Warm....

Stygia: Ms. C says it is cold outside, but I can't tell from here. From here, it seems like the perfect place to bake. That's what Ms. C calls it anyway. She says I'm a sunpig. I am not any kind of pig, I am a beautiful cat. YOU can see that. Little do the other cats know this will be fuel for me... to stalk them... hehehe!

Happy Gotcha Day and Birthday, Stygia!

Stygia: Today is a very special day for me, because it is both my Gotcha Day and my seventh Birthday! As you can see, I am here putting my paw down early in the morning so that Ms. C will be sure to commemorate this day as she ought!

When I first came to my forever home in August of 2008, I was 2 years old, and so skinny that Ms. C and Mr. R thought they were adopting an oriental style cat. However, as you can see from the examples below, this was not the case! I was depressed and not eating, but as soon as Ms. C gave the the BLUE MOUSIE that you see me rolling with, I knew that I was loved and promptly began to eat and play the way I really wanted to do. I just wanted to know I was loved. 

Besides being my birthday and gotcha day, I hope today will be just like every day since I came to my forever home with Ms. C and Mr. R -- one in which I can roll, play, snooze, and cuddle to my heart's content! 

Poor Stygia!

Ms. C: Stygia went to the vet on Friday morning. She was not very happy about this! She meowed mournfully the whole mile-and-a-half to the vet's office.

As you can see, being at the vet is a scary experience! Stygia burrowed into my elbow/armpit area and remained there for the entire visit. Unlike Styx, she does not get mad and try to fight having her temperature taken or other indignities, such as getting an antibiotics shot. She just hides her little head and waits for it all to be over. She sheds a lot. But otherwise, a model patient:

It seems she has a urinary tract infection (UTI), which she has had before. She does not think that she is lucky that she has to take a pill each evening. I hope she will be feeling better soon. The vet said to expect to see a big improvement in 3-5 days, and if we don't see that, to give a call. Today is day 4 and she still seems to be uncomfortable, so we'll see what happens.

Cross your paws for Stygia!

Good Work!

Stygia (Worm): I didn't do this, although if I did, I would be very proud of my work:

I was a prime suspect, because I am known as a biter of things, but to be honest, I most often prefer biting fabrics. Chewing the handles off of Ms. C's re-usable grocery bags is a favorite pastime for me. Don't tell her I said that.

I think Styx did this. She is the most active cat right now. Poor Abby is letting off her "barn cat" fear smell because Styx is in heat. I try my best to ignore Styx. Those tabbies are something else.

Oh, I know you want to see a picture of me, so here it is:

Happy 6th Birthday to Stygia!

Ms. C: Today, Stygia is 6 years old. In case you are not familiar with the story of Stygia, we adopted her from the SPCA animal shelter on the day after her 2nd birthday. We thought she was an exotic oriental cat because she was so slender.... but it turns out she was starving. As you can see, she is a typical shorthair house panther:

Here is Stygia peeking out from the window! Abby's in it too, so they look like one long cat!

Stygia has been in a long-term relationship with this toy, the plague ratsy, which takes all the beatings she can offer, especially with those big bunny kicks and large fangs. They tend to lose their ears but that's it! She is playful.

Chasing Abby is a daily sport! Stygia is stubborn and doesn't give up.

Stygia has a great appreciation for plant life. Here she is in the window with her catnip and mint plant, which was purchased especially for the cats. Being in the window on a nice day when the screen is open is her most favorite hangout.

Sharing the window with Abby isn't always welcome, but as long as Abby keeps to herself, Stygia is a gracious sharer.

Stygia loves everyone who comes her way, and she would love you too! Thanks for sharing this special day with her!

To feed or not to feed...

Stygia: Ms. C wants to know.... even though this happened a couple of days ago... if this is the first thing you saw in the morning, would you feed it? Be honest!

Fat??

Stygia: Does this cat condo make my butt look big??

Worm

Stygia: I am going to tell you a secret today, although I don't want it to be a secret any longer. I am going to tell you my True Name.

When Ms. C and Mr. R rescued me from the SPCA, there was a little card on my cage that said my name was "Bear." Ms. C says I probably got this name when I was a kitten, because I am black and you know how kittens look before their ears really develop, they have little bear-ears. But I never responded to this name, so they called me Stygia.

Mr. R invented the name Stygia, from the word "stygian" which refers to the way the river Styx looks -- black as night. This is the name on my medical records and what my people often call me. It is my given name, but it is still not my True Name.

One day a few weeks ago, Ms. C called to me (as a joke, she thought), and said, "Come here, little worm!" How did she know? I thought. I ran to her. She just called me by my True Name! She thought it was a fluke, so she moved away and said it again: "Come here, Worm!"

