Magoo - Year Three

Magoo's third year was relatively calm. He was past his terrible two and was now a strapping young male cat. He was starting to show his Maine Coon heritage as he was starting to develop his mane and his tufted paws. As for excitement, there were a couple of incidents of note.

We had gone out to a company social function and did not want to have to take a cab home so we stayed the night at the hotel where the function was held. We gave Magoo plenty of water and food and left him for the night. When came home the next morning, we weren't greeted by a large grey cat blasting out into the hallway like he usually did. We called to him but he did not come to the door. We started to get worried and we searched around the house for him. WE came to the closed 2nd bedroom door and could hear him crying out. We had locked him in the bedroom by mistake and he has stayed there all night. We frantically looked for an unwanted gift as a reprisal for our thoughtlessness. But our wonderful boy had not made a single mess.

Later that spring, we gave Magoo a new gift: a brand new house that was all his. He must have spent hours running from one window to the next, checking out each new view. As part of the new house, He also got a new cat tower scratching post.

Unfortunately, it was the beginning of the end for Magoo as single cat home owner. My mother-in-law had a purebred Ragdoll that was getting up in age. Alyssa would sit at my M-I-L's front door and cry all day. The neighbors started to complain and we took her in. Magoo wasn't too crazy about this new cat, but we thought it would be good for him to have a companion. But Alyssa was not interested in playing with Magoo.

That summer we picked up Smudge. We thought that another young cat would provide Magoo with the companionship we thought he needed. Turns out, He wasn't that crazy about Smudge either. Now Smudge and Alyssa were instant friends. Smudge would chase and play tag with Alyssa all the time.

SO in all year three was a big one for Magoo. You can use this link to send your pictures to Magoo's Email.

Dolce's new pictures

I have been promising to upload some new pictures of Dolce so that you all could see how much better she is looking.


You can even see the tummy mark where she had her surgery.



The pictures for Magoo's birthday have started to show up. So if you plan on attending, please leave a comment or send your B-Day Pictures so that Dad knows much much Catnip Punch to make and how much Stinky Goodness to leave out.

I did not do this

Someone knocked a plant over.



Dolce, did you see what happened?

Haikus

Scout, Walker of Dreams
Mitts of white fur we both wear
Trouble follows close
by Dolce

Vision of dark night
Eyes bright and ever searching
Turtle find me now
by Smudge

Told by sappy fools
Love poems by forlorn kittens
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah
by Magoo

Makes me think of homeless kitties

"I'm With You"
by Avril Lavigne

I'm Standing on a bridge
I'm waitin in the dark
I thought that you'd be here by now
Theres nothing but the rain
No footsteps on the ground
I'm listening but theres no sound

Isn't anyone tryin to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Wont you take me by the hand
take me somewhere new
I dont know who you are
but I... I'm with you

im looking for a place
searching for a face
is anybody here i know
cause nothings going right
and everythigns a mess
and no one likes to be alone

Isn't anyone tryin to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Wont you take me by the hand
take me somewhere new
I dont know who you are
but I... I'm with you

Every time I hear this song, I don't see a poor lonely person in my mind. I see black and white pictures of homeless cats and dogs. I always thought it would be a great fundraiser for a No-Kill Shelter to use this song, create a slide show video of pictures of homeless pets, and then charge to download the song.

Then reality sets in. Of course, the artist would have to be given a portion of the proceeds. Also, not everyone will be honest and pay. How do you distribute the money? The more I researched No-Kill Shelters & Fostering Programs versus Humane Societies, I realized that there is far too much politics and dishonesty in the Humane Society world. But the Foster Societies aren't organized well enough. Did you know that the HSUS has a nest egg of over 110 Million Dollars. How much of that money is actually being used to help out the lives of animals that have been abandoned or abused?

Sisters playing

Nothing, and I mean nothing beats a good game of paw slaps with your sister. I knew if I pestered her long enough she would start to play with me. Us sisters have to stick together aginst all the boys in the house.

Why do they betray us?

