Spring is for Bunnies!

Dearest Readers,

Today, you may be aware, is officially the 21st day of spring.  It is also the the 11th day of my unwarranted incarceration.  Now, my human pet is on occasion a bit overprotective of me.  On nights when the coyotes are howling, I stay indoors and allow her to think I am following her curfew.  But this recent imprisonment is different.

Spring is my favorite season. I love running around in the newly warm air.  I love sitting in the middle of a field of delicate flowers.  I love butterflies.  I love the playful breeze that tickles my whiskers while I nap in the sun.

I LOVE baby bunnies!

And my human has unjustly imprisoned me these last eleven days.  Eleven days!  More than an entire week of forced indoor time.  I can't for the life of me figure out why she has done this to me.  Eleven days without a single butterfly or bunny to play with.

I don't think my human is being intentionally cruel but she must not understand how much I love rabbits.  They are small, soft, adorable and I simply love to kill them.

I've brought my human four dead rabbits since spring started.  The first baby rabbit I killed I brought in the house while she was away.  I don't think that she was very pleased that it wasn't fresh when she finally found it.  The next baby bunny I killed, I brought to her in the middle of the night.  It was very fresh.  It's legs were still floppy when she saw it. But somehow she wasn't quite as happy as I thought she should be.

I decided she just must be tired so I kept my joy of spring to myself for a bit.  I brought in a dead baby bunny to play with while she slept on another night.  But when she found it she got rid of it and seemed upset.  I think she was jealous that I had a toy and she didn't.  Honestly, I wish humans would communicate a little bit better.  Because I truly love her, I went out to catch her a new toy.  I found and killed a new toy for her with perfectly tiny baby bunny ears and she still wasn't happy.

There was only one conclusion that we could draw from this.  She must have wanted to kill her own baby bunnies.  So, on my last excursion outside, I caught her a new baby bunny.  This new bunny toy I brought into the house still kicking.  I'd carefully captured it with only a few minor wounds.  She promptly took her toy outside without me.

I thought she was pleased.  She must have noticed the pains I went to in order to catch it for her.  But since that evening she has been locking my cat door after dinner.

How am I supposed to enjoy spring this way?  How am I meant to chase butterflies and eat bunnies if I am stuck inside staring at spring through a window.

Maybe she is concerned that I am not getting enough sleep these days.  I've been sleeping all day to try to convince her that I am fine and ready to go outside again. 

If it pleases you to give me any advice on this troubling subject of human and cat interactions, I would be most obliged.

Until then, I am, as always, at your service as it pleases me to be so.

xx
Miss Kitty

The Bathing Ritual - Are Humans Really Clean?

"Cleaning" photo via Flickr by W.Ho's Photo?

Dear Readers,

We all know that cats are inherently clean, unlike certain unmentionable creatures that are sometimes called man's best friend.  But the real question is whether humans and their bathing habits are truly above reproach in the cleanliness area. 

So, as a naturally suspicious cat I like to supervise my human's bathing habits to ensure that she does in fact clean and make sure nothing attacks her when she is in the shower, you know, spiders, dogs, that sort of thing.  But I don't like to just barge in at her heels like a slobbering dog would do.  I like to be invited.  So I run to the door and then walk away til she closes it.  Then I politely ask to be invited in.  She sighs and asks "Well, do you want in or not?" And then I come in at a sedate pace like the gentile lady that I am.

"Just a Little Lick" photo by Madder Hatter

She bathes, with loads of water, frankly a barbaric custom if you ask me.  One of these days she will catch a cold.  While she douses herself with water I wait impatiently on the rugs til she finishes.  If I fear she has been in the water too long for her own good I start shouting at her to get out.  Then I encourage her to dry herself quickly by running to and from the door.  She thinks I want out and says she cannot open the door because she is not dressed.  Really I'm just concerned about her safety.  It's not healthy to stay wet all over for such lengths of time.  I'm just trying to speed things up for her own good.

I also usually give her a few licks on her legs and feet to make sure at least a small part of her has been properly cleaned not just sprinkled with water.  She squirms about when I do this.  Truly she is worse than a kitten.

But in the end we all end up toasty warm with a fuzzy blanket for the evening so I suppose I can overlook my pet's deplorable grasp of proper hygiene.  But if you have any suggestions for how to convince a human to stop watering herself please do let me know.

