The Feline Oligarchy

How Long is Two Weeks?

2010-11-11T11:00:00.002-05:00

Anybody know how long two weeks is?

--
Doris

Is This Funny to You?

2010-11-03T12:25:00.004-04:00

We don't get it. Why are our humans laughing at this? This is just how it should be.

Perplexed,

Doris and Daisy
(writing for all the Feline Oligarchy)

Hi I'm Daisy and When I Was Younger, I Thought I Wanted to be a Dog

2010-11-02T08:52:00.012-04:00

Hello, I'm Daisy. Right now I'm about 1 1/2 years old and I've lived in the Feline Oligarchy for about 15 months.

When I was younger, I thought I might like to be a dog. So I took lessons:

And I was actually getting rather good at it:

But I've come to embrace my "inner cat" and I'm ok now.

Hello to all my other fellow felines out there.

Woof.

p.s. The Human converted our old blog layout this morning and now it's a bit messed up. Sorry

Willow on Saturday Evening in the Oligarchy

2010-10-30T22:03:00.007-04:00

Hello out there! I'm Willow. I am about 2 years old and have an absolutely fascinating "gotcha story" which TheHuman tells me I am not going to write about right now. Hmmmph.

Look at how sophisticated I look in my living room this evening with the late afternoon sun highlighting my natural colors with the piano in the background. You may think that my humans are equally suave and sophisticated. You would be wrong. What is not shown in this photo are the two human adults watching the Florida - Georgia SEC football game on a 20 year old television set and both of whom are saying words that should not be repeated in a barroom brawl much less a family oriented cat blog. Sometimes they really embarrass me.

Just saying "hi" for now until I can come around and visit. TheHuman knows she has to work on creating new links which would make it a lot easier to come visit. She's noticed different blogs using different options and hasn't figured out what we should do yet.

Have a great Sunday and a safe but spooky Halloween!

Hello I'm Doris and I'm a Member of the Felline Oligarchy

2010-10-29T23:41:00.005-04:00

Hello I'm Doris and I'm a Member of the Feline Oligarchy.

I didn't actually know there was a Feline Oligarchy much less that I was part of it, but the elders, Blackie and Charlie just told me about it. They said TheHuman used to write stories about their daily lives and post pictures and go visit other cat bloggers and it was fun. Then one day her computer started acting up and she stopped for a month and then the month became two months and now it's been three years. Oh my. She does seem frazzled a lot but you think she could have done better. What can I say?

Let me tell you what I know has gone on these past three years:

I've been here almost 6 months now after some one "found" me wandering around their doorstep drinking out of a water dish. They say I was about 8 weeks old. Somehow, I ended up living here and my name changed from "that doorstep kitten" to Doris.

They also say I had every parasite known to catkind including something called ringy wormy so I spent the first 3 weeks here living by myself in the guest bathroom. That's me in the sink with a bunch of books. OtherHuman would come in and spend hours sitting on the floor reading and playing with me. And every week I would go to the clinic for some stinky bath. I'm ok now and have the run of the house. And it was kind of fun having all that attention.

The original Feline Oligarchy was started by Alberta (the calico) who ran away to that Rainbow Bridge about 15 months ago at the age of 21. I didn't ever get to meet her, but they say she was a spunky feisty independent feline that I would have been proud to know. Then there was Sky. He's the black and white fellow in the logo picture. He ran away to the bridge about 2 years ago. They say he was one gentleman cat. I didn't get to know him either.

Blackie is still here but he's got TheBigC and is in hospice care right now. Which is really sad because he's been the friendliest most welcoming to a newcomer as any kitty could hope for.

Charlie (she's a girl with a clipped ear) is still here but she doesn't like me or anyone else much.

MaggieFu is the little kitten in the logo photo and she's still here. TheHuman said she grew up to be a beautiful princess with an attitude. And that attitude doesn't like me much either.

The there's Willow and Daisy who have come to live here since this bloggy stopped being updated.

I'll let them tell their own stories.

There's only so much they can make the new kid do.

We're going to try to help TheHuman write a bit more often then every three years. And maybe get to go visit other kitty bloggers. She's been reading the Cat Blogosphere sometimes and knows that some of the Oligarchy's friends have run away to the bridge also.

Maybe she'll set us up on Facebook? Maybe she'll get it figured out.

Would be fun to meet some of you other kitties out there.

Robyn Appreciation Day

2007-02-09T09:33:00.000-05:00

All of us it the Feline Oligarchy want to thank Robyn not only for all the wonderful things she does within the Cat Blogosphere but for just being herself!

--
Alberta, Sky, Blackie, Charlie, Maggie Fu and the Human

Tummy Tuesday & The Advantage of Living with Readers

2007-01-30T10:42:00.000-05:00

We weren't going to do "Tummy Tuesday" today because we've been freezing our tushies off since last night which means it's been too cold to even think about showing any tummies. (To answer the unasked question, yes, it DOES TOO get cold in Florida. And when your furnace shuts off on the coldest night of the year, so does anyone living in the house! We even heard the palmetto bugs shivering last night) Problem was no one realized that the furnace wasn't coming on until after 10 p.m. So they decided we would all tough it out for one night.

We have a fireplace, but our Humans didn't get any wood this year. They do have some of those fake logs but they figured that more heat would go up the chimney in the middle of the night then the fake log would provide heat so they didn't light one of those until 7 this morning. But once the Human lit that log though, Maggie Fu hopped on the ledge in front of the fire and rolled on her tummy as if to say "Hey, it's Tummy Tuesday - if you don't hurry and take my picture we're going to miss it" ...
Once the OtherHuman pushed a chair over to work in front of the fire, Alberta jumped on it. Otherwise she huddled in her blanket
or competed with Sky for the living room reading lamp ...
We discovered the advantage of "living with readers" is that they have GOOD reading lamps which provide heatBut we think Blackie still has some of his "northern Minnesota genes" as he didn't seem to care. He just went to his morning window and went to sleep with no fire and no blanket and no lamp and not even a sunbeam to keep him warm.The Service People finally came around noon and put a new part in our furnace. They promised we'd be warm again sometime this evening. But we like having a fire and the reading lamps on! We just want to be warm.
--
Alberta, Sky, Blackie, Charlie and Maggie Fu

Tummy and Toes Tuesday

2007-01-23T22:02:00.000-05:00

Wow! I look bigger than my two story climber in this shot. I've grown a lot, but not THAT much. The Human was going to put up a picture of me when I was really little next to it so you could see the difference but her picture software or something keeps crashing. (Which she HAS to get fixed real soon cause we're working on saying "thank you" to Miles Meezer, our Secret Paw)

The Human says this is an "optical illusion" that shows off my pretty tummy and most of my toes at the same time.

I say I was just trying to catch the "birdie"

--
Maggie Fu

P.S. And now Blogger isn't showing our post even though it says it's published. Sigh.

Wordless Widebody (but I'm working on it) Wednesday

2007-01-17T09:10:00.000-05:00

--
Sky

Wordless Wednesday

2007-01-10T22:50:00.000-05:00

Naughty or Nice?

2006-12-22T12:06:00.000-05:00

I used to be feral living on the streets. Now, that I have a forever home that unconditionally loves me, I hang out where ever I please and pretty much do what I please.

One of my favorite spots is on top of the DVR above the TV in the family room. One of my favorite hobbies is knocking things to the floor. I have knocked the cat treat container to the floor so many times, they now keep it in the cupboard. If I am being ignored, I knock Alberta and Sky's medicine bottles to the floor. Got the idea?

So imagine my complete and total consternation when one morning I jump up to the best place to take an after breakfast nap and find all of these GLASS ornaments taking up valuable nap space.
What WERE these humans thinking?

WERE these humans even thinking?

Don't they realize that I could knock these on the floor in 10 seconds flat?

Is this a test?

Oh, yeah. Christmas is Monday. My stocking is hung. (Charlene Frances Jeanne is my "real" name, if you can believe THAT)
My Humans said if I were nice, maybe Santa would bring me a bag of those Temptation treats that everyone else is always talking about.

I checked.

I think I still have a chance.

Good Wishes and many treats to everyone!!!!
--
Charlie

P.S. Sky and Alberta went to the V-E-T yesterday. Dr. G says Sky has kitty acne and an infected chin so for a whole month he has to take theses pills that the Human says are too big for a horse. And he needs to have hot compresses on his chin twice a day. He's not happy but he's lost a pound since August (which is good).

Dr. G also says Alberta is doing fairly well for an "older model" (Alberta will have something to say about THAT in her next post)and she has gained an ounce in the past month since her hospitalization (which is good)!

Sky's Widebody Wednesday and Wish

2006-12-20T07:07:00.000-05:00

As you know, I have what might best be described as a "wide body". A nice looking one, especially for a feline my age, if I do say so myself, but wide, never-the-less. The time had come when I was sort of overflowing my very special and very private resting spot. No one, not even Blackie, challenges me for MY bed.
A week ago, my Human came home from an obviously very successful hunting trip as she was caring several bags and packages. Then she came through the door carrying this big blue thing, walked up to me and said "Merry Christmas, Sky, a bit early"
She gave me a gorgeous new bed - a tasteful powder blue with gold cord trim, lined with fleece and JUST THE RIGHT SIZE for me. I was speechless. And comfortable.But alas, I have come to discover that MY bed is no longer MY private kingdom.Not only does Maggie Fu sleep in it, she plays in it and holds court for her friends while in it.So my one wish, for me, is for Maggie Fu to develop appropriate boundaries and some respect for MY personal space.

I simply want MY bed back.

