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        Kitty, the blog animal         February 28, 2003

Kitty has evolved a feature whereby she can inflate herself to be a big cat, but there are times when she chooses to deflate into something very small.   Amazing...

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 27, 2003

Oh, sweet Kitty, such a lover.
I've been home 20 minutes and she is already blissfully curled up on my lap.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 26, 2003

If Kitty did catch a bird yesterday, she expertly covered up her crime. I just hope she doesn't start e-mailing the bird police taunting clues and boastful tyrates.   Now, where did I leave that Luminol...

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 25, 2003

Most of you folks are still in the depths of winter, so it's probably not polite to mention this California sparkley and spring-like February morning. Watch out birds... Kitty will be on the prowl. Bloody bird bits and a good crunchy skull would really make her day.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 24, 2003

With the best intentions of remembering, I left the supermarket without kibble, and had to stop in again.   The meat market manager has Sundays off, otherwise I would have asked if he had any brains, to which he would have predictably replied; for eating or using?
I've known that age would eventually turn my brain into mush. And it has. Let me tell you a little story about my last visit to the laundromat: Half way there I remembered that I had forgotten to bring along the detergent. When I arrived I discovered that I had forgotten the dirty clothes as well.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 23, 2003

I've been trying to explain the situation to Kitty, but we're down to our very last bits of Whiskas kibble.   She seems fairly confident that I won't forget to bring some more home.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 21, 2003

If I decided to wear a sign on my backside, it would read "Kitty on board"

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 20, 2003

Kitty usually does a bit of scratching when she wakes up, but this morning she reminded me that I hadn't flea combed her for two days.   So, we got one big flea and a few little ones.   She loves being flea combed.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 19, 2003

So, when I left this morning Kitty was positioned with her head sticking out of her cat door, and when I stopped by at noon she was still there. From her yawn, I'd say she probably had been sleeping most of the while.
Click for photo of Kitty looking out her door

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 18, 2003

Who knows what travels through her little head,
but she seems to be on some other planet. The Planet of Purrs...

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 17, 2003

[ click REFRESH button to re-start movement evenly ]

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 16, 2003

Oh, to sit on the lap of Don...   Kitty's only desire is comfort...

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 15, 2003

Usually I can draw Kitty's attention to images of birds on the computer screen, but she has absolutely no interest in my crawling heart.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 14, 2003

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 13, 2003

My flesh and blood alarm clock tried to get me up at 5:30AM with six or seven of her two syllable hellos from the kitchen. That didn't work, so a few minutes later I felt a very cold paw poking at my forehead.
I've got to get her a watch.
Thank god she doesn't yet know how to play revelie on the cornet.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 12, 2003

Three days ago, Kitty got her treat of a tiny bit of blue-green algae, and as expected, her coat is now fluffy and shiny.   I don't want to sound like a salesman for blue-green algae, but this freeze-dried pond scum is supposed to contain some very unique trace elements brought to the surface by volcanic activity in Oregon's Cascade Range.   That was the last tiny bit we had.   I should get some more.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 11, 2003

Kitty has had her evening piece of corn, which was somewhat smaller than usual.  Now she is sitting on the counter, waiting for more.
I'd better not fail her - after all, Friday is Valentines day.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 10, 2003

I was telling Kitty that she should behave like a good cat, and if she didn't, I had the power to write terrible and unspirited things about her.
"Today's news is tomorrow's fish-wrap, Mr. Hearst", replies Kitty...

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 9, 2003

If you've never heard of blue-green algae, then nevermind. But when Kitty came to live with Don she brought along her dear and beloved jar of vetrinarian-grade blue-green algae.
On special occasions, or when she looks like she needs a little boost, we'll break out the blue-green algae for a sprinkle on her kibble. Amazingly, within a day or two her coat turns exceedingly shiny and almost slippery. It's supposed to have all sorts of "new age" health benefits, but it's actually just a special variety of pond scum. Kitty really loves it.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 8, 2003

I've forgotten what other Kats and Kitties do on Saturday mornings, but Kitty and I turn on the heater and go back to sleep.   Kitty eventually finds the optimum distance between she and the heater. Then, to maximize and equalize heat absorption, she assumes a crescent shaped side sprawl.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 6, 2003

Kitty usually stands guard over her piece of corn as it defrosts, but she has discovered an empty lap.   My arm must be as uncomfortable as an unfluffed log, but I think her comfort comes from our closeness.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 5, 2003

Moths must be more tasty than they look, but they do look like great fluttering fun for Kitty.   It's probably just a culturual thing, but I prefer my food without fuzz, fur, or feathers.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 4, 2003

I was chopping up a couple of potatoes this morning when Kitty reminded me that one of her favorite foods is a little slice of raw potato.
Crunchy foods are so much fun.

