Pat's Cats

460 and Counting (December, 2011)

2011-12-01T13:34:00.020-04:00

Pat posted the earliest baby pictures of Dolly and Dandy when they were just four weeks old. When they were 31 days old, she posted pictures of them with Schooner, who was the oldest cat living in the house, and who passed away not long after this picture was taken:

Pat posted pictures of Dolly and Dandy, with their Mom Tess, when they were 48 days old:

But this year, Pat didn’t even post an entry for their first birthday, on August 29, 2011!

Pat says it doesn’t matter that she didn’t post pictures on August 29, because around here, every day is a birthday or anniversary.

We think Pat is actually embarrassed because she can’t count up the days since Dolly and Dandy were born.

So we found a page online that did the counting for her!

And that’s how we know that as of today, December 1, 2011, Dolly and Dandy are 460 days old -- or, 1 year, 3 months, and 3 days old.

That sounds to us like a perfectly good anniversary for posting pictures of what they look like today.

Dolly remains quite a tiny girl, but she has a BIG personality. Sometimes, in fact, Pat goes so far as to whisper to the rest of us that Dolly is a wee bit spoiled, as you might infer from the expression on her face in these pictures:

But Dandy doesn't mind deferring to his little sister, even when she swats him, or steals his food. He has become quite the clown:

Not that he doesn't have his pensive moments:

Sometimes we are astonished at how much Dandy looks and behaves like his old friend Schooner:

In these pictures of Dolly and Dandy together, you can see that Dandy has also emulated Schooner by growing an ENORMOUS plume of a tale:

The plume that took over the room:

Occasionally, however, we do have to remind Dan that Schooner would never have forgotten to take his plume with him while hiding under the covers:

Tess is still a doting mother to Dolly and Dandy. In the next picture, Tess (on the right) relaxes with Dolly, who looks SO much like her:

But now that Tess is allowed to go out in the morning with the rest of us, Doll and Dan sometimes get the feeling that they see her only in passing . . .

or perhaps at breakfast:

More before-and-after pictures and news:

Farah, our irascible Cat-Bear, isn’t very good at keeping her thick pelt tangle-free. But whenever Pat tries to brush out her knots and tangles, Farah SCREAMS so loudly that the rest of us all go scrambling to hide ourselves in safe nooks and crannies.

So finally, Pat decided on drastic action: Farah went to a groomer who, in just five minutes, shaved off all her fur except that on her head, tail, legs and paws.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

When Farah came home from the groomer, we were all quite amused. But Farah actually seems pleased with her new look, and has been much easier to get along with lately.

More ANNIVERSARY pictures:

The "new" car arrived 1,656 days ago:

Our pen opened for business 1,239 days ago:

Dolly

Boris

Boris knows that Summer has special privileges. BUT ....

Taffy, on the roof of the pen?

Boris watching Taffy ...

How did SHE get out there?


Natasha


Boris again

Dolly again

As for what the rest of us have been up to . . . well, here are some recent, candid-camera shots:

OUTDOORS: Any way you look at it, Taffy loves Summer:

INDOORS: Well, we don't spend ALL of our time napping:

Cocoa


Natasha, on top of the kitchen cabinets

Cocoa and Tootsie

Hershey perching

Boris perching

Hershey and Tootsie

Cocoa and Hershey

Dolly

In memoriam:

Schooner, who left us all 395 days ago.

Zeddie, who left Pat and Henry 2,196 days ago.

Shy , who left Zeddie, Pat and Henry 2,521 days ago.

We still miss you.

Under Construction (September, 2011)

2011-09-10T12:56:00.010-04:00

August was a quiet month in our neighborhood. Lots of people seemed to be away on vacation. Pat let us spend more time than usual relaxing in the yard and on the back deck, where she and Henry spent their afternoons reading.

Then one morning, Pat warned us that it was the Labour Day Weekend. But we didn't know why we should care about that.

We got our answer early on Tuesday morning, when lots of men and noisy machines arrived right in front of our house, and Pat refused to let any of us go out there, not even Summer!

But today is Saturday, and no men have come to turn on the machines, so Pat said that if we would wear our collars, we could all go outdoors together to check out the situation.

The last time men with big machines came to our street -- back in December -- they cut down the forest across the street from us. Then they spent months building a new house there.

But this time, there seem to be many more machines. The machines are parked all up and down the street.

The men have left piles of curious objects on almost every lawn.

In our own front yard, there is a pile of long black tubes:

Also in our yard, the men have dumped a huge mountain of dirt! On top of the dirt they stuck a huge concrete thingy, which even Pat is unable to identify.

As Toots looked on, Natasha volunteered to undertake a thorough exploration of the dirt-mountain:

After Nasha reported that the dirt-mountain seemed stable, we went right to work putting our paw-prints all over the side that faces the street:

That was fun!

But Pat complains that we are tracking in too much mud, both from the dirt-mountain, and from the street, which is being all torn up by the heavy machines.

Furthermore, we are certain that as soon as the men come back on Monday and start up the machines, Pat will again imprison us.

Oh how we hope that the men will soon finish whatever it is they are doing so that our lives can get back to normal!

Collared! (July, 2011)

2011-07-30T13:05:00.004-04:00

Since Tootsie disappeared for an entire week, Pat and Henry have been keeping most of us under house + pen arrest.

There are exceptions. Summer, for example, is so good about staying in the yard and returning immediately when called, that he has been allowed to go out even while the rest of us remain confined:

Farah, also, is totally trustworthy, and is allowed out every evening for an hour or so after Summer, her archenemy, has come indoors.

Sweet Cocoa is so affectionate that she will not leave Pat's side so long as Pat stays out in the yard with her, so she, also, has been allowed a bit of carefully supervised outdoor time:

Tessa and her kittens Dolly and Dandy don't mind the new rules: they are entirely content to remain in the pen wrestling with each other and killing all the bugs they can eat.

But the rest of us are NOT happy and we DEMANDED an explanation for our confinement.

Pat told us all that "pen" is short for "penitentiary," and that if we look at the roots of the word, we will understand that a "penitentiary" is a place where we should think about our misbehaviour until we feel remorse.

So, here is Hershey, doing his best to re-morse and re-pent:

The rest of us, however -- even Tootsie, whose bad behaviour was the immediate cause of our imprisonment -- refuse to acknowledge that we have anything whatsoever to repent, and Hershey, too, soon grew bored with this novel concept.

We have all been so unhappy, that Pat has been trying to figure out a way that we can continue to enjoy the yard during this short spell of summer weather.

And she thinks she may have found a solution!

Look back at the picture of Hershey in the pen: Did you notice that he is wearing a collar, with a funny dangly thing attached? Here, you can see Taffy wearing the same kind of contraption:

BECAUSE: Pat has discovered Loc8Tor radio devices!

Here is how the Loc8Tor system works:

Before any one of us is allowed out the door, Pat attaches to each of our collars, one of the little dangly things (she calls them "homing devices"):

Pat -- who always goes out with us now -- carries a little black rectangular gadget that has buttons on it. Each homing device is assigned to a specific button.