My wish for everyone else is that they could experience the joy in this season. That those who are hungry could be filled; those who are homeless could find forever homes, those who are ill could be healed. And their humans, likewise.
--
Sky

Drips

2006-12-16T23:16:00.000-05:00

My job for the day is to sit here and count how many drips drop per hour before someone notices the faucet is dripping. My humans said if I really wanted to be useful, I'd figure out how to make it stop. But what I've learned of life so far, is that "being useful" should never be in a feline job description. Should it?
--
Maggie Fu

For the Weekend Cat Blogging click here

Back When I Was a Kitten ...

2006-12-11T11:04:00.000-05:00

Well, at the risk of sounding old and crotchety, back when I was a kitten and lived Way UpNorth, we didn't need to stick any of these fake plastic things to the window to look like snow. We just had to look out the window and the real stuff was there. And when I went outside, I had to be tough enough to walk on the cold stuff. And if my original humans were a little slow in letting me back inside, I knew what it meant to be COLD!

Winter evenings, I would sit and listen to my original Man tell the story of when he was a boy and had to walk three miles through the deep snow to get to school. And if it snowed during the school day, he had to be sure to walk behind his older sister on the way home or his little short legs would get stuck in the snow. His sister would back up his story, so there's probably even some truth in it.

Now, I live here in Florida and am trying to explain "COLD" and pass on family history to the new kid, Maggie Fu. Before I moved, first thing in the morning, I used to WANT to go outside to "do my business" even when it was 20 below out there. That is MY definition of "COLD". HER definition of "COLD" is when the house is 68 degrees and she has to walk across one foot of bare tile to get to her litter box.

Kittens these days.

Sigh.

--
Blackie

We're impressed!

2006-12-08T19:15:00.000-05:00

Shaggy of Little Cat Feet did an excellent job in answering our song challenge to incorporate his hairball into a famous Christmas carol. He has some real talent! Read it by clicking here

Why?

2006-12-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

If they don't want me to play with the dishtowels, then WHY would they hang them where I can reach them?

This is me this morning. As you can see, I'm feeling much better. They keep putting this nasty stuff down my throat "so I don't get an infection" but other than that my energy is coming back and my tummy area looks pretty good even without hair. I really appreciate everyone's concern.

This is me last week on the night my Human decided I was ready to write my first post because I was so persistent at "helping" her work on the computer. We were reading about my good friend Precious Flower, another kitty who seems to be getting "mixed messages" from her humans about what she can and cannot play with.

This morning when I was batting at Alberta's tail while she was eating breakfast, she growled at me and said that I should just go to Idaho and play with Precious Flower for a while and give everyone here a break. Which sounds like fun except I don't even know where the cat door to our screened porch is yet. How am I going to find Idaho?

--
Maggie Fu

Long Day

2006-12-05T08:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a loooooooooooong day.

First thing I noticed that was different: the Human was up EARLY. Then NO ONE would feed me. (Up to now, I just had to sit on the table and food would appear.) I sat there empty while EVERYONE else ate their breakfast around me.

Then they stuffed me in my travel bag and put me in that noisy machine. I sort of recognized when we got to Dr. M's office because I spent the first 8 weeks of my life there. It was 7:30 a.m. when the Human and I went in to this small room and she finally let me out of my travel bag. There were two wooden chairs, one for each of us, so I hopped up on mine and sat there waiting.

This big guy came in and said he remembered me. Then he picked me up and carried me away. The rest of the day is kind of a big blur.

It was almost 7:00 p.m. when I finally got back home again. They told me I had my gardenladiectomy, my rabies shot and a microchip inserted. All I knew is that I was hungry, had a naked tummy and hurt all over.
I ate some crunchies but the Human shoved some nasty stuff down my throat. At that point, I simply decided my best bet was to go to bed. Blackie came in and hung out with me for a while. He told me that he and Charlie searched all over for me all morning and kept bugging the OtherHuman when they couldn't find me. I just kind of wanted to be left alone, but it was also nice to have him there.

This morning I'm feeling a LOT better. Of course, the Human didn't "have time" to put up a decent picture of me. But I wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes and to let you know that I'm ok.

--
Maggie Fu

That New Animal

2006-12-01T23:06:00.000-05:00

I've never done a "Formerly Feral Friday" post before, but since I am eligible - here goes:

Yes, I used to be feral. Now, I spend a lot of time helping one of my Humans arrange books for workshops. This is me last September and I am still a bit miffed that they didn't upload my picture until AFTER Maggie Fu joined the family in October and they wanted to see HER pictures.

I should have seen it coming. The Human has this idea that sometimes when family events take one by surprise, that you can look back at photos taken earlier and, in retrospect, see "what's coming" by looking at them. Well, just look at the book I was pointing out to them:
That New Animal - a book about sibling rivalry and resistance to a new addition to the family. This was SIX weeks before they brought Maggie Fu home. Weird, huh?

Anyway, I've gotten used to having "the kid" around although she tends to monopolize all the playtime with the humans. BTW: Maggie Fu is having her, uh, surgery, on Monday (the human can't find the dictionary this morning to see what we call it in the Blogospheare) so keep her in your thoughts. That might slow her down for an hour or two at least.
--
Charlie

Helpful

2006-11-29T22:59:00.000-05:00

My Human says I've been sooooooooo helpful the last hour and a half while she's been working on her computer that maybe it's time for me to write my first post. I had to point out a lot of things on the computer screen that she would have missed and I really helped her control her mouse cord which kept moving around on her. (And I really hope she gets that wireless mouse she just put on her Christmas wish list)
This is the one month anniversary of my Gotcha Day! Charlie didn't like me much when I first came ... But we hang out a lot together now ...
and she's my best play buddy ... Everybody is worried about Alberta who just doesn't look like she's feeling well. But even she lets me sleep "close" to her as long as we don't touch and I'm quiet.I even like the Woofie. She saved my tail. Literally. One night the humans had AuntJudy over for dinner and weren't paying attention to me. They got really irritated cause the Woofie started barking while they were trying to eat until they realized that she was standing next to where I had somehow gotten an elastic string wrapped around my tail and was in a real predicament. They couldn't hear my squeaks but they could hear her bark. She even rescues me when Blackie and Charlie play too rough. I sqeak and she comes running to separate us.
So things are pretty ok for me here in the Oligarchy. Sometimes I even think the Humans like me -- Maggie Fu

Sky, the Mighty Turkey Hunter

2006-11-19T23:51:00.000-05:00

While everyone else with opposable thumbs around here was so preoccupied this week, I want to thank my HumanGyrrl for helping me write about my Turkey Hunting adventure. (We're hoping she'll "help" more often) Here goes:

Well, the other day, I had one of those opportunities that only come around once in a long while, and it was a really yummy one, too.

One of my humans made a turkey sandwich and then just left it next to her computer when she went outside to talk to the neighbors! I think any reasonable feline would regard that as an invitation to help yourself, wouldn't you?

So I began to investigate the sandwich - of course, I wasn't really that interested in the cheese, tomato, lettuce, or bread, but I did give them all a lick just to be polite, and then left them on the floor in case another family member would care for a bite. See how generous I can be?

Anyway, then I got to the really good stuff - the TURKEY! Boy, did that smell good! I was just settling down to a gourmet meal when the Woofie came around. Even though I had generously spread the rest of the sandwich ingredients around buffet-style so that she could pick something, she seemed much more interested in MY turkey! The nerve of some creatures!

Well, I gave her a good growl to tell her what I thought of that, and took a big bite. And just then, the door opened and in came my HumanGyrrl. Can't a respectable feline get a moment of peace to enjoy a hard-won meal?

The next thing I knew, I was turkeyless once more, and she didn't even eat it - just threw it in the trash! Honestly, the waste of that good food just makes my hair stand on end!

(Well, either that, or I need a tongue bath to get the mayonnaise out of my fur.)

--
Sky

Bookends

2006-11-19T23:30:00.000-05:00

My blogging human got sent up to BeanTown for workstuff; then the OtherHuman got sent up to OpryTown. So it's been a real quiet blogging week for us.

Biggest news is that in spite of the comings and goings, Alberta has been eating well. We're all a little less worried, but still keeping a close eye on her.

And I guess I have been "bonding" a bit with the new kid. Here I am trying to teach Maggie Fu how to be a bookend.
She's a fast learner.
--
Sky

Alberta's Home

2006-11-10T18:51:00.000-05:00

Alberta came home Thursday evening and so far things are going well. We're still not sure what's going on with her other then she was very dehydrated. Not all tests are in, but preliminary indicators don't indicate kidney disease, the most logical cause for all her symptoms. There's the suggested "special diet" to help her eat and hydrate and the over-the-counter anti-acid to settle her tummy. The Human was unpacking the bag stuff from the v-e-t office when Alberta jumped on the table and then over to the counter and demanded food as only Alberta can. (The humans snickered to each other when the v-e-t tech noted that "Alberta is rather vocal" when they were checking her out of the hospital)

She may be elderly and look frail, but she is still very spry and very assertive.

The unanswered questions, of course, are whether she can hydrate herself enough by eating and drinking; and if not, whether we supplement with fluids; and for how long her body would tolerate the process if we do. All our paws remain crossed.
After eating, Alberta chose the rocking chair
in the middle of "Grand Feline Station" and settled in back home.

As long as the little one (Maggie Fu) is playing elsewhere and NOT rocking Alberta's chair, all is well in the Oligarchy.

Thank you everyone for your purrs, prayers and concerns. We hope, this weekend, to get caught up with what's happening with everyone else in the blogosphere.

Alberta update

2006-11-09T11:16:00.000-05:00

Alberta is eating well! She does not have an infection so they took her off antibiotics. She's still on fluids and we're waiting on the report from Dr. G before we know if the Humans can bring her home today.

About Alberta ....

2006-11-08T16:17:00.000-05:00

This was to be Alberta's week at the Feline Oligarchy with two planned posts focused on her: one where we were all wishing her a "Happy 18th Gotcha Day" and another one with her and the new little one sleeping together on the sofa.

