Category Archives: cats

Eclipses and Kittens

For a few weeks, on and off, Josh and I had casually talked about the possibility of getting another cat at some point, but we had no time frame in mind and weren’t sure if we’d actually do so. We do already have two cats, after all and did we really want to disrupt them. When I commented on a friend’s Facebook post of an adorable kitten, I didn’t really think she’d end up coming to live with us. There was just something about this little lady, though, and I think it was just meant to be. How could we not bring her home?!

After some voting and deliberation, meet Vega. Since the lunar eclipse was coming up (we got her on Thursday), I was inspired to name her something space related, which just seems to work with her – plus the name she was going by was Stardust, so there you go. Vega is settling in nicely and making herself at home. She has the loudest purr and is a superb snuggler when she isn’t running around. I forgot how much fun it was to have a kitten. Enzo particularly loves to watch her chase the laser pointer, and both kids enjoy feeding her copious amounts of treats. As for Ziggy and Uzi… I’m not even sure Ziggy has realized there’s another cat in the house, or if she has she really just doesn’t care. We’ve been keeping the kitten upstairs and the other cats downstairs, and we let the Ziggy and Uzi upstairs while Vega is napping in the play room. Uzi is uncertain right now and at first hissed and growled when he got a look at her. Now, he’s at a point where he isn’t hissing or growling when he sees her (we’ve kept them at a distance while they get a look at each other and then close the door), but we’re going to be cautious and I’m sure in time they’ll get used to each other. I think I’ll stock up on some Feliway, though, in the meantime to make sure we help keep all the cats calm while we deal with growing pains.

Welcome home, Vega!

See you later, July!

I feel like this week has been a blur… a busy, semi-stressful, hectic, and slightly “off” week. Maybe it’s the weather or something in the air, but I’m hoping to just unwind this weekend, breathe some air and decompress. These pictures have nothing to do with anything unless you consider how easily a cat is able to just relax and simply not care about anything. Ah, such a life.

Tomorrow we are taking a very excited preschooler and his completely oblivious sister camping. Enzo has been talking about it for about a week or so now, so we’re going to stay somewhat close to the cities and hope that camping lives up to his expectations. I think the campground we’re at should have plenty of trails to walk and we’ve got a couple of ideas to hopefully run them ragged so they sleep.

Based on previous experience I have stocked up on several methods to keep mosquitoes away, but worst case we do have the big tent we can play in… and even though I’m hoping to avoid electronics this weekend, if we’re trapped in a small space due to bugs I may just use them as a fall back. Fingers crossed we don’t get eaten alive and can actually introduce the kids to the wonders of roasted marshmallows around a campfire once the sun goes down. No childhood is complete without good camping memories.

Just your local crazy cat lady…

This summer really needs to slow down so we can have time to fully enjoy it. As it is I feel like we have a million things I want to do and weekends are filling up. There’s also the bug problem too. On our walk the other day I noticed a lot more mosquitoes out and about and while they didn’t seem to bother the kiddos, I had several bites within a few minutes and had to pick up the pace. Time to bust out the various bug repellants and hope we can use our yard this summer since we weren’t able to last year. I think Uzi will also be glad if we’re out in the yard more often.

We’ve only taken Uzi out on a leash a couple of times so far, but he seems to enjoy it. He’ll enjoy it even more now that we planted a few things outside. Not surprisingly, some of our dog loving neighbors have pointed and laughed a bit, but it doesn’t bother me. It gets Uzi some fresh air and lets him roll around in the grass. I’d love to let him roam free, but we live way too close to a busy road and there are way too many loose dogs in the neighborhood and too few cat people.

Unfortunately Uzi will just have to enjoy being outside on a leash and watching birds from inside the house. There’s a bird feeder right outside my office window and I know there are birds out when I can see his butt twitching behind the curtain and can hear him start to chatter. Ha ha. No bird would be safe if I let him out. Keep the dream alive, Uzi! Maybe one day you’ll get out of the house unattended and wreak havoc on our bird community.

Ziggy Fluff

I almost said there’s nothing worse than being sick on a weekend, but that’s not true. We could have gotten sick while on vacation, which would be much worse. Now we just have to hope everyone makes a full recovery before we leave so we can completely enjoy our time away. And as much as the cats love us, I have a feeling they’re looking to some quiet time as well, and lots of undivided attention since their best buddy Dave is coming to stay with them.

Surprisingly, though, Ziggy really is mellowing and is very slowly becoming more bold. She actually went outside on the deck and rolled around in front of the door; then the other night she walked all the way to the other side! This may not seem like much, but we’ve lived here two years and she’s been too afraid to hang out on the deck because it’s not secluded enough for her liking. Okay, it also doesn’t help that we’re surrounded by dog lovers either. 😉

More importantly, though, while she still prefers the kids to keep their distance, there have been a few moments where she has stayed in the same room as them and even sniffed them and allowed them to briefly touch her before scampering off. Both kids are pretty cautious with her, probably because they don’t know if they should be scared of her too. In the meantime, the fact that all of us can sleep on the same bed is pretty impressive… crowded, but at least there are 2 happy cats and 2 happy kids, and 2 very tired parents. Ha!

Our Kitty Friends

I think the cats are glad that we’ve almost got the house put back together after the garage sale. Change makes Ziggy nervous and Uzi has been rather talkative and upset that it’s been raining and he can’t go outside. On the plus side, the cats are getting more and more tolerant of the kids every day… even Ziggy sniffed both kiddos and allowed Enzo to give her a quick pet before running away in fear.

Understandably the kids desperately want to get their hands on her fluffy soft fur, plus she doesn’t realize that by being so elusive she’s making herself more sought after. Uzi, on the other hand, is taking full advantage of the fact that the kids (especially Phoebe) like to feed him things. It was adorable the first time Phoebe pointed at Josh eating chicken and asked for some to feed the kitty. Not in so many words, but she pointed, used the words “please” and “kitty” and we deduced what she wanted. 😉

Uzi couldn’t have been more thrilled. He does get a tad nippy when chicken is involved so the kids are learning to toss it to him rather than to hold it in their hands to avoid accidentally being bitten. Generally Uzi is extremely patient with the kiddos and they’ve been interacting more and more. There are nights when Enzo asks to leave his bedroom door open in the hope that Uzi will come sleep with him, but we’re not quite there. He’ll sleep on Enzo’s bed when he isn’t there, though. 😉

Uzi’s new favorite spot is the chair in Phoebe’s room, which is usually the quietest spot until the kids discover him. They love to copy him and do “head-butts” and he’ll often return the favor. My favorite is when he rubs up against them too vigorously and knocks them over. Ha ha.

Phoebe, however, has as much sibling rivalry with Uzi as she does with Enzo when it comes to my lap. Just like with her brother if she sees me snuggling the kitty she gets grumpy and shrieks and says, “No, Kitty!” and tries to get him out of my lap. I’m thinking it was a good idea we stopped at two kids because she is really not giving up her place as the baby.

Dino and Bunnies

Every day adventures