Mancat Meezer Monday

It has turned very cold here in the Great White North, which is also living up to its nickname. Right now it is -30 Degrees Celcius, -45 with the Windchill. That is far too cold for human or furry beast.

Baci think the cold weather had fogged my thoughts because I forgot a very important day for him. It was one year ago yesterday, January 27th, that he first graced our doorstep. I told him that was a sad day for Dad as that was also when Smudge went to Grandma's for good. Baci was thoughtful for about a minute and then told me to get back to talking about him.

So yesterday was Baci's Gotcha Day...

Baci's first day!

He has grown up so much since we brought him home. For all the chaos and stress he causes Magoo, he showers his sisters with much love and affection. Bella is even starting to warm up to him. He and Magoo share the bottom of the bed, usually first one to bed gets to claim the best spot. Since Magoo spends most of his time on the bed, Baci has to wait until Magoo gets up for a drink of water and then he swoops in and takes the recently vacated spot.

I asked Baci if he had anything to say...

My Gotcha Day Prayer

Fank you for my home,
Fank you for my sisfurs and even my brofur,
Fank you for the warm bed for me to sleep on,
Fank you for my toys and catnip pillows,
Fank you for my Mom and Dad who luvs me lots,
And most importantly, fank you for Chick-Hen.
And for Turkey and for Ham and for Steak.
You should have stopped at that and forgotten about making peas.
Amen.

Baci

Pee Ess. Dad forgot to post the Twist Tie Confiscations

T.T.C. This week 2, Year To Date 7

TGIF

I couldn't sleep last night so I got up and watched some TV in the living room so that my wife would not be disturbed. There was some crappy movie on as well as the usual late night junk. The only entertainment I saw was some previously unwitnessed Dolce/Baci antics. From about 11:45pm to 1:30am, they ran and chased each other over and around the sofa. Magoo and Bella were sound asleep. Why? Because they are good cats.


I watched Baci run and tumble over the loveseat. He was very excited about something. I get nervous when he starts getting too excited. I don't know if it is the Meezer in him or what, but if he gets really excited, he pees a little. Not a lot. Nothing like what I accidently stepped in on Tuesday morning. So I had to check to see what he was so enthralled with...


And so there will be a new feature on this blog...



Baci's Twist Tie Confiscations



It seems that every box that comes into our house has at least one item that is bound up with a twist tie. Some are fairly thick and probably could be used to support a low hanging muffler or a solid bronze windchime. Others are pretty fine. These basically have a lifespan of minutes from the moment the box is opened.


Baci does not care if they are thick or thin. He loves them all. He is just like Smudge in that regard. You could spend fifty dollars on a cat toy, and they would both rather play with the twist tie that held the plastic wrapping closed. My wife and I try to be very careful with the twist ties. We try to ensure that they are left with the plastic wrap to be tossed out with the box and the extra set of Spanish/French/German instructions.


Somehow Baci always finds them. Everytime I see him with one, I confiscate it because I am paranoid that he will chew off a part which will result in a very expensive trip to Dr. Nick. It seemed that I was taking at least one day away from him.

Yesterday, between the time I got home from work to when I finally went to bed, I must have confiscated five twist ties from Baci. It could have very well been the same twist tie. He is very good at finding them. So I give you Baci's Twist Tie stats for this week...

Twist Ties Confiscated - This Week 5, Year to Date 5

Bella (Tabby Tuesday)

I have written a lot about the bonding that has occurred between Baci and Dolce. But there is one effect of this bonding that I have not written about; its effect on Bella.

Bella has always been a very independant cat. She would play with Smudge and even with Magoo sometimes, but she never seemed to need to play with either of them. When we brought Dolce home, Dolce wanted to play with Bella after all they were the two girls of the house. Bella really did not want any part of it. In fact, Dolce's exhuberance seemed to be causing Bella even more stress.

Now with Baci to keep her preoccupied, Dolce leaves Bella alone; and that suits Bella fine. She is reverting back to the thoughtful loving lady cat she was before Dolce. She will hop up onto the couch and make biscuits on whoever is laying there watching TV or reading a book. We have even caught her playing tub hockey with one of the catnip mouses. I think she is practising for this year's CatOlympics.

