Mo Cats Day

In honor of Mo Cats Day, we've decided to include pictures of all the cats in our family and pictures from some friends of ours.

One of Mom's favorite pictures of Tavi.

Cody sleeping with Camie.

Gracie looking a little annoyed at having her nap disturbed.

Tiki (now at the bridge)

Miss Jade (now at the bridge)

Our cousin, Einstein. He is now a whopping 16 lb boy. (We don't have a picture of Dharma - his sister)

The intruder kitty from Christmas, 2~1/2 years ago - Belle

Belle's cousin - Ewok.

Stealing Warmth

Mom's shoulder was a bit hurty today, so she brought her heating pad home from work. She put it on the couch by me, plugged it in, and turned it on low. Of course, I had to steal it from her. It was a bit chilly today, so I needed something to keep me warm, and this was wonderful. Mom said she is going to leave it home for us, so I can use it as much as I want.

In other news, I am still a bit depressed without Camie. I have been sleeping in the bathroom in the dirty clothes. I have plenty of other places to sleep, I just feel like sleeping in there for now. I have still been demanding lots of Mom time too. She's pretty good about letting me sleep on her when I want.

Gracie is doing okay, and Cody is still allowing Mom to pet him lots while he eats his treats.

Today is a Heartbreaking Day

We just found out we lost another beloved friend. We are in tears. Luxor was another cat who dealt with a terrible disease with grace and dignity. We are so sorry to hear that he has decided to leave for the Bridge. He will be missed by everyone who knew him through his blog and Facebook. Luxor, we know we will see you at the Bridge one day.

Goodbye Dear Friend

We were so sad to learn that Eric had to be helped to the bridge yesterday. We know how devastated his mum and dad are. Eric was an inspiration to us when Tiki was diagnosed with diabetes. He gave us hope at a time when we were feeling hopeless about Tiki's diagnosis. Eric, we are glad that you are now running around pain free at the bridge. We have so many friends up there to greet you and welcome you. Until we meet again.

Thankful Thursday

It's not so much that I am thankful, but my mom sure is. I hid from her really good the other day. She was looking and looking for me and couldn't find me. I wouldn't even come out for treats. I finally ran past her so she was able to go to bed. She looked outside for me, and in the refrigerator - mol - knowing I wouldn't go in either of those places.

I wouldn't come up on the bed for a couple of days to get treats, but I am back to doing that. The thing Mom is most thankful for tho, is I am allowing her to pet me while I eat my treats. I even let her pet me last night for a bit after the treats were all gone. I've never willingly let her pet me before for as long as I am now. I hate to say this, but I am kind of liking this petting thing. I am even raising up my back while she pets me to make her do it again. Don't tell anyone.

17 years young & Update

Well, I am 17 years young today. It is hard to believe that I am that old. Of course, it is also my brother's birthday, even if he is at the bridge. Mom's birthday present to me (well, really all of us) is that she is home for a whole week. She took off a vacation day, and then has four furlough days. She says she doesn't mind the furlough days because they took the money out a little at a time over all of her paychecks, but she gets to take the days off all at once (so it's like a mini vacation).

We are sorry we haven't been updating. We are all okay, but I have been extra clingy with Mom since Camie went to the bridge. I have been asking Mom to hold me almost constantly when she is home. She has been a little bit concerned about me because of it, but she is giving in to my demands for the most part to be held all the time.

Gracie is her usual self. She is still very sweet with me and very bratty with Cody. Of course, Cody starts their arguments half of the time anyway, so we can't blame it all on Gracie. She still loves to knead on Mom with all of her feet while she purrs and drools. She also takes long naps on Mom until I come up and kick her out of the way. I wouldn't mind if she wanted to share, but she won't. She's kind of selfish.

