Penn & Teller?

I think that I gave my kittens the wrong names. I should have named them Penn & Teller. From almost the beginning Arwen has been very quiet. The only time I ever hear her voice is when she is in her carrier going to the vet or the time she was trapped between the my storm door and the door to my kitchen even then she is not very vocal. Smokey on the other hand is vocal again almost from the time I brought her home I hear her if she suddenly notices that she is alone in a room she makes just enough noise to say hey I here you know or when I am getting ready to put the food dishes down. Don't get me wrong it is not that she is very loud or anything it is just that she makes herself known.

Shelter to close for a week

The local MSPCA shelter, where Smokey came from, will be close for a week for accepting cats see this article for details. They want to break the cycle of respiratory illness that is going around the shelter. This only affects the cat pavilion and not the dog area. Hopefully all will go well during this time.

Modesty or not

Smokey does not have any modesty at all. The pat two nights as I was scooping the litter box Smokey just walks right into the box and pees. So much for being shy. I notice long ago that they often go right after the box was scooped but this new going while the scooping is going on.

What Da Bird

I bought the Da Bird Interactive toy for Arwen and Smokey this weekend. Talk about going wild. They went wild for the thing jumping, running somersaulting it bring about the hunting instinct like nothing else I have seen. In fact I already had to order replacement feathers for it. Usually if a toy broke the third time I would use it I would say that it is not worth it but in this case it really is. I have to get used to handling it not allow them to get a good grip on it. It broke when Smokey went in for the kill and was taking her prize to a safe place. She tried to run off with it while I held firmly on the pole allowing the feathers to be ripped out. Note that I said ripped out. They didn't simply fall out they were pulled with all of Smokey's power. Definitely a good exercise toy.

Human Hot Water Bottle

This morning I felt I was simply a human hat water bottle. We have been having extreme cold with lows below zero. As a result the house is colder than normal. When I woke up this morning I had both kittens sleeping on top of me. I am assuming that they were using me source of heat.

I will most likely be spending some quality time with them this weekend. We have a blizzard in the forecast for beginning this afternoon in to tomorrow. As a result I will most likely not be venturing out too far. Though they are indoor kitties I think I will need to show them how to shovel the driveway. After all they get free room and board.

Trampoline

I received a package in the mail the other day and both kittens showed great interest in the box that came. The sides had enough spring to it that they would run across the room and bounce off of it. They also had fun playing hide-n-seek with the box. So often it is the free things that make the best toys.

Sad Story

I know the fire chief of a nearby town and this weekend they got a call for a house fire. The man had 30 cats of which 27 died from smoke inhalation. The chief aid the house was surprisingly clean despite the number of cats living there. (The man seemed to really care for the cats which is unusual in a case of that many cats living under one roof.) The man heard the cats making a lot of noise but continued whatever he was doing in the basement. Little did he know that the house was on fire and he was trapped in the basement. He used his cell phone to report the fire and was rescued by the firefighters. You can say that the cats saved him because it was the noise thy were making that got him attempt to go upstairs. The fire department had the gruesome task of removing the bodies.

Timber

Well Smokey really did it this time. I was laying on the couch yesterday watching TV when Smokey began running around the house like crazy. This is a normal and regular occurrence so I thought nothing of it. All of a sudden Smokey decided to climb my seven foot high weeping fig tree! She got three quarters the way up the tree and before I could jump up from the couch gravity took over down came the tree, cat and an ancient Christmas cactus (at least 35 years old) Smokey immediately ran out to hide under the bed. The clay pot was in smithereens and the potting soil was spread over the entire living room carpet. Smokey came through fine but both the tree and cactus lost a couple of branches. It took at least an hour to clean the mess and repot the tree. Never a dull moment.

Cat sitting

I am cat sitting two cats Tippy and Ebony for a co worker of mine this weekend. I hope that Smokey and Arwen don't think that I am cheating on them! I have not seen the cats for a few months but when in went in to feed and spend some quality time with them that they were very friendly. I was a bit surprised because Ebony is usually shy and runs and hides if a stranger comes around. This time she did not come right up to me but did not hide. Tippy came right up to the door as usual. By the time I was leaving Ebony had come around an allowed me to pet her. I don't know but perhaps they sense my two kittens and believe that I am a 'good guy' who can be trusted.

Laser light show

Just finished playing with the chase the light from a lazier pointer. This is one of their favorite things to do. It's a nice interactive game that burn a lot of their energy. However, I am very careful not to get the light in their eyes.

Going Crazy, Running In Circles, Or Both

One of the kittens favorite "purchased toys" is the Crazy circle. I have had this toy since September and the kittens still play with it. I don't keep it out all the time but I do rotate it and it spends a couple day a week out. Both the kittens spend a good amount of time trying to "catch the prey". The toy is still in excellent shape and though they use it less than when brand new they still use is for a significant amount of time. I gave one to Lucy and Bailey my sisters two kittens at the same time with similar results.(8/9 Arwen typed this)
When I first got it Arwen was the only kitten I had and she used it non stop for at least an hour and a half.
Of course some of the favorite toys are the free things that are around the house(2q1 Smokey typed this) such as balled up paper, the tub, plastic caps from milk containers etc.

Lazy Day (Again)

I messed Saturday's post up trying to add a picture to the post. So here it again to the best of my memory.

Just being lazy

We had a crappy day on Saturday that had snow in the forecast but all we got out of it was a few flakes of snow along with plenty of freezing rain. As a result I did not go for during the day. I did notice that Friday evening and Saturday morning the girls were much more active than usual. However as the morning progressed they seemed to be sleeping more and more from late morning into evening. They definitely slept more than even when I am gone all day to work because I noticed that they ate a much smaller quantity of food than usual.

They were so lazy that in fact they did not even move when the had one of their wrestling matches. They just woke up wrestled, groomed each other and went back to sleep without moving more than a inch!

I'm sure it was the gloomy weather that got to them as it did me.

You just never know...

Arwen and Smokey are doing fine they are cuddled up together laying on couch as I type this. They can sure move fast an get in places you don't even know they are. Last evening Arwen kept sitting by one of my kitchen cabinets and trying to open it. Everything was quiet so I didn't think anything of it. About ten minutes later she was still there trying to open the cabinet. I began thinking that something was up so I went into the kitchen opened the cabinet and Smokey comes running out. She was so quiet I didn't even know she was in there I never saw her go in there when I opened the cabinet. What I found strange is that Smokey is the talkative one while Arwen voice is only heard when she is in her carrier on the way to vet.

Thumps

Over the last few days the kittens have been extremely active. With all the new stuff that appeared and putting away the Christmas decorations and putting out the usual items they seem to get into everything. They have to check everything out and in the process of investigating they seem to knock over whatever they are looking at. All I hear is thump then the patter of four or eight paws running away form whatever. Never a dull moment.