For me?
Don't mind if I do.
Where's Frank?
Similar photos of Frank, hopefully coming soon.
Friday, March 20, 2009
The Cat Pack
See, my sister's cat, Frank, and Sebastian have a secret life. They're both tuxedo cats who have a taste for mouse-tinis. Evidence:
For me?
Don't mind if I do.
Where's Frank?
Similar photos of Frank, hopefully coming soon.
For me?
Don't mind if I do.
Where's Frank?
Similar photos of Frank, hopefully coming soon.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
I'm back...but for how long?
So, I left off in July. That's a while ago. But, I was training for a marathon. And then...
AND THEN!
One evening I was merrily surfing the web, drinking a glass of wine. Set said wine glass on my tiny kitchen table upon which was also:
the computer
Sebastian.
a very affectionate Sebastian. The kind of affection where he headbutts everything. (you see where this is going?)
He headbutted my wine glass.
It fell over.
On the computer.
And, 'lo, I was computer-less. The economy being what it is (no raise, no bonus), I couldn't just run out and buy a new computer, just like that. So, I waited...and waited.
Actually, I quite enjoyed not having a computer. Anything I needed to do online I could do at work or via my internet-enable cell phone. Although my youtube addiction turned into a CSI addition.
But, then with the onset of the planning for my sister's baby shower, I realized the time had come.
So...have computer, will blog.
The cats are fine. More on them later. ;)
AND THEN!
One evening I was merrily surfing the web, drinking a glass of wine. Set said wine glass on my tiny kitchen table upon which was also:
the computer
Sebastian.
a very affectionate Sebastian. The kind of affection where he headbutts everything. (you see where this is going?)
He headbutted my wine glass.
It fell over.
On the computer.
And, 'lo, I was computer-less. The economy being what it is (no raise, no bonus), I couldn't just run out and buy a new computer, just like that. So, I waited...and waited.
Actually, I quite enjoyed not having a computer. Anything I needed to do online I could do at work or via my internet-enable cell phone. Although my youtube addiction turned into a CSI addition.
But, then with the onset of the planning for my sister's baby shower, I realized the time had come.
So...have computer, will blog.
The cats are fine. More on them later. ;)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
crumbs in the bed
The past couple of nights, when I went to bed, I would notice something crunchy. Crumbs? Dirt? I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.
Maybe it was dirt from when I had taken a nap after a long run? But, there was a lot. More than could have ever sruck to my legs without me noticing.
Well, this morning, the mystery was solved. Deep within the recesses of my sheets, towards the foot of my bed...the crust from a piece of toast.
Someone "borrowed" a piece of toast FROM THE COUNTER and nudged it within the depths of my sheets.
My money's on Sebastian.
But, there's really no way to now.
Note to self: don't leave toast on the counter.
That is all.
Maybe it was dirt from when I had taken a nap after a long run? But, there was a lot. More than could have ever sruck to my legs without me noticing.
Well, this morning, the mystery was solved. Deep within the recesses of my sheets, towards the foot of my bed...the crust from a piece of toast.
Someone "borrowed" a piece of toast FROM THE COUNTER and nudged it within the depths of my sheets.
My money's on Sebastian.
But, there's really no way to now.
Note to self: don't leave toast on the counter.
That is all.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Long Overdue: Bailey
The ironic thing is that I actually wrote this about a month ago. Just haven't had the time to add all the adorable pictures that make the posts that much more readable (I like to think). Anyways, without further ado...Bailey.
To recap (from my post about Sebastian):
Then one day in mid-September, I was visiting my parents when we spy a fluffy white cat in their neighbor’s yard.
His name tag said Bailey. And he became cat #3.
My parents had never seen this cat before. They knew the neighborhood cats the way people in neighborhoods do. I go over into my neighbor’s yard (really an empty lot turned extremely bountiful botany experiment)and pick this little guy up. He’s docile as anything and then I see his collars: one cheap flea collar and a brown leather buckled collar with a tag that says: “Bailey” and then gives a phone number.
Being the good citizen/cat-lovers we are, we put this cat in our enclosed front porch with a litter box (my Mom has a few “guest” litter boxes – see, I come by the crazy cat lady thing honestly!), a bowl of water, and a plate of Fancy Feast. Bailey inhales the Fancy Feast. It was hard to tell through the fluff, but he was pretty emaciated. Gave him another can of FF, same thing. Then we put out a bowl of Meow Mix dry food, and I think he was finally full.
We called the number on his collar. Voicemail. Waited a few hours. Again, nothing.
