Dogster. Everyday he looks at the different cats and dogs, and he loves all your animals and all your pictures. He refers to your family as "the Hawaiians" because he loves the pictures of your furbabies in Hawaiian outfits! He is not allowed to ask others to be friends, so had been bugging me to ask "the Hawaiians" to be friends. So one day we looked at all your animals and read all about them and invited them to be friends. Thank you so much for saying yes! My son was thrilled, and we really enjoyed reading all about your dogs and cats!

Later today, after I told our friends about this diary entry:

My son was up early before school looking at Catster and read it. He was so excited he came and woke me up!

Well, "Son", the Hawaiians are happy to be friends with your family, too!

Love,
Mercy

Call me Sistah Sleuth Mercy

Sistah Sleuth Mercy--my new nickname that was given to me today by ?????, the Super Sexy Soul Sistahood Secret Society group, after solving Case 1 - The Secret Sistah, in the Masterpiece Mysteries forum. It was an intriguing, fur-raising mission, but lots of fun. I can hardly wait to see what Case 2 is going to be about and who the next Sistah Sleuth will be!

"Hey sistah, go sistah, soul sistah, flow sistah,
Hey sistah, go sistah, soul sistah, go sistah..."
(The lyrics that always flow through my mind when I think of my Sistahs)

Fun fact: Patti LaBelle lives a mile from Hazel Lucy !! Maybe I should invite myself over to Hazel's house!

To the ????? !!!

-Forever a Sistah Mercy-

Mysterious Friend Requests

UPDATE: This diary entry worked! The owner wrote to me and told me she had just found Dogster/Catster yesterday, owns 10 dogs, 4 cats, but only had one digital picture of her dog Abi which she added, and that when she gets her cat pictures added she'll send a friend request again. So, the mystery is solved this time and I may just have to post a diary entry the next time this happens.

================================================ =====================

I receive these types of requests often. They contain messages from the requester with no links to their pages. We've written to HQs in the past and the explanation has been that either they are registered with no cat profiles or that there was some other glitch. On a couple of occasions, I found out the requests were from dogs who wanted to be friends with me vs. my doggie brothers and wrote to tell me so---imagine that! Whatever the reason, this entry is to let them know that if I didn't accept their friend requests it's for this reason and not because I didn't want to be friends!! I didn't have a way to let them know so I hope they read this and try again.

A kitty wants to be friends with Mercedes (Mercy)!

The guardian of - who likes your page for Mercedes (Mercy) but does
not know who you are - has sent you a personal message.... and it goes on with the message and no page link(s).

Lovin' life,
Mercy

Second Anniversary as Catster Members

Milo and I now have two candles on the cake on our pages in honor of being Catster members since August 6, 2004!

Dad, who is an avid watch collector, heard about Dogster on the Timezone.com forum when one of the members mentioned it. Our dogs then joined Dogster on July 22, 2004. We were really excited to learn that Catster was coming and joined the day it was launched. There were just a couple hundred members initially and not as much to do then as there is today. We've watched Dogster and Catster grow into amazing sites.

If it weren't for Catster, our cat family would not have gone from two to seven in a short period of time. Looking at all the cats gave my Mom the urge to increase our family, and Dad was so supportive.

We owe a BIG THANKS to the Dogster/Catster crew. We're proud to be a part of this community and have had alot of fun and met some wonderful canines/felines and their owners (or in some cases, their staff).

Love,
Mercy and family

An Unexpected Visitor of the Dog Kind

Lately, it seems my Dad is always helping someone while on walks with our dogs. First, there was the woman in her car who pulled over and asked him to help her get a grasshopper out of her car. A little grasshopper!! I could have had it for lunch. Dad told her she'd have to hold the dogs' leashes which she might regret, since our dogs are "exhuberant", but she insisted she wouldn't mind. He set the little grasshopper free and the woman was forever grateful. Silly woman!

On another occasion while Dad was walking our dogs, he saw another neighbor's dog he recognized that was running loose around the park by our house. He got the dog to follow him to the front door of where he lived and knocked. The owner was shocked but grateful. Apparently, the house is for sale and somehow the dog got out during an open house.