        Kitty, the blog animal         February 2, 2003

Kitty's dreams are several million miles away today...

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 31, 2003

Kitty and I are up early this morning and we've already had a rousing game of baseball.   I had two strikes on her in the third inning, but on the next pitch she hit it out of the park.   Our ball is a wadded up a piece of paper. I throw it in the air and catch it a few times to get her interested, and then lob it to her. She'll swing at a good pitch, and almost never misses. She bats it right back to me, and if I'm really quick, I can catch it. My neighbors might be wondering why we're cheering at 5am...

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 30, 2003

While picking her up for her first upside down stretch of the day, I made a curious discovery that she actually has white whisker-like hairs on the back of her front legs. So, it's back to her original name of Whiskers.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 29, 2003

Her given name was Whiskers, but most everyone in her previous family called her Kitty, so I've done the same. But you know, Kitty is sort of generic, I think I'm going to start calling her Stretch. Or maybe, Scratch. Or, Bosco. I often call her Kitty-Witty. Somehow, I don't think what I rename her is going to make much difference.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 28, 2003

She disguised her intentions as just wanting to be friendly, but camping out on top of Mt. Don at 5:30am is just a clever ploy to wake me up for an early breakfast.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 27, 2003

Kitty has decided that she needs to spend this evening on Don's lap, and evidently I have no say in the matter.   After a while it gets to be a wrestling match, and right now she's got me pinned for the count of three.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 25, 2003

kitty says hello, but hasn't anything to say...

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 24, 2003

So, finally, I lifted Kitty off my lap and set her to the side of my desk. A moment later, with the illusion that it was purely accidental, Kitty sort of backed over towards me and sat on my hand which was busy working the mouse. Usually she will just hang her paws over my wrist, but I've never seen her use these tactics before. Maybe Kitty and I should have a talk...

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 23, 2003

This morning I heard some clomping around outside, and three of our deer friends had dropped by to forage in our little yard. Kitty was keeping an eye on everybody from her window mounted cat-door. She'll sit there for hours, anticipating the next bit of excitement to fall by.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 22, 2003

A piece of frozen corn is thawing, and until it is ready I have Kitty's rapt attention. "Meouw" must actually mean something, and Kitty pronounces it with many different inflections. I gave her a few of my customized "Meouws", and got some rather curious looks from her. I said to her, "Meouw, meou moue me moweou meoue". Translated, this is roughly equivalent to; "Kitty, your corn is almost ready". Kitty's reply is; "Meow meweou moue moeu", which is the shortened version of; "Don, the cheese is slipping off your cracker".

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 21, 2003

More pissy rain, so Kitty hunkered down all day. This evening, to stave off the dreaded cabin fever we played toss the pen into the air and see if Kitty can catch it with both paws.   And she can catch it, consistently, and I am thoroughly impressed!

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 20, 2003

Kitty wakes up and starts scratching, sending pangs of guilt through me, because we skipped Kitty's flea combing yesterday. So, we begin combing and about thirty seconds later she decides we can finish up later. She goes over and sticks her head out of her cat door.
A few minutes later she notices that Don has an empty lap, but it is only a clever ploy to lure her back inside for more flea combing.
We got a few, but not as many as her scratching seemed to warrant.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 19, 2003

I was absolutely shocked; the first word out of Kitty's mouth this morning was hello. Previously, I mentioned that kitty has trouble with her k's and b's, so kibble sounds more like rah-rah, but she seems to have no problem with her h's and o's, so hello comes natural to kittyspeak.
And of course, Kitty is a "greeter" by occupation, so saying hello is probably not a big deal, but I think this little cat is pretty darned smart.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 18, 2003

Kitty is a creature of habit, which I admire, but Don likes his Saturday mornings unstructured and without responsibility. Kitty's protest is to sit on the counter looking like an owl, and wondering when Old Stick in the Mud is going to "get going".
Morning corn comes after Don is dressed and ready to go, so if I have extra time to dawdle, Kitty has more time to prepare for the moment. Her patience will be stretched to a thin thread this morning, but the balance of power, just for a short time this morning, is at a fair equalibrium.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 16, 2003

Our California weather has finally turned to sunshine, and the birds are out, and Kitty is no-where to be found.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 15, 2003

Kitty woke up after a day of sawing logs, had a little kibble, coerced a tiny sample of chicken and rice soup out of Don, took her daily flea combing, and now she has returned to her peaceful spot of sleep. Yawn...

