Friday!!

T.G.I.F., right, cats!! Although, I guess one might argue that everyday is a weekend day for us felines!


I haven't forgotten to post my pictures of my play-room ... Mom said something about technological difficulties and needing a new "sd card."  It's all human mumbo-jumbo to me, but here are a few new ones of me, doing what I do!

Sound asleep on my outstretched paws!

That's my belly; what more can I say!?

Mom created a homepage with my eyes on it... I see you!

Playtime

Friends!  Please forgive a cat for being away from the blogs (both his own and all of yours) for too long!  I hope you all have not given up on this guy!  It is late at night, or depending on how you look at it, early in the morning here in my new playroom, and I have been so busy!  My mom and I have been putting the finishing touches on my very own room, which I wrote about last time, and which has been taking up so much of my time; I even sleep in there some nights!  I never thought I'd like sleeping in a separate room alone, but cats, I have to admit, it's fun to have my own little space, my own bathroom in there (well, litter box room, to be specific), and so given the fact that I'm a 6 year old now, I go and sleep the night in there on occasion.  I do miss snuggling up in the big, warm bed with Mom though, and I always come back the next night!


My point, although it might not seem like it, is NOT to brag all about our new apartment :)  I just wanted to let my friends know that we finally finished moving my toys and houses and various kitty belongings in, so we are able to take some pictures.  Mom said first thing tomorrow, when the daylight is right, we will have a photo shoot; and then, you KNOW I'll be back here to share my room with all of you!  I hope to catch up on all my favorite pet blogs then too!
until then... ****PUUUURRRRS*****--Dorian

Getting Settled

I hope that all my furry and not-very-furry friends are having a great week so far!  I have been a busy cat, as usual ...


As  I think I mentioned before, my human mom and I moved in to a new apartment about 10 days ago.  Mom promised me it would be a new "kingdom" for me, and she wasn't lying!  This apartment is so luxurious and huge, that I am still busy exploring every little nook and hidey hole!  


Truth be told, in our last place, there were hardly any good hiding places, and no long or wide rooms and hallways for a big tomcat to run and play in.  We had to make do with very little when we moved that time; but now we are happy to be doing a little better ... Now Mom and I have room to play hide-n-go-seek; there's room for me to run and jump the furniture, tear down hallways and around corners; and -- get this! -- there is space enough here for me to have my very OWN room!!!!  

(here I am surveying and supervising the moving activities and thinking about drinking a bit of that coffee behind me!)

It's not really a BEDROOM, as the humans usually call them, because I sleep in my favorite of two or three cat beds most nights ... and definitely I always sleep wherever my human mom sleeps!  I have a favorite cardboard box that is just the right size for me, and I like that the best, better than any store-bought bed I have seen!  Sometimes I like to sleep atop an ottoman we have, which my mom has covered with a flannel blanket that I love.  And occasionally, I sleep on top of my blankets, on top of my human (never directly ON the human though, that's uncomfortable and I meooow!)!  


Sooo, my new room of my very own is more like a cat play-room!  We only have our things half un-packed, but already it's a cat's life here!  My room has a sunny window, a dish of water just for in there, a closet space that is used for my litter box (my own bathroom, haha), and some of my toys and cubes to crawl in.  Soon it will have bean bag chairs and maybe my basket of toys too.  My mom will help me decide how to organize it.  


My "uncle Sam," my human uncle, says that this photo (above) looks like it should be in the back of a book if I write one; that it should be an about-the-author picture, haha!  Truthfully, my mane DOES look gigantic in this photo; I mean, it's fluffier each year, but this picture makes it look insane!  


I'm off to mark everything here with my scent again!  A cat has to do these things! ***Purrrrs*** --Dorian

Cupcake #2 and His New, Forever Home (and NAME!)

Thus far, our man Cupcake was a young tomcat just getting along in his small and often-confusing world... When The Flood of 1994 came literally into his basement, trapping him high up on a shelf, not knowing when or whether anyone was going to come and try to rescue him ... and whether they would be successful if they did.


Cupcake didn't know it, but outside of his own basement, nearly the entire city (population over 175,000 at the time) was under water in some way.  The MAJORITY of homes had at least a foot deep of rain water in their basements and / or first floor rooms.  Even worse for our cat friend's situation was the fact that about half of ALL the main streets (forget about the small side roads!) were closed, damaged and flooded too.  


Cupcake is stoic when he tells his story to other cats... It's difficult even to imagine how he felt each day, waiting and hoping and wondering, and afraid.  He tells me that he drank the ample supply of water, even though it wasn't very gourmet in flavor; and it was SIX days without kibbles or any food at all before they got to him!!!  The Man had known Cupcake needed him, knew that he needed to get to that basement somehow, but after a couple of days dealing with human emergencies in his neighborhood, The Man STILL could not get to the house on foot, nor in a car, no way, no how.  All of Grandma's family was horrified, devastated, frightened, upset, panicked ... almost as much as Cupcake himself, he suspects.  But he never lingers too long on this part of the events.  Because what might have been a tragic ending to a young, furry life, instead became a sparkling opportunity...


After announcing to his family that the road was un-blocked and he was going to see what had become of the cat, The Man left his house and arrived at Grandma's place.  He immediately opened the basement door, where he could see that the water had mostly retreated from the area.   He called Cupcake #2's name, he craned his neck down around the stairway railing, but he saw NO SIGN of the cat.  He walked the entire length and width of the un-furnished basement, barely noting the damage, noting instead that there was no sign of the cat anywhere.  Feeling very sad but holding onto a teeny-tiny shred of hope, The Man prepared a small bowl of Cupcake's favorite delicacies (salmon-flavored canned food, plus a couple of crunchy treats) and a bowl of fresh, cold water.  The Man put these on the top step, just where he always left them. Pondering what to do, how to find Cupcake #2 and thinking about the cat's short life, The Man was startled out of his revelry by a noise that sounded like ... well, it sounded like crunching of food! ... and was that... lapping of water on a little tongue?   He shoved his chair back from where he was sitting at the desk upstairs so fast that Cupcake #2 remembers feeling weakly afraid, that maybe he should run back to safety (that top shelf had been perfect camouflage as well).  But he was too exhausted.  Starving and thirsting for REAL water, he practically inhaled everything put out for him, then looked up with huge, amber Ragdoll eyes for the first time directly into the face of The Man who, somehow Cupcake #2's instincts told him, was there to save him.


