I can run!!!

I've learned the coolest thing ever! I can run!! I mean, not a marathon or anything, but at least 10 feet, which is really a lot. It used to be I'd pounce a couple feet, then again, so Mom said I bounded like a rabbit. But now there's no pause and I go really fast! Mom's so proud of me!

The other thing I've discovered is this direction called "up." I do "down" quite well, if not gracefully, but up has been largely a mystery. Now I can go up to the sofa, stand on my hind legs, and reach up! I'm not certain what to do after that, but I'll figure it out in time.

I've seen the other cats do this jumping thing and tried it, but didn't - *ahem* - quite master it. I reached up like before, and pushed off my back legs - only to land right back on those same legs and fall straight over on my side. Mom laughed SO hard, it was really embarrassing! I'll need to practice when she's not home.

She might get me a pet kitten! She asked if I wanted one (duh!) and said if she doesn't come do her senses first, a little girl named Chance might come to live with us. Chance has CH just like me! Our vet has her and is trying to coerce - oops, I mean convince Mom to bring her home. I hope she does; I need a pet kitten!

I got in trouble yesterday.

Mom and I had a bit of an argument last night. See, I've been super-playful lately. Problem is I don't know how to be playful without being aggressive, so the other cats won't play. Rumble will once in awhile, but not the others. Mom, on the other hand, is fair game and likes to play. But when I get too revved up and forget to retract my claws or bite down too hard, she doesn't like it. And that's what started all the fuss.

We were on the couch (as usual), and I started biting the electric blanket (as usual). For some reason I'm not supposed to do that, so she raised her leg under the blanket and I fell over on my back. Clear signal for play to start. So I quite reasonably attacked her leg. My claws haven't been clipped in a couple weeks and are nice and sharp, enough so to penetrate both blanket and jammies. She said "ow" and jerked away. Well, of course, that's prey motion and I attacked again. And again. She tried to distract me with a toy, but then her toes looked so tempting... come to find out toes are sensitive creatures, and the "ow" this time was somewhat louder. She picked me up and started to give me a brisk body rub-down. Sometimes that stimulates me enough that I quit being aggressive. But not this time, oh no, I was dead set on chomping those toes.

Then she did something that was, well, really stupid IMO. She decided to clip my claws. I mean, come on, I was WAY too hyper for that. Apparently even moms can have brain farts. I gave my best irritated meow and pushed her away, but she wasn't dissuaded. I tried to kick her away, but she doesn't put up with that - disembowelling your mom is out of bounds. Still, it's just a means of pushing her away, so she doesn't really get mad about it. But THEN - I gave my angriest meow, growled, and tried to scratch her! No one does that. Even when she pills us, no one ever attacks, just tries to get away. And she was not happy with me. She lifted me up to eye level, loudly said "Lurch, NO!" and put me on the floor. I was still peeved, but before long I wanted to come back up. She ignored me! For minutes and minutes! Finally I gave my humblest meow and asked to *please* come back up. So she picked me up and we were friends again. I don't hold grudges. I realize she's just a human and doesn't always understand cat rules. For her part, she put off clipping my claws.

That's been the only real trouble we've had though. Lately I've discovered that she eats tasty things, and pop right up to get my share. Bagels and cream cheese are my favorites, and if she has a glass of milk - well, there's just no stopping me. I've almost knocked over a couple of glasses in my enthusiasm. Give it to me right out of the glass, thank you! And those little bits of bagel - they are just the greatest.

She says she's creating a monster, but the combination of excitement and bliss must be cute. Hey, whatever works.

No more vampire teeth...

Mom says I can't be a vampire anymore. I've chipped both my fangs and they don't stick out over my lower lip now. I don't know how I did it - probably falling on the brick patio, or launching myself off the couch and hitting the coffee table leg. Oh well, they don't hurt. Mom looked and said the chips aren't near the root of either tooth.

And just think, it's almost October. Pooh - I wanted to be a vampire for Halloween.

At least I can still stick the tip of my tongue out and look super cute that way...

Watch for a new video on my page. Mom caught me while I was walking around the back yard, so you can see how I get around. Pretty darn well, I think. Plus she filmed me snacking on a cicada. Cicadas are tasty!

Mornings

I like mornings! The cheerful sunlight, sound of yummy birds, breeze through the window...

