Kitty Sauna

Today I learned that we have a kitty sauna. I was taking a load of towels out of the dryer and Gunnar decided he wanted to investigate. He hopped in the open dryer door and flopped luxuriously on the warm towels. Must be nice.

Straws

Gunnar likes to play with anything he shouldn't have. One of his favorites, though, is straws. Yesterday morning I was playing on the computer when Gunnar came charging into the room batting around a straw. My first thought was that it was cute. My second thought was where did he get the straw. I figured the husband had used a straw the night before and maybe the straw fell out of the trash can. I wasn't too worried about it until the husband asked me where the straw came from. Still, I wasn't that alarmed it must have come from under some chair or something from this summer. (We haven't used straws since then).

A few minutes later Gunnar waltzed back into the room, with his head covered in spidewebs, paper shreds and who knows what. I had to go investigate. Sure enough I found an open cabinet door and a pile of straws laying in front of the open door.

That particular cabinet I use to store potatoes, extra stuff like salad dressing and paper products. Gunnar had pawed the cabinet open, climbed to the very back corner, shredded open a bag of straws and one at a time pulled them out.

Kudos to Gunnar. I didn't even remember we had those straws.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go baby proof my house— for a 13-pound cat.

The kids

I LOVE my pets but sometimes I wonder how people with actual kids do it.

This morning I was rushing around the house trying to get ready for work. I decided to put my basil plant outside to get some sunshine. I look down to find shoes and notice a big pile of cat vomit that the dog is trying hard to get into. I shoo the dog upstairs, clean up the vomit (trying not to vomit myself) and then put my shoes over the spot so the dog doesn't try to lick the cleaning product. I take my basil plant outside (at this point I'm in pajama bottoms and a work dress shirt). I finish getting dressed, go to kiss the dog goodbye and notice that he has vomit all over his snout. So gross. I clean that up. That's not exactly how I want to spend my morning.

But then there's the bedtime ritual. This is what happens every night.

We take the dog out. He comes in, bounds up the stairs and plays for about 20 minutes—while we're trying to go to sleep. If anyone gets up out of the bed to set an alarm, check the dryer, etc, he gets in the bed and is sometimes really difficult to get out of the bed. The lights go out and after another 20 minutes, just when we're dozing in the bed, Katie cat jumps up in the bed. She walks on my legs and then pokes at the hubby until he lets her under the blanket, then immediately leaves. This happens every night without fail. Last night Katie meowed for an hour after we turned the lights out. At some point each cat curls up on either side of my legs so I can't move without kicking someone.

A Thank You Note

Dear Mojo,
Thanks for the hug this morning. I was sad and really needed it. The way you crawled up on the couch and put your head in my lap was very sweet.
Thanks for being the best dog,
Mom

The Q-tip chronicles

My fiesty kitty Gunnar has discovered Q-tips. He thinks they are the best thing ever. So every morning he sneaks in my bathroom when I'm getting ready and steals a Q-tip out of the box and plays with it. He'll flip them around, pin them, hold them between his paws and kick and bite at them, bat them across the floor, etc. He has a ball. Only, I'm worried that he might eat the cotton ball on the end, or even the stick, so I take them away from him. I had sealed up the box well so he couldn't get into it, but he figured out that if you press down on the box's center tab, he can get them out.

For a few days his stealing Q-tips was cute. Then, it became burdensome. I'm trying to get ready for work, I don't have time to babysit this crazy cat while he wastes perfectly good Q-tips. So, I put the Q-tips on the counter, where he couldn't get them.

This morning I was extra sluggish. I had already brushed my teeth but came back to get dressed. I look in the bathroom and see the an explosion of my pink Q-tips all over the bathroom and Gunnar sitting on the toilet lid, reaching over to the counter to knock whatever else was left on the counter to the floor. (And I wonder why I can't find my hair cream or eye gel in the morning!).

Not really wanting to deal with this, I pick all the Q-tips up and throw them out. I scoop up the box and notice it's completely wet. The toilet is closed so I don't even want to know how it got wet. I put the Q-tip box up even more out of kitty reach and go back to hunting for pants that fit.

The next time I glance in the direction of the bathroom, this is what I see:


(Please excuse the blurriness. My cell has the worst camera phone ever).