ONE MONTH LATER


It had been another day of unexpected-ness.  But THIS day, Cupcake had known it from the moment the humans arrived at his house that morning, was special.  He could feel it even in his tail, that sensation letting him know that this was somehow a ... sparkly day, a day for HIM.


A different human man and his wife had arrived at the house with the usual Man.  The Wife carried a roomy, brand-new-looking, blanket-interiored cat carrier with her.  Both of them took one look at the large, fluffy gray Ragdoll-mix that Cupcake #2 had become; immediately, they were ooh'ing and aaah'ing and making cooing noises to him.  He was startled by these newcomers, but his instincts told him they were very good people and that their behavior was welcoming him.  He hardly noticed as the Husband packed up his few meager belongings -- a catnip ball here, a small plush mouse there.  Meanwhile, the Wife picked Cupcake up himself, all 14 pounds of him, and ruffled his ample coat gently... "What a big sweetie," she whispered to him.  He had become as still as a rock, not being used to human handling at ALL but thinking at the same time that he just might like it.


As you can surely figure out, these were Cupcake's forever-humans, who had come to take him out of his solitary home where The Flood had nearly taken him away with its rushing water.  They couldn't have been a better fit for Cupcake #2:  each of his humans had always loved pets and had animals in their homes, and each especially ADORED cats.  In fact, Sabrina was waiting at home to become his new, shiny, black-haired sister cat.


After bravely making acquaintance with the vet and a cat groomer who shaved ALL of his matted fur off his body and tail (It couldn't be combed or conditioned, he overheard the groomer explain to his new humans), it was time to go home.  HOME!  But right before he was carried inside and let out to explore, his new humans presented him with a gift, a name-tag like he'd seen other pets wear in the neighborhood.  And his new Mom had a statement to make as she hung it lovingly around his neck:


"This is your new tag with a new NAME for you on it," she explained, fastening his shiny gift around his hairless neck.  "You've survived more than most cats EVER even see in their lives, and you are a big boy now, a tough tomcat.  So we are giving you a new name for your new life with us..."  As his new Dad lifted the feline gently out of the carrier to bring him inside his forever home (a two-story house with windows everywhere (!) and lots of sunshine, blankets, and plenty of space to run and roll around), his Mom reached out to stroke his head with caring fingers and said:


Welcome to your new house, Rocky!  This is where you belong, now and forever.


Blogger's note:  Rocky has lived the past 16 years with that same family, and also with Sabrina, his same-aged sibling.  He definitely grew into his name, in size and fluff and personality.   He became a happy, healthy, playful (although always shy of strangers and never, ever a fan of water!) cat through the loving, careful, and patient attention of his new owners, to whom all of us that love him are just as grateful as he is for adopting him into their lives.  And now, here's the "man," the legend himself (he's skinnier now in his older age, but still healthy and playful)...

 

A Boy Named Cupcake, Part Two (of Three)

...When we last left Cupcake #2, he was living as a young bachelor, somewhat abandoned by all humans he had known, although it had never been those humans' intention for such a fate to be Cupcake #2's.  Wondering about The Man who came regularly, patrolling his territory, and napping in the warm sunshine of his very own house:  all of these had  to be put on hold immediately one night.


In the darkest part of the night, while Cupcake #2 was sleeping in a favorite corner of one of his house's beds, a terrible storm erupted in the skies outside.  Knowing that thunder and lightning often meant hours of loud, slapping rain at the windows and howling winds, Cupcake repaired to the basement quickly.  Although it had never been a favorite hang-out, it was always a safe HIDE-out for sure.  Once in the basement, Cupcake tried to sleep again, but found himself awoken very soon by what seemed like a new kind of rain. In his young life, he had seen rains through the windows and screen doors, quite a few times.  But THIS rain was harder, louder, taking on a life of its own it would seem, than anything the young cat had ever experienced.  He didn't like it, so he spent the next hours prowling nervously.  The thunderstorm went on all night long...


As morning hours began to wane, and Cupcake knew the sky would soon lighten even just a little bit, even with the rain, he realized he had not even THOUGHT about his food and water all night.  Looking back now, he'll tell you it must have been some sort of Divine/Feline Intervention that caused him to race up to the top basement step; that is where The Man kept Cupcake's water and variety of foods.  Having worried and prowled himself right out of energy, Cupcake recalls devouring most of his food and almost all of the water.  It might have been his late-night meal that saved his life... 


Because no sooner had he finished it, then he heard the leak.  His basement hide-out was ... no, it couldn't... COULD IT BE? ... leaking rain down the walls, onto the floor and very rapidly into puddles!?!  He didn't have much time to consider this phenomenon as more and more rain seemed to materialize from nowhere onto the walls and floors of Cupcake's hide-out.  He considered going back to the upper rooms, but at the top of the stairs, he found that the door had blown shut sometime in the night, where it was usually left open just widely enough for a cat to slither through.  


What to do!  Cupcake didn't know what would happen or when the water would stop seeping and dripping into his basement home.  So he acted quickly and instinctively and darted around searching for something he'd never had to target before:  the highest, driest, most hidden spot there was.  And he found it briskly, making his way up a "staircase" of sorts, a pile of plastic crates beside the washing machine... and from the washing machine onto the highest wooden shelf, made by Grandma's late husband many years before and still strong (and dry, in the center of the room).