Unfortunately, she's been in the v-e-t hospital since Monday.

Alberta has been a little strange about her food for a long while - INSISTING on being fed numerous times a day and preferring to eat little bites at a time. Since there is often at least one human home, she is ususally accommodated. (She's also been on thyroid medicine for a couple of years with regular monitoring.)

Still she's been eating less and less while acting hungry but still looking bright eyed and being active and interactive. HumanGyrrl took care of everyone this weekend and Alberta was even more picky about her food. (Usually, HumanGyrrl doesn't get the same grief that the regular Humans do)

Monday morning the Human opened several different cans of Alberta's favorite foods and she barely wanted to lick the juice. But she wolfed down turkey broth baby food. So the Human called the v-e-t office and they said to bring her in.

Dr. G has done all sorts of tests thinking maybe Alberta had another infection. They said she was dehydrated but because of Alberta's history with injection site sarcoma, they didn't want to do subcutaneous fluid therapy. So, Dr. G. put in a catheter and asked to keep Alberta for a couple of days in the hospital.

The new little one, Maggie Fu, is settling in very nicely. Although Alberta didn't seem at all bothered by her presence and was sleeping close to her, the Humans are, of course, concerned that this might have exacerbated an existing situation.

She's supposed to come home tomorrow, but we're all rather worried about her. Please keep your paws crossed for our Alberta.

Lizards and Chunks

2006-11-01T09:53:00.000-05:00

I must be getting old. When I lived Way Up North on the farm, I could eat whatever I managed to catch and not be bothered a bit. Of course, I only hunted for sport since my original human made sure I had my tablespoon of chicken flavored stinkygoodness every morning and all the crunchy food I could eat. Now that I've retired to Florida and don't leave the house, my hunting is a bit more limited. Sometimes, though, I still manage a catch. Like last night.

Unfortunately, early this morning, about 2 a.m. something was really not agreeing with my digestive system. I was feeling uncomfortable so I crept up from the foot of the bed to be right on top of my Human's chest. She was sound asleep. I laid my head on her hand, which was on top of the quilt. It was nice and cozy, but my stomach still wasn't settled so finally I just, uh, "hurled my chunks" up right on top of her hand.

Let's just say, that woke her up. She started asking if the OtherHuman were awake. Which due to her continued process of asking, assured that the OtherHuman and anyone else who might have been sleeping within a five mile radius became awake. OtherHuman immediately (or what passes for "immediately" when one is woken up from a sound deep sleep in the middle of the night) went for paper towels; gathered the chunky results of my hurling and proceeded to tell the Human, in great detail, that they appeared to contain lizard pieces intermingled with regular stinkygoodness.

The Human was not behaving in an overly polite manner toward this description. In fact, at this point she was so rude that I left the room. My chunks got flushed without further analysis. So I'm left to ponder whether that really was a lizard I ate last night.

--
Blackie

Her Name is Maggie Fu

2006-10-30T21:16:00.000-05:00

Her name is Maggie Fu. She came to us in the Oligarchy as a perspective junior member on Saturday, October 28, 2006. This is a picture of me conducting her "interview" shortly after she arrived.

From what we've been able to piece together, our Humans went out for breakfast together with Aunt Susan on Saturday morning and then proceeded to do some of their regular hunting and gathering activities. Their last stop on the way home was at the v-e-t office to pick up food for our Woofie. At some point, in what should have been a short routine stop, they simultaneously lost their minds and somehow came home with two twenty pound bags of woofie-food and 1.5 pounds of Maggie. It wasn't even a "package deal" of "buy two bags of woofie food and get a kitten free" (our v-e-t would NEVER do anything as tacky as THAT) They had to fill out this long application and be evaluated. They didn't think they'd be able to bring her home right away.

"Maggie" was born August 14, 2006 to a feral mother who had been brought to an Operation Catnip clinic for spaying but was too pregnant for surgery. All we know is that her kittens were born "in captivity" and entered rescue. We don't know if the mother was released back into her original environment or if she also entered rescue. We don't know how many were in her litter. We don't know for sure if Maggie's real name is even Maggie or if it's just a name on her papers, but so far she hasn't revealed anything different.

The Humans thought she was "Calico", but her papers say she is a "Torti/White". Maybe someone can explain the difference.

The Humans were suggesting various middle names on Saturday when one of their friends and colleagues came over to meet Maggie. This friend grew up during the Thought Revolution in China and spent what should have been her high school and college years on a collective growing rice. She eventually came to the U.S. for higher education and stayed to teach. She's never known the joys of being owned by a furry one and has often made cryptic remarks about the resources our Humans spend on us. She never seems to know what to "do" with us when she visits although after years of training her, we have been seeing small improvements. Never-the-less, she came right over to meet Maggie and they both seemed to enjoy the visit so much that Maggie's middle name became "Fu" in her honor.

Maggie seems to know no fear. She got on so well right away with me, Sky, Alberta and the woofie, that the Humans didn't isolate her. Charlie, however, is deeply traumatized and is still sulking. The humans are constantly trying to reinforce how much they love her and wanted a playmate for her. So far, she's not buying into any of it. The Humans, of course, are very worried about Charlie.

Maggie seems to be a smart little thing in addition to being cute and gregarious. Except she likes to sleep under pillows. (The Humans are also very worried about this.) She doesn't sit still long enough for pictures to be taken. She follows the Humans around from room to room and they are so giddy with the joys of having her around that they're actually kind of fun to watch.

Maggie Fu is definitely Oligarchy material. That she could persuade our normally logical rational Humans to bring her home shows great potential for their future manipulation on our behalf. We're hoping that this is the beginning of a long and furry friendship.

--
Blackie

No Pain No Gain

2006-10-20T08:02:00.000-04:00

I want to thank everyone for their support on the absurdity of my diet change and, given all your responses, plan to pursue it further with my humans. In case you're wondering how the exercise regiment is going .... ... well...

we're all too exhausted to write much about it.

And we can't turn the blog over to the humans to write, as we don't think they've started theirs yet.

--
Sky, Alberta, Charlie and Hana (the woofie)

No More StinkyGoodness Forever

2006-10-17T16:23:00.000-04:00

That same v-e-t who said I needed to loose weight also said that because of having seven of my teeth removed last August, I am to never eat stinky-goodness again. Something about it getting stuck in my sockets? So the humans are to take crunchy food and soften it with water. I can't believe it. You'd think with a diet like that it would be easy to loose weight, but not so. The good news part is because of my tooth surgery, they've rechecked all my heart medicines and now I'm taking less of those pills than I had to before. But no more StinkyGoodness? Ever? After loosing all those teeth, I thought they would have to feed me nothing BUT stinky-goodness for the rest of my life. I want a second opinion but the humans say I have to save my own money to pay for one.
--
Sky

Do I Look Fat to You?

2006-10-14T22:19:00.000-04:00

My v-e-t says I need to loose weight. I'm the only cat in the house that can't get through the sliding glass door out to the porch when it's cracked open with the security stick. I keep telling the humans to shorten the stick and the door would open wider. (It would be the equivalent of them buying a size larger clothes which, ahem, they have been known to do lately.) And they keep telling me that would defeat the purpose of having a security stick.

It was so affirming last summer when Fat Eric had this fantastic entry featuring Big Boys On Parade in his blog. (Although, especially given my short hair, I really don't think I'm in their league at all)

I felt even better when I found some web sites with some really fat cats. Next to these guys, I am downright puny.

But, I started getting a little worried about this weight thing this fall after Shaggy wrote about having to eat special food and getting dragged around the house three times for exercise. Can you imagine?

Then this machine shows up in our front hallway. It is so big and heavy the humans could barely carry it in the house.

They think we are ALL going to exercise more, eat better and loose weight.

Stay tuned.
--
Sky

Happy Gotcha Day, Charlie!

2006-10-11T21:14:00.000-04:00

Dear Charlie,

Just two years ago today, we heard the OtherHuman tell the HumanGyrrl that she could bring home this "stray cat" who had been hanging around outside the small town community theater during rehearsal of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown".

We couldn't believe our ears. So now, we were taking in stray cats off the streets. And a feral one at that (so we thought) who would be a "scaredy cat" in social situations.

We knew someone new was in the garage: a skinny quiet barely moving grayish female feline with bits of orange and a clipped ear. Who kept eating all the food put in front of her.

Little did we know that within a month she would be running all over the house and knew no fear of people or felines or canines. We weren't thrilled that this new creature wanted to PLAY with us. We weren't thrilled at all. But she grew on us. And she grew on our humans. And now we can't imagine our home without her.

Happy Gotcha Day, Charlie!

love,

Alberta and Sky
(and Blackie, who came later)

Photography 101

2006-10-06T08:40:00.000-04:00

Hint to the Human: if you really want to capture my sophistication and grace by photographing me on the antique piano next to the "musical cat" print you bought at the art festival, try not to get the litter box in the background.

This is a little better, but maybe you should go back to reading the camera manual?

Or studying more art prints for composition?

Or getting rid of some of the clutter?

BTW: I AM available for modeling jobs.
--
Charlie

Special Blessings

2006-10-01T22:51:00.001-04:00

Today we all got specially blessed.

That place our humans go on Sunday morning had a special service this morning to celebrate St. Francis of Assisi by blessing all the animals in the congregation.

The regular Sunday service was held outdoors. A unique cloth created just for today covered the alter. People brought their animals or pictures of them
and everyone (human and otherwise) got special blessings and learned about St Francis of Assisi and what we animals can teach our humans about a lot of things should they ever happen to actually pay attention.

We felines didn't want to actually go anywhere that involved us getting into carriers or halters or hanging around a lot of woofies so we sent OUR woofie to represent our household.

