Roxy

I should tell you some more about Roxy's family.  It consists of Roxy, Lucky, Mom, Dad and the Boy.  The Mom is Millie's Mom's sister, so Roxy and Lucky are Millie's fur cousins.  Shortly after Lucky was rescued and became part of the family, she made friends with Muffie, but she was too active for Muffie, who was an old dog by this time, to play with much.  It was decided that Lucky needed a playmate and it just so happened that the Mom's favorite pug breeder had a dog who was due to have puppies soon.  All the puppies were very cute and they were having a hard time deciding whether to get another fawn pug, like Lucky, or a black one.  The second picture shows what Roxy did to help them decide.  If that picture doesn't say, "I'm all yours.  Take me home," nothing does. Roxy and Lucky were acclimatized to each other before Roxy even came home.  They had play dates at the breeder's and Lucky loved them.  Roxy also quickly made friends with Muffie and Muffie loved to watch the two puppies play.

Roxy is nicknamed The Devil Dog.  How did she get such a name?  Roxy loves to get into mischief.  She will dump the trash and pick out tissues and then shred them and spread the pieces all over the house.  She has been known to leave her "business" in front of the shower door, where Mom is sure to step in it.  Roxy loves to look out of the window and has decided that the best place to do this in on top of the kitchen table.  She has no trouble at all jumping from the floor to a chair and then up on the table.  The problem is that once she has finished looking, she can't figure out how to get down again.  She whines until someone comes by to lift her down to the floor.  The top picture shows Roxy up on the kitchen table with the window she likes to look out of behind her.

                                         Roxy likes to jump on the table.
                                         There to look out the window she's able.
                                                     She can't get back down
                                                     And this makes her frown,
                                        So she whines until someone lifts her off the table.

Lucky

This is Lucky doing her favorite thing in the whole world, sleeping with the Boy.  Lucky absolutely adores the Boy and goes to bed with him every night.  She spends as much time as possible with him.  Lucky is a fawn pug, born to a breeder who raised show dogs.  However, Lucky was born partially deaf, so that meant she couldn't be a show dog.  The breeder was rather disappointed and just kept Lucky in a crate, where she got mange.  Lucky's Mom-to-be heard about Lucky from another breeder when she was looking for a pug, because one of the two she had had for a very long time had gone to the Bridge, and she knew she had to take her home as soon as she saw her.  Lucky was four and a half months old at this time and had seldom been out of her crate.  Lucky was overjoyed to be able to run around and play with the Boy.  She got her name because she was lucky to be adopted by this family and they were lucky to have found her.  She was soon cured of her mange.  Lucky does have some problems left over from her early treatment.  She can't run as fast as Roxy; she has trouble going up and down stairs and she can't jump up on the couch or bed.  None of this stops her from being one of the sweetest dogs ever.  She was a great comfort to Muffie, who was the remaining pug of the original two, and she adores everyone in her family, but dotes on the Boy the most.  Last fall, Lucky met Luxor through blogging and the two of them really hit it off.  If you haven't read about the amazing Road Trip for Love, you really ought to check it out.  It starts on Roxy and Lucky's blog at the end of October.

                                           Lucky is as sweet as she can be.
                                           She never gets into trouble, not she.
                                                   She sleeps with the Boy.
                                                   It's her favorite joy.
                                          Is Luxor second?  That could be.

Trixie

Here is Trixie sitting on her new perch that she got for Christmas.  Now she can see all the birds out the screen door.  Trixie is the largest cat at Top Cat Rules, but as you can see, she is not fat, just big.  She loves to play Thundering Herd of Elephants and to wrestle with Pyewacket.  She just turned four years old.  I get the distinct impression that, despite her size advantage, she doesn't always win the wresting matches with Pyewacket.  She arrived from the shelter for Allesandro's thirteenth birthday and is very attached to him.

                                    Trixie is a giant cat.
                                    Thundering Herd of Elephants is something she is good at.
                                              She wrestles Pyewacket,
                                              Though she is not in her bracket.
                                    Tigger watches the loser get pinned to the mat.

Tigger

Tigger is on the left, giving sage advice to Trixie when she was just a kitten.  Tigger is the oldest cat at Top Cat Rules and the one least likely to get into mischief.  I get the feeling that when Pyewacket starts tearing around the house, Tigger finds a good out-of-the-way spot and just watches.

                                   There is a smart old cat named Tigger.
                                   Her Fount of Wisdom just gets bigger and bigger.
                                           She has no wish to rule,
                                           But she likes to school
                                   The younger cats in the Wisdom of Tigger.

