It would seem that I have a VERY musical cat. Teeny enjoys what can only be described as Percussion instruments in the Oh dark thirty realm of night.Sometime between 3-5 AM she has taken up the art of the litter box scratch. Now during the day, she is very silent with this one, but in the wee hours of the morning, must be her performance time. Not the normal scratch and run is she. Oh, no. Teeny must scratch the walls as loudly as possible, making the sound echo not only in the box where she is but also in the bathroom. When shooed out of it, she waits, then comes back about a minute later. But, I have developed a way to alleviate this a bit. Each night she is no longer allowed in the bedroom. Her litter box is placed outside the room as well with a crate blocking my door so she can’t scratch it instead. Fortunately for me, she has not added the Climb and Scratch technique to her percussive talents.
Kitten Wars the Musical Edition 8/28/14
28 Aug 2014 Leave a comment
in journal, Kitten Wars, reflections Tags: Cats, humor, kittens, litter box, music, night, scratch
Kitten Wars 8/24/14
24 Aug 2014 Leave a comment
in journal, Kitten Wars Tags: Cats, fun, humor, journal, kittens, mystery
I learned something very important in the cat world today. A lone folded towel in the middle of the dining room table is fight worthy for queen of the table rights. Cleo who usually never jumps on the table saw the towel from the couch and bounced over to it. Teeny who knew it was there but had basically ignored it, saw Cleo jumping to the table and instantly went to investigate. Much silent tussling and cat wrestling occurred until Cleo won the towel. Mind you they were on top of the towel during the entire event and not once did it come unfolded! Another of the cat mysteries, I’m sure. After all, it wouldn’t make a very good bed unfolded!
A Little Cat’s Music Kitten Wars at Peace time 8/23/14
23 Aug 2014 Leave a comment
in journal, Kitten Wars, reflections Tags: Cats, companionship, dogs, humor, kitten wars, love, Phantom of the Opera, relationships, singing, song, Webber
While writing “Songbird” I listened to “Phantom of the Opera” and other musicals that Andrew Lloyd Webber composed to get into the mood. While I frequently listen to all sorts of music, my cats usually ignore me and the computer. Until I put on Webber, overall, my computer was generally left alone, too. Little did I know that “Phantom” must be Teeny’s favorite music. I was singing along with “Think of Me” while I was composing the story on the keyboard when she leaped into my lap. Now most cat owners will think nothing of this, but keep in mind that Teeny is an affectionate in her own time kinda lady. She will talk to you, tell you she’s hungry, and knead on your shoulders on the couch, but getting into your lap is not her favorite thing. When she wants affection, she will call to you for you to come over to where ever she is poised ready for her scritch. SO for her to leap into my lap was very unusual.
Once in my lap, she started purring loudly, head bumping me, and kneading my legs as if she couldn’t decide which was the most important thing to do. At this point, I did a very silly thing. I STOPPED singing. Her head popped up. She put her face up to mine and took her paw to my lips where she proceeded to try to open them as if by that I would start singing once more. So, taking her clue, I started singing again. Once more the purring, the kneading, and the head bumping began. When the you tube vid was over, Teeny stared at the computer screen and very ladylike put her paw on the screen, then turned back to me with a look of “Make it happen! It can’t be over” So, I ran that video and sang for her that day. Can’t tell you how many times I sang just for my cat, but finally she dropped down off my lap. Supremely happy with herself, she walked over to Buddy, who was sleeping, and half-heartedly hissed at him telling him how stupid he was for sleeping while she and I had been communing.
Kitten Wars 8/17/14
17 Aug 2014 Leave a comment
in journal, Kitten Wars Tags: cat, Cats, determination, fun, journal, kitten wars, teeny
Sometimes this human is just a slow learner, evidently. Under the mistaken notion that if I left a costuming project on the table that the cats would leave it alone, I did just that. Teeny decided to educate me on that idea by making it her new “kitty nest”. Coated in fresh long haired cat fur, I decided that the linen had to be washed before I could return to my project. I’m guessing that was the wrong idea. As I began gathering up 10+ yards of fabric for the washer, Teeny hopped up on the table and plopped down in the middle of the fabric daring me to move it. Until this point, Teeny has been fluent in human and English, but when I told her “down” and “off the fabric” she decided that she no longer understood those words and glared at me. When I moved my hands in to pick up the fabric and pull it, to quietly physically urge her off, she placed her paw on my hand and narrowed her eyes. We spoke about this one cat to human and human to cat. Being the determined human that I am, I finally picked her up and put her back on the floor then swiftly grabbed up a few yards before she bounced back onto the table where we began again. This time I didn’t bother with telling her “Off”, I just picked her up and put her on the floor. Nonchalantly she turned her head over her shoulder and did an annoyed but non-threatening hiss at me before raising her royal head as high as it could go with her tail straight up as she walked out of the room. Human:1, Cat:0. I’m sure she gets points for nerve and presentation.
Kitten Wars 8/3/14
03 Aug 2014 Leave a comment
in journal, Kitten Wars Tags: Cats, dogs, early morning, heat, journal, kitten wars, waking up
Teeny is in heat. Any cat lover out there knows that each female cat has her own version of heat. While Cleo tells you about hers vocally and loudly in the middle of the night, Teeny is fairly quiet with purrrupping and bumping galore. While she is very receptive to human interactions (PET ME NOW, HUMAN) as she bumps her head into us, she is NOT receptive to dog interactions what-so-ever.
Poor Buddy was sound asleep on his bed this morning when Teeny went to bump into me. She was bumping my legs so forcefully and constantly that I was tripping over her. Evidently, she wasn’t looking where she was bumping and when I stepped by Buddy, she bumped him instead of me. In utter shock that the dog made contact with THE CAT, Teeny bounced back and hissed fairly loudly at him waking him up. As he opened his eyes very slowly from his deep slumber, Buddy got an eye full of angry cat telling him just how wrong he was for letting her bump into him.
In true dog fashion, Buddy lifted his head, looked at me, then put it back on his bed, covering it with his paws as Teeny flounced away. Its hard being the only male pet in this house sometimes and a dog at that.
Kitten Wars 7/26/14
26 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in Kitten Wars Tags: attitude, Cats, dogs, humor, journal, slice of life

