Monday, December 31, 2012

New Year's Resolutions

Gone with the Christmas tree and twinkle lights, in with the treadmills and diet books for New Year's resolutions. As other people begin their meticulous ritual of weight charting and calorie counting, I'm setting a few resolutions myself. The relevant ones are to learn how to snap better shots, and to keep updating on a steady schedule.

But I'm not the only one with New Year's resolutions! I think my cats have a few things to say about the matter.

I've been thinking about this past year and there's some things I'd like to accomplish in the next year.

First, I'm going to recalibrate my whiskers. I am NOT just clumsy...

Second, I'm not going to be afraid of Momma's rats anymore! H- hey, I'm bigger than they are!

Third, this catnip. You guys, this catnip!!
I am a cat.

Therefore, this question is irrelevant. Cats do not make New Year's resolutions.

Anything I want to do, I've already done. Because I am a cat, and cats do what they want.

I suppose if I were to humor this question, I would say... No. I refuse to humor this question. Now fill my food bowl!

Ooh! Resolution time?! I've got so many things I want to do!
  • Groom more! YOU CAN NEVER GROOM ENOUGH.
  • MOMMA'S RATS. I will get them. I SEE YOU MOVING, RATS!
  • I'm going to kick Malcolm's butt and if he thinks he's getting this spot back, he's got another thing coming!
  • The outside. I am GOING to get outside. Momma can't say no. I'll just have to be sneaky...
  •  I STILL SEE YOU, RATS.

That's all for today! Have a happy and safe New Year's, y'all!

(Including my rats: Natalie, you can NOT have my rats!)

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Video: Malcolm in a Drawer


As a forewarning, this video is ancient and thus not very good quality. It's Malcolm as a kitten, chasing his tail in a dresser drawer. I stumbled across this video and thought I'd share it.

It's about three years old now, and he was about 4-5 months in this video. LOOK AT THOSE TINY KITTY PAWS. D'aww. He used to chase his tail all the time. Still likes hanging out in drawers, if given the opportunity. He doesn't quite fit the same, but he loves it.

Want to stay updated with my latest videos, pictures, and posts? Subscribe to my blog and/or youtube channel! I post on a regular basis and try to get videos up at least weekly. And as always, comments are welcome!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!


It's been a couple of days and I've been busy working the holiday shifts. I wanted to wish y'all a Merry Christmas, and so did the Dastardly Kitties!

Yeah, yeah, Merry Chr-- what's this smell?
Oh. Hello. Yes, I am cat! Merry Christmas!
Right. I'm headed back upstairs. Merry People In My House-mas. Hmph.

Well, they did it in their own way. Happy Holidays!

Friday, December 21, 2012

Happy Apocalypse!

EVERYBODY RUN IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!


What?! Cat, are you serious? It's the end of the world?!


I can confirm. I can SEE the BOTTOM of the bowl. APOCALYPSE!


BUT I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE. There's so many things I haven't seen, things I haven't done yet! I was going to get married in the summer, and have kids, and, and--


What? No! I wasn't serious. Don't listen to him!

Oh, good. See, I was worried there. It's one thing if an ancient calendar says the world is ending. It's another thing entirely if a cat says the world is ending.

Fun fact time: many animals are sensitive to subtle signs that disaster is approaching. Changes in air pressure and water pressure, for example, can trigger an instinct to get out or get down and weather the storm. Not everyone agrees on the extent to which animals, like cats, can "predict" disaster, but given their remarkable senses, it makes sense that they would pick up on signals from nature that humans just tune out. Interesting!

Have you ever noticed your cat acting funny before a storm or natural disaster? Comments are always welcome and much appreciated!

From my kitties to you, hope your "last day" is a great one!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Sweetie & Brother: The Cats Who Adopted Us

Sweetie hiding out.
Somewhere about January, we had a horrible ice storm. It snowed a good five inches, melted a little, and then froze over. To top it off, we had freezing rain, and then more snow on top of that.

So imagine our surprise when a cat showed up at our door!

We didn't really know what to do, considering we have cats and this stray kitty could have diseases. We ended up bringing her downstairs (it's separate from where we live) so we could give her some food, water, and warmth.

 From that night on forward, she kept coming back around. Clearly, the warm house was much cozier than the garage she had found her way into. At first, Sweetie was timid. She hadn't been spayed. We think she was a stray that simply got so desperate for food and warmth, she found a house to beg her way into.

Now, I don't know if she saw that we had cats and knew it would be a safe place for her to go, but she picked the right house. Everyone here loves cats, and she's been well taken care of. Since she started coming around, she's been spayed, vaccinated, and tested for diseases. She's fed well, and comes and goes as she pleases. We named her Sweetie.

But the story doesn't end there.

Brother cat decides he wants loves after all.
One day, I was rummaging around in the garage when a black cat darted out and escaped out the door. No big deal, Sweetie can be excitable from time to time. Until I went back in the house, and found out that Sweetie had been inside the whole time.

That's about when we found out Sweetie had a brother.

He was feral when we first found him, and we really doubted if he'd ever be friendly, let alone as friendly as Sweetie. He ate, but he wouldn't come close to anyone. If you so much as looked at him the wrong way, he'd take off and wouldn't be seen for a day or so.

