Thankful Thursday

Lori and Taz have always "interacted" (and sometimes Lori and Binq), and not usually peacefully.  😔  But I'm happy to say that I haven't heard any "fussies" with yelling for several weeks now.  And if tolerance between them was all I could get, I would live with it.  For example, Lori has been doing more careful sniffing than whapping lately.

But two recent events between Taz and Lori lately have been even more encouraging.  One was too fast to get a pic of and the other, Marley had me pinned down on the TV chair with the camera just out of reach.

But in both, there seemed to be more a sense of play than dislike.  On the first.  Taz was sitting on the bed and Lori pounced him.  But not meanly with whaps and hisses.  It seemed a cautious offer to "wrassle" and was brief, but neither seemed upset.

On the second, Taz was of the small desk next to my chair.  Lori snuck onto the desk chair and reached up to tap Taz.  But gently and in slow motion.  Then Taz reached down and tapped Lori.  They both repeated that a few times before Lori left the chair.  Again, neither seemed upset!

Well, it's about darned time (15 months) they started to adjust to each other!  I've mentioned some examples of apparent peace before (like them both being on my lap or the ottoman together), but these 2 events seemed much more positive.  They were both actively engaging peacefully.  

It was sad not to get a pic of either event.  What I need is some sort of camera mounted to a headband or shirt clip.  With a remote control...   LOL!

Silly Saturday

I want to be careful about this.  I try not to take original art (I usually look for "free" stuff).  But this appeared on today's repeat of 'The Far Side" and wanted to share it.  Gary Larson is one of my favorite comic one-panel guys.  I even met him once.  He looks like Radar in M*A*S*H.  Puuferctly normal...

And he sure doesn't make it easy to copy a panel.  Screenshot doesn't even work on his site (or at least I couldn't do it)!  But it is 30 years old.  So I used the camera to take a pic of the screen and cropped it.

I was tempted to add text in the empty thought balloon ("good cat, good cat, good cat") but who am I to improve on a master of the trade?

So...

Flashback Friday.

Given yesserday's post about origins, we thought maybe some pics about First Days would be good.  So we'll try...

In order and leaving out some for which I have NO pictures...

Kenani and then Hai Yu...

I can't scan the old pictures of Mischief and Tinkerbelle.  I suspect the printer/scanner is too old.  Downloading new drivers doesn't work.  So I took a picture of a picture.  I'm persistent!

So I took a picture of a copy of a photograph, LOL!   Bad quality but best I can do.

Clockwise from right:  Tinkerbelle, Jeremy, Mischief...  Jeremy was my parent's  cat and stayed with me when they went to Florida for the Winter.

Skeeter:

LC:

Ayla:

Iza:

Marley:

 

Lapis Lazuli:

Happy Dr Seuss Day!

Mark (aka Cavebear) and the Mews

  ------------------------

THE CAVEBEAR IN THE HAT

The snow it was falling, 

Too cold to go out.

So the children were bored

Barely moving about.

The children agreed

It was boring to sit.

They wished that some something

Would bring excitement.

So all they could do was to

Sit!

   Sit!

       Sit!

            Sit!

Then a noise up the stairs

Caught their interest, was funny.

It promised some change

From a day not quite sunny.

They looked and they saw

Upon the tall stair

A Cavebear that really

Should not have been there.

He wore a strange hat

And he walked just like people.

In fact, his hat rose 

From his head like a steeple.

Carrying two cats

And with nary a care

He waved, said hello

And he came down the stair. 

Said he was there

To get rid of their "bore"

And make this dull day

Better than before!  

So he'd brought his good friends

Cat One and Cat Two

Call them Ayla and Laz

They will entertain you.

Ayla jumped up to heights

Like they never had seen

While Laz zoomed through the room

Knocking things over, of which he was keen.

They laughed with delight

Watching Ayla jump round

From doortop to curtainrod

With slightest of bound.

The sight of Laz crashing around

Made them smile and cheer

They were far more excited 

Than they’d been the whole year.

But Marley, their own cat 

Thought this was quite bad

Mom will be home soon

And she’s gonna be mad.

So he ran to the Cavebear

And yelled in his ear

The kids will be blamed

And me too, I fear.

But “have no fear now”

Said Cavebear In The Hat

I surely do manage things

Better than THAT!