But she said they blessed all of us just the same.

P.S. Next year at least ONE of us will attend so the service isn't quite so woofie intensive.

Bad Boys

2006-09-29T22:34:00.000-04:00

Blackie and Sky really really upset our humans today. They busted out of the house without permission. (Since we're not allowed to go outside, other than to our screen porch, unless the house is seriously on fire and it's a hurricane, it would be rather difficult to actually GET permission)

Apparently the door from the laundry room into the garage hadn't been shut tightly AND the garage door was open. Blackie and Sky must have pushed the laundry room door open and walked out the garage door. And then down the street, apparently, maybe into the woods. They're not telling. And there are no witnesses willing to come forward.

The Otherhuman and the Humangyrrl were home but didn't realize anything was amiss until one of them saw Blackie nonchalantly walking back IN to the house. They took an immediate head count and saw that we girls hadn't gone anywhere and the woofie was still here (drat!). But there was no Sky.

The humans got real scared and went in different directions looking under all the bushes in the neighborhood, going into the woods and also into the big green space behind our house. Still no Sky. They were kind of teary eyed and had called the Human still at work to come home to help look.

But when they walked into the garage, there was Sky sleeping on the mat in front of the now tightly closed door into the laundry room just waiting for someone to let him in.

They were so glad to see him that they almost forgot they were mad at him.

--
Alberta and Charlie

De Agony of De Feet

2006-09-25T09:21:00.000-04:00

As much as I hate to sound as if I am complaining, I WAS sound asleep about 3 a.m this morning, when this flashy light goes off in my face not only waking me up but also disturbing my sweet kitty dreams.

Slowly, I realize the room is still dark and that everyone around me is sleeping (except for the human with the flashy light box)

I recognize Charlie's butt next to my face, but can't place this weight on my own backside.

Charlie wakes up, takes one look and, I swear, she starts snickering at me before jumping down.

I turn and look and, lo and behold, there does seem to be a naked human foot resting fully on my backside belonging to a human who never woke up during the entire process.
In the grand "night" hierarchy of the Oligarchy, Charlie and I are "2nd shift" bed sleepers. We take over the "foot of the bed" after our Woofie jumps down to sleep elsewhere. (Alberta generally chooses not to join the crowd, but sometimes cries loud enough to wake everyone up so one of the humans will go find her in the living room so the other humans in the house can sleep. Sky is an "all night front and center with his own pillow" bed sleeper.)

Our humans have been so distracted for the past two months that at least if they're sleeping, we get to spend some good quiet time with them. The foot on top of me is a new one though.

Should I feel insulted?

Charlie says she would have bitten it.

--
Blackie

Boris Was My Secret Paw!

2006-09-18T23:45:00.000-04:00

A package. I have a package?????Addressed to me, HANA, personally? From Boris in Sweden??????I just can't believe all this wonderful stuff ....
Is this what you look like, Boris?Swedish treats smell even better than American treats!
How did you know how much I love toys! (and that I needed a new collar?) And that I love bones even more ....(even ones that are bigger than one of my own legs) Thank you, Boris, (and your humans) ....
.... for being the BEST Secret Paw a Woofie could have.

--
Hana

originally posted: http://secretpaws.blogspot.com/2006/09/boris-was-my-secret-paw.html

Return of the Oligarchy

2006-09-05T23:55:00.000-04:00

Clarification: we in the Oligarchy didn't actually GO any place from which we could return, but thanks to our humans who can't seem to stay home, we haven't posted to our blog in over a month, haven't been able to read what's going on with anyone else; haven't properly thanked any of our Secret Paws (yet) for the very thoughtful gifts we received (and which, we might add, sustained us through the very long month of August) and were a day late sending out our gifts (which we started collecting in July) to our own Secret Paws.

Last we wrote, both our humans were facing some challenges at that stuff they do everyday to buy us catfood and keep us from having to use the cheapest litter in our necessary boxes. Then both of the Human Grandparents "up North" had some additional serious health issues. So as soon as the Summer School was over for one, both of our humans drove up to be with them for a bit. Fortunately, the HumanGyrrl moved home to stay with us. And, fortunately, both of the grandparents are now back in the Care Center where they live. And our humans are both back home where we want them to stay for awhile.

The Human thought she would be able to post a short message from her Sibling's house to let everyone know what was going on, but that never worked out. Thanks for asking what happened with us. We have really missed everyone and are looking forward to reading what everyone has been up to!

Since we couldn't post, we have been keeping notes ... we'll let Sky go first as he has the most compelling story ....

--
Alberta, Sky, Blackie and Charlie

NOT the Mumps

2006-09-05T23:50:00.000-04:00

Well, you can't see cause my paw is covering it up, but my cheek was really really swollen. No, it wasn't the mumps. (I didn't want to argue with the humans because that is such a waste of time, but I don't think we felines even get the mumps)

Unfortunately, it was an abscess and unfortunately, it all became noticeable right before both humans were set to drive "up north" to be with the Human Grandparents and things were already a tad stressful in the household.

The OtherHuman took me to see Dr. G right away who drew a lot of blood for "tests" and puts me on antibiotics. By the time the humans left town, my swelling had almost gone down. But I needed to have surgery as soon as they could get all the details worked out. Fortunately, the HumanGyrrl was staying at our house to take care of all of us.

Not that I want to bore all of you with my health history, but I had a heart attack in the late 90's and have been on some serious medication ever since. (In fact, one of the humans and I take the same heart medication except I get the "real" stuff and the human has to use the generic version.) So before Dr. G would do surgery, she wanted me to have blood work and an echocardiogram.

Even though I hate going to the v-e-t, I guess that I am lucky that I live in a city where there is a heart specialist for felines. The humans left on a Friday and the next Monday, the Humangyrrl drove me to THAT appointment. My surgery was set for the next Wednesday.

Tuesday night: the HumanGyrrl picks up all the food, upsetting Charlie and Blackie to no end. Uh, I'm having potentially life threatening surgery and THEY are upset about their food bowel being unavailable for a few hours? I won't tell you what I was thinking about THEM!

Wednesday morning: we wake up before the crack of dawn. Did I mention that neither the HumanGyrrl nor I are "morning" creatures? But, I am at Dr. G's on time. Three hours later the HumanGyrrl gets a call that they didn't have my blood work; the lab lost it and they have to redo those tests. And they won't do my surgery without it. Home I go. Stuck by those needles again.

Thursday morning: repeat. Except today I have surgery. They remove seven teeth. SEVEN.

HumanGyrrl picks me up and home I go. My humans are still Up North and they tell me, terribly worried about me. Well, at least they say that each time they call. They finally get home several days after I finally start feeling a little better. Other than being worried about what I look like without all my teeth, I feel prety good again. I am grateful my humans are all back. And I've almost forgiven Blackie and Charlie for being so selfish. Almost.

--
Sky

Lap Time with Hee Haw

2006-07-30T18:01:00.000-04:00

Sometimes at our house it's really difficult to get some good quality lap time. All the humans seem to be so busy lately that no one ever just sits down to relax and read or watch TV. They're always at a computer or sitting at a desk or table, talking on the phone or reading in bed. Which if you are, as I am, a true connoisseur of lap time, are not situations which create ample opportunity for a good lap.

Well, thanks to a fortuitous Saturday evening phone call from the Human's brother, my luck changed. He was visiting the human grandparents and mentioned that Hee Haw was on the TV in their room. For the blissfully ignorant, Hee Haw was country music's answer to the 1960's Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. It aired from 1969-1991 but hasn't been seen on the public airwaves in over 10 years. As it turned out, there was a Hee Haw marathon on CMT TV this weekend.

To the chagrin of the entire household (except me), the Human stopped what she was planning to do, sat down and watched Hee Haw for three entire hours.

And I had three entire hours of good solid "my head to her belly" lap time.

It was almost worth having to admit to the rest of the world that I have a human who would actually spend three hours on a Saturday night watching Hee Haw.

Does anyone else have my kind of problems?

--
Alberta

Guests, Quotations and Perspective

2006-07-18T09:30:00.000-04:00

We, the official members of the Feline Oligarchy, have been fantasizing about writing this post since shortly after midnight on June 23, 2006.

That is when our OtherHuman and HumanGyrrl returned home from their cross-country trip with the two felines from next door:
Patch and Quito.

Patch and Quito moved IN ("just" until their humans came home) and, for the most part, we all moved OUT.

Out to our porch anyway. Quito so dominated the house, we couldn't continue in our regular life. BUT he never figured out how to use the cat door. The porch was OURS.

For the first time in the history of the Oligarchy, THREE of us could be in the same climber at the same time.

(Ok, so our Human had to put a rug over the hole on top of the center tube so no one could stick a foot in and bother Alberta, but she gets upset way too easily.)

We sat together and chanted poignant quotations we had memorized:

Such as:

Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were. ~Author Unknown

Fish and visitors smell in three days. ~Benjamin Franklin

Visits always give pleasure - if not the arrival, the departure. ~Portuguese Proverb

Unbidden guests Are often welcomest when they are gone.
Author: William Shakespeare

If you are a host to your guest, be a host to his dog also. ~Russian Proverb

(The last one reminded us that no matter how miserable we were, that we could have it worse.)

We kept waiting for the neighbors to COME home so these invading felines could GO home. This Quito cat had stepped on every last nerve anyone had.

Saturday afternoon. The doorbell rings. Although we haven't seen them since they left last July we recognize the next-door-neighbor woman and her two girls.

They see Patch and Quito and they are so excited. The youngest one takes Quito and holds him and rocks him back and forth. And he let her.