Pat keeps track of which cat is wearing which homing device.

Then, if one of us disappears from sight, Pat presses the appropriate button on her little black gadget, which proceeds to act like a geiger counter:

Pat wanders around the yard, and whenever she happens to move closer to the missing cat, the black thingie BEEPS! LIGHTS flash on the black thingie!

The closer Pat gets to whichever one of us has vanished, the brighter the lights become, and the louder the beeps!

And that's not all: the dangly thing on the collar in question beeps in response!

Taffy was the first one of us to disappear and be located by the gadget. She was SO surprised when her collar starting beeping, and Pat came running around the corner of the house to collect her and bring her back to the deck! Where Boris greeted her, in cat-fashion, by sniffing first her front end and then her back end:

If you want to learn more about how the black thingie works, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSqkBFXrm9k&feature=related

There are some limitations, of course. The radio signals only reach about 600 feet. But that's usually far enough. And anyway, in the past, whenever one of us went missing outside the yard (first Cocoa, then Hershey, most recently Tootsie), Pat and Henry walked all over the neighborhood searching. If they had had the little black thingie, Pat now believes, they would have located every one of us within an hour.

But another problem has arisen: the homing devices are not waterproof! SO Taffy, who is as clever as she is naughty, while pretending to drink from one of our many bowls, gave her homing device a good dunking, so that it won't work anymore.

Now Pat is ordering new homing devices that are encased in something that makes them waterproof.

Another potential problem: What if two or three or four of us -- or for that matter, ALL of us -- agreed to run off, all at once, in different directions? As far as we can see, Pat can press only one button at a time! And we are certain she can chase us in only one direction at a time!

Hershey tried to discuss with Summer, our Fearless Leader, the possibility of organizing such a plot. But since Summer doesn't wear a collar, he was not interested. In fact, Summer told Hershey that if we all behaved as well as he does, Pat wouldn't make us wear the homing devices!

And even if we did run off in different directions, Pat says, she would simply track us down one by one.

Anyway, as you can see from these pictures, most of us enjoy staying right here on the deck and in the yard with Pat.

Simon, the Siamese who lives two doors down the street from us, is, as usual, JEALOUS: For years, while the rest of us have tried constantly to escape, he has always tried to run IN to the house or pen, only to be evicted by Pat whenever he managed it.

Now Simon has yet another cause for complaint: Pat refuses to give him one of the collars that the rest of us are sporting!

Summer gets SO tired of explaining to Simon that he is NOT a member of our clowder:

But at least Boris can again enjoy the flowers he loves so much:

UPDATE Our Tootsie has come HOME

2011-06-28T19:32:00.040-04:00

Thursday, June 30, 2011, 10:20 a.m.

TOOTSIE has returned, just twenty minutes ago. Pat has already telephoned and emailed the close friends who were agonizing along with us.

Tootsie had been gone one week today and Pat and Henry had given up hope that she would return to us.

When Tootsie arrived at the back door, she was in perfect condition but still so frightened that as soon as she ran inside, she hurried upstairs to hide under a chest of drawers!

Pat and Henry believe that she must have been accidentally shut in a shed or a garage -- they always thought that was the most likely scenario ....

Pat and Henry are overjoyed at (what they take to be) Tootsie's miraculous return, but we cats are not so pleased:

Although this pretty, dainty girl certainly LOOKS like our Tootsie, she SMELLS different to us!

One by one, we are each approaching her, to sniff her flanks and determine whether or not we actually know her. So far only her sister Cocoa and brother Hershey have recognized her sufficiently to touch noses and rub heads -- even her other sister, Taffy, is hesitating.

And because of her (whether or not this IS Tootsie), we are all under house arrest for the foreseeable future ....

More news soon, when Pat calms down.

------------------------------

Darling Tootsie went outdoors with several of the other cats on the morning of Thursday, June 23. Usually the cats roam the yard for only a brief time before returning inside for breakfast. But on this morning, Tootsie vanished.

Tootsie has always been the most fearless and adventurous of the cats. Just the day before Tootsie disappeared, Pat watched her climb all over the very steep roof of the house next door.

Now we fear that she may have been shut accidentally in a neighbor's shed or garage; or perhaps she climbed into a vehicle that transported her far from home.

If you have seen Tootsie or have any knowledge of what became of her, please email srebrnik@gmail.com.

Here is the most recent picture we have of Tootsie:

Tootsie loved Dolly-Mop, one of the two kittens born in our house in August 2010:

Tootsie was also very close to her brother Hershey. Here, Hershey (on the left) helps Tootsie to more treats:

Tootsie had her own website at VivaPets, where she posted her favorite pictures and complained, "I wish Pat would stop worrying that I'll take too many risks, or roam too far away."

Since Tootsie disappeared, friends and relatives have been asking Pat, "so why do the cats go out at all if they have a pen? Didn't you learn your lesson when Hershey went missing in December?"

The answer is: yes indeed, after Hershey was lost and found, Pat decided no cat would go out unless she went with us.

The winter was long and and although we cats delight in leaping and dancing and skidding across deep, ice-covered expanses of snow, it was far too cold and wet for Pat's comfort, so there were very few mornings when we could go outside.

But when warmer weather arrived -- well, not only do we cats love to go out into the yard for a short spell in the morning -- Pat loves to go with us.

On warm, dry mornings, we have been going out together at 6:30 or 7.

Pat strolls with us in the yard or watches us from the deck as she drinks her coffee, and since we have so much fun playing with Pat and sharing all of our discoveries with her, most of us -- at least, most of the time -- stay very close and return to her side repeatedly.

Within an hour or two, with Pat's persuasion (sometimes coercion), we return, one by one, to enjoy breakfast in the pen.

Although we cats get plenty of fresh air and exercise in the pen -- and we really enjoy being free to go out there through our cat door, even in the middle of the night -- it's not the same as chasing each other at a mad dash through the width of three back yards, especially when we conclude the romp by scurrying up a handy tree.

These morning jaunts had become the happiest time of our day and also of Pat's!

And we still can't figure out what harm could have come to Toots at such an early hour of the morning, in a suburban neighborhood where such predators as there are come out only at night, and at a time of day when traffic in our neighborhood is so light . . ..

Here is Tootsie (on the right), as a blue-eyed baby, with two of her siblings (Cocoa on the left, and Hershey barely visible at the bottom of the picture). Tootsie could always be recognized by the big white patch on her left back leg:

Yes, in hindsight, Pat knows she was overly confident concerning our safety. And now that Tootsie has vanished, our outings have been cancelled.

OH how frustrated and envious we are now when we stare out from the pen and see the several other cats who live nearby, strolling all over OUR yard, at any hour of the day or night!

