Happy Birthday!

Today is my cats 6th birthday! The top picture is Pippin, the bottom Mellifera. They are littermates and I've had them since they were 2 months old. My daughter & her boyfriend had a cat who had kittens and somehow I was convinced to take these two. I've never been an animal person but I've become quite attached to these two cats.

Mellifera was born on Jill's (my daughter) arm. We think her mother got scared when she started to give birth and crawled into bed with Jill. Jill woke up because she felt something wet on her arm and it was a kitten! Pippin wasn't born until about 6 hours later. They thought there were no more kittens and went to work and when they came home tripped over a little kitten in the middle of the floor. Apparently their mother was somewhat lacking in kittencare skills.

There were 4 kittens and Pippin was the runt. He was a little teeny thing with big eyes and ears and I just fell in love with him when I saw him. He's no longer a runt - he weighs 14 lbs now! Mellifera, even as a kitten was beautiful and very sweet (except when she's grouchy!).

I'm being extra-nice to them since it's their birthday. Not that I'm ever mean! I bought a little piece of salmon for their dinner. Believe me that was nice, because I hate fish stuff!

Not gone for good!

I just took a blogging vacation I guess. I've been busy with starting a new job and haven't posted in awhile. I don't have much to say right now. The job is good and I think it's going to work out well. It's been VERY hot here the last few days. I'm wondering again why I moved here knowing how hot it gets!  Anyway I thought I'd share my little um, adventure yesterday.

I'm sure I've mentioned I have cats right? While I dearly love both of them, Pippin is my baby. He's also a horrible throw-up cat. Since he was a kitten he has routinely vomited sometimes 1-2/week, sometimes only 1-2 a month. I know, kind of a gross subject but it's necessary to the story. Saturday he threw up and I wasn't worried since it's normal. But usually he'll eat again and be fine. Well this time he didn't. He refused to eat anything the rest of the night. At 6:00 am Sunday I was up cooking turkey for him and he wouldn't eat that. By then I was more than a little worried. Then he drank a little water and threw up. Being something of a hypochondriac, I tend to worry a lot so I called an emergency vet clinic. To be safe they recommended bringing him in. So I shoved him into a cat carrier and listened to him cry the entire 10-minute ride to the clinic. A recommendation for anyone looking for a vet in Sacramento - I went to the Mueller Pet Medical Center and they were wonderful. The assistant and vet that we saw were both great with Pippin, explained things well, seemed completely competent and were (extremely important) very reassuring to a worried cat mother!

The vet said it was probably a stomach upset and Pippin & I came home and I sat and stared at him the rest of the day. Actually I cooked more turkey, some meat and then handfed him cat food all of which he kept down. He seems fully recovered now and is happily sitting in the window breathing in the hot air. He does keep looking at me expectantly. I think he wants more turkey instead of cat food. Did I mention he's a little spoiled? Not really a day I want to repeat but at least he's fine now!

Tuxedo Cats

You may not realize it but I have a Tuxedo Cat named Pippin. It's something I rarely talk about because I'm so modest but occasionally I just have to brag a little. I found these facts about Tuxedo Cats on a website and thought I'd share them. I know that number one is true. I think Pippin believes number two is or else he just says it to ensure I'll feed him in a timely manner. Hopefully we won't have to test number three. As for the rest, you can believe or not but I'm not taking any chances on the last one. I'm buying a lottery ticket!

1. Tuxedo cats (or TCs) are significantly more intelligent than regular cats (including all other breeds and varieties). Research indicates that this difference may be as great as 200%. (I’m pretty sure the humans they live with are smarter also.)
2. People who have agreed to serve TCs as food providers and toy throwers are more attractive than the average humans.
3. Tuxedo cats can, in an emergency, drive a car.
4. When a full moon occurs on the vernal or diurnal equinox, TCs can become invisible.
5. As kittens, tuxies will open their eyes 24 hours before regular cats.
6. Tuxedos are the best swimmers in the feline family, but they will shun forever any who human who puts them in the water.
7. Tuxedo cats can add single digit numbers and perform simple integrations.
8. TCs can see infrared light.
9. The largest inheritance ever left to a cat (over $6.3 million) was left to a tuxedo cat named Sparky in 1998.
10. In recognition of their formal attire, tuxedo cats are the only felines admitted to performances of the metropolitan opera.
11. In the original "Lassie" stories, Lassie was a tuxedo cat. The role was re-cast as a Collie after no TC willing to accept the role could be found. They all refused the role as 'undignified' and 'demeaning.'
12. People who win lotteries are statistically more likely to live with TCs.