I've seen on my friends' blogs picture of their co-dependants holding other cats. We have to stand up for our rights. These humans belong to us and they should not go around just picking up any cat they feel like.

I think I'll borrow a tactic from my friend Max. Something is going to meet a toothy death. Actually I'm not much of a chewer, so I think it's time to leave a gift in the clothes hamper.

Magoo




These are pictures of Ceili, who lives with a friend of my wife, in rainy Vancouver, BC. She took a real shine to me during her vacation with us.

For those of you waiting to find out how Dolce is doing. I took her to the Vet and talked with about what happened. She said that when she checked the abrasions under Dolce's eyes, they weren't weeping and blood or fluid, so she did not think they were that serious. When she looked at them yesterday, the dried scab/fluid peeled right off. The skin underneath looked a nice heathly pink and there are signs of the fur growing back. So it appears that there will be no scarring. We go back in two weeks for another check up. They can't eliminate what might have caused the allergic reaction during the surgery, but we have a record of everything they gave her. So if she ever has to go into for another surgery, we know what not to give her. I would post a picture, but the little turd will not sit still long enoughfor me to take one. That's a good sign that she has forgotten all about her little adventure.

Back to Her Oldself

Dolce appears to be back to her old self finally. She is playing and rough housing with her brother and sister again. The swelling around her face has finally subsided to the point where she almost looks like her pre-VET visit self. She still has the abrasions under her eyes, but they are no longer the deep red that you saw in the pictures.

We went back to the Vet and picked up some medication to prevent her from licking her incision. We also got some pain and anti-inflammatory medication. I would have thought that would be standard procedure. But then again, what do I know.

My wife was in contact with the Vetrinarian Society here. The gentleman she talked to had never heard of this in the thirty years he had been a Vet. He recommended that we sit down with the Vet and discuss what happened. He said that it would enable us to confront the vet with our concerns and allow the Vet to see what happened so that she can see what had happened. I'm taking her back tomorrow to see the Vet so I will see what she says.

Needless to say, Dolce will be going to see the same Vet as her brothers and sister after this. He is a family friend and he did Bella's spaying. We would have gone to him but the Rescue Society did not have him on their list. Since we had already paid for the spaying at the time of adoption, we did not think it was such an issue. AFter all, this Vet was on the Society's recommended Vet list.

Right now, Dolce is curled up and sleeping next to me as I work. The surgery didn't affect her Purrer at all. Thank God.

Update on Dolce

In happier times...


This was one of the pictures that I wanted to post so that you could see how big Dolce has become. The other pictures were the ones I had to show.

Thank you all for your concern and comments. Other than the abrasions under her eyes, she is doing fine. She's back to old self again. The swelling on her face has gone down considerably. We were contacted this morning by the Rescue Society, who to their credit contacted the Vet in question and demanded to know what happened. The Vet admitted that they did not watch her closely enough. I don't know how a lay person like myself can know that she experienced an allergic reaction but a room full of supposed professionals could not.

We figure the abrasions were caused when her face was extremely puffed up and like a child, she would rub them to relieve the itchiness. Anyone who has ever had Hay fever knows what your eyes feel like. You can sort of figure out where she rubbed her face on the bar of her cage by looking at the bottom of the abrasions, which are almost in a straight line.

I cried a little last night as I realized how close the Shadow came to taking our little girl.

Our apology to Dolce

Dearest One;

Had we known we would have never taken you to that Vet. We relied on the rules of the rescue society that brought you to us to protect you and us from harm. If I had only known the vet's incompetence and lack of caring I would have never ever taken you back there.

Please forgive us.





Dolce's Dad: I'm not a f##king vet (pardon my language) but I have a nephew who has potentially life threatening allergies, and even I can tell a f##king allergic reaction when I see one. Maybe she was too stupid to let her kill humans in med school but killing pets is fine.

Magoo: All ya got to do Dad is not cut my claws for a couple of weeks and then book a visit for me. Ten, Fifteen Minutes with this Quack and she won't know how to find her butt with both hands in a well lit room.

