Almost Tabby Tuesday

Hi, Clarissa let me take over the blog today. I'm Ginger, true sibling of Spunky, Puff, and Panda. If I'm not mistaken, the four of us will be 10 years old this year. I've always been the shiest of the litter. My sister and brothers love to get in mom's lap for some snuggle time. Spunky and Puff will share mom's lap. Panda will share mom's lap with other kitties, but not Spunky or Puff. I've never been a lap cat with my mom. Well, on Sunday afternoon I decided I was going to get some snuggle time with mom.

Mom was watching a movie and knitting and I decided to jump up on the foot of the recliner. I rubbed my face and cheeks all over her legs and feet, and I finally moved a little closer so mom could skritch my ears. Before long I had laid down on her thigh, or at least the back half of me had. My front half was draped over the arm of the recliner. I purred and purred while mom patted me and stroked my back. I finally laid my head down on my front legs and took a short nap. It made mom very happy. Me and my sibs moved into our forever home in 2007, and this is probably the third or fourth time I've come close to being a lap cat.

Maybe one day I'll be a true lap cat!

Catching Up

Hi Kitties (and Doggers, too)! We have fallen behind again - nothing new there - so we thought we'd catch everyone up on the happenings around here.

Saturday was a lazy day for us! Mom stayed home all day and watched horse racing on t.v. It was Kentucky Derby Day, which seems to be a big deal around here. We don't understand all of the excitement. It's just a bunch of horses running in a circle, or oval as it were. Anyway, mom got into two Derby pots at work for $1 each. One was for the winning horse only, and the other would be divided between the win, place, and show horses. That's first, second, and third place for those who don't know anything about horse racing. Mom had the winning horse in the first place only pot, and the second place horse in the other pot. She spent $2 and got back $26. Not a bad return.

And now for mom visit with the Acro-Cats! She said it was a very fun show. She loved see all of the kitties, but she said Tuna was probably her favorite. Tuna is the star of the show. Buggles, a black kitty, looks a lot like our cousin, Gracie Ninja-Vader. The kitties rang bells, jumped through hoops, pushed a shopping cart, and raised a flag. Oh, and one of them balanced on top of a ball and rolled it along by walking on it. They are all very smart kitties. And they get rewarded with fresh tuna or salmon!!!

Sometimes a specific trick doesn't work out like it should, either. Maybe the kitty gets distracted or just decides he/she isn't in the mood. That's okay too. A few of the kitties decided they were not going to cooperate and they started wandering around. One of the gray tabby kitties checked out mom's shoes. He kept smelling them, then would look at mom, then smelled the shoes some more!!! Mom thought that was very funny. And we know he smelled our scent on mom's shoes.

Samantha, who is the trainer, said all of the cats are rescues. Some are even from Puerto Rico! There are 13 performing kitties and she has another 8 at home. Besides the kitties, there are four rats, a chicken, and a ground hog in the show. The ground hog rides in a cart that is pulled by a remote control car.

We've also been having the hots around here. It's been in the high 80s most days and in the 60s at night. It's suppose to storm later today and then drop into the 70s by the middle of the week.

Stay cool, kitties!

The Acro-Cats Are In Town!!!

We are so excited, friends!!! Aunty Jen and mom are going to see the Acro-Cats tomorrow night! Mom saw them a couple of years ago when they visited town. She said it was a very cute show, and all of the kitties are adorable. All of the kitties are trained to do simple tricks and encouraged to perform with treats. However, if a particular kitty decides not to perform, that's okay too. None of them are forced to do anything. And the kitties are all rescues. If mom remembers correctly, there is even a chicken and a pet rat in the show!

We hope you like our background with the horses on it. The Kentucky Derby is on May 5, so mom helped us change the background to mark the occasion. We will put something else up after that

Purrs and prayers for any fur or family that needs them. We love you!

Tuesday News

Good morning! We are back. Mom has been busy and we haven't had much computer time. She took an overnight trip to Nashville, TN last week for some movie thing. We can't begin to explain it, but she got to meet Darren Lynn Bousman. He is a movie director and he is probably best none for some of the SAW horror movies. Mom hasn't seen those and doesn't plan to see them. But she said he was very nice and very funny. Then she took off for Virginia Beach for the weekend to go to a horror movie convention with a friend of hers. Her friend had two media passes and needed someone to go with her to operate the video camera while she did a few interviews. It was really more of mom's friend's thing than mom's. Anyway, she got home late Sunday night, then had to be at work yesterday.