So he took off his hat

And he waved it around

Laz stopped running like crazy

Ayla came to the ground.

Cavebear In The Hat gave a signal to them

Ayla and Laz went and sat by the door

He again waved his hat and soon as can be

Everything in the house was as good as before.

I’m experienced at this, he told Marley-cat

I come to bring fun not to cause trouble

And he and his cats 

Disappeared like a bubble.

And that was good-timing

Because in a minute

Mom entered the house

And saw nothing wrong in it!

Happy Dr Seuss Day!

   --------------------

Much credit (the graphic and about half the poem) go to Ann of Zoolatry.  I will post about that on my own blog...

Flashback Friday

This week we present  pics from this week 2010, with addition.

 Sometimes they slept near each other...

The bed was "Neutral Territory".

But sometimes they slept closer.

As much as they sometimes had hissyfits sometimes, and fussed, and even after I laid Iza out on the floor so Marley and Ayla might understand she wasn't in our world anymore, Ayla still went looking for Iza in Iza's favorite spots for weeks.  Ayla did not love Iza as some cats do with others, but she sensed a loss in the household.  Or maybe she loved Iza in ways she didn't show.

I will never understand fully what cats understand or think about existence, or what they truly understand about each other, but Ayla was disturbed by "No Iza" for a while.  She stopped suddenly one day.  I don't know if she even remembers her now after months.  But who can tell?  

Which makes me think of Laz.  He drove Ayla crazy for months.  He didn't react to me at all at first.  When I finally let him outside (with Marley and I watching him) he never paid the slightest attention to call-ins or "dinnertime".

And then suddenly one day, it was like a switch flipped in his mind.  I saw it happen one specific day.  He suddenly reacted when I called him.  Suddenly came in when called.  Suddenly understood "dinnertime".  Suddenly stopped chasing Ayla.  Suddenly started sleeping next to me in bed.

Some mental switch twitched...  Something about his past life changed for him.  Maybe something about all the silly songs I crooned to him changed things.  But he went from aloof to me and aggressive to Ayla and recognizing my words to paying attention to calls in a single day and accepting Ayla as a part of his house.

Did he reach the limit of his memory?  Did he suddenly come to some realization that he was in a safe place?  Did he just change his mind about "us"?  I'll never know.  

Dogs are bred to let us know EXACTLY how they feel.  Cats are not.  Some people love the "obviousness" of dogs.  I love the "mystery" of cats.

Cat Dad Day

We got a card from Aunty Susie, TBTs sister about Cat Dad's day.  He doesnt encourage us to call him "dad" but he is giving in slowly and we WILL win.  We are cats after all...

Meanwhile, here is the card...

We think we left out a part of the card but thats OK, because scanners are tricky and WE'RE CATS!

But after we wrote this, TBT decided when I got chased by That Big Mean Cat the other day and he ran out ready to protect me from whatever it was, he is "Our Dad".  We will still call him TBT of course, but he has surrendered...  YAY!

Flashback Friday

This day in 2012, Marley was enjoying the huts on the cat trees.

They fit him purrfectly back then.

He loved all of the huts...

And my Dad was here.  He had his favorite chair, and enjoyed having Iza sit with him.  Iza liked him too.

Dad always claimed he didn't like cats "all that much", but he always gave them good attention and especially good solid ones like Iza.  I think he thought "guys were supposed to prefer dogs".  He was always good to the family cats though.  He even got caught talking to them nicely when he thought no one else was around.  LOL!

Dad had the best last couple years here.  He was sinking, alone, in Florida the 4 years after Mom died.  Taking care of him for 2 years was good for me too.  We talked a lot.  He didn't always make sense around sunset (that is an actual specific problem), but he did remember things most of the time and seemed happy to be with me (and the cats).

Dr Seuss Day

We wrote a little poem ...  We tried to "Seuss" it up a bit.  Some names...  But it comes down to US eventually...

"There was this house in Bartlewhaton

It had a roof but not a bottom, 

And all the Na-moles came to play,

Because they could, and said “Hurray”.

We have a solid roof, they spied,

Safe from the nasty bergle-wowls!

And incherers and, and gorns, and fleers

And we will celebrate this day fer years!

And then they thought,

If others came, there might not be

Much space for they

Who came before,

And so they chose

To block their holes, and stomp the floors

To save what they had come upon.

A wonderland of safetydom..

