Some Sport Shots (or How Dolce gets the cat bed)

When you spot your sister occupying a cat bed, you should walk up to the bed nicely and ask that she vacate it, since you are tired and want to sleep in the freshly warmed bed.

Apon hearing a less than satisfactory answer, you may need to resort to more persuasive means. In other words, get in touch with your wild side...

Now that you have your sister's undivided attention, rephrase your request to share the cat bed. You never know, she might be more open to the sharing suggestion you posed earlier.

Since you have agreed to share the cat bed, all that is left is to determine who gets what portion of the cat bed. Be firm in your negotiations. Do not let your sister push you around and deny you your fair share of the bed.

Now that you have established your share of the cat bed, you can now initiate your afternoon nap. After all, trying to share a cat bed in a house that has four cats can be very tiring.

First day of spring, Bah!

The first day of spring was supposably three days ago. Well you wouldn't be able to tell that from all the snow in my yard. I asked my dad to let me out several times, and each time all I saw was that stinking snow. Now I'm a pretty big boy, but I even found the snow to be too much. It came up to my belly fur. That's just too much darn snow for a cat to handle, even one as furry as me.

Well since it's crappy outside, at least my dad is home with me. His project is over and he gets to spend some time at home. I guess he didn't take enough vacation last last year so now he has to use it up. I don't care why he's home; I'm just glad he's here. He has a whole lot of cuddles and pets to make up for all the time he was gone.

This is a note to the little turd called Dolce. Going under the blankets and getting cuddles is my thing. You need to find your own thing. This is mine. When I wanted to go under the covers a couple of nights back, I was absolutely disgusted to find Dolce all stretched out and purring in my spot under the blankets. I thought it was a figament of my imagination, but when I checked several times later she was still there. I'm starting to think that I didn't sit on her enough as a kitten.

A note from Magoo's Dad: Edsel mistakenly thought the picture above was from this spring. it is actually one from last summer. It was part of wishful thinking on Magoo's behalf.

When Dolce and Bella didn't get along

View this clip on Vimeo

When Dolce was younger, her sister and her did not get along that well. Bella was a little choked that some other thing was taking her place as the baby girl of the family. Dolce just did not know what to do about all these large cats, for other than her mother she had never been around other cats.

But Dolce was a brave little soul and nothing seemed to phase her. As much as it freaked my wife out, Dolce was a natural born climber and explorer. The funny part of this video is that Dolce didn't start out with a hiss when she wanted to stand up to the other cats. She had the most unladylike habit of spitting at the other cats. Turn up your sound volume and you will hear her spit when she first comes near Bella.

Smudge may have learned to swear under his breath from me, but i think Dolce learned to spit from my wife. She's going to kill me for saying that. That's okay, our couch is pretty comfortable and I know if I sleep on it, Smudge and Dolce will join me.

Dolce's Blogging Secrets

Dolce figures she has this blogging thing all figured out. She says its like Real Estate where the mantra is Location, Location, Location. The mantra for blogging is Cute, Cute, Cute.

She says that the only reason everyone come to visit us is because she is so cute. According to her, the only reason anyone comes to visit is to see one of her adorable baby pictures. I asked her what was going to happen when she got older and wasn't such a cute little kitten anymore. Her response was to start taking more pictures of her as a kitten. She figures that if I took enough pictures of her as a kitten, she could milk this "cute" stage for at least a year or two.

I'm starting to think she has spent too much time talking with Kukka Maria at the last two parties. On a different note, her eyes are completely healed and she looks like nothing ever happened. The last of her stitches have absorbed and the scar is nothing more than a little raised bump. Now she will start going to the same vet as the other cats.

To A Friend

We are very sad today.



A blogging friend had to say goodbye to us all. Even though he has not past away, his absence will be felt as keenly as though he has. His life now lies on a different path than ours; not a lesser path, just a different one. Good-bye Moses Kitty. We know it was not an easy decision for your parents to make and we hope that you are happy and content in your new life.

If you can, come back and tell us of your new life so that we can rejoice in your new life with you.

My new home

After reading about the new kittens on Caturday, I thought back to when we first brought Dolce home. She was a fraction of her current size and so shy about exploring her new home.

