Willow on Saturday Evening in the Oligarchy

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

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

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

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

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

--
Sky

Wordless Wednesday

Naughty or Nice?

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.

Christmas Naughty or Nice List I am on the The Nice List After checking the North Pole database I had : 662 nice entries 605 naughty entries Check your name on the Christmas Naughty or Nice List at JokesUnlimited.com

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

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

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 ...

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!

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.