Now my Mom has three cats (though she also has a husband and siginficantly more than 700 sq ft). I had brought Sebastian down to introduce him to the house as my Mom and Dad would be cat sitting while I went on vacation. Plus, he was still small enough to carry around.
Anyway, seeing that this cat might be with us for a while, we make a vets appointment to see if he has Feline Leukemia or Feline AIDS – both highly contagious. The appointment was the following morning.
That morning, my Mom tried the number again. Voicemail. We double-checked the number. Yup, that was it. We started to sense that something was up. I know if my cat were missing, I would be camped out by my cell phone, jumping at every ring.
In any case, I took Bailey to the vets – Middletown Animal Hospital. Dr. Velasquez is our vet of choice, but he wasn’t in that day, so Dr. Yurkas saw him. He gave him an exam and the two tests. He determined that Bailey was about 10 months to a year old and unneutered. The flea collar was useless and a little tight around Bailey’s neck. He had bad teeth from cheap-ass cat food and he was underweight. I think he weighed about 7 pounds at his first apointment. Dr. Y ventured that Bailey was part Himalayan. After he gave his assessment of Bailey’s physical state, he also gave an assessment of his situation: “No one’s gonna come looking for this cat.”
To which I thought: YYYAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!
Because, of course, I had been falling in love with him.
As I pulled back into the driveway of my parent’s house, my Mom called (she was at a doctor’s appointment). She asked about the test results. “Negative, negative. He’s fine.” “Well, then you’ve got yourself a cat.” The cell phone person called. My Mom said she sounded like a teenaged girl. She was giggling and said “teehee Are you the one who keeps calling about a cat? That’s impossible. I don’t have a cat. Teehee”
If there is a heaven, she is so not getting in.
My theory: Bailey was probably a Christmas present. A cute, little white fluffy kitten. They didn’t know the first thing about cat care. Fed him the cheapest food, never took him to the vets. When male cats start reaching the age of sexual maturity - around 6 months, I think-, if they are not neutered, they start spraying to mark their territory. Bitch probably saw it as, “This stupid cat is peeing everywhere.” and kicked him out.
NEVER GIVE AN ANIMAL AS A PRESENT UNLESS YO ARE 200% SURE IT WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF PROPERLY THROUGHOUT ITS ENTIRE LIFE.
Because cute puppies and kittens do turn into what people may perceive as not-as-cute adult cats and dogs.
Do I look a little shorter now? I’m off my soapbox.
So, I chucked Bailey in a cat carrier and my parents kindly drove me, Sebastian, and Bailey back to Brooklyn.
It just so happened I had invited three friends – one of whom was moving away – for dinner. They were on their way when I walked in the door. Luckily, I had bought the salmon fillet and the asparagus the day before.
For all of the hoops I lept through for Sebastian’s introduction, I was the complete opposite with Bailey. I plunked him down on my living room floor and pretty much started cooking. My friends arrived as my parents were leaving. Being the dolls they are, when I told them in a tizzy that I had just gotten in and I now have a third cat, they stopped at the store and bought some cheese and crackers, knowing dinner may be a ways off.
Everything was fine that evening. The dinner even turned out okay! But, I would pay for not properly introducing Bailey. Everything is cool between Bailey and Sebastian. Everything is still cool between Sebastian and Apollo. Apollo cannot stand Bailey. Oftentimes growls at the site of him. He’s also expert at acting like Bailey has hurt him, when he hasn’t. (I will try and get this documented by video.) Then, kind of a cute but not cool thing happens. When Bailey is (either for a fact or acting) aggressive to Apollo and Apollo yells, Sebastian comes out of nowhere and gives Bailey a few swipes. I guess even though Bailey (who has no ‘blog name) and Seb get along, Seb is more aligned with Ap.
Bailey is a lot happier and healthier, now. See:
And that is why I ended up with two books by my latest idol: Pam Bennett-Johnson. Think Like A Cat and Cat vs. Cat are kind of instrumental in helping me understand what the hell is going on between these three. But those two books – as thorough and well-written as they are – don’t really give me a full explanation. I mean, we are talking about cat sociology/psychology. That would be hard enough to determine in humans. And that is in large part why I decided to start this ‘blog. I think if I write down the day-to-day occurrences, maybe a pattern will emerge. I also want to keep track of my failures and successes. And, ideally, I would like the Pam Bennett-Johnson’s out there to comment and maybe give me some tips. Although I’m more knowledgeable about cats than I was pre-Bailey, I know I still have a long way to go.
Now, while Bailey may look like a glamour puss, he's actually kind of a totally playfull little klutz.