Sometimes at night other cats come right up on to our deck to peer through the screen door into our pen. When that happens, Summer Cat, our Fearless Leader, HOWLS so loudly that Pat fears the neighbors will be awakened! Then Pat gets up herself in the middle of the night to chase the intruders away.

Summer has always done his best to guard and protect all of the other Pat's Cats. Here is a recent picture of Summer with Tootsie:

As for Tootsie, we want to say this to her:

Dear, sweet, brave, beautiful, far-too-adventurous girl, you have now been missing for longer than any other of the many cats who have lived with Pat and Henry since our first adored and adorable kitten came to us (Zaidman, 1988 - 2005). Never before has one of Pat's Cats disappeared forever.

We hope you have suffered no pain. We hope that somewhere you are happy.

No Comment (Spring, 2011)

2011-04-30T10:47:00.000-04:00

(don't forget - click to enlarge!)

Dandy the Baby Coon

Farah with her bags

Toots and Boris - Open this door!

Taffy the Daffy

Summer - Something to print?

Window to the pen

Dandy again

Boris again

Growing, Growing . . . Missing, FOUND (December 10, 2010)

2010-12-10T08:54:00.051-04:00

UPDATE - Friday, December 10, 2010, 11:50 a.m.

HERSHEY has been found, a few blocks from home, frightened but safe and healthy, stranded on top of a neighbor's roof. According to these neighbors, Hershey was there for all three of the nights he was missing. He cried but they could not coax him down. For warmth, he slept by the flue. Finally, these kind people called the Prince Edward Island Humane Society to ask for advice.

Meanwhile, Pat and Henry had repeatedly walked within a few doors of the house where Hershey was stranded, putting flyers in mailboxes. It's more than likely that Hershey even heard them calling him.

Fortunately, Henry and Pat had also reported to the Humane Society that Hershey was missing. So when the owners of the home where Hershey was stranded telephoned the Humane Society, they were told to call Pat and Henry immediately!

Pat and Henry drove over to collect Hershey: what a beautiful sight it was, to look up and see him peering down! As for Hershey, as soon as he saw Pat and Henry, he wailed as long and as loudly as he could, over and over again, until he was safely in their arms!

Now he is home again, hungry but otherwise well, trying not to seem too overjoyed, complaining that he doesn't understand why it took Pat and Henry so long to rescue him . . . .

(file photo)

------------------------------------------------------

We kittens continue to grow so quickly, Pat is tempted to tell us, SLOW DOWN! And our eyes have turned a lovely gray-green that goes very well indeed with the color of our fur:

Dandy in particular is growing SO fast, he is larger now than Dolly, and closing in on Mama Tess:

Our Mom continues to love us very much, of course. Here she is with Dolly:

We were amazed this week to see lots of beautiful, white fluffy stuff falling from the skies:

But, not all is well here in the land of Pat's Cats.

For one thing, the forest that you can see in these pictures, across the street from our house, suddenly disappeared, just this week! Men came with big, noisy machines and within three days, every tree was gone. WHY?

And something even worse has happened.

Approximately 66 hours ago (yes, we are counting), Hershey Cat went out on what we all expected to be one of his routine inspections of the property. He has not yet returned.

Pat surprised us by telling us that Hershey, who seems so big to us, was smaller than we are now when he first came to live here. We had so much trouble believing that Hershey was once a tiny kitten, Pat showed us these baby pictures of Hershey and his mother and siblings.

As Hershey grew older, he and Summer Cat became best buddies:

Although Hershey has always been a bit imperious with his sisters, he is quite fond of Tootsie - and why not? They look so much alike:

Here is a picture Pat took of Hershey just a few days ago:

We wish Hershey would come back. Henry and Pat are both so sad, and so busy: they keep running outside to search further, or to put more flyers in the neighbors' mailboxes. They spend a lot of time on the phone.

We are not allowed out (and Pat says that after this, we never will be!), but we try to help by watching for Hershey from the front windows:

We wish we could comfort Pat more, so that she wouldn't cry all day long.

We are hoping, hoping, hoping, that Hershey will soon appear at the upstairs study window, impatient as usual, demanding his dinner . . . .

Meanwhile, the snow is falling harder.

The Way We Live Now (November 2010)

2010-11-10T16:17:00.014-04:00

November already. And those of us who are old enough to have lived through all four seasons, realize that one of the best things about autumn is, LEAVES!

Some of us blend in better than others:

Not all of us are allowed to go out into the yard. But even Dandy and Dolly are big enough now to enjoy the pen, at least during the day, and under the supervision of their mother, Tess (CLICK these pictures to enlarge them):

Inside we have lots of fun too.

Dandy and Dolly particularly enjoy relaxing on the towers in the family room:

Tootsie decides to join them:

Yes, Tess and the kittens are now full members of our Clowder. In fact, with the usual exception - Summer and Farah, who remain enemies even after living together for more than four years now - all of us are getting along well together:

We all enjoy playing on the stairs that lead up to Toy Corner and Bag Alley:

Taffy rides the rails!

Both downstairs and up, there are so many toys, and so little time:

In Toy Corner, Hershey calls for a brief Time Out:

But in Bag Alley, Dolly and Dandy play on, despite Farah's attempts to defend the bags from their predations:

Farah works SO hard at appearing to be SO ferocious, we call her our Cat-Bear!

But none of us take her seriously. In these next pictures, Taffy and Natasha enter Bag Alley, undeterred by Farah's yowling and growling:

Speaking of Natasha, she was diagnosed a few months ago as having food allergies. Since then, Pat has been making special food for her, based on recipes that Pat got at the vet clinic and online.

Nasha is not always happy with what she finds - or doesn't find - in her bowls:

But Pat makes a special mix of canned salmon + supplements + canned hypoallergenic cat food that is so good, we all enjoy it.

"Now That was Tasty!"

As a result of her new diet, Natasha is feeling much better, and her fur, as you can see, is super-shiny!

The rest of us are watching our diets more carefully, too. Dolly checks to make sure that Pat's coffee is decaffeinated:

Other news:

Dolly and Dandy are getting SO big, and Tess has enjoyed being their mom SO much, that she wants to do it all over again, by having another litter!

At least, that's what she has been telling us, very loudly, for the past few nights. And since she is such a beautiful girl, potential beaus have been lining up in the back yard, to the disgust of Summer, Hershey, and Boris, the resident males who are responsible for defending the property.

Fortunately, Tess has an appointment with the vet next week. Natasha, our only other resident Mom, has been assuring Tess that everything will work out well. Dolly will be going along to keep her Mom company, and Dandy will have his own appointment a few days later.

We are all determined to help them rest up!

Thank You from Pat, Henry, and the Cats

2010-11-03T09:10:00.016-04:00

Thank you, all kind friends who have sent condolences regarding our darling Schooner.

He was fighting both renal failure and cancer, and in the past few weeks he has been so thin and frail that we, and the vet, were amazed he lived on.

But in his last week, something happened that makes us very happy whenever we remember it.