Isn't he adorable!

Some pictures

My grass is growing amazingly fast! I think I can almost see it growing. I guess another day or so and I'll put it down for my cats. Then I'd better plant more because it'll go fast!

This is Pippin. He was relaxing in the sun and turned to look at me so I got a really cute picture of him!

I think this is a Mountain Bluebird. It was on the fence outside my window and was kind enough to stay and allow me to take a picture and look at the bird book. This is the first bird I've been able to get a picture of and I was very excited!

He Came Out!!!

I was working in the living room this afternoon going through stuff and heard a noise. I looked up and Pippin was standing in the hallway looking at me! I told him how brave he was and then kind of ignored him (watching out of the corner of my eye) and he ventured into the bathroom and then into the living room. Of course I had to take pictures! Once he was out he started exploring the whole place. Now he's back in the bedroom, somebody walked up the stairs outside and scared him. Oh well. I think now that he has explored a little he'll start coming out more. I was getting worried that he'd never leave the bedroom. Oh, he's back out already!



Pippin in the window!


Checking out the TV connection.



Mellifera was not happy. Which is reasonable - how would you feel if someone was being praised for something you'd been doing all along!


Pippin went back into the bedroom once & Mellifera sat in the doorway and hissed to try and keep him from leaving. She thinks the rest of the house belongs to her!



Peeking outside!

Pictures!

I know that I've never posted pictures of my cats! Anyway I just had to share these because they are so cute! Top w/mostly black face is Pippin and the bottom w/mostly white is Mellifera. They are siblings & will be 5 years old August 22nd. I'm their complete & devoted slave!

FYI - Pippin has his own twitter account with 168 followers. Yeah, I know it's weird but it's kind of fun! There are actually a lot of cats on Twitter. I don't know how they use the keyboard - Pippin dictates to me what he wants to tweet. Mellifera doesn't tweet - she thinks it's dumb.

Sleep

Sleep is good for you. Did you all know that? It helps your problem-solving skills. Keeps your blood pressure down. And keeps you thinner. Those are some pretty good reasons to sleep and I, for one, am generally in favor of it. Unfortunately I never seem to get enough and I have three good reasons why: the Web, Pippin and Mellifera.

There's a lot of stuff out there on the web. A Lot. And I'm kind of an information junkie. So I'll get online about 10:00 pm and the next thing I know it's 2:00 in the morning. I have this problem a lot which means I tend to stay up late. So what's the big deal you're thinking - just sleep in late right? That would be where Pippin & Mellifera come in.

Pippin likes to eat on his own schedule. His early schedule is usually about 4:00 am. This means he comes in my room and meows at me to get up and feed him. I could ignore him & try to keep sleeping and I've actually tried that. Do you know what it's like to have a hungry cat walking on your head, biting your hair and nose and scratching at you? It's much easier to get up & feed him. Which is what I do. Staggering dangerously down the steps and to the kitchen where his sweet, trusting little face rewards me with a purr and leg rub. It's hard to be annoyed when he does that. So I feed him and stagger back to bed and what I hope will be 4-5 more hours of sleep. Alas no such luck. (And no, I can't just leave dry food out for him. He refuses to eat it & would do the same wake-up routine to me.)

