Monday, December 31, 2012

Year in Review

As 2012 is winding down, I was wondering what kind of year it was for the pets.


Mojo

Mojo was diagnosed with arthritis a year ago. He's been on a diet ever since. The vet said he needed to lose weight, that would help with his joint problems. We stopped feeding him treats period. No Beggin Strips or T-Bonz or anything else. He gets carrots for treats. Or ice. And sandwich meat in his food. He won't eat it plain. In September he went to the vet, and he hadn't lost a single pound. So he's been on diet food since then and looks like he's lost some weight. (Poor buddy, I'm sure it tastes horrible). There were no dog park visits for Mojo—since it's too hard on his joints. (He can't even have extra walks. It's too hard on his joints. We tried). I took him to the park a few times but he was always stiff and sore afterwards. He had maybe two playdates, and it was hard on his joints. I hate seeing him limp afterwards. He misses his friends.

But Mojo is a VERY HAPPY dog, one of the happiest I've seen. He is always smiling, begging for food, hanging out with his Gunnar cat.

Gunnar

Gunnar continues to be an evil emperor. He likes bullying Katie, playing in the dryer and bird watching through the window. He tries to get in garage all the time, too. When he's not being evil, he likes cuddles. He likes to be held like a baby and petted and rubbed all over. He purrs really big. He continues to be a very VOCAL cat.

He likes to sit in his food spot and wait for his dinner, which he expects at exactly 6 p.m.You could your watch by him (and no, he does no observe Daylight Savings Time.)  He eats his dinner and then around 7 p.m. he MEOWS up a storm at the top of the stairs and then he goes tearing around the house like a poltergeist on Red Bull for a few minutes. Then he sleeps on the bed for a few hours. Around 9 he hangs out with Mojo and Matt and that's his evening routine. I don't know what he does during the day except watch birds and play with spiders.

G also wins the kitty barf fest award. So much puke. All the time. So I switched their food from sensitive stomach to hairball control and that seems to help. (Gunnar does give Mojo a nightly bath). Also, I told Matt to stop feeding him tuna and deli meat and the barfing is quite minimal these days. And when he does barf, it's usually 5 a.m. not on the 70% of the house that's wood or tile, it's on the carpet.

Katie

Katie is a happier kitty these days. It took her a year to adjust to Gunnar. She still can't stand him, but she's not the angry depressed kitty she was. She likes to sit on Matt's lap for hours. She asks for play more. She gets along better with Mojo. I see her cuddling Mojo every now and then. Her and Gunnar sometimes occupy a space in close proximity, but I think it's more sibling spot stealing than cuddling. Still, sometimes I like to think they play fight. With all of that fighting, some of it has to be play right? Her fur isn't always sticking straight up.

Her latest thing is sleeping between our heads in the bed. She found the gap between our pillows and has deemed that her spot. And she still has her bedtime ritual, where 20 minutes after we turn the lights out, she hops in the bed (often clawing a leg or butt in the process) and then asks Matt to get under his part of the blanket. Every single night. Folks, it's not even cute anymore. I just want sleep. She just wants ritual.

So those are my crazy kids. They're great company, sweet and extremely entertaining. They make me immensely happy and I am so lucky to have all three of them.

Gunnar just came by to approve this blog post. Good thing, he can't read.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Pet Christmas 2012

The pets had a great Christmas.  I had too many pictures, so I'm experimenting with slideshows. Click the image to see a full size slideshow.

We did gifts here at the house first thing in the morning.




Then, we went to my family's Christmas.



We spent the rest of the day at Matt's family's house.


Saturday, December 22, 2012

Bird Watching


There seems to be something wrong with my blinds. 

Giant dust bunnies?

No, just Gunnar. 



He's looking out the window. He's a big-time bird watcher. There are some sparrows that nest in the trees nearby and he just loves to watch them, to paw at the window, to make chirpy noises.

Or maybe he's waiting for Santa?

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Cuddle Monsters

 It's not unusual to see Mojo and Gunnar cuddling. They are best buds.


But I thought this was especially cute because Gunnar's paws are on Mojo's back, like he's kneading Mojo, giving him a massage or maybe I could flip the photo and make it look like Gunnar's standing on Mojo. Either the way, these guys are precious. (Don't tell Gunanar, his evilness, I said that). 

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Shoelace Monster


Both the cats love to play with this ratty old shoelace. It's their favorite. It started out as Katie's favorite (an identical older, much rattier shoelace), but now they both love it.

They like to bring me shoelace when I'm napping, meow a lot and ask me to play. Only I'm sleeping, so I just tell them I'm sleeping and when I wake up I see that they've dragged this shoelace to me (it's pretty cute seeing them tote it around in their mouth).