Gunnar has knocked over the trash cans and is digging out the Q-tips.

He will stop at nothing to get his morning fix of Q-tips.

I pick him out and toss him out of the bathroom (Jazzy Jeff style).

Crazy cat, I do not have time for this. Now, I'm running late for work.

Update: Gunnar continued the craziness by throwing up a fist-size pile as soon as I got home from work.

Lunchtime cuteness

I went home for lunch and was relaxing on a chair by the window. Gunnar jumped up to sit next to me. I petted him while he purred loudly. Maybe Mojo was jealous because he came over and ever-so-sweetly started licking my bare feet. It told him he was a sweet boy.

Then Gunnar decided that he needed to show some affection for Mojo and Gunnar started licking Mojo's snout. It was a big ol' love fest. When the licks were done, Mojo went to look out another window. Gunnar decided he needed to lick my foot (I'm not sure if it was because Mojo did, because he thought my foot was tasty or because he loved me). But it was all just too cute.

Late Night Rendezvous

My husband came home from work very late the other night—so late that he got a glimpse of what the kitties do while we sleep.

He came in the door and he said Gunnar rushed the door. When he closed the door so the kitty couldn't escape, Gunnar began furiously pawing at the door. Hubby looked to see what was going on and saw a very cute kitty on our porch asking to be let in.

So, I guess Gunnar has a girlfriend ♥

Starting the day off with a good deed

This morning I was  out the door on my way to work. I was running a few minutes behind my drill-sergeant, timed-to-the-minute morning schedule, but it's summer so I wasn't worried about it. I drove past my neighbor's house and his dog was playing crazily in his front yard. I didn't see him anywhere, so I pulled over to check on the dog.

She was very happy, jumping on me (yay for dirt and wet dog smell on my work clothes), and rolling around. She had her tongue to the side like she sometimes does. She looked very excited to see me (she kept jumping, and standing up on her back legs) and content to play in the yard. I looked for my neighbor and still didn't see him. I grabbed her collar and walked over to the door. It was locked (it never is!). I knocked on the door. No answer. 

Even though it's 7:40 in the morning, I call my neighbor. The call drops. I call again and it goes straight to voicemail. I wait through his message and am about to leave a message when he beeps in.

"I have Schaui," I say before he can get anything out. "Is she supposed to be running around the front yard?"

"I'm in Florida," he replies.

So I take it that she is not supposed to be frolicking in the morning dew unsupervised.

"My roommate is supposed to be watching her. I guess she got out."

She did have the proud look of accomplishment on her doggie face. It must have been a feat.

"Is [Roommate name here] home? Is his white car there?" he asks.

I tell him that the car is there and that no one answered when I knocked.

"Can you put her in the backyard?"

I stay on the line as I walk to the gate, and grimace at the red mud between me and the gate. I journey through in my work clothes, glad I opted for Chaco's instead of the stilettos I had in my hand when I walked out the door. I stuff the dog in the back yard and close the latch on the gate. I wonder if she'll manage to sneak out of the gate again. Hope not.

I hang up with my neighbor and head on to work. I make sure to stop by the bathroom to wash off some of the mud and dog fur.

Playing with Spiders

Dear Gunnar,
I appreciate you finding spiders for me, however they are dangerous. Don't play with them.
Love,
Mom

Catching a Mouse

Cats are supposed to hunt mice....we just don't seem to have any of the furry critters around the house. So what's my feisty cat supposed to do?

Last night I walked by the computer desk and saw the computer mouse dangling way off the desk. Upon further inspection the track ball was also missing. This had Gunnar written all over it.

I called over to Matt that I was going to need helping find the track ball.

"There are only so many places where it could be," he said.

I shot him a look.

"Oh yeah, he probably played with it a knocked it somewhere. There's no telling," he realized.

First I looked under the dog bed closest to the desk. It wasn't there.

Then, I went to the place that all the pets' balls end up—under the couch.

First I found a blue ball of similar size, then I found the grey track ball.

It must have been fun to knock the mouse off the desk and then play with the ball. I would say it was a good hunt.

Only, how did Matt (who was a few feet away) not hear the commotion?