The An-moles called from far below,

Please let us in,

For there is safeness up above

And we would safely live, your kin.

The Na-moles said “we have our place”

And safe up here we will abide

While you outside must run and hide.

We feel safe at last, they vowed.

They blocked the tunnels, stomped the floor.

Always safe forever more

Safety in numbers they declared

Knowing peace forever theirs.

The tunnels blocked,

The floor stomped down.

They cheered their safety

Not a frown.

So solid none could come or go
Or go and come, and  don't you know...

And that is when the cats came down…"

"

Freaky Friday TV Time

AYLA:  I get a bit ecited when I see cats on TV.  Especially iffen they are unusual cats.  Like this one.  I dint know it was a cat at first, but the ears and eyes made me think it might be.

And I wasnt sure even with another picture.  

But then they started showing it better.  It was clearer on the TV than the picture shows.   But really, ya cant mistake a cat.  We ARE kinna unique!

"The Look" really proves it too.  

But what REALLY innerested me was the EARS!  The ears of THAT one are amazing.  I dint even unnerstand that the name of it was RIGHT THERE cuz Ive never seen that word.  But TBT helped me out by saying it fer me.  "car-a-cal".  I have ta remember that cuz it is the bigger-than-me cat I most admire now!

Hey lady, get back to the cat!  I dont need ta see YOU.

So annyway, these car-a-cal cats have huge ears for hearin tinier sounds than me, they can jump way better than even *I* can, an they can catch hummingbirds in the air.  Not that I actally want us cats ta catch hummingbirds (cuz I admire them little fast guys so much), but that they CAN is pawsome!

They average about 20 pounds (less than 2x Marley's size), but they can jump 14 feet up (more than 2x what Marley or even *I* can jump.  That is higher per size than anny other cat!  No wonder I admire them so much. 

I wanna see MORE TV shows about them.  Oh, um, yeah, TBT liked the show too...

TV Tuesday

AYLA:  I love watching the TV sometimes.  My favorite is something called "golf" where Beings throw some small white critter WAY up in the air an then watch it bounce along the ground.  I watch that very intently and try ta whap it myself.

Today I got ta watch other cats.  Most times, pictures dont come off the TV very well (an these sure arent like I remember them on the TV itself), but at least ya can see what I was watching.

I loved the pretty spots she had all over her.  But TBT says she is really bigger than she looks here an would probly just eat me iffen I was there.  So Im happy ta just watch these "far-away" pictures from the safety of my own house.

I asked TBT iffen she had a blog but he said he was pretty sure she dint.  Thats too bad...

Bad Science

A message from TBT about bad science scaring people about cats...

We are used to SOME people trying to blame cats for "killing all the birds and rodents" as if cats were the major cause of death of birds and rodents.  They see one neighbor's cat catch a bird or mouse and they assume cats kill them all.  Right, as if most of the predators in the world don't eat birds and mice.  Like there are not owls, hawks, dogs, snakes, minks, weasels, etc, etc, etc who must eat several birds and mice daily to survive .

In my experience, where there are households with cats, those people also have birdfeeders, built nesting sites, and otherwise support birds.  When I moved here there were few birds; a couple of cardinals, a few sparrows, and a rare house finch.

After 26 years of arranging the yard to support birds (among other animals), and having cats who hunt, there are typically a dozen cardinals, a dozen house finches, many titmouses, juncos, nuthatches, goldfinches, mourning doves, robins, woodpeckers, etc THESE days.  They were NOT all here before. 

The cats get several per year for sure.  But the total bird population is higher than it was before I and the cats arrived.  They are better off now even with the cats around picking off the weakest of them.  So don't EVEN get me started on the benefits of the survival of the fittest birds...

Tell me how we are harming them overall...

Now I read that cats are destroying humanity by spreading Toxoplasma gondii.  OK, it reproduces in cats.  But it lives in the everyday dirt! 

" From Wikipedia:
Toxoplasma gondii (tŏk'sə-plāz'mə gŏn'dē-ī') is an obligate, intracellular, parasitic protozoan that causes the disease toxoplasmosis.
Found worldwide, T. gondii is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals.  In humans, it is one of the most common parasites; serological studies estimate that up to a third of the global population has been exposed to and may be chronically infected with T. gondii, although infection rates differ significantly from country to country. Although mild, flu-like symptoms occasionally occur during the first few weeks following exposure, infection with T. gondii generally produces no symptoms in healthy human adults [bold mine].  However, in infants, HIV/AIDS patients, and others with weakened immunity, infection can cause serious and occasionally fatal illness (toxoplasmosis)".

