Helping. Waiting. Cat Stuff.

Abby: I am a very good helper. My Mum, Ms. C, has a lot of writing to do for work, so she needs companionship. Inspiration. Motivation. Help.

All of these things I can offer. I do a great job, I know it, she tells me this all the time.

If I sat behind your screen like this, you'd have written a bestseller already, wouldn't you? I don't know why she hasn't. Maybe I need to stop falling asleep back here so much. 

Abby Normal likes to help.

Styx: Well, I am taking a break from my boy-crazy behavior. I am still a talkative cat. Ms. C says I "mutter" to myself all of the time. Well, there is a lot to observe and comment on in a new home, right? Especially since I am giving the boys a break, I have time to sniff about. I have time to learn where the other cats like to sleep so I can try out those places too. And I have time to try to get close to them.

I would like to be closer to them. Not just physically, but they don't let me do that much yet.

Ms. C says to "just wait until Tuesday" and things will change a little bit after that. I'm not sure how. I still think it must be something wonderful because she talks about it so much!

Styx is thinking about birds and Other Cats

Cilent Caturday

Abby Normal Scares Mum

Abby: I had a hairball or some little cat-cold the other day and it scared my Mum cause I lost my voice. But I am feeling a lot better now! I am back to being a chair vulture:

And I am back to my morning scampering with my puffed up tail and loud meows!

So no worries! I hope all of you are having a wonderful weekend.

Tabby Tuesday

Abby: Ms. C thinks the sun makes my eye look pretty in this picture. To be honest, I am soaking up energy, getting excited and ready to race around the house.

She also wanted to show you my happy paw in the sunshine. I really love the sun, but on rainy days and in fact any time, Ms. C is my sunshine because I would rather nap with her than do anything else in the world!

Abby gets a turn!

Abby: Stygia is usually the one in the window all day long. She has black fur and, snakelike, lays there and totally bakes her brains out. She is such a sun pig! I hardly ever get a turn. But today I did!

As you can see, I am enjoying myself very much. VERY MUCH! I hope all of you are having as spectacular a weekend as I am. 

Greedy Ways

Ms C: There is a very special time of day in our household; it happens every day at about 6pm. It's known as "Cat Time." For at least an hour beforehand, Abby campaigns avidly to remind me that it is almost Cat Time.

What is Cat Time? It's simple. Cat Time is tuna time for Abby and treats time for Stygia (who doesn't like wet food). Stygia enjoys and appreciates her temptations, but the one who really sets into her food with fervor is Abby:




Ahhhh, besides Cat Time, there is nothing quite like a big stretch in the sun! We hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Let's GET Abby's Party Started!!

Today is a very special day -- not only is it our First Blogoversary, but it's also the 1-year anniversary of Abby Normal's GOTCHA Day!!! All of the pictures featured in today's post were taken in the first week of living in her new home with us lucky humans.

On the very first day that she lived with us, Abby spent almost all of her time sleeping with and ON Mr. R. It was to the point where he had a constant neck-ache named Abby, but he would not move so he would not disturb her. She doesn't sleep there anymore, and he misses his neck-ache. Perhaps it is because she only weighed 5 pounds when we got her, whereas she weighs 11 pounds now. So, instead of sleeping on Mr. R and his chair, she chooses to endorse him by sitting right under his chair.

One of Abby's favorite games in the entire world is FETCH. The cats we knew before Abby loved to chase after and play with the little toy mice that we had for them, but none of them ever carried them right back to us, so it came as a delightful surprise when Abby did just that.

We still play Fetch almost every single day!

The first time we saw Abby, she was one of many, many meowing and hopeful-eyed sad cats in their cages at the SPCA. Actually, Abby wasn't meowing when I first saw her; every time I walked by, she rolled and gazed up at me, almost with a smile on her face. Sad as I felt for all of the other cats who meowed and begged for the attention and love they were starving for, there was something other than pleading in the gaze we exchanged. At that moment I knew she was going to be Our Cat.


We first heard her voice when the woman working at the SPCA took Abby out of her cage and handed her to us so we could visit with her. Perched on Mr. R's shoulder, she let out a loud and piercing, kittenish wide-mouthed "Reeeow!" that expressed her anxiety at being in a situation full of frantic cats, and also her excitement at being held and released from her cage into the friendly arms of a human.

"Shall we take this cat home with us?" I asked Mr. R, and he responded with a smile and a nod. Instead of putting her in the carrier, he sat with her in the back seat and held and patted her as I chaufferred us all back to our home, Abby's new home.

Some cats go into hiding right away when confronted with a new home/location. Abby never did, she moved right in without missing a beat, as if she had never been abandoned to the SPCA, as if she'd always lived with us.

This is one of Mr. R's favorite early photos of her:

At the SPCA, the little index card on her cage said her name was Abby. Like many adoptive "parents," we thought beforehand that we were going to probably rename her to something we preferred, but the name stuck. We simply added to it, so she is Abby Normal. She knows her name, all you have to do is say it and she will look at you, or come to you if she is so inclined. Who is the luckier, her or us? I'd say, it is all of us.

Happy First Birthday, Abby!

Welcome to Abby's first birthday party! We are so glad you could make it!

The best way to celebrate at any party is with FOOD. Please, have a bite of this wonderful tuna and prawn cakelet, garnished delicately with potent organic catnip.

The candle had to be extinguished and removed before Abby could approach the food. Since it's not in the usual location where she receives food, she cautiously checked it out from a corner, making sure it was safe to approach:

Of course, you guessed already that it did not take long at all for Abby to move in and begin her birthday feast! Mmm-MMM!! The whole house filled with the . . . fragrance . . . of tuna. After the feast, it's only natural to follow the gorging with a catnip extravaganza! Everybody roll!

Here is a collage in celebration of Abby Normal! She arrived to her home with us on June 15th, 2008, right before she turned six months old, and she settled right in without fear or hiding, as if she knew this really was her forever home, all for her! We have watched her grow from a 5.5 pound kitten to an athletic and frisky 10 pound cat.

Abby is truly a gift and a joy to everyone here at home, a girl who loves equally to play wild thundering games, or to sleep cozily beside the legs of her people.

Big thanks to the most handsome cat Tristan of Tabbylicious and to Zoolatry for the beautiful birthday graphics featured at the top of today's entry!

Happy birthday, Abby -- we love you.

Even though Abby is. . . .

. . . mostly pretty silly . . .

. . . she is also pretty!

We hope everyone has been having a good week. Ours has been long, and getting steadily colder, so we make the most of the sun we've been seeing each day.

We got an award from a few people, and a meme to do, so we will be talking about those tomorrow. We have heard that rain is predicted for the weekend, so we are going back to our sunbathing while it lasts!