About 5:30-6:00 Mellifera decides she wants to cuddle with me. It would be fine if she'd get on the bed and snuggle with me. Nope. She wants me in the living room on the couch. And she meows and meows and meows until I get up. If that doesn't work shewalks all over my nightstand and knocks things over. I get up, go to the living room & she jumps up on my lap and cuddles with me. Sweet right? Well not always. At least half the time, she'll walk on me, purr and let me pet her for about 1 minute then decides I've annoyed her, hisses at me, jumps down and disappear. You'd think I'd give up and figure it isn't worth it and stay in bed. Unfortunately the other half she cuddles up by my neck, lays her head on my shoulder, looks up at me and gives me little kisses. Now that's impossible to resist! Which explains why I get up.

By this time I'm pretty well awake, despite only having slept 3-4 hours. So I stay up and then I'm tired and everyone says I should sleep more. Easy to say. Give them my three distractions and see how much they sleep. If anyone has suggestions to mitigate these distractions I'm happy to listen but I kind of doubt they'll be effective. Especially against those kitty kisses!

Updated Stats

Geek chart: Twitter 63%, blog 16%, delicious 12%, flickr 7%, stumbleupon 1%, digg 1%. Eek I need to post more blogs! (Blog more posts???) Well I guess I could tweet less also...

Pippin's Twitter: 104 followers!!!! 157 updates (that's how many times he's tweeted)

My Twitter: 108 followers, 413 updates (mostly boring I'm afraid)

Point of this post: Trying to raise my blog percentage number! Oh yeah and to show you how popular Pippin is. Any day now he'll be ahead of Neil Diamond. Who, I might add, has not yet started to follow me. I'm beginning to develop a complex.

Cats on Twitter

Do you know that there are a LOT of cats on Twitter? There is even a blog called Cats Who Twitter. Just think about how hard it is for a little cat to type tweets with their claws. I know this because Pippin usually dictates his tweets to me but when I was gone last weekend he had to type them himself. He was kind of upset about it and has been complaining ever since. You may not think a cat has much to say but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you read Pippin's tweets to find that he has a lot of really interesting thoughts. He also has 87 followers! Pretty good! There is also a Twibe for Cats who Twitter & Pippin of course joined that. Here's Pippin on Twitter:

• Name Pippin Tex
• Location SF Bay Area
• Web http://www.catste...
• Bio I'm one handsome dude cat and I rule this house! And don't you forget it Mom.

90 Following

87 Followers

pippintex After that time to make Mom stop working & cuddle with me. Busy day ahead!half a minute ago from web Going to go chase my sister off the couch. No reason. Just sounds like fun.5 minutes ago from web Humans are sure lazy things & sleep a lot. Not like us cats who can get by on only 15-16 hrs sleep.7 minutes ago from web Want more turkey today!11 minutes ago from web Overslept & didn't wake Mom until 4am. Ok though she was still dopey & staggered around. Hey I have to get my kicks somehow.13 minutes ago from web No I think I'm mad. I'm going to wake her up at 3am & try & trip her. Ha, that's a great plan!about 10 hours ago from web Mom went out for awhile but she's back now. I stole my sister's seat while Mom was gone & then she scolded me. I'm sad.about 10 hours ago from web "Cats know how to obtain food without labor, shelter without confinement, and love without penalties." ~W.L. Georgeabout 17 hours ago from web Chased my sister out of the bedroom. Now I have the bed all to myself. I'm happy.about 17 hours ago from web Turkey today! Good day!about 17 hours ago from web Just added myself to the http://wefollow.com twitter directory under: #cats #pets #cat12:20 AM May 28th from WeFollow From the FDA: the list of Nutro cat food products recalled. http://bit.ly/rZFf011:29 PM May 27th from web Oh yeah, when Mom came home she gave us treats & when she wasn't looking I stole my sisters.7:49 PM May 27th from web Did chase my sister a couple of times. That was fun.7:48 PM May 27th from web Mom was gone a lot today & I felt really lazy so stayed in window watching birds.7:48 PM May 27th from web My Mom's story! RT@pmduo I'm excited!! RT @IFlirtation Check out @pmduo on http://tinyurl.com/qglsk5 It's our newest featured StoryFlirt!!!7:47 PM May 27th from web I want some freshly ground turkey. I'm tired of this cat food diet!8:02 PM May 26th from Twittelator My coat looks especially good tonight. Mom says I'm sleek and shiny. She calls me a handsome dude.7:59 PM May 26th from Twittelator It's been a hard day. Had to chase my sister out of MY window seat twice.7:57 PM May 26th from Twittelator Time for a rest. It's been a long busy weekend. Being responsible for this whole computer thing by myself was pretty tiring!8:32 PM May 25th from web

