Ruis

Here is Ruis with one of B'Elanna's kittens.  Ruis just loves kittens and they love him.  Ruis lives in the Netherlands with in a house of ten cats, two dogs and three humans.  There are so many cats because the humans run a cattery, called Voyager, for Cornish Rexes.  Ruis is a lilac, straight-haired Cornish Rex and the kitten is a Si-Rex, so named for the Siamese-like markings.  With so many cats and two dogs, the humans made the back garden pet safe by installing an electric fence on top of the regular wooden fence to keep everyone inside.  The first attempt was not entirely successful.  Last April, Ruis managed to jump clear over the electric fence and escape.  He went missing for a couple of days, but his humans found him in a shelter, safe and sound.  There is now a more effective electric fence on top of the wooden fence that none of the cats can get over.  Don't be alarmed at the term "electric fence".  It only delivers a very mild shock, but it is effective in getting the cats to leave it well alone.  Ruis is a very talented cat and directed the CCSI production The Santa Caper.  Ruis is a gay mancat and became interested in Karl when Karl commented on his blog.  The two of them went on the Road Trip for Love and had their first date in the back of the bus.  Love blossomed from there and now they are engaged.  I find it all very exciting and am so happy for both of them.

                                Ruis decided to leap over the wall.
                                This was not a wise decision at all.
                                         Several streets he crossed,
                                         And then he got lost.
                                He ended up in a shelter and was found with a call.

Anastasia

The bottom picture is Anastasia posing for Monte without her glasses, a rare sight.  The top picture is how we think of her now, looking down and watching over Karl and the rest of us.  In December 2004 a very nice lady who puts out food for feral cats who show up around her barn noticed a tiny kitten had joined the usual gang.  None of the other cats were her mother or siblings -- she just showed up all on her own, very hungry.  The nice lady decided to capture the kitten and take her to a shelter.   The very next day the Butler came over for dinner and saw the kitten in her cage, looking miserable.  He wrapped her in a towel and took her out of the cage.  She looked up at him with those amazing eyes and started purring.  The Butler decided then and there to give her a forever home.  Karl took to her right away.  For quite a while Anastasia hid from everyone but Karl, but gradually she became more confident and began to come out of hiding on her own. After she was spayed, she began to accompany Karl on his outside expeditions and became quite a good hunter of kangaroo mice.  Karl and Anastasia loved each other very much and had great times together.  On August 21, 2007, Anastasia went out as usual, but never came home again.  An animal communicator reported that she was killed by a bird of prey and that now her soul resides in the Sun or a star, or maybe even both.  Her soul is certainly large enough to handle both.  Anastasia started the I Dare You All games with the pink wig dare and had the dress up your humans dare all ready when she disappeared.  I remember her fondly for her Fashion Fridays and her wonderful sense of humor.

                               Anastasia's soul shines bright as the sun.
                               She could dazzle the eyes of anyone.
                                       While here on Earth
                                       She brought such mirth
                                With her dares, sunglasses and hats just for fun.

Monkey Bunkey

Monkey really, really loves boxes of all sorts, but his favorites are soda boxes.  He likes to crawl in so that his front is sticking out one end and his back is sticking out the other end.  In the second picture you can see how Monkey got his name.  When he was first adopted he did the usual kitten tearing around the house like his tail was on fire and getting into mischief, then he began to climb and he has been climbing ever since.  I feel I should give a word of caution about clicking on the link.  Monkey has been blogging for well over a year and it is all on one page.  Opera estimated the amount of material at 1.4GB before choking and failing to respond any further.  Monkey's coloration is very much like a Russian Blue and he may very well have a great deal of Russian Blue in him, as both of his kitty parents are unknown.  A nice lady found four five-week-old motherless kittens and took them to a no-kill shelter.  Monkey was adopted into his forever home two weeks later.  I am happy to report that all three of his brothers were also adopted.  Monkey shares his home with his Mom and Dad, his sister Cooper, five turtles and other assorted denizens of an aquarium.  They all live in an apartment building in California.  There is a really nice balcony and Monkey's Mom and Dad have built a kitty enclosure for Monkey and Cooper where they can hang out and watch the birds.  Both of them enjoy it very much.  They also get to go outside in their stroller.  Monkey enjoys playing with catnip mice, straws, paper and boxes, but his favorite toy is his younger sister, Cooper.  One of his favorite games is to wait at one end of their tunnel and watch for Cooper.  When she appears at the other end of the tunnel, he will zoom through the tunnel and pounce her.  I forgot to mention that Junior asked me to do this limerick for Monkey.