Cody has the biggest news tho. He has been letting Mom pet him lots while he is eating his treats at night. Mom has been able to pet him for almost a minute. As you know, this is a HUGE improvement over his previous behavior. He still gets spooked easily, and will move away from her if she makes any sudden movements, but at least he will sit still and let her get some good petting in on his back and he doesn't run and hide if she has to move. Mom is going to try to get some video of it if she can. She says it's hard to take video and pet at the same time, especially because it's Cody.

Thank you all for staying friends with us. Mom keeps saying she is going to go back to helping us visit and blog soon.

Goodbye Baby Girl

Our Camie was helped over the bridge today a little before 2 p.m. PST. In the last week, she stopped eating anything but our cat food, or boiled chicken and even then, she could not eat much. She had lost a lot of weight and she couldn't walk very well to go out to go potty. She also had lots of swelling under her chin from the tumor, so Mom made the agonizing decision to help her go. She went very peacefully, and the V-E-T told Mom that she had picked the perfect time to let her take her trip. Mom has been crying lots, but we are sitting on her and sleeping on her to help her feel better. We know we will see her again at the bridge. Goodbye our sweet baby girl Camie. You were a wonderful sister to us, and we will miss you very much.

Update

We are so sorry it has been so long since we have given you an update. Everything is about the same here. Camie is still doing really well. As you can see, her tumor is getting pretty big, but she is taking it in stride. These pictures were taken about a month ago. It really doesn't seem to be bothering her much. Mom is really hoping Camie will make it to her 13th birthday in June, which seems like a definite possibility.

As for the rest of us, Gracie Mae is becoming more of a lap kitty with Mom. When she is tired, she will come up and sleep on Mom. Mom says she is dead to the world then, and won't get up without a lot of prompting.

Cody is doing fine. He has finally started coming up on the bed again for treats. Mom has managed to get all three of us up on the bed at the same time for treats. Cody will run if Gracie moves from her treat spot. She likes to finish up the bits and pieces that Cody won't and sometimes gets overeager and runs him off.

As for me, I am starting to feel my age. I am sleeping a lot more, and am having a harder time getting up and down. Mom says I am looking a little arthritic. I feel fine, just a little creaky. I am almost 17, so I think I have earned the right to be creaky at times. There are times that I still love to play THOE, but they are getting shorter in length and fewer in frequency.

Mom stayed home with us this year over spring break instead of going to Washington DC with the eighth graders. She wanted to stay home with Camie and I think she just really needed a break from work and school. We took advantage of her being home to sleep on her a lot.

We are really sorry we haven't had a chance to visit most of you lately. We have been keeping up on our reader, but have not had any time to comment. We wish that Mom would quit her job so we could visit you all everyday, but since we still need her to buy our stinky goodness, we know she has to work. Thank you for continuing to stick by us as friends and inquire as to our well-being when we haven't posted in a while.

My Gotcha Day

Hi, Gracie here. Wow, I can't believe it's been a year since I was gotcha'd. A year ago, I was living out in the desert where anything could have eaten me, and only given the very basics of care and attention. Now, I am my mama's spoiled baby girl, and have all the food, love and attention a girl could want. I also gained 2 brothers and 2 sisters when I was gotcha'd, even though one of my sisters ran off to the bridge. The big one is still here though, and loves me to sleep with her. I have also gained friends from all over the world whom I love very much. I think I was very lucky the day I tried to eat some food in a box that captured me. I love my new life and love that I was gotcha'd.

Hello

Hi, We're sorry we haven't been around much. We know we've had some of you worried. Mom has just been super busy with work, school and homework. Camie is doing really well. Her tumor is growing, but it doesn't seem to be affecting her at all. She is acting as if nothing is wrong with her, so we are all trying to treat her the same. Mom is trying to keep her from running a lot (not that she does much anyway, but she does love to run in the rain, and we've had quite a bit of it the last few weeks).

I have been a little bit more cuddly with Mom. She needs me to sit on her at times and make her stop moving around. I take my job seriously. I am lucky now because she is doing a lot of sitting and watching all sorts of sports. She doesn't normally like sports, but she is watching a lot right now. Does any other cat have this problem with their beans?