Here she waits for her dad to come carry him home. Good-bye Quito.
This fellow feline we all thought was such a complete jerk brought so much love and joy to his people it was touching. It made us proud to be a small part of helping this family move across country, not once, but twice. It put all our torment and suffering into perspective.

(But we're still glad he's gone.)

Good-bye Patch. (You can come back and visit)

The "guests" have left. Our humans are actually sad.

But, we have survived.

We have our nip box back.

There is fresh nip.

Life is good.

--
Alberta, Sky, Blackie and Charlie

Couldn't We Please Read Something Else?

2006-07-16T23:59:00.000-04:00

Well, it's an interesting enough article, but it's not exactly what I want to immerse myself in before going to bed. It's summer. Couldn't we find a good feline mystery to read? Goodness knows, there are enough mystery authors writing about cats, but the Human doesn't seem to have any she enjoys reading anymore. So if anyone has suggestions, could you pass them on because I'm getting really bored reading Newsweek. Their coverage of feline affairs is absolutely dismal!

It's been hot here this week too! We are fortunate in that we have our screened porch which faces west and is shaded by trees so it isn't uncomfortable in the mornings. And that we have a cat door which allows us to go inside to air conditioning whenever we want. We feel sorry for all our feline friends who are suffering in the heat.

Our feline "guests" are still here. (I am not going to use that "Q" name in this post. I AM NOT. And I AM NOT going to allow the Human to upload a cute picture of HIM in a post with my byline. I also have some standards!) The person who rented their house for the year came to say good-bye yesterday so it's empty. Our humans just don't have the heart to send our "guests" over to live in an empty house. Alberta is still counting naps but, in human time, it's one more week until our "guests" go home.

Our humans' hearts are in the right place which is why I tolerate them. And they are getting to be less of a pushover in the discipline area. Saturday night, Q made another serious attempt to overthrow the Oligarchy and the humans made him go to his room and closed the door for the rest of the night. We actually had 'family time' for the first time in weeks! I sat on the loveseat next to OtherHuman, the Woofie sat on the sofa next to the Human and Blackie and Charlie played in the nip boxes in front of us. It was wonderful! We didn't even fight with each other.

Now if I could only find a good book to read.

--
Sky

Happy Blogiversary Kukka-Maria !

2006-07-16T20:09:00.000-04:00

Dear Empress Kukka-Maria is celebrating the one year anniversary of her blog this weekend.

We regret that we are one day late in presenting our gift, but it took a long time to arrange everything. Complete with airfare and limo service, we offer a one week stay in a luxurious beach resort on the Florida side of the Gulf of Mexico.

What better way to show off all the pieces of the new bikini?

Kukka-Maria, we hope you have the wonderful time which you deserve.

Happy blogiversary,

Alberta, Sky, Blackie and Charlie

Standards. Now, the Human has standards.

2006-07-13T23:21:00.000-04:00

You might have gathered from previous posts that things are just a tad tense in the Oligarchy. It's been a little quieter this week and I've been able to catch up on my summer reading and snoozing.

That is, until the other night when the Human came home late from a meeting after work. She was going to have an apple for her supper, but when she reached for the handle of the fancy knives they keep on the counter, all of a sudden she started ranting about "this is tooo much. I really do have some standards and this is just too much"

Since it had become impossible to continue in my much deserved solitude, I investigated her perceived problem: some alleged cat hair on the knife handles.
She continued to overreact and refused to use those knives to cut her apple. Like a little cat hair is going to kill her?

And what does she consider the source of her perceived problem?

Hint: there are six felines currently living here: the four Oligarchy members and our two "guests". Five of us are "domestic short hairs".

Oh, could it possibly be "Mr. Butt in the Dish Drainer" longhair Quito who hangs out on the counters?

Perhaps if she suggested that he get his butt off the counter instead of going "oh, isn't he cute", she might not have occasion to be so dramatic about her new found standards.

And I could get back to my reading.

Humans. Who understands them?

--
Blackie

Oh, Not Another Gray Hair?

2006-07-09T23:50:00.000-04:00

Well, a gray hair or two might be expected since I AM going to be 18 (in human years) next month. So the human thinks. I could be 18 now for all she knows for sure. But considering I have not succumbed to feline vanity and the useless pursuit of foregone youth by, ahem, altering my natural hair color, I think I look pretty darn good. (BTW: Sky thinks no one knows about his box of "Just for TomCats" in the cupboard. Ha! Ha! Ha!)

But if I have any extra gray hairs this week, it's because of a little "trouble" at home. Actually, we have a new synonym for "trouble" at our house and his name is Quito! (One of our visiting felines) Our human describes it like having a wild nephew or cousin come to visit: you love him; you're entertained by him; you want to keep him safe until he can get back home but he can't go home soon enough even though you know you're going to miss him just a little bit when he's gone. That's Quito.

The Human wasn't even in the mood to take pictures the other night and here are some spontaneous shots all taken within half an hour. Spontaneous is a good word for Quito. There is absolutely nothing staged about that boy.

Here's Quito drinking water from the kitchen sink:

Five minutes later Quito's in the bathroom sink:

Fifteen minutes later Quito is blocking the doorway to the back room:
because Sky went in to the guest room to eat their crunchy food and got trapped. Sky was looking a bit sheepish, but not too stressed when rescued.
But then it got real nasty. Quito trapped Blackie in the litter box.(I mean, there are some places one feline simply does not trap another feline) and then he trapped Charlie under the bed (no one traps Charlie). And then he got put in his room with the door closed for the rest of the night.

I have the mixed blessing of simultaneously being afraid of everything and nothing. Which means, I run if he even looks at me but, then I go right back for more even if he's going to chase me. The Human keeps saying something about "discernment" and "judgment" and I keep telling her "I'm 18. I am who I am. Forget it."

At 4 a.m. it got really really scary. Blackie and Sky got in to a knock-down-drag-em-out-rolling-around-honest-to-goodness-FIGHT. Which they have never done before. (The humans at first thought Quito had broken out of his closed room so they chased the black and white cat with a broom when they broke up the fight. But when they realized it was Sky instead of Quito, they had to find him and apologize and assure him that they weren't taking Blackie's side over his.)

All the humans could think of was the extra stress of both of them being trapped earlier just caused them to lash out at each other. Our Human was really not amused by it all as she had been woken up already at 2 a.m. by the phone because our HumanGrandma was sick and where she stays wanted to take her to the hospital. It was a pretty stressful night. OtherHuman gave up on sleeping and just went to work. Human went back to bed and woke up with both Sky and Blackie sleeping on the same side of the bed. They weren't hurt and they haven't had a fight since.

We know that Quito can be nice because he really gets along with his feline sister Patch, but she lets him "be in charge"

and knows how to "play" with him (in OUR climber, you may note)

But the Oligarchy does not surrender.

No matter how cute or charming or lovable.

Our humans had a call from the neighbor humans yesterday. They have to be back to work on July 24th so will finish moving back before then.Which means Quito will be going back to HIS home by July 24th. I'm not sure how many naps it is until the 24th, but I'm counting.

Naps, that is. Not gray hairs.

--
Alberta

Killer Socks

2006-07-06T06:02:00.000-04:00

Most humans do not realize the danger of Killer Socks.

Killer Socks is a potentially fatal phenomenon which generally occurs during the hottest part of the summer when ordinary socks are washed and then dried in a dryer while an air conditioner is running somewhere within the household. (Be especially careful: "household" can include an entire apartment house or adjoining condominium complex. In rare circumstances, even a refrigerator running within 300 yards of the socks has been known to trigger disaster.)

A unique combination of ions collects on the fabric. The mere process of sorting and folding a pair of socks can result in a painful wound or can even prove deadly. There is no known test to identify when the combination of ions is reaching critical mass. Research dollars are desperately needed to study this situation which is the unspoken reason why so many humans in Western society wear sandals in the summer.

If you MUST wear socks and INSIST on clean ones, don't despair, there is hope.

An alert feline, as demonstrated here by Charlie, intimately involved in the process of folding socks, can use their "feline senses" to detect the deadly combination of ions and intercept the Killer Socks before they intercept you.
Just one more reason why no "good" household should ever be without a resident feline.

You can trust Charlie on THAT one!

Principles and Manners

2006-07-04T21:39:00.000-04:00

Here are Patch and Quito (our visiting kitties for the next couple of weeks until our next door neighbors finish moving back home after a year in Seattle) THEY are in OUR living room looking quite comfortable next to OUR nip box. The Oligarchy kitties are ALL out on the porch spending more time together than ever before.

Our Human suggested that a quote about it taking a common enemy to unite us might be apropos for our blog today, but when we came upon this one from one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, we knew it was the right quote for us. And that it was right about a whole lot more than "us" and our "sitiuation" with our visiting neighbors:

A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.

-- Samuel Adams

Here's to principles and manners and to liberty and freedom.

Happy Fourth of July!

--
Alberta, Sky, Blackie and Charlie

Perplexion

2006-07-02T12:50:00.000-04:00

Ok, Humans, we do understand that you placed a bowel of crunchies on the dining room table because Sky and Alberta can't jump on top of the counters in the bathroom anymore and that the Woofie will eat them if it's any lower.
But we are incredibly perplexed why you get so upset when we want to eat there WITH you.Get a grip. Haven't you ever heard of FAMILY dinners?

BTW: Do you really think we like the smell of that "cleanser with bleach" around our food anymore than you do?
--
Blackie and Charlie

Chutzpah

2006-07-02T12:46:00.000-04:00

Since our OtherHuman and our Humangyrrl came home from their crosscountry trip with our two neighbor felines, our lives have not been the same. The neighbors moved into the room our Human uses for an office complete with their own food and litterbox. We were prepared to be good hosts for the couple of weeks they are to stay here, but that is proving to be more difficult.