                                 Monkey Bunkey in a box!
                                 Monkey Bunkey really rocks!
                                         He climbs way up high
                                         Almost up to the sky.
                                 Then down he comes with Cooper to box.

Junior

Here is Junior playing with some tissue paper.  He just loves tissue paper.  Junior is a five year old flamepoint Siamese.  As far as I can piece the story together, Junior started out life in Denver, Colorado, where he was rescued from the home of a hoarder.  He was taken in by Rocky Mountain Siamese Rescue, who found him a foster home in Wyoming.  He was there for two years, until his present Mom found him when she was looking to adopt another Siamese because the cat who came before, China, had gone to the Bridge and she was lonely.  His present Mom picked him up in Wyoming and drove him to Utah, where he lives now.  Junior is a very dominant cat, so his Mom decided to just have him as an only cat.  There is just the two of them and they love each other very much.  Junior likes to wake his Mom up in the morning by grooming her hair, which drives her nuts, but it does get her out of bed for breakfast.  He loves catnip and his favorite toy is his catnip carrot.  He has learned that the catnip is inside the toys and has torn up quite a few toys to get at the catnip so he can eat it.  So far the carrot has survived, even though it was his very first catnip toy.  Junior also loves his millie beds from Siamese Rescue.  He has two of them -- one with a flame design and one that matches his coloration and has eyes and a tail.  He also loves to look out the window and watch the birdies.  Junior very much enjoys watching his Mom take a bath, but he is careful to stay out of the water himself.

                                   Junior loves to play with tissue paper.
                                   Pouncing on it is a muscle shaper.
                                            He loves how it crinkles
                                            When he paws the wrinkles.
                                  He is always ready for a tissue paper caper.

Dorothy's Home!

There is some really good news.  Dorothy, Gretchen's Mom, is home from the hospital and is doing better.  She wrote about it here.  I am so happy!  Please go give her a warm welcome home.  She says she won't be able to read many comments or reply for a while, but I think it would be great if she found a whole torrent of gladness on her blog when she feels up to reading the comments.

Karl

Here is Karl on his throne, which is quite fitting, as he is the King of his home.  He has graciously consented to share his home with his Maid and Butler and Mrs. Hissy Ohnezahne and Emil.  He is an indoor/outdoor cat living in the Sonaran desert in Arizona, which is why he always wears sunglasses.  It's a good thing he can go outside, too, because he refuses to use an indoor litterbox.  There are some bad things about being outside where he lives, as well, like being chased by a bobcat a couple of times, but he made it home safely both times.  Karl came to live with the Maid and Butler on October 9, 2004 after being a feral cat and he is very glad of the change.  He still likes to go out hunting, though, and he is very good at it.  He likes to run past the Butler, very fast, with his catch, but he has to be quick, or the Butler will take it away from him.  Karl is very brave and even chased away some javelinas (very nasty-tempered members of the pig family) from his house once with a can of Mao and Rocky's Vishus Deer Repellent.  Karl is also a talented writer and did the script for the CCSI episode The Santa Caper. I think he still misses Anastasia quite a lot.  She was the first cat he lived with, but she went out to the desert one day  and never came back.  Karl is a gay cat and recently found a boyfriend, Ruis.  They are having a really good time together, even going on a cruise to Antarctica.

                                  Karl is a cat of many talents.
                                  He goes far beyond poise and balance.
                                           He did a writing gig
                                           And chased a nasty pig.
                                  He does it all with a flair and nonchalance.