I tucked the mouse in a drawer so he couldn't hunt it anymore. We'll just have to be more careful from now on if we want to keep our electronics in tact.

Feathered Friends

I am delighted that my dog and cat get along so well, but this week I learned that my cat has friends of other species too.

Gunnar LOVE to birdwatch. He will sit at a window, wag his stump of a tail and chirp at the birds. It's so cute. I've seen him chirp to his bird friend when he is walking on our upstairs porch. And when I take Mojo out to sit on the porch in the evening, Gunnar will sneak out with him. The bird will stand on the neighbor's roof and exchange pleasantries with my chirping cat.

I'm hesitant to take Gunnar out on on the porch. (Matt would freak out if he knew.) The cat is a little on the crazy side, so I worry about him doing something hairbrained. I also think he's too fat to fit through the porch rails. Right now his head only fits through. So when he is outside, I keep him at arm's length, (where I could grab him if he decided to leap).

These visits have been going on all week. The other day Matt was at home and he called me at work to tell me about the kids.

"I think we're going to have a nest soon," he said.

He went on to tell me that Gunnar had not one, but two bird friends, who seemed to be scouting nest locations around the trees and bushes in front of our house. The birds were flying down on to the porch, looking into the window and having extensive conversations with the cat. And Matt was insistent that they were having in-depth conversations, not just small talk.

The next morning I was leaving for work and Gunnar was sitting my the front door. His tail was going and he was chirping up a storm. So I got down on his level to see what he was looking at. One of the birds was hopping around our downstairs porch and the other bird was perched on the flagpole, chirping. SO CUTE!

My day with the kids

Here are some highlights from today's activities with the kids:

• Matt was supposed to be at work super early. His alarm didn't go off so there was a chaotic rush in the morning. Since I was up I went ahead and took Mojo out. And since it wasn't yet 6 a.m. and it was still dark, I managed to step on Katie's tail since she was hiding in the shadows. I then fed the cats (cleaned up some cat vomit) and went back to sleep.

• I got up around 8 a.m. and started on some cleaning. I decided the floors needed to be washed. Gunnar had been watching intently from the counter (pictured above). When I got the Swiffer Wetjet out, I couldn't keep him away. He just had to walk on the sticky floor.

• Around 11, I made myself an early lunch. Gunnar was lounging on the table. That was fine until he decided he wanted to flop into my bowl of soup. Don't worry. I moved the bowl away in time.

• I was doing some cleaning and AGAIN stepped on Katie's tail. She was hiding and I am the worst mom ever. I also found more cat vomit. Poor Katie is not having a good day.

• I took Mojo to the park next to our house. He scared the bunnies. It was really hot. We came back and he had ice cubes and I had sorbet.

• I was going to take a nap upstairs. Mojo likes to be next to me so I brought him upstairs. Poor guy headed straight towards the porch thinking we were going to hang out on the porch. We took a nap. I woke up and all three kids were in the bed with me.

• While we were upstairs, there was a bird on the porch. Gunnar LOVES to bird-watch and he was chirping away. The bird was doing a lot of squaking so I wonder what they were saying. Gunnar was twitching his little stub tail and making the cutest noises. I'll have to put a video up soon of the noises he makes while bird-watching.

• I made some dinner with bacon in it. Mojo helped taste test.

Letting the Cat out of the Bag

This post comes to you from the antics of my sister's brood of crazy cats.

I went over to visit my sister yesterday. I brought her some food over in one of those fancy shopping bags—the nice paper ones with the rope handles.

Apparently, I left it on the floor because the cats found it.

Kayleigh (pictured above) had hopped in the bag and was playing in it while Bear and Baby were playing with her. At some point, the play got too rough so Kayleigh went to jump out of the bag and run off. Only, she got stuck in the bag's handles and was running off with the bag. Bear and Baby thought that was too funny so they started chasing her (and the bag).

Alex had to go rescue poor Kayleigh, who had gotten the bag stuck around her plump waist. So Kayleigh was free. Only Alex didn't put the bag up. A few minutes later, Simon (Emily's shyest cat) came running across with room with....guess what? A Talbot's bag stuck around his waist. He was dragging it like a chariot. Alex freed him too and put the bag up on top of a table. He tucked the handles inside so that no more kitties would get stuck.