Magoo - Year Two

When he was younger, Magoo was the most laidback cat you ever met. He didn't get mad at anyone and didn't squawk at all. Nowadays, it's a completely different situation. But we have to remember that he was an only cat at that time.

What do I remember of Magoo when he was two? I remember a lot of calls to the V-E-T. She was a great vet. She was the first vet he ever saw and for the most part he was very good for her. The problems did not start under year three, which is a another post.

The first vet call that I remember wasn't really in year two, but the night after we picked him up from his neutering at six months. (The Year One post was long enough.) LIke all cat owners, we were told that he would probably be very groggy and tired for at least a day after the surgery. What a load of crap! That night I watched as he put his paw on the oven window still under the effects of the painkillers and sedatives that the vet had given him. I swear that he was going "Cool, It's Hot." in a cat surfer dude kind of voice. We were also told that he would not be very active for a couple days due to the surgery. That night, we had to pull him off the washer as he spent fifteen minutes jumping from the washer across the stroage room to the dryer and back again. They were about three and half feet apart from my recollection. This prompted a call to the vet. To paraphrase, the conversation went loike this:
"Are you sure you neutered him?"
"Yes, Why"
"I thought you said he would be sore for a day or two."
"Most cats are. What is he doing?"
"He jumping from the washer to the dryer."
"OK?"
"They're four feet apart!"
"All cats are different."
Right then we thought we had made the worst decision for the cat gene pool. We had pulled the Carl Lewis, the David Beckham, the Wayne Gretzky from the breeding pool of catkind. Magoo showed himself to great recuperative powers. He never failed to amaze us.

The next calls to the vet were around Christmas. Both calls had to do with something he ingested.

My wife had purchased these parafin wax candles at a Partylite function that a friend of hers had held. At some point while we were out, Magoo had knocked one of them over with his tail. The parafin had dripped around the glass coffe table we had and at some point in time had ended up on his fur. Magoo, being the fastidious cat that he was, licked his fur clean. He started to be very lethargic and sluggish. This was not our little boy. We investigated and discovered the candle, which prompted the call to the vet.
"Hello?"
"I think my baby has swallowed some wax!"
"What is the patient's (Cat's) name?"
"It's Magoo."
"Oh. Magoo. What did he ingest?"
"I think it was some parafin wax. He knocked a candle over and I think the wax got on his fur."
"Is he breathing?"
"Yes"
I think personally there was a person on the other end of the phone going "Damn!"
"Did he eat some of the wax?"
"We think he licked it off his fur."
"Then give him some milk. it should induce vomitting. You need to keep an eye on him for the next couple of hours. If things worsen..." At this point I'm sure the vet was thinking "PLease call another vet." But the vet said "Give me a call at this number."
Sure enough, Magoo drank the milk and then bazooka puked milk, kibble and whatever parafin wax he had in his tummy onto the carpet. He curled up next to his mom for the rest of the night and would not move from her sight.

Within that same Christmas season, another call was placed to that same long suffering vet.
"Hello, Dr. G."
"Yes"
"We think our cat has eaten some lights off the tree?"
"Is this Magoo's Mom?"
"Yes."
"Did you see him eat the lights?"
"Not really."
"what do you mean not really?"
"We came home and saw the broken remnants of several mini-lights under the tree. We thought he might have eaten then but we weren't sure at first."
"At First?"
"While we were investigating, he came by and bit two lights off the tree."
"Is his mouth bleeding?"
"No"
"Does he seem okay? Not in distress?"
"No he seems fine." At this point in time we have to scold Magoo.
"Quit biting the lights!"
The Vet hears this and tells us "Keep an eye on him." I'm sure the vet is thinking that we obviously haven't been able to manage this feat to this point.
"You will need to monitor his bowel movements for the next few days. If there is any sign of blood, you will need to take him into one of the emergency hospitals."

So one of my fondest memories of Magoo is following him every time he went to the bathroom over the Christmas Holidays and checking to see if he had blood in his poo.

Cats Trump Dogs In Intelligence

Check out Chiquita The Wonder Cat.