Patch seems really pleasant and although she's a bit shy, we can have a good conversation with her and think we could really enjoy hanging out together. Although we do think our HumanGyrrl is a bit excessive in feeding her breakfast in bed.Quito, on the other hand, seems intent on running the house and has been a real challenge for us.
We don't mind sharing, but he eats OUR food,
rolls in OUR nip box,
not only USES OUR litterbox,
but then lies in the doorway to OUR bathroom so we can't use it.We're just waiting for our HumanGyrrl to discover that he takes his baths in her computer case.

The most polite word we can think of when we talk about Quito is "chutzpah"! We're still trying to be "good hosts", but would really appreciate it if HE would try to be a "good guest". Or at least realize that he IS a guest.

However, after years of wondering what an Australian Shepherd was doing in the middle of a Feline Oligarchy, we have discovered what our woofie is good for! She takes our side in "encounters" with Quito. She barks when she hears any "growling" so the humans can run intervention and, once, when Sky was standing up to Quito, she got in-between the two of them, protected Sky and "herded" Quito back to "his" room.

We may have to keep her after all.
--
Alberta, Sky, Blackie and Charlie

Adventures with Zeus

2006-07-01T12:45:00.000-04:00

Has it been a full week in the Oligarchy!

Our friend Zeus paid us a special visit this week and he is just as charming, funny and sophisticated in person (uh, perhaps that should be "in feline"?) as he is in the blogsphere! How he maintains the pace he keeps with all his travels is utterly amazing! We enjoyed our trip to the ballet (even Blackie admitted that eventually) and the canoe trip, once we opened our eyes and realized we weren't going to end up in the river, was really beautiful.

We had no idea when we invited him that he was so strongly opposed to nip and were really worried he would think we were just a bunch of nipheads. But he was so cool about it, even though we did end up rolling around in the nip at the end of his visit.

Thank you, Zeus, for such an incredible day!
--
Alberta, Sky, Blackie and Charlie

Drive-by Microchipping

2006-06-24T10:39:00.000-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Web, Fellow Felines, Canines, Bunnies and Rats,

Hear my story and be prepared. Vicious gangs may be operating in your neighborhood waiting to kidnap and brand you forever as one of their own. No neighborhood is too "good". You are not safe anywhere. This could happen to you. This IS our true story:

Saturday morning, Blackie and I are just hanging loose, watching a little KittyTV when the next thing we know, we are brutally kidnapped by vicious gang members, shoved into tiny cramped cages,

and shanghaied into this hot noisy red thing that smelled of coffee, gasoline and, worse, wet dog. Strains of country music attempted to drown our screams and cries for help. It was not successful.

I AM not happy!

It gets worse from here ... we're driven for maybe five minutes then transported roughly into another building. We are then pulled from our cages and tortured to reveal our personal information which we can hear being entered into a computer in the background. Then IT happens. We feel the sting of the needle. We here them say "it's in" and your information will be linked to the central computer available no matter where are. We are forever linked to this brutal gang.

We reenter our cages and once again enter that smelly red thing. Shamed and demoralized by this entire process, we wonder, how can this gang be operating in our "safe suburban neighborhood". Wouldn't the neighbors get suspicious? Wouldn't someone call the sheriff? Then we see THE SIGN. They are openly recruiting right next to the proverbial Saturday morning garage sales.

Crushed by this revelation, we find little comfort to return to what we formerly regarded as "our" safe house. We are permanently changed knowing that if disaster strikes and we end up in a "shelter", we can NOW be identified. Our privacy is lost forever.

Total strangers, who previously would assume we were a couple of scruffy strays, would NOW know without doubt that there was this group of people frantically searching for us; miserable without us, loosing sleep until they could but return us home and love us and pet us and play with us and feed us tuna entree. How HORRIBLE is that?

Uh, well, ok, uh, maybe this whole thing isn't so bad after all?

Nevermind.

--
Charlie

Is There a Problem?

2006-06-21T20:06:00.000-04:00

Don't look at me like THAT. You have hair remover rollers in your car, your desk, your purse and all over the house. Besides, I don't shed.

--
Charlie

Cross Country with Quito and Patch

2006-06-21T10:14:00.000-04:00

An update to the saga of our HumanGyrrl, our OtherHuman and our two feline neighbors, Patch and Quito, making their way across the country in a small compact car.

They left Seattle on Saturday morning and the humans have really been enjoying the countryside as it goes by. With a 5% chance of actually seeing the peak of Mount Ranier, they did!

For the felines, other than the early morning in the crate "choir of discontent" (as our HumanGyrrl calls it), Quito and Patch have not been too stressed.

In the Utah motel stop, Quito got himself under the king-sized bed mattress which was on a wooden box. The humans had fun dismantling the bed to get him out.

Once the humans are firmly on the road, they've been letting the felines out of their individual crates. The problem has been the sun. When it pours in the windows on the side and back of the car, Quito and Patch don't like it. The air conditioner is OK in the front but struggles to reach the back where the cats are housed. For much of the trip through Utah and Wyoming they were cuddled together in one crate on the shady side of the car. The humans have stuck maps up on the window to keep the passenger side reasonable.

Tuesday they drove through the Colorado mountains so heat wasn't an issue. Wednesday while driving through Kansas even the humans were hot. They started to suspect a problem and stopped in Topeka to discover they were almost out of coolant. All spent about an hour in an air conditioned room at a local JiffyLube while it was worked on; cats in one cage as they prefer, with a little baby just walking ogling them and then a probably 6 year old jabbering away. Cats were wonderful.

Saturday morning: Seattle, Washington
Saturday night: Pendelton, Oregon
Sunday night: Ogden, Utah
Monday night: Granby, Colorado
Tuesday night: Goodland, Kansas
Wednesday night: Springfield, Missouri
Thursday night: Memphis, Tennessee
Friday night: Gainesville, Florida --> they're home!

Father's Day 2006

2006-06-18T23:40:00.000-04:00

Let's get one thing understood up front: I am the ALPHA member of the Feline Oligarchy so I don't often get sentimental. (That's a warning that you may want to skip this post.) But it's Father's Day and I want to write about me and Ed. That's us in the picture taken right before I moved to Florida. It was our "good-bye" shot.

You might have gathered that I have rather humble beginnings in rural northern Minnesota, being born in a hay barn as one of many litters. When I was a teenager, my original people put me in a car for the first time and drove 15 miles to another farm where Ed and his wife lived. They were retired and their elderly cat had died a month earlier. They weren't going to have any more animals because they didn't think they would live long enough to take care of them. But my original people knew how lonely Ed and his wife were and figured that I was a pretty self sufficient guy and maybe, in my own way, I could take care of them.

It was Ed who named me Blackie but I got to be pretty good friends with both of them. The woman walked very slowly and had to use two canes but she always came to the door for me. And she didn't get mad at me when I attacked her curtains. The three of us did pretty well together for about three years. Then one day the woman went away and didn't come home to live anymore. She had moved to the Care Center in town.

That's when Ed and I started living together - just the two of us. Or as Ed would say "we were baching it" as two bachelors living together. In his 84 years, Ed had always lived on this farm and he had never lived alone. He could have gone somewhere else to live, but he adamantly chose not to. He would drive in to town every day and visit his wife. Then he would come home to me. He fed me my tablespoon of chicken flavored stinky goodness first thing in the morning and kept my crunchy food in a Frisbee on the floor. He kept my water bowel full. He let me out when I wanted out; he let me in when I wanted in. Evenings, we would spend together with me on his lap watching whatever sport was in season while he snoozed. I knew, in great detail, how the Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves, etc. seasons were going. When he woke up from his evening nap, we would have ice cream together before going to bed. In the morning he would wake up with me sleeping on top of him. We spent a long year and a half living together and really got to know and depend on each other.

It became apparent that Ed also needed to move to the Care Center. We both would have liked it if I could have moved with him, but nobody knew that I was litterbox trained. Besides, the Center already had a cat and I was used to being an only cat. And the Center's cat went outside and Ed didn't want me to be outside in town where I might be hit by a car. Since my mousing skills were current, I had several offers of places to go, but Ed didn't want me to have to go "back to the barn" and he thought "I was too good of a cat to be destroyed". While he always thought that the Florida humans were a little "odd" in how their felines ran their house (he teased them about that a lot over the years!), he decided that maybe Florida might really be the best place for me to go. So he made the Florida humans promise that when he moved to the Care Center, they would come and get me. They did and I've been here over 15 months now. And I've made a pretty good home of it.

Ed and his wife are now in a different Care Center, but they're still together. I know he has my picture on his bulletin board. I know sometimes that he still remembers me and the things we did together. And I also know that most times he doesn't. But I remember enough for both of us. And today, especially, I remember Ed.

Happy Father's Day.

--
Blackie

Comings and Goings

2006-06-16T23:23:00.000-04:00

Well, I've had an exhausting week. Sometimes my humans wear me out and they're not even home to do it. It's their comings and goings that get to me.

The one Human came dragging in at 2:30 in the morning just less than a week ago from some "work trip" to Tennessee. That suitcase is still in the bedroom not quite unpacked.

The HumanGyrrl was here for a suspiciously long time on Monday and Tuesday putting her things in that clothes swirling machine and then in to a suitcase. And she had her computer hooked up to OUR fast connection and kept printing out addresses to independent book stores between Seattle, Washington and the Florida/Georgia border. We haven't seen her since then.

Then this morning, the OtherHuman comes out with YET another suitcase packed and worrying something about not having a seat assignment.

So I asked them what was going on, insinuating that perhaps we were entitled to a little bit of explanation being the Oligarchy and all. So they told me. At first, I thought that they had to be joking; they couldn't possibly be serious. But then all the pieces came together and the story came out:

A year ago, the family next door moved to Seattle for one year. Their woofie went with them and the two smaller humans in their van. Their two felines stayed behind with our HumanGyrrl until the family was settled in their new home. Our HumanGyrrl then drove our feline neighbors to Orlando to catch a direct flight to Seattle.