Bear, however, found the bag and promptly flopped down in it. He didn't get stuck, though.

Katie update

Katie hasn't gotten a lot of posts lately, so I thought she needed one.

Katie is doing....ok. She's not thrilled about the Gunnar addition. They have lots of hissy kitty fights. They somewhat get along. They can nap in the same bed and sometimes they play(fight).

I'm worried about Katie though. She's not eating enough. Matt says she's just making sure the (hollow-legged) kitten has enough to eat. When I see her eat, I praise her. Then Gunnar comes in and runs her off. I've made an effort to make sure she eats a few mouthfuls every day and have been giving her ham and turkey, too.

Last night we had fun changing the sheets. I mean, I removed some dirty sheets, which she was laying on. I then had to put the new sheets on the bed, while she laid under them and swatted at the sheets as I tucked and fitted. Then we watched TV together.

Cutest thing ever

Both the cats' favorite game is shoelace, where you just swish the shoelace around for them to swat at. Mojo has tried to play before, but usually ends up chomping down on the shoelace, running off with it and ending the game.

The other night I was sitting at the computer and Gunnar had taken the "I want to play shoelace" position on the floor, next to said raggedy shoelace. Mojo picked it up and started playing with Gunnar. He had taught himself the game.

I love that they are playing together, and Gunnar wagging his stumpy tail is precious too.

Begging

Here's Mojo begging for food. It's my fault. I give him the occasional bite of spinach, egg, chicken or carrots.

"Please mom?" he says.

Salad Thief

This is what happens when I leave a spinach salad unattended and a Manx cat decides he needs a toy.

New Dog?

Mojo got a long overdue haircut Friday. He got a nice short haircut in time for summer. He'd been looking super shaggy and it has been so hot out. He totally needed it.

They shampooed him and gave a s short, sporty cut. He looked like a whole different dog.

Matt brought him home from the groomer and Gunnar didn't know who the handsome new dog was.

Gunnar arched his back, flattened his ears and growled as if to say "Who is this and what have they done with my Mojo?"

Ladies Man

Mojo certainly loves the lady. Pretty girls send him into a tizzy. Here he is trying to make out with my sister Melissa.

Bath time kitty?

Being a Manxy cat, Mr. Gunnar loves water. If I ever run a bath, he gallops into the bathroom and fluffs himself on the edge of the tub. He'll watch the water pour into the tub. If there are rubber ducks or bubbles in the tub, he'll paw at them. Sometimes he even tries to lap up the bath water.

He'll keep me company while I take a bath. And at times, it looks like he's really contemplating jumping in. He hasn't done it yet....

Mojo is mad at me

It started last night when Mojo wanted to sleep in the bed. I was adamant that he wasn't going to sleep in the bed. I've had horrible back pain most of my life. And last night I was in excruciating amounts of pain. I'd tried pain pills, anti inflammatories, the massage chair and was looking for my muscle relaxers. It was bad. When the kids sleep in the bed, I can't get comfortable, and I have to sleep in contorted positions and it agitates my back. So please no pets in the the bed!

Mojo tried to get it the bed, and I would kick him out every time. This made him sad. (I blame Matt for letting him sleep in the bed in the first place.) He tried every hour to get back in the bed. At about 3 a.m. I was a zombie, and really needed sleep so I didn't have the energy to kick out.

That morning, I felt like hell and I let him know. I told him that if he loved his mom, he wouldn't sleep in the bed. (But he loves sleeping in the bed). I sternly took him out to use the potty, and he knew I was mad at him. He wouldn't even look at me. He walked himself in without going. I swear he was asking if dad could take him.

I came home at lunch and he was still mad at me. He was acting weird. Usually he wags his tail and is happy to see me. Today he was on the couch, sad. I took him out at lunch. He wanted a walk—I didn't have the time. We came inside, I gave him a treat and he wouldn't even take it. I put it on his treat spot and he wouldn't even look at it. I gave him some Chex mix as a bribe. He loves people food and he ate that, but said he was still mad.

So he's just acting weird.

Dinner for Mojo

I made a nice dinner last night: blackened tuna steaks with salsa, sauteed spinach and dirty rice.