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 14, 2003

Kitty has a way of governing the kitchen without ever having to walk on the floor, so when I asked her why she was sitting on the floor in front of the refrigerator, she let me know that she, did indeed, know the difference between a whole piece of a piece of an ear, in comparison to the half piece of a piece of an ear I had given her; and that she would appreciate receiving the remaining half piece of a piece, now!

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 13, 2003

When Kitty decides her need for kibble outweighs Master's need for a nap, she has a couple different ways to wake Master up.
Plan A: Sit on Master's chest and knead Master with front paws in any available soft spot.
Plan B: If Master is more dead to the world than usual, perch on arm of couch just above Master's head. Poke Master's forehead; softly to start, then gradually increasing the amount of claw until basic neurological functions of Master can be verified.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 12, 2003

A Calfornia winter calls for another blanket. This year we're using the Anderson Tweed, and it is serving us well. When morning comes, the blanket is folded and placed for Kitty to find and occupy, later, when she gets around to it.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 11, 2003

Kitty keeps trying to wrangle up refills on Whiskas, but she's had enough, so I cut her off at midnight. So now she is in a snit about it. She is sitting on the counter, just below her "feeding station", using the look of disdain. Her body is hunched down and flattened out on the counter. Her haunches are spread to each side like the shape of an old sports car. Her front paws are crossed in that cute fashion. Kitty is so pissed off right now that I bet if she knew she was being so cute, she would find something else to do.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 10, 2003

Promise not to turn me into the health department or the men in the white coats, but Kitty gets her kibble served inside of a kitchen cabinet.

This morning I was saying goodbye to her, when she realized that I was indeed on my way out the door. She let out a little yell as she turned and looked at her "feeding station", as to say; hey, don't forget to leave me some kibble before you go. I pointed out to her that there was still a nice pile waiting there for her. She hopped up into the cabinet and polished it off. Kitty is usually a pretty happy camper.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 9, 2003

ahh...   so, I arrive home this evening and there is Kitty, perched slightly out of her cat door, wishing me greetings home.
Did I mention that Kitty could speak?

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 8, 2003

The way Kitty sees it, her duty is to occupy Don's lap when he is on the computer. The goal is to make sure Don is restricted as much as possible. If she reduces me to one hand typing, she'll consider it a victory.

But of course, I have ways to torment her too. I can pluck and tap her upper canines, pull her ears, bump her nose, and play with her whiskers. And through all of this, she can actually sleep. The idea is knowing when to stop pestering her, because if she wakes up and her eyes get big and round; beware, because she has had about enough and is getting ready to attack.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 7, 2003

...And they used to say "hey Don, get a life", but that was before Kitty.

Yes, I am still a dedicated hermit and founding member of the Middle of No-Where Club, but you see, hermits and club members are allowed to have cats...

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 6, 2003

It's a den, it's a burrow, and our home could be easily confused with a hollow log, so it's perfectly natural that kitty would want to go into hybernation this time of year.   After all, it only got up to 52 degrees this afternoon...

If not actual hybernation, it's very close to suspended animation.
It is a mystery to me how Kitty can find such peace.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 5, 2003

The "tying of the shoelaces" is our finest moment of quality time.

Getting tangled up in Don's shoelaces has been our game since Day-One, so it's undoubtedly something Jolie did with Kitty before I got her. This is not a game without danger. Bloodshed this early in the morning is not good. This is also not an expeditious way to get your shoes tied if Don is in a hurry...

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 4, 2003

The last time I tried to hang from my heels was fourth grade recess. I slipped from the monkey bars, and got a face full of wood chips for my effort. Since then, the only acrobatics I attempt are accidental.

Anyway, I don't know how and when Kitty started getting picked upside down, but she delights in getting all stretched out, and its the perfect prank to pull on her when she is just standing around with nothing much to do. I'm careful to support her back during the process, so I hope I'm not screwing up her back. She really does love that stretch. After a few seconds upside down, she gives her back a good downward stretch, and sometimes, a meoyu of delight.

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 2, 2003

Winter on the left coast is "slim", compared to what most of the rest of you have to put up with, but let me tell you, it's been raining on and off for the past three weeks and all of us "lefties" are really getting tired of it. Today, we dried out a bit, but for god sakes, they say it may rain again this weekend.

Our yard has a two foot fence surrounding a drop off on the other side, where a collection of trees spread bare limbs this time of year, providing poor cover for the birds. As I was leaving, I noticed about two dozen sparrows gathered, enjoying our temporary break in this recent spell of nasty California weather.

I was expecting to find feathers in the bathroom on my arrival home, but didn't, so I guess Kitty struck out. But, I wonder, in Kitty's eye, does she only think of them as flying Thanksgiving dinners, or might she might also appreciate them for their remarkable talents of being able to fly about...