Mom doesn't like mornings. At all. The radio kicks on, the alarm clock goes off, and she just cannot get up. So I've started helping.

The first step is to pounce on her. I have my "play with me" look on - trembling body (part of my condition - intentional tremor), eyes wide, head up, staring fixedly at her. She smiles and pets me. I roll over, grab her hand, purr and do everything possible to keep it going. She falls back asleep. I pounce again. This time, when she wakes up, I meow. We go through the petting thing again, she playfully grabs my face, and then falls back asleep. I meow louder. She tells me that while I'm the cutest thing in the world, I'm also a pain in the [I'm not supposed to say the next word]. Meow. She says "go away." Meow. Finally she sits up a bit and grabs my belly or throws a blanket on me or something fun. We play for a couple of minutes and she gets up.

But then she leaves. Not good. I launch off the bed and stumble into the kitchen (she's stumbling too, but it's different). I'm hungry. Meow. She gets food out of the fridge. Meow. She says "ok, ok, I'm working on it. Give me time to hunt!" Meow. Finally she takes the food, picks me up, and carries me and food to my eating place. She strokes me with the back of her hand on the way and I start to purr. She puts the meat down, puts me down and pets me again for a minute. When I'm good and purring and focused on my food, I allow her to leave without further harassment.

After eating, I'm energetic and ready to play. I head back to the bedroom where we usually play Stealth Kitty and call her. I make the meow really desperate because it makes her laugh. On workdays she usually can't play though, although she might take a minute or two for it. But she has the others to feed, and has to get ready to go. I try to be understanding. Before she leaves she'll stop to pet me goodbye. I arch my back, which usually makes me fall on my face. That gives me another minute of loving before she takes off.

I sleep all day. When she gets home I lurch out to greet her and get more attention. She seems to look forward to it, and if I don't come out, she comes looking for me. I give her a simple "hello" meow and then go into the kitchen. I'm hungry. Meow.

Bonzai!!!

Even if I'm a cripple, my back legs are STRONG. Mom says I'm like a flying squirrel when I pounce, I go so far! My latest stunt with those back legs had her practically rolling on the floor laughing...

Now picture this - and you can actually see it on my page. Bed, maybe three feet from the wall. Against the wall is a comforter that Mom needs to eventually take to the laundromat. It used to be folded, but I fixed that. It's very cushy and I like to sleep and play and burrow in it. That's the other reason Mom hasn't taken it yet - the primary reason is procrastination, but I like to think it's because it's mine.

The other night Mom carried me to bed. I was feeling kind of frisky still, but it was bedtime. Most often when she puts me on the bed or couch I'm kind of a paperweight and don't move, because I know she's going to lie down with me and I get to take a nap. But not this time! She put me on the bed and bent down to pick up something. In seconds flat I was flying through the air toward the comforter! She caught me midair and burst out laughing. She says she has this snapshot in her mind of me in midair, like one of those photos you see of a panther pouncing, except I'm a miniature panther.

I tried it again after she got into bed. I didn't make it quite all the way though. My head did, fortunately, but the rest of me made a loud "thump" on the floor. Ouch. I was a bit surprised and just lay there for a bit. It wasn't supposed to end that way. Now there's a folded blanket taking up the space between the comforter and the bed.

Bonzai!

My birthday and a minor miracle!

Friday's my birthday and I'm going to be a year old - all grown up! Look at the awesome pic on my page that my friends from the group "A Better Life" gave me! What a great present! Thanks guys!!!

I wish Mom would take the day off and play with me all day as a special treat, but she says she can't. I can hear her thoughts sometimes, and there's a strange word that keeps going through her head... "shrimp" - dunno what it means though.

Wanna know what the miracle is? Spooky really likes me now! Last night she ran right up to me, teased me and then bolted away - and she was happy, no growling or hissing! I wish I could chase her, but oh well. Sometimes she comes into my favorite hiding place under the bed, and we just stay together. At night if she's on the bed and I come up, she growls, but that's only to warn me not to pounce on her. She's really a nice sister once she decides to stop hating you. Maybe it helped that I kept her company during her convalescence.