When I turned away to use the computer, Mojo went straight for it. Here he is caught in the act via our Web cam.



I forgot that he likes both tuna and spinach.

Easter Egg Hunt

It was a beautiful Saturday morning. I'd just gotten back from the grocery store and I decided to take Mojo on a lunchtime walk. Rather than the normal way, he decided he wanted to go to the school next to our house. He hadn't been there to play in awhile, so I obliged.

He went poop right by the school sign (of course). I went to pick up after him and wouldn't you know, my bag's end had broken so the poop fell right out.

We proceeded on to the playground, where I sometimes (don't tell dad) let him runaround off leash, when we are far enough way from the road. Mojo ranup the stairs on the play center. He then ran quickly down and chomped up what I thought was wood chips.

I chased after him to get the wood chips. Then I decided one mouthful of wood chips wouldn't hurt him.

He just kept smacking on them though, giving me this really arrogant sly look—like he'd gotten something great that he knew he wasn't supposed to have.

So I chased after him again. I pried open his teeth and, there stuck on the top of his mouth was pink aluminum foil, the kind those tiny chocolate Easter eggs come in. My first thought was that it was bubble gum—which can be deadly to dog if it's the sugar free kind.

I pulled the gooey, chocolately mess out of his mouth. At first I threw the goop to the ground, but then took it to the trash can when I realized he, or another dog, could just get it again.

My hands were covered in chocolate and brown stains from the aforementioned bag incident. I had a white shirt on and all I could do was wipe my hands on the grass.

I think I got enough of the chocolate out of his mouth that he won't be sick. And I guess that was his Easter. Just don't tell dad what the Easter Bunny brought him ;)

Ice cubes

Mojo loves ice. He has since he was a puppy. His best good friend Gunnar also LOVES ice. (Aren't they a cute couple!)

I'll give Mojo some ice cubes after a walk. Since Gunnar likes them, I usually give Mojo one or two extra so Gunnar can have some to play with. Gunnar will bat them around for a bit and they usually end up under a chair or couch—if Mojo doesn't eat them first.

Gunnar also will come running if he hears the ice dispenser on the fridge. I have never seen a cat do that before.

Here's a picture of the boys and their ice cubes. Note how Gunnar is laying on one of Mojo's paws.

Not a Cross Country Runner

Mojo does not liking running.

With the perfect spring weather, I decided that I should get some exercise. I have to walk Mojo after work, so to kill two birds with one stone I decided to take Mojo on a run with me.

He likes to spring or lounge in the grass. Nothing in between.

Lunch Report

Lunchtime was cute today.

I took Mojo on his usual walk. We came back and he got treats and ice cubes. I ate a salad and he had some of the greens (he likes spianch). I moved his food bowl next to the table and put two pieces of spinach in the bowl. He grabbed one green at a time and took it to his treat spot on the couch and then came back for the other. Then he ate all of his food, which I was ecstatic about because he hasn't been finishing his food lately.

Gunnar was clawing at the Pup-peroni trying to claw it open. (Maybe he can't read?) So I gave him and Katie treats and promptly put all the treat bags in the desk cabinet.

So things learned from lunch today
– Mojo considers spinach a treat
– Gunnar would like some Pupperoni please
– If I want Mojo to eat all of his food, move it next to the table I'm eating at and occasionally drop food in it.

On an unrelated note, I took a short nap after work. Katie decided it would be a good time to bring be her (noisy!) jingle ball toy.

Caught in the Act

Mojo and Gunnar have become best good buddies. They play together and they've even started to cuddle together. Last night, we caught them cuddling in the bed. Shortly after this picture was taken they started to bathe each other. Mojo licks Gunnar's head. And Gunnar will put his paw on Mojo's nose and then start to lick his snout.

These guys are so happy to have each other.

busy

The kids have been so busy being cute lately they haven't had much time to blog. I'll try to catch you up in the next few weeks :)

Chocolate kitty

I've been around cats my whole life but never in my life have I had to bathe a cat. That changed today.

I came home on my lunch break as Matt was incapacitated after surgery and I had to check on Matt and the kids. I took Mojo on his usual walk, and then took my time to actually eat lunch. Of course, I was running late at this point.