This week topped it all. Again, Dad was walking our dogs and saw another dog running loose that he didn't recognize. It was a cute little Beagle. So, he brought our dogs home and went back to look for the dog with a leash. The dog must have sensed my Dad was a good guy cuz' he ran right up to him and let him leash him. He had a collar but no tags! Then, he brought this dog to OUR house! It's been over 100 degrees here so he couldn't leave the dog in our garage and didn't want to leave him outside so instead he got to run around inside the house. The dogs were thrilled but not the kitties!

After feeding and watering our so-called guest, Mom made some signs and they all went walking around the neighborhood with him. Fortunately, they ran into some kids who recognized the Beagle and showed them where he lived. No one was home but they noticed the garage door was deliberately raised about a foot, which was plenty of room for this little guy to escape! They left a sign on the front door and had no choice but to bring the dog back to our house again! Six hours of watching three dogs running around in the house was about all we could handle, so Mom took the Beagle back to his house just to see if his owners had come home, but they hadn't. She ran into a woman walking her own dog who was familiar with this dog but had to bring her own dog back home first because he was "aggressive". She returned and knocked on the door of a neighbor who lives across from the Beagle and the nice lady there immediately offered to take the dog until the owners returned home. She had two little Shih-Tzus of her own, so Mom was comfortable with that. We sure were relieved Mom returned home with only a leash.

About an hour later, after we had all gone to bed, a kid called asking where her dog was, so Dad told her. She thanked him and hung up. Dad plans to have a "talk" with the Beagle's owners.

This diary entry was about a dog, but dogs are part of our family and we were all affected by it. We think our Dad is great, but sometimes we wish he weren't such a hero!

Meowing out until next time,
Mercy

Cat of the Week

How nice it was to be named Cat of the Week on the Fourth of July! I was helping my Mom do some work that morning, and later when we looked at my Catster page, we wondered why I had suddenly received a bunch of new rosettes. It was when we read them that we learned I was named Cat of the Week. Then we checked the home page and our email for the notification. We saw fireworks after that!

My "week" will be over any day now, so I wanted to say thank you again to Catster and every kitty and doggie (yes, I have dog pals) for your messages, treats, rosettes, and most of all, your friendship.

Love,
Mercy

My Dad

Some reasons why my Dad is special to me:

1. He nicknamed me "Mercy Me!" and I love it when I hear him call me that.
2. Once when I jumped up on his back to get to his shoulders and scared the daylights out of him, he still took me for a ride on his shoulders.
3. He handfeeds me chicken while I sit politely on a chair at the kitchen table.
4. My Dad takes time to entertain me, whether it's with the laser pointer or just by having conversations with me.
5. Dad is protective of his family and makes sure we're all safe and happy.
6. We share a secret that I'm his favorite. Shhhhhhhhhh!
7. Even though Mom is the one who takes care of our Catster account, Dad looks at our pages regularly and listens attentively whenever Mom talks about Catster.

These are just some of the things about my Dad that I love. He doesn't know this, but every night after he's asleep, I jump up on the bed and stare at him for a few minutes just to make sure he's really asleep, but I never try to disturb him. My Mom is the only one who witnesses this.

I love my Dad!

Love,
Mercy

What's in South Lake Tahoe, CA?

Just this week, Mom and Dad took Quincy and Cosmo (our dogs) to South Lake Tahoe, about a 3-1/2 hour drive from our house. They stayed in a dog-friendly cabin called Salsa's Chalet for four days and the dogs had the time of their lives running in meadows leash-free and swimming in the lake! The weather was perfect though they think the dogs would have enjoyed being there during snow season. Several visits were made to the local casinos but unfortunately, Mom and Dad will be keeping their day jobs.

But, what else is in South Lake Tahoe? None other than Cassie and Doogie of Catster, and they got to meet them! Isn't that cool? Not only were the human Moms and Dads soooo happy to meet each other in person, but Mom was especially thrilled to actually pet and carry Cassie and Doogie! Cassie was a ham and rolled on her back when Mom talked to her and Doogie was just as cool as can be. They saw each other every day and shared lots of laughs and took lots of pictures. Even though we weren't there, we were part of the conversations and always in their thoughts. They even looked at our Catster pages together.

I think Mom and Dad want to visit Cassie and her family yearly from now on. Our cat-loving neighbor Kim took such good care of us and we did great, even if we did miss the rest of our family.