There is a cat in Brazil that has befriended an injured bird and will even share a food dish. Now before you start calling the cat a traitor, you have to admire it's intelligence and cunning.

The cat is using the injured bird to catch other birds. Let's see a dog use another species for hunting purposes. Sorry, Humans don't count since they already feed and pick up the poop for both species.

Somewhere in the world there is a cat who has a whole collection of birds, squirrels and mice feeding it from a polished oyster shell and gently fanning it with a large feather fan plucked from its victims. I also believe it is behind the Detroit Red Wings winning the Stanley Cup in Hockey.

Dolce's Big Day

The appointment has been confirmed...

Dolce goes in this Friday to get spayed at the V-E-T. I won't be there for her when she goes in, but will be able to see her that night.

We were debating postponing it, but we were told that she is old enough to have the procedure. My wife was told that they will do it at the age of eight (8) weeks now. I guess too many morons were taking kittens from the Humane Societies and then reneging on the contract to have the cats neutered or spayed. Still, I worry for my little girl, who really isn't that little any more. Just like Scout, She is growing up and getting bigger every day.



In my heart, she is still the little kitten we fell in love with. Just like Magoo, Smudge and Bella, she will always stay that way to me.

Magoo - Year One

Since a big day is coming for our big guy, I thought I would write about Magoo's antics over the last ten years...

Magoo was the first cat that I had ever owned as a pet and the first cat that my wife had not raised with her mother. He got his name from a stupid techno dance song that was one the radio at the time. We were trying to think up a name, when we heard the line, "Mr. Magoo, Ya might be blind, but we can still see you." We looked at each other and thought Mr. Magoo was the perfect name.

He was our baby and he was treated like one. I remember the day we brought him home, like a father remembers bring home his child. Magoo sat patiently in my wife's lap as we drove to show her mother our new kitty. He was so cute and we gushed on how well behaved he was. He started digging at my wife's leg and we laughed and said how cute and playful he was. Then it hit us. A stench so fierce it was like being slapped. Magoo had pooped on my wife's lap. She was disgusted and I nearly drove the car off the road I was laughing so hard. We had to put up with the smell for nearly ten blocks.

When we got to her mother's place, Magoo tried to act all tough to the two cats that lived there, Socks and Alyssa (Both since gone to the Rainbow Bridge). He puffed and hissed at them even though he was a tenth of their size. Alyssa was interested in him but Socks ran and hid. Magoo then decided it was time to investigate the apartment and took off at breakneck speed. We were so worried when he crashed into the cat in the mirror without slowing down. He puffed and hissed at this new kitty that had the audacity to attack him. As we were about to leave, we found him sitting so quietly under the kitchen table. We thought he was tired from all his running around. Nope. He still had a little poop left if him and he left it on the floor under the table. Let's see here, less than three hours in our possession, and he has already pooped where he's not supposed to twice.

We got him home without any more incidents. He took to the apartment immediately. He would run out into the hallway every night when we came home and then come running right back in. Only once did he go and investigate another resident's apartment. He simply walked up to the threshold of the door looked into their apartment and then came right back to our's. He mentioned something later about the window coverings being hideous.

My wife used to have one of those thick wire sweater dryer thingies. Magoo would climb up it and walk along the wire rungs. We used to call it Kitty Olympics. It was always part Balance Beam, part High Bar, and part Uneven Bars. I can still see him walking along the wires trying to maintain his little kitty balance. He slipped on the wire one night and for a second or two he hung from one of the wire bars by his chin before he fell to the floor. We laughed at his antics, and thought that might cure him from climbing on the wire rack. It didn't. The next time it came out, he was right back to climbing all over it. He did that until he grew too heavy for the rack to support him.

I also remember coming home one day and Magoo did not run out into the hallway. We were worried since that was his routine. We looked for him and couldn't find our little guy. My wife was upset because she said she could hear him crying. We tried to follow the spound of his little kitty cry. We finally found him. He had crawled behind the VCR in the TV stand and had forgotten how to get out. All we could see at the back of the VCR was his two little blue eyes. He was so happy to see my wife that he did not leave her side for the rest of the night.