Cupcake #2 watched the waters rise in the basement of his home for about two hours, he figures, before he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.  The water did not seem to be climbing anywhere near to him; however, it HAD climbed almost all the way to the middle of the washing and drying-human-clothes machines!  This observation he made the next morning, when a bright sun shone through the window wells, apparently having melted away the storms...


Cupcake #2 opened his alert and shining eyes to behold all of the wreckage:  the off-center, slightly-floating machinery!  A favorite blanket of his that had been on the floor, now half-sunken, half-on-the-surface, a soggy mess of heavy material.  A toy mouse, reeking of soaked catnip, sailed by.  Cupcake did not take long to have the thought that he did not know how to swim.  And anyway, what cat in his right mind WANTED to swim; that had always been his take on the matter.  He would have done it, to survive, if he knew how, but the fact remained, that he didn't know how.  


The spunky little boy-cat spent that morning exploring from the higher shelves.  He dipped a paw here, a tip of the nose there, taking the temperature of things, literally and figuratively.  Even if he could open that door at the top of the basement staircase, even if The Man would come and open it, even if it were standing there open right now ... How was anyone going to get to him, or him TO anyone?  


It was time to use all of his cat brain power ...
(our story will be continued later today--PROMISE)

Cupcake #2 - Intermission

Sorry, sorry, everyone!  I have to just get that out there first!  I meant very sincerely to write the rest of Cupcake #2's legendary story the following day, and not to have anyone unduly on the edge of his or her tail or worrying themselves to the point of hairballs!... Not that I fancy myself THAT good of a cat-blogger ;)  


So I promise that I will tell you the second (and in my opinion, BEST) part of Cupcake #2's (although you mightn't be calling him exactly that when you've read the whole tale ... stay tuned!) before this day is over -- this day being Monday, Nov. 1 where I am on the planet :)


I just have to share with you by way of explanation -- and some good, healthy cat "venting" -- that un-beknownst to ME, my human mom had been planning for us to MOVE to a NEW APARTMENT this past weekend.... WELL!!!  I'm assuming that most of my reader-cats have moved at least once or twice, at least to come to your forever-home if you are fortunate enough to have one just now.   Personally, this was MY SIXTH move since I was a wee litter mate!  But I stayed up ALL night on Saturday, exploring very thoroughly and diligently rubbing my scent on as many things as I possibly could!  Then I spent a warm and sunny Halloween afternoon catching up on my nap.  Don't tell my humans yet, because I'm still feigning a bit of irritation, but I think I like this (bigger, sunnier!) place.


Check back later for the story.  A guy needs his kibble breakfast before he can write properly.


***PURRRS*** --Dorian

A Boy Named Cupcake, Part One

...and actually, the boy in today's story was called Cupcake #2.  That was at first, when he was adopted by a very old lady, who had for many years owned cats, and always named them Cupcake.   Well, Cupcake didn't know it when he was a wee kitten adopted by an old grandma in the early stages of Alzheimer's ... but he would go on to be a Father of many cat generations.  I don't mean that he wasn't neutered (lol); many of us house-cats are, and he was no exception.   What I mean is, his life of survival and adventure leading eventually to a wonderful forever haven, a true home after so much tumult ... I think it makes him a symbolic forefather to us younger cats!


But let's begin at the beginning!  Unfortunately, Cupcake's first six months of life with Grandma were chaotic.  Oh, he was well-loved by his owner, and always fed and given fresh water.  Grandma had been a cat-lover and -owner for so long, the habits of caring for feline friends were well-ingrained in her memory.  Sadly, it was the more recent memories that she began to lose first (alas, Grandma was my human mom's Grandma, so I will let Mom tell her own tale of life with Grandma ... I will tell the tale of the boy named Cupcake).  But although Cupcake #2 was fed and watered and loved, Grandma was always unpredictable, given the ebb and flow of her mind.  Sometimes she would scurry in and out of the house all day long on errands Cupcake #2 knew nothing about.  Other times, she would remain inside all day, and he didn't know what the routine would be.


On Sundays, Grandma's family would come to visit.  That is when the family saw that she was in failing health, and that each week she was worse.  My mom rarely even saw Cupcake #2, because if he wasn't hiding from the strangers -- and everyone but Grandma was certainly a stranger -- Grandma was banishing him anyway (everyone in the family except my mom has bad cat allergies) with a brisk: "Cupcake, to the basement!"  She had water and toys and food and litter for him down there, but mostly it was barren, a land of cold, unfinished floor and underground and laundry smells.  It wasn't Cupcake #2's favorite place to be, but nor was being around the family.  So he would spend Sunday afternoons napping in a small patch of sunlight that slipped cautiously through the above-ground window near his basement ceiling, and lapping up some food when he awoke.  Soon enough, it would be time; the door would be opened, the scents and sounds of family would be gone, and Grandma would welcome him back upstairs into his world.  


But then It happened... well, the first It of Cupcake's young life... one day the family arrived to find that Grandma had been making a habit of either not eating at all for a whole day (forgetting to do so) and / or preparing inappropriate meals such as canned cat food for herself.  After a painful process, Grandma's family had to move her to a home where she would have help from professionals in caring for herself.  Cupcake #2 of course could not accompany her there.   Grandma's mind was slipping away so badly that she was incapable of remembering the sad parting after a time.  But Cupcake #2 was confused and saddened by it for a great while.