Fast forward one year: The neighbors are getting ready to move back to Florida. BUT instead of flying our feline neighbors back home, they flew our HumanGyrrl to Seattle. Today, our OtherHuman flew to Seattle to join her. Together they are going to chauffeur our feline neighbors across the country in the neighbor's small compact car with a manual transmission with only am/fm radio. Following the route of all independent bookstores located between Seattle and Florida. (I suspect. They didn't actually tell me THAT, but I KNOW them and that is exactly what they would do. And Charlie is going to have to conduct more research on boxes so they have someplace to put all the books)

All I can say is at least they left the one Human home to feed us and clean our necessary boxes. And that they had better not get any ideas about moving US across the street much less across the country.
--
Sky

Teacher's Pet

2006-06-13T07:36:00.000-04:00

Sigh.
Sorry, it's part of our deal. We need the Human's opposable thumbs to post the pictures so we allow her to write the caption while we (members of the Feline Oligarchy) write the blog itself. As you may gather from previous posts, I am no one's "pet". I don't even refer to my "companion humans" as my pets. Why rub their noses in their servile status?

On the other hand, I'm sure my OtherHuman would be pleased to be called "teacher". Here I am helping prepare for classes this week. You may not be aware that one can not simply put books into an empty box without first ensuring that the bottom is structurally solid and that there are no parasites lurking within the cardboard. There are endless details to consider which require careful qualitative research, detailed documentation and, of course, publishing the outcome in my peer reviewed journals.

I prefer to follow-up my research sessions with tuna-entree' and a nap. All good scholars need to relax now and then.

--
Charlie

Visiting Fred, Sampson and Maggie

2006-06-11T21:29:00.000-04:00

Our humans have been working too hard so while we were partying this weekend we were very grateful that someone took pity on them and invited them to another one of those "pool parties". But this one was "potluck" so here I am, supervising so my inept humans can come up with a dish that other humans would actually eat. I think it's pretty difficult to ruin fruit salad (even for MY humans) so fruit salad it is!
BTW: do you know that there is NOTHING that is even tempting for a poor hungry kitty to eat in a fruit salad? If they would only add some tuna or oyster juice, it would have potential.

Apparently, they had a really good time, but since they missed us so much, they made friends with the resident felines.

Here is Fred, in his climber. He's got a closed tube on top - I think Charlie and I could have lots of fun fighting in one of those. Fred looks too suave and sophisticated to even think about "fighting".

This is Sampson co- ordinating very nicely with the antique white on the rocker.

And here is Maggie. She's sweet but a bit shy around other humans as she is actually under the bed covers here. She looks really pretty in that shade of "quilt" though.

Our humans must have had a good time because they came home all relaxed and didn't even ask too many questions as to what we were up to while they were gone.

Which was a good thing as we had a REALLY GOOD TIME at Oreo's birthday party. We'd never been to a party before (with other felines anyway) so were really pleased to be invited. Oreo is one Fantastic Feline!
--
Blackie

She's Back ! We Didn't Starve!

2006-06-08T12:21:00.000-04:00

Our Human is back! She came dragging in at 2:30 this morning with some story that she'd been at a conference for five days. Now that our blogging computer is back, we will have more to say about our experiences. Meanwhile, we are eating.

Alberta

Sky

Blackie and Charlie

BTW: We didn't REALLY starve while she was gone. Our OtherHuman talks a tough game but is really a pushover when it comes down to it. But we really appreciate the notes of concern and suggestions from our feline comrades in blogging.

--
Alberta, Sky, Blackie and Charlie

The Suitcase Came Down

2006-06-02T06:29:00.000-04:00

Clue #1: The Suitcase came down from the crawl space and is sitting in the kitchen.

Clue #2: Our human came home with three cases of stinky goodness saying she didn't want us to starve while she was away.

How considerate of her.

IT turns out she "HAS" to go away for "WORK" and "HAS" to take our blogging computer with her. Apparently, several of the humans from her office are driving north on Saturday to get to where something called "meetings" are starting on Sunday. (We guess it's like their own "work" version of the Catolympics but doesn't sound nearly as fun.)

Still, they are driving through Catlanta and spending the first night in Cattanooga. This doesn't sound too much like "WORK" to us.

Our other human says we don't need all that stinky goodness because, except for Alberta, we are all too fat.

Minimal stinky goodness? No blogging computer? Only one human to serve us?

We have some concerns here.

--
Alberta, Sky, Blackie and Charlie

Disclaimer: the Oligarchy is forced to use a "file photo" of Alberta in a packed suitcase as OUR human would never be so organized as to actually HAVE a packed suitcase in advance as to when she has to be out the front door.

The Human Gyrrl's Room

2006-06-01T06:18:00.000-04:00

Come on in, Charlie, the human gyrrl left the door to her room open so we can explore, hang out and sleep on all her clothes and knock anything we want to on the floor without anyone even thinking of blaming US. -- Blackie

P.S. We actually LOVE our human gyrrl. Sometimes our other humans go away or get busy and she comes over and makes sure we don't starve or perish of loneliness.

Memorial Day in the Oligarchy

2006-05-29T18:36:00.000-04:00

The Feline Oligarchy had a quiet Memorial Day. The humans slept in so our morning meal was delayed to begin with. Then they went in to a frenzy when they realized that our weekly garbage pickup was happening even though it was a holiday. So we had to wait while they took out our garbage and, if that wasn't enough, they went around to all the neighbors who were gone and pushed out their garbage to the curb as well. It was a wonder we hadn't wasted away to fur and bones by the time we got served.

Alberta spent the day watching KittyTV. She was facinated by the "Cardinal in Garden" show on the Feather Channel even though it wasn't coming in very well.

Blackie and Charlie settled into the NEW climber for their morning snooze.

All was well until Blackie relaxed and his tail hung down into Charlies space

and she just couldn't ignore it.

After some battering around, Blackie moved elsewhere for his nap. Some place where not even Charlie could reach his tail.

The humans left us in the afternoon for something called a "pool party". I don't understand it exactly, it seems like a group of humans get into skimpy outfits and then they all get into water over their heads. Why? I have no idea - they don't even have fleas or ticks. It just doesn't sound like my idea for fun.

On the way to the pool thing, the humans visited those new kittens down the street. They now have names - Bailey and Madison - and the human took lots of pictures. We hope they are not getting overly enamoured with these little creatures. The Oligarchy
has not had kittens since October 1988 when Alberta and her litter mate Dempsey came to stay for "3 weeks". Since Alberta is now the senior member of the Oligarchy, you might intuit that our humans might be just a little bit naive in the kitten department.

Tonight, I caused a little trouble for the d-o-g. Two of her toys were together on one rug. I sat down beside them and the poor pathetic creature just got all stressed out. The humans finally noticed and one asked the other if the dog needed to go out as she was bugging them. But then the other human saw where I was sitting and made me move and the d-o-g calmed down again. The two of us actually get along pretty well and hang out together sometimes on the sofa, but tonight I just couldn't help myself. I just needed a little excitement in my life.

Even though it was a quiet day which we all spent engaged in activities we enjoy, we all know the real reason the humans were home today: we all remember and appreciate veterans everywhere. Thank you.

--
Sky

Compensation Inequity

2006-05-26T12:30:00.000-04:00

Last night, while perched on top of my world, I began contemplating the events of the evening.

I have concluded that there is great inequity between the species in this household which the Oligarchy needs to address.

Tonight, for the first time, I saw Blackie emulate what I have discovered to be an effective, if somewhat demeaning, set of behaviors
designed to motivate our humans into opening the cabinet and providing a "treat" or a reward for "cute behavior".

I have it down to an art form.

I jump on the kitchen counter top and then up to the top of the big white cold box. This generally stimulates appropriate action on behalf of the humans.

Lately, they have been going even further and tossing treats on to the very top of the kitchen cupboards so I have to jump up there and crawl through the dust looking for them.

(Let's not mention the unflattering butt shot)

Blackie and I have each lived on our own and have always felt we KNEW better than anyone when we deserved a reward.
It's not like we took treats that didn't belong to us. We know the difference between c-a-t and d-o-g. And when the container fell on the floor, we shared with Sky and Alberta. But a few times too many, and our treat container is under lock and key. A bit overreactive, but we can live with it. But the point is, we felines have to go through all this life and limb endangering behavior in order to get even one little Greenie or tuna crisp.
But guess what the
d-o-g
has to do?
Poop.
Yes, all she has to do is poop and she gets a treat. She doesn't even have to poop in a special box, dig a hole and then cover. She just goes on her walk, poops and the humans pick it up for her and bring it home in a baggie. For this, she gets a treat. Then she gets a treat for walking in the front door.

So in addition to having all our money spent on buying her those expensive corn starch bones while we play in "free" boxes, she gets numerous treats every day and barely has to earn them. Blackie and I don't even have disability insurance if we were to get hurt jumping. And Sky and Alberta can't even jump that high anymore. As I said at the beginning of this post, there is great inequity between species in this household and we felines need to take action. -- Charlie

P.S. Blackie and I are working out a GREAT tag team act!

Big Mamma Mat in a Texas Toast Box

2006-05-22T07:14:00.000-04:00

Our humans say that they only renew their membership in Sam's Club so they can bring us home interesting boxes. Sometimes, I just love to roll around a bit in the nip and when I do, since I am a BIG boy, I love my Big Mamma Mat. And it fits perfectly in a Texas Toast Box (from Sam's Club, of course) so I don't make much of a mess. Isn't this win-win? -- Sky

Yeah, it's fun, but you KNOW they only ordered us the Mat because they felt guilty ordering $100 worth of fancy bones for the d-o-g and nothing for us. A little guilt is a GOOD thing. -- Charlie

About the eardrops ...