        Kitty, the blog animal         January 1, 2003

I've had Kitty's flea situation under control for the past four or five months, but a few days ago she started scratching around her neck, so that was the sign to get her flea comb out again. Damn fleas! Kitty's flea comb was a hand-me-down from Zippy The Cat, and it has served us well. I don't want to put a flea collar on her, and I still haven't decided if I want to go get a perscription for the "Advantage" type of flea repellant, so for now I'll just try to keep it under control with combing and vaccuuming. No, I vaccuum the house, not the cat, but I have indeed seen people vaccuum their cats and dogs. Kitty is deathly afraid of my vaccuum, so I don't think I'll try that...

        Kitty, the blog animal         December 31, 2002

At least once a day Kitty and I play games. I've always wanted to get her some regular kitty toys, but she seems to be happy with pouncing on a crumpled piece of paper. She also loves pencils and pens, but without a doubt her favorite toy is the plastic protective cover from a disposable razor. The game is all about batting the piece of plastic under the bathroom door, then racing around to the other side to bat it back. When she considers the piece of plastic "captured", she will roll and wrestle around with it. The piece of plastic always seems to put up quite a struggle.

        Kitty, the blog animal         December 30, 2002

Kitty isn't much of a conversationalist, but she does indeed have things to say. "No", in Catspeak is the familiar loud "yaoueo" complaint, but "yes" is a soft or emphatic, two sylable "yeh yeh". If she is especially excited, "yeh yeh" can become three, or even four sylables. One day she gave me five sylables -- she was very excited.

Kibble is the word we constantly practice, and she has the two sylable part down real well, but unfortunately it is difficult for her to put her lips together to make the "b", and it is quite impossible for her to twist the interior of her mouth into the proper fashion to make a "k". Most cats have no trouble with "r", so using what she has to work with, Kitty's verbalization of the word "kibble" comes out something close to "rah rah", with the accent on the first sylable. Message received and understood, Kitty...

        Kitty, the blog animal         December 29, 2002

It's hard to tell, but for all the fuss she made this mornning, you'd think she really likes frozen corn better than fresh. Perhaps it tastes better this way; soft and warm from a tepid, unrushed dribble of water. But it's probably just her focused anticipation, having to sit patiently and attentively while her corn unthaws. Finally, it's corn-time!

        Kitty, the blog animal         December 27, 2002

Kitty had been down to her last little piece of corn.
Oh, have I not told you that Kitty loves to eat corn? It is possible to find fresh corn on the cob this time of year, but the ears are small and overpriced, so we buy frozen corn. We defrost each new ear in a stream of warm water, and when the corn is sufficiently thawed, it gets chopped into one and a quarter inch pieces. If Kitty plays her cards right she will get three of these pieces today. I'm in deep doo-doo if I run out of corn...

        Kitty, the blog animal         December 26, 2002

We are not too unlike. While Kitty dreams of catching and devouring birds and mice, I am planning today's supermarket visit. Porterhouse steaks are on sale, so I think it is time for something really tasty. It would be a real big mess if I were to out and catch and slaughter a cow myself.

        Kitty, the blog animal         December 25, 2002

Merry Kitmas, Kitty...
Hope that was a tasty bird... You know, I could have cleaned it up yesterday, but today I need to clean the bathroom of a mess of feathers. I've got them pretty much swept into one corner with a towel, but the mess is pretty disgusting.

        Kitty, the blog animal         December 24, 2002

Kitty is a hunter, and being a female feline, she is very good at it.
A bell around her neck might even the odds between hunter and prey, but I know Kitty wouldn't appreciate that. All of us have our basic instincts.

This afternoon, I watched Kitty patiently waiting for a sparrow to land on the fence. I've seen her sit there, unproductively, for hours, but this afternoon, it happened... In one smooth automatic move she sprang up, mouthing most of the entire poor creature. Normally I don't permit her to bring her trophy into the house, but I sort of looked the other way this time--it being Christmas, and everything... She made a bee-line back to the house and into the bathroom. Bon apitite...

        Kitty, the blog animal         So, who is this Kitty, anyway?

Kitty came to live with Don about six or seven years ago.
She is a pleasure in my life, and I think we love each other very much.

THE DAY KITTY ARRIVED, UPSTAIRS...
A bright Saturday morning brought a "pint sized" Jolie D. to my door -- out of breath and obviously excited with great news -- they were making a trip to the animal shelter to pick out a kitty. Jolie, being quite the detail minded organizer, had phoned for all the particulars, so when she mentioned that they also had a black and white kitty, my reaction was immediate, and I strongly suggested that she get that one.
A few years later, (and these things happen), Jolie and the other upstairs folks moved on, but Kitty, already knowing me pretty well, sort of moved in with me here, downstairs...

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