Rosie

Rosie gets two pictures, too, because I wanted to show you her two white patches, one on her tail and one on her tummy.  That picture doesn't really show off all the colors in her coat too well, so I picked another picture of her as well.  Rosie figures she got her white patches because her Mom got silly when whe was very little and painted a ring around her tail, then she (Rosie) lay down on the paintbrush.  Rosie and Cheeto are both very affectiontate cats and sleep with their Mom every night, usually on or between her legs.  Both of them have decided that 4:00 am is a good time to play.  Either Cheeto will pounce on Rosie, which causes Rosie to scream, or Rosie will decide that a picture on the wall needs to be straightened.  This activity usually wakes up the Mom, who then calms them down and then everyone goes back to sleep for a while.  Rosie is the alarm clock kitty.  She makes sure to wake the Mom up every morning for breakfast.  Both Rosie and Cheeto are vocal cats, but Rosie is the loudest one.  She yells like she is being murdered every time Cheeto pounces her, which is often.  She also yells whenever she hears her Mom outside, talking to someone.  Rosie wants to make sure that her Mom remembers where she lives and that there are two lonely cats inside, waiting for her to get home from work.  Being such a lovely cat, Rosie has a boyfriend, Eric.  Their ongoing love affair is not hampered by the fact that Rosie lives in San Francisco and Eric lives in England.  Rosie built her very own, enviornment-friendly, jet-pack to go visit Eric whenever she likes.

                                        Rosie and Eric love each other madly.
                                        They would spend time together, but, sadly,
                                                   There's an ocean between,
                                                   But that doesn't mean
                                        Rosie cannot jet-pack over gladly.

Cheeto

Cheeto gets two pictures because the second one, which goes with the limerick, doesn't really show him off too well.  The first one gives you a much better look at his handsome face.  Cheeto was born in Miami in 2000 and was adopted by his Mom there, while she was in college.  He really enjoyed being the only man around with four young women, who enjoyed partying on the weekends.  Rosie joined them a year later.  Cheeto really enjoys cuddling with his Mom and will make biscuits on her.  He loves to pounce on Rosie.  He really enjoys playing with
wand-type toys and will wear out almost any human in this game.  Left to his own devices, he will go around the house looking for glasses or mugs with liquid left in them.  These must be tipped over, of course.  One of his favorite places to sit is on top of the refrigerator.  He can see the whole kitchen from up there and be ready to pounce on anything that needs pouncing.  It's also nice and warm.

                                        Cheeto likes to sit on the fridge.
                                        From there he sees all, as if up on a ridge.
                                                   He can pounce any foe
                                                   He sees down below.
                                        Besides that, it's warm up there on the fridge.

Make a Wish Meme

I was working on a limerick that just wouldn't come out right when TT came along and saved my day by tagging me for the Make a Wish meme.  Here is how it works:

The Rules
1. Think about what it is that you want more than anything, what your heart's desire and fondest wish is, and what it is that you would wish for if you were to see the above wishing star flame across the night sky.

2. Right click and SAVE the blank graphic below.

3. Use a graphics program of your choice and place your wish on this picture:



4. Post the Make A Wish Meme and your wishing star on your blog along with these rules.

5. Tag as many people as you like so that there can be wishing stars all across the Blogosphere and ask them to please link back to Linda so that we can see what wishes others have made and share those wishes with others.


I wish to tag Daisy the Curly Cat for this meme.

Momo

Momo loves to relax on the furniture in her back garden.  In fact, she loves to spend most of her time in the garden.  She usually only comes inside when the weather is cold or stormy.  This works well because she is content to stay in her garden.  She sometimes gets up on the fence to see what the neighbors are up to, but she always hops back down into her own garden.  Momo was feral and pregnant when her Mom found her.  She is really loving being a pampered cat with a home now.  Momo loves to go teleporting around to visit her friends and she has been all over the world.  She lives in Australia.  Momo has also been very active in CCSI.  She was an actor in the first two productions and is now Marketing and Publicity Manager for Little Productions.  When she is not busy visiting and
working for Little Productions, she loves lazing around, eating ham and cheese, drinking milk and chasing mice, lizards and bugs.  She catches them, but never eats them.  Why should she, when she gets so much yummy food from her Mom?