Simone

Sorry I've been away for a few days.  I came down with a virus while I was at work Monday and didn't turn the computer on at all Monday or Tuesday.  I'm a little hesitant about doing this one because Simone was sick the last time he blogged in late December.  I really hope that he is well by now.  If not, maybe this will cheer him up a little.  Simone is a black mini-lop bunny and is six-and-a-half years old.  He likes all the usual bunny things -- chewing on things he isn't supposed to chew on, as well as chewing on everything that he is allowed to chew on, eating all kinds of hay and herbs, hopping around the house.  His Mom once let the phone cord get too close to his cage and he chewed right through it.  His Mom was very glad that he didn't get electrocuted.  He shares his home with a pug named Tyler who has an unusual taste for hay.  Any time that Simome kicks some hay out of the cage, or a piece sticks out of the cage far enough for him to get at it, Tyler eats it.

                               Simone the bunny must guard his hay
                               From the pug he lives with, who plots all day
                                          How to snitch some food
                                          From the bun -- how rude!
                               Let's hope Simone gets to keep his hay.

Caesar

I got home from work tonight and found a comment from Jan of Jan's Funny Farm saying that Caesar had gone to the Rainbow Bridge.  I felt like someone had punched me right in the heart.  I have been reading Caesar and Prinnie's blog right from the start and love them both dearly, along with their family.  My eyes are so teary it's hard to type and I am having a really hard time to find words to say how deeply I feel for his family and how sorry I am that he has gone and how very much I will miss him.  He was such a kind and gentle mancat.  I always treasured getting comments from him and Prinnie.  He was so brave about getting his fluids and showed Prinnie how easy it was, so that she came to accept hers, too, without so much fuss.  If he had to go, I'm glad that he went peacefully in his sleep with Prinnie beside him.

                                           Caesar, dear Caesar, slipped softly away.
                                           His eyes didn't open to greet the day.
                                                  With Prinnie beside him
                                                   And God's light to guide him
                                           He softly and silently tiptoed away.

Get Well Soon, Dorothy

Gretchen's Mom, Dorothy, is having severe heart problems.  You can find the latest information here.  Lots of purrs, purrayers, good thoughts and healing energy are needed to help her get better.  The good news is that she is breathing on her own.  Get well soon, Dorothy, we all love and miss you.

Frodo Baggins

The top picture is Frodo Baggins dressed as his namesake and the second picture is what Frodo does to amuse himself while his humans are away.  Frodo is an indoor/outdoor cat in Georgia.  He doesn't blog much, so I don't know a whole lot about him, but what there is I found very interesting.  He lives with his beans, which includes a couple of small boy beans, and another cat named Coco.  Frodo and Coco aren't the best of chums, but they tolerate each other and sometimes wrestle for fun.  Frodo is a mighty hunter.  He catches and kills birds on a regular basis, but doesn't seem to eat them.  He will put them on the porch for his beans to find sometimes.  He does eat the lizards he catches.  The little boy beans once brought a lizard inside for a pet.  They put it into a terrarium, with heavy books holding the lid down to keep Frodo out.  One night, Frodo pushed the books off, got the cover off and caught the lizard.  He left just enough behind for the boys to realize what had happened to their pet lizard.  Frodo wasn't very popular for a few days after that.  Frodo loves his beans and often asks for attention.  He also likes catnip very much and has been known to help himself if he can find the catnip stash.

                                         Frodo Baggins was stalking a bird.
                                         The birdie laughed and thought it absurd.
                                                 With a stealthy creep
                                                 And a mighty leap,
                                         Frodo Baggins captured the bird.

More Awards

Team Tabby gave me this wonderful award. Thank you very much. The You Make My Day Award is presented to bloggers whose blog brings you happiness and inspiration and makes you feel happy about Blogland. The rules are to pass the award along to up to 10 Kitties.

I would like to pass this award along to:

Caesar and Princess
Max the Psychokitty
Daisy and Pixie
Skeezix
and Arthur, Kim, Pookie, Lisa and Rosie

Oops, that makes 11 kitties. Oh, well.

I have also been awarded the Thinking Blogger Award again by Zevo Calamari and TT. Thank you very much. I won't pass this one along again, because I just did it a few days ago.