Some might say that the following year or so (for no one knows or can recall the exact amount of months that passed) is when Cupcake #2 became a true adult Tomcat, a "man" on his own.  He was never sure how he felt about it; being independent by nature, he was usually fine.  He remained in his home, but no one else lived there, no cats or animals of any sort, and no humans either.  On certain days, Cupcake #2 wasn't sure he liked being "independent" allll the time.  He had been domesticated, was born of a domestic house-cat mother, among domestic litter-mates.  He missed having people around, or a person at least.  He even missed having a couple of cats around, as he recalled having had when he was nestled in nursing with his brothers as a baby. 


There was The Man though.  The Man (Grandma's son, as it turned out) came every other day and put fresh, delicious food (special kinds!  treats!  new flavors!) out for Cupcake #2, replenished his water, and stayed to pet and play with him if Cupcake would allow it.  Usually, however, he did not allow it.  After all, Cupcake didn't know The Man very well, and he didn't live with him.  He appreciated the food and sustenance, but he preferred most of the time to prowl about his territory on his own.  Sometimes humans could be unpredictable, that he knew somehow, instinctively.


Thus it was for many months, Cupcake #2 and The Man sort of co-habitating and co-existing.  The Man came frequently, sometimes more than every other day, to do something with lots of papers and files and such.  He spoke on the phone and did lots of things outside in the yard.  Cupcake #2 watched all of this from behind the TV, which was warm, when The Man was inside; and he watched from a favorite bedroom window when The Man was outside.  


More than once, Cupcake #2 heard The Man say his name while talking on the telephone like Grandma used to do.  Cupcake #2 never completely liked the phone, because it always took attention away from him.  When Grandma used to talk on it, he would meow and nuzzle and leap onto her lap, with only lukewarm petting and results for his efforts.  But with The Man on the phone, and talking about HIM no less, Cupcake #2 took interest... he heard The Man asking many times what the phone thought he should do with Cupcake #2.  He heard The Man say to the telephone that he felt sad that Cupcake #2 lived alone and that his own family could not allow him to live with them and their allergies.  He even heard The Man begin to ask the phone if it knew someone good who might like to "take" Cupcake #2.  This last bit was something the meaning of which the feline puzzled for days ...


... For days until it left his mind out of necessity.  Because he had to use everything in his mind and body to survive what happened next ....

Birds and Battle Wounds

I am enjoying some extended summer days here in my part of the world!  Just before sitting down to paw this blog post, I was watching and listening intently to a very raucous bird conversation taking place right outside on my balcony!!!  Well, you can imagine that I went running, feet barely touching the floor, when I heard that!  I hunched way down behind a storage box and prowled closer and closer to the window, because of course I don't want the birds to see me first when I'm ... uh, studying them.  They sure were LOUD, and it seemed to me that one really SQUAWKY guy was holding forth with one tiny, CHIRPY one.  Hmmm ... I could not translate, but I am fascinated by birds and their language and their flippy-flappy wings and their movements in general.  One second they are in the tree and I can only hear them, then the next they come hurtling full-speed down right in front of my screen door!!!  Hmmm... I sometimes see those ads when my humans watch TV for something called Rosetta Stone... it teaches the humans other human languages... wonder whether a cat could learn a bird language?  Dog?  or ... perhaps... mouse????  

you know, so that i could converse with this little green guy (at the front/center of my picture)

 I also am really excited to report that I am feeling like a better-than-new cat since recovering from that dark, dark week when the v-e-t did dental work, my mom chased me around for TEN days with medicines that she poured into my cheek pocket two times a day, my gums hurt too much to crunch my kibbles (so they fed me tuna... hmmm not too bad, I thought I hated it in the past!) and milk and mashed-up "crunchy" food... shudder!... and I hid under the bed in my secret cave where no one can reach me with human arms (triumph!) for a couple of days ... well, it really was bad.  But NOW! I am running and playing and snuggling with Mom (somehow I sense that the v-e-t MADE her do that to me, with the medicine and stuff, so I'm not mad), and eating my favorite crunchy treats when I behave well for grooming and stuff!  I feel wonderful and spritely!  I asked Mom to take a picture of my one remaining battle wound, because that too is covering up FAST!  Long-haired cats will understand, I'm sure!  So here's me just this morning:

Check out my right paw, the one in the bottom front of the picture; do you see the chunk taken out of my otherwise-fluffy-long white fur?  That's where the you-know-who SHAVED me to insert an i.v.  I don't really know what that means and wasn't awake for it, and that's fine by me!  All I know is that last week it was pink cat skin that gave me a shiver, so I always laid with my other paw covering it.  But already it has very short, white hair (one little part of me knows what it's like to be hairless or very short-haired now, hehe) on it.  My human mom says it's fascinating to watch me grow my fur back so fast and efficiently!  I say I'd like my regular ol' paw back please.  Although, the girl cats say it makes me look sorta tough :)

****PURRRRS****to all, Dorian

It's Really Me!

Hi friends, furry and not-so-furry!  I'm happy to be back to my blog, and also to be back to reading YOUR blogs (which I'll be doing next)!  If you read my human mom's post last week (I let her be a guest-blogger in my absence), you know where I've been.  But just to re-cap, and to tell it from MY perspective ...

I guess most of you cats, and cat-parents, know already that some indoor kitties are prone to dental problems.  I am one of these, unfortunately.  I already had to have my teeth cleaned by the V-E-T a couple years ago... and then last week, I had to go THERE again, this time to get them cleaned and to get a few of 'em pulled out too!  What can I tell you?  I sure do hate to ride in the car; I complain vocally to my humans the WHOLE way there and back usually, just in case it might change their minds!  This time I was too sleepy from the medicines to complain on the way home.  In fact, I was sleepy for 2 or 3 days!  Thanks to everyone who sent comments or emails to my mom!  I think that maybe... just maybe... she needed them even more than I did!  I was okay... just mad that I had to go there, and tired, and my gums hurt where my teeth used to be... So I went under the bed and did NOT come out again for those few days!  Only to visit my litter box!