                                      In CCSI Momo took a role,
                                      Then she went to a party at the South Pole.
                                                In her garden she'll nap.
                                                Upon waking she'll whap
                                       Mousies and lizards who sneak in through a hole.

Nicky

Nicky is the youngest of the Good Cats, having been born on October 23, 2000.  His mother was a stray cat, who was being cared for by some friends of the Mom and Dad.  This friend knew that the Dad wanted to adopt a black cat and called them after the mother cat, called Mow-Mow, brought her kittens to the house.  The Dad had taken care of a stray black cat named Gato when he was in college, but didn't know enough about cats at the time to take really good care of him.  He had to help Gato to the Bridge and then told himself that if he ever had the chance to take care of another black cat, he would do a much better job of it.  Nicky came along just at the right time.  The Mom and Dad had moved into a larger house and had room for another cat.  Nicky moved right in as soon as he was old enough.  Right away, he decided that he wanted to be the big mancat around, but Kelly had other ideas.  Kelly is still the alpha cat, so Nicky had to find another job.  Caitie is the hunter and Lizzie is the calm cat, so Nicky became the Mom's guard.  He keeps a close eye on her and will hiss at anyone he doesn't approve of coming near her.  When the doorbell rings, he growls, just in case it is an intruder with evil intentions.  Nicky loves to play with toy mousies and puts them in his food or water bowl for safe keeping when he is through playing.  Nicky also likes to play fetch, sometimes.  Nicky really hates going to the vet.  He howls all the way there and all the way back.  If another cat has been to the vet, Nicky hisses at them, even Kelly.

                                          Nicky's job is to be on guard.
                                          Whenever the Mom is in the yard.
                                                    He growls at the doorbell
                                                    And hisses at vet smell.
                                          For the sake of the Mom he is always on guard.
                                          

Happy Spring and Easter

                                                                           Jonquils


                                                                        Grape Hyacinth

At a little after eleven this morning I got my camera and bundled up, it was 35 degrees F, and went looking for signs of Spring.  The above is what I found.  These flowers are on the protected south side of the house.  On the north side of the house, there is still a little snow on the ground.  Away from the protection of the house, the tulips aren't even poking their leaves out yet.  Smart tulips.  You can click on the pictures to biggify, but the pictures are probably a bit blurry that way.  There was a breeze blowing and the flowers were nodding.


To all of you who celebrate it, I wish a Happy and Blessed Easter.  To those of you who don't, I wish a very Happy Spring, even if it doesn't look much like it in much of the country.  I am seeing a few signs of Spring coming at last and I will try to get out during the day and photograph some of them.  If I find anything good, I will add the photos to this post later.

Caitie

Caitie was the third cat to be adopted into the Good Cats family.  The Mom and Dad found her in 1997 at a Good Mews adoption clinic held at a nearby Petco.  They were thinking that three cats was a good number to have and were looking for an adult cat to fit in with Kelly and Lizzie.  They found a thin one-year-old calico with green eyes in a cage labelled Tinkerbelle.  The Mom and Dad had already decided to name the new cat Caitlin, but loved the Belle part of her first name, so she became Caitie-Belle.  Caitie is the hunter of the group.  When she is inside, she chitters at the birds at the bird-feeder.  When she is outside, she goes hunting.  She has caught more critters than the other three combined.  She brought a live mouse to the Mom once, but when she put it down, the Mom made sure that it got away.  There are at least one mouse, rat, chipmunk and rabbit who weren't so lucky. Caitie also guards the yard from the neighbor cat.  If Tigs comes over for a visit and Caitie is outside, she chases Tigs all the way home.  Caitie also keeps an eye on the dog next door, who stays inside his invisible fence for the most part. Caitie also enjoys the wild catnip growing in the yard.

                                               Caitie is a hunter and a mighty one is she.
                                               She has caught more critters than the other three.
                                                       A mouse or a rabbit,
                                                       She leaps to grab it,
                                               Then brings it back for her folks to see.