Winks,
Mercy

My Custom Art Portrait

My custom art portrait arrived today, right on schedule, and I just put a picture of me posing with it on my Catster page!

We loved working with the artist, Kristi Koser. Mom and Kristi previously talked about the colors we had in the house and Mom also mentioned that she liked art with with a little "edge". Kristi delivered just that, and the picture here doesn't even do it justice!

Now we're working together to have the rest of the family painted, starting with our dogs, Cosmo and Quincy. It'll be great when all the portraits are done and hung together.

My portrait has now been added to Kristi's website, too!

Thanks, Kristi!

Love,
Mercy

Custom Art Portrait in the Works

One of the prizes I won in the 2005 Catster and Dogster World's Coolest Dog and Cat Show was a custom art portrait by Kristi Koser. Kristi gave me a choice between a watercolor or oil painting of a photo of my choice, and I chose an oil. She is awesome to work with and has already sent me an e-mail with a picture of her progress so far! It will be a generous 16"x20" in size, and my plan is to take a picture of it for my Catster page so everyone can see it.

UPDATE: Friday, March 10th

It's finished, it's finished! Kristi sent me another e-mail with a picture of the portrait and it's beautiful! It needs to completely dry so hopefully I'll get it in a couple of weeks, and then I'll have it framed.

UPDATE: Saturday, April 1st

I've been anxiously waiting for my portrait to arrive after Kristi told me she mailed it last week! I just checked the UPS delivery schedule and it's going to arrive on Monday, April 3rd!

Stay tuned!

Mercy

My Fifth Birthday

Dear Diary,

We celebrated March birthdays yesterday in the Squeaky and Fuzzy, for the Love of Toys group (for me and woofie Ginger), and today in the Terrific Tabbies group (for me and Jeter Harris, Lucivar Aristotle, Louis LeBeau, and Bubbie). All kitties and *gasp* doggies who were there had a great time.

Thank you again to every kitty and doggie (yes, I have dog pals who write to ME and not my own doggie brothers!) for all of your messages, treats, and rosettes. My birthday would not have been the same without you!

Before I knock this silly, homemade hat off my head and give it to the dog to destroy, I wanted to share a letter from my longtime friend, Big Bad Baby Twinkle, who couldn't join us today in the Tabbies group. I got her permission yesterday to post her letter in my diary today. She never fails to crack me up!

===========================================

Subjec t: Dial M for MISCREANT Sent: Tue Feb 28
Message:
Dat's what the M on my forehead reelly means (hee hee!)

Ahem, Lady Mercedes -- I must wish you a Pre-lated (vs Belated) Birthday greeting, as my Meowmie will be visiting her elderly auntie (who once told her to "Wash your cats!" -- aaaagh! The very thought of that!!) starting tomorrow, and unless I can get her up early so I can use da Puter before she leaves, she will be gone for a few days. I think Meowmie deliberately leaves every so often so that I can praktiss my good will (not) on da CatSitter to keep the CS on her toes.

May all your happiest wishes come true. May Pounce rain frm da sky. May birdies and mousies offer their plump boddies to you (hmm, maybe a bad idea, with da birdie floo going around.....), may ALL the doggers in da nayborhood line up in fronta yore howse, bow down to you and then take off running with their tales between their laigs, never to darken yore doorstep again . May all your kitty and doggy brudders and sisters put their party hats on and have a rockin good time with you and bring you LOTS of prezzints.

Be sure to give your Meowmie and Meowdad a kitty kiss to tell them "Thank you for Reskooing me so many years ago!"

I shall be thinking about you tomorrow and sending you my best wishes. If I could fit into Meowmie's Mow-dem I would Mow-dem over to you but I might get stuck -- how embarrisink!!!

Snuzzles and Acks to you on yore Very Speshul Day!!!!

BBBT

Tour of California Comes to Our City

We're very excited as the Tour of California is here in San Jose, and not only are they here, but they'll be cyling by the main road just outside of where my Mom works tomorrow, Wednesday, February 22nd! The road is the only way in and out of Mom's workplace, so employees won't be able to leave the facility for about five hours unless it's an emergency. They'll even have their own special spectator viewing area set up, and with 2,500+ employees, you can imagine what the cheering will sound like.