One thing about Magoo was that he was a bed cat from day one. He slept at night curled up next to my wife's neck. He would often suckle and knead on her as though she was his momma. My brother found this out the hard way when he housesat for us. He gave us crap for not telling him that Magoo would nibble on his neck at night. I guess if you're not used to it having a animal sink its teeth into your neck might be a bit unnerving.
As I write this, I can see it as though it was happening right now.

Magoo Turns Ten!

In two weeks, Magoo will turn ten years old. It seems like yesterday that he stole our hearts in that pet store.

In his honour, Smudge, Bella and Dolce want to hold a Blogging Birthday Party for him. Bella thought the best way would be for everyone to get together like they did for the Nap-A-Thon. Smudge said it would be neat if everyone could wear funny hats. Dolce was too busy jumping at the fridge to offer any opinion. So on March 3, 2006, we will be having a party for the old grump. Mom and Dad said that there will be games and prizes and catnip and tuna cakes for everybody. To celebrate, Mom and Dad would like for everyone to send a picture of themselves wearing a party hat.B-Day Pictures 

Party Update from Mom & Dad: Since very few of Magoo's blogging friends like to wear hats, the dress code has been changed to general party attire. If you don't want to dress up, you are still welcome to attend.

Happy Valentines Day

Another Valentines Day with Dad not being with Mom. Mom thinks Dad's boss hates Valetines Day because he always sends Dad away for it. Or maybe He just does not like my Dad. That can't be it, because my Dad is the greatest.

Well, if he can't be here to snuggle and love Mom, I guess I'll just have to do it for him. Dad, This purrs for you.

Dolce.

Reflections on the Meme

The response to our being tagged in the recent meme that went around was "He always turns away and says that he has something in his eye when he listens."

The only time I had to respond to this was sitting in an airport waiting for a another airplane trip away from my wife and my four furbabies. The more I thought on what was the response to the meme, the more introspective I got.

"He always turns away and says that he has something in his eye when he listens." Was I really talking about my beloved Magoo? Or was I registering something about myself that I was transfering to Magoo. To be prefectly honest, Magoo's life is pretty much sleeping and complaining. Complaining about the proximity of his new bratty sister, complaining about not being allowed to go outside whenever he wants, and complaining about too much movement in the bed once he has curled up under the covers between myself and my wife. The sleeping part really does not need much explanation.

"He always turns away and says that he has something in his eye when he listens." If anyone ever used this to describe me, what do I think it says about me...It's a long flight so I'll have a few hours to think about that. Right now, I'm thinking about my wife and my four furbabies. I think I'll stop typing, because I think I have something in my eye.

I've been tagged...and tagged and tagged

This is for Jasper,Oscar and Bonnie Underfoot who both tagged me.

Here are the rules:
1. Go into your archives.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Post the fifth sentence (or closest to it).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same thing.

"He always turns away and says that he has something in his eye when he listens."

So here are my five poor unfortunate victims:
Les Trois Chats
Jojo
Will Blog 4 Mice
Simba and Zoe
Daddy's Girl

Can I get a sixpack of these and a Diet coke? To go.

In an attempt to ride on the coattails of
Edsel's Chipmonk in a Pot winning Bestblog campaign, my dad posted this picture. Magoo says it looks good enough to eat. Like he would know, the last time he caught a bird, he tried to kill it by sitting on it. Mom saw him sitting near the cedars and looking all sheepish. She went over and asked what he was doing. HE gave her the cat version of "Nothing. I'm not doing nothing" Mom quickly countered that that was a double negative. She made Magoo confess. He stood up and there was this little bird that was half scared to death. If it had been Bella, it would have been snacktime.