I try to play shoelace with Katie every now and then. When she was an only pet, we'd play every night before bed. Now, not so often. And whenever we do play, Gunnar crashes the party. I'll play with them both for a minute (alternating one swing per kitty), and then Katie will slink off depressed.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Avid Reader


Mojo used Christmas break to catch up on his reading. When I got up to get some water, he stole my spot and my Kindle. Maybe he was reading Marley and Me?

Monday, December 17, 2012

New Cabinets

We bought some new cabinets for the kitchen. The cats decided to "help" Matt build them.


Gunnar was assessing the wood. He says it doesn't smell like any tree he knows.

Apparently, he isn't familiar with Ikea trees. 



Katie wanted to know what was going on. We did move her food spot after all. 

When I went to fill up the cabinets Gunnar hopped up in them to supervise. 


Seriously, the cat was in the cabinets. I wonder if Ikea sells cat-proof furniture.

I should add that a week later, he has destroyed the bottom cabinets trying to get in them. It's not just claw marks, chunks of wood are missing. Perhaps evil cat is part woodchuck too. Or beaver. 



Sunday, December 16, 2012

Rare sighting


Mojo and Katie have really made friends over the years. I occasionally even catch them cuddling. 


Here they are taking a nap together. 


I think Katie prefers Mojo to Gunnar any day. 

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Helping with the Laundry



I was trying to put some laundry in the wash before I went to work this morning. And Gunnar decided he needed to help. He was perched on the edge of the washer watching the water pour into the machine. 

No!

That's not safe for kitties. But this guy has a fascination with 1) water and 2) small spaces. He likes to wtach the water run into the bath tub. (He's only fell in once or twice.) 

So I scooped kitty up, closed the lid and plunked him down on the lid, where he stayed and tried to figure out what that crazy loud contraption was for. 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

New Scarf

Mojo decided to model my new pink and black scarf. He'll probably borrow it when I'm not looking.



Don't tell Matt, but pink is a good color for Mojo.


The scarf didn't fit Katie quite right. 

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Peace Offering Gone Wrong

The part of the couch covered in the paw print blanket is Mojo's spot.
He doesn't like anyone, even friends, to try and take his spot.
I took Mojo's spot on the couch today. I told him I'd get up in a minute, but he gave me this LOOK.

So I handed him some Chex mix as a peace offering.

He ate it. I moved. He followed me around and asked for more Chex mix. I gave him all that I had and he even followed me when I left the room. "MOAR CHEX MIX" he said with his best puppy dog eyes.

Apparently he likes Chex mix. 

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Gunnar Glare


"How dare you disturb my nap, puny human?" That's what evil emperor Guns seemed to be saying when I walked into the bedroom and found him cuddled up next to my pillow. He sure looked comfortable.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Halloween Friends

Mojo made some cute friends this Halloween. He thought these pictures were too adorable not to share.

Don't let the giant bumble bee sting you.

Don't eat the fuzzy-footed chicken, Mojo.

That is one cute skunk.

Who knew roaches were for petting?

Some nice horses that live off South Milledge Avenue. 

Princess Lexi and her noble steed. 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Evil cat

Gunnar tacking his dad to get some attention. 


This morning, Matt was trying to get the lint off of his work pants—all while Gunnar was trying to get as much cat fur as possible on the same pants.

It was pretty funny to watch them fight over Matt's black pants.

Finally I picked up Gunnar and took him to the other room. He was purring quite loudly—content that his evil deed for the morning went so well. 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

New Scarf


I got a new scarf and Mojo decided that he had to model it. I think he was the tiniest bit sad when I took it off him and told him it didn't really match his Halloween collar.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Spider Web


I'm not sure if this spider is Mojo's friend or not, but how awesome is this web?

 I saw it this morning when I took Mojo out.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

New Moth Friend?


Maybe this is a cousin of Mothra, I'm not sure. I found this funny looking guy hanging out by the front door. I guess it's some kind of moth.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Katie's Mom

Playing with the iPhone camera
This is Sugar, Katie's mom. She showed up at my parents house during the winter my last year of college. I thought she was such a cute cat and eventually I lured her into the basement and out of the cold. She was the sweetest cat. And also pregnant. She had kittens in my bathroom closet the week of our wedding. (And one of those kittens, Katie came to live with us.)

