Couch Potato

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

Happy Dog

Mojo is such a happy and delightful dog. And he's even cute than normal when he's begging for food.

Puny Human

"Puny human, I scoff at you and your feeble attempts to please me." That's what I think Gunnar is saying in this one. He is one hard to please kitty cat emperor. 

Helping with the Laundry

Gunnar decided to help me with the laundry. Specifically, he was helping me fold them when I took them out of the dryer. He was helping squish them down. Thanks Gunnar.

Pukey kitty strikes again

Oh pukey kitty......He decided to yak this morning at......drumroll please......5 a.m. What is it about this cat and 5 a.m.?

I decided to wait and clean it up in the morning, but I'm a worrier so a few minutes later I got myself out of the warm bed. I used the flashlight on my iPhone to look everywhere. I got to the stairs and still didn't see anything.

"Where is it?" I whispered.

Turns out I have a magic foot because at exactly that moment I stepped in it.

Which after all these years, doesn't really faze me. I washed my foot, cleaned the puke up and went back to bed. I also scooped Gunnar up and put him in the bed next to Mojo. I thought maybe he needed some cuddles.

He didn't stay in the bed though. And then I heard a noise like he was eating something he shouldn't. So I scooped him up and put him in the middle of the bed and gave him some pets. He also didn't stay.

Then at 5:30 a.m. the wretching starts again.

This time in the bedroom in the carpet. I hate cleaning puke out of carpet. Please just puke on the tile or hardwoods. You're literally allowed in one room with carpet. Why must that be where you throw up?

So I leap out of bed and practically toss the cat into the bathroom, where he throws up and leaves. I throw some kleenexes on the vomit and go back to bed.

Only to dream that when I go to clean up the mess, it's turned into projectile vomit that's inches thick crusting on the wall. That it's green and boogery. I dream about scrubbing.

And then Taylor Swift starts playing. Stay. Stay. Stay. Stay.

Wait that's my alarm. So, about four hours of sleep. My eyes hurt.

All I want to do is go back to bed. and then maybe put some compresses on the black circles under my eyes.

arg. Something has to give with barfy kitty. It might be time to go to the vet. I just feel like he eats shit he shouldn't, but......ugh, just ugh for barfy kitty and my night. And then after I dosed off, between barfings, I dreamed about cleaning out like dinosaur amounts of barf only to wake up to more barf. Whine over.

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.

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?

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). 

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.