There are 16 teams with eight riders apiece. Three of the top 10 finishers in the 2005 Tour de France will be among the competitors. The overall winner gets $15,000, plus there's another $135,000 distributed to winners of stages and other competitions.

I can already visualize all the different colored jerseys and sure wish I had one to call my own. The Jelly Belly one would do just fine!

Later,

Mercy

Animal Radio's February Newsletter

In my last diary entry, I wrote about appearing in "40 Tricks to Train Your Human", an article written by Darlene Arden. Darlene and Aimee wrote a letter to me today to tell me that the article appears in Animal Radio's February newsletter, which I think is very cool! I hadn't heard of Animal Radio prior to this but found it to be interesting.

Here's the link to the newsletter and article if you'd like to see it:

Click here to see Animal Radio's February Newsletter

Meowing out,

Mercy

40 Tricks to Train Your Human by Darlene Arden

My friend Aimee, a lovely feline, asked me to share some photo space with her on her talented mom's website. Her mom is Darlene Arden, award winning author and journalist! I was thrilled to contribute a couple of photos that accompany her article, "40 Tricks to Train Your Human". It's a wonderful website, so take some time to meow through it all.

Click here to see Darlene's website

Click here to see Aimee's Catster page

Best wishes for good health and lots of fun in 2006!

Happy purrs,

Mercy

A Little Shoulder Ride Can't Hurt

Dear Diary,

Just call me Daddy's Girl. This morning, Dad was standing in front of the TV, so I jumped up on the coffee table behind him, sat down, and meowed, but he didn't turn around. Then I leaned to the left, leaned to the right, stood up, and even did a little tap dance ..... nothing. I couldn't stand it anymore so I jumped up on his back to get to his shoulders. Dad yelled something I didn't quite understand and the family ran for cover, except for Mom, who watched the whole thing and thought it was hilarious.

It was now very clear to Dad what I wanted. So, off we went for a ride around the house. Our first stop was in the kitchen to get me a treat, which I ate from the palm of his hand. Then the phone rang and it was Uncle Robbie, who called to talk about the new kitten they got. I wonder if Uncle Robbie heard me purring. Next, we went to the den to grab a magazine Dad left in there. I thought it would be Cat Fancy or something, but it was nothing like that. Our final stop was at the cat tree by the window. I agreed to jump off Dad's shoulder and prepared for an afternoon nap in my usual spot at the top.

Through the window I could see leaves falling gently from the trees, a sign of Autumn. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and I could almost smell the aroma of turkey and the trimmings. I love parties and guests. Our fur family has multiplied since last Thanksgiving, so I'll have to get up extra early to make sure I claim the spot in the empty baking dish like I did last year to remind mom that I'm there to help. There's nothing wrong with planning ahead of time, right? That's when I knew my cat dreams would be as sweet as candied yams.

When I woke up from my nap, I went looking for Dad again and meowed at him. This time, he picked me and put me on his shoulders. Smart man.

Purrs,

Mercy

What's New?

Hazel Lucy and Buddie are now officially married and what a beautiful wedding it was! It could not have been more purrfect, but then, they're a purrfect couple! We can hardly wait to see the honeymoon photos. Wonder what will happen after that? Will there be ummm...little Hazels and Buddies? One can only hope.

See it all here:

Click here to see Hazel Lucy's website

Click here to see Hazel Lucy's Catster page

Click here to see Buddie's Catster page

It's October and we all know what holiday is coming up, don't we? BOO!! We've been going through Halloween dress rehearsals the past month and to get into the spirit of things a little early, we'll have our photos up on our pages next weekend!

Meowing out,

Mercy

Upcoming Nuptials Between Two Catsters!

Hi All,

You're thinking..... "WHAT?!?" Yep, love has been in the air for quite some time between beautiful Hazel Lucy of Ardmore, PA, and handsome Buddie of Hendersonville, TN. Buddie finally asked for Hazel's paw in marriage and she said "YES!" You can imagine how honored we were when my sisters, Sofie, Pebbles, and I were asked to be bridesmaids for their virtual wedding, which will take place on Saturday, September 24, 2005! Hazel chose the color blue for her bridesmaids. You can see the wedding party, guests, bachelor party, bridal shower, virtual gifts, and more, on Hazel's website. Click on the links below and check back for updates. And guess what? All Catsters are invited! Just send a note to Hazel at the e-mail address on her website.