Lizzie

Lizzie's full name is Elisabeth Bennet Cat.  She was named after the character in Pride and Prejudice, which the Mom was watching shortly before she was adopted in January of 1996.  Lizzie is still a bit shy around humans, but she dearly loves her Mom and sleeps with her every night.  She loves to go outside in warm weather, but prefers to stay in when there is snow on the ground.  There is catnip growing in the yard and Lizzie occasionally takes advantage of it.  She likes to watch the birds and other creatures, but doesn't hunt them.  She doesn't demand when she wants something, but acts very sad and mournful.  Her humans sometimes refer to her as the Drama Queen.

                                         Lizzie Bennet is strongheaded and willful
                                         And, like her namesake, somewhat prideful.
                                                  She gives soft cries
                                                  And mournful eyes
                                        To get what she wants, even her bowl full.

Kelly

Kelly loves to go outside and cold and snow don't bother him at all.  He has a very thick floofy coat to keep him warm.  He likes going out even when it's cold so much that he had a bit of a problem this last winter.  He had been out enjoying himself, but collapsed on the sidewalk in front of the house.  He was rushed to the vet, who found nothing wrong with him.  It turns out that hypothermia in cats can bring on a seizure and that is apparently what happened to Kelly.  He is fine now, except for his irritable bowel syndrome.  He had quite a yakfest before that was discovered to be the problem.  His diet is watched much more carefully now and he is losing some weight, which is good, because he had gotten a bit too heavy.

                                   Kelly likes to walk in the snow,
                                   But he doesn't like to take it slow.
                                           He runs for the door
                                           To get in before
                                   His mancat toes turn as cold as the snow.

Thompson

Isn't Thompson a handsome mancat?  Thompson is the only cat at Cat's Eye who is formerly feral.  He is also a perfect example of how tough life can be for a cat on his own.  He was caught in a leg-hold trap and lost his left front leg.  He gets around fine now, though he is better at running than walking.  He sometimes joins Diego-san and Theo in a game of Thundering Herd of Elephants.  He loves to wrestle with Theo and is an excellent bunny-kicker.  He comes running when he hears the popcorn popper going, because he has discovered that he likes popcorn, though he is rather picky about which kernels he will eat. -d ma will put down a handful for him, but he only eats three or four kernels.  He loves fresh water out of the tap and will jump up on the sink when he hears the water running.  When -d ma wears shorts in the summer, Thompson likes to lick his legs.  Thompson's special time with -d ma is when -d ma is watching TV.  Thompson gets up on his chest and settles down for a nice session of petting and TV watching. Thompson is very attached to Diego-san and the two of them will often just lie next to each other, hanging out. Thompson will usually start out the night lying at the foot of the bed, but usually winds up somewhere else sometime during the night.

                                      Thompson loves to wrestle with Theo.
                                      Their matches are really something to see-o.
                                                 Thompson bunny-kicks;
                                                  Theo gets in some licks,
                                      Then it's a merry chase for Thompson and Theo.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I want to wish all of you a very Happy St. Patrick's Day.  Have lots of fun, but nip responsibly.  There are a lot of parties going on in the Catblogosphere and I hope to drop in on at least some of them. The very best of Irish Luck to all of you.

Diego-san

Diego-san and Thompson were adopted from a foster home as a pair because they were so fond of each other.  They were named by the people in the foster home.  Diego-san was named after the painter Diego Rivera and -d ma added the "san" because he wanted the name to be a little more oriental.  Diego-san is a very floofy black cat and he is the leader.  It's not quite right to call him the alpha cat, because there doesn't seem to be a real hierarchy among the three cats.  It's just that the other cats will come over to see what Diego-san is doing and often copy him. Diego-san is an excellent bug-spotter and will often watch a spider on the ceiling.  Sometimes one of the other cats will also look at the ceiling, but not spot the spider, but they keep looking up because Diego-san is. Diego-san is the one who takes -d ma's absences the hardest.  When -d ma comes back after an absence, Diego-san will often ignore him for a while, as if to punish him for being left.  Diego-san loves to be combed.  He gets a combing session just before -d ma goes to bed.  When he sees the preparations for bed beginning, he will jump up on his combing station and meow for his combing.  He has also been seen hugging his comb.  When -d ma goes to bed, Diego-san climbs right in with him and snuggles up to him for the night.  Diego-san also gets alone time with the man while he his drinking his coffee and reading the paper just before going to work.  Diego-san climbs up into his lap for petting and often makes it hard for -d ma to leave for work, because he is purring so much and it's very hard to leave  him.