I worked with him, sitting in the yard, offering him food. The poor thing looked starved and had scars all over his face from fighting with the neighborhood cats. Slowly, he'd start to come around. He'd eat with you sitting on the deck. I upped the ante, bringing his food closer and closer until he was right next to me. Eventually, he let me pet him as long as he could eat.

Now, he begs readily for attention before and after meal times. Brother still doesn't come in and he hates to be picked up. I hate to think of him out there in the winter, but we've set up a den for him in the garage. Sometimes he hides out under the house, which is cover at least. Hopefully, one day, we'll be able to tame him enough to bring him inside and give him the proper care that his sister gets.

But that's the story of how these two kitties became our downstairs family, and adopted us when faced with the harsh reality of a bitter cold winter.

If you enjoyed reading this story, please subscribe and share with your friends! Of course, comments are always welcome. Also check out my youtube channel, The Dastardly Kitties. I try to update regularly with pictures, videos, and information. Thanks!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Water Bowl Routine

Sometimes, the water bowl will go empty. We might be at work, or they might've had a lot to drink while we were sleeping.

Natalie and I have a special routine for filling the water bowl back up. It begins with me noticing that she's curled up in her water bowl again.

"Look, mama," she says, "it's soo dry, I'm willing to lay in it!"

So I grab a large cup and fill it with water. She gets excited for a moment, comes to investigate what I'm doing, but then she goes right back in the water bowl. That's when I pour the water in the bowl.

She'll sit there for a second and then jump out, shake off, and groom herself. I rinse out the water bowl, fill it back up with clean water, and the routine is complete.

It started out as a complete joke one day, because she wouldn't budge from the bowl. I thought, "Are you seriously going to sit there and let me pour water on you?" Turns out, the cat that howls like she's dying if we ever have to give her a bath, is also willing to sit in a bowl while I pour water into it. Go figure.

I think she's come to accept getting wet as a necessary sacrifice to fill the bowl back up. And since I find it hilarious, I let her think that. It's been our special routine ever since.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

New Video: First Snow



Not an impressive snowfall by the time the sun came up but they still had fun investigating! It made for an excellent first video of many to come.

Felix, of course, was as dignified as ever. "I don't know what the fuss is," he mused, sniffing the doorway with a dignified air. Malcolm wasn't sure what to make of it, but Natalie was so excited she just wanted to be outside.

YESYES I get to be outside again!!

Until she discovered that this fluffy white stuff made her paws wet.

I-- Oh dear, this isn't nice at all!

At which point she had to go back inside and clean her paws off from this highly offensive sneaky-water.

It didn't look wet at all, I do NOT appreciate this!

But all in all, the cats found it very enjoyable. Even Felix. I think.

That's all I've got for now. Hope you enjoyed the video!


Lovely Weather for a Sleigh Ride Together


OH MY GOD IT'S COMING.


SNOW.

NOOOoooo! First snowfall of the season! Our gorgeous blue skies gave way to clouds and rain and now there's going to be sticky white stuff making an adventure onto the porch unthinkable (and the roads treacherous for the furless folk).

I have to admit, while I'm going to be crapping myself trying not to find myself wrapped around a pole this winter (new driver, go easy on me), I'm going to have lots of... fun... with the cats.

Oh, calm your whiskers. Like I can be bothered by this nonsense.

It may or may not stay around until morning. It's supposed to snow more, but who knows if it'll stick. I don't know if I'll have any pictures or videos until a more solid snow storm... So enjoy a couple pictures from last year!

I was similarly disinterested last year.

I blend in with the snow, I blend in with the rail. I am now... camouflage cat!

Hi. I'm 5 months old and what is this funny stuff on the ground?

Monday, December 17, 2012

I'm Back!

I finally picked myself up a decent camera, so I'm back in the kitty blogging business. With decent pictures to do my cats justice, and maybe some good-quality video of kitty shenanigans.

Ahhem, no, I did not spend 500-some-odd dollars just to put my cats on the internet, thank you very much. But that is a very nice bonus.

I last posted about the new kitty on the block, Natalie. Let me introduce her to you:


I'm Natalie. This is my chair, Malcolm.

This is Miss "I sits where I wants to" Natalie. When she isn't busy grooming, sitting on other cats, sitting in her water bowl, or flouncing about looking highly offended, you can often find her curled up in someone's lap. True to her beautiful looks, Natalie is a princess and loves to be pet. And then there's her BFF, Malcolm.


I'm chair. I mean, Malcolm.

Malcolm's three years old now, but that doesn't stop him from being an excitable kitty who loves a good chase. In the year that Natalie's been with the furry family, they've grown incredibly close. They're cuddle buddies, grooming pals, and sparring partners. You usually can't find one without the other.

I'm trying to get some good video together of the two in action. It's been great to see how she's grown, and see how they've grown together over the past year.

That's about all I have for this update. I only just got this camera, so I'll have more for y'all soon. For now, I'll leave you with Malcolm and Natalie in their favorite spot: sitting on each other at the top of the cat tree.


And no, I don't know why she's staring at the wall.