First, a bit of background: before he came to us, Schooner was almost entirely an outdoor cat. Pat allowed him into the yard during the day, because he stayed nearby and always came when called. But he was never allowed out after dark, and it took him some time, when he first came to us, to accept this rule.

Schooner in the yard, May 2010

Well: The last Thursday of Schooner’s life was an unseasonably warm day here in Charlottetown. Schooner loved to bask in the sun, so Pat carried him out to lie on the deck. At about 3 p.m. he got up and strolled down the steps into the yard. Pat was glad he had the strength to do so, but she wasn’t concerned - he often walked around the side of the house to sit in the front yard.

But Schooner didn’t come home that evening. All night long, Pat searched and called for him. When morning came, Pat asked permission to search all the neighbors’ yards.

Pat found our beautiful Schooner, on Friday morning, sitting contentedly in a neighbor’s flower bed. Pat was exhausted from worrying about him, but she realized he had enjoyed his night out very much indeed. He must have heard Pat calling, but he knew what he wanted and needed.

Over the weekend, Schooner deteriorated rapidly.

Of course as he passed Pat and Henry held him and told him how much he was loved. He was such a wonderful cat with so much courage and so much character. We are so glad that in his last days, he could relive his youth, staying out all night, enjoying good weather.

Again, dear friends, thank you for your messages of love and condolence.

–Pat, Henry, and the Cats

Summer and Schooner - Best Coon Friends

Schooner (March, 1993 - November 1, 2010)

2010-11-01T13:16:00.007-04:00

Our Diary, continued (October 16, 2010)

2010-10-16T11:24:00.012-04:00

Today, we are 48 days old, and Pat asked us to pose for some official photographs:

Well, we soon got tired of sitting still. Because, Toys-R-Us!

Just this week, Dolly learned to play with this funny-looking toy:

Dandy discovered the joy of boxes . . .

and of product endorsement!

Other news: our Mom is no longer hiding under the bed! We take credit for getting her out from under there, because once we started running all around upstairs, she had to come out to chase us - and, well, one thing led to another:

We were surprised but pleased when our buddy Schooner came to visit us, and then stayed on for lunch with Mom:

Now we need to introduce Mom to all the other cats who live here!

Our Diary. By Dandy and Dolly (October, 2010)

2010-10-04T15:18:00.016-04:00

Day 31 of our lives: Today Pat carried us from our room to another room, where we met Schooner. Pat told us that according to the vet, Schooner won`t be with us much longer - a few weeks at most. We don't know where he is going or whether we are supposed to be sad at this news, but we were happy to be able to spend some quality time with such an elderly and obviously very wise cat:

Schooner's tail is SO long and fluffy:

Day 36: Our Mom likes us to stay close to her, and we do love to be with her, but she spends most of her time under the bed in the study, whereas we want to get out and around a bit. SO we have taken over this soft, cushioned basket that we found on the floor just a few inches away from the bed:

P.S. Pat wants us to say that we already eat "real" food and we use our own litter box (as opposed to our Mom's box, which is too big for us to climb into).

Now We Are Four! (September 26, 2010)

2010-09-26T15:18:00.011-04:00

Four weeks old, that is! And as you can see, our Mom is VERY proud of us:

Did you notice? one of us has a pink nose and one of us has a black nose:

Taz and her Kittens (September 2010)

2010-09-18T17:32:00.009-04:00

As readers of this blog know, We Nine have told Pat repeatedly, "No More Cats!" Henry tells her the same thing. To no avail . . ..

A few weeks ago, Pat went off, as she does most days, to volunteer at the Prince Edward Island Humane Society. When she came home, she was carrying something - we didn't get a good look because she hurried upstairs to her study and closed the door!

Naturally we all hurried after her and scratched to get in. We didn't hear a peep, but Pat came out looking SO guilty, we knew that once again, there was A NEW CAT.

"Guys," Pat said, "her name is Taz, and you won't even know she's here!" Then Pat explained that although Taz is a sweet, lovely little girl, she had not been adopted from the Humane Society because she was so frightened that all she would do was hide in the back of her cage. Pat hoped that if Taz stayed with us for a while, she might become more confident.

We weren't happy about any of this, but as Pat predicted, Taz stayed out of our way: she scurried right under the bed in the study and hid in the furthest corner.

That was on a Wednesday.

On Sunday, Pat went out with friends (against our wishes, of course). When she came back, she greeted us as usual, by petting each of us and playing with us and apologizing for having gone out. After a while she went upstairs and into the study. And then we heard a SCREAM.

Later Pat explained to us what had happened: When she came into the study she heard squeaking. Then she saw a little black thing wriggling on the floor. Pat thought it was a mouse! And then she heard squeaking in a different place. That's when she realized - although no one had known Taz was expecting, she had given birth to two kittens!

Now the kittens are three weeks old. As you can see, they look just like Taz. So far, they haven't bothered us: they just stay in the corner under the bed with their mother. We were hoping Pat had learned a good lesson! But maybe not: we HATE the way both Pat and Henry are always running into the study to look at Taz and her babies!

And we wonder: what will life be like when those two start running around the house?

Stay tuned for more news from Pat's Cats . . ..

Candid New Camera (August 2010)

2010-08-10T12:26:00.007-04:00

For so long Pat didn't take ANY pictures of us. When we asked her why, she said, "Oh, the camera doesn't work any more." But then, Evelyn and Mark gave us a new camera! (THANKS Ev and Mark!) So of course, the first pictures Pat took with the new camera, were candid pictures of US (don`t forget to CLICK each picture to enlarge it):

Breaking News, July 22, 2010: Jenny Has a Home

2010-07-22T17:01:00.004-04:00

Yes, it's true . . . Pat and Henry are sad, but We Nine are delighted to announce that Jenny Has a Home! in lovely Montague, PEI, with several other cats and a very cute little dog. Pat and Henry drove her there today and returned, with long faces, but even they admit that Jenny is in A Good Home where she will be Much Loved . . . and what more can any Cat or Person desire?

Stay tuned for more news from Pat's Cats . . .

Jenny, Who Needs a New Home!

2010-05-13T13:18:00.003-04:00

After Ally came and went last fall, Pat promised that We Nine would have veto power over any new residents. SO we were more than a bit annoyed when Jenny arrived, in March 2010:

Pat explained to us that Jenny has had SUCH a hard life: Although she loves people, in February 2009, Jenny was dropped off in a field, and left there all alone, cold and hungry, to fend for herself. Not long after, she gave birth to five kittens.

So far, the story sounded a bit familiar to us, at least to Hershey and his sisters, who were also dumped, with their mother, in somebody's field. That was a long, long time ago, and we do our best not to remember how frightened we were. Still, we couldn't help but wonder: what happened to Jenny's kittens?

Oh, said Pat, they weren't as lucky as you guys, who were found right away and brought to the Humane Society. Jenny's kittens were all eaten by coyotes. And that's not the end of the sad story: Jenny had another litter, and those kittens also were eaten!

