Farewell, Dino and TT

It has been another sad week in the Cat Blogosphere. We learned about Dino on Monday and TT on Tuesday.


I didn't know Dino very well. I have his blog on my blogroll, but I just didn't visit very often. His Mom posted on Monday that he had crossed to the Rainbow Bridge after a battle with kidney failure on July 18th. He was just a month short of his 19th birthday. He had a long and wonderful life. One thing that I do know about him is that he was instrumental in putting forth the idea of Meezer World Domination. That idea has really grown. The Cat Blogosphere will really miss him.

                           Dino has gone to the Great Beyond,
                           Leaving behind his family fond.
                                          He lived a long time
                                          With a love sublime,
                           Which will sustain his family fond.




I knew TT a whole lot better. She was a frequent visitor to my blog and I to hers. I really enjoyed reading about her and the adventures of all her family. She was with her Mom for only a little less than two years, though she was an older cat, about 12. She seems to have had a rough time of it before her Mom found her in a parking lot, but the last two years were spent with a very loving family.

                                TT let it be known that she was in pain.
                                Her Mom took her to the vet again.
                                        Mom held her close
                                        For the final dose.
                                Now TT will nevermore know pain.

Fat Cat Muffin

Thanks to everyone for wishing me a better week. I am having a much better week because I am on vacation. I am resting up and hoping to get some limericks written.

I don't have a photo of Fat Cat Muffin because there are none on his blog. He is a yellow/orange tabby and a big fellow. He is about 14 years old and weighs in at 20 pounds. He is larger than most of the dogs at his apartment complex and he likes it that way. His hobbies are eating, sleeping, cuddling and bird watching. He has discovered that the little lizards in Florida make good eating. He lives with his Mom and Grandma and a guinea pig named Midi. He and Midi get along just fine. He would like to make friends with the birds, but, for some reason, they are afraid of him. He patrols his apartment at night to make sure that no intruders get in and kills all the bugs. To make up for his nightly activities, he sleeps a lot during the day. He likes to meow at thunderstorms.

Fat Cat Muffin is a hefty boy.
He can scare woofies, much to his joy.
The woofies around him
Sometimes astound him
When they show great respect for this floofy boy.

Awards

Zinger at Zing Shui gave me this wonderful award for my (ahem) daily limericks. I wish that they still were daily. Thank you very much, Zinger. Here are the rules:

1) Put the logo on your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on yours.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

I would like to pass this award on to:

Beethoven because his blog never fails to entertain me and I love following his adventures.
Tybalt because his blog is both interesting and fun.
Daisy because her blogging certainly is brilliant.
Cat in the Bag because I love the artwork showcased there along with the funny posts.
TT because I just love her blog.
Mr. Hendrix because I love reading about him and Bendrix.
Luxor because of the beautiful photography and the great fun they have.




Moki gave me this wonderful award and I am very grateful. This is my second time for this award, so I won't pass it on again, but I will give the link to Arte y pico, which I missed out on the first time. Thank you so much, Moki.

Really Bad Week

I don't really like bringing my personal life into this, but the reason I haven't paid tribute to my two friends who went to the Rainbow Bridge this week before now is that I had a really bad week at work with lots of overtime and I just haven't had the time to do it before now.


Mu Shue Pooh King Cat was helped to the Bridge on Tuesday because he just wasn't having any fun any more. Mama Laura is grateful for the extra two weeks she had with him when she took him the first time and he definitely wasn't ready to go. Mu Shue was a wonderfully sweet Mancat who really knew how to take care of his family. When the fire broke out and Mama Laura wasn't home, he herded Lilly Lu and Iris under the bed away from the fire and saved all three of their lives. He had to drag Iris by the scruff of her neck, but he did it. He was a true hero and a wonderful cat, but the time came when he just had to go.

Kayla said, "Mu Shue, it's time to come home --
To stay by my side and nevermore roam."
Mu Shue answered the call,
Though he'll be missed by all.
Together they watch over Mom Laura's home.


Fatty was a stray cat who lived in the basement of TT's apartment house. I won't call her feral, because she wasn't. She would come into the apartment to visit and was very friendly with TT and especially Shadow and the Mom, too. She never quite moved in, which turned out to be a good thing because she had FIV. Did she know she was sick and didn't want to infect the other cats? We will never know. When she became obviously sick, the Mom took her to the vet and found out the awful news. By this time, she could hardly stand and the Mom made the very hard decision to send her on to the Rainbow Bridge on Thursday. I know that I'll really miss her and I know that she is in a better place now, but it still really hurts that she is gone from the world we know. I am so glad that she knew love and kindness before she went.

