Sun Pigs: Prelude to a Whap

Abby: Ohhhh.... nice... sun and warmth! And here is my sis, Stygia, I need to check out her ears.

Stygia: Zzzz.....


Abby: (sniff, sniff!) Yeah, she could use a little extra attention here...

Stygia: ZzzzZZZZzzz....



Abby: (lick, lick, lick)

Stygia: Zzzzz.....



Stygia: zzz.... WHAT?!

Abby: RRRrrrr! Grrr! Don't move, arrrrghhhh, grrr!



Abby: I was only tryin' to be nice, but I see how it is. Whap or be whapped!!

Stygia: Back off!



Hope you had a happy day too! Hee hee!

Lessons for Abby

Stygia: Yes, I instigated it. You've seen the results of our "fights" in recent posts; obviously Abby needs some lessons, and I am just the right cat to show her how it's done.

First of all, the best way to begin a "fight" is with The Staredown, but sometimes your opponent may be distracted, as Abby was this morning. She was chattering at some birds, so I had no choice but to begin with a more overt maneuver.

My move is a little bit deceptive, because I am rolled on my back, which makes me appear vulnerable to my opponent. Since she wasn't paying attention to me, I had to whap her. Sure enough, this combination of posture and touch caught her attention and drew her into the action:

I continue my "vulnerable feint" as Abby attempts to whap back. In any good wrestling session, no matter how talented you are (like me), your opponent is probably going to get a few good whaps, chomps, or kicks in. This is part of the fun! It's also ok to run away, but only if you're just doing it so you can turn right around and turn your chaser into the chasee. If you run too far, you lose, the game ends, and that's not fun.

It's always important to have a good game face! If you think cats are not expressive creatures, well, just look at this close up. Showing teeth, flattening ears, aggressive whiskers, and glare are all important aspects of a good game face for your wrestling match.

If you are wrestling for fun or training, as Abby and I are in these pictures, it is not necessary to make any sounds unless your opponent becomes too rough. In a real fight, a lot of noise must be made in order to properly intimidate your opponent, but in wrestling for pleasure, it would be a bad idea to really scare your opponent.

I must admit, Abby did a lot better today! And why shouldn't she, after all, she has a great teacher.

PS. Oh no, please, please DO NOT look at House Panthers today.... I am soooo embarrassed!

And the winner is...

Abby: My first move is to descend from the chair above! I wrap a paw around her neck, all friendly-like, and begin to wash her head and ear. She can't resist it! I am going to move in for THE BITEY!

Oh, yeah! She's rolling! She's trying to kick, but I am quick. And I am still on top.


She is still on her back. Could it be she is down for the count? 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . ARRRGH! I get facewhapped! (tail fluffs up to raccoon size as she heads under the dining room table)


Stygia: First cat to run is the big loser!!! Never underestimate me, little sister.

Whacky Weed Wednesday

Stygia: A phrase that's often heard around this household is, "Silly cats!" I am not sure why this phrase is referring to plural cats, because look at me: I am not silly! I am quite seriously beautiful.

There is another member of this household, however, whom could possibly be considered to be totally silly. Can you guess who that might be?

I knew you were smart, cause you guessed correctly: it's ABBY NORMAL. My Tabby step-sister. Here is a little bit of evidence of her silly ways.

Yesterday she hopped up on the couch where I was having a nice afternoon snooze. At first, it was nice. She is warm, and she even helped me bathe my tail a little bit. But of course, she turned silly after a little bit and started biting me in the butt. We wrestled on the couch for a little bit, which was okay too, but finally I had to give her a good whap and find some other place to relax. Like in my cat-condo, where I can protect my butt.


Abby is a total catnip-junkie. You know how most cats pose all nice and neat and point their legs up towards the sky when they are washing their legs or feet? Well, for some reason, Abby does not do this when she is on a 'nip bender. As you can see from this incriminating photo, her method is to chase/attack her legs and then wash them once she has "captured" them. SILLY.

Friendly and Good

Abby: I am a good cat. I have the evidence to show you to prove it, as well! For example, I take good care of my cleanliness, and this is an important part of being a cat. Here, you can see I feel happy and comfortable washing my tail on Ms. C's desk!

In the middle of the afternoon, I like to have a nap. Sometimes, if I am lucky, Ms. C likes to have a nap, too. When she does, it's always the best if we can nap together and be cozy:

Finally, I try to be good to my sister. This is not wrestling that you see going on here! I have my arm around my sister's shoulder, and I am very thoroughly cleaning her forehead and ears for her. This time, I do not even get too excited and bite her. I just calmly wash and wash, and she was content, closing her eyes with that sleepy, happy expression. When I was done, I serenely walked away --- but do you know what she did then? She reached out and WHAPPED me! Mr. R said it was because I stopped too soon! What do you think?

Good Morning!

Stygia: Hi there, Abby. It's sunny, and our mom has opened the window. What shall we do today?

Abby: I bet you can guess what's on my mind...


(sounds of whapping and flopping, followed by thundering)

(sounds of rolling, tumbling, whapping, and fake growling)

Stygia: Ms. C was a little worried when she saw me doing my "snake" impression:

Abby: I don't know about you, but I really think this thing needs to be kicked! Bitten! ARRR! It makes me feel frisky every time I see it!

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Who started it?

Abby: I know that all of you believe I am the troublemaker in the house. That I'm the one who starts all of the fights. Well, I would like you to know that my sister Stygia is also responsible for these occasions! She was hanging out under Mr. R's desk this morning. I simply came along to sniff and see what was so interesting about it (notice I am even walking away?), when she WHAPPED at me!

Of course, if she is feeling playful, who am I to say no to a good wrestling session? Hee hee!

Don't forget to go check out Stygia at House Panthers today!

Friends on Friday: Us

First of all, we'd like to send purrs to the family of Texas, who has made his final journey. We loved Texas and his blog, and all of our hearts are with his family right now.

******

Stygia: Perhaps you can tell by the last few blog entries, but this is our new favorite game, playing in and around the cat condo. When I first met Abby, I didn't understand that she was a wrestling-loving kind of cat. I thought she just wanted to fight, I didn't know this was a fun way that we cats could play together. I am learning!

I find it easiest to play from on top of the cat condo. I tried to dash into that top cubby that Abby is usually in once, but it was a lot smaller than I expected, and I ended up with my back legs and tail just hanging out. You can be sure that with Abby on my tail, I got out of there quickly!

Abby: We play this game throughout the day! Sometimes Stygia needs a little bit of persuasion in order to box and wrestle with me. I've had to be clever in my techniques. Usually, I just sneak up on her and whap her tail, but sometimes she ignores that, so as you can see from this video, I'm using the "bite the back" technique.

Well, it is time for our nap. It is afternoon and we need to store a lot of energy for evening excitement!

PS. When we ran the spell check we were shocked to see that "whap" is not in the dictionary. It's a very important term!

Texas's Honor, and progress

Abby: First of all, we would like to thank Texas for honoring us with this:

Speaking of Texas, he is a terrific tabby just like me. We are really going to miss him when he goes over the bridge soon. Please stop by his blog to let him know what a terrific cat he is and what a terrific family he has, too!

***

Stygia: We can't leave without letting you see a couple of new pictures of us. First, here I am in my safe spot. Abby does not follow me here, so it's where I go when I need a break.

Although, I must admit I do not like her much yet (look at the way she is approaching me!), I also must admit that I am getting more tolerant and curious. We still whap each other though. She used to try to sneak up on me and sniff my tail all of the time. Now I am finally ready to try to sniff her tail. Ms. C says she doesn't hiss anymore at her hands if she has been patting me, so that is progress.