Skye

She ate a whole spider yesterday. All of the kitties love the laser pointer. Skye couldn't finish her wet food today, but Priscilla then Neko gladly stepped in to do the job. I need to get a new digital camera so, above all else, I can take stunning pictures of all the cats ;).

Skye the little beggar

I got home from school today and snapped open a can of pop-top soup. Skye was right beneath my feet; crying at the sound. She needs a Paddington getup...tattered hat, patchy jacket, etc. Neko continues to rebuff Patch's attempts at friendliness. Patch is co-dependent...I can't walk down the street without him following me and letting out little honk-meows (his trademark). Tianni is as viable as ever; determined to get into my room every moment though I've been trying to keep all the kitties out until the remnants of Frosti's spray have faded (though we washed everything). Priscilla's gaining weight now since she has an obession with cheese....and she needs it :).

Cheese

Skye and Priscilla won't leave mum alone when she's eating cheese. A neighbor says Neko looks like a raccoon when he walks on the fence, so it has been confirmed by outside opinion; we knew he was part raccoon since the day he came home from the Marina.

Where do I begin?

Here is Tianni in characteristic ink blot/blob mode. Tonight, Skye was smelling something on the ground about a third of the way into the street...yes, she likes to keep her mommies on their toes! Neko's nose has healed from a nasty infection. It was very swollen, then one day it began to drain and return to its normal size. Frosti did his business on my bed recently. At first, we didn't know which of the kitties had done the deed. When I laid down to rest, my pillow smelled, well, fermented. I thought it simply needed washing until I reached over to feel my sheets, and they were damp. Whewwwwwww! The next day, mom caught Frosti spraying the chair in the garage. Then she asked me if I thought there was anywhere else in my room he might have went. I thought for a moment and realized he had been climbing around in my closet and over a pile of folded blankets only a week or so earlier. I went to check, and yes, they'd been "marked." I recalled that day having thought there was a whiff of kitty pee in the air....

Today, mom found a pillow with a big yellow stain. She barely had to show me and I could smell Frosti's brew. Poor wittle Fwosti! Now he has to stay outside. He wasn't much of an indoor cat to begin with and has never let us pet him :(. Now, he spends his afternoons on the patio and still sleeps with his brother and sister.

These days, Neko curls up into a tight ball while sleeping. He looks like a tiger shrimp straight from the skillet!

Kitty capers!

When I got out of the shower the other day, Neko was waiting on the hamper just outside the door. He peered in at me inquisitively, impatiently. I left the bathroom and he went in hurriedly. He wanted to drink up the droplets of human-essence-infused bathwater left in the tub. I came into my room and, a short time later, heard something fall. It was a few empty bottles of shampoo, and it spooked Neko such that he came running out! Poor wittle man!!

Picked a few berries that same day, then came into the house through the back screen door. It takes a while to close completely. I stood there talking to my mom, who was still out in the patio, when I suddenly saw a paw desperately trying to prevent the door from closing. Priscilla!

Frosty was missing for nearly two days. After mom called for him, she heard meowing coming from the neighbor's shed next door. Sure enough, he was trapped inside...he's gotten himself into this predicament before. Our ninety-one year old neighbor is not fond of cats, so mom has devised a rescue scheme to retrieve Frosty whenever this happens. She accomplished her mission successfully once again today :D!

Neko has spoiled fish breath. Tianni looks more and more like an old lady each day. Patch now has the nickname "Patchie Honey Sweetie!"

Patch's puffy paw and....

Yesterday, Patch got stung by a bee on his right paw :(! Mom tried to get him thereafter, but he scampered away to the next door neighbor's yard! He came into the house a short time later and took a nap. He appeared ok, but mom and I took a look at his puffy paw just in case. We couldn't find a stinger. He's recovering quite well, and was back to his normal self today...poor wittle Patchie!!

Frosty is the daredevil. Once when Tianni was growling at him and trying to get away, he boldy followed her into the hallway, then got a quick swat on his tender little spotted nose :(! He tried this with Neko recently on the sidewalk, but it resulted in Neek putting up his dukes for a serious duel. Mom had to separate them before anything happened!