Well, we all got scared just listening to Pat tell us about Jenny's poor little kittens, eaten by big hungry coyotes. Still, we couldn't help but wonder - how did Jenny end up in OUR house?

Oh, said Pat, Jenny was rescued by the Cat Action Team of Prince Edward Island, whose volunteers help feral cats by feeding them, building shelters for them, and providing medical care. But the volunteer who was taking care of Jenny realized she is not a feral cat: she is a tame, loving little girl, who deserves a good home just like all of you guys.

Right, we all said. So let's find her a home -- a home of her own, that is, not OUR home!

to be continued . . ..

Spring - On the Ground, and in the Air! (May, 2010)

2010-05-13T12:44:00.003-04:00

Although we had a mild winter, spring never comes too early on the Island. But recently the cats have noticed a great deal more greenery in the yard:

Very strange: Pat brought home this oval-shaped plastic thingy, which has its own matching lid. She seemed to assume we would know exactly what to do with it:

Inside the thingy, there is white sand:

Pat puts the lid on top every night to keep the sand dry. She told us we should "use" the sand instead of going to the next door neighbors' flowerbeds. What in the world does she mean?

The white sand does feel good against our toes! And we are certain we can find some use for the lid . . .

Boris and Natasha think their black fur looks particularly beautiful next to this shade of red:

Bored with trying to figure out the purpose of the new red thingy, Tootsie takes to the treetops:

Natasha gets SO tired of hearing that Hershey and Tootsie are the VERY best tree climbers of them all! so she decides to do some showing off of her own:

oh-oh . . . getting down is not as easy as it looks!

Boris, Schooner, and Farah resolve to stay on solid ground:

Food and Toys and Lots of Things We Need!

2010-03-12T17:58:00.006-04:00

Pat and Henry were given a gift certificate for our favorite pet store! So, they went shopping for food and toys and other things we need.

Hershey was the first cat to check out the display:

Summer was intrigued by the catnip banana and by the cylinder with a hanging toy inside:

Boris was immediately eager to test-drive the toys:

Here we go!

Boris concludes that the toys work just fine. So, the next order of business must be, to sample all that yummy gourmet food . . .

MANY THANKS for all these wonderful gifts, from the Cats, to MAUREEN, GIL and PETER - Henry`s colleagues at UPEI !

A Typical Morning (March, 2010)

2010-03-05T18:30:00.011-04:00

According to Natasha, the first business of the day is, obviously, to DEMAND BREAKFAST!

"I'm not getting off this island until I've been served":

Cocoa is more intent on hurrying upstairs to get her fair turn at the best play spots and toys:

Too bad . . . Hershey, that Bossy-Boots, is already guarding the toys on the upstairs landing:

Meanwhile . . .

Summer is disgusted to find that his arch-enemy Farah is already safely shut up in the master bedroom, playing with the toys there:

Although Summer chases Farah every time he gets the chance, he plays innocent when Schooner comes along to ask, "What's up - why can't we go in there?"

"Dunno, Schoon. Must be some kind of mistake."

Farah eavesdrops on their conversation. She has no outstanding issues with Schooner, but she's glad the door is safely shut against Summer.

Summer decides that if Farah won't come out to fight, he might as well get on with his routine. As Head Cat, he is obliged to patrol the yard at least three times a day. So, he sets out for the first inspection:

Now that Summer has left the building, Farah can take up her favorite position, on the bags in the upstairs hallway:

Boris and Natasha have finished breakfast and have come upstairs to await the opening of the study window:

From the roof, they can sometimes catch a glimpse of Summer making his rounds:

Natasha demands to come back inside: "Why can't this window be left OPEN??"

Boris comes in also and prepares for nap-time:

Taffy thinks about joining Boris on the kitchen towers . . .

But decides instead to go to her favorite basket:

Schooner settles down next to Farah . . .

And for an hour or two, the house will be quiet.

THANK YOU from Schooner, on his Birthday (March 1, 2010)

2010-03-01T15:55:00.018-04:00

Dear Friends:

Today is my 17th Birthday. I knew it would be a special day, but I had no idea how special.

When we logged in this morning, we found many, many affectionate messages! For me, on my day!

Turns out, my birthday had been announced on the Cat Blogosphere.

I am going to write back to everyone who wrote me, but meanwhile, I have added all of your websites to the list of "Our Friends," in the right-hand column.

Some of you know that I only came to live with Pat and Henry and the other Cats, in November, 2008. I'm lucky to be here, because, as I have already explained on my Vivapets webpage, my original owners didn't want me any more. That made me sad.

But now I am much loved, and that makes me very Happy!

Here is the portrait Pat took of me today:

I love you all . . .

Sincerely,

SCHOON

P.S: Pat wants me to mention that we have found lots of helpful information on Tanya's Feline CRF Information Centre - THANKS, Tanya, for making my life better!

Super Sunday! (February, 2010)

2010-02-22T21:28:00.018-04:00

February 21 was "Super Sunday" (whatever that means), and Pat said she wanted to commemorate the date by taking lots and lots of pictures of us. We told her, well, go right ahead, while we "commemorate" by doing what we do every day:

PLAYING:

RUNNING in and out the study window - or, in Cocoa's case, CLIMBING the study window:

PERCHING and PONDERING:

Schooner:

Tootsie:

Hershey:

Boris and Natasha:

Summer:

Cocoa:

Farah:

Taffy:

Because around here . . . EVERY day is Super FUN-Day!

Natasha the Paper Shredder

2010-02-16T21:25:00.013-04:00

Natasha loves nothing better than to shred paper - newspaper, toilet paper, or paper towels. Usually there's someone around to stop her before too much damage is done. But one morning, she found herself alone in the kitchen . . .

"Oh-oh, I think I hear someone coming!"

"Maybe I should just hide under here."

"On second thought, maybe it would be better to move a few feet away . . ."

"Why, HELLO there, Summer!"

Hmm. Summer does NOT look pleased about this.

"Honestly, Summer, I'm as baffled as you are as to how this could have happened."

"Well, if you're going to be THAT way about it, I'll just go out this door into the pen . . . see you later . . . "

Boris grows Bigger, while Schooner grows Younger! (February 2010)

2010-02-10T13:17:00.025-04:00

For the past few months we’ve all been worried about Schooner. He was losing weight and his fur felt dry. To the amazement of all of us younger cats, there were days when Schooner didn’t seem interested in eating or even in playing.

SO Schooner went off to the veterinary clinic for 48 hours. We missed him, but Pat explained it was important that he be put on IV fluids to lower his phosphorus levels.

When Schooner came home, we were SO happy to see that he was obviously feeling MUCH better. In fact, every day since his return, he has seemed to grow younger and stronger. His fur is soft and fluffy again and even his tail seems longer! Pat says he has to be on a special diet now and we are not supposed to eat his food.

These next pictures are a bit blurry because Schooner was in a playful mood and wouldn’t sit still for the camera. But look at the expression on his face:

We are so glad that he is again enjoying his toys:

Schooner will be 17 years old on March 1 and we will certainly celebrate!

