Snot Party!

Mommy suddenly developed a bad cold. And she was going to visit the House of Dreams, which is a no-kill kitty shelter, and bring them some catnip plants for their holiday bizarre today. She is pretty sure she is too sick, though. She doesn't want to get those people who have so many cats to take care of sick, and mommy is just a big sack of contagion now. She can't control her coughing and sneezing and snot. It is pretty gross. We tried to help her by keeping her awake all night so she wouldn't choke on snot in her sleep and die. Aren't we sweet? Meanwhile, mommy is looking for a home for the family. She wanted to do better for us and rent us a proper house, but now she is looking for a park model trailer. She promises it won't be much smaller than where we live now, and she will make sure we have a secure yard to play in and stuff. Mommy says she'd always hoped that by her age she'd have her own old farmhouse in the country, all full of cats. She didn't count on how bad her and daddy are at making money consistently. Life is full of surprises, I guess. Well, she promises that if we do get out to the country there will be lots of mice and she says we cats must help out by doing a good job of catching them. And there are quail to. And we'll be able to live with our milk goats, which means mommy will be able to have them bred and get milk! We may well all be eating better if we get out to the country. Let's hope it works out, even if we do have to live in a tin can. I can taste those mice already.-Niko

Cat-Walking on Eggshells

Things are still pretty tense here from the new cat. I growl at her, and instead of acting submissive and breaking eye contact with me and walking away, she switches her tail and holds her rump up in attack mode! She likes to sit on one side of the cat door and block me from going in and out. I hate it. I slink around and growl. Mommy feels terrible, because I was such a happy, care-free boy before. She hopes a bigger place to live will help. The new cat chases Vincent to. I'm not sure why he runs, he loves to fight other cats. Dad says Amity is a haunted cat. Mommy says that is silly and Amity is just a kitten who hasn't been socialized well. I have my own explanations for her behavior, but they are not nice words to use in public.
Please purr healing vibes for mommy's favorite baby goat. Mommy has been treating her for an abscess. The goat must get well, for she will give us milk and cheese some day.
-Niko

Nope, I don't like it.

I have decided that I don't like the new cat AT ALL. I am an easy going boy, and back at the foster home I was known as the kitty who got along with everyone. That was part of why mommy adopted me. But I really don't like Amity. She is socially retarded. She doesn't know to wink her eyes when she is feeling calm, she plays wayyyy too rough, and if I retreat under the couch she sits and stares at me. She doesn't understand a growl means GO AWAY. She gave my mommy a puncture wound on her finger today while she was seeming to enjoy a belly rub from her. She doesn't get that there is a difference between happy love nips and trying to take mommy's finger off. She is CLUELESS! I don't like her, I want her to go away. Mommy has had to get out the squirt bottle for when the new kitty won't leave me alone. Mommy tells me the new cat is probably younger than me, and probably was an outdoor only cat and didn't learn social niceties in her harsh and rugged life. I don't believe there is ANY excuse for her rudeness. I wish someone would adopt her and take her away. She gives me the creeps and is MEAN! And it makes mommy very sad to see me unhappy. Maybe that ear infection gave Amity brain damage in whatever region of the brain controls aggression. I hate the new cat. There, I said it. Thanks for listening, I had to vent. -Niko

Hunting With Mommy

Mommy and I are hunters. But guess who is the better hunter?
Mommy sits at 'puter and looks for jobs and new place to live on Craig's list. She sends many resumes. Maybe 4 a day. But no one gets back to her. And how can she get us all moved to a new place where the asthma monster won't attack Vincent and me when she has no job? She quit the job with the cat murderer long ago, she's not a good hunter if she can't find a new job by now.
I, on the other hand, caught a mouse again last night. I kept bringing it in the house to share with poor jobless mommy. She kept putting it back outside. I gave a little growl one of the times she took it from me. Eventually she closed the catio so I couldn't get to it and she put mousie in the yard. Mommy is mean like that. She says she wishes those mice weren't so cute, and that they were not attracted to the cat litter. Mommy says next time she will get a litter that isn't wheat-based and doesn't smell like popcorn. She says she failed to think that through. Mommy is no fun, she doesn't realize what a perfect provider a wheat-scented litter box is. It feeds and entertains a kitty and gives the kitty a place to poop. What more could it do? Humans are silly, it is hard for me to feel sorry for them when they complain they don't have what they need but are so wasteful with what they have at the same time. Mind blowing. -Niko

Why Did She take It? I Would Have Shared.

Last night mommy and daddy were out late, visiting catster cat Henry and his family. When they got home, mommy saw I was playing with something next to one of the bags of potatoes on the floor. Mommy has been drying potatoes from the garden in big batches, so there are always bags of potatoes on the floor right now it seems. Anyway, mommy decided to help me by lifting one of the bags, and guess what? It was a little mouse! Mommy picked it up, and it flopped on its back and had its mouth open, but didn't try to bite. Mommy isn't sure why this mouse isn't extinct if that is the best defensive maneuver his kind could come up with. So mommy let the mouse go outside of the catio. She said I need to learn not to bring them into the house from the catio, because that is what I always do. We don't actually have mice living in the house, and mom would like to keep it that way. How boring of her, I'm always trying to seed the house with breeding pairs of mice so we have a ready supply, right inside where it it warm, mommy always says we need an emergency food supply. Mommy keeps ruining my plan, maybe I'll not draw her attention to the mouse by playing with it next time. That is hard, though, I get so excited. I was excited about the mouse all night!