Merry Christmas

Well, it's not a very good picture, but at least now you know what I look like.  A very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you.

Opus and Roscoe, Part 2

Here are Opus and Roscoe being held by their Grandma, who loves them very much.  I told my limericker to take some time off, as I was just going to post my Christmas greeting tonight and then not post again until after Christmas, so of course, it presented me with another limerick for Opus and Roscoe.  It seems only fair that two cats should get two limericks.

                                  Opus and Roscoe are Italian gatti.
                                  They would love to live on pizzas and gelatti.
                                             They nap in the sun
                                             Until day is done,
                                  Then party all night until it's time for their latte.

Opus and Roscoe

That's Roscoe on the left and Opus on the right.  They are litter brothers who do everything together.  They have never been apart since the day they were born on a farm in 1995.  They were very attached to each other as kittens and the lady on whose farm they were born was determined to have them adopted together.  Finally they were the last kittens left from the litter and things were not looking good for them, because it looked like no one wanted two kittens.  Then one day, someone came along and knew just what to do.  Opus and Roscoe were a Christmas present to their Mom, who loves them very much.  A few years ago they and their Mom moved to Italy, where they still live.  They started blogging two years ago, on their tenth birthday.  They have had many exciting adventures in Italy, including sneaking out to go visiting Milan and Pisa while their Mom and Dad were away.  They have a second story terrace, where they love basking in the sun.  Their latest adventure has been working on CCSI and they are wonderful at it.    They wrote The Missing Kitty Caper and produced The Santa Caper.  They also help out with the photography.

                                      Opus and Roscoe work for CCSI.
                                      It sounded like fun, so they gave it a try.
                                          They produce and write
                                          And make pictures just right.
                                      They really are good at CCSI.

Pyewacket

This is Pyewacket, all stretched out on the carpet.  She's ten months old now and arrived in her forever home last May.  She is a seal-point Old Fashioned Siamese and has the famous Meezer voice, which she uses lots.  She loves to play and taught herself to play fetch with her mousies, her favorite toys.  Sometimes she tosses and fetches her mousies by herself, but she much prefers company when she plays.  She lives with her two sisters, Tigger and Trixie.  Pyewacket is quite a mischief-maker and gets into all sorts of things.  She likes to climb the drapes and tear around the house like her butt was on fire, occasionally bouncing off the walls and furniture.  She loves her sisters and snuggles with them quite a bit, but she likes to pounce on them, too.  She likes to watch birds out the window and yowls at them.  She has the idea that if she sneezes on people food, it becomes her food.  This doesn't work too well, but she keeps trying.  Pyewacket was named after the Siamese cat in Bell, Book and Candle and tries very hard to live up to her name.

                                      There is a Siamese kitten named Pyewacket,
                                      And, boy, can she ever cause a racket!
                                               She tears down the hall,
                                               Bounces off of a wall,
                                      Then yowls for attention, does Pyewacket.

Golden Rose

Black Cat gave me this lovely golden rose some time ago, but I am just now getting around to posting about it.  Miss Peach gave them out at her tea party (which I missed, unfortunately) and said that they are magic roses.  If you put them in water overnight, they will turn into six golden roses which you can give to anyone you think has a peachy heart of gold.  Several kitties have already given them out to the entire Cat Blogosphere, so I will just invite anyone who would like one to take it.  Thank you so very much, Black Cat.  I really appreciate it.

UPDATE:  I have been thinking about this and there some humans that I think really deserve this award.  Thumper took in a stray kitten and kept her in the garage while searching high and low for her people.  When she decided that the kitten had no people, she found a good home for her, even though Thumper really wanted to keep the kitten.  She did this because she knew that Max would be stressed by the addition of a new family member and that could adversely affect his health.  She put Max first, which shows her heart of gold.  Tina-P is devoting her blog right now to people who were hit really hard by recent flooding and is being instrumental in getting them the help they need, showing her heart of gold.  ML, Missy and KC's Mom, took in Dinah and is still taking care of her and her Mites, which is quite a job, and now she has taken in Momma Tortie and her two kittens, making for a houseful.  That takes a real heart of gold.

Tillie

This is Tillie in her favorite box.  She barely fits, but she loves to climb in and stay a while.  Actually, Tillie loves to climb into about any box or basket she can find.  Tillie is four years old and lives with Mickey and Georgia, her littermate.  Tillie is the shy one of the trio.  Georgia likes to tease her.  Tillie likes to play with Georgia some, but she seems more at ease lounging in a box or snuggling with the Mom.  When they all go out to the porch, Tillie has a box there that she likes to spend time in.

