Monday, June 29, 2009

New Adventure Park

Abby: Wow! Look at this, a new Cat Adventure Park! Ms. C says it's called a "desk" and that it belongs to Mr. R, not to me, but that so-called fact is disputable in my unhumble opinion.

Lots of things to see here. But part of this Adventure Park is quite frustrating, it's a little cubby covered in glass. Now how am I supposed to get up in there?

This drawer is really fun to play inside of, too. There's a cabinet on the other side with a shelf, sometimes Mr. R leaves it open just for me, so I can play inside it. I bring my mouse with me.


I looooove this desk and bathing myself in the lamp on it. Love it!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The Joy of the Plague!

Ms C: Abby and Stygia received their very own package in the mail today..... and inside it was:

Actually, Abby did not notice it at first. Stygia was immediately intrigued by it, especially its scent. She got at least a whole 20 minutes of solo play with the Plague Ratsie before Abby realized it was present.

In fact, at first Abby did not realize that there was a new toy -- but she could smell it! It smelled very, very strange to her, and she was looking at Stygia with great suspicion: was Stygia the cause of the scent? Her ears went back as she approached Styggie, and her tail fluffed up. I had to bring the toy to her and dangle it and let her sniff it, before she stopped blaming Styggie and began to realize that this was something to be enjoyed and attacked!

Who gets to play with it first??? Actually, there are two Plague Ratsies, but I only took one out of the package for them today.

Abby rolls with it!

Styggie bunnykicks it! Notice her tail fluffage!

Abby makes The Face about it!

What fun!!!

Prowl and Play

Stygia: Abby has been hogging the blog so far this week, and with good reason. It was her Gotcha Day, but I have been doing some exciting things, too!

Today, it involves a green furrymouse. The green mice are my very favorite! Ms. C got a new green mousie especially for me, and as you can see, I adopted my predator pose immediately:


I pick it up and take it to where I want to play with it. I stand on them and let them surprise me when I discover them with my back feet and I bunnykick them! Best of all, I just like to roll all over them:


Where did it go? Ooooohhhh, I will GET you, green mousie!!


Just to be fair, I am going to let you see what happened to Abby today. Yes, Mr. R loves her very much:

Hee hee!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Feed Me

Ms. C: Is it Cat Time?

Abby: (very softly) Meow?

Ms. C: Cat Time?

Abby: (loudly, stretching) Meeeeeeooooow!


(thundering herd heads out to the kitchen where Ms. C prepares the bowl of tuna, meowing and circling ensue, followed by the great Prairie Cat pose)


Abby: num num num num num..... I love you!


Hope you are having a great weekend!

Friday, June 19, 2009

On purpose

Stygia: I am back! Abby can't have her way all day, every day, so here I am!

Today we are going to talk briefly about why we cats choose to sit where we do. You see, everything a cat does is quite deliberate. Are we looking at you, staring? It's deliberate. Are we sitting with our backs turned to you? It's on purpose. Am I sitting by a boot with wiggly shoelaces and posed with a fuzzy mouse beside my belly? It's no accident -- I am feeling playful!

Abby: Ms. C recently found this notebook in which she kept her journal for her 9th-grade English class (can you believe that was almost 20 years ago? She is ancient). I usually like to spread out all over the chair, but since she left her notebook on my chair, I decided that I would fit myself to it with precision.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Catlove

Abby: I admit, I am hogging the blog this week. Perhaps we should just all understand because it was my Gotcha Day this week, I can't help but hog the blog a little bit.

I am not usually a lap cat, and since I have doubled in size since I arrived in my home just over a year ago, it's a little difficult to rest on Mr. R's shoulder, as I used to prefer. As you can see, however, a lap is also a warm and friendly place to rest!


PS. Ms. C messed up the blog again and is working on restoring all her linkies and stuff!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

What, Mom?

Abby: Thanks to all for the wonderful Gotcha Day and Blogoversary remarks! The party never ends, here, though!

I found this awesome new toy in a cardboard box with many others just like it in the bathroom! It crackles! I love it!

I don't know why my mom is laughing at me so much.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Let's GET Abby's Party Started!!