I had my shoes, coat and sunglasses on and was heading back to my car. Gunnar is meowing up a storm and I ignore him. I hear him use the potty and wonder if he was telling me he needed to go potty. Maybe he wanted praise?

I kiss Matt goodbye and as I turn around and face the garage, I laugh at the site of Gunnar butt scooting along the floor. By the time I reach the back door by the garage, I bend down to kiss Gunnar goodbye and I notice that he smells horrible and there's some chocolate on the table runner he was just sitting on. I look at the floor he just scooted across and there's a solid chocolate trail leading from the litter box to the table.

I quickly grab up the cat before he gets on anymore furniture. I turn him over and am horrified to see the poopiest cat butt I have ever seen.

"I need help" I barked at Matt and I hurriedly ran to the upstairs bathroom to clean up chocolate kitty. Usually I would change into rags, but there wasn't time so I threw a bathrobe on over my work clothes.

Matt (hobbly on one leg) held the kitty down while I washed and washed and washed the kitty.

It was awful and never-ending! I held his but under the water and soaped him up. I scrubbed and scrubbed and couldn't get him clean. He was crying, struggling, wondering what he did to deserve this torture. He was all skinny and scraggly and sad from the water. I kept squirting more puppy shampoo on him. Matt screamed to just douse him in shampoo, so I squirted half the bottle on him. There were bubbles galore, but finally we got him clean enough. He smelled like shampoo and it took quite some time to rinse all the suds off. He wasn't patient enough to let us dry him off, but with Matt home, I hoped he would plop down on a towel or blanket somewhere.

When I got home, he was mostly dry and he smelled great, like a clean puppy :)

That night, I was making chocolate-covered oreo's as favors for my sister's baby shower for the 45 people who RSVP'd. I had about 50 cookies dipped when my sister came over to help. I told her that her job was to keep Gunnar out of the kitchen. He was staying out of the kitchen and we had about five trays of freshly-dipped molten oreo's on the table, when Gunnar snuck past my sister. He went to investigate the cookies and sat on about five of the cookies and got chocolate in his fur !!!!

I did not want to bathe him twice that day, so I pinned him in the bathroom sink and wiped off al the chocolate I could and then got the rest off with a damp towel. Hopefully I got rid of enough of the chocolate. I just hope the dog doesn't lick him.

And yes, I threw all of those cookies off.

Bad kitty

I told Gunnar that he has three rules at our house:
1) Never go outside
2) Don't eat Katie's food
3) Don't cause destruction around the house (meaning don't claw the furniture and break things)

An hour or so after this talk I went to take Mojo outside to go pee. The dog and I are walking out the doorway and I see a sneaky kitty walking side by side with the dog outside. I screamed. I had visions of Gunnar running away into the night while Mojo ran the opposite direction and I had two pets loose in the dark neighborhood.

Thankfully I was quick enough to scoop up the kitty before he got to the shrub on the side of the porch (about two people-sized steps) and Mojo was good and didn't drag or pull me off like he could have. He just stood there and let me pick up the cat.

I turned around to take the cat back into the house and Matt (who had leg surgery last week) had left his crutches behind and quickly hopped over to the door to help.

"I have the cat," I said as I stepped inside.

I don't remember what Matt said to me, but I didn't think he saw the cat I was holding, so I said it again. I then gave the cat to Matt to hold when I took Mojo back outside to pee.

It was so scary. My heart is still racing. Gunnar just strolled outside alongside Mojo, like he was taking a walk with his best good friend. He wanted to see what was outside and what Mojo was doing that he didn't get to do.

We've had Gunnar four weeks. He's tried to get outside plenty of times. He's succeeded in getting in the closed garage a few times but this is the first time he's succeeded in getting outside. It just scares me to death that he will do it again. He's never been outside. Where would he run to? How would we find him? What if a car or delinquent child got to him. Oy.

I got Mojo back inside without letting the cat back out. I've since been recovering from the event. Gunnar waited a few minutes until he went to eat Katie's food.

I don't really know how to punish a cat so I told Mojo he had permission to lick Gunnar until the cat was unhappy.

Gunnar Destruction

I've decided that Gunnar's middle name should be destruction.

Here's a good example.