Please think healing thoughts for Sir Nikolai, who has developed sudden onset diabetes, and for Calvin and Hooch and all the other Catster cats who are not feeling well right now.
-Niko

Today's Secret Word...

Today's secret word is "commenty," because that is what mommy's e-mail box has become. Comments about comments about comments. Even though we don't leave many comments and we hardly get any on our entries.
If you don't want a lot of e-mail, don't comment on a popular kitty's diary! MOL! Hm, there must be a more efficient way of dealing with the comments. -Niko

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. Karma Kitty and her family, who sent me a yummy blue cupcake, and Sir Nikolai, who sent me a yummy pink cupcake. I don't know which is sweeter, so I think I will eat both.
Vince and I ate canned food, and I got held a lot. I love to be held. I meow at mommy to pick me up. Mommy suspects this is because I have made her scream so many times when I jump on her with my claws out and miss and sink my claws into her leg to keep myself from falling on the floor. Anyway, she knows I want to be held when I meow at her and scoops me up, so it is a good solution.
The weather has been cold and wet again. Our mommy has a really, really hard time when there is no sun. She can't bring herself to do anything. It is pretty funny. She has tried vitamins, full spectrum lights, caffeine, working out, and just going out to stare at the overcast sky and absorb what light she can. Nothing helps. It is kinda pathetic, like someone drained her batteries. The upside is, however, when she is unemployed as she is now and the weather is bad, she will sit a LOT and hold us. If only someone would cut her a check for that.
Mommy went to the House of 50 Cats the other night. She said she got to see many of the kitties she cat sat this summer, and even some new ones. She got to see Noodles, who is such a special boy to her. He is available for adoption, but mommy worries because Vincent has so many mysterious health problems, and he and I both had asthma attacks last year, and one trip to the vet for an emergency costs so much, and if she has to use a credit card, she doesn't know when/if the money will come to pay it off. Hello, mommy? Welcome to Life in the New Economy. Just about EVERYONE lives like that, silly. If a human has a good, loving home to provide, you gotta adopt and find a way to cope with things as they come, cats die every day because no one will give them a home. Mommy is way too practical sometimes. I'd love to have Noodles to play with. He is small and orange and white and has a kinked tail and a squished face and he is really loving. Mommy says a mellow and independent female would probably be a better fit for the household if we were to consider another cat. That sounds kinda boring, though, and mommy is in love with Noodles. And mommy always says if you love someone, gender, color, etc. shouldn't matter. She should bring him home, I'll love him to. I love everyone. Mommy can be no fun sometimes. I hope she changes her mind. She said a little calico girl is for adoption to and that would probably be the better choice where Ming is concerned if we were to get another kitty. That's cool with me, bring 'em BOTH home, mommy. Maybe I can get a job and support us. Lap warming, $2 per hour. -Niko

One Year Old Today!

Mommy has been calling me her one year old all week, trying to get used to the idea.
I have had no prezzies or concats yet, not even from mommy! Will I have a party? I don't know! Mommy has to clean a pig pen today, and the house, (she thinks the pig pen will be easier to clean) dry some potatoes, make some calls, take care of the goats, get cleaned up and she has a meeting for a spay and neuter group tonight. And, it is rainy out. So how am I to get a party? Luckily, I'm a pretty laid back guy, so some canned food and lap time will do nicely.
Gee, mom, you don't have time to update my page? Wow, when I turned one I must have stopped being cute or something. -Niko

I want to ride my bicycle

Mommy saw a lady with a special cat carrier on her bike the other day, and there was a kitty in it! Today mommy saw a man with a little dog in his bike basket. Mommy says she'd be really nervous to transport any of us with a bike, but maybe she would if she had a fancy bike trailer. We have been having good bicycle weather lately. I wish she'd give me a ride. -Niko

NO Kid is as Cute as Me!

Mommy said she'd never ever have kids, but all of a sudden on Sunday, she got 3 of 'em! She is crazy about them, and spends all kinds of time with them. She comes home stinking of them. I don't mind so much but... I'm the baby, I'm not even one, so it is no fair her letting anyone younger than me in the family.
Mommy says one day those kids will grow up, and give us milk, yogurt, and cheese. I can't imagine. Mommy says we should not be jealous, because the kids are cute, but will never be as cute or wonderful as cats. I can say this, we cats certainly SMELL nicer!
Our purrs are with sweet Calvin as he prepares for that mysterious voyage we all must one day take. We purr most of all for those who will be standing on the shore, waving farewell to this precious boy. We will all try to be brave with you, Calvin, for we know you are not afraid.
-Niko