Life has been getting in the way of limericking again, but I am starting up the researching again tonight and hope to have another limerick tomorrow.

Buddy

Buddy is the one with his head stuck in an empty twenty-pound bag of food.  Percy is the cat watching.  Buddy is the youngest animal at Jan's Funny Farm.  He is about two now.  This picture was taken when he was about five months old.  Buddy's very favorite thing is finding food and he is very good at it.  He came to the Funny Farm when he was only 3-4 weeks old and found that the cats were very interesting.  He watched the cats carefully and learned how to climb.  The next thing Jan knew, Buddy was climbing up to the kitchen counter to eat the cat food there.  Jan has had quite a time finding a way to let the cats get to the cat food, but prevent Buddy from getting to it, too.  Buddy is so good at acting like a cat that he is sometimes called the Floppy-Eared Hound Cat.  This incident with Buddy and the food bag happened two years ago, but it was too funny to pass up.  Buddy half-climbed into the empty food bag to get the last crumbs and got stuck.  He was backing up all around the kitchen and the three cats climbed on the bag for a ride.  Jan finally came in and got Buddy out of the bag.

                                        Buddy gave the kitties a ride
                                        On an empty food bag with his head inside.
                                               His head was stuck tight --
                                               An embarrassing plight --
                                       Until Jan came in to salvage his pride.

I have a couple of notes.  My blog has now reached Genius Level in readability and this is my 300th post and 249th limerick.

Awards

Roxy and Lucky have given me this Gold Star and I feel very honored. The Extraordinary Gold Star Award was created by Storm, The Furry Fighter and is for Bloggers who have achieved or done something special. The award celebrates beyond what is ordinary or usual.

1) Post the explanation and rules of the award and link back to the blogger who presented you with the award and repeat the reason why you received it.

2) Pass the Award on to two other Bloggers who you fink deserve it and explain why!

Roxy and Lucky gave me this award for all the research I do on the cats and dogs that I write limericks for. I would like to pass the award on to Jackson, Miss Peach's NOMSS, because although he has been through a lot, including being abandoned to starve, bladder stones and degenerative disc disease, he is a cheerful and very funny blogger. Reading his blog always cheers me up. I would also like to pass this award to Jan of Jan's Funny Farm because she does so much to help find lost pets.



Pyewacket and Storm have both given me the Thinking Blogger Award and I feel very honored. This is the second, or second and third, time I have been given this award and I am feeling very special about it. It's great that you think so highly of my blog. Here are the rules on this award:

1. You must write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Acknowledge this post.

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.

4. Go tell your humans to fork over the treats!

I would like to pass this award on to Diamond Emerald-Eyes because her blog has so many posts about very interesting subjects that always make me think.

Next is everyone at And Then There Were Four because the stories told there are not only very entertaining, they are also very thought-provoking.

Next is Zevo Calamari and the Pooses for Peace because they entertain me while keeping me informed.

Next is Black Cat, because she always has something interesting to say.

And lastly, Cats-Goats-Quotes because the quotes and stories are very thought-provoking.

And now for some really great news. Annie is safe inside the house again and Mao came home Sunday. Yay! Hooray!

Dazey

Don't you just want to give that delectable tummy a rub?  Dazey would like it very much if you did.  Dazey is the most outgoing of the Cyclone Cats and the most mischievious.  She is also the one most likely to get a big hug from the Little Monkey. Dazey doesn't like it much, but she tolerates it without too much fuss.  Maybe she is thinking of what else the Little Monkey does.  All the cats have come to appreciate mealtime for the Little Monkey because he always drops food.  Really good food, too, like tuna and noodles, cheese, hot dog slices and bread.  All the Cyclone Cats like bread, but only Dazey and Jesse eat bread that the Little Monkey drops.  Dazey loves to play with just about anything and anybody.  She knows very well that Jesse doesn't like to play with her, but Dazey pounces her anyway, just for the fun of it.  Dazey and Connor play together quite a bit.  Dazey also really likes catnip toys and feathers and anything she can bat around.  Dazey has one habit that might get her into trouble one day.  She likes to nap at the foot of the stairs.  I am wondering if she will change her mind about how good that spot is for napping once the Little Monkey discovers how much fun Thundering Herd of Elephants is.