But now I am playing more, and not in pain.  It's actually better than when I had my infected teeth and irritated gums, because now I can crunch up my food.  And now I don't have that stuff going on making me feel tired and less playful!  In fact, I think I should already be eating my favorite Temptations treats (crunchy outside with soft, flavorful insides!) and my dry food!  But Mom says that for a few more days I have to take my medicine and also eat my regular food which is mushed-up with warm water.  ICK.  I think that I can do it, but only for a FEW days more!  


I hope that everyone out there has had a good week.  If any of you blogging cats or cat owners out there have ever gone through dental problems, my mom would love to hear your stories.  Me too!  I am her first pet cat, and she is the only human that I remember or have ever really known, or ever CHOSEN for myself (that part is most important!).  So we are learning about each other as we go, and I know that my mom worried about me when I was under the bed for those few days and didn't want to come out.  She didn't want to miss any signs that I wasn't reacting normally, or that I was feeling very badly.  She checked on me under there all the time!  And even though I tried to press my claws into the carpet so that no one would get me out, she pulled me outta there when it was time for medication, and when she wanted to look at my eyes and feel my cold, wet nose!  I might complain, but I do love my mom :)  And nothing makes you appreciate your humans and your own place that you live (where you have carefully marked everything with your scent!) like a day at the V-E-T place!  


***PURRRRRS*** Just-Like-New Dorian

Separation Anxiety

Reprinted from TerminallyUniq (An update on Dorian by his mom):


Yes, I'm BACK!  This is a happy event (coming back to my main blog) for me, as I'm sure it is for my loyal readers reader.


However, I feel all out-of-sorts.  I can't decide whether to take a nap or to try to stay busy ... and I think the latter will lead to mania, with me just running around and starting various projects, which no doubt need to be done but none of which I will finish.  The whole thinking process about all of it just exhausts me, and then I guess I should just take that nap... But I have some new books, and maybe I could read, and I'm just out-of-sorts!


The problem?  My precious baby Dorian-Cat is at the Vet today.  For the whole day.  He's being put under anesthesia and getting his teeth cleaned.  At his recent appointment they found some pretty bad gum irritation and tooth decay starting, and he might have to have one tooth pulled.  I didn't know how prone he was to this problem, but I have resolved to work on teeth-brushing with him.  He will hate it, but it's better than this!!!!  


I had to take my Dori to the vet clinic by 8 a.m. and will not be able to pick him up until 5... I have done this once before, and everything was just fine.  I like my vet, and my cat was great, he did great, and he was sleepy but healthy, everything worked out... But I hate it so much!  It's really obvious to me today how much our lives at home are intertwined!  I got up off the couch and was gingerly putting my feet down, just in case he was lying there, like I always do, because he tends to get under foot.  But then of course, I realized, he's not here!  Then the guys who do lawn work at our apartment complex came by, and they had the loud leaf-blower out, and I jumped up to shut the door, because Dori hates that... but I realized that it won't bother him if he's all the way at the clinic.  I hate this!  It's the weirdest thing ever to be at home with my cat NOT at home.   It's like what?  Why would he be away somewhere?  He doesn't go on play dates or anything, like, without me.  


I do not care if I sound like a poorly-adjusted, co-dependent, over-attached cat mom.  I don't like him to be there, or anywhere, without me.  He only trusts me 100%.  He trusts a few other humans close to that, but believe me, they ain't at the veterinary clinic.  Oh, sadness... Oh, anxiety... I want my baby back!  I must pass the time now, so that soon they will call and the day will be done.  

Nap Time

Hope everyone is having a good start to their week!  Mom and I have been kind of laying low; Mom's trying to get some house work done, cleaning and stuff... I guess there is a lot of fur and tiny, fine cat hairs to be cleaned and v-a-c-u-u-m-e-d (I can barely think that word!!) ... wonder who those are from!? ;)  Anyway, because my humans are so busy, and Mom is also working on a new blog project this week, we are taking a little break.  More time for me to play out on the balcony and take naps though!  I will be back to my regular blogging in about a week, or two at the most.  Mom will too, if your humans follow hers!  Until then, ***PURRRRS***--Dorian

A Quick Note on a Thursday Evening

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I just woke from a nap to find it had rained quite a lot while I was dreaming!  Mom took a nap too, but now we are both up; I'm watching the birds that have come out hunting and playing and tweeting!  Plus, I think that I hear Mom rustling bags for my dinner!  Hope everyone is having a good day!  ***Purrrrs***Dorian

Hi Everyone!  Hope this late-summer day finds everyone sunning themselves and napping as needed!  I've been doing all of the above, but of course, Mom had out her camera, so I allowed her to make me into her model a few times!

Here's one of me on my "house."  If you cats don't have one yet, you really need a fancy, carpeted house with places to climb and hidey-holes on it!  I love mine, and Mom moved it to a high place atop a sturdy desk, so I can watch over my turf!  


If you look to the right, you'll see our new profile picture.  I don't actually mind posing too much, because I get lots of pets and snuggles!  I was looking downward, because you know, we cats have a tendency to get glowing robot "red-eye" sometimes :)


**Purrrrs**--Dorian

Lazy Sundays

Goooood Morning, Cats, Dogs, Humans and other friends!  It's still technically morning here anyway!  My human mom and I had a nice, long sleep today.  Sundays are good for lazy naps and stretching, strolling to get a snack every now and then, and prowling out to the porch to investigate the birds and squirrels.  