Smudge

My Weekend with Dolce

Warning to all cats, Dolce is showing her linguistic skills again. This time the words "Share" and "Drink" were pulled down. The minute I see the following words pulled down I'm running for the hills: "Feed", "Me" , "All", "The", "Soft", "Food" & "Now"

Now for the weekend report. It appears I was not the only who was depressed at being separated last week. I was visited by a kitten at least four times each night and woken by a sandpaper kiss, a loud purr that even woke my wife up, and about fifteen minutes of claws extended kneading on my exposed arm. I don't mind the raspy licking tongue, but when she starts pulling on my goatee. That just hurts. I tried pulling the blankets over the lower part of my face. No such luck. She simply burrows at the covers until she can reach my face, and the licking starts all over again. I try to let her do it until it actually starts to hurt.

It was also as I had feared; she grew up. She may still be a kitten in the strictest sense of the word, but the clumsy, uncertainty of kittenhood is gone. She trots purposefully around the house. She attacks her brothers and sister in a precise manner. No more crashing into them by mistake and then trying to play it tough. If she wants Smudge to play with her, she finds him out and then nips at his rear legs or his ears until he decides it is time to teach her a lesson or two. This scene is repeated with Bella. Dolce tries it with Magoo, but it only last long enough for him to swat her with his paw, which happens to be almost as big as her head.



No Mom and Dad. I'm not playing in Mom's plants. I'm checking to see if they need to be watered. This one looks a little droopy.

Dolce

End of the Week

It's the end of the week, and I haven't been home to check up on my four fuzzballs. I am a little depressed to hear that Dolce had grown up even more since when I left. So I have nothing witty or thought provoking to say. I don't have any current picture of the cats to share. I have more of Dolce as a kitten, but really, you can only look at so many pictures of a kitten. Who am I kidding, we would all stare a pictures of kittens all day if our bosses would allow it.
But it is the end of the week and I am looking forward to being home for a while. I often joke with my wife that I'm home long enough for her to remember my name, but not long enough that I overstay my welcome.





These are pictures of a mountain lake a couple of hours from our home. I took my open water certification for scuba diving there back in 2004. This picture was taken at 7:00am, before any wind had come up and disturbed the lake. It was very peaceful and calm. The water however is snow cap and spring fed so the temperature of the water where we dove was 58F.

Dolce is a genius

In a previous posting, I put a video of Dolce attacking a strange mirror cat. You can also see her jumping up and down against the doorjamb. It seems that this behaviour has developed into some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder for her. She does her jumping trick against any vertical surface now. She especially loves the fridge.

Like pretty much everyone else, we have some pictures, lists, and calendar attached to the front of the fridge with magnets. During some innane marketing scheme for Soy Milk, we were given a whole collection of tiny magnets with words on them. Supposably, people who drink Soy Milk like to form sentences on their fridges. I had left my wife a couple of messages with the magnets, and all she had to say was "What if my mother came over and saw that?" So now I am forbidden to use the magnets, but they are still on the fridge. This where Dolce has shown her true genius.

The magnets seem to have really annoyed her, and they are the focus of her jumping attacks on the fridge. My wife informed me that she removed and chewed the following words: Excellent, Jump and Skip. Coincidence? I think not. Now before anyone accuses me of placing those words nearest the bottom, I want you to know that the words are all randomly scattered about the fridge door. Since we have proven ourselves incapable of speaking Cat, she is now trying to communicate in our language. She is using very basic sentences right now. Obviously, she doesn't think we are very smart.

Wonders of Science

I was just posting a comment over on Jasper McKittencat's blog, and it got me to thinking. With all the advancement in genome mapping and genetics in general, there are a few genes that I really want them to find. Please feel free to add any others:

Mind-Yer-Own-Business gene: to assist those kittens/cats and or humans that just can't get it through their head that their opinion is not always wanted or appropriate.

Shoe Sale Attraction gene: (maybe linked to the Sale Attraction gene) to assist those who are drawn to a 50% Off sale flyer like a moth to the flame. Guess what happens to the moth.

Talking During Sporting Events gene: to assist those people who are clueless to the thousands of other people surrounding them that actually don't want your two cents on whether the quarterback should have thrown the ball or not.

Overdependance on Cellphone gene: to assist those who cannot be separated from their cellphone for 121 minutes during a movie. This one needs to be found in teenagers first. Unless you're a frigging doctor and you're on call, you don't need your phone.