I went to my parents house today and saw her. She was as sweet as ever. She kept giving me love, begging for attention. I really wanted to just bring her home with me. (But that wouldn't be fair to my two cats). Apparently, my parents other cats are really mean to her. Poor Sugar.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Halloween Collar


Matt and I LOVE Halloween so when I saw a section of Halloween dog collars at Target, I knew Mojo had to have one. I picked out one with a spider web pattern.

Mojo loves it! He smiled all night.

He's always happy when we bring home something for him, but he was particularly happy about this. Maybe because this collar is a lot lighter than his Harley collar. Either way he loves it.

So Happy Halloween Mojo.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Mojo Logic

Mojo and his Wubba.

I went to take Mojo on his evening walk. Instead of turning left for our usual 1/2 mile loop, he turned right. 

To go to the park. 

Which is interesting. 

Maybe he just wanted to go to the park? (We had just been there two days ago).

But what makes this extra devious is that Matt left for work after I got home. So it was just me and Mojo. And sometimes if Matt is at work I'll take Mojo to the park. (Matt doesn't approve of Mojo being off leash---the park isn't fenced in but is far enough away from the road.) So Matt left to work night shift and Mojo made the connection and took himself to the park. 

There's Mojo for you. No dad = park and sleeping in his spot in the bed.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Beg Face


This is Mojo's best beg face. (You can even see his mouth watering). I had a sandwich and Mojo decided he was TOO cute not to get a bite---or ten. He just sits next to me while I'm eating and smiles as big as he can.

"You know you want to give me a piece." That's what he's saying.

"See how cute I am!"

And of course, he probably ate most of the meat out of my sandwich.

I have no will power. At least not up against for Mojo's beg face.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

How to be Evil in 12 Easy Steps

Gunnar practices his evil stare.

Gunnar was thoroughly unimpressed by my reading of The Happiness Project. He thought being evil was a far more admirable goal, so he came up with 12 steps for how to be evil.

  1. Bully as much as you can as often as you can. Don't let other pets eat their food, use the litter box or nap in peace. They'll thank you later for making them tough.
  2. Take other people's food. Knock it out of their hand if you have to. Lay on plates. Swat at their food as they eat it.
  3. Knock things off tables. Conspire with the dog if you have to. Newton's law is that "objects on tables must come down."
  4. Leave a trail of destruction in your wake. Shred paper towels, chew cords, eat things humans think you shouldn't. (What do they know? Buttons are delicious. So are moths).
  5.  Go places you aren't allowed. Closets. Cabinets. That's where the good stuff is.
  6. Break all the rules. Poop outside your litter box or as soon as it's cleaned.
  7.  Eat Mojo's food. It will help you grow big and strong.
  8.  Don't walk. Stomp. Always stomp.
  9. Let your puny humans cuddle you. Surprise them by shanking them. That way they know you REALLY love them. 
  10. Use the claws. They only think it's happy kneading, Really, you're slowly releasing the poison into their blood.
  11. Make as much noise as you can first thing in the morning. Everyone loves being woken up by a cat knocking over a piece of furniture or fighting with another cat.
  12. If your human won't get up to get you breakfast, punch them in the face. Heck, you don't need a reason. Punch everyone in the face

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Pretty in Pink


Mojo in a scarf. I think I need to make this a regular feature. He actually doesn't really mind scarves anymore.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Not so Fearless

Gunnar in his box.

I was quite convinced that Gunnar the Terrible had no fears. Nothing fazed this cat.

Until he heard Gilbert Gottfried's voice coming out of the TV. He ran away in utter.

Completely shaken up, he later took refuge in the dryer.

No kitties in the dryer!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Revenge is Best Served...Cold Turkey

Yet another portrait with evil cat in the background

Gunnar likes to cry for turkey every morning when I make breakfast. If I put some sandwich meat in Mojo's bowl, Gunnar MEOWS to remind me that he would also like some meats. He was particularly vocal one morning and I put a dollop of turkey down next to his bowl. And before he could blink Katie flies into the room and gulps down his turkey.

He just stared at her in utter disbelief. She finished the turkey and slunk off before poor evil Gunnar could process what happened.

I laughed.  Gunnar is a total bully and tries to bully Katie out of turkey all of the time, and then half the time I give Katie turkey she doesn't eat it.  So in no way were either of us expecting it.

But score one for Katie.


Friday, August 17, 2012

How to Fight Crazy


Last night Gunnar was trying to eat some huge gnarl of string that he found on the floor. I lunged over and yanked it out of his mouth. 

Matt thought I was too rough and scared the cat. 

This morning Gunnar was trying to eat some plastic and Matt tried sweetly to get Gunnar to stop eating it. Crazy cat swallowed it. 

I told Matt that there's no point in trying to reason with a crazy cat.