                                  There's a box in which Tillie likes to sit,
                                  Though she can barely climb into it.
                                                 It makes her smile
                                                 To stay there a while.
                                 It's warm and cozy and just a fit.

Georgia

Georgia's favorite place is out in the enclosed porch.  It's almost like being outside, but without the dangers.  Georgia just loves to stretch out on the floorboards and soak up the sun.  Two years ago Georgia and Tillie's first Mom, an older lady, went to the Bridge and Mickey's Mom adopted them.  They are littermates and are now four years old.  Georgia and Tillie love to play together and Georgia likes to pounce on Tillie.  Georgia also occasionally pounces Mickey, but she knows that he doesn't really like it and doesn't do it often.  Georgia also likes to curl up in baskets and boxes to nap.  Georgia is a polydactyl tortie with extra toes on all four paws.  Her front paws look quite a bit like mittens.

                                 Georgia likes to stretch out on the porch
                                 With the fierce hot sun her fur to scorch.
                                           No, wait, that's a dream;
                                           It's cold as ice cream
                                 This time of year outside on the porch.

Mickey

Here is Mickey getting ready to chomp a blade of grass that his Mom got for him outside.  Mickey loves grass, but he stays inside, so Mom has to go get it for him and feed it to him one blade at a time.  He really has her trained well.  In 1993, Mickey's Mom had just lost a long-time kitty and was at the vet's filling out some paperwork.  The vet lady asked her if she would be getting another cat and the Mom answered that she would know when the time was right for that and she wanted another long-haired black cat.  Just then they both heard a loud meow and the Mom remarked that some patient wasn't enjoying his treatment.  The vet lady said that it wasn't a patient, but a kitten waiting for adoption and it was a black kitten, but it was a short-hair.  The Mom said she would take a look.  The kitten was Mickey and as soon as he saw the Mom he stretched out both his arms to her as far as he could reach and meowed really loudly.  To the Mom it sounded like, "Take me home!" and so she did.  Mickey has two four-year old sisters whose companionship he enjoys, though he doesn't play with them.  At fourteen, he much prefers lying in the sunshine, watching the critters outside and snuggling with his Mom to playing.

                                        Mickey loves having grass to eat.
                                        His Mom brings it inside as a treat.
                                               He finds it sublime.
                                               One blade at a time,
                                         His Mom feeds him his grassy treat.

Pickle

I chose this picture of Turtle and Pickle together for two reasons.  First, some of you expressed concern about Turtle's shave and hoped that he wouldn't be too cold this winter.  This picture was taken in October and as you can see, Turtle's fur is growing back just fine.  He is probably pretty floofy again by now.  Second, I wanted to show you that Pickle has been accepted as part of the family, despite her tendency to whap sleeping kitties and even chew on their ears a bit.  Pippin and Turtle's Mom and another lady she knows found Pickle on September 9, 2007.  She was in a bad way, so the Mom took her home, then to the vet.  She had no diseases, but had a bunch of fleas and was severly dehydrated and starving.  She was about 8 or 9 weeks old and had been without food for so long that she had to be force-fed for the first day to get her to eat again.  The vet gave her sub-q fluids to rehydrate her, treated her for fleas and sent her home with the Mom.  In two days, she had started to eat on her own and by September 13th she had discovered that she really liked Stinky Goodness and managed to eat a whole half can with no prompting at all.  Pickle had an old injury, which had healed, but it hurt her back legs a bit and she still walks a bit differently from other cats.  It doesn't slow her down, though.  By early October, she was tearing around the house and bugging the heck out of her two new brothers.  The other lady who helped rescue her wants her and she may go to live with her, or she may stay with Turtle and Pippin.  Either way, she has a good home now.

                                     Pickle was a kitten lost and forlorn,
                                     Flea-ridden and hungry, then one blessed morn
                                              Two ladies found her
                                              And let love surround her.
                                    Now she has a home and of woe is shorn.

Pippin

I wasn't even going to try to write a limerick yesterday, but this one came to me at work, which is where I write most of my limericks.  I have some very routine stuff to do every day and my mind is free to wander.  I was researching Pippin before the sadness started, so it was just simmering in my mind until it could take shape.  I won't push the limericks, but if they want to come, I'll post them.

I like this picture of Pippin because it shows off his mancatly toes and his handsome face.  Pippin lives with Turtle and Pickle.  Pippin is actually very active, but he is able and willing to take a nap anytime, anywhere.  He likes to get up high and watch things at times, but he finds it very difficult to resist a good sunspot on the floor.

                                         Pippin is a cat who likes to nap.
                                         He'll quickly doze off in someone's lap.
                                                  A sunspot on the floor
                                                  Provides warmth galore,
                                         Then Pickle comes by to give him a whap.