Now? She runs around like she owns the place. Respect for her brothers and sister? She jumps on top of Smudge and Bella and tries to get them to wrestle and play with her. If Bella is in a chair that she wants, She jumps up on the chair and starts nipping at Bella's ears until Bella gets ticked off and leaves. Dolce is learning so many things from her brothers and sister. Her new thing is to go underneath the bed covers at night, just like her brother Magoo. The only difference is that Magoo doesn't pur like a chainsaw. Cute at 10:00pm; Annoying at 2:30am.

Bella, at least, has returned to her pre-Dolce days. I caught her playing in the tub like she used to before Dolce showed up.

When is the best time to have a kitten?

My job and my employer luckily afford me the opportunity to work from home from time to time. As such and due to my current project, I have been able to watch Dolce grow into a precocious teenager. Also I have been able to watch her experience certain things for the first time. Today was no different...

Where we live, it is snowing right now. Actually we have had about four inches of snow fall since I woke this morning. Between her naps and her investigations of the den where I work, Dolce has become fascinated with the large snowflakes that have been blowing past the window all day. She seems to be able to pick one snowflake from the myriad of falling snowflakes and follow that one snowflake until it passes out of her view. Every once in a while, one blows towards the window and Dolce, with her kitten brain, attempts to pin it with both paws against the window. Every snowflake that falls is a source of wonder and mystery to her. Each one that touches the window can be trapped and held. To me, it is almost like seeing snow as a child for the first time. I don't remeber the first time I remember seeing snow, but I can almost remember it as I watch Dolce. Does this make winter the best time to have a kitten?

Then I remember our other three kittens. Two were spring babies; Magoo was born in March and Smudge was born in May. Bella is a summer girl as she was born in July. Magoo lived in an apartment as a kitten so he didn't get the chance to do some of the dumb kitten things that Smudge and Bella were able too. Smudge was a little too sickly to be let outside so he too remained mostly inside. But Bella...she was a Summer girl if ever there was one. I have a picture of her as a kitten running towards me on the front lawn. Grass was a new thing to her and she did not know what to make of this strange texture beneath her paws. It was warm, so there were no concerns about frozen ears or paws. Does this make spring/summer the best time to have a kitten?

I have to go now. The wind has kicked up a bit and the snow is whirling in front of the window. Dolce is beside herself trying to catch each snowflake as it lands on the window. This is the best High Definition Reality Program I have ever had the pleasure to pay for.

Dolce and Laundry Day

This is actually two different laundry days. But she was equally cute on both of them as she tried to help.

Like william, Dolce has developed a weird fascination for socks. She will steal them out of open drawers, hampers, the dryer if we are not paying attention. I think it's cute. What is not cute is when you roll over in the middle of the night and find yourself face to face with a dirty sock that kitten has pulled from the dirty laundry. The stinkier the better.

Type of Food

In yesterday's post, I showed Dolce playing with a tent we got when we purchased some Iams cat food. I had heard that Iams does some rather bad testing on animals and we had stopped buying Iams for several years. Actually the real reason we stopped buying had nothing to do with the testing. (that was just a secondary reason. we didn't even know about it at the time.) Although Magoo loved the taste of the Lamb and Rice from Iams, You could not stand to be in the same house after one of his L&R poops. The stench would make your eyes water.

We started to switch to Hill Prescriptives from our vet when we got Smudge. He had given up eating as a kitten and we credit the A/D variety for saving his life. We just started feeding him, Magoo and Alyssa the Hills Prescriptive variety. We switched to the Science Diet, because we were informed that it was just as good as the prescriptives and also half the cost.

Now when Bella arrived on the scene, we had a challenge of what to feed three cats that were spaced out over six years. Bella was still a kitten and so she need full nutrition food, but Magoo was getting older and starting to pack on the pounds. Does this sound familiar Scooby, Shaggy and Scout's Mom? We now blend three varieties, Oral Care (for their teeth), Senior hairball and Light Hairball. The vet told us at Magoo's last visit that the amount of calories in a handfull of kibble was the equivalent of several mouses, and no cat need to eat several mouses per day.

I will post a picture of Magoo to show that the light and senior have made no difference in his weight. That and the fact that he loves the Kitten food. The good thing is that Dolce likes the adult food so we know we will have very little problem transitioning her to the adult food.

Dolce sure likes to play

View this clip on Vimeo

This is not intended to be a shameless plug for Iams. We actually got this tent when Bella was a kitten. It came free with a 10lb bag of cat food.