Meanwhile, Boris, who was born in November 2008 (the same month Schooner came to live with us!), has now grown larger than his mother Natasha. Here are some pictures of Boris as a baby:

Boris today, with Hershey:

For more pictures of Boris today, keep reading . . . .

January 2010

2010-02-10T10:08:00.074-04:00

We have been so busy this winter that the New Year came and went, even before we had a chance to sit down at the computer and report on all our activities!

It snowed so much that our pen was covered with a canopy of snow:

Cocoa was amazed:

But Nasha-Tasha couldn't wait to get out there:

Pat gets tired of opening and closing the windows to the pen, so she installed a new door for us. As you can tell, we are pretty clever cats! But even so, we found the learning curve to be a bit steep:

Natasha wonders, "How does this contraption work?"

Boris figures it out:

We are glad Pat took the screen out of the window in the upstairs study, so that we can climb out there to play on the roof of the porch.

In these pictures, Hershey arrives, and Boris goes out the study window:

We also have been spending a lot of time perched indoors on our towers.

Hershey:

Cocoa:

Boris:

Taffy, on the scratching post:

And of course, we play hours a day with all our toys, new toys and old, low-tech and high-tech:

We got two NEW toys that are battery-operated! In these pictures, Boris and Summer are playing with "undercover mouse":

And here is the best battery-operated toy in the world: Fling-ama String!

The Fling-ama String was a gift from our buddy Rufus, who lives with Sheila and Barry. Here are two pictures of The Mighty Rufer (such a handsome guy!):

Hershey doesn't always do a good job of sharing favorite toys, so Pat had to get a second Fling-ama:

Other recent pictures of us:

Taffy:

Summer and Schooner:

Natasha:

Hershey:

Cocoa:

(clockwise, from Hershey's back paws) - Hershey, Tootsie, Taffy, Schooner:

Hershey, wondering why his bowl is empty:

Summer:

Taffy and Cocoa:

Schooner and Summer:

Farah:

Pat and Farah:

Chasing the Squirrel (December 2009)

2009-11-21T12:50:00.016-04:00

Early this morning, cats and humans looked up to see Hershey higher in the trees that he has ever ventured before:

What could he possibly be doing up there?

Aha! It's a SQUIRREL! (if you don't believe us, click the image to enlarge:)

Just a tiny bit further now . . .

"Almost . . . GOTCHA!"

Hey!! No fair jumping to that other tree:

Tootsie and Schooner come running:

In hopes of heading off the squirrel, Tootsie scurries up a neighboring tree . . .

But even with two cats in pursuit, the squirrel manages to evade capture:

Carefully, Tootsie makes her way back down . . .

pauses for a sniff . . .

and continues her descent:

On the ground again, she and Hershey come to terms with their disappointment:

"I guess he really is gone, right, Toots?"

"At least we still have each other, Hershey":

Blackberries Go Hunting (November 2009)

2009-11-10T18:32:00.004-04:00

It was a quiet November day in Charlottetown. Boris was attacking the Flame Bush in the backyard:

Cocoa was relaxing underneath the deck:

Suddenly, Boris notices the arrival of his mother, Nasha-Tasha, who seems to be carrying something in her mouth:

Inside the pen, Farah also senses that something out of the ordinary is happening:

And she's not the only cat wondering, "What does Nasha have there?"

Boris moves in for a closer look:

Nasha seems willing to share with Boris. But Cocoa approaches more tentatively:

And then, somehow, the prey manages to dart into a pile of leaves!

WHERE DID THAT VARMINT GET TO?

Cocoa joins in the search:

But the Varmint is nowhere to be found:

Boris is sorry to give up on the search. But, he might as well get back to his Flame Bush, while Nasha goes off in search of new prey:

Maybe the Varmint is still here, somewhere?

That's all, folks!

New Furniture! (August 2009)

2009-08-21T12:30:00.010-04:00

Today Pat told us she was going to the store to buy us our favorite wet food. But, she came back with NEW FURNITURE!

Summer and Hershey compare notes: The New Furniture is GOOD!

By day . . .

And by night!

Day 4 and Counting! (August 2009)

2009-08-20T13:30:00.027-04:00

Ally came to live with us on Monday, and already, today is Thursday!

So how are we getting along?

Well, Pat has been giving us all lots of special attention, and more time outdoors than usual. The weather has been great! and out in the yard, everybody has been happy and calm:

Indoors, however, there are still a few issues to be resolved.

Nasha hears something suspicious:

As she feared - the interloper is still here!

Now he's playing with our toys!

Tootsie is NOT amused:

Of all the nerve - Ally has decided to take his afternoon nap in the upstairs study!

Cocoa prepares to defend her favorite chair:

But Ally ignores her show of ferocity. Does NOTHING faze this guy?

Everything stops for afternoon nap time:

Waking up from our afternoon naps (remember - CLICK the image to enlarge it):

Stay tuned for more developments in this fast-breaking story . . . .

UPDATE: Alas, after ten weeks with us, it became necessary for Ally to move on. The problem: although he loves people, Ally was aggressive with the other cats. Fortunately we were able to find Ally a new home with humans who love him every bit as much as we do! Soon we will be posting more pictures of Ally, who has changed his name to Charley.

Tent City!

2009-08-20T12:47:00.005-04:00

Soon after Boris and Natasha came to live with us, Pat bought them an orange and blue tent. It has been their favorite toy ever since!

But Boris -- who enjoys jumping on top of the tent to make it collapse -- has broken one of its rods. So, Pat bought a second tent, which is blue:

Now Boris and Natasha EACH have a tent!

Boris checks out the new tent:

How easy will it be to break this one?

A really fun game is "grab the toy and pull it into the tent":

Boris demonstrates how he jumps on top of the original tent to make it collapse:

But both tents remain standing - at least for now:

Hello My Name is ALLY! (August 2009)

2009-08-17T14:54:00.029-04:00

I'm nearly a year old and Pat met me while I was staying at the Prince Edward Island Humane Society. I badly need to find my "forever" home. Here's hoping this is it!

So far, so good -- I'm enjoying the Pen:

Even more important - I'm working at establishing diplomatic relations with Hershey and Tootsie:

I've decided that Hershey is a cat who really knows his way around:

Unfortunately, Boris and Taffy still seem a bit suspicious of me:

Taffy seems to think she's some kind of princess:

And Natasha was downright annoyed when I snuck up on her:

At least we can all agree that treats are GOOD:

Now to check out the upstairs: Nice playroom!

Hmmm . . . I wonder if I could persuade Boris to share one of those baskets?

Natasha's Excellent Adventure! (August 2009)

2009-08-05T08:47:00.016-04:00

Today, for the first time, Natasha escaped from the house. What a great time she had in the flowerbeds!