Priscilla is spending more time in the house :). She presently has no matts in her fur, thanks to mom's natural grooming technique which was successful over a period of weeks. I pet her and praise her for being such a good hunter!

Tianni is beginning to look like an end table with skinny, balding legs and rotund abdomen :). Sweet as ever, but just as sinister if she wants to be...as always...;)...seems she is the sweetest yet the meanest of all the kitties!

Saturday

Today, Skye slept all day since she stayed out all night. When I got home from work, Priscilla begged me to let her in, so I did. A short time later my sis, mom and I were eating dinner in the living room when we heard a strange crackling noise coming from the kitchen. It was Priscilla tearing into a garbage bag hanging from the cupboard by the sink. She must be taking tips from the local raccoons :).

Poor Neko was minding his own business, just getting his little-big self a bite to eat, while Tianni glared at him from the chair above his dish. For no reason, she growled and swatted at him! Neko just backed away and looked at her; dumbfounded. Mom sometimes calls her the "old bag" and this is why. She either gets grumpy around the younger cats in the household or plays with them and acts like a kitten herself. We also call her the "nag," because she'll often follow us around with a whiny meow, even if she's not hungry. Tianni has issues...maybe psychological damage from when she was abandoned by her previous owners :(. We've given her all the love and comfort we possibly can over the years, but...when she grooms herself, she can be seen biting/pulling tufts of fur from her forearms which are patchy and bald!

Skye is the beggar of the bunch. The instant you sit down with a bowl of anything, or are holding something in the kitchen or cooking, she's right there. She'll crawl up to you once you sit down and sniff the air obsessively. The other cats are interested, but not nearly as forward as she! Could just picture her with a little beggar's coat and hat. Hehe...lil' Hobo Skye :). Last night, in my mom's dimly lit room, it could be seen that her fur really does shimmer as if silver, especially on her nose and paws/arms. One afternoon some time back, I made a vegetable stew with mock chicken broth. Turned out rather tasty, must say...finished a bowl and I went to another room for a couple minutes. Came back to find Skye with her paws on the table, face in the bowl and ears back as she was trying to get every last drop :D!

Frosty is the leader and the outlaw of the three littermates, the one who, to this day, will not let anyone pet him. He kind of looks out for the other two; always has. Each night before bed, he'll do his rounds: into the living room cautiously, the hallway and then our bedrooms...after which he'll retire, but only after his survey of the house. During the day, he naps on Jimi's dog bed with a "my job is hard, I need rest," look :).

Oddly, Jimi didn't bark until days after he came to live at our house. When upset over firecrackers and other loud noises, he'll shift from paw to paw nervously and wag his tail, letting out a whine alternating with a deep moan. He looks like he is getting ready for takeoff and sounds like one of the Bee Gees! One fourth of July, he napped in the garage. Mom put the radio on for him to muffle the fireworks...a calming smooth soul and jazz station. While watching Jimi sleep, a Lionel Ritchie song came on; the one that goes, "I'm eeeeasy...whoah, whoah...easy like Sunday mornin'!"

One time, Jimi was dozing on the kitchen floor while my mom and I were making dinner. My brother Dan came into the room and started recounting some misfortune he'd encountered that day. All of the sudden, Jimi let out a long, deep, irritated sigh....

Thursday tidbits

Priscilla's latest method to attempt getting into the house through the back door was to lock both paws/claws into the screen and pull it open. See, she knows the door is old, and if you open it just so much, it will close slowly until it snaps shut, giving her just enough time to squeeze in. I unhooked her paws gently from the door, but came back later to see her working on a hole at the bottom of the screen. Determined genius!

Jimi, the (also psychotic) husky, has been known for his escape artistry....eating holes in fences, even moving a stack of bricks, one by one, that were against an old fence-door at our old house. This summer, our blackberry bush is bursting with fruition. I've been out to pick the berries about every other day. Sometimes there are a few that are so ripe they come apart in my fingertips before I have the chance to completely pick them, so I let them fall onto the ground. Jimi has taken to sleeping by the fence and under the overhang of vines. Mom came out one day to see he had some pink and purple spots all over. She asked him, "What's with you?" and suddenly realized he had been laying in the rotten berries. Now we call him the clown :).

