Cat Envy

Our dog Itchy has developed some rather strange habits since Pumpkin – the Ninja Kitty joined the family.  I can only assume that Itchy is suffering from Cat Envy.

How Do You Know When Your Dog Has Cat Envy?

The Symptoms:

1.  The Canine suddenly loses interest in her big comfy dog bed and invades the kitten’s sleeping pillow (even though it’s too small) – befouling it with dog hair in an attempt to drive kitty from it’s sleeping place.

2.   Dog suddenly loses appetite for all things dog food related.  Would rather down a bag of cat food instead.  (Note to owner:  Feed animals in separate rooms insuring that the kitty doesn’t starve.)

3.  When your large Lab pretends to be an itty bitty wee thing and curl up in your lap.  You know for sure it is suffering from Cat Envy.

The Cure:

1.  Pay attention to the dog as well, otherwise it may start meowing.

cOMpuTeR MalFunCTioN

Help! My laptop has been hijacked. By a furry Ninja.

At any given moment a little streak of orange lightning zips onto my lap and then steals the keypad right out from under my hands.

Apparently the tapping of keys denotes playtime to Pumpkin.

He has attacked my typing hands no less than four times today.

Maybe I should just give up trying so hard to post this story. See how he lurks as I try to edit photos of the Pouncer.

Okay, I give up. Pumpkin – have the computer.

Wait, what did the silly fur ball do now?

The solution is for Pumpkin to find another toy or…

Even better I should close this electronic contraption and play with the wee one. That and clean my computer screen. I didn’t realize it was so dirty.

So today I’m Thankful that Pumpkin – the Furry Ninja reminded me that petting a playful kitten brings way more smiles than checking the weather on the computer. It also reminded me that I need to be more receptive in playing with my other, non-furry children instead of checking to see who got voted off The Biggest Loser or DWTS. Playtime’s a coming kids, and you too, Pumpkin.

The Fuzzy Pumpkin

Well Halloween has come and gone and I’m sure a lot of those carved pumpkins have started growing fuzz or some moldy form or another.  We’ve a totally different type of pumpkin fuzz growing in our home.

It came from some of our angel benefactors that helped contribute to our sanity over the past few months.

Meet the newest member of the herd.

Introducing ‘Pumpkin’, our fuzzy new kitty.

Pumpkin has wrapped his little furry body around all of our heart strings very quickly.

 

Even Itchy is enamored.  I’m sure Itchy is still in shock that Pumpkin doesn’t hiss and swat like our last cat Spo0ky did.   And as an added bonus - their furry coats kind of match.

Pumpkin even allows Hope to carry him about like a rag doll without a bawl or bite. 

Even the boys have to take turns cuddling the little fur-ball.

 

Pumpkin’s a scooter too.  He has a lightening quick run which causes him to do some major slipping and sliding into walls.  I’m sure he will get used to our hardwood floors soon.   But it is quite comical to see him skating across the floor.

He as been dubbed ‘Pumpkin the Ninja Cat’, for his ability to scale walls, furniture and even water (we did try to bath him).  His super stealth reflexes were not diminished even after having his little talons clipped.    But he uses those reflexes only for good (our merriment).  I’m sure we will have to figure out how to teach him that scaling furniture may not be in his best interest when he is older and less adorable.

This year – no Halloween theme.  Even more sadly, I didn’t get around to repurposing costumes like I usually do.  I did spend less than $100 on costumes.  But sadly I did buy the girls theirs from mass marketed, poor quality will be guaranteed to rip apart after two wearings, party stores. Never again.  Overpriced pieces of junk.   I would have loved to have made them like in years past.  But it wasn’t to be this year.  Princess went as Silvermist the Fairy,  Lea was a Candy Corn Witch and Hope was Sleeping Beauty.

They were escorted around town Trick or Treating by a Beardless Prince Erik.  And that little Santa belly was really a fanny pack holding all valuables and a few extra treats.

 

Sadly I didn’t monitor the candy intake and by the end of the night the girls were in desperate need of a sugar de-tox.

The boys costumes were less imaginative and really simply.  Orange shirts that read, ‘My Tee-shirt beats your costume anytime’.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  Bring on my Thankful month.

Today.  I’m thankful Halloween is over.  Whew!

Spookys Sunset

These sites will never been the same in our home again. The favorite shelf on which to perch…

The couch corner…

The window ledge.

Maybe I’ll see shadows out of the corner of my eye and think she’s still there. Maybe her spirit always will be if not that then her memories.

Today Spooky bid farewell to our family. She’s been quite sick for the last couple of months and I think because of her illness she spent more and more time away from our family. I would make appointments to take her to the vet only to not be able to find her when it came time to go. I could see her getting weaker and weaker and after a couple of days of not seeing her and thinking she had already gone I was really surprised to see her come home last night. In my heart I knew it was her coming home to say good-bye. She wouldn’t even eat her food and only had a little water. Evo-man kept her company through the night by sleeping on the floor downstairs so she wouldn't feel the need to climb the stairs.

This morning I panicked because I couldn’t find her again and spent a good ½ hour looking in her favorite closet corners and under beds. I finally found her outside underneath a bush in my heritage garden. She was still with us but barely. So I rushed her to the vet. Spooky spent the day going through various tests and exams and by evening we knew she was in end stages of kidney failure and it wouldn’t be long. So we choose to say good-bye to her and give her peace.

Evo-man wanted to be with me when we bid farewell. Of all the kids he is the one who connected the most with her. In fact we got Spooky when he was a baby right before we moved to our Northwest home. You can kind of say that both Spooky and Evo-man grew up together.

Spooky was one in a million and the only cat that Prince Erik could have ever dealt with. She had an independent streak a mile wide and only got friendly and cuddly with people on her terms. If she wasn’t in the mood, no matter how much coaxing, she wasn’t interested. She was the smartest cat on the planet and would put our dog Itchy in her place in a second, know to give Prince Erik a wide berth, and could even understand and tolerate wild and crazy kids. Yet Evo-man had a special talent with Spooky and he alone could consistently cuddle her.

Spooky wasn’t a social animal. The only other cats she ever tolerated were her own kittens. We had her fixed after she had some but we were glad she had the experience because she became a much more people tolerant cat once she became a mother.

She was a great mouser too and we saw no sign of the rodents until the last few months when her step slowed. But she never looked a day over a year because she had such a tiny frame.
Every bit the Black Cat was Spooky, with her super glossy black coat and piercing yellow eyes. She could scare the ba-geebers out of you with her uncanny stare if you didn’t know her. My sister Sassy thought she was possessed. I think she just liked to tease. We knew Spooky well and loved all her quirks and personality traits. She was absolutley the perfect pet for our herd.

This evening we had a small pet funeral for our furry friend. Evo-man wanted her buried in the hole he had been digging in the back yard for the last few months. Good and deep. T-rev let her be buried in his coveted Play station 2 box. Abner helped the girls collect rocks for her grave and we even included some of the rocks from the farm where she was born. I blubbered, sobbed, unintentionally made funny faces and went through a million tissues right along with all the kids. At sunset with tears streaming down our faces we bid farewell to our most beloved family pet ever and thanked Heavenly Father for the experience of getting to know her.

Farewell Spooky, we will love and miss you!