Meanwhile, Schooner relaxed in the grass:

Farah, who was inside the pen, settled down to glare at her arch-enemy Summer, who was demonstrating his ownership of the deck:

How will we keep Nasha in, now that she knows how much fun it is to escape?

The Joy of BASKETS (August 2009)

2009-08-04T12:13:00.020-04:00

Warning -- Kitty-Porn: The following pictures are intended for adult viewers ONLY.

Our Recreation Area - EXPANDED and IMPROVED! (July 2009)

2009-07-31T09:57:00.029-04:00

The Cat Recreation Area has been expanded, by the addition of many new walkways, along the sides and over-(human-)head!

- Photo courtesy Anna Baldacchino

On a hot summer evening, there's just no place better!

I did NOT invite Simon, in fact, I thought YOU invited him!:

- Photo courtesy Anna Baldacchino

- Photo courtesy Anna Baldacchino

July 2009 Celebrations!

2009-07-30T11:00:00.048-04:00

Some humans we know (the Canadians) celebrate July 1. Some (the Americans) celebrate July 4.

But we cats celebrate July 13, for a VERY important reason:

Wednesday, July 13, 2006, was the day Pat first volunteered at the Prince Edward Island Humane Society!

But that's not all. On that very first day, Pat met:

Summer Cat - who had already been resident at the Humane Society for a few weeks. Pat thought he was SO beautiful and SO sweet that he was certain to be adopted soon - especially when he was named Pet of the Week!

Farah - who was eight years old at the time, and had been dropped off at the Humane Society that very morning. Pat was worried about Farah, because Farah was SO frightened, her beautiful eyes were absolutely enormous, and she wouldn't let anyone comfort her.

Hershey, Cocoa, Taffy and Tootsie - who, along with their mother and their brother Smartie, were brought to the Humane Society, just a few minutes after Pat arrived, by a Good Samaritan who had found them dumped on his front yard. The kittens were too tiny to be at the Humane Society, so Pat offered to foster them.

And then - on Monday, July 18, 2006 - the nice people at the Humane Society decided that Farah should also be fostered, until she had time to calm down. So Pat brought her home, too!

We were all supposed to be temporary residents. But as it turned out:

Pat and Henry decided right away that Farah couldn't live with anyone else but them!

As for Summer Cat: the weeks went by, and to Pat's amazement, no one adopted him! Pat was sad to see Summer becoming more and more depressed. SO she brought him home to us, on August 21, 2006.

Soon after that, Smartie and Mom Cat went off to live permanently in other homes. But by then, Hershey, Taffy, Tootsie and Cocoa had decided that they weren't going anywhere!

Here's what we looked like back then:

Hershey was always a Bossy-Boots to the rest of us kittens:

But Summer Cat was his hero:

Which brings us to NOW:

This summer, as part of our celebrations, the Cat Recreation Area (Pen) has been expanded and improved! We'll be posting those pictures soon.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of us celebrating in the yard:

Sure, we have lots of toys in our Recreation Area. But it's always fun to go to the yard directly behind us and play with the toys there:

Farah and Schooner enjoy the bushes in the front yard:

Although Schooner only came to live with us last November, he fits right in, and we are SO glad he's here:

Unfortunately, we can't say the same about Simon the Siamese, who lives two houses down the street from us. He's not a bad guy - except for the fact that, even though he lives in a beautiful house with a cute little dog and two humans who love him, he seems to want to move in with us:

Pat used to tell us that Simon was SO beautiful! But she stopped saying that when she realized we didn't like to hear it.

Simon wasn't exactly invited to our ongoing celebrations. But (sigh) he insisted on attending anyway:

As for the Blackberries (Natasha and Boris - who now look so much alike we can't tell them apart without a good sniff) - it's always a party when those two are around:

(Remember - CLICK the picture to enlarge it:)

This is NOT the master bedroom, it's our PLAYROOM!

All in all, it's been an exhausting month:

The Great Escape (April 2009)

2009-04-29T15:22:00.010-04:00

Although the autumns are beautiful on Prince Edward Island, spring never comes too early. Finally, we had ONE DAY of warm summer weather. Pat knew it wouldn't last, so she decided to let Summer and the Four Golden Jets out of the pen for an hour, under her careful supervision, of course.

How did we spend our brief period of freedom?

SUMMER had a sensual experience in the grass:

TAFFY also stayed close to home, perhaps because she loves Summer Cat so much, that she always wants to be near him:

TOOTSIE, in contrast, ran away, so Pat got only one picture of her (but the good news is, she came home in time to go back inside with all the rest of us):

COCOA and HERSHEY indulged their fascination with bushes and trees:

OK, now that we've warmed up on that bush, let's move on to the heavy-duty stuff:

Cocoa demonstrates that she can still climb higher even than Hershey:

Hershey pretends not to notice. He's much too busy making sure that all is in order under the deck and in the rest of the yard:

We were pleased to meet up again with Buddy, the dog who lives next door. Pat says that Buddy is a Chihuahua, and that Chihuahuas are the smallest breed of dog. Well, Buddy is certainly smaller than any of us cats - so much smaller, in fact, that the first time she met us, she was terrified, especially of Summer!

The human in the background is Al, who lives with Buddy:

Al raked up all of the leaves in their yard and put the leaves in bags that say "The Home Depot." WHY? We had better check this out:

Well, these leaf-bags do make comfortable roosts. Is that what Al intended?

We all had so much fun! But SOME of us worked hard too. Time for Cocoa to relax:

If you would like to see the street we live on (looking north), CLICK to enlarge:

A Change of Plans - or - Now We Are Nine, Permanently (February 2009)

2009-02-18T10:08:00.026-04:00

We, Boris and Natasha, have decided that we like it here. A few reasons:

THE PEN. Boris is still too small to go out there, but Natasha loves the pen:

While Natasha is in the pen, Boris can relax on the electric blanket in the family room, which is always left on for the cats:

EVERY cat loves to play stick-bag-on-the-landing. If only we could persuade Pat to play this game with us, 12 hours a day instead of the present limit of 4 hours a day:

(Note from Pat: As these pictures show, Boris is now almost as big as his mother! Soon we won't be able to tell them apart!)

The food is good. (And Pat says it is healthy, too.)

Pat says I wouldn't like oranges or apples. But shouldn't I be the judge of that?

We like the way Pat and Henry have furnished the house:

Summer Cat is the best friend a guy kitten could ever find:

Now that Boris has grown so much bigger, he fits perfectly into the upstairs perching tower:

If we stay here, we will always be together:

We have other reasons for liking it here. But the bottom line is, WE ARE STAYING!

Thank you -- Natasha and Boris

Retrospective: When We Were Kittens

2009-02-18T09:33:00.005-04:00

When we were kittens, we liked to sleep on the bench by the bedroom window:

After waking up, we would wrestle with each other or play with our toys:

Sometimes we climbed up the back of the bureau into a drawer and fell asleep and no one knew where we were until Pat happened to come along and open the drawer:

That's our Mom, telling us to get right down out of there, NOW:

One day Mom told us we were going downstairs for the first time! She told us to line up at the bedroom door:

Mom said, "Nobody's going downstairs until everybody behaves! That means you, Smartie - stop poking at Taffy!"

