All Quiet on the Kitty Front

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, my furry brothers and sisters! This weeks marks the last week in the year of our cat 2010. It has been an exciting year. This was the first full year I spent in my new house. As the year winds down, my humans spend their time travelling to see family(whatever that is) and preparing for a new years party. Really what the word party means to me is an opportunity to hide from a bunch of strangers and hiss at them if they get too close.

I had a good week alone in the house; the kindly neighbor man came over to feed me a couple times a day. He must have been notified of my diet, because he stopped feeding me a lot more than my regular humans do.

Evan and Sudha returned home from the mystical country of Switzerland last Monday, and were very pleasantly excited to see me. I love it when my minions lavish attention on me. Naturally, I try to return the favor. I'm hoping they don't notice that they haven't trimmed my claws in quite some time. But I think Evan definitely is catching on. Both of my humans have taken to calling me their "furry alarm clock." I usually take my cue from the real alarm clock, which they frequently don't hear, then I climb onto the side of the bed next to Evan and reach under the cover to wake him up. My only motivation is that I don't want him to be late for work!

Evan is the one that feeds me every morning. It's gotten to the point where I will just ignore Sudha if she is awake before him because it's breaking the pattern. I must say, both of them are very good at dispensing the kibble, but there's just something about the way Evan does it in the morning. Sudha's better at doing it in the afternoon when they come home.

There is some good news from Switzerland though: Evan's mother, who's lap I graced with my divine presence around Thanksgiving time, is in remission. Her chemo and radiation is done with and everything is looking good. Clearly the moral of this story is that anyone who needs curing of any kind needs a cuddly cat to sleep on their lap. I'm not sure how anyone could deny the healing power of my tiny, fuzzy, presence.

I am looking forward to next year, 2012, which Evan informs me is the last year of life as we know it. I will see you next year, my furry brothers and sisters!

Stepping Lightly in a Kitty Wonderland

It's beginning to feel a lot like that time of year where I get left in the cold house for a week, my furry brothers and sisters. I'm not sure why my humans have to leave in the first place, but to add insult to injury, they feel the need to turn down the heat while they are gone. It's truly a far cry from the glory days of summer when I can bask in the scalding temperatures that are more befitting my heritage as a desert creature. Would it be so much to ask for to allow me to operate the thermostat?

It's not all bad though, the kindly old neighbor human comes over to serve me. He is quite generous with the kibble portions. Usually he also gives me a treat of wet food once or twice during the week.

Contrary to my reputation, I am quite cuddly and adorable. It takes me quite some time to get used to a new human. Sometimes this process take take weeks, but occasionally I can tolerate someone after a few days. I mentioned my human's mother a couple of posts ago, I hadn't quite forgiven her for bringing the cold weather with her yet. But I rather quickly warmed up to her, in comparison to other visitors. She spent most of her time on the la-z-boy recliner, so was ultimately non-threatening. On her third day here in my house I decided to take a nap on her lap and let her scratch me behind the ears. I think she was rather pleased. She seemed like she could use the loving attention of a superior being like myself.

I sat on her lap again after they all got back from their Thanksgiving trip.

I tried something new a few weeks ago: lay down on the couch next to someone who was over for dinner. Evan and Sudha's friends, Paul and Tara, came over, and brought Tara's Dad and Sister. I graciously allowed Tara's sister to sit in the spot next to me on the couch without so much of a hiss.

I did hiss later, to be sure, but that's to be expected.

Anyway, I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year!