Today is a very special day -- not only is it our First Blogoversary, but it's also the 1-year anniversary of Abby Normal's GOTCHA Day!!! All of the pictures featured in today's post were taken in the first week of living in her new home with us lucky humans.

On the very first day that she lived with us, Abby spent almost all of her time sleeping with and ON Mr. R. It was to the point where he had a constant neck-ache named Abby, but he would not move so he would not disturb her. She doesn't sleep there anymore, and he misses his neck-ache. Perhaps it is because she only weighed 5 pounds when we got her, whereas she weighs 11 pounds now. So, instead of sleeping on Mr. R and his chair, she chooses to endorse him by sitting right under his chair.

One of Abby's favorite games in the entire world is FETCH. The cats we knew before Abby loved to chase after and play with the little toy mice that we had for them, but none of them ever carried them right back to us, so it came as a delightful surprise when Abby did just that.

We still play Fetch almost every single day!

The first time we saw Abby, she was one of many, many meowing and hopeful-eyed sad cats in their cages at the SPCA. Actually, Abby wasn't meowing when I first saw her; every time I walked by, she rolled and gazed up at me, almost with a smile on her face. Sad as I felt for all of the other cats who meowed and begged for the attention and love they were starving for, there was something other than pleading in the gaze we exchanged. At that moment I knew she was going to be Our Cat.


We first heard her voice when the woman working at the SPCA took Abby out of her cage and handed her to us so we could visit with her. Perched on Mr. R's shoulder, she let out a loud and piercing, kittenish wide-mouthed "Reeeow!" that expressed her anxiety at being in a situation full of frantic cats, and also her excitement at being held and released from her cage into the friendly arms of a human.

"Shall we take this cat home with us?" I asked Mr. R, and he responded with a smile and a nod. Instead of putting her in the carrier, he sat with her in the back seat and held and patted her as I chaufferred us all back to our home, Abby's new home.

Some cats go into hiding right away when confronted with a new home/location. Abby never did, she moved right in without missing a beat, as if she had never been abandoned to the SPCA, as if she'd always lived with us.

This is one of Mr. R's favorite early photos of her:

At the SPCA, the little index card on her cage said her name was Abby. Like many adoptive "parents," we thought beforehand that we were going to probably rename her to something we preferred, but the name stuck. We simply added to it, so she is Abby Normal. She knows her name, all you have to do is say it and she will look at you, or come to you if she is so inclined. Who is the luckier, her or us? I'd say, it is all of us.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Cats and Bags .... and Whacky Weed Wednesday!

Stygia: The perfect place to rest is usually near to one of our people, and even more perfect is resting near one of our people on one of their bags! I found this beautiful backpack right behind Ms. C's chair, and I occupied it neatly. I think my colors look really good with it, don't you?

Abby: Does life imitate art, or does art imitate life? I don't know, but I do know that it's a fine thing to find a bag to rest a chin on, especially if it is a vaguely cat-shaped bag:

I didn't even realize Ms. C took this next picture of me, I was fast asleep after a furious round of catnip-induced frolic!

What, you want to see the frolic? Well.... ok:



PS. Ms. C is not sure why the video is "squished," but you can still see the frolic....

Monday, June 8, 2009

Cat Nests

Abby: We are sorry we were away for so long! I think Ms. C is finally doing better. In fact, we all are fine, so if anyone was concerned that we were abducted by aliens or some-such thing, we assure you, it's not true. We have been here all along.

Today, Ms. C did some shopping, including a few new items of clothing for Mr. R. She took them out of the packaging and put them on the floor to carry downstairs with the laundry she is doing, but FIRST, I had to make a full inspection and a proper cat-nest out of the deal:

Of course, Stygia could not leave me alone for long. She wanted to get into the action, but I repelled her advances and burrowed and stayed in as long as I liked! It was quite comfy and smelled interesting too.


Stygia: I think it's fine that Abby nested in the new clothes before I did. I was interested in them, of course, but I am very patient. I knew that as soon as Abby left, there would be a pre-formed and pre-warmed spot for me to curl up upon! I am still there even as Ms. C types, and I will probably remain there as long as she lets this stuff lay here.