So don't let the infants play around in the litter box.  I HOPE no one needed to have told that...  (LOL!)

And so it's about as serious as "the common cold".  People do die from that...

Lets get rid of rats and mice first.  I don't know anyone who has free-running outdoor pet rats...

And before anyone goes on a crusade against cats, let's remember the Bubonic Plague in Europe.  The Europeans in medieval times had gone witch-hunting.  They killed 100's of thousands (mostly women but also many men) as witches out of utterly stupid superstition.  They also killed untold many of the "witches" familiars - cats.  With the cat population seriously reduced in Europe, there was nothing to stop the spread of the invading rats from Asia who carried the Plague parasites. 

So a third to half of all European died because they were afraid of witches who weren't witches and killed their pet cats who were keeping the rat population under control.  Way to go you idiots, :applause, applause:

You want another plague? Kill the cats again...

Now, I only told you that to tell you this:  

T. gondii is widespread outside.  Its in the soil.  It is everywhere.  Its not just from cats.  My cats don't poop outside and I'm sure T. gondii is in every cubic inch of soil.  Its always been there, we just realized it recently.

Human infection by T. gondii DROPPED to 9% from 14% from 1999 to 2004.  Yet there are more cats.  Does it make sense to blame cats then?  It makes more sense to me to interpret this as that cats are REDUCING the rodent population that carries T. gondii.

In the article, Spokesperson for American Veteranarian Medical Association, Kimberly May, said that "cats are scapegoats".

It might even be less serious than feared.  Dr Torrey, of John Hopkins Medical University, suggested that the idea of serious human problems from T. gondii is "tenuous".

And from that, you come to the conclusion that cats are "dangerous"?   Carl Sagan once pointed out a wonderful but typical logical fallacy years ago.  When we look at Venus, we cant see anything.  Why?  Its covered by clouds.  What makes clouds?  Water vapor, so Venus is a hot wet world.  Well, what is a hot wet world like?  It is swampy.  What grows in swamps?  Ferns.  What eats ferns?  Dinosaurs.  So Venus must have dinosaurs.

Observation:  We can't see ANYTHING on Venus.  Conclusion:  There must be dinosaurs.

So if the number of cats is increasing and the infection rate from T. gondii is decreasing, this is a problem of MORE cats?  Go re-read that and think about it.  And remember the Europeans dying in medieval times from plague because they killed most of the cats...

Bubonic plague is not extinct:  From Wikipedia:  In 1994, a plague outbreak in 5 Indian States caused an estimated 700 infections (including 52 deaths) and triggered a large migration of Indians within India as they tried to avoid the plague.  In 1994 and 2010 cases were reported in Peru. In 2010 a case was reported in Oregon, United States.  In 2012, cases were reported in Oregon and Colorado, including a 7-year-old girl who contracted Bubonic plague while camping in southwest Colorado.  In September 2012 a herdsman in China was reported to have died of the disease after finding a dead marmot and eating it.  

The Plague is not a serious problem because natural rat predators (like cats) keep the population under control (too thin to spread the disease).  But it could become one again.

My evaluation of the specific "cats are making us sick" and the general "cats are killing the birds"  is that the proponents of those arguments need to take a basic college course in logic and another in history.

OK?

A Golden Oldie

We thought this would be a good time to re-post something from a few years ago.  One of our best efforts...