Rumble doesn't like to wrestle anymore. :(( Mom says it's because I'm almost as big as he is and I play too rough. I'm her second cat with CH (my disability), and she thinks it may be because of that - Weeble did the same thing. It's like we only have two settings, on or off. Either we're really mellow or complete spazzes. Mom just laughs and tells people we "lack subtlety." She wants to set up a rubber room for me to play in with padded walls. She says it's so I wouldn't hurt myself, but I hear her thoughts again and they say "nuthouse." I don't know what that word means either, but it doesn't seem like a good place for such a wonderful kitten as I am! I mean tomcat!

New trick!

I've learned how to get Mom to pick me up! Besides yelling at her, that is. I yell at her a lot already and don't want her confusing a "pick me up" yowl with a "feed me" yowl. Besides, my vocal chords get tired.

There are two quiet ways. The first is when she's on the computer. I walk up to her in my slow zombie way, stand about a foot or two away, and wait. Just wait. I don't even look at her. Then I hear the "ohh, sweetie" and get swept up.

I've also learned to lean against her. Other cats might rub themselves against her legs, but I can't, so I just stagger up to her and lean. And wait. In no time flat I'm up in her arms.

I can make her play with me by running in my fast zombie way and lunging under the bed. That's where our favorite game is - you can see me playing in my picture. She dangles her robe belt and I go spastic pouncing it and carrying it back under the bed. Eventually that belt will wind up in ribbons, but she doesn't care much. She says maybe she'll start using an older one though, since I get so fierce when I'm hunting it.

I have SO got her trained.

New game!

I have a new game. Mom has a robe belt that somehow got separated from the robe. She dangles it in front of me and I launch myself all over the place trying to catch it! I get so into it that I sometimes knock my head against the wall... or floor... or corner of the bed... which worries Mom. So she stands next to the corner of the bed to prevent the worst bumps, and tries to direct my pounces away from hard objects. When I catch the belt I try to carry it away and hide under the bed with my prize, but the belt still sticks out and Mom knows where I am. Then we start all over.

Can we play again?

Good little brother

Wow, it's been so long since I posted! I've been busy. Eating, mostly - I'm up to 11 pounds and Mom says I'm really big! I also play a lot, but I want more. My coat has grown in nice and thick, and it's really, really soft and shiny!

I've been so good lately. My cat-sis Spooky got hurt, and I've been keeping her company. The other cats stay away or even hiss at her, but I lie near her and stay quiet. Normally I pounce all the other cats when I can, but I never pounce her now. She doesn't want me to get too close or groom her or anything, but I probably would if she'd let me. She used to hiss at me all the time, but she doesn't now. Even if I'm lying in a doorway she'll walk past me without hissing or growling. And when she burrows under the covers - well - it's hard to contain myself, but I haven't jumped on her yet.

Mom gives me tons of loving, but she doesn't think she plays with me enough. I think she's right. I love to dash around (as much as I can dash), and I need to stay in shape! But I love it *so* much when she holds me on her lap and we rub faces! I just purr and purr and purr!

A Mom Entry

Mom asked if she could write an entry in my diary. I was hesitant, but she promised not to read the rest of it, so I said ok. Then I found out she just wanted to write mushy stuff. Yuck, but I'd already promised. So here she is.

Mom: Yes, this is a mushy entry. Lurch and I just spent a good 15-20 minutes with him on my lap purring the whole time while I stroked him. It made me think, how can anyone hate cats? Not have known them, ok. Prefer dogs, ok. Not understand how they tick - well, who does.

I've had sweet cats, standoffish cats, chatty, playful, aggressive, meek, shy, sleepy, independent and clingy cats. I've had curtain climbers, ankle pouncers and furniture scratchers. I've had picky eaters, voracious eaters and are-you-gonna-eat-that eaters. I've even seen the occasional cat who's really pretty hatable. But as a species?

There are many joyful moments in life. Petting a sleek, soft black kitten in your lap and having him rub his face against yours is certainly one of them. So is having him suddenly grab your knee and bite it just because he feels good - especially when he knows not to bite down. :)

I've loved birds, fish, hermit crabs, guinea pigs and turtles. I really love dogs too. I can't say whether I'm more a dog person or a cat person. But in the end, there's nothing like a cat!

Lurch: oh man, that was gushy. Gawd, Mom. All my kitten friends are going to laugh at me!

Can I have a chicken wing?