Yesterday was hard, because I woke up early and was ready for my breakfast!  I nuzzled my mom, but she was very sick with one of her migraines.  Barfing and everything!!  Geez, she thinks it's bad when I have my hairballs!  Well, when I saw that she was not going to open the blinds or get my food right away, I curled up on my favorite plush ottoman and decided to get some extra zzzzz's stored up.  Mom and I slept and slept!  Then Mom's boyfriend came over to save the day!!  He got dinner for her AND filled MY bowl with fresh kibbles!  Yay, Dan!   We love him!

Pretty soon Mom was feeling better.  We opened our door for fresh air (that's also how I keep tabs on all the birds and bugs around here!), and I got fresh water to drink and fresh litter box.  Better late than never, right?!  


I hope all of you are having a nice August weekend.  We are enjoying a break from the hot-hot-hot right now.  Today is just warm-warm-warm.
***Purrrrrrrs***** --Dorian

It has been a WILD weekend here at our humble abode!  The main activity was that my human-grandma has been coming and going, brining boxes and bins full of strange-scented things from her house; she says they are my mom's old things from when SHE was a kitten...oops, I mean a little kid!  Anyway, I guess my mom is supposed to throw away stuff she doesn't want and re-pack the other things for storage.  Well, I didn't like this at all!   I always hate it when people are moving large objects over my head and all around, especially before I have a chance to inspect them thoroughly!  ...But then!!!!  Mom began working on them, and guess what!  I have one huge, sturdy, purrrrrfect new box to hide and play and sleep in, one that Mom emptied!  She says I can keep it now!  No way!!!! It's so tall, with such wide flaps, that we have to lay it on its side so that I can get in!!!  Mom said she might cut a few holes to make it a REAL kitty-house for me, with dual-entrances... Hmmm, I think I might not be so quick to hide next time I see Grandma coming with new objects in her arms!

Today's picture is NOT me with my new box (those will be coming soon though!); rather, it's one I hadn't posted yet that I really like ... I'm helping one of my favorite humans named Dan balance his checkbook!  I love to help with all sorts of tasks!

My Birthday!

Hi Everyone!  I hope that all you cats are keeping cool out there!  If your summer weather is anything like where I live, then you are drinking a lot of cold water (hopefully supplied frequently by your kind humans!) and giving yourself a lot of extra tongue baths too!  I won't be lying on my porch until later in the evening today ... With a double-thick coat like this, it's no good to have the sun beating down on me!  


For an indoor project, my human mom helped me pick out some pictures from my birthday bash to share with you here!  I had so much fun, and thanks to everyone who sent happy birthdays to me!  It was a special day, well, a special WEEKEND really.  Like I said, we partied for a couple of days.  I felt like a king.  And I mean, really, aren't we cats always trying to show these humans (and sometimes our dog friends too) that cats really are pretty darn regal?  Haha, well here's a few of the fun:

There I was when I first woke up, just waiting for breakfast like I always do ... I think I forgot it was my special day until I looked in my bowl and saw all my favorite kibbles and NONE of the "healthy" ones that my mom mixes in!

Later on, I opened some presents wrapped in fun, crinkly paper ... THIS was the BEST!!!  It's a tunnel that stands up on its own, but it can also close at one end to form a bag/sack (I love to play in paper sacks, but this one is permanent!).  But I didn't know what it was yet.  When new things come into my house, I just sit near them and watch what they might do ....

COOL!!!  This is one of my humans named Dan, who gave me my special gift!  He showed me how to play with my new tunnel/bag... See me listening intently!  He showed me how to go inside and out the end, and how to hunt a toy inside of it!  Oh yeah, and the bag is made of crinkly, crunchy material to knead my paws on!!!!  Just like a plastic bag!  But Mom says it's safer for me.

We played a LOT that night!  And I got to eat a few favorite treats (Temptations! Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside!  I like ALL the flavors!) before bed.  I usually sleep in a big cardboard box-bed that I've marked and bent just right for me, and that has my favorite blanket inside.  But on my birthday I gave my bag a try ... Does't it make a good sleeping bag too!?  Sweet dreams everyone! **Purrrrs** --Dorian

SUMMER UPDATE

Hello to all of my furry (and not-so-furry) friends out there!  It's another hot and humid day in our neck of the city (haha).  Yes, I know, I have been a bad kitty when it comes to updating my blog; that is what this post is for!!!  


We've just had such a great time out on the porch; Mom lets me go out to investigate new smells after the evening rains, and to check the progress of these new purple flowers we are growing ... and when my tasks are done, of course, I like to warm my belly by strrrreeetching out and dozing.


Also, last week was my birthday (July 2), and I turned SIX years old!  I am going to help my mom choose some pictures of me enjoying my party and playing with my presents!  OOOH, it was SO FUN!  My humans made it into a whole weekend of birthday events and celebration for me, me, me!  My mom said that each day of the weekend we could play whatever toys I wanted to play with, and I got to eat only my favorite foods in my bowl (yum!), and they got me great presents!  You'll see in my pictures!  Last year, my human mom and I had just moved here, and things were very crazy, boxes everywhere, new smells and sounds to get used to.  We both were nervous and stressed trying to make our place "home"!  So my mom said it was important that THIS birthday be waaaaaay better than that one!  It was!  


So don't worry!  I won't be away too long; just long enough to help with the photos (usually I just take a few paw-swipes at the keyboard while Mom messes around with her camera ... that helps, right?)... AND to catch up on all my cat friends' blogs!!!
**Purrrrrs**** --Dorian

Good News!

Oooh, this is a great day!  We found out that a story my mom wrote about how I found her is being featured on About.com!  And I get to be the Cat of the Week!  Check it out if you want!  http://cats.about.com/b/2010/06/05/cat-picture-of-the-week-dorian.htm

Noisy Day!