Twitter Update

I thought I'd share that Pippin now has 35! followers. That's two more than I have. He is pretty interesting though!

Twittering Astronaut

The space shuttle Atlantis launched this morning from Kennedy Space Center. On board was astronaut Mike Massimino who will, when he has time, be twittering from space! Pretty cool isn't it? You can read his tweets at Astro_Mike.

Just as reminder you can follow me on Twitter and don't forget Pippin (he's actually more interesting than me).

Later on the same day: Pippin now has 18 followers. I think some of you who are on Twitter don't have as many!! (Actually he is catching up to me - I have 26. This could be embarrassing. . .)

Silent Sunday

Last week we showcased the most beautiful cat in the world. This week we have Pippin, the handsomest, smartest cat in the world! Ok, I may be a little prejudiced.

Twitter Update

As I've already mentioned once (and probably will again), Pippin has his own Twitter account. I just wanted to let you all know that he already has 8 followers and is flirting with some girl cat he thinks is cute. We are considering an online dating service for cats. What do you think, does it have potential?

Caring for your humans

I subscribe to an about.com newsletter on cats. As I was reading the most recent issue, Pippin was peering over my shoulder and laughing. What he found so funny was the article called How to Care for Your Humans. He wanted me to put it on the blog so that the rest of you humans could read it and understand how difficult life can be for a cat. He thinks you should let your cats read it also.

I pointed out that perhaps no one else was interested and what about those of you who don't have a cat? He unsheathed his claws and glared at me. Hence the post.

Robin, the lonely blog mistress

The Adventures of Pippin & Mellifera

Cute update: Pippin is so smart! A lot of times after I take a shower he comes in and cuddles with me. Lately he hasn't been doing it, I think he has been a little annoyed because Mellifera has been needing a lot of cuddling. Anyway when I went in to take my shower earlier I told him when I finished he could come and cuddle. When I came out of the bathroom he was standing on the top step looking at me & ran into my room to cuddle! He clearly understood everything I had said! He didn't stay long though - sometimes he'll cuddle with me for 15-20 minutes. While that may not sound like a lot it is a lengthy time for a cat to allow a human to lay their head on their stomach and say goofy weird stuff and sing off-key songs! Ok, back to the movie!

Pippin & Mellifera love to play outside. The other day we were out for quite a while & I took a lot of pictures. Instead of making you look at all the pictures I made a cute movie with them!! There is music so be sure & turn your sound on. I'm thinking that my career as a filmmaker may be taking off. I could be famous someday - probably for making really bad cat movies!

Happy Birthday to Us

Yesterday was our birthday! We are 4 years old now. In case you don't know who we are let me introduce myself. I'm Pippin Texeira, a very handsome 4-year-old cat and my sister is Mellifera Texeira who is also 4-years-old and thinks she is beautiful. (I'm the one who is mostly black, Mellifera is mostly white.) I think she's annoying. She didn't want to write this post so I said I'd do it - I didn't say that I would say nice things about her though!



We had a birthday party last night and got a cool present, special turkey that our Mom cooked for us and cake. I loved the turkey! but the cake I didn't care for. I sniffed at it but it smelled funny. Our present was a scratchy thing that we can lay on and play with. It has a feather underneath it that I'm trying to pull off. It was a pretty good day and our party was nice although a little weird. You have to understand that cats aren't much into parties but our Mom really likes to do stuff like that so we indulge her. She is kind of strange but still a pretty nice Mom and she really loves us so we let her be weird sometimes.

