Traveling Cat

MEOWS to all my feline friends, and many thanks for your good wishes after my surgery last month!

I am now fully recovered and wait for my fur to grow back. People #1 says that the "asymmetrical look" is back in fashion but I am not so sure. I think I look a little strange.

It's one of those things where you have to see me "in cat" in order to appreciate. This picture doesn't do it justice, but People #2 insists on documenting it here.



Since last month I am one busy cat. I sure travel a lot! I go from the beach to the valley and then back home to the mountains. I stay in the trailer all that time and it is home.

People #2 puts my food bowl on a ledge in the trailer shower so the dog doesn't help himself to my precious snacks.



But now I am in a corporate apartment in LA-LA land.

I am confused.

I do not like corporate apartments. They are big, unfamiliar spaces. They smell funny. There are strange noises in the walls and the ceilings.

I am bored with the sound of the idiot box. We don't have one at home.

But my People have it on almost all the time, so I think that they are bored, too.

My favorite thing to do in corporate apartments is hide under the bedcovers. People #2 is amazed that I can breathe under there. No problem, dude. I can stay there for hours on end.

Sometimes I come out and lounge on the smaller sofa in the livingroom while my People sit on the larger one. We all watch the idiot box and marvel at all the commercials about fitness, training machines, weight loss programs and even reduction surgery that are so popular here in Southern California. It is a very strange place.

The dog is here too. We have minimal contact. I pretty much ignore him, except when he gets too close to my face. Then I either I reach out with my claws or we touch noses. I like being unpredictable!




I hear my People talking about going home on Monday. I look forward to being able to go outside. It has been a long winter indoors!

Waiting for Christmas Dinner!

I get back from the V-E-T several ounces thinner from all the fur that THEY shave off me, and I thank the Cat Goddess that THEY finally take that darn tube out of my neck.

Merry Christmas! The only present I get this year is something THEY take away. Whatever -- it's a blessing in any case. I'm feeling so much better now!

Twice a day, People #1 keeps sticking another tube into the corner of my mouth. At least it doesn't stay there long. It spits out this nasty tasting stuff, but I take it like the mancat that I am.

Except the few times that I manage to spit it out. Ha ha ha!

I'm training my People to give me treats as soon as that tube is out of my mouth.

Now I'm sitting here waiting for my special Christmas dinner. A word starting with an "h" might freeze over first.



People #2 picks me up and puts me on another part of the couch while HE eats off that plate. Oh well.

I'm a little bit annoyed but at least he pets me all the time while he's eating, and I purr in contentment, despite my best efforts to remain aloof.

Happy-happy, All!

A Challenging Week

My People are working my nerves big-time this week.

First they bring out these noisy sticks which they blow on one end and make ugly sounds together. (They call this "recorder music".) Whatever. It's disturbing my naps in any case.

I get out my iPod and listen to Enya's version of the song "How Much is that Kitty in the Window?" with the repeat on until they stop.



These sticks sound like birds trapped in a cage. This gets me all excited. My People don't know if my meowing is because of wanting to eat birds (always!) or whether it's because I want them to stop playing.

Let them figure it out!

The second thing is that they take me to the dreaded V-E-T to fix this little problem with an abscess I have for a while now.

As you cats can imagine, I do not like the V-E-T. Who does?

My People take me out of my comfortable, tastefully-decorated Airstream space, out to the cold car, then down the noisy highway to the animal hospital. I do not like strange places. They look and smell funny and I don't like the garish institutional lighting.

The worst part is when my People leave me with this strange person in a white coat with funny thingie hanging down her neck (which I am NOT in the mood to play with!) and then she pokes and prods me. She does pet me to try to calm me down but I am a monster.

I rule!

The next thing I know I am in a cage, in a little room with a lot of cages with cats and dogs in them, and I've got this tube sticking out of me where the abcess is.

Talk about unsightly. And definitely undignified.

My People finally come to pick me up and I am feeling spacey from the sedative. I do not even meow to greet them. Plus, I am mad.