I am, as always, at your service because it pleases me to be so.

xx
Miss Kitty

Why do humans wear Glasses?

Dear Gentle Readers,

Today I have a bit of an observation to make about the way that humans wear glasses.  It has occurred to me that they seem to have no purpose.  My pet human has recently acquired what she calls reading glasses.  I have watched her closely and I can now say with certainty that she spends equal amounts of time reading without them as she does with them.  The wearing of said reading glasses does not make her read faster when I want her to do other things.  Nor do they make her more comfortable and tend towards longer reading sessions when I want to sleep on her lap.

"Shouldn't you be wearing these?" photo via Flickr by Edward Peters

Reading glasses do not appear to increase energy levels or in any way change my human's activities.  They do not seem to have much point, if I am entirely honest.  They only thing I have found good about them is that they come in an interesting case.  I love to watch it open and close revealing it's hidden contents.

I do try to be supportive of my pet even when I find her behavior odd and incomprehensible.  So I decided to anoint the reading glass with my approval by giving them a hearty face rub.  So, I began at the corners and rubbed my face on said reading glasses one evening when she was settling in to read.  And the strange creature seemed annoyed with this.  She made some vaguely disgruntled noise and removed the reading glasses saying that I had put a streak across them and they needed to be cleaned.  Really for a creature that does not lick it's fur into a state of perfection, a human can be very prissy about cleanliness and appearance sometimes.  You'd think I'd bent her whiskers in half and made her look lopsided the way she was carrying on. 

I do not understand her fascination with and appreciation of reading glasses.  Maybe they are somehow related to that strange glowing rectangles all humans love to stare at.  Only, perhaps reading glasses are better because there is one rectangle for each eye?  Who knows.  I suppose the main thing is that she is happy, even if I cannot understand her.  Silly pet.

"My Cat Wears Glasses" photo via Flickr by Nick Perla

Really, how DO they see out of these things?

My dear readers if you do have any insight into why my pet loves reading glasses I'd love to hear it.  I am, as you may suspect, entirely curious about them and their fascinating little case.

I am, as ever, at your service because it pleases me to be so.

xx
Miss Kitty

The Zen of the Wood Chip

Dear Feline Readers,
Today I want to talk to you about achieving the zen of the wood chip.  Now if you are like me you would have seen this title and immediately thought to yourself what nonsense!  Because truly, who would want to give up being like a cat to become more like a wood chip?  But then you would have clicked the link anyway because your curiosity would have gotten the better of you.  Curiosity, cats... you get the picture.  The point is, I understand your skepticism.  However, I am not proposing you become like a wood chip, simply that you master a state of mind that will enhance your life.

Yes, I am stating that embracing the zen of the wood chip will improve your naps.

You see, sometimes as cats we just enjoy sleeping on precarious piles.  Napping in an impossible location that could topple at any moment but doesn't leads to the ultimate joy in napping.  The trick is learning not to fall off.  Nobody likes to have their perfect nap interrupted by gravity and a tumbling pile of towels scattering you across the floor just as you were about to catch that catnip mouse.  If you like sleeping on topsy turvy towers of laundry or a slippery stack of letters I am offering you advice that will help you to achieve the perfect nap in perilous locations.

"Why not just sleep in a safer spot?" you ask.
"Get behind me dog." I say

Can you truly call yourself a cat if you have not achieved at least one impossible thing a day?  Be it defying the laws of gravity, or visibility, or even Murphy, if you are not achieving the impossible you are either a foolish human or a dog, but you are no cat.  (I think the fact that dogs are such failures makes people feel less terrible about their own inadequacies.  There can't be any other reason that dogs are called man's best friend.  But I digress).

Machiavelli wrote "Never was anything great achieved without danger."  He was right.  And cats do not settle for anything less than greatness.  So the next time you are sleeping on a leaning tower of letters or a human who likes to toss and turn at night, meditate on the way of the wood chip.  A wood chip is irrepressible.  A wood chip calmly and without the least hint of effort floats through the water as it swirls and plunges.  A wood chip sails serenely atop the water as if waterfalls are but momentary trouble.  Wood chips always come up smiling.  Bigger sticks and other objects collect water, gain weight, sink, get caught on snags and hidden obstacles.  A wood chip has none of these problems.  Wood chips always seem to float gaily along on top of the angry frothing water.  No matter how turbulent the water beneath, the wood chip always ends up circling lazily in an eddy or bobbing along merrily to its next destination.  Waterfalls are not worth mentioning, a slippery stack of papers is nothing.  