Fatty just loved the great outside.
When the weather was bad, in the basement she'd hide.
When she got really sick,
She sought the Mom so quick.
Now she's at the Bridge, where it's all nice outside.

Dixie

Dixie is a lovable dog who really loves to play.  She has discovered that playing in water is a lot of fun.  She had been a mostly indoor dog and was just introduced to the fun of dog parks with water just last year.  The first time she went into the water, she wasn't quite sure what to think of it, but then she decided that she liked it a lot.

                                      Dixie loves to play in the pond.
                                      Of chasing her ball she's very fond.
                                           They put them together
                                           In sunny weather.
                                      Just watch Dixie and Hubby bond.
                                       

Dusty Rose

Dusty Rose is a small kitty who lives with her Mom and her Hubby and Dixie the woofy. She is very playful and really loves her Mom. She is also quite fond of Dixie. The two of them play and nap together quite often. Dixie doesn't show it now, because she has had her summer furcut, but she is usually quite floofy. Dusty Rose is quite curious, but she is scared silly of her Mom's blow drier. She is also rather cautious of the shower now, because Hubby turned the water on once when she was exploring it.

                                   Dusty Rose is a kitty who loves her woofy.
                                   She snuggles up in her fur so floofy.
                                           She makes her a pillow
                                           Of her own free will-o
                                  Just to show how much she loves her woofy.

Shizuku

Shizuku lives with Isis and Denali.  He seems to like the cats pretty well, though it seems he mostly ignores them.  He will play with Denali from time to time.  He is happy and playful and loves being outside.  Shizuku is of two minds about water.  When it comes from hoses or sprinklers or falls from the sky, it is something to be played in and enjoyed, especially if it makes lots of lovely mud.  If water comes in the form of a bath, he hates it.

                                  Shizuku just loves to play in the mud.
                                  He can't really help it; it's in his blood.
                                        He then gets a bath,
                                        Which incurs his wrath,
                                  But that never stops him from playing in mud.

Isis

Before I get to Isis, I have some news about Denali.  Her claw on her front left paw has grown back, though it is smaller than her others.  Isis is out in the yard eating grass, which is one of her favorite things to do.  She will even go out after a rain and eat wet grass, as she is doing in this photo. Isis is dainty and quite lady-like.  She is twelve years old, but still quite active.  She likes to chase her toy mousies around the
house, especially when Denali isn't around.  She would usually rather nap than play with Denali, which can lead to some spats.  Sometimes Denali will get quite rough with Isis, then Denali gets a time out.  Isis can be a little mean at times.  When Denali hurt her left front paw, Isis would sit right in front of her and groom her own left front paw, being sure to show Denali all her claws.  At first the Mom thought that it was just a coincidence, but then she saw Isis doing this time after time.  Isis knew exactly what she was doing, and so did Denali.  Denali decided she had had enough of it and gave Isis a whap on the head.  Unfortunately, she used her sore paw and it hurt Denali more than it did Isis.  I can just imagine Isis giving a little kitty chuckle at that.

                               Isis is the lady cat of the house,
                               But she still has time to chase a mouse.
                                       Of course, it's a fake one;
                                       She would never dare take one
                               Of the live ones away from Denali in or out of the house.

Denali

This is Denali just after her first fur-cut for the warm weather season this year. She is a very floofy cat all winter, but since she lives in southern New Mexico and likes to go outside, she gets a trim for the warmer weather, which can get very warm indeed. She enjoys having shorter fur for the summer, but hates the process of getting trimmed and will ignore her Mom for quite a while just after the trim. Denali loves being outside and is quite a hunter. She goes for small rodents, like most cats, but also really enjoys munching down on spiders. Denali had a bad experience a while ago. She caught one of the claws on her left front foot on something and actually ripped it out. Ouch! Her Mom thinks she may have fallen from a tree while being tormented by a neighbor cat. This mean neighbor cat is no longer in the neighborhood, much to Denali's delight. Denali has an older sister, Isis, whom she tries to get to play with her sometimes, but mostly Isis would rather nap. Denali also has a woofie brother, Shizuku, and the two of them play together at times.