As I type this post, Patch is teasing Tianni in the living room. He likes to stalk her then plop down next to her; tilting his head and trying to act innocent as his tail flops up & down. Mom has composed a jingle for him. It goes: "Patch-a-rini-elli-istic, the only elli-istic cat there is!"

Realized today yet again as I was petting Tianni that she has eyelashes. Maybe they are a bit longer than what I usually see on a cat. If I'm laying on the bed and she comes into the room, she'll hop over and curl up under my arm. She loves underarms, and I have to constantly keep her from butting her head into them :).

Sometimes we like to wait awhile with food while Skye starts meowing enthusiastically. She has such a sweet little meow and we like to hear it!

Neko's favorite place is on the hamper these days. If I open my room, though, he'll dart right in. He'll start nursing on the blanket as I talk to him about memories of when he was "just a little bun!" He grew up on my bed pretty much. As I did my chemistry homework, he'd attack the calculator and chew on the corners of my papers.

Frosty still won't let us pet him these days but, gradually, his once suspicious stare has softened into a look of conditional trust. It seems to say, "I know now you won't force pet me, you'll just let me be, so here I'll stay!"

Time for me to hit the sack. I may get a full night's sleep since Neko is not here tonight. He snores so loudly that, even with earplugs, I can't get shuteye! On my days off I let him wake me up whenever he wants, but on some nights, I just like to get sleep, hehe...sometimes he doesn't want to come in at night, but other times he'll sleep on my brother's bed or even the back of the living room couch. Thus, he has options :). Imagine if I came to work, telling them I was tired because my cat kept me up with his snoring, lol!

Patch reminds mom of another adoptee cat we had that passed away when we lived at our previous house, "Betsy." How old she was, no one really knew. Our landlord said she'd been there since two other renters. So now Patch has the nickname "Betsy face :)." It's his green eyes that are very reminiscent of hers :D....

Introducing....

Welcome! This blog will follow the never-ending moment-to-moment household drama surrounding our five cats: Tianni, Priscilla, Neko, Skye, Patch and Frosty, as they interact with us and our husky, Jimi. Each cat deserves his/her own introduction. You will get to know them even better with time, but for now:

Tianni:

Approximately 8 years of age. Full-black female. She was a stray we adopted after our next door neighbors moved and left her behind with another kitty, our boy Prince, who is now deceased :(. He was quite old when we got him...rest in peace, "kitty cop!" Nightwatchman and yard guard, he patrolled the yard for foreign cats and people 'til the day he passed. Tianni has many names. "Yanni, Yannifiable, Certifiable, Yannistic, Yanniful...." you get the idea, and the list goes on :D. Matriarch of our Page cat clan. She spends most of her time in the house, only leaving to use the ladies' room. Pleasingly plump; she has a sack of fat underneath that is only visible when she is standing or walking; this we call her "purse." She'll move like a possum around younger cats, hoping to go unnoticed. Patch and Frosty like to tease her. Will suddenly start playing with toys like a kitten on occasion. Reacts to music...especially techno and Yngwie Malmsteen...will put her in weird moods. Sweet and exquisite yet quick on the draw/paw if she is the slightest bit irritated! When you enter the room she will let out a quick meow, this is why we call her the "sensor." Tianni is a bit of a control freak. When you lie down to take a nap, she wants out of the room; when you are busy at the computer she will want in, then out again in 20 seconds once you get comfortable. She has been known to meow by a door for at least an hour if she wants in. Her primary spot is on the end of my mom's bed, but will go out to sleep under trees occasionally. Does not like to be petted on her lower back; insists on being petted from her neck to midback ;)...or else!