Needless to say, Dolce loves playing in it. As she has grown older, she now charges into it at full speed. One more than one occasion, she has sent it tumbling down the front steps.

To let everyone know, Dolce went for her last visit to the old V-E-T. Everything is good. Her tummy is healing very nicely and there are signs that her fur will grow back completely. It may be dark at first, but once she goes through one shed cycle, she should look as good as new.

Still trying to recuperate

As hard as it is for the Birthday Boy, it is so much worse for the family members who were responsible for putting on the party for him.



Dolce says that it was divine finally meeting Scout in purrson. She says her crush is now full blown love. She's such a kitten.

Smudge spent the day whining about Turtle. He's smitten. He even started doing Dean Martin imitations.

The party has officially ended

Here's a picture of Bella sashaying up to the buffet table on the weekend.

Bella, is that Catnip punch next to your plate?

For everyone whose worried about what state the birthday boy is in...

Leave me alone, Dad. Yes, I'm a little hungover and all I want to do is sleep in this here sink. I want to thank everyone for coming to my party. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to yak in Dad's shoes.

Magoo

Dad was amazed that over the three nights of Magoo's birthday party, there were over a hundred comments posted. He really wants to thank you all for making Magoo's weekend so very special.

Its Monday and most of the partiers have crashed

More pictures from the party...






Most of the cats that are still here from last have crashed out again. I don't blame them I am tired from watching them last night. I usually can't stand watching the Oscars, but at least it gave us a couple of hours of reduced craziness.

Here comes Magoo, Edsel, Oreo, and Max. They all have an ice pack on their heads. What's the matter boys? Can't you handle your Niptinis? Or was it the Bloody Mousies? Well you get no sympathy from me. Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time. Magoo! I don't care if it is your birthday! You do not flip your dad the middle claw. That's right, you're sorry!

Party Update - Sunday

First things first. Whoever brought the Niptini mix, My dad is not very happy. He got a call from the police about all the racket last night. It seems some cats snuck out and were tormenting the neighbors' dogs at 3:00 am. I also have heard that no one appreciated our stirring rendition of "Cat Scratch Fever". There were also some sightings of cats running from house to house and ringing doorbells and then taking off.

Also, to the five cats that were pushing plants off the shelves and the three cats who were judging the speed, style and overall impact of the crash, my dad says that your parent will be notified of your antics.

My mom is sure glad she put up the old drapes. The Race to the Top was pretty spectacular. Of course, it was the youngsters who made the best showing. Dolce, Scout, Victor and Charlie were all very impressive. Unfortunately it came to an end when Magoo (17lbs), Eric (22lbs) and Shaggy (18lbs) attempted to race each other. No drapes are designed to hold that much weight.

I gots to go. I need to go continue the talk I was having with Turtle last night. And Dad is putting out some fresh Tuna and Whitefish bites in the dining room.

Smudge

PS. To remind everyone, there is no such thing as a gatecrasher at this party. Magoo only turns ten once, and he wants it to blow the lid off the house.

More party information

Some Photos of the part guests:








Some of the party animals have gone down for a bit of nap before continuing on with the festivities. Since I don't have any of them looking over my shoulder to make sure I don't spill the beans on any of their shennigans, I can finally let some of you worried parents out there what your furchildren have been up to.

Given it was the first night and I don't think some of the cats had been into Catnip punch before, things got a little crazy. There was a brief scrap during the tub hockey game (afterall we are using Canadian Rules), which was quickly broken up by the referee Victor Tabbycat. The fight occurred in the final match which saw Edsel and Jasper take on Magoo and Smudge. I figured it was Magoo who started the fight, since he was pretty jumpy after having a little too much punch. I asked him what happened, and Magoo said all he did was call Edsel a "pussy". Magoo's defense was that Edsel is, indeed, a pussy cat. Well Edsel did not take it very well. Afterwards they sat down and laughed about it over some more punch.

The only scandal of last night was when I caught Kukka Maria, Bella, Josie and Turtle taunting the boys with a game of "Spin the Catmilk Box". But don't worry nothing got too far out of hand. But you try to chaperone over thirty catnip punch intoxicated cats.

I imagine tonight will rev up and be just as crazy. I told Magoo and Smudge that they will be responsible if anything more gets broken.