Thee only way to fight crazy is with more crazy.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Doggie Magnetism

Mojo's new friend

If Mojo has a super power (besides conning me out of chicken hot dogs), it's doggie magnetism.

If we go on a walk and there's a stray, a dog escaped its leash or a dog sneaking out of its house within a mile radius, they find us.

I have found so many dogs! I've had to call the tags on the owners or walk up to random houses, knock on doors and return dogs to teenagers. 

Today I was walking Mojo and we picked up a brindle pitt. She didn't seem to be anybody's so I let her take a walk with us, partly just to keep an eye on her and keep her out of the road. She seemed to be a nice dog and she kept initiating play with Mojo. 

She was a very slobbery dog. Mojo and I both ended up soaked after meeting her.

Outtake photo. And yes, I totally laid down on my neighbors yard to get these shots.
PS> Turns out she's the new neighbor's dog. So we might be seeing more of her. 

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Gun-Guns the Terrible


Another in my ongoing series of evil cat portraits, I call this one "Gun-Guns the Terrible."

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Bad Behavior


See this happy dog? Such a sweet guy.

Loves people food, walks, his family. Wags his tail all the time.

Today I went home at lunch and he was a total diva when I went to take him out. He refused to go. He just sat down and refused to move.

After about 10 minutes, it started to get pretty annoying. I took him back inside and scarfed my lunch down. He came over to me and licked my knee, saying he was sorry. Or begging for chicken hot dog.

I caved. I told him if he went to the bathroom, I'd give him chicken hotdog. Another 10 or so minutes of diva behavior and finally, he got his chicken hot dog. He did try to take me on a walk—which I didn't have time for.

So my diva dog has resorted to extortion.

------->Bonus points if you can find an evil cat in this photo.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Soccer Fiend



Gunnar's been watching a lot of soccer lately. His dad kept Olympic soccer on at the house 24/7. So when presented with this soccer ball, Gunnar had a point to prove.

Now, if only he knew you can't use your hands in soccer. Maybe he's practicing goal tending? He would be a ferocious goalie.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Piggyback Ride


Katie is not a cuddly cat. She does not like to be picked up. But she does like the occasional piggy back ride. Ever since we've had her, she's like to climb and perch on Matt's back.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Breakfast with Gunnar

I decided to make myself a nice breakfast on my week off. A croissant and some strawberries.


But then Gunnar invited himself to breakfast. Didn't know he liked strawberries, but apparently he does.


He also dipped his paw into the honey on the croissant! Crazy thing.


Thursday, August 2, 2012

Bad Haircut

Mojo usually gets groomed at Pawtropolis, but there's usually a wait to get an appointment so I had the brilliant idea to take him somewhere else because I wanted an appointment this week. So I made an appointment at his vet. I figured that way he could get his shots and I could just do one trip. And if the vet employs this groomer, then surely you see where this is going.

So I drop Mojo off at 7:30 a.m. like they asked. I gave them specific instructions, sporty, about half the length it is now and not too short on the butt. I thought I should leave a picture but don't have a printer so I didn't.

At 2:30 they call me that he's ready, but still wet.

Did you blowdry him? I ask.

He's under the fans.

That was my first tip off.

So I go to pay my bill and the groom is twice what I've been paying for grooming and more than I've ever spent for a haircut.  This is my fault for not asking.

Then they bring Mojo out.

Look how uneven the cut is. Especially around the neck. They didn't trim is tail.

It doesn't even look my my dog. And I mean this in the worst way.

I dropped off a handsome shaggy brown dog. I get back a dog that's cut to his fluffy undercoat. He looks exactly like my Husky used to look when we had her shaved for the summer. and I specifically said NOT to shave him. I said half the length of his fur.  It's 1/4 or less of the length is fur was before and the fur is indeed too short on the butt.

There's nothing sporty about this cut. It's a shave. They didn't touch his tail. It should have been evened out. It's completely uneven and I could have done a better job. They took my handsome dog and made him look horrible.

I was expecting him to look like he looked like the last time he was groomed

I wasn't expecting this unflattering, uneven cut that exposes his undercoat. 

Completely uneven and unflattering.

Seriously, I'm so upset with the cut, I cried. I can't look at Mojo without getting upset and he can sense my disapproval and he thinks he did something. He didn't. 

So I don't know what to do about this except wait for it to grow out. I would say that Mojo doesn't mind except that he's got razor burn where she shaved him too short on his stomach and it itches him like crazy so he's trying to lick it. 

Moral of this story is wait for the good groomer. And don't take your dog to the groomer at NOAH.