Jazzpurr asked me to thank you all for your purrs. She is back to normal, although she has decided not to sleep on mom's bed. Jazzy is out and about, but she isn't having much to do with mom now. Mom thinks Jazzy is afraid that she will get scooped up and taken back to the vet. Fred and Lily had appointments with the vet for their distemper shots. Lily is doing quite well since she had her ear surgery in October 2010. She hasn't had any more problems with her ear and abscesses forming. Her weight is holding at 12 lbs. and she is healthy. Fred has gained about 1/4 of a pound since last fall. He now weighs just a bit over 7 lbs. A little thin for his size, but better than he had been. His appetite is still good and his mouth doesn't seem to be bothering him. Fred has lost about six teeth since his last visit. He has chronic gingivitis and should probably have his teeth extracted, but due to his kidney issues, the vet (and mom) said putting him under anesthesia isn't a great idea. He was on a round of antibiotics to help with some minor redness and to keeping infection at bay.

I (Clarissa) finished my round of predisone for my skin irritation and over-grooming issue. I'm doing much better for now. I can't have more steroid injections since I had that cyst develop from the last one.

Lastly, we lost two dear furriends yesterday. Bendy Furr lost his fight after a brief illness. He had been our friend on Meowmail Forum for a long time. His mom does a lot of work with foster kitties, and she adopts those kitties with health issues or special needs that are usually considered unadoptable. We know she will miss her Bendikins as much as we will. Bendy got his name from his very bowed front legs. He had casts on his little legs as a kitten to help straighten them.

RIP Bendy Furr
Our Aunty Jen's kitty, Willow, crossed the Bridge last night. Willow had taken up residence in the basement because she decided she didn't want to be around the other kitties at her home. Her momma couldn't find her at dinner time and went looking for her. Willow was laying under a table and Aunty Jen thought she had already left. But Ms. Willow hung on a while longer. Aunty Jen was able to bring her upstairs and lay her on a blankie and stroke her furs and talk to her until she closed her eyes and left this world for her new home. Our mom hadn't seen Willow for a long time, but she remembers when Aunty Jen brought her home as a kitten. She was the cutest thing, all tabby and torbie and oh so fierce...until you held her on her back a rubbed her belly. Then she would fall fast asleep. Ms. Willow was 14 years old. Unfortunately, we don't have a picture of Willow to share with you.

We hope all of our friends and family in the blogosphere are happy and healthy!

Sister Jazzpurr needs a few purrs (nothing serious!)

Jazzpurr normally sleeps on the foot of mom's bed. That is her spot of choice. She has been MIA for three days (as of this morning). Mom finally found her curled up in a cat bed that is under a table in the corner of the family room. Jazzpurr let mom pick her up without a struggle. Jazzy's little ears were really hot, and mom said Jazzy sounded very congested.

Mom popped Jazzy into a carrier right away and then called the vet. She was able to get an 8:30 a.m. appointment. Turns out that Jazzy has an upper respiratory infection. Her temp was just a hair over 104. The vet gave her a shot of covinia (?) and suggested powdered lysine to be added to Jazzy's food.

Hopefully Jazzy will be feeling better in a day or two, but if you could spare a purr for her it would be appreciated!

Happy Friday the 13th!!!

Wordless Wednesday: The Comic Edition

Turkey Vulture Tuesday

Guess what mom saw in our neighborhood last night? Oh, I guess the post title gave it away. It's true though. She saw a turkey vulture down the street from our house. She was almost home from work when she spotted this large bird with a bright red head in the distance. At first she thought it might be a wild turkey (we had one of those show up in our backyard back when it was only me and Sable in the house). Anymew, she remembered that the wild turkey she saw had a blue head, not a red head. As she got a bit closer she realized that it was a big ol' turkey vulture. Mom said it's the first time she has seen one so closely in the wild. There are a lot of possums in our neighborhood, and they aren't too smart when it comes to crossing the road. And turkey vultures eat deceased animals. I will just leave it at that. Mom didn't get a picture of the vulture, but here is one I found on the interwebs:

It's a rather magnificent bird in it's own way. And quite large, indeed. What surprised mom so much about see the vulture is where she saw it. We live in a residential neighborhood. Not in a rural area at all. But there are hawks, and occasional owl, and raccoons in the neighborhood, too. And bunnies...lots of bunnies. And squirrels. And chipmunks. What is the most unusual critter you or your parents have seen in your neighborhood or yard?