Which is funny, because it looks so unnatural when he romps and leaps - like his cobby frame wasn't meant to do that. It was just meant to lounge around on the bed like this:
Note the toe-hawk action.
Can somebody, please get CuteOverload over here?!?
To recap (from my post about Sebastian):
Then one day in mid-September, I was visiting my parents when we spy a fluffy white cat in their neighbor’s yard.
His name tag said Bailey. And he became cat #3.
My parents had never seen this cat before. They knew the neighborhood cats the way people in neighborhoods do. I go over into my neighbor’s yard (really an empty lot turned extremely bountiful botany experiment)and pick this little guy up. He’s docile as anything and then I see his collars: one cheap flea collar and a brown leather buckled collar with a tag that says: “Bailey” and then gives a phone number.
Being the good citizen/cat-lovers we are, we put this cat in our enclosed front porch with a litter box (my Mom has a few “guest” litter boxes – see, I come by the crazy cat lady thing honestly!), a bowl of water, and a plate of Fancy Feast. Bailey inhales the Fancy Feast. It was hard to tell through the fluff, but he was pretty emaciated. Gave him another can of FF, same thing. Then we put out a bowl of Meow Mix dry food, and I think he was finally full.
We called the number on his collar. Voicemail. Waited a few hours. Again, nothing.
Now my Mom has three cats (though she also has a husband and siginficantly more than 700 sq ft). I had brought Sebastian down to introduce him to the house as my Mom and Dad would be cat sitting while I went on vacation. Plus, he was still small enough to carry around.
Anyway, seeing that this cat might be with us for a while, we make a vets appointment to see if he has Feline Leukemia or Feline AIDS – both highly contagious. The appointment was the following morning.
That morning, my Mom tried the number again. Voicemail. We double-checked the number. Yup, that was it. We started to sense that something was up. I know if my cat were missing, I would be camped out by my cell phone, jumping at every ring.
In any case, I took Bailey to the vets – Middletown Animal Hospital. Dr. Velasquez is our vet of choice, but he wasn’t in that day, so Dr. Yurkas saw him. He gave him an exam and the two tests. He determined that Bailey was about 10 months to a year old and unneutered. The flea collar was useless and a little tight around Bailey’s neck. He had bad teeth from cheap-ass cat food and he was underweight. I think he weighed about 7 pounds at his first apointment. Dr. Y ventured that Bailey was part Himalayan. After he gave his assessment of Bailey’s physical state, he also gave an assessment of his situation: “No one’s gonna come looking for this cat.”
To which I thought: YYYAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!
Because, of course, I had been falling in love with him.
As I pulled back into the driveway of my parent’s house, my Mom called (she was at a doctor’s appointment). She asked about the test results. “Negative, negative. He’s fine.” “Well, then you’ve got yourself a cat.” The cell phone person called. My Mom said she sounded like a teenaged girl. She was giggling and said “teehee Are you the one who keeps calling about a cat? That’s impossible. I don’t have a cat. Teehee”
If there is a heaven, she is so not getting in.
My theory: Bailey was probably a Christmas present. A cute, little white fluffy kitten. They didn’t know the first thing about cat care. Fed him the cheapest food, never took him to the vets. When male cats start reaching the age of sexual maturity - around 6 months, I think-, if they are not neutered, they start spraying to mark their territory. Bitch probably saw it as, “This stupid cat is peeing everywhere.” and kicked him out.
NEVER GIVE AN ANIMAL AS A PRESENT UNLESS YO ARE 200% SURE IT WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF PROPERLY THROUGHOUT ITS ENTIRE LIFE.
Because cute puppies and kittens do turn into what people may perceive as not-as-cute adult cats and dogs.
Do I look a little shorter now? I’m off my soapbox.
So, I chucked Bailey in a cat carrier and my parents kindly drove me, Sebastian, and Bailey back to Brooklyn.
It just so happened I had invited three friends – one of whom was moving away – for dinner. They were on their way when I walked in the door. Luckily, I had bought the salmon fillet and the asparagus the day before.
For all of the hoops I lept through for Sebastian’s introduction, I was the complete opposite with Bailey. I plunked him down on my living room floor and pretty much started cooking. My friends arrived as my parents were leaving. Being the dolls they are, when I told them in a tizzy that I had just gotten in and I now have a third cat, they stopped at the store and bought some cheese and crackers, knowing dinner may be a ways off.