People #1 sits behind that round thing in the car, twisting and turning it around, while I sit in People #2's lap on the other seat.

I am so glad to be back in my familiar space. Now if I can only get this tube out of my neck...

Here's a couple pics from happier times the day before:

"So, ya wanna take my picture -- AGAIN?"



"Okay, you can post these pictures because they're BEFORE I go to the V-E-T!!"

Bird Hunger

I see birds right outside my window and they look so DELICIOUS!

Plump. Yet sleek. Tasty. Delectable.

YUM!

Is this FUN?

People #1 likes to play with me by tickling my belly sometimes.

Because he is Alpha Guy, I allow this. But I don't always like it. Yes I do. No I don't.

It's tough to decide.

On one hand the belly rubbing feels good but then I get too excited and start kicking. People #2 calls it my "bunny kicks".

That term really helps. (Not.)

So there's People #1 playing with me while People #2 points that metal box at me. How much can a cat take?

It's hard to be dignified during such moments. Above all, we cats must maintain our dignity. We do NOT like being made fools of.

But yet...I like to play and the rubbing does feel good. No it doesn't. Yes it does.

Please visit my brand-new kitty friends!

Kat Mortensen, one of my favorite poets and bloggers, has a wonderful brand-new kitty blog to showcase her feline family.

Please check it out! Have the honor of posting comments on the blog on their very first day!

4 Cats Ruffin' It!

If you're so inclined, check out Kat's other blogs on her profile page. She is delightful reading.

Thanks.

Paws 'n Claws,
Rupert

My New Scratching Post!

I wake up early this morning and my paws itch.

My claws are getting long and dull and I need to sharpen them!

This is done by scratching on something. When I'm in The Woods, there's lots of various kinds of old boards and logs to whale away on. When I'm indoors at home, I have a scratching thing made out of cardboard hung on the wall of the Music Room.

But my choices are rather limited in this small silver bullet. I can scratch on the carpet, but it's too close to where my People sit in front of their little black boxes at the desk. They might get mad.

In fact, I can count on that.

Anyway I gotta do something -- I'm going crazy here!

Maybe I should scratch on the sofa when my People are asleep, when it's folded out into a bed.

What a GRRREAT idea!

So I do it really early this morning. Scratch-scratch-scratch-scraaa....

"Stop that, Rupert!" both People scold me. Darn, I think they are asleep, but I'm wrong.

Their ears are unusually sharp whenever I do something they don't like. It never fails. I can't get away with squat!

My People leave me alone (again!) today and then they come back with a box with a picture of a kitty and scratching board on it. I suddenly catch a whiff of catnip and I am *ON* this thing like white on rice!

OH yeah. I love catnip. Who doesn't?

People #1 is the handyman of the family. I think he's getting ready to do something. He's looking at this blank wall...




He takes out that yellow thing which buzzes like an angry bee and starts making holes in the wall by the door with it.




He opens the box and takes stuff out, and I smell the catnip even stronger now. He sets one of the things by the door and I casually jump off the couch to investigate. Don't pay any attention to me!

I sniff from the bottom and work my way up. It's a good technique. Try it sometime.







The buzzing is louder now and I don't like the sound.





So I jump back up on the couch and do my most handsome poses, again very casually of course.





I decide to scratch quietly and ever-so-subtly on the couch one last time. Maybe They won't notice me. Ooops! Darn.





People #2 tells me to stop scratching on the couch; he says that I'm going to get something much better to scratch on very, very soon now.

Then People #1 puts down that yellow buzzing bee thing and comes toward me with a plastic bag. Suddenly the smell of catnip grows MUCH STRONGER!





People #1 takes away the bag of catnip way too soon. Bring it back, will you?

He spreads some of the herb on the cardboard.





He attaches it to the wall. Okay, now it's time to jump off the couch and check this out up close and personal!





"Ringo, you stay back! Give a cat some space!"





Here's a short video of my new scratching experience. My People are happy, and more importantly, *I* am happy!!