Meditate on the way of the wood chip.  If you achieve the zen of the wood chip you too can float happily and lazily atop the froth of fuzzy blankets.  A human may toss and turn underneath you and you will float effortlessly atop the blankets serenely impervious to their movements.  No matter which way they might turn if you nap with the zen of the wood chip you will roll easily with their agitated tossing and come up smiling, ever atop the agitated surface below.  

"dsc_0814" photo via Flickr by JB

 

Meditate on the zen of the wood chip.  Enter into a state of mind like a wood chip.  Simplicity.  A wood chip has no cares and you, as a cat, are on equal footing.  You are small.  You are graceful.  You cannot be waterlogged and sink.  You are weightless.  You always float.  You are free. 

A stack of towels or letters may slide out from underneath you as you nap.  But the zen of the wood chip will allow you to float effortlessly on top unaffected by the danger of gravity.  You will swirl lazily in a calm eddy while the letters cascade away beneath you.  You will only continue your easy journey downstream when you choose to do so, not when the waters around you move. 

Nap with abandon my friends for you are a wood chip floating freely along the dangerous waters of life with effortless grace.  You will achieve great things because danger does not intimidate you and because you carry yourself with dignity and beauty and an elegant simplicity.  That is to say, you will achieve greatness because you are a cat.

I wish you the best naps.  May you always achieve the zen of the wood chip.  

As ever, I am at your service because it pleases me to be so.

xx
Miss Kitty

Daily Advice: Clean Whiskers

Good morning dear Readers,

I just woke up from my day long catnap and I intend to go to sleep for the night now.  You, are interrupting my beauty sleep, so I don't really have anything to say to you.  Well, that's not entirely true.  I promised you a piece of advice.  So, you shall have one.  I am true to my word.  I am a cat after all.

The advice for today has to do with your whiskers.  Always ensure that your whiskers are clean.  Clean whiskers are the hallmark of feline excellence.  It is much easier to retain a superior attitude and proper levels of dignity if you have clean whiskers.  Indignation and disdain look preposterous on the face of a cat whose whiskers are not perfectly clean.  Oh, and if you've ever heard the phrase that humans like to use "cleanliness is next to Godliness", well, it just so happens that the origin of this phrase lies in our clean whiskers.  In some cultures we cats are revered, if not as gods, at least as inherently superior beings.  Our cleanliness was noted and our impeccable whiskers inspired this phrase and also better grooming habits in humans.  So, dear friends, clean your whiskers.  Flaunt your superiority.  Inspire greatness everywhere.

Oh and take a nap.  Naps are wonderful.  Period.  Speaking of which I'm off to bed.  I'm pleased to say that I've given you two pieces of advice today.  As ever, I am at your service because it pleases me to be so.

"Bo" photo via Flickr by Melissa

xx
Miss Kitty
                 

The Perfect Day

Dear Readers,
I do not think it is very becoming in cats to exhibit false modesty.  So, I shall get straight to the point and announce with pleasure that I have come up with the recipe for the perfect day.  Here is how my day went and consequently here is my recipe for the perfect day.

1. Get a good night's sleep
I awoke from a nice long sleep through most of the night (after I completed my hunting exercises of forty sprints up and down the hall in the dark) and stretched luxuriously in my nest of exactly three different types of fuzzy blankets. 

2. Stretch
After arising from my perfectly shaped nest I stretched all my limbs and arched my back for the perfect "I've just stretched and the world is my bed of catnip feeling".

3. Nap
I walked three paces from the bottom of the bed where my nest is to my human's legs and stretched out on top of her for a quick morning nap.  This was only slightly interrupted when she wished to roll over in her sleep but I readjusted and we continued napping.

"Clawy stretch" photo via Flickr by Martin Cathrae

4.  Stretch before you Dine
I awoke from my quick catnap and stretched deeply before proceeding to my breakfast. 

5. Obtain affection
I made sure at least two of my three human pets were up and doing their chores and allowed them to pet me in appreciation of my beauty and perfection.

6. Nap
I napped on top of my pet's legs again til it was time for her to get up and then I demanded she start exercising for her health.

