Helping with laundry

Katie to take a nap in a laundry basket full of jeans. Not sure why. She does like to sleep on clean laundry.

Maybe she just likes to make sure enough  of her fur is on my clothes so I always have her with me. Thanks Katie!

Katie's throne

Katie is queen of the house. Today I found her sleeping on my pillow (my hypoallergenic pillow) like she was royalty. She seemed to be saying: "this surface is soft enough. You may go now, human."

Daddy's girl

Katie has been a daddy's girl since the first day we brought her home. She just adores Matt. She'll cuddle him for hours when he's home. Here she is keeping him company when he fell asleep on the couch.

Kitty Computing

Maybe Katie just wanted my attention, or maybe this is what she does all day when I'm gone? Either way, he she is playing on the computer, possibly trying to type.

Keeping me company

Katie likes to keep me company while I play on the computer. She'll come sit next to me and ask for pets. She'll swish her tail over the keyboard and sit on the keyboard as necessary. Sometimes she'll just sit and purr. She sure is a pretty girl.

Katie's bag

For whatever reason, Katie adopted this bag. (I got it as a freebie at a breakfast a few months ago). This entire weekend, she was sleeping in the bag (on my gym clothes).

Yes Katie, you fit.

Cat drawer

I was cleaning out my dresser the other day and Katie decided that she would help me. By making sure she fit. As soon as I took her out, Gunnar wanted to play in the dresser too. No photo of that, but these cat sure love to play "Do I fit?"

Yes Katie, you fit.

Sunday mornings

This is what Sunday mornings look like at our house. Sleeping in and cuddles.

This pairing caught me by surprise. Katie has warmed up to Mojo over the years, but it's still a relative novelty to see them cuddling/sharing the same space.

Katie's balled up and covering her face (no pictures please!) and Mojo's got his belly up and tail draped over him. He's just positioned himself in a silly way. Matt's sleeping in (because Ozzy wakes me up at 7 a.m. for food.)

And possibly you can see all the pets in the photo. See if you can find a bit of Ozzy in the edge of the photo or a cat reflected in the mirror.

2013: Year in Review

2013 apparently was a year I didn't blog very much.

The biggest thing that happened in pet news was that now we have four pets. We added a cat, Ozzy.

Ozzy adopted us. He decided he was going to live on our front porch. He camped out. I was sure we couldn't have another cat. He gave Mojo kisses when we would take him out. He was always around, meowing, rubbing against our legs. Rain or shine. Even in the middle of the night. After a month of cuteness and kisses, he wore us down. Mojo asked why the kitty couldn't come inside when it was so hot out. We gave in. Took the cat to the vet. He got a clean bill of health and the rest is history.

I was very skeptical that this would work out. Another cat! Another boy cat!?!

I shouldn't have worried. Ozzy is a joy and it was the easiest transition ever. Going from 1-2 cats was DIFFICULT. Katie pouted for a year. A year. Going from 2-3 cats—ridiculously easy. Ozzy and Gunnar became fast friends. They nap together. They bathe each other. They play. They are besties and bros and love each other so much. Seriously, I didn't know Gunnar wanted a brother so badly. And because Gunnar now has Ozzy, Gunnar really doesn't bully Katie anymore. Everyone is happier.

I should say that three is a lot of cats. There are cats everywhere at my house. They swarm when it's meal time. Cats are constantly under foot. Any more cats and it's probably crazy cat lady status for me.

And Ozzy. He went from a 9 pound kitten to a GIANT cat. He's easily 15 pounds. The vet warned us he would be big. We thought he had medium length fur when we adopted him, but not only has he filled out, so has his fur. And he's an extremely long haired cat. I've never had a cat with fur this long and luxurious before. And he gets static really badly. We get shocked when we pet the baby. Ozzy's also....obese. When we took him in, he ate like he'd never see another meal. And after 4+ months, he hasn't slowed down. He gets fed the same time every day and overeating is a problem. He eats fast, like he's in one of those televised hot dog eating contests. He eats Katie's food. He eats and eats. Now he waddles around the house and can barely fit through the baby gates. He needs desperately to diet in the New Year.

As for the other kids:

Mojo is still fabulous. He's a happy dog with a contagious smile. He likes walks and other dogs and all of his siblings. He's also very sensitive and doesn't like it when dad yells at the football games on TV. His arthritis is still not great. When he goes over to his grandparents, he tends to overdo it, running up and down their stairs and going crazy in their backyard. He needs pain pills then. He has slimmed down some. He's looking super athletic. He's gone from 73 pounds to a sporty 68.

Katie could stand to eat a little more. (Ozzy!) She's a sweet cat, who at times will demand cuddles. She often can be found sitting in her dad's lap. She's a daddy's girl. She still likes ham, so when she's looking too thin, that's what we give her. She still likes to jump on my chest 20 minutes after lights out and then demand under the blanket a few times, and then she would really like to sleep in the spot between our heads. Seriously.

Gunnar is still our evil emperor. He likes to follow me around, sleep in the bed, oversee any exercising I do. But now he has a partner in crime. Gunnar and Ozzy like to chase each other around the house. They like to play king of the mountain and wrestle at the foot of the bed, until one or both of them fall off of the bed. The wrestle often starts with licks and is the weird combination of sweet grooming and bopping each other in the face. I guess that's what brothers do.

So, we live in a house full of pet fur. And with all of the pets trying to sneak in the bed during the night, I'm not sure our bed is really big enough for two people, a large dog and three cats. My allergist isn't too happy with that....but you can't tell cats what to do.

Katie and Ozzy

Katie and Ozzy were both trying to get my attention when I was reading Sunday night. Katie wanted to cuddle and Ozzy hung out with me most of the weekend. He's a pretty quiet guy. I haven't quite figured out the Ozzy and Katie dynamic yet. They're not besties but seem to tolerate each other. 

Napping kitties

Katie and Gunnar have never really been besties. Gunnar's a bit of a bully to Katie. But with the addition of Ozzy, it's actually really balanced things out. Gunnar spends more of his time playing with Ozzy and palling around with him. And Katie is spared. There's actually more peace in the house with three kitties. Apparently Gunnar just needed a little brother? (Who might be bigger than him.)

So here's some photographic evidence of peace in kitty land. Katie and Gunnar sleeping in the same vicinity as each other.

Calico Scarf

That's a nice scarf, Matt. Wherever did you get it? Or possibly this is what happens when you fall asleep on Sunday afternoon. A cat decides to accessorize you.

Battle for the Boxes

My kitties LOVE boxes. A new Amazon order comes and they're excited by a new box to play in. Here are Gunnar and Katie facing off on my latest box.

Katie staked her claim on this box. 

One day later, and Gunnar's popping out of the box. 

So have fun kitties.

Couch Potato

This found a new favorite spot on the couch. One that's far away from Gunnar's favorite spot.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.