Close Encounters of the Furred Kind

Stygia: Well, I spent almost all of last evening upstairs, mostly in the special cat-only chair next to Ms. C's own that you see here. I am sure you have seen a lot of pictures of Abby in the chair. As I relaxed, Abby jumped up to be in the chair and she got a surprise! She found ME in it! However, I was not to be removed from the comfy situation:


As you can see, I watched very calmly as she arrived and then left:

I had such a wonderful evening! Abby was kind and did not bother me much at all, she let me alone to stretch out my paw and keep a close eye on Ms. C. Then we all went downstairs together to bed! It could not have been more ideal.

Closer

Stygia: We sat on the couch together. In fact, we even sniffed noses like civil cats do. I don't know if either of us were pleased about being so close to each other, but we are no longer afraid of each other. We did not fight, anyway, even if I gave her my best "suspicious" look.

PS. In this picture I am upstairs!

Abby: It is true. We were pretty close together. I even gave her a couple of secret licks when Ms. C was scratching her and she didn't quite know it was me. Stygia and I even had a nap together on the bed with Ms. C this afternoon. But we weren't touching!!


Here I am with Mr. R. He loves to cuddle me, but frankly at the time of this picture, I really needed to go see what Stygia was doing. Her activities fascinate me!

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

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!

Friends on Friday: Honoring IKKYU

Ms. C: Last summer, I had the very great honor of meeting IKKYU, the beautiful Abyssinian of noble attitude and dignity; he owned my friend Ms. V who writes for Sen-Chan and Tom of The Poupounette. Today my thoughts are of him and with my friend, for a year ago today he passed over the rainbow bridge.

IKKYU had not been feeling well for some time, but being the lovely caring person that she is, his #1 Ms. V provided him with all he needed to be able to enjoy his last months. The day I first got to meet him, he was having a really good day. I'd been hearing all about IKKYU for years, and to finally have a chance to see him in person was really exciting! When I went home, I began a sketch which evolved into my first watercolor painting in several years, I think it really captures his spirit:

I warn you other kitties out there, some of the following pictures are probably going to make you drool!

One thing about IKKYU was that he was pretty much a one-person cat. There was no short-cut to winning his affection, he simply had to decide for himself how he felt about a person, and no amount of savory treats could really change his mind (although they would certainly be accepted). He let me scratch between his ears while he was enjoying the cheese I'd offered to him, and did not hiss. When I suggested to Ms. V that perhaps he did not hiss because his mouth was full of cheese, she laughed and said, "Oh, believe me, he'd hiss if he wanted to!" So it seems I was more acceptable than most! Here he is acquiring a piece of cheese:

He was WILD about ham! Ham, glorious ham! As you can see, he was very happy to accept a piece from me:

What a beautiful cat! He was an excellent model for me on the days that I saw him.

He allowed me to get very, very close to him, which was unusual for him.


You can learn more about IKKYU and what a super kitty he always was (and see more fun pictures!) over at The Poupounette today. I am so glad I was able to meet him before he took his final journey. I am sure somewhere he is waiting for the rest of us with a world of ham and cheese! We miss you, IKKYU.

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.

More Catnip

Abby: I heard there is some old joke about more cowbell, but all I want is MORE CATNIP!

We Don't Want to Share, Yet!

Abby: Our mom let us have some snoopervised time together today. For the most part we were gentle with each other, either sniffing benignly or just ignoring each other and each doing our own, important Cat Things, but I get very excited. Ms. C says my attitude in this picture is not a very nice way to approach Stygia, but I just want to PLAY but she makes me a little nervous.

I don't really want to share my catnip. Ms. C separated us again and gave me some nip! It makes me attack my little Adan doll with great ferociousness!


Stygia: I didn't even hiss at her today, not at first. I let her get real close to me, and sniff me. We did our own things, but I think that when Ms. C came back downstairs to check on us, all of Abby's actions were a big show for our Mom. She chased me round the bed a few times until leaped up to my perch where she will not follow!

I am now one of the House Panthers! I'll be posting at least every Saturday, where you can join me for Stygian Saturdays!