Click here to see Hazel Lucy's website

Click here to see Hazel Lucy's Catster page

Click here to see Buddie's Catster page

This has got to be the virtual wedding of the year!

Meows and purrs,

Mercy

You Know You Love Your Cat When

Dear Diary,

My mom and dad have always liked this poem because it summarizes how they feel about us, so they asked me to share it with you....

YOU KNOW YOU LOVE YOUR CAT WHEN

Their litter box costs more than your toilet.
You spend more at the pet store than the grocery store.
If they have an itch, you scratch it for them.
You wait an hour to go to the bathroom because they are sleeping on your lap.
You have more pictures of them than you do of your human family.
You lose your favorite sweater because they like to lay on it.
Their cat climber/perch costs more than your furniture.
You bring a bug, spider, or moth into the house for them to play with.
You run when they cry because they are standing in the kitchen sink waiting for you to turn the water on.
In spite of your allergies you get one.

--Author Unknown


Until next time.....Mercy

Weekdays

Dear Diary,

Weekdays at our house are pretty predictable. Dad leaves for work first and I stay on the bed with mom until it's time for her to get up to get ready to go to work. After mom gets dressed and takes care of that Milo who is always hungry, I run downstairs and head straight for the patio door. I stretch up to the door handle because I know that's how they make it open....then we all go outside and hang out for awhile. I get my favorite dental chew before mom leaves for work. Mom works close to home so she comes home at lunchtime and lets us out again. Then dad comes home a couple of hours later and lets us out. When mom comes home after work she lets us out again! We go out alot, thanks to living with our doggies! Ninety-nine percent of the time when they say "Mercy, time to go inside", I strut back in like a stylish girl! One-percent of the time I let them pick me up and bring me in but I give them a little quacky squeal first. They always say they're going to set up a camera to see what we all do when they're not home..but what do they think we're doing?

It's getting late now and I need to get my beauty sleep. I will rev up my engine, give one of them a massage (usually mom) before going to my special spot at the foot of the bed on mom's side where I have my own special blankie.

Sweet dreams...Mercy

Cat Fence-In

Dear Diary,

Last night before it got dark, I got to go check out the new yard. Unfortunately, the Cat Fence-In is still there--shucks. They never told you the story of what I use to do before that was installed on the wood fence. I use to climb the trees or vine trellises (sometimes right in front of mom and dad). A few times when they weren't looking I disappeared from the yard in the evening. Mom hollered for dad each time and he would grab the small ladder and a flashlight to look in neighboring yards and would never see me. We live three houses from the corner so dad would go out front to the corner house and call out to me in his special voice "Tsk tsk tsk, tsk tsk tsk, Mercy....tsk tsk tsk....Mercy, Mercy" and I would suddenly jump up to the top of the neighbor's fence and casually walk straight to dad, my hero, and he'd carry me home. I am a good girl (heh heh heh). I was never trying to run away, I just wanted to check the neighborhood out, you know? The exact thing happened two more times (they should have learned the first time), but I always knew my dad would come for me. They never let me out of their sight again in the backyard until they installed the Cat Fence-In.

Puurrr, purrrr.....Mercy

Remembering September 11th, 2001

Dear Diary,

Mom and dad reminded us to remember those who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001, so we huddled in the cat condo and said a little prayer before our afternoon nap. Aside from that, we have been in the house all day because our backyard is being re-landscaped and the new sod was put in today and now it's all done! I really wanted to go say hi to the landscaper and tried to open the sliding patio door by stretching up to the door handle like I always do, but to no avail. Maybe they'll let me out before it gets dark so I can check out the new smells.

P.S. We got wet food again today but mom said don't get too use to it. :-(

Stay cool......Mercy

The Day I was "Cat of the Day"

Dear Diary,

To celebrate my being Cat of the Day today, mom and dad let us have some wet food (yum), which we don't normally get. However, the reason that they had some in the kitchen cabinet was not because of us, but because it was used as a high-level treat for Quincy recently while he was in puppy school! Can you believe that? Anyhoo, I hope they'll read this and feel really guilty and give it to us more often. In spite of this, I know that they love me VERY much and I am their precious girl!

Let me close by saying......"Run like the wind, but don't break your human's toe while you're at it".

Later......Mercy