                                       There is a black cat named Diego-san,
                                       Who very, very much loves his man.
                                                In bed each night
                                                He snuggles up tight
                                       To the side of his man, does Diego-san.

Theo

Diamond Emerald-Eyes suggested that I do limericks for all the cats at Cat's Eye and I am happy to oblige.  This is a really interesting blog, as it is not just about the cats, but about the human as well.  He has a really interesting way of talking about his life and how it intersects with the cats he has taken into his home.  The first cat I am writing about is Theo, who is pictured here in his new favorite place to relax.  This bar stool was recently moved from the bedroom to the living room and it became a whole new thing for Theo.  Theo is the youngest and smallest of the three cats living in the house.  He was also the last to be adopted.  It all started when Mr. Max, who had been the man's companion for many years, went to the Bridge.  At first, he thought that he didn't want another cat because the pain of losing Mr. Max was so great, but he got lonesome and decided that adopting two cats together would be a good thing.  If one went to the Bridge, he would still have companionship.  He adopted Diego-san and Thompson together because they were already attached to each other.  When he saw how much Diego-san and Thompson cared for each other, he started thinking that if one of them did go to the Bridge, the other would be devastated, so he decided to adopt a third cat, so the one left behind would still have companionship.   After much looking around, he found Theo from a foster home.  Theo was something of a special needs cat for a while.  In his first home a child sat on him and badly damaged his back legs.  He had a long recovery, though he was fully recovered by the time he was adopted.  It has left him untrusting of his back legs, though.  He can jump quite well, but is reluctant to try.  He also gets skittish and runs around like his tail is on fire is anything startles him. Theo was a perfect choice to bring into the mix.  While Diego-san and Thompson love to hang out together, Theo wants to play with them.  Theo loves to play chase with Diego-san and chases him all over the house until Diego-san tires of the game and jumps up on something high, where Theo won't follow him.  Theo also loves to start wrestling matches with Thompson. They have a great time until Thompson tires of the game and warns Theo off with a growl.  This generally makes Theo take off running through the house. Thompson may or may not chase him a bit.  Theo loves his alone time with the man.  This happens when the man comes home from work and sits down at the kitchen table to read the mail.  Theo jumps up on the table for head rubs.  Theo loves it when the man has visitors.  He runs to greet them when he hears the doorbell and demands attention from everyone.  Then he will suddenly run off for no reason at all.

                                             Theo chases the other cats.
                                             He thinks it's fun.  They think he's bats.
                                                   He loves visitors.
                                                   He runs to the door
                                             When he hears the doorbell, this friendliest of cats.

Kitty Limericks Badge

Diamond Emerald-Eyes made this great badge for all you kitties and other creatures that I have written limericks for.  You can put it on your sidebar with a link to your limerick if you like.  Thank you so much for this wonderful idea, Diamond Emerald-Eyes.

On the limerick front, I am feeling a bit stressed-out from stuff that has nothing to do with writing limericks, but they just don't seem to be coming right now.  I hope to get back to writing them soon.

Virgil

Virgil was the third cat to join 4 Boys and a Lady.  He came as a little kitten last fall.  Nico took to him right away, but Maggie had to hiss at him a bit to establish her alpha cat status.  Virgil took it all in stride and now he is every cat's friend.  He hangs out with Nico, sits in the window with Maggie, plays with Nermal with the red plastic tape and has a ball with the newest member of the family, Westley.  He did hiss at Nermal the first time he saw him, but got over that very quickly and now he is the only cat that Nermal seems to actually like.  Virgil also likes to inspect the orchids when it is watering time.  His Mom knows that the spaghum moss is too dry when Virgil tries to take some out of the pot and play with it.

                                       Virgil wants to be everycat's friend.
                                        For him the good times never end.
                                                He plays hard with Westley
                                                And Nermal, but bestly
                                        He loves hanging out, being Nico's best friend.