This evening I was doing some chores upstairs. I heard a big noise, like one of our baby gates being knocked over. With Matt on crutches I ran downstairs to see if he needed something. He hadn't even heard the noise so it was nothing downstairs, so I went looking for Gunnar.

I headed to the bedroom, where Gunnar had earlier strewn every single one of his toys across the floor. There I found the cat's three story kitty condo on its side. !?!? He'd manage to completely knock it over. And when he knocked it over, he knocked over the dressing mirror that was standing a few feet away. The mirror fell forward and onto the bed. Miraculously the the mirror didn't break, but OMG what utter destruction cat.

I went downstairs to tell Matt what happened. He asked how Gunnar was. I told him that I found him under the sideways mirrors staring in wonderment at his actions. And then, I heard Gunnar's favorite squeaky mouse. He was already playing in the condo again. He didn't miss a beat.

Total Conspiracy

Gunnar likes to sit in front of the downstairs bathroom mirror, stare at himself and CRY.

He does the time, but I still went to check on him. While I checked on him, the dog snuck over to my abandoned salsa bowl (forgot to put it up this time) and licked it clean.

Total conspiracy.

Introducing a new cat

As we are currently settling in a new cat, I thought I'd share this link to the Human Society's page. It's the best advice I've seen online on how to introduce a new cat.


We've had Mr. Guns since last Thursday evening. He's mostly been living in the upstairs bathroom. He's seen Mojo and Katie, but they have not yet formally met. He's been 100% ready to meet everyone and explore, but it's Katie I worry about.

Mojo is a little too eager to play with the new cat. Guns is a little unsure of our 63-pound lunging dog, so they still have to meet.

Katie knows the new cat is here and she's doing better than expected. The first night she exiled herself downstairs and didn't come sleep in the bed like she normally does. The second night she tentatively came upstairs and she's a little more cautious than normal, but still has full range of the house. (She RARELY came in the bathroom the new cat is in.) We've been making sure to give her extra treats and play time. She's up to her old tricks of knocking treats off the table so she can eat them and dunking her toy shoelace in Mojo's water bowl. She has also been spending a lot of time sleeping on her dad's lap.

She's seen the cat, through a cracked door, and once yesterday when Matt was carrying him back to his room. She's been sniffing spots he's been in (the bed room, dad's lap, etc). She has, at times, looked at the door to the room he's staying in. We've put a toy under the door so they can both play with it. Katie hasn't touched the toy yet. She did touch his paw that was clawing out from under the door once. She's also hissed at him (or his paw). Not too meanly. And she did a small amount of kitty growling. But normal stuff, nothing to worry about.

We plan to introduce this weekend when we are around.

Guns Playing

I'll write more on the new cat later. For now, here's a video of him in action

The Adventures of Mojo, Katie and Gunnar

Coming soon....have to move my other blog over.

Possible new addition

I'll admit, I want to adopt pretty much every cat I meet. But today we went over to my sister's house because Matt wanted to try out their elliptical. I fell in love with one of their kittens. (A stray cat had six kittens and brought them in her house). This guy is grey and stripey with a fabulously fluffy half-tail. We think he's half manx. The photo above is when he was much smaller.

Lunch Report

Today I went home at lunch. It was cruel torture to go home to a quiet, beautiful house with a puppy who wanted me to stay, and to then have to go back to work. Work that's not as peaceful and has no puppy to curl up behind me or kitty to sit on the computer desk.

Anyway, I took Mojo (the aspiring sled dog) on a lunch time walk (he likes to run when it's cold). He peed on an electrical box in one of the neighbor's yard (which always makes me cringe). Then I thought he wasn't going to go "big potty." I had given up. We were almost done with the walk and he hadn't done it in any of his usual places. Apparently he was waiting for an audience, because as soon as he saw another person he squatted. He's quite proud of himself.

When I got back, I had trouble finding Katie. Even though the sun light had warmed up the bedroom she was still sleeping under the covers.

So that was lunch at the house. Don't tell Mojo's dad that Mojo and I shared a baked potato for lunch.



P.S. This picture isn't from lunch and Katie isn't sleeping under the covers but it's still cute.

Barking In His Sleep

Mojo sometimes barks in his sleep: little puppy barks that sounds like he's having a big ol' time playing. Too cute.