YES!  I am still here, but I admit I've been neglecting my blog for too long!  What can I say?  The beautiful summer weather we are enjoying here in Chicago-Land is just so purrrfect for finding good sunlight spots to lie in, taking naps being warmed near a window, and watching birds flit about outside!  Today is another gorgeous day here, but Thursday is the Worst Day for cats at our building!  I'm sure you understand when I tell you that this is lawn-mowing, grass-edging, and general noise-making day!  My mom is good; she closes our doors and windows so that I feel safe and the noises aren't so loud.  


This place!  Today I was just settling in to begin my bath near our front door in the living room ... when I heard that dreaded sound:  The Lady Who Vacuums had come to do the public areas of our building!!!!  How can I bathe when there is a vacuum on our floor, and it sometimes even bangs against our front door as The Lady is working!!!????  I scurried to my safe blanket, my favorite one, a white Snuggie that my mom lets me use for sleeping and resting!  Plus, I am close to her while she works.  Too much noise!


Speaking of noise, how do you cats feel about thunder-storms?  My mom says I used to be afraid of them when I was a kitten, but that can't be true.  I see dogs hiding and crying all the time when it storms, but I am not afraid.  I'm only annoyed when it interrupts my naps!


Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!  My mom says she got another new laptop, because there was something wrong with her other new one.  So now we have to transfer all photos of ME onto the new one!  Why?  Of course so that she can help me post them to let you all know what I'm doing!
--*Purrrrs* --Dorian

My Dad

It's been awhile, cats!  Sorry to keep you waiting, but my human was really sick last week.  I was verrrry busy tending to her, grooming her, bringing her toys to toss to me from her bed ... all those things a kitty does when his human is under the weather!   But yesterday she was gone for a long time, and when she came back, she said "Dorian, I am so much better, and I have medicine from the doctor!"  YAY!


I wanted to write about my human dad today too though!  I don't always mention him, because he doesn't live with us anymore.  But he loves me SO MUCH!  He always has a treat or a present for me when he comes to visit, and he helped my mom raise me from a little kitty.  Here's a picture of us; my mom titled it "true love."

When my mom brought me home from the shelter, I was 11 months old.  We didn't know each other, and we regarded one another with suspicion!  Actually, I had chosen my mom, by swatting her relentlessly with a paw from inside my cage; you might have read that story before.    But still, I could tell she needed some cat training...


Dad to the rescue!  My human dad grew up with lots and lots of kitties, he told me.  Even his mom has kitties all over at her house (they are outdoor cats though, so Mom says we can't play ... you know, with their front claws and different vaccinations and all ... by the way, for those of you who are anti-de-clawing, Mom just got me this way; someone de-clawed me when I was a baby!!  But my back claws still work pretty well as weapons!).  


ANYWAY, my human dad was mom's boyfriend for like 6 years.  We lived at his house for a long time, and he taught Mom all sorts of important things, like what kitties like to play with, what makes us feel safe, and when to call the v-e-t (NEVER! hehe).  Now that Mom and Dad aren't living together, we are still a family, and I am always excited to see my human dad!  So I wanted to share him with you cats!


P.S.  On a different topic:  there was talk in my comments from all of you about a cat blog-roll.  What does a cat have to do to get on that???    *Purrrrs*  --Dorian

Why Is Everything Upside Down?

Today was bright and sunny with a warm breeze blowing through my open screen door!  Purrrrfect for relaxing!  I like to hang out like this, letting my paws fall where they may.  The humans look so funny from here!

Here's me, just saying HI to all my pet and human friends!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my birthday picture (to answer some questions, my birthday is in July, so  it was taken awhile ago...but coming up again sort of soon!  yay!).  I'm certain that you all made my human mom feel happy with my picture, and she will hang it on our wall now!  It's just like I tried to communicate to her:  I was relaxing in that picture, thinking pre-nap thoughts, relaxing in a sliver of sun ... it's one of my favorite things to do!


Speaking of my favorite things, I'm so glad we have nice weather here most of the time now!  All winter long I stay inside, because I am an indoor cat.  But now, Mom and I go outside on the porch everyday for at least a little while!  There are birds everywhere!  And fresh new scents!  Sometimes squirrels, but I chase those away and threaten them with my chatter-y teeth signal!  Today I was warning some squirrels to avoid my turf, when Mom came up behind me and tried to do the cat's chattering-teeth sound.  As if!  I looked at her in the face and said (with my eyes) "Mom, puh-leeze, just don't.  It's embarrassing."  How can I threaten these squirrels when there's a human with me acting like that?  I had to explain to her, really.  Cats, you understand.


There's talk of taking me for a real walk with a leash and a harness.  Mom gave me the harness to sniff and play with a little, and she said she read some articles about how we can learn to walk outside.  I'm not sure about this... Cats, does anyone out there walk on a leash?  The V-E-T told her that "any" cat can learn!  But we all know that the V-E-T cannot always be trusted!!  I want to go outside, but do I have to wear that?  Mom says yes, I have to wear it to be "safe."  Hmmm ... there sure ARE a lot of interesting noises and smells outside the front door, where she doesn't let me go.  I'll keep you posted on what I decide to do...    *purrs* --Dorian

Me on my Birthday

Here is a picture that my mom found when she went to print her pictures from that ghastly - long trip she recently took to a place called Hawaii.  She took this picture of me on my last birthday (number FIVE for me!) and thought it captured me looking thoughtful. She laughed when we looked back at it now, saying "There's my pensive and thoughtful adult tomcat!"  If you'll notice, my feet are perched on the spine of a book called "What's My Cat Thinking?"  You can only make out the "Cat Thinking" part, but it's still sort of humorous.  Mind you, that is a book my MOM was reading, not me!