Gracie is not being such a brat. She still purrs, kneads, drools and stomps on Mom. She uses all four feet when she is kneading, and has given Mom a few bruises when she stomps too hard. She hasn't been bothering Cody as much, which makes Mom happier.

Cody hasn't been hiding under the bed as much unless Gracie is in there. He is spending more time on Mom's bed or Camie's bed. Not while we are in there, but Mom catches him every once in a while.

Other than that, not much has been happening. Oh, Mom did find her flashy box. It was vacationing under the couch. Mom thought it was under her bed, but she found it under the couch instead. She has to juice it up. She said we might do a photo shoot this weekend - oh joy!

We hope all of you are well, and we will try to be a little better about posting and commenting when we visit, but Mom hasn't let us.

Meezer Monday

I've decided to see if I like being a monorail kitty. It was fun while it lasted.

A Very Wet Thursday

As some of you may have heard, we are getting lots of rain here in "Sunny" Southern California. Today was one of the worst days of the three storms we are supposed to get. Mom took some pictures to show us how bad it was outside.

This is at Mom's work. An hour before this, the ground was wet, but it wasn't flooded like this. Mom has decided to call it Lake Ross. (The name of her school is Ross)

This is looking the other way from the door where she was standing. The campus has 4 long buildings that that face away from the admin building like fingers. This is between the first and second building. The top picture is between the second and third.

This is also between the first and second building.

This was on the drive home. Mom was stopped at a red light. If you look closely, you can see the water is up to almost the bottom of the doors on the sedans.

This is at our apartment building in the parking area. It is about 2-3 inches deep.

This is right outside our apartment. The first window on the left is our living room window. Fortunately, the apartments are up from the sidewalk, otherwise we would be under water. Our doorway is off to the left (out of the picture). It is higher ground than the sidewalk and under cover so it is only wet from foot prints.

This is Mom standing in the water so you can see how deep it is. She is nuts. Camie said that water is very cold.

This is what Gracie, Cody and I have been doing. We are staying warm and dry inside. Camie has mostly been doing that, but she does have to go outside sometimes.

And finally, here is an update of Camie. If you look closely at her neck, you can see the tumor. She is doing really well tho. She is eating better than ever and is enjoying being pampered. Mom says that we are going to keep on taking one day at a time and being happy with every moment we have with her.

Saying Goodbye is Hard & Thankful Thursday (and an update)

We were so very sorry to hear that our good friend LC has run off to the bridge to be with her brother. LC, you were a wonderful friend, and an even better sister. Even though you weren't thrilled to have first Ayla and then Iza join your family, you took them under your "wings" and taught them everything they needed. We will miss you very much.

In other news, here is an update on Camie...She is doing pretty well. For the most part, she is acting normally. Mom says she is a little bit slower on her walks, and doesn't want to go as far. Mom has noticed that she can no longer lift her head to look up. She can still look ahead of her and down, but she cannot raise her head to look up. Mom was trying to give her some treats, and she cried a bit when she raised her head to get them, but it's okay because Mom is making sure she doesn't have to look up. All of her treats are given at a comfortable level for her. Other than that one thing, Mom thinks she is doing great considering.

As for our Thankful Thursday, we are thankful that Camie is doing so well. We are continuing to take each day as it comes and be thankful for the time we have with her. Cody is still sleeping with her every night, and we continue to bathe her and love on her.

LC, we will see you at the bridge. We will miss you very much.

A Gracie Tuesday

This is what I did on Mama last night. I am not normally a "lap" cat, but Mama has been noticing lately that if I am tired, I will sometimes sleep on her instead of near her. I slept on her so long that her arm almost fell asleep. Of course, that is a bonus.

Meezer Monday

This is pretty much how we all spent the weekend. We did a lot of sleeping and a lot of cuddling. It's my favorite way to spend a weekend, and next weekend, we get Mom for an extra day.