7. Tour the gardens
My estate is of a goodly size and I need to ensure it's proper maintenance and the smooth efficiency of it's running.  I always check the perimeter for coyotes in case I need to call the giant blockhead dogs to act as guards again.

8. Catnap
Now that I've inspected everything and made sure my pets and employees know of any deficiencies it is time for a nice long catnap.  Usually I take this in the living room atop a tower at the summit of which is a blanket nest.  It is perfect for being at the center of activity should I be needed, observing things with a lazy eye when I'm half asleep and napping in the company of my beloved pets.

9. Stretch before lunch
Stretch before a quick dash up the stairs to keep nimble then dine upstairs away from the dogs and their hideous way of devouring food and leaving crumbs everywhere.  They ought to have more pride in their manners.

"Stretching his claws" photo via Flickr by Grendelkhan

10.  Afternoon stroll
I inspected the grounds, chased lizards etc.

11.  Catnap
On the clean towels

13. Evening jaunt outside
My favorite time outside is just after the sun sets when the air has cooled off and the frogs start singing in the creek below. 

14. Dine
I always make sure one of my pets touches my food to ensure it's edibility.  Then I allow them to go while I eat in the casual and relaxing atmosphere of my private dining room.  

15. Catnap
At this hour I sleep on the tower where I can watch with one sleepy eye while the humans finish up their nightly activities.

16. Exercise
Practice hunting

17 Go to bed.
I settle in for the night in my nest, or if convenient on my human's legs.

18 Wake up refreshed and start all over

I don't mind saying that the day really was a delectable example of perfection.  Give it a try gentle feline readers and see if this recipe for a perfect day suits you equally as well.  If you will excuse me it is now time for my fifth nap of the day.  I am, as ever, at your service because it pleases me to be so.

xx
Miss Kitty
           

My Poor Cat Door

Dear Readers,
I am almost afraid to write this to you because of how undignified it is.  I do not wish to shock your delicate ears or curl your elegant whiskers.  But I feel that I must share this shocking news with someone.

"Shadow Barking Through the Cat Door" - photo by Madder Hatter

My cat door has been violated.

By a dog!!!

It seems that the two blockheads discussed in my last post, (you can read it here), have stooped to new levels of disgrace.  They have sullied my beautiful and personal door to the outside world with their hideous muzzles.  Well, I shouldn't say they, exactly.  I've only caught one of them in this disgraceful pose, but I have no doubt the other has no scruples and would disgrace me in the same way if he had the chance.  The larger of the two blockheads throws himself at the floor and tries to squish as much of his gargantuan face through the cat door as possible.  He seems to view it as his personal window for barking at those who approach the kitchen door.

He SLOBBERS on MY threshold.  My personal door.  Ruined!!!  The horror of it!  The indignity of it!  You can imagine my horror when I saw this heinous performance.  He jowls bestowing liberal slobberous lubricants to my small doorframe.  The cat flap resting on the tip of his nose and leaping violently with every undignified and monstrous bark.  His eyes barely fitting into the frame peering out as though there was nothing more natural in the world than a giant hulking ogre of a beast attempting to squish his 93 pound body through a door meant for my slim and elegant form.  Are my sensibilities to be offended in every possible way!?!   I ask you, is there no end to their heinous behaviors?

"Cat Door or Dog Window?" - photo by Madder Hatter

I nearly fainted with the shock of such a hideous sight.  I do not blame you if you feel a faintness coming on either.  I wish I could tell you that I was joking, though I must say it would be a joke in very poor taste.  But alas, I cannot.  It is all too true.  These blockheads, these ogres, these Dogs must be taught their place and I can assure you that it is not with their heads protruding through MY door.  I must do something to reclaim it.

"The End of Order" - photo by Madder Hatter

Let this be a lesson to you.  Inviting dogs into your home for whatever reason only leads to strife and an appalling lack in cleanliness and order.  I know they are inferior creatures but I have to admit to having very uncharitable dreams about their sudden and convenient demise.  I have a few plots in mind for reclaiming my door; unfortunately they do not involve untimely departure from this world as it would only upset my human.  I do love her so.  But something must be done to curb the wicked ways of the dogs.  I am still pondering the best method of dealing with them and I welcome any suggestions from those felines more versed in dealing with malodorous and hideous beasts.


As always, I am at your service because it pleases me to be so.


xx
Miss Kitty