Nico

Nico is the most laid-back cat at 4 Boys and a Lady.  He was adopted last summer as the second cat of the household.  He is two years old now.  Maggie bullies him sometimes, possibly because he is so calm about everything.  Nico loves cat company and is always the first to accept any newcomer to the house.  He and Virgil are fast friends, he and Nermal get along, though they don't seem to be close, and he has accepted Westley as part of the family.  He and Maggie even share a lap or a bed occasionally.  An odd thing happened last winter.  The cats had all made themselves comfortable in the living room, Nermal on the low perch, Nico on the high perch, Maggie near the scratching post and Virgil wandering around.  Virgil caught sight of Nermal's tail and decided to play with it.  Nermal wasn't in the mood and growled a bit.  Virgil ignored the warning and Nermal growled louder and swatted Virgil and even nipped at him.  Maggie came flying across the room and whapped Nermal.  Most unusually for him, Nico jumped down and  chased Maggie away from Nermal.  It looked like Maggie was protecting Virgil, who was just a little kitten at the time, but what was Nico up to?  Was he trying to stop a fight breaking out between Maggie and Nermal, or did he see a chance to get back at Maggie for picking on him, while her attention was on Nermal?  Only Nico knows for sure.

                                   Nico doesn't like to get involved.
                                   He watches the others get their problems solved.
                                          He sits and observes.
                                          Not much gets on his nerves.
                                   He just doesn't want to get involved.

Cody

Cody is the youngest of the animals at Camie's Kitties, being seven years old.  Tara's Mother adopted him from Pet Smart as a Mother's Day gift to herself when he was a kitten.  It was only afterwards that she learned that Cody, his mother and his siblings were rescued from the field next to the store.  His early experience of being feral has left Cody very timid.  I included the second picture to show that Cody does enjoy playing, as long as he has an escape route near.  That is a nip snake he is playing with and he has a lot of fun with it.  Cody has always been terrified of people.  He was getting used to Tara's Mother and was beginning to let her pet him, but she died and he went right back to the way he was when he was first adopted.  Tara is very patient with him and he recently has allowed her to give him about five seconds of cheek scritching, which is great progress for him.  Cody is so skittish and so good at hiding that he hasn't been to the vet since he got his hoo-ha-ectomy when he was about six months old.  It's a good thing that he's a healthy cat.  The really good thing is that Cody is not afraid (much) of Tiki and Tavi, or even Camie, unless they move suddenly.  Cody loves wrestling and snuggling with Tiki or Tavi.  Cody may even snuggle with Camie occasionally. At least he has been seen in Camie's bed, though Camie wasn't there at the time. Cody also likes to play with the cat toys, though he seems to prefer to do this by himself.  Cody has discovered that the best thing in the whole wide world is Temptations.  He will come out of hiding for Temptations and will even eat them out of Tara's hand, as long as she stays very still.  Sometimes he comes out and demands Temptations.  One of Cody's nicknames is Ghost Cat, because no one, aside from Tara and her husband, have ever seen him.  They went away for a week once and had a pet sitter live in the house to take care of the cats and Camie.  The pet sitter never saw Cody even once for the whole week.

                                   When it comes to people, Cody is shy.
                                    A stranger's voice will make him fly.
                                             He'll come out for treats
                                             And stay calm while he eats,
                                   But a sudden movement will make him say, "Bye!"

Tiki

Tiki and Tavi are fourteen-year-old littermates and have always been together.  In this picture, Tiki is a little annoyed with the flashy box, as he is trying to explore and the Mom keeps taking pictures of him.  This picture was taken after the stroller ride in the previous post. Tiki just loves going out on his harness and wants to get into everything.  Tiki and Tavi have a fun game that they play with the Mom when they are out on their harnesses.  They will each go in a different direction, leaving the Mom being pulled apart in the middle. Tiki and Tavi are also very clever.  They have found out that they can open any door in the house if Tiki stands up and turns the knob while Tavi pushes at the bottom of the door.  The Mom had to put child-proof latches on all the kitchen cabinets to keep them from opening up the cabinet doors.  Tiki used to enjoy opening the cabinet door where the dog food was kept and having an illicit feast.  Tiki has been diagnosed with diabetes, but he does very well most of the time.  Because Tiki needs food throughout the day, both Tiki and Tavi are fed Stinky Goodness three times a day.  One day the Mom came home from work for lunch and Tiki was nowhere in sight.  This was very unusual, as Tiki usually greets her at the door, demanding his lunch.  The Mom found him in his bed, very deeply asleep.  The problem was that he was very sluggish to respond to anything, so the Mom tested his blood sugar.  It was extremely low.  The Mom tried to get him to eat his usual lunch, but he only ate about half of it.  Then she tried baby food, but he only ate about a fourth of that.  That meant that she had to get out the big guns.  She dosed him with honey, which he hates, but it brought his blood sugar up.  The whole situation was a bit scary for both of them, but Tiki is fine now.