Since my mom loves me and wanted a big, framed picture of me, she turned this one into a sepia-tinted 4 x 6 and printed it.  But a lot of her friends said that I looked either "unhappy" or "bored" or something.  I remember that I was simply lounging in the sunshine very close to a window.  I'm sure I was thinking my dreamy, pre-nap thoughts, but now I think my mom feels bad.  So what do you cats think?  Is this a good picture of me, or should we try again?  I really don't mind posing for photos; I call them my modeling shoots.  You know, we cats like to be fancy and the center of attention!   I especially like to show off a freshly-brushed coat!  *Purrs* --Dorian

You Can Call Me "Weegie"

That is what my mom has been affectionately calling me this week.  She has discovered some of my heritage after doing a lot of research and talking to other humans who live with cats.  It is an abbreviation of the word Norwegian; we have learned that I am probably half Norwegian Forest Cat, and this breed is frequently called a "weegie."  I think I like it!  .. Here is a picture of me (on the left) and a true "weegie" (right).  Wow!  There is a family resemblance, huh?

   


Norwegian Forest Cats have thick, waterproof coats of fur with two layers:  a longer, more coarse top layer, and a very fine, soft under-coat.  We have long tufts of fur between our toes and in our ears.  Finally, I know more about my family!  


No one has been able to verify it for sure, but they say that in the old days, Weegies would accompany sailors on their ships, even the Vikings!  I wouldn't mind helping out on a ship, hunting and bringing good luck and predicting the weather (all the jobs my ancestors did with the sailors); but I do NOT like water!!  My mom says I used to climb on the toilet and try to drink out of it, but then I fell in a few times and didn't like that at all!    Hmmm ... I can't imagine I would do this, even as a young kitten.  Water is gross!  It mats a cat's fur and is cold and ... just freaky!  I hope no cats had to swim back then!  None of my cat friends enjoy being in the bath tub or going in the lake with their dog friends.   I don't like to ride in the car either, but I bet a boat would be more fun!  Spending my days lounging on the deck in the warm sunlight and my nights chasing all those scurrying mice and rats!  And all the humans paying very close attention to me, because my job was so important!  I am happy thinking of my great-great-great-grandparents doing these things!


The book Mom read showed pictures of little baby Weegies.  She was squealing about how cute they looked, and she said that she wished she could have seen me when I was a baby cat.  Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of me then, but I think I was the same, only smaller.  Then Mom came to take me to my home when I was almost a year old, but that's another story!


Some people think Weegies are also maybe ancestors of the Maine Coon breed.  The vet told Mom maybe I am part Maine Coon.  It's a mystery, I guess!  One thing is for sure; I am big and strong with a very long-haired, fluffy coat and big paws that Mom calls my Tiger Paws.  Well, speaking of my mom, I just heard her say "Here are some late-night snacks for my tiger-paw-weegie-cat!"  So I better go!  

Better Now (I THINK...)

Wow, what a week I've had here!!!  Mom and I were so busy getting re-acquainted (she sure needed a LOT of my scent-rubbing and tongue baths after bringing all those "Hawaii" smells home on her!!) that we vowed not to write our blogs or do much of anything but snuggle-up most of the time that she was home!  What a lucky cat I have been this week.


I think I am feeling less anxious about Mom leaving now.  Does that feeling ever happen to any of you cats (or dogs)?  Every now and then my mom has to leave for what she tells me is just a "long weekend" or something called "a wedding" or things like that.  They don't take very long.   I usually take my nice, relaxing, uninterrupted naps; I eat snacks at my leisure and play with my toys, and then before I know it, she is back, showering me with nose-kisses and even picking me up (she knows this is not my favorite thing, so she only does it when she REALLY is missing me!). 


So her recent trip was different.  Mom and I have NEVER been separated for TWO WEEKS before!  She said we won't ever be separated like that again either, and I'm so happy!  It was too long!  I know that I'm supposed to be a big boy, and I'm going to be 6 this summer, but still.  It was just us guys staying at the apartment, and the human taking care of me couldn't spend the night all the time, not like he was living here.  He loves me too, and loves my mom, but I still missed her.  What can I say?  I'm a Momma's Cat!  That's what she tells me!  


But as I wrote in my subject today, I am better now, I think!  At first, I never wanted to leave Mom's side ... you know, just to be SURE she wasn't packing up again or going anywhere for very long!  If she sat down on the couch, then I made sure to sit down too!  When she went to sleep at night, I slept right by her side!  I didn't want to go to my normal sleeping spots, like my House or my Penthouse (a home-made house put way up high on a desk-top for me, ha ha, the Penthouse!) or any of my cardboard boxes.  I only wanted to stay by Mom.  She said she loved how I would cuddle up by her and make a snuggle-pile (that's what she calls it if we get blankets and each other and make a pile!).  Now that I'm a big boy I don't do that kind of thing as much, but this week I did.  I'm telling you guys, it's a good idea to keep an eye on your humans and make sure they don't run away again after they have gone somewhere like "Hawaii"!


Last time I posted I got a lovely comment stating that Mom probably isn't going to leave me ever again, because she missed me too much!  That's exactly what she keeps telling me!  I'm very happy that we are in agreement about this!  Mom said she had a good time and needed to get out in the sun (winters are very cold here for the humans who don't have natural fur coats!), but now she did that.  And now it is getting warm and sunny here too!  


Last night I ventured into my "bedroom," which is the back square of my fold-up house.  I fell right asleep, and I felt very peaceful.  When I woke up, I saw that my mom had fallen asleep on the couch anyway, so I still wasn't far from her!  I'm getting better at it though.  Mom told Gramma the other day that she thinks I am okay and getting over my fear of her leaving me!  Yay!  I don't want to be a scaredy-cat!  Just want my mom to stay with me or at least bring me with!  I'll send a postcard if we go to this place called Hawaii!


P.S.  Mom had technical issues with her camera that are getting fixed right now ... When she gets it fixed, we will have lots of new pictures for me to post here!  What's a kitty-blog with no pictures, right?   Purrs everyone!