Sometimes I come up with more than one limerick for a cat.  Usually, I just pick the one I like best and ignore the rest.  This time I thought I would go ahead and post both of the ones that came to me for Dazey.

                           "Rub my tummy, now, now now!"
                           Is what Dazey loves to meow.
                                On her back she wriggles;
                                And gives cute butt wiggles
                           To entice a human to pet her now.

                           Dazey, Dazey, whatever shall we do?
                           Jesse's crazy, and it's all because of you.
                                        You pounce her without warning;
                                        Her protest dies a-borning.
                          Dazey, Dazey, oh, what's to be done with you?

Please Go Home, Annie and Maobert

Annie from Krasota Castle and Maobert are both missing.  Annie is an inside only cat who escaped and is now outside and very scared.  The good news is that she has been seen near her home and it is probably only a matter of time before her people can get her home again.  Maobert has been missing since Wednesday and the Food Lady and Mr. Tasty Face are very worried about him, because, although he has run off before, he has never stayed away this long.

Annie and Maobert, please go home where you belong.  Everyone is very worried about you.  I will continue to hope and pray for their safe return very soon.

Jesse

This picture of Jesse is from last January, but she looks just the same now.  Jesse is a lucky kitty.  At first, the Mom just wanted to adopt Dazey, but then decided that Dazey would be lonely as an only kitty and decided to take her litter sister Jesse as well. Dazey and Jesse are six years old now and are as different from each other as they can be.  Jesse is shy and doesn't like to play with the other kitties at all.  In fact, she still hisses at Connor, even after four and a half years.  Jesse would much rather play by herself or with a human, though not with the Little Monkey, or two-legged kitten, as yet.  If you went to visit the home of the Cyclone Cats, you would probably think that there was only one cat in residence, as Connor and Jesse both hide from new people.  Jesse enjoys playing with her catnip pillow, lying on the windowsill, especially if the window is open, and going outside on her harness and leash.  Actually, she would much rather go outside without the harness and leash, but Mom has decreed otherwise.  Jesse enjoys the outside so much that she even has to check out the snow.  She has decided that going out in the snow is no fun, though.

                                 Jesse wanted to check out the snow,
                                 But the door was as far as she wanted to go.
                                        The cold tweaked her nose;
                                        The frost nipped her toes.
                                Jesse had no desire to romp in the snow.

Connor Cloud

This is Connor munching down on a cupcake that just happened to fall off his Mom's desk.  Really, it just fell down.  Connor didn't give it any help at all.  Connor is five years old and lives with his two sisters, Dazey and Jesse.  Connor has been living with them for almost five years, but Jesse still hisses at him.  Connor was born the runt of a litter on a farm.  He lived with his first Dad for about six months, then came to live at his forever home.  His first Dad had him completely declawed because, as a kitten, he climbed up people.  Connor's first Dad just didn't understand kittens at all.  Connor is very happy now.  He loves nip and feather toys and even the two-legged kitten who arrived about a year ago.  He even let the two-legged kitten pet him a while ago, though he didn't like it much.  Connor has learned to climb over the baby gates and sometimes teases the two-legged kitten by sitting just out of reach on the other side of one of the gates.  He also likes to tease Jesse just a little.  Unlike his two sisters, who like to go outside on harnesses, Connor doesn't like the outside much at all and will bolt back inside the house if he hears a noise.  He never strays more than two feet from the door.  Connor likes to eat bread, but only if his Mom feeds it to him by hand.  He will not eat it off the floor.  He will steal food off of a plate, even food he doesn't like.  It's just the thrill that he's after.

                                  Connor Cloud likes to eat bread,
                                  But only if it is hand-fed.
                                         A cupcake he'll eat,
                                         If it lands at his feet.
                                  He'll steal off your plate, even though he's well fed.