How To Decorate a Christmas Tree, With Cats

1. Put tree in stand, set upright.
2. When cats climb tree and knock it over, set upright again.
3. Decorate tree.
4. When cats knock off lower glass ornaments, sweep floor of glass shards.
5. Move all glass ornaments to top half of tree.
6. When cats knock off soft ornaments from bottom of tree, sweep floor of shredded cloth and fluff.
7. Move all ornaments to top half of tree.
8. When cats climb tree and knock it over again, set upright again.
9. Sweep floor of glass shards.
10. Place a large sheet of plywood on floor, screw tree stand to plywood.
 11. Try to move plywood and tree into place.
 12. Unscrew tree stand when you realize you have screwed the stand through plywood and into the floor.
 13. Build small base under plywood.
 14. Reattach tree stand to plywood.
 15. Since bare plywood looks ugly, cover with a bright sheet.
 16. Leave the room to get presents to put under tree.
 17. When you return, admire the way the cats have pulled off the sheet and have dragged it into the next room.
 18. Staple sheet onto plywood base.
 19. Place presents under tree.
 20. Leave the room to hang wreath on door.
 21. Listen with admiration while cats shred wrapping paper off presents.
 22. Tape gift wrap best as possible.
 23. Spray “Cat-Off” on all presents.
 24. Remove cat from top of tree.
 25. Fashion tree trunk guard of chicken wire after lopping off branches from lower half of tree.
 26. Go looking for extension cord to plug in tree lights.
 27. Upon return, undo chicken wire to free cat that has somehow gotten trapped inside it.
 28. Redo trunk guard and crimp top to prevent cat re-entry.
 29. Watch cats commence to shredding the wrapping paper sprayed with “Cat-Off”.
 30. Build chicken wire enclosure all around tree.
 31. Put away tools.
 32. Upon return, observe cat inside chicken wire enclosure crying for release.
 33. Disassemble chicken wire enclosure.
 34. Remove now-sleeping cat.
 35. Disassemble chicken wire tree trunk guard.
 36. Remove decorations from tree.
 37. Remove tree from stand and toss outside.
 38. Disassemble plywood base.
 39. Put presents in attic.
 40. Visit catless neighbor.
 41. Admire their beautiful tree and take pictures.
 42. Post tree pictures on blog.
 43. Email all your non-visiting relatives pictures of “your tree”.
 44. Especially if they have cats...
 45. Tell VISITING relatives that you “decided to donate the tree to  a school this year”.
 46. Gather up all your cats, give them scritches and treats, and tell them you love them (which is true).

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Wonderful New Year!

Ancient Cat Sunday

AYLA: I saw an dint beleef at first!  But ancient cats were bigger! 

I saw it on the TV an watched REAL close...

And iffen it was on the TV it must be true, and TBT says so too!

I wanna be that cat!!!  I'd eat that thing fer a WEEK!

But this means there are Mo Cats around here than usual!!!  (Ya thought we fergot, dincha?)

World Cat Day 2011

TBT:  For World Cat Appreciation Day, I decided to go back and find some of the most interesting pictures I could of my cats of the blogging era.

First and foremost is Skeeter (1992-2008).  He was a Mighty Hunter and my dearest companion for so many years...

Next, primarily Skeeter's companion, is LC, aka "Little Cow" (1993-2010).  After Skeeter left for the Bridge, she became most attached to me.  She was a quiet cat who never caused any problems.

Here is Ayla in her favorite little hidey-hole when she was younger.  She can still fit in there today!

Iza is here in her favorite pose.  She likes to push off from the wall and pounce a passing cat on her back.  

This is Marley his first week here.  As he has grown, he has gradually brought peace to the household (Ayla and Iza had gotten rather hissy towards each other).  He is a natural leader.

I love and appreciate them all, every one of them so different in personality and habit.

And I do not forget the cats of the pre-blogging past.  (Mean Old) Tinkerbelle, who was a great friend to me for years, but decided that Skeeter and LC were 2 cats too many and went over the fence in 1999 at about age 16, never to be seen again.  Mischief before her, who earned her name well.  Ralph, Sport-Sport, and Ballou (all females) from my apartment days...

I love them all...

TV TIME AGAIN!

AYLA:  Yay!  Its Cats 101 time!  I love watchin this show.

  There are KITTYPLAYS!

And MEEZERS!

There are big white kittens who play red dot just like we do!

And Bigger white cats!

And there are crazy Tuxies who like Sticky Beins!  Yeah, srsly!  Here's PROOF!  An just LOOK at the pawstompers on the one...  I almost had an accident!!!

 

This here is a big one that runs aroun a lot.  I'm lookin at the birdie he is chasin!

Ah, I'm not sure if this one is comin or goin!

FUNCATS!  I am droolin over that sisal rope tower thing...

I think I'm in love...

Yep, nothin better on TV than this...  I can even read "Domestic Shorth".  Don't know that breed...

ACK, no, not the NEEDLE!!!

Oh, he was an actor.  No kitty got shot in this episode!  Whew!!!