Another Birthday

Egad, are we really FOUR today? Hard to believe! Seems like just yesterday we were the kittens playing around in the video on our Catster pages. Well, happy birthday to meeeeeee! Oh, and to Boo, yeah, I almost forgot.

We've started a new birthday tradition, since our birthday is July 4th: we are warning all of our Catster catfriends out there to be careful on this day/night. Stay indoors tonight. It'll be too darn scary outside with all of those loud noises and bright lights! Crazy humans!

Peace!
Ivan

I've Been Away for a LOOOOONG Time!

Gosh, it's been a while, hasn't it? Mom is SO busy with work, taking care of us, and publishing a webzine that she just hasn't had time to help Boo and me post to Catster. Such a shame. I think we have a talent for dictating things to Mom and having her type them. Like this: Mom is the best human in the world! Hey, wait, I didn't dictate that! Something's wrong with the dictation machine! I mean, it's true, Mom IS the best human in the world, but I didn't happen to say that just then.

Anyway, Boo and I have been relatively busy since our last post. I love to pick on Boo, so he has a safe-spot on top of the trash can (sounds weird, but it's a really nice, stainless steel trash can with a foot pedal for the lid. It's very clean on the outside). Mom has to put trash in a paper shopping bag until Boo happens to leave his safe-spot, or she picks him up, uses the foot pedal to open the trash can, throws the trash in, closes the lid, and deposits Boo back in position. So Boo is busy protecting himself on top of the trash can, and I am busy getting into anything possible, especially if mom accidentally leaves clothes or dish towels laying around. I eat them!

Mom buys us toys all the time, but it's not easy finding toys that really engage us. We love the Bolt laser, and she recently got "Da Bird". She's been eyeballing it forever, but she had toys very much like it, so she stuck with those. But PetSmart had Da Bird on clearance, at a great price, so she picked one up. It's crazy, but Boo and I LOVE that thing more than any of the other feathers on a string toys. Not sure why, but it drives us crazy! Boo is pretty hard to motivate, and he runs around like a crazy cat when Da Bird is out. Mom's going to write a review of Da Bird on her cat product blog, The Ivan and Boo Chronicles at http://ivanandboo.blogspot.com .

We hope all of our Catster friends are well. We're going to start catching up on what you've all been up to now.

Peace,
Ivan

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my birthday (yeah, it was Boo's, too. We are littermates, after all). Boy, do I hate my birthday - for some reason the whole world seems to celebrate it by making a heckuva lot of noise, especially at night. So I hung out under the bed. Boo's a little more brave, and he joined me only when the noise got really bad around 9:30-10pm. Thank goodness that's right around when mom and dad came home, so we felt better.

We've been tweeting a lot on Twitter lately, so we haven't been on Catster much in a while. Even so, we do miss everyone here!

Peace,
Ivan

PS/ BTW we turned 3 years old yesterday!

Been Away Too Long

Wow, it's been a long time since we've posted. It's our human parents' fault. They'v been traveling (some pleasure, but also business), and just darn busy. But Muppet sent me a wake-up call and reminded me how many cool friends I have been missing by not being on Catster!

I've got to catch up with what everyone's been doing! Some things have been happening with us, too.

1. Mom figured out that I have separation anxiety and tend to use places other than the litterbox to relieve myself when she and dad are away for more than a couple of days. (Even though we have a lovely cat sitter who takes care of us!) Thankfully I mostly chose to go places where I didn't make a horrible mess, but still! Now that she has figured this out, I wonder if she'll never go away again!

2. Boo and I are TIRED of this diet we've been on! We have lost weight, but mom admits she can't tell how much -- she doesn't have a proper scale for us. She tried weighing herself, and then getting on her scale while holding one of us, but it just didn't seem accurate enough. However, I now have a waist. Are cats supposed to have waists? Boo does NOT have a waist, but mom did say that she can finally feel his ribs again, so apparently that's a good thing.

3. We do not particularly like our cousins Dev and Belle. They visited for a few weeks while dad was convalescing after surgery. Mom had to keep me and Boo in one half of the house, and Dev and Belle in the other. See, Dev had not been neutered yet. That was just craziness, putting his virile cat scent right in our faces! Of course we were going to go crazy! He has been neutered since we saw him, so maybe, if we ever meet again, it will go ok. And, now that we think about it, we really didn't have much problem with Belle. She really wasn't too bad.

4. I'm still eating fabric. Mom put a pair of socks on a book shelf in the bedroom, thinking I wouldn't even know they were there. But I can SMELL fabric a mile away! I had a nice chomp on those socks! I don't think you could call them socks after I was finished with them!

