NOMS Day

My Not of My Species Special Friends are Pickles McHushpuppy and Go-Go Gadget, Miss Steffy's two guinea pigs. Unfortunately, I haven't learned much about them. They are about a year old and participated in Skeezix's Halloween contest last year. They are also very cute, but that's all I know about them. I have decided to extend my NOMS friendships to other of Miss Steffy's rodents and tell you a bit about Gerber the hedgehog.


Gerber is a domestic hedgehog and is probably a bit lonely now, as his best friend, Baby the Blonde Hedgehog, went to the Bridge recently. Gerber got his name because he absolutely loves Gerber's banana baby food. Gerber is a friendly little fellow and he loves to sit on Miss Steffy's shoulder, under her shirt. He also really enjoys getting an outing in his ball. It really rolls around well on the hardwood floors.

Gerber's a hedgehog who likes to have fun.
Across the hardwood floor he will run
All safe in his ball
Until Steffy will call,
"OK, Gerber, that's enough of a run."

Pablo

Pablo lives in West Hobart, Tasmania. He is about eight years old and really resents being referred to as an "older cat". As you can see, he is quite lively. He is an indoor/outdoor cat, but sticks close to home. He is Captain of the West Hobart Tigers, a team in the Australian Feline League. He loves Australian Rules Football and last year he ran a contest to see who could guess who would win the championship and by how many points. Daisy picked the winning team and Tripper got the closest to the number of points they won by. Pablo's favorite thing to eat is chicken and he'll take it in any form: raw, cooked, or made into cat food. Pablo's favorite game is Stringplay and his favorite type of string is a shoe lace. He highly recommends playing with shoe laces for chewability, whapability and length of play. Pablo is such a popular cat that he has his own fan club.

                                 Pablo loves to play with string.
                                 He often says it's his favorite thing.
                                       For a good shoe lace
                                       He will leave his place
                                  In the sun to have a good game of string.

George

This is George's favorite picture of himself. His attention is caught by a dragonfly. He has a pond in his garden which attracts dragonflies and they attract George, unfortunately for them. He likes to eat them. George is, in fact, a mighty hunter and catches and eats all sorts of rodents and birds. He lives with his pet human and his fellow Mancat William. George love sleeping on the bed with his female pet human, but complains that she takes up too much room. George has been studying the relationships between cats and humans and now writes a wonderful advice column for cats who are having issues with their humans. George is the only cat I have come to know who actually likes mud. He loves to squish his toes in the mud and occasionally lies down in puddles. He loves to splash around water wherever he finds it.

                                   George is a cat who gives great advice
                                   On how to train humans and make them be nice --
                                                  How to get them up
                                                  To get you your sup
                                   And other bits of useful advice.

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.