Well, Cleo is definitely picking up more catlike attitude now that she is 9 months old. At 6 AM when Buddy was comatose and the rest of the house was, too, Cleo decided to voice her opinion on kitty food crumbs in her dish. I keep all kitty food and water on a counter in the bathrooms so that Buddy does not put the NOSE of destruction and doom into their food and gobble it all up. So at oh dark, oh my goodness it is NOT time to wake up yet summer morning, I heard something ceramic hit the floor hard then ring it a few more times for good luck. Disoriented, I jumped out of bed and dashed around the house trying to figure out where it came from. Did I mention disoriented? Let’s make that absolutely clueless and stumbling, bumping into things and finding Teeny, Alex, and Buddy still mostly asleep, in Buddy’s case so soundly asleep I tripped over him. I find nothing out of place. Then I make it back to my bedroom only to see Cleo walking with her head held high and her tail straight up as she saunters out of my bathroom. Now, Cleo is only about 3 pounds of kitty, so not much she can do, right? Well, upon entering my bathroom I found cat food crumbs scattered all over the floor with her food dish in the middle of it all. Somehow my kitty dragged, pushed, shoved her dish to the edge of the counter along with her food dish mat, then dumped it to the ground. Turning, I called her name in suspicion. She deigned to turn her head to me then promptly sat down next to Buddy to clean herself. Guess that was one more lesson in how to train a human.
A Kitty’s Life
22 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in Kitten Wars Tags: Cats, dogs, humor, plants

This morning Teeny and Cleo both decided that they needed to verify that I was watering their plants just right. So they took turns at the window watching me pour water into the herb planters secretly hoping that I was growing fresh catnip, I’m sure. Buddy just laid behind them with his ears back in his confused look wondering what all the fuss was over a bunch of green stuff on the porch. As I came back inside, both cats scattered with tails held high before looking over their shoulders to ensure I was not about to water them …. next.
Cleo in the morning telling me its time to wake up!
20 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in Kitten Wars Tags: Cats, kittens, love, morning
Cleo and her socks
17 Jul 2014 Leave a comment
in Kitten Wars Tags: Cats, humor

Cleo claiming her socks. She likes to steal one of each pair and hide them all over the apartment. This day I was hunting them down and found a treasure trove of single socks beneath the couch. She quickly jumped up onto the couch and claimed them all. Sometimes I think she is a dragon at heart with her horde of socks.
Kitten Wars 7/16/14
16 Jul 2014 4 Comments
in Kitten Wars Tags: Cats, dogs
This morning Cleo decided that it wasn’t good enough to just sit in the middle of Buddy’s bed, she must now lie down on his favorite carpet, too. So while he was eating she trotted her petite kitty self into the living room, lay down in the middle of the carpet and began cleaning herself. When Buddy came in, he stopped and stared at her as she ignored him in her preening. Evidently, the dog has had enough of the kitty taking his favorite places to lie down! He walked over and gently nudged her OFF his carpet. Cleo looked back with a very shocked expression then walked off, tail held high. The carpet belongs to the dog!

Recent Comments