5. Last, we saw that Sockington asked his fans to submit videos to him as he shoots for 300,000 followers on Twitter. So we just had to make a video for him. We have no idea if he'll use it for something, but we'll see!

We hope all of our Catster pals are well. We'll be trying to catch up over the weekend.

xo,
Ivan

The Humans are Home!

Oh my Bast, it was SO BORING around here for two weeks with no humans to pester! Well, some lady would come in every other day to refill our automatic feeders and refill our water and scoop the non-Robotic litterbox (the Robotic one does not need scooping). But we don't really know her so we didn't feel like coming out to pester her when she was here.

But now our human mom and dad are HOME. They smell very weird and exotic, but they're home. All we have to do is constantly rub our facial pheromones on them, and eventually we won't notice the odd smells anymore.

Ah, now it's time to go wrestle with Boo at mom's feet! It's no fun wrestling with him when mom's not here to scold me when I get too rough!

xo,
Ivan

We Survived the Invaders!

[Sigh] It is SOO GOOD to have the Invaders OUTTA HERE! We have our home back to ourselves. Right now I'm sprawled sleepily across the computer desk (it has a pull-out keyboard tray, so that leaves the desktop for me!). Boo is in the KittyWalk Cozy Climber. The Invaders really liked that thing, but we have reclaimed it!

However, now mom's pulled out that suitcase of hers. We know what that means. Dang it, just when we were enjoying having the place and mom and dad to ourselves, they're going to leave!

Our regular caretaker, who takes care of us when the folks have to leave and can't take us with them, is having surgery, so we have a substitute. She's very nice. She waved and cooed to us as we hid under the bed when she came over to get "The Tour". Just like our other caretaker, she'll probably never see us unless she bribes us with treats!

Anyhow, this means I'll be absent from Catster for a while yet again. I gotta figure out how to work that darn computer! I hope all my pals and angel friends out there are doing well.

xo,
Ivan

LitterRobot Exercises

I love the LitterRobot. When it starts doing its thing (rotating to clean the litter), I stand on the entry platform and stick my head inside. That makes it stop right in the middle of whatever it's doing. I sniff, and then I get down, and a few seconds later it starts rotating again. Then I stand on the platform and stick my head in again, and it stops again!

Great fun! My goal is to see how long I can make it take to perform a complete cleaning cycle. When I don't interfere, it takes a minute or so (I'm guessing - I haven't timed it as I don't have a watch!). With my intervention, so far I'm up to a couple of minutes and it hasn't finished the cycle yet!

Boo wants to use it but he's going to have to hold it until I'm done having my fun. Teehee!

[I have no financial interest in the LitterRobot. Only potty interest!]

xo,
Ivan

No Time!

Since my last diary entry, we simply have not had time to write. Dad had surgery and is recovering, and mom's working really hard at her office to prepare for the time she'll be out, when she and dad visit that You Kay person.

The Invaders (Belle and Dev) are still here, but dad thinks he'll be well enough on Monday or Tuesday to take them back to the mountains. Then things will calm down here for a while. We love our cousins, but they drive us crazy!

We are behind in keeping up with all of our pals on Catster. If any of our friends got DDP or COTD or COTW while we've been incomunicado, CONCATULATIONS and we're sorry we missed it!

xo,
Ivan

Difficult to Write

I've had trouble writing since Scooter made her way across the bridge. She was such a trouper until the end! Shortly before Scooter continued her journey, our mom's 99-year old grandmother did the same. It's inconceivable to experience the loss of such wisdom and experience all packed into a small, wizened frame, and this goes for both Grandma AND Scooter. But Grandma liked cats, so perhaps she will run into Scooter and they can exchange life stories and eventually figure out that they have a sort of connection through Catster.

Anyhow, things are still hectic here with The Visitors (mom made us call them that, not "The Invaders"). We don't mind Belle so much. Just ballsy Dev. So we're keeping the house divided a bit longer. Mom and dad switch cat duty every night. Tonight she's with Belle and Dev and dad is with us. Then next night it'll be the other way around. This will go on until dad is well enough to drive Belle and Dev back to their mountain home. Then shortly thereafter, mom and dad go off on a trip to see someone named the Yoo Kay. Mom ordered a reconditioned Litter Robot to take to the cabin. It'll make it easier for Belle and Dev's caretaker to care for them if he doesn't have to scoop their litter box while mom and dad are gone. Boo and I already have a Litter Robot here in our city apartment, and our caretaker will probably be grateful for that.

OK, mom's getting sleeepyyyyyyyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

xo,
Ivan

Scooter

We already miss you so!

Ivan