She comes for some chin scritches on a regular basis and even greets us in the morning with a tiny little chirp as we get out of the shower. She insists on helping my wife with her makeup every morning. I think Baci likes her too, but she will not play with him. At least, they aren't scrapping and hissing at each other.

I had almost forgot what a beautiful little soul there was behind those big yellow-green eyes.


Pee Ess: Who ever left the puddle in the bathroom for Dad to step in, is officially on the Naughty List for the rest of the year. Not even donating blood or a kidney will get you off it.

Monday Thoughts

I have barely been able to keep my New Year's resolution. I have no right to complain because I have a great job with an employer that measures me on terms that I can live with and excel at. I also live in a part of Canada that has been blessed by the random odds of a millenia of geography.

Right now I am working from home with my four furkids milling about the house. I wish it was all peaceful and loving but it is not. Magoo and Baci have declared open hostilities against each other. I think it is due to the alpha male change within the house. Magoo is 11 going on 12 and Baci is 0 going on 1. Nature is in Baci's favour but it does nothing to make our life easier.

There are two points of hope within our house. Baci and Dolce are completely bonded. We don't have the right terms for their bond. Is it brother/sister, mother/son, friends, or soul mates(sorry Scout)? They seek each other out. It is the sweetest thing to watch.

The other point of hope is Bella. With Dolce and Baci bonded, she is free to be herself. She has become more cuddly and attentive in the last little while.

We have begun our spring cleaning early. There is reason for that but if I tell you why my wife will kill me and feed my body to the cats. As part of "MY" tasks, I came across some photos. They are photos of Smudge and Bella and Magoo when they were kittens. My wife and I gushed and cooed over each picture. We even found the negatives from when Smudge climbed the Christmas Tree and sat amongst the lights. It was our Christmas letter that year.

I promise you that I will get these pictures scanned so you can see Bella and Smudge before Dolce and Baci. We almost forgot how cute Bella was (She made Dolce look like the homely sister). Don't get me started on the pictures of Magoo when he was small enough to be held in one hand. We almost forgot how small Smudge was when he first graced our door.

A new year begins

First, Dolce wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful comments about this year's Christmas Story. Once is an event, twice is a tradition? If that is the case I will have to start thinking now about next year's story. I do have a question for all the furriends who read and left comments. Is it too drawn out? Is it too long? Should it start earlier so that it is done on or before the 23rd of December?

So what happened during Christmas in our household? Dolce and Bella climbed the tree everyday so the only ornaments that got placed where six ribbons. Baci sat and watched them. I am hoping he wasn't taking notes for next year. One cat in the tree is cute, two cats in the tree is annoying, three cats in the tree is downright destructive. Jingles left catnip mice for all the cats. Magoo promptly peed on two of them. So guess who is back on the naughty list.

Magoo went for a check up and had some more of his bloods stolen. The tests all came back within the norms for a cat of his age (he turns twelve years old this year). We have to give him Tramadol in his ears as a transdermal application because he hates the taste and has a huge hissing fit whenever we tried to medicate him. Life for Magoo is definitely slowing down. He loves to go outside and sit on his deck and keep watch over his backyard.

On the human side, I gave all of my family a copy of the We Are The Kitties. My Mom told me that she cried when she read the stories. She also said that my Grandma would have loved them too. My Grandma was fanatical about her cats. I realized now that I am older that she had a overrun feral colony living on the farm. Because it was on the farm, no one seemed to notice the number of cats. With hindsight I can see that it was not ideal, but on otherhand, there was never a mouse to be seen and I got to play with kittens every summer that I can remember. There are still a few cats running around, but it is not the same as it was when I was a child. Farm cats and little children. They go together like ice cream and chocolate sauce.

I have been lax in posting pictures. I have more of the furrkids and one or two of Smudge. I even managed to get a movie of Baci fetching his catnip mouse. My resolution this year is too post at least once a week with a target of three times.

May the new year find you heathly and happy.