Priscilla:

A pretty long-haired tortoiseshell who we also adopted when a neighbor left her behind. Her name used to be "Menace." Very sweet; not tempermental like Tianni and Neko; all in all just a good-natured beauty! She is psycho, however. Many a time she has outwitted us; dashing past our feet and finding a hiding place in the house, not to be discovered 'til much later. She is our star hunter. Something to marvel at; brought a gopher in weeks back. Leaves her quarry for us on the porch. The best at plotting to get into the house whenever my mom (aka Nana) doesn't want her in yet. She knows the exact moment anything, human or small animal, is taking that slight pause for thought. I could just picture her waiting for an hour near that gopher hole; calculating her deadly strike :).

Neko:

The baby of the bunch until Patch, Frosty and Skye joined us a year ago. He was a wee little guy when found at the Marina park all alone on the grass; his ears slightly curved as he was still formative. He acts quite different from the other cats and has a strange kind of humanity about him as he meows; attempting to "talk." Appears to be at least part raccoon with his thick ringlet tail and the way he lumbers low to the ground. Muscular all over. Distinct white cheeks on his face and socks. I frequently call him my "Neek." At times he attempts communication by facial expressions it seems. My brother and a friend found him just before people walked by with two pit bulls. Mom still recalls the night they brought him to the door; he hissed as she stared down at him. We bottle fed him with enriched kitten formula. We've a hunch that the L-arginine in it acted as a kind of growth steroid. The "battle of the bottle," as we called it, began everytime we fed him, for he would actually attack the bottle when the milk didn't flow fast enough. Sparred with Hello Kitty as he grew, and Taz of Looney Tunes (he went through two Taz...once the other one was torn up, mom won another one for him on eBay :). His penchant for being a "vewy vewy sweet wittle man" then seizing your arm is infamous. He won't draw blood but nearly so :)...after which he'll go right back to being a sweetheart. So "vewy, vewy" loveable but always on the lookout for a fight. Likes to come into the house just before bedtime, nap on my bed, then get us up at five AM to let him out...or have fun with us and act indecisive as we wait for him, bleary-eyed! Likes to drink the droplets of human essence-infused bathwater left in the tub. Snores loudly and grunts often. Has earned the wrath of the local mockingbirds, who regularly dive at him and nag him in the backyard :). If the kittens are in the house, he'll jump onto the hamper to get away from them, meowing nervously, yet seek out big cats to fight with when outside....

Patch:

Of the three one-year-old littermates, the most daring and eccentric. They were found attempting to cross a busy street one night, but my brother rescued and brought them home...we couldn't resist...just as with Neko ;)! White with tabby patches all over. Will eat anything...have to keep a constant eye on him. If alone in a room for more than 5 minutes, he'll start meowing as if extremely lonely. Likes to just sniff your finger most of the time and not let you pet him; will jump off a chair and run away from you, then let you pet him on the next chair. He squints often so I call him "disaffected Patch." Cries loudly if alone for ten minutes or more. He knows mommy doesn't want him outside; when on the front lawn he'll let you pet him, until you try to pick him up, at which he'll run away. Long and lanky!

Skye:

The second of the three babies. We call her a fairy kitty because of her almost silver gray coat and pretty green eyes. She is very shy, so we mostly call her "shy." Very elusive but a sweetie...will run from you until you catch her, then start purring loudly as you pet her...can't make up her mind :). She once worried mommy so much when she disappeared for five hours, later to be found sleeping under a rocking chair. When she meows, it sounds like the air being let out of a semi-inflated balloon very slowly. Loves to eat cheese :).

Frosty:

The outlaw of the three...will not let us pet him! Bit my brother the night he rescued them, earning him the nickname "Frostbite!" Has a silky jet black coat, white socks and front paws that look like he reluctantly dipped his toes in white paint :). He's blacker than Tianni, who by now has been sun-bleached somewhat. "Fwosty!" is what I sing everytime I pass him sleeping on Jimi's dog bed in the living room, which he has claimed all for himself :D...sees Tianni as a kind of surrogate mom, no doubt because she's the only black cat. His name Frosty goes with his standoffish demeanor as well as his appearance :).

So, there's all the introductions! Next time, I'll begin the day-to-day drama!