More pictures will follow, but my hotmail account is acting goofy right now. Hey! Were any of you cats on the computer surfing for kitten p0rn?

Party's still going

I thought I would post the first of the pictures from Magoo's party. Here he is having his birthday Stinky Goodness, decorated with clowns.



Everyone is having a good time. I was going to tell some of the things that have happened, but Smudge reminded me that what happens at Magoo's Party, Stays at Magoo's Party. Don't worry once everyone has finally gone home, I will share some of what I have seen so far.

Directions to Magoo's Party

(Borrowed from Patches Lady's blog)
The secret to getting here is to go into heavy kitty meditation, that way you can transport yourself here, but still be visible at home and your mom won't even know you are gone. We cats can be in two places at the same time, purrsons don't know this.

Instructions:
1. Find a quiet place
2. Close eyes
3. Think "Transport me to Magoo's Party on top of the Kitty Tree, seven times" (magic number)
4. Boom....you are here

The Current Guest List

To everyone, I wanted to let you know that Magoo is actually getting excited about his birthday party tomorrow. I have picked up the Stinky Goodness, and all the ingredients for the Catnip Punch. As for activities, We are planning a quick game of Tub Hockey for all who want to play, Pin the Tail on the Mousie, Drape Climbing, and Plant Diving.

The following have indicated that they are attending (If you aren't on the list you can still come, I purchased extra stuff for all the last minute arrivals. If you let me know you are coming, I will add you to the list.):

Angel and Taz
The Meezers
Scooby, Shaggy, and Scout
Max the Psychokitty
Buddah Pest
Finnegan and Buddy
Bonnie and Victor
Turtle, Moose and Nala
Meeko and Kiara
Edsel
William of Mass Destruction
Kukka-Maria
Brach
Patches Lady, Mittens, Mistrie
Derby
George, Tipper, and Max
Oreo
Jasper, Josie, Huggy Bear and Maggie
Knightly, Lizzie and Firenze (We won't tell your mom that you snuck out to the Party while she was in Africa)
Athena
Yaffa and Sebastian
Fat Eric
Diva Kitty, Joaquin, Xavier and Carmen
Orlando and Fiona
Princess Mia
Silas
Smeagol and Strider
Peter and Lucky

Now with all the wooing and cooing that has been going between some of the guests, I need to lay down some ground rules for the party. No getting wasted on Catnip Punch and picking fights because you think someone else is cutting in on your girl. On the flip side of this, no encouraging of any male bravado or showboating. (This means you, Kukka-Maria).

We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. The Party should be starting around 4:00PM and ending probably around Wednesday afternoon.

Magoo - Year Four

Magoo hit his stride in his fourth year. He wasn't doing the silly kitten things anymore, he had moved on to stupid adult things.

This was the year we started letting him out on his leash. My wife used to get a lot of strange looks as she took this large grey cat for a walk on the sidewalk. There were a couple of close calls for causing car accidents as stunned drivers had to do a double take at the sight of Magoo.

He was also getting tired of all the doggies in the neighborhood pooping and peeing on his grass. One of our early neighbors had two Rottweiller puppies that she used to take for a walk. We never learned their names, but my wife always refered to them as Joe and Thud. One day they came by for a visit while Magoo was on his leash in the front yard. They were very interested in Magoo. They were very friendly dogs and didn't show any overt aggression towards Magoo. My wife was very nervous since she was uncertain what these two large dogs would do. Magoo was very pleasant until he had had enough of their slobbering on his fur and his grass. With a large growl and hiss, Magoo cuffed both of the dogs as hard as he could. I think it scared him as much as it did the dogs, who took off as fast as they could for their own home. My wife apologized to their owner as she was violently pulled down the street. I thought the dogs were going to pull her arms out.

Another overly friendly neighbor also came by that summer with his dog. It was a some sort of Shitzu cross. He told me that Buttons loved to play with cats and he had been around cats all his life. I told him that Magoo had no contact with dogs,a nd so I didn't know how Magoo would take to Buttons trying to sniff his butt. The neighbor, Buttons and I found out shortly how Magoo felt. He let out his trademark, "I was a Lion in a previous life", growl and hiss. This scared both the neighbor and the dog. To this day, I see him and Buttons walking, always on the far side of the street. Good Guard Cat Magoo.

Three days until your birthday party.