Everything was fine that evening. The dinner even turned out okay! But, I would pay for not properly introducing Bailey. Everything is cool between Bailey and Sebastian. Everything is still cool between Sebastian and Apollo. Apollo cannot stand Bailey. Oftentimes growls at the site of him. He’s also expert at acting like Bailey has hurt him, when he hasn’t. (I will try and get this documented by video.) Then, kind of a cute but not cool thing happens. When Bailey is (either for a fact or acting) aggressive to Apollo and Apollo yells, Sebastian comes out of nowhere and gives Bailey a few swipes. I guess even though Bailey (who has no ‘blog name) and Seb get along, Seb is more aligned with Ap.
Bailey is a lot happier and healthier, now. See:
And that is why I ended up with two books by my latest idol: Pam Bennett-Johnson. Think Like A Cat and Cat vs. Cat are kind of instrumental in helping me understand what the hell is going on between these three. But those two books – as thorough and well-written as they are – don’t really give me a full explanation. I mean, we are talking about cat sociology/psychology. That would be hard enough to determine in humans. And that is in large part why I decided to start this ‘blog. I think if I write down the day-to-day occurrences, maybe a pattern will emerge. I also want to keep track of my failures and successes. And, ideally, I would like the Pam Bennett-Johnson’s out there to comment and maybe give me some tips. Although I’m more knowledgeable about cats than I was pre-Bailey, I know I still have a long way to go.
Now, while Bailey may look like a glamour puss, he's actually kind of a totally playfull little klutz.
Which is funny, because it looks so unnatural when he romps and leaps - like his cobby frame wasn't meant to do that. It was just meant to lounge around on the bed like this:
Note the toe-hawk action.
Can somebody, please get CuteOverload over here?!?
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tattoos and Animal Rescue
What's not to love?
I read about these guys in my North Shore Animal League newsletter.
They're all like ex-cops, firefighters and martial arts experts who are covered in tattoos and go around rescuing animals and educating the public about animal cruelty. How awesome is that?
Of course, my favorite is Des - "The Cat Man."
I think that pretty much goes without saying.
I read about these guys in my North Shore Animal League newsletter.
They're all like ex-cops, firefighters and martial arts experts who are covered in tattoos and go around rescuing animals and educating the public about animal cruelty. How awesome is that?
Of course, my favorite is Des - "The Cat Man."
I think that pretty much goes without saying.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
When the Feliway runs out...
I'm going kind of out of order here, 'cause I haven't even told you (whoever you is at this time) about Bailey yet, but let's go a little out of order. I wouldn't want to be a slouchy blogger, now would I? Plus, I'm at work, it's alomst 7pm, I got time to kill before going out. Here goes...
The full story will follow, but I got Bailey.
I did not carefully introduce him into the home like I did Sebastian. Hence (probably), this is why Apollo and Bailey do not get along. This will all be documented soon enough.
To help alleviate the strife, I invested in a product called Comfort Zone w/ Feliway. And, you know what? IT WORKS!!!
For 4 weeks. Then it stops working. And without keeping track, you know how I know it works? Because the tentative truce that Bailey and Apollo have forged becomes instantly dismantled. Bailey starts charging at Apollo. Apollo will cry Holy Hell when Bailey tries to walk past him.
To be honest, I don't know who the agressor is. I think it changes. Like Bailey will be dociley (is that a word) walking across the room and Apollo will yell and growl. At feeding time, Bailey will sprawl across the threshold of the kitchen so Apollo can't pass. When Apollo's on the bed at night, he hunts the perimeter so Bailey can't jump up. But, in the morning he ceases to care.
That's why I started this 'blog, really. To keep track of their day-by-day lives, and try and make some sense of it. Maybe an expert will stumble upon this fair, old website and give me some free advice. Who knows?
The full story will follow, but I got Bailey.
I did not carefully introduce him into the home like I did Sebastian. Hence (probably), this is why Apollo and Bailey do not get along. This will all be documented soon enough.
To help alleviate the strife, I invested in a product called Comfort Zone w/ Feliway. And, you know what? IT WORKS!!!
For 4 weeks. Then it stops working. And without keeping track, you know how I know it works? Because the tentative truce that Bailey and Apollo have forged becomes instantly dismantled. Bailey starts charging at Apollo. Apollo will cry Holy Hell when Bailey tries to walk past him.
To be honest, I don't know who the agressor is. I think it changes. Like Bailey will be dociley (is that a word) walking across the room and Apollo will yell and growl. At feeding time, Bailey will sprawl across the threshold of the kitchen so Apollo can't pass. When Apollo's on the bed at night, he hunts the perimeter so Bailey can't jump up. But, in the morning he ceases to care.
That's why I started this 'blog, really. To keep track of their day-by-day lives, and try and make some sense of it. Maybe an expert will stumble upon this fair, old website and give me some free advice. Who knows?
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