                                  Tiki didn't come out for lunch.
                                  This really worried his Mom a bunch.
                                           His blood sugar was low
                                           And it made him slow.
                                  Mom doctored him up, 'cause she loves him a bunch.

Tavi

Tavi rates two pictures, too.  The top picture goes with the limerick, to show how relaxed Tavi is in the stroller.  Don't worry about the stroller being open.  Both Tiki and Tavi have on their harnesses and leashes and Tara has a firm grip on both of them.  The second one is Tavi in the PTU, which he loves, to show you his handsome face and beautiful eyes.  Tavi really does love the PTU.  If the Mom picks it up and holds it in the air, he will jump into it.  If the Mom moves it to clean, he will jump into it.  The only time Tavi doesn't love the PTU is when it is taking him to the v-e-t.  Another thing that Tavi absolutely adores is laps, anyone's lap.  If someone comes over to visit, Tavi is in their lap.  If someone who doesn't particularly like cats comes over to visit, Tavi is in their lap and demanding attention. Tavi is the most laid-back of the cats.  Nothing ever seems to upset him.  He wrestles with Tiki and Cody and plays with toys and enjoys his nip, but never seems to go on a tear around the house.  He sleeps with the Mom every night, on top of the covers and between her legs. Tavi is a Tonkinese cat, a breed I don't think I had every heard of before.  Their markings are very much like Siamese, but their head shape is slightly different and they have a bump on their nose.

                                Tavi's a laid-back Tonkinese.
                                He lounges around at his ease.
                                      He goes for strolls
                                      In the buggy that rolls
                                Still lounging happily at his ease.

Camie

Camie gets two pictures because I think the closeup of her ear is fascinating and I love the picture of her cuddling Tiki. See the way she has her arm over Tiki's back?   There is a very similar picture of Camie hugging Tavi.  Because of this formation, greyhounds are said to have rosebud ears.  Camie's full name is Cambria, but she only gets called that when she is in trouble, so I'll just call her Camie.  She was born in June 1997 and was a racing greyhound in Tiajuana.  She was rescued straight off the racetrack when Tara (the Mom) and her mother found her in the retired kennel.  They were looking for a dog to keep Hunter, another rescued greyhound company.  Both Tara and her mother worked for a greyhound rescue society at the time.  I think Tara still works with them.  Unfortunately, shortly after Camie was adopted, both
Hunter and Noelle, a miniature Schnauzer, went to the Bridge within three days of each other.  Camie at this time was just kept with the other dogs, apart from the cats.  She got separation anxiety and tore up a door and its frame because she was left alone and couldn't stand it.  That's when Tara decided that Camie and the cats, Tiki, Tavi and Cody, should all be together.  Camie and Cody were originally Tara's Mom's, but came to Tara when her Mom died.  Camie really loves the cats, as you can see.  Camie is a pretty healthy dog, as most greyhounds are, but she has Systemic Lupoid Onychodystrophy, which is an autoimmune disease which one summer caused her to lose all her toenails.  They have grown back, but are very crooked and brittle.  For this reason, Camie has her toenails sanded down, rather than trimmed.  Since she was born to be a racing greyhound, Camie never got to play with toys when she was a puppy and still doesn't know how to play with them now.  She does love to play chase with Tara in the backyard, though.  When Camie was first adopted, she was terrified of strange people, slept with her head under the dresser and cringed whenever anyone raised their hand above her head.  She has overcome these fears now and will walk up to strangers on her walks and demand petting.

                                    Camie's a greyhound with rosebud ears.
                                    She has conquered all of her fears.
                                            With cats she snuggles
                                            And gives them huggles.
                                   Camie's a beauty with rosebud ears.