2006-05-22T07:05:00.000-04:00

My humans ARE quite serious about those eardrops. Twice a day for ten days. Eight days left. -- Alberta

Later the same day ...

2006-05-20T20:13:00.000-04:00

Sitting on the porch soaking up May sunshine all afternoon has almost made up for this morning's events. I'm feeling better now.

But they can't be SERIOUS about the ear drops. -- Alberta

The V-E-T Appointment

2006-05-20T12:46:00.000-04:00

Short follow-up note from Alberta: No picture, I'm still too stressed. Yes, I had the v-e-t appointment at 8:00 a.m. this morning. It was horrible. I ate my breakfast and then, when I was preparing for my Saturday morning nap, I was grabbed and stuffed in to a crate. There was no time to hide, but I DID protest, long and loud all the way there. I do not ever suffer in silence.

Embarrassment upon Embarrassment: I had an "accident" on the way there so my human had to switch out the towel in my crate before we went in. I DO NOT have accidents. My humans always say that I am the most fastidious cat they ever met.

Indignity upon Indignity: they poked and prodded me for a long time. They drew blood (but my thyroid is doing fine). They took my blood pressure (but it was even on the low side, imagine that). Because of the new thyroid medicine, they think they might need to lower the dose on my heart medicine, but my heart sounds good. My human asked about my watery EYE and they took swabs from my EAR. Maybe the vet doctor who has to work early Saturday mornings didn't do so well in her anatomy class? (I am going to be getting ear drops for 10 days)

Torture upon Torture: during the 30 minute drive there and back, I had to listen to COUNTRY music on the car radio. How much worse could they make it?

The only redeeming part of the entire morning is my human opened a can of tuna entree just for me when I got home before I settled in to my place in the middle perch on the climber on the porch and could enjoy whatever is left of the day.

Combing the Dog

2006-05-19T18:42:00.000-04:00

So how much trouble can a poor little kitty get into just because the dog I have to live with is shedding? Well, as it turns out, a lot.
It's spring, almost summer; the d-o-g is an Australian Shepherd with a thick undercoat and the humans have been combing her everyday. I like to hang out with them, so here I am, just chilling, minding my own business ...
But the pile of hair keeps getting bigger and bigger and the temptation keeps getting stronger and stronger,
until finally, I can't stand it anymore and I just have to attack.
Hair is now all over the bed and on the floor. And one of my humans is not only mad at me BUT at the other human because she just stood there laughing and taking pictures instead of stopping me.

So, is any of this MY fault? -- Charlie

Alberta - Movin' On Up!

2006-05-17T22:26:00.000-04:00

Hi, it's me - Alberta. If you read the posting about the new climber, you know my humans say that I'm the "always at the bottom of the totem pole cat". It's true. I have self esteem issues. Especially when it comes to relating to other felines. But, I have been making a real effort and now that we have an abundance of climbers around this place, I have been spending my afternoons as the MIDDLE cat on the porch.
You can even see that I am not running away when Blackie wants to sit in the climber also. You may not notice, but it's pretty obvious up close that my right eye is all watery. I don't know what that's all about, but I hear the humans talking about a v-e-t appointment on Saturday morning. Like they think after 18 years, I don't know how to spell? They say it's to have my blood levels checked because I just started taking some medicine for my thyroid, but they want to have my eye looked at too. We'll see about this on Saturday morning. We'll see if they will be able to find me. You can bet that I WON'T be a sitting duck in this climber!

Cat rescued after weekend in tree

2006-05-16T18:12:00.000-04:00

As Blackie was sitting by the fireplace this morning reading his former hometown newspaper, The Bemidji Pioneer, he was very touched by this article:

"A 9-month-old cat named Sammy created a lot of excitement for the neighborhood around 12th Street and Bemidji Avenue. The Jim Erdmann family left for a funeral in the Twin Cities Thursday evening and the cat escaped while they packed. Over the weekend, one neighbor put bologna on some branches; another put tuna on a higher branch to coax the cat down. Four days later, the cat was more than 60 feet up. The fire department and police could not help; a member of Charter Communications came with his 40-foot boom truck, using a extender rod to try to help prod the cat down, but to no avail. To the rescue Monday came neighbors, who are also Bemidji State University students in the Outdoor Program Center, with their climbing gear." Above, Chris Bennett comes down with the cat after a very high climb.

"Kids reunited with trapped pet: Young Nicole and James Erdmann were ecstatic after a very long weekend away from their cat, which was rescued Monday after spending several days in a tree. Holding the cat is BSU student Alison Schroeder, who assisted in the rescue." Pioneer Photos/Monte Draper

How to Stalk a Roomba (Sky's version)

2006-05-15T08:20:00.000-04:00

Why would I want to stalk a Roomba?

If I am but still, Roomba will come to me.

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

2006-05-14T15:21:00.000-04:00

Great news!!! Susan, who lives in the condo down the road, has been chosen by TWO new kittens to be their human. They haven't yet told her their names, but are slowly revealing themselves to her as they get to know each other and develop trust. So, right now, there is "new boy" and "new girl' and they are CUTE and LIVELY - so much that we don't have any real good pictures of them yet. This one above, by their Aunt Bev, is the best so far of the two of them. They seem to not yet want to look the camera in the eye. But, they like to play ....
... and play ... ...and attack ...
They join Lucy, already well established in the household.
We look forward to hearing more from this feline family as they continue to define themselves.

How to stalk a Roomba (Charlie's version)

2006-05-09T22:50:00.000-04:00

What IS that noise? What IS that blue thing that scoots all over the floor? Back and forth. I see it has whiskers sweeping along it's underside. Is this a food source?

Today, I will be silent.

Today, I will study and observe it's movements.

Today, I will carefully plan my future hunt.

Today, I will poise my body gaging how I will implement my attack.

Tommorrow, I will annihilate, assassinate,

blot out, butcher, decimate, massacre, slaughter, wipe out; cut down, finish, nip, snuff, execute, murder and smite that blue intruder.

Roomba, your days are numbered.

Charlene Frances Jeanne, the dauntless heroine, is on duty.

Does the Internet Seem Slow Today?

2006-05-05T08:26:00.000-04:00

Charlie on the high speed router.

Maybe, you could add a 2nd dish?

2006-05-02T08:22:00.000-04:00

Blackie waiting on Charlie.

Blue Dome Down Which Water Flows

2006-04-29T08:39:00.000-04:00

Christmas before last, the Feline Oligarchy was gifted with one of those fancy electric water bowels. They loved it! The humans found it challenging to keep it's little water reservoir full and dust bunnies out of the drinking part. The dog was traumatized by the sound it made. But the cats loved it and so, it was with great disappointment when six months later it ceased to pump water. And what is an electric water bowel without moving water? Great dissatisfaction spread throughout the household. But attention spans are short. Unending catnip on the living room floor anesthetizes disappointment. Life moved on. And the humans, being selfish creatures, had no intentions to replace it with another.

Fast forward. Year 2006. Friend Susan in the condo down the road had brought home an electric water bowel for her felines. What kind of felines they are is unknown as THEY did NOT like it. THEY refused to use it. Did the humans in the Feline Oligarchy want to try it? Well, not really, but, why not? It was a very generous offer and perhaps the Feline Oligarchy will refuse to use it also and we can say in good faith that we tried.

Early March, it arrives. Mid-April, the humans finally set it up - which is not an easy task. This one is much more elaborate than the first one. An advanced degree in mechanical engineering is required in order to add water to the thing. The humans have several advanced degrees between them, but in nothing practical or useful. Assembling complicated electric water bowels is not in their skill set. Much aggravation prevailed until finally water flowed freely down the sides of the blue dome into the reservoir. The humans hoping, against all hope, that the felines will not use it.

Not to be. Immediately, Patrick, the elder senior citizen of the Oligarchy arises from his rug; purposely strolls across the kitchen and begins licking the water flowing down the blue dome. One vote cast.

Sky soon joins him. They can share? The Feline Oligarchy does not generaly share well. Two votes casts.

Blackie casts the deciding vote. A majority rules. Three felines outvote two humans. The contraption stays. The humans will try to figure out how to use it. Thank you, Aunt Susan.

Old Climbers Never Go Away ...

2006-04-28T08:27:00.000-04:00

After installing the "new climber" in it's proper place in the living room, visable immediately upon entering through the front door, the Oligarchy ruled humans were thrilled that within the first hour three out of four resident felines had chosen it for their sitting/lying pleasure. However, by the second hour, the honeymoon was over, so-to-speak, as the felines had moved on to the "OLD climber" on the back porch.

You may notice, THIS one, they can share.

The New Climber Arrivith

2006-04-27T08:30:00.000-04:00

Not to be outdone by our friends who are out at the "better" furniture stores in town deciding with what to replace their "worn" people furniture, the humans ruled by the Feline Oligarchy journeyed to the big town and placed a custom order for a new climber

Last Saturday we went to pick it up. Not an easy task given it weighs more than the sleeper sofa and barely fits in the back our the human's Honda. But here it is in ALL it's glory:

...all FIVE tiers.

A tier for whoever is "top cat" this moment" -- Blackie:

A tier for the next to the top cat at the moment -- Charlie:

A tier for the "always at the bottom of the totem pole cat" -- Alberta:

And two tiers to be ignored by the cat who chooses not be bothered by it all -- Sky.

You may also notice that this wonderful FIVE tiered climber only has in it one cat at a time.

Alberta seeking inspiration for the first post

2006-04-26T23:08:00.000-04:00

Seeking an honest authentic voice ... Trying to figure out what this blog is actually going to be about...