This was wonderful! She was calling me by the name I prefer, and so I ran over to her again.

She called Mr. R over to witness this because she just could not believe it, and wanted him to believe it. "Here, Worm!" he called to me. With a happy meow, I ran to him.

So now you know the story of how my people discovered my True Name. I prefer to be called Worm, and I respond to it by running to my people when they use it. I am training them well, and we are all happier! Ms. C thought I would never learn my name, but she was wrong; they were just using the wrong one.

PS. Our Mum thought about doing a Veteran's Day post, but so many of you have done such wonderful tributes already. We will tell you what we did today -- our Mr. R is a veteran, and we respectfully let him sleep in today without disturbing him at all! It is the best we cats could do.

Game face!

Stygia: Yesterday featured Abby, so today features moi. Here you can see me ready to pounce as Ms. C and I were playing a game yesterday! My fangs show that I am at the ready.

On Patrol in the New Place

Stygia: Ms. C is chiding me because she says I am moving around so much it's hard to get a good picture of me. I think she just needs to improve her skills.

And I have LOTS to investigate. Ms. C managed to sneak one of me as I checked out the shower:


She said I was moving too much in the other pics and could barely tell it was a cat and not a black hole living in the house. I think she was rude to say that.

Blog Hogs & the First Name Meme

Stygia: You will notice that some days, Abby hogs the blog. Today, it's my turn. Actually, Ms. C is going to hog the blog, and I am letting her do so on the condition that she intersperse her words with pictures of ME.

Hangin' out, staring at Ms. C

Ms. C: A couple of days ago, I was tagged by the gang at The Poupounette for the First Name Meme. So now I will give it my best shot!

• What is your name? Catherine. The following answers must all begin with the first letter of your name.
• A four letter word: Crab -- A fun creature at the ocean, or maybe my mood?
• Girl's name: Cassiopeia -- Because it's fun to say out loud!
• Boy's name: Cian -- Personally, my favorite male name besides my husband's.
• Occupation: Cat-Lover -- How lucky that my name starts with C!
• Color: Cyan -- I am not thinking of the rather plain color that comes as ink-jet ink, etc., but the color of the water at the Red Sea on the coral reefs. I once went snorkeling there, and cannot imagine anything much more beautiful than being surrounded by that light-filled color in the water and the rainbow of fish all around.
  
• Piece of clothing: Codpiece (sorry, first thing I thought of . . . my brain loves the ridiculous!).
  

My belly as I jump for Ms. C!

• Food: Chicken Marsala, one of my favorite things to cook though I don't like cooking.
• Item in the bathroom: Cats (they always follow me in . . . . always!)
• Place/City: Cairo (lived there for a year once)
• A reason for being late: Car wouldn't start.
• Something you’d yell: Crap! (What might be said when the car won't start)
• Movie: Collateral
• Something you can drink: Champagne (we heard a rumor it comes out of the taps at the home of the Poupounette).

I am watching YOU!

• Band: Cowboy Junkies (I love their version of Sweet Jane)
• Animal: Capuchin Monkey -- cuties!
• Street name: Chestnut Street (unsurprisingly, next to Oak Street where I grew up)
• Car: Chevette (because my Dad had one for years, and it sounded like Steven Tyler of Aerosmith when it went up hills).
• Song: Cygnus . . . Vismund Cygnus by The Mars Volta (Strange and incredible feat of rhythm and passion)
• Activity that includes more than one participant: Charades

Upstairs

Stygia: I did it. I went upstairs on my own for the first time today. I left the confines of my bedroom hideaway and ventured forth into that scary area where Abby goes but I have not. No one else was up there when I went -- I made sure Abby was sleeping somewhere before I went.

When Ms. C could not find me in the bedroom, she went upstairs to see if just by the slightest chance, that is where I had gone. She gave me lots of patting! I stayed up there until Abby came to investigate and she chased me -- I went right back downstairs. But maybe I can go up there sometime when everyone else is there. I will be a lot less lonesome then!

Space Invaders

You will not believe this, but an alien has arrived into my home:

This is the only sighting Ms. C has managed to capture on film so far. I am going to let her talk about the experience in her own words, because frankly, I don't know what to think.

***

Ms C: She came to us last evening, a friendly yet terrified-at-her-new-surroundings two-year-old kitty. She and Abby have not yet really introduced themselves to each other besides some hissing from a distance; so far what we have is an "upstairs cat" and a "downstairs cat."
She does not seem to be familiar with her given name, so Mr. R has named her Stygia (I call her Styggie). She was well cared-for in her previous home, although I think she is traumatized at the moment by missing her people who felt they could not keep her after the birth of their first child.

I'll share more pictures later, but I don't want to take too many right now because Styggie is obviously not settled in or comfortable yet.