Pippin

Pippin was a little upset that Mellifera got to make a movie. He kind of sulked about it for a few days but he wouldn't cooperate and do his own movie. I told him that instead of a movie I'd post a couple of pictures and tell everyone about him.

Pippin (and Mellifera) will be 4 years old on August 22nd. He is a big, handsome cat - he weighs about 14 pounds - and has very soft, silky fur. He is a little bit spoiled. Ok a lot actually. He sort of runs the house. When he was born Jill kept saying I should take one of the kittens. I was a little interested but mostly reluctant as I'm not much of an animal person. Then I saw this little teeny runt with big bat ears and just fell in love. I'm not noted for my ability to be tough with people or cats that I love, which is why when Pippin says jump, I say how high.

You'll notice in the top picture that he is stretched out on my bed. That is one of his favorite tricks. He'll stretch across my bed and when I want to go to sleep just look at me with an expression that pretty much says, get out of here. I gingerly wiggle around and squeeze into the small space left to me. Once I'm all settled, cramped into a space barely big enough for a cat, he'll get up and move. I think he enjoys watching me try and maneuver around him. You'd think at that point I'd be safe for the night. Nope, he waits until 4 or 5 am and decides he wants to eat. I've tried to show him how to open a packet himself but he isn't interested. Instead he walks on me and meows until I get up. Sometimes I think I can outsmart him and pretend that I don't hear. Then he comes up and meows right in my face and bites at my nose. I get up after that.

It's ok though because he makes up for everything by being an incredibly sweet cat. After I take a shower, a lot of days I'll open the door to find him waiting outside. He'll run ahead of me into my room, jump up on the bed and wait for me to lay down and cuddle with him. He purrs and purrs and then curls himself into a little ball with my arm around him and lets me lay my head on his tummy and pet him. See why I'm willing to get up and feed him at 4 am!

So that is my story about Pippin. He has approved everything I've written and I think he is happy now.

Robin, the lonely blog mistress

Cat Songs

I read a really cool posting on The Way of Cats blog the other day. It was about cats having their own song & you put their name into it & sing it to them. I really liked this idea and felt pretty bad that my cats don't have a song. So . . . after much thought and consideration and consultation, I have come up with songs for my cats.

Pippin: Coming up with his song was pretty easy actually. It is Let Me Call You Sweetheart. Sweetheart, of course, is replaced with Pippin. Thus making the lyrics:

Let me call you "Pippin," I'm in love with you.
Let me hear you Purr that you love me too.
Keep the love-light glowing in your eyes so true.
Let me call you "Pippin," I'm in love with you.

Pippin is pretty pleased with the song although I'm not sure he appreciates my singing. He batted at my nose once but I think he is just a little hot.

Mellifera: This was a little harder but then Jill came up with Dear Prudence by the Beatles. Obviously Mellifera replaces Prudence:

Dear Mellifera, won't you come out to play
Dear Mellifera, greet the brand new day
The sun is up, the sky is blue
It's beautiful and so are you
Dear Mellifera won't you come out to play

I'm not sure how happy she is with this. Like Pippin she doesn't seem to appreciate my singing voice.

Anyway now that they each have their own song I'm going to sing it to them everyday. Pretty soon I'll be able to post a little video of them listening to me sing. I warned you folks, POST!

Robin, the lonely blog mistress

Pippin & the Balloons

Last night Jill brought some Mother's Day balloons home from work for me. If I had thought about it in advance I would have assumed the cats would like balloons and try to get them.

Mellifera had no interest, she just ignored them. Pippin, however, pretty much freaked out. He looked at the balloons and took off running up the stairs to hide. A little while later he came down, carefully peeked around until he saw the balloons, looked at me reproachfully and took off running again. He wouldn't come into the living room at all last night - apparently he did come out while I was asleep because he ate some food. This morning he did the same thing though, peeking around & running when he saw them. I finally gave up and put them in my bathroom where he can't see them.

Being a doting cat mother, I thought this was all pretty cute & decided to share with all of you!

Robin, the lonely blog mistress