Snow Limerick

This is what my patio and back yard looked like this morning.  I really like how the snow almost covers the lace vines on the back fence.  I decided to test my limericker to see if it was broken and came up with this:

                                             Snow, when it falls, is fluffy and light.
                                             It reflects the street lights, brightening the night.
                                                 When it turns to slush
                                                  (That horrible mush)
                                            I wish it would simply melt out of sight.

The limericker is working and now the Cyclone Cats have volunteered to be subjects, so the kitty limericks should be back very soon.

Snow!

This is a really dark picture of the crabapple tree next door, covered in snow.  I'll get a better picture tomorrow, I hope.  I have been researching kitties, but they aren't talking to me right now, so I thought I would just do a regular blog entry, just for a change.

When I got up Sunday morning, it was drizzling rain.  This is highly unusual in January.  My town is at a bit over 7,000 feet and we always get snow or sleet in January.  Anyway, it drizzled all day, making the skiers very unhappy.  This year, for the first time in about five years, we had a nice early snow for a good base and now the drizzling rain was ruining it.  From 7 to 9 pm the drizzle slowly changed to freezing rain, then snow.  It snowed all night and all day Monday, finally ending about 7 pm.  We got about four inches, by my estimation.  Now the skiers are happy again and so am I.  We really need the moisture.  It is nice fluffy snow and it's beautiful.

Ashley

Ashley is the foster kitty of Jasmine and Peter.  Jasmine has been blogging for quite a while and she loves kitties, but can't have one of her own because she moves around among Australia, the UK and the USA frequently, due to her work.  Ashley didn't have a great start in life, but things look much better for her now.  She started off living with some rather irresponsibe beans who didn't have her spayed, but allowed her to roam around outside.  Naturally, she got pregnant at an early age.  Unfortunately, the kittens died inside her and she couldn't expel them.  She was in labor for days before her beans decided that something was wrong and took her to the vet.  By this time she was nearly comatose and her uterus was infected.  The vet didn't expect her to live.  The original beans disappear at this time, but the vet was able to save her life and turned her over to the SPCA.  Jasmine found her there in August of 2007, when she decided that fostering a kitty would be almost as good as having one of her own. Ashley is about a year old now and has completely recovered from her ordeal.  She is very playful and inquisitive.  At first, she was a bit shy and wouldn't sit in anyone's lap, though she would sit beside Jasmine or Peter for petting.  She recently changed her mind about laps and is on her way to becoming a lap kitty.  Ashley loves any toy with feathers on it.  She absolutely adores those fuzzy balls with lots of feathers on the top.  Anyone who decides to give Ashley a forever home is going to get a wonderful kitty companion.  In the meantime, Ashley loves being with Jasmine and Peter.

                                   Ashley says "Meow" when Jasmine sneezes "Achoo!"
                                   It's just her way of saying, "Bless you!"
                                          She now sits on a lap
                                          For a short little nap.
                                   Ashley loves her foster home; it's true.

Bouquet

Jan, over at Jan's Funny Farm, passed out these bouquets to her human friends in this post, and asked us to pass one along.  I have been a long time about it, but I would like to pass this bouquet to Maw and Paw at Forty Paws for all the help they have given kitties who really needed it.  Almost all the cats at Forty Paws are special needs cats and Maw and Paw take care of all of them wonderfully, despite the vast outlay of green papers that this entails.  I think that they really deserve a bouquet and many thanks besides.