I'm Back

I'm sort of back, anyway.  I don't have any new limericks yet, but I'll get to work on them again.  I have been offline since Thursday night, due to going to the funeral ceremonies for my sister-in-law and then getting sick.  I'm well again; it was just one of those two-day sieges of the digestive system.  The ceremonies were beautiful.  There were so many people at the chapel for the funeral that many people had to stand.  I'm not surprised.  My lovely sister-in-law touched many, many people in so many wonderful ways.  I'll get back to visiting some tonight.  I will thank each of you individually, but I want to thank you all collectively as well for all the thoughtful and kind comments you have left me at this difficult time.  I love you all.

She's Gone

My sister-in-law died early in the morning on December 4.  I won't be posting any new limericks for a while.  I'll try to get back visiting soon, but I just don't have the heart for it right now.  I do want you all to know that I really appreciate the support you have shown me during her illness.

I do want to sincerely wish a  Happy Hanukkah to all you Jewish kitties and beans.  I'll see you all again soon.

Turtle

Here are Turtle's before and after pictures of his shave.  Turtle had a persistent case of ringworm and had to be completely shaved to get rid of it.  Hopefully, it is all gone now and won't come back.  Turtle lives with Pippin, another orange kitty, and Pickles, a tuxie kitten.  Pippin and Turtle took some time go get used to having a kitten running around the house, but they all get along fine now.  Turtle is a pretty happy cat, but he does have one pet peeve.  He really hates it when he sees an intruder cat in his yard.  He hates it so much that he has been known to bite the people in the house to express his displeasure.  Turtle will lie on the floor and play on the floor, but when it comes time to nap, he has to get up higher.  You will never catch him sleeping on the floor.

                                    Turtle had to go in for a shaving
                                    Because his ouchies were misbehaving.
                                                   Now they've gone away
                                                   And I hope they stay
                                   Far away from Turtle with their misbehaving.

Loki

This is what Loki looked like after he decided to explore the fireplace.  His Mom managed to get him all cleaned up again.  Loki is two years old and loves to get into mischief.  He is a Maine Coon and he is getting really big.  I think he is now the biggest cat in the house, which is an accomplishment because there are seven other cats living with him.  Loki was adopted after the other Maine Coon in the house went to the Rainbow Bridge and the Mom felt that she really needed a Maine Coon in the mix.  She went to the breeder the other cat had come from and fell in love with Loki and brought him home.  Poor Loki found himself very lonely, as the other cats didn't want to have anything to do with a rambunctious, very floofy kitten.  The Mom and Dad called the breeder to see if there were any more kittens still available and there were.  This time the Dad did the picking, because he had always wanted to have a cat he could name Monkey.  As it turned out, the kitten he picked turned out to be Loki's litter-brother.  The two of them recognized each other at once and have been gleefully together ever since.  The name of Loki's litter-brother became Monkee and you may remember that he is the one who likes to sit in a frying pan on the stove to keep warm.  Loki is very agile, but has trouble with his jumps sometimes.  He has grown so quickly that his self-image of how big he is hasn't kept up with how big he actually is.  Sometimes he will try to jump into a space that is too small for him and his front paws make it, but there is no room for his back paws and he falls.  As a pair, Loki and Monkee are known as the Doofi (pronounced doof-eye), the plural of doofus, as they are quite a pair.

                                       Loki decided to explore the fireplace.
                                       He got black soot on his head and face.
                                                    His Mom got him clean,
                                                    But does this mean
                                       That Loki will now avoid the fireplace?

Rosie

Here is Rosie looking cute in her basket.  Rosie is seven months old now and is developing quite a personality.  She is a very punctual cat.  She knows when her meal times are and goes to her bowl in the kitchen when it is time to eat.  She knows when Gattina usually goes to bed and gets quite agitated if Gattina decides to stay up late.  She plays and naps at the same times every day.  She goes outside twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, unless the weather is wet.  Then she stays inside.  Rosie has also decided to become a house redecorator.  She loves to play with her little mice, but when she is through playing with them, she puts them in or near the food bowls in the kitchen.  She sometimes chews the tails off her mice, then festoons them in the most unusual places.  She once arranged all the toys under the coffee table in the living room.  She put Gattina's ballpoint pen under Gattina's pillow.  The other cats nap all over the house, but Rosie almost always naps in her basket.

                                   Rosie likes to redo the house.
                                   That place over there needs a mouse.
                                            The feather wand goes there,
                                            The ball under a chair,
                                   The ballpoint under a pillow, and on through the house.