Checking In Thursday

Hi, kitties.   Just checking in with our friends.   Sorry we have not been visiting and commenting.   Mom and Dad took a short trip to see my human sister (Audrey's first Mom) and so we have done a lot of THIS:

This is actually the picture we posted for New Year's except there were lots of streamers and party hats and fireworks added to that one!
We don't usually choose to sleep on the same chair or sofa, but sometimes when we do, nobody feels like they have to move.
Our cat sitter has been taking care of us and our humans will be back real soon.

Our New Numbers

Many of you may recall that when Simba first got his town license last year, he was awarded the license number 007.     When Audrey came to live here, she got her license and her number was 013.     So only Simba had the special "00" number.

Now we have had to renew the licenses and our new tags arrived today:   kitties, Simba is 008 and Audrey is 009!      So we will be able to do super duper secret spy stuff together!!  And it looks like a promotion for Simba!

Edited to add:  Sparkle asked "Are there really that few kitties in the town where you live, to only have a three-digit license, and you two in the single digits?"  Well, the answer  is that we think that since the registering of cats only started last year, most of the people with indoor-only cats are not registering them.    It is pretty surprising, though.    
Regarding not being 007 any more, we also thought we would keep our numbers from year to year.     But the new tags have 2012 on them, and it looks like they are given out in the order people come to register their pets for the year.      007 was James Bond, but there were other "00" agents with special licenses to kill (mousies?).   
Oliver and Elliot, see you soon!


Oh, and could you go and leave some purrs for Fin's Mom Meg?     She fell down and hurted her head and has a black eye.     We bet she would appreciate a visit.

Mancat Monday

Kitties!  I did something SUPERMANLY on Sunday!   Mom went into the basement (where I like to lie on a LOW window ledge and watch Squirrel TV in the back yard), and found I had somehow gotten all the way up on the high window ledge of the small window!   See how close to the ceiling it is?  (apologies for the warped ceiling tiles).

Here's a closeup!   

After Mom took the picture she saw me get down, but she still doesn't know how I got up there!

Sunday Funny Stuff

Our humans received a Kliban Cat calendar for Christmas and we thought it would be fun to share the picture for January with you.   Credits, of course, to Bernard "Hap" Kliban.

The humans here are completing the Christmas takedown today.  Yeah, around here they like to keep the tree up, feeling sad to put everything away seemingly so soon.  

Sad Saturday

We are sad here because the sweet kitty of some friends of my humans has flown off to the Rainbow Bridge.  We don't have a picture to post, but her name was Peepers.  She was a very sweet black and white girlcat, about 12 years old.

Mom wanted us to post about this because of what caused her to die.   Peepers developed breast cancer.      She had surgery but the cancer had metastasized.     But it is important to know what the v-e-t said:   cats who are spayed before they ever go into heat have a very low chance of developing breast cancer.   Once thy have had one heat, the chances go up a lot and are highest for unspayed females.     So in addition to other reasons, this is a very good reason to have female kittens spayed.    If you have a female cat who had kittens and was then spayed later, her chance of developing the disease is quite high.    Apparently this is especially the case for Siamese cats.     It would be good to examine her nipple area for lumps frequently.   We can think of a couple of our girlcat friends who may be at risk.  The age it most frequently develops is after age 10.  

Fly free, Peepers.   We will see you again one day for sure.  

Thankful Thursday

We are thankful for the toy mousies we got for Christmas.      Or at least Audrey is.     Simba is more interested in watching Audrey play than actually playing with them himself!

Sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy.    But not as fuzzy as THIS action one!

Wordless Wednesday - how to beat the cold and still go on the deck

Toxic Plants? Tuesday

When Dad purchased Mom a pretty white poinsettia just before Christmas, she admired it and immediately put it into the off-limits living room so there was no chance we would chew on it.     She had heard poinsettias were toxic for cats.     But one day she got curious and did some searching on the web and found a web site that she wants to tell you all about.  It is called Pet Poison Helpline and their url is http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com.    They also have an 800 number for the USA Canada and Carribbean (800-213-6680).  There is a charge if you call them for help because they do not have public funding.   But the website is free.

This is what we found out about Poinsettias and other Holiday plants and flowers:

"Though they have a bad rap, poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) plants are only mildly toxic to cats and dogs.   Mild signs of vomiting, drooling, or rarely, diarrhea may be seen. If the milky sap is exposed to skin, dermal irritation (including redness, swelling, and itchiness) may develop. Rarely, eye exposure can result in a mild conjunctivitis (“pink eye” secondary to inflammation). Signs are self-limiting and generally don’t require medical treatment unless severe.

Far more worrisome are holiday bouquets containing lilies, holly or mistletoe. Even bouquets brought into the house by holiday guests should be thoroughly inspected, as lilies are the #1 flower often used by florists. Just one or two bites from a lily can result in severe acute kidney failure in cats – even the pollen is thought to be poisonous! Other yuletide plants such as holly berries, mistletoe, and rosemary can also be toxic to dogs and cats. When Christmas or English holly is ingested, it can result in severe gastrointestinal upset thanks to the spiny leaves and the potentially toxic substances (including saponins, methylxanthines, and cyanogens). If ingested, most dogs and cats lip smack, drool, and head shake excessively due to the mechanical injury from the spiny leaves. As for mistletoe, most of us hang it high enough so it’s out of reach of our dogs and cats – nevertheless, it can also be toxic if ingested. Thankfully, American mistletoe is less toxic than the European varieties of it. Mild signs of gastrointestinal irritation are seen, although if ingested in large amounts, collapse, hypotension, ataxia (walking drunk), seizures and death have also been reported."

Mancat Monday

Dad tried to be clever with the camera on Christmas Day and got this picture of me under the coffee table in the living room.     Note that I was on the "fancy rug" that I almost threw up on a few minutes later.    But, really, it was all dad's fault - he had bought Mom some pretty roses a few days before, and they were on the kitchen table.     I couldn't resist the greenery with the flowers and had myself a nice little snack of it while they were chatting on the phone with my human brother.   All their fault - right?

Fortunately we left the white poinsettia on the coffee table (just slightly visible) alone.