Dorf

This is a nice closeup of Dorf's sweet face.  Dorf of Forty Paws has been through a lot in his seven years.  He is G.T.'s littermate and their birthday is August 3.  Dorf had FORLS for a long time before anyone realized it.  This is Feline Orthodontic Resorptive Lesions and it is extremely painful.  Just imagine going around with huge cavities and no treatment and you may get some idea of what Dorf was going through.  At first, it was thought that Dorf was acting mean to the other cats because he was stressed by being in a house with so many other cats, so he was put on kitty tranquilizers.  However, the vet finally realized that his teeth were bad and sent him to a cat dentist who removed 11 teeth.  Unfortunately, some of the medications Dorf was given for this procedure caused an allergic reaction which gave him eruptive vasculitis on his stomach, causing a huge lesion which took months to heal, so he had to wear a onesie to keep him from licking his wound and the cream which was rubbed on to help him heal.  It wasn't too long after he was all healed up from that mess that he had to go in and have 9 more teeth removed.  Six month later, he lost all his remaining teeth.  The good news is that now that Dorf isn't in so much pain, he has stopped being mean to the other cats.  He used to corner Reno and Obi and literally scare the pee out of Obi.  He still does this once in a while, but Obi isn't as afraid of Dorf as he once was.  Part of the reason for this is that Dorf is now going blind.  He has a condition which is rare in cats, but fairly common in dogs.  The Baytril that he was on during his vasculitis eruption may have contributed to his condition.  Obi is taking a bit of advantage of the situation by whapping Dorf on the head once in a while. Dorf may remain as he is with poor vision, or he may go completely blind.  Maw is taking good care of him and has been taping the edges of stairs and counters with colored tape, so Dorf can see them more easily.  Dorf still gets around pretty easily during the daytime, but tends to stick close to Maw after dark.  In spite of all this, Dorf still play wrestles with G.T. and still loves to hop onto one of the cat hammocks to snooze in the sun.  He still goes up the cat stairs to the big bed to sleep with Maw and Paw at night.  He enjoys his food and will do just about anything for yoghurt or shredded sharp cheddar cheese.  Dorf is one brave poodin and I am sure that he will do just fine, whether he loses his sight completely or not.

                                      Dorfie's a cat who has been through Hell.
                                      He's lost all his teeth and has bad eyes as well.
                                              He used to be mean,
                                              'Cause his teeth hurt so keen,
                                     But now he's turned gentle and friendly, as well.

Nikita

Nikita has only been blogging since October, but he is a very interesting kitty.  In the picture, he was having such a good nap in a sunspot that he didn't even wake up when the sunspot moved.  He was born in March of 1998 and within a month he and his Mommy and siblings were all in a Humane Society shelter, looking for a home.  They were ferals and were caught and put up for adoption.  A short time later, The Mad Macedonian found him there and took him home to be a companion for his old cat, Warrior.  The two of them got along fine, but Warrior went to the Bridge just three months later.  Aside from a short time of trying to tame a feral black cat, which didn't work out too well, Nikita has been an only cat and likes it that way.  He is an inside cat, though he does sneak out once in a while and leads his human on a short chase around the yard.  Once this didn't work out as Nikita planned and his human didn't notice he was out and went to work.  Nikita was stuck outside until he got home again and this freaked Nikita out a bit.  He decided he didn't like it outside for any length of time.  Nikita loves to look out the window and has conversation with passing animals to pass the time while his human is at work.  Nikita is a very clever cat and soon discovered that crinkling paper would wake up his human.  Like most cats, Nikita's idea of breakfast time is much earlier than his human's idea of a good time to get up.  Nikita put together his information that crinkling paper would wake up a human with his desire to be fed at 5 am.  He once succeeded in getting the Mad Macedonian up at 5 am to feed him by crinkling paper and pushing it off onto the floor. After it worked once, Nikita made a regular habit of it.  When they lived in a one-bedroom apartment, Nikita's habits would get him kicked out of the bedroom.  He then discovered that he could push pieces of paper under the door to wake up his human.  Now the Mad Macedonian tries to make sure that all pieces of paper are out of Nikita's reach before going to bed.  He doesn't always succeed.

                                           Nikita loves to play with paper,
                                           And he invented quite a caper.
                                                   He pushes it under the door
                                                   While his human does snore.
                                          He asks for his breakfast by crinkling paper.

Happy New Year

I was going to do a photo, but I was simply too tired when I got home from work and I had some other stuff I had to do.  Anyway, a very Happy New Year to everyone.  This year has been one of ups and downs for me, more than usual.    The really big up was that I started blogging and really got involved with the Cat Blogosphere.  I have really enjoyed sharing my limericks with all of you and am delighted that so many of you really like them.  You already know about the really big downs.  I hope everyone has a truly happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.