From the top of the stairs it looked like such a long way down:

But eventually we made it -- all the way into the downstairs family room! Where we huddled together in the corner to decide what to do next. From top to bottom and left to right, we are Tootsie, Cocoa, Smartie, Hershey, and Taffy:

[KITTEN PHOTOS by Shloime Perel, August 2006 - thanks Shloime, from the Jets!]

By the way, after leaving us, our Mom proceeded to make quite a good life for herself: she happily shares a beautifully decorated home with four humans, a large dog named Kaiser, and another cat, named Moses, who all adore her. She even has a new name - she now calls herself Lucy:

(You can see where we get our good looks!)

This is how Lucy reacted when Pat visited her and asked if she would like to get together with us for a reunion:

That's ok, Lucy, we understand! We remember how naughty we were as kittens, and we thank you for your patience! Love from - THE GOLDEN JETS

---------------------

Note: If you would like to see more of our baby pictures, and read about how we came to live with Pat and Henry, take a look at our older posts, especially:

Siblings Together for the Last Time (October 2006)
http://srebrnik.blogspot.com/2006/10/news.html

Return of the Foster Kittens (September 2006)
http://srebrnik.blogspot.com/2006/10/return-of-foster-kittens.html

Cocoa and Siblings (August 2006)
http://srebrnik.blogspot.com/2006/09/cocoa-and-3-siblings.html

Three Kittens (July 2006)
http://srebrnik.blogspot.com/2006/08/three-kittens.html

The Pen In Winter (January 2009)

2009-02-16T11:48:00.015-04:00

Some readers of this blog have been asking: Are we able to use the Cat Recreation Area ("pen" for short), even in winter?

Well of course!

For technical reasons that we cats refuse to acknowledge, Pat and Henry say that in winter, we can't have the windows open 24 hours a day. This silly rule just makes life harder for them, because they have to open the windows for us whenever we want to go out or come back in again.

In these pictures, Natasha and Summer enter the pen from the laundry room on the first floor:

Meanwhile, Tootsie and Hershey demand access from the basement window:

Every cat has a great time out there:

Although Schooner enjoys the pen, he thinks it's even better to be outside and on top:

Hershey decides it's time to come back inside: "Hey, is anybody there??"

"I SAID, Let us in NOW!"

"What do you think the problem could be, Cocoa?"

Cocoa is the last one in:

Now we are (temporarily) Nine! (January, 2009)

2009-01-02T10:23:00.019-04:00

Just in time for the New Year, Natasha and Boris came to stay with us! Mother and son, they were left at the Prince Edward Island Humane Society. Boris was too tiny to be there, so he and his Mum will be living with us for a few weeks now. We have lots of fun playing with them!

Boris loves toys!

Natasha is SO svelte and elegant, we all think she is quite the femme fatale:

She must think so too, because she enjoys looking at herself in the mirror:

We will be posting more pictures soon . . . .

Important Note: If you live in the Charlottetown area, please consider adopting this dynamic duo!

Now we are Seven! (December, 2008)

2009-01-02T10:16:00.017-04:00

It's been a long, long time since we posted any news here -- but you will understand why when you read about what we've been up to!

In November, Schooner Cat came to live with us. Schooner is big, beautiful and very silky:

Schooner is fifteen years old, and was a bit down on his luck when he came to us. But we are all so glad he's here! Especially Summer Cat, who is delighted to have a new friend whose tail is as plumey as his own.

Schooner and Summer are best buddies!

Our New Fortress! (August 29, 2008)

2008-08-29T16:42:00.020-04:00

Since the playground opened in mid-July, the basement window leading to it has always been open. Cats have always been able to go to the playground whenever they wanted, day or night.

Until today. When, to the amazement of the cats, the window to the playground was CLOSED!

Even worse, the cats heard sawing and hammering. For hours and hours.

FINALLY, the playground re-opened. The cats bounded through their basement window to find -- A FORTRESS!

Cats set to work exploring. They soon saw that the Fortress serves as a massive entrance to their basement window, and that it will provide shelter in bad weather. On the first landing, there is plenty of room to relax or play. A ramp leads from the landing down to the ground. Or, cats can jump from the landing, to higher shelves within the fortress.

From the top of the fortress, which has a peak so that snow will slide off, the cats can jump up onto the highest rafters in the playground. Best of all, from a shelf mounted on the back of the fortress, they can run in and out of the first-floor window that now provides a SECOND portal to and from the playground!

(Remember - CLICK TO ENLARGE any picture on this page):

The cats also discovered that one of the posts inside the playground has been transformed into a circular staircase. They saw immediately that they could use the stairs, not just to climb up to the rafters, but as launching pads from which to ambush each other!

The cats are increasingly excited as they figure out more and more ways to play on the Fortress and on the circular stairs. They are grateful to Dean Martin and Brodie Machon, who built the Fortress and stairs:

Pat and Henry say, THANKS AGAIN to Dean Smith Carpentry Services, 69 Kingston Road, Cornwall, PEI, COA 1HO.

Compare our Fortress to this one, at the Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, MN. To see more photos of the cats' big cousins, go to http://www.wildcatsanctuary.org/index.htm:

Our New Playground! (July 2008)

2008-07-23T16:40:00.011-04:00

Welcome to our new play area! As you can see, we have lots of space to run and climb and hide or just relax. We have plenty of fun in here, especially at night, when we can stay out as long as we want. And best of all, Pat and Henry know we are safe . . .

Again, we want to express our thanks to Dean Smith Carpentry Services, 69 Kingston Road, Cornwall, PEI, COA 1HO, who designed and constructed the cats' fenced-in playground.

Just in Time

2008-07-23T16:04:00.008-04:00

On the very weekend that construction of the cats’ new playground was completed, we opened our mailbox to find this anonymous message:

We were surprised. We are on good terms with our immediate neighbors – that is, the neighbors on each side of us, the neighbors who live in the three houses behind us, and those who live in the two houses across the street. Indeed, in the past we have explicitly asked these neighbors if the cats disturb them, and they have told us that on the contrary, they enjoy watching the cats.

Obviously we have other neighbors who feel differently.

"They have been causing all sorts of problems" - ?

We are sorry the cats kill baby robins. We are sorry they kill any birds. We are sorry they kill mice – even though our immediate neighbors seem to appreciate the cats’ attempts to eradicate the local rodent population.

But we have found it impossible to persuade the cats that killing other creatures is "bad." After all, cats were domesticated and tamed in the first place, because humans wanted them to kill the rodents and birds who destroyed crops and invaded human dwellings.

We built the fenced-in playground because we worried about cars and (animal) predators. Now that we know the cats have made human enemies, we are all the more relieved that in their pen, the cats can enjoy the outdoors, and still be safe.