Denali's hunting skills are awesome.
She loves to catch spiders, which she finds pawsome.
She is missing a claw
On her left front paw,
But that doesn't prevent her from being awesome.

Sadness

This has been a really bad weekend for the Cat Blogosphere.  Friday night Forest snuck out of the house.  She had never been outside on her own before and probably got really scared by all the new sights, smells and sounds.  I don't know why it is, but scared cats seem to run straight for the road.  She was hit by a car and Omer found her Saturday morning after looking for her all night.  I have been reading Snow and Forest's blog since it started and I am really going to miss her, but not nearly as much as Snow, Leo, Fairy and Omer.  I am so sad I can hardly stand it, but I know that what I am feeling is not a patch on what they are feeling.  Goodbye, sweet Forest, have a wonderful time at the Rainbow Bridge.


On Sunday Lucy, Moki's sister also went to the Bridge suddenly.  She was napping in a sunspot and just never woke up. She was the family jester and will be greatly missed.  She's probably cracking up all the other kitties at the Rainbow Bridge right now.

Cold Box Meme

Roxy tagged me for the Cold Box meme.  The rules are: Show us a photo of the front of your Cold Box and tell us about at least one thing on it and one thing you keep inside of it! Tag your friends and remember to stay COOL! And no fair cleaning it up first!!!

I cheated a bit and took a picture of one of the sides of my Cold Box because it is far more interesting than the front.  There's a picture of one of my nephews there and a gift magnet from a local theater production that my Mom worked on.  Inside the Cold Box, the best thing is turkey.  Mom and I both love turkey and we cooked half of one recently. Yum!

I think bunches of kitties have done this one already, so I hope I tag ones that haven't done it yet.  Minnie the Cat, Benjamin Fuzz and Castle.

Minnie the Cat

Minnie is a mini-sized cat who lives in London, England.  She has a blue coat with subtle stripes, a very striking combination.  She recently moved and is still exploring her back garden.  Her first big goal was to climb Mt. Lattice, as the wood pigeons and a cheeky squirrel sit up there and taunt her.  First, she got in some climbing practice on a tree, then climbed all the way to the summit of Mt. Lattice.  She was doing fine walking along the summit, until she came to an area which was overgrown with vines.  This made for tricky footing and she slipped and fell, but she landed safely on her feet. Minnie's favorite toy is a small ball which is stuffed with catnip and has a few feathers attached.  She carries it around with her all over the house.  She enjoys naps in the sun and catching flies.  She makes her Feeders a bit anxious with her game of Bee Tag, but so far she hasn't been stung.  She has taught herself to play football (soccer) with a small ball, using her female Feeder's shoes as goals and she is pretty good at it.  Minnie has only been blogging since May, but she is a lot of fun to read.  At present her Feeders are off on vacation, so drop by and keep her company.

                                 Minnie was determined to climb Mt. Lattice,
                                 But she decided she needed some practice.
                                        So she climbed a tree
                                        With both skill and glee.
                                 Then she handily conquered Mt. Lattice.

I am feeling much better.  It was just a little digestive upset and it's all over now.  Thank you all for your concern.

Happy Fourth of July!

I'm just using the same fireworks picture I used last year.  I got it here.  I hope everyone has a great Fourth and is safe, healthy and happy.  A great big salute to all our men and women in uniform and thank you so much for your service.  Mom Laura will be having her twins today -- a couple of Yankee Doodle Dandies.

Award

I got the Arte y Pico Award from Eric and Flynn on Saturday, but I haven't been feeling too great, so I didn't get around to doing anything about it until now. "The 'Arte y Pico' award was created and to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creative energy and their talents, whether it be writing, artwork in all media's. When you receive this award it is considered a 'special honor'. Once you have received this award, you are to pass it on to at least 5 others." I do feel very honored to have been given this award for my little limericks. The hard part is deciding who to pass it along to. Here is what I have come up with:

Luxor, for the wonderful photos that appear on his blog. Many of them are really works of art.
Dragonheart and Merlin, also for wonderful photos and very creative scrapbook pages and slideshows.
Skeezix, for really cool graphics and other Photoshop work and also his work on the help blog.
Tybalt, for his great movie reviews. He does a wonderful job.
Cheysuli, for her creativity in running for President and her very fun "Where's Chey" Fridays.