A Funky Kind of a Day

Ruru the Cat here.  So today was weird.  First thing in the morning, my person and her brother came down to look at these things on my sofa, taking up my space.  I left a gift for them that was way better than the random stuff on the sofa, but they didn't seem to like my dead vole.  Instead, they said something about Santa Claws, whatever that is, and got all excited about the stuff on the sofa.  It didn't seem to matter much.  The bacon they broke out a short time later, however, was much more interesting, especially when they gave me bits of it.

Then all the people in the house--including some big people I don't know well who showed up late last night with two little ones, including a toddler--gathered around my jungle gym that looks like a tree.  I was happy to see they weren't taking down my beloved shiny green jungle gym, but they did something almost as bad: take our lovely paper-covered play things from under the jungle gym and pass them out.  They've been getting mad at us every time we rip into the paper on those play things.  But now the PEOPLE ripped into the paper.  How's that fair?  We get in trouble for it.

Anyway, we just stayed out of their way and hoped they wouldn't take down our awesome gym.  It all worked out in the end, I guess, except the paper covered stuff is all gone.  It got better when they handed me something, a fur-covered fake mouse.  I can tell it's fake because it smells like rabbit, not mouse.  But then the dumb dog took it and played it to death.  I'm not sure I like this weird day.  The ham bits they gave me from the table later almost made up for it, but overall, I just don't think this holiday business makes any sense.

A THING in my house!

Ruru the Cat here.  I thought things were settling down.  Even Baby has admitted Harmoni the Puppy to the cats' club.  We've all snuggled her multiple times.  Baby pretends not to notice, but I do.  Harmoni's delighted.  She loves to be one of the cats. 

So just as things seemed to get quiet, and peace had settled upon our happy house of fuzzies, a new thing has entered.  I've scarcely gotten a glimpse or two, but it's gotta be bad.  Every chance she gets, Baby tries to kill it.  It smells like a cat but wilder, less like the rest of us.  The people talk about how she looks like me at least in the face, but I don't see it.  Then again, I don't see me ever, so what would I know?  I just know that she smells dangerous and mean and scary.  My person keeps going into the room where she was brought, and I can't help but get jealous.  My person is hobnobbing with a scary outsider.  It's just not right.  I wish I knew what she was doing here and hope she leaves soon.  

Gone!

Ruru the Cat here.  My person was gone this whole weekend.  The whole one!  I didn't have the heart to play with my favorite jungle gym, that fake tree thing with all the sparkly stuff on it.  It's more fun when there are people to react to my killing stuff.  I tried to appreciate that the dogs couldn't pester us because they were locked away for the weekend, but I couldn't.  Because my person was GONE.  She was there, running around, putting stuff in bags and packing up toys and then she was out the door.  I knew she would come back that night.  She had to.  Baby kept teasing me that my person wouldn't come back at all.  When my person didn't come back that night, I was beside myself with fear that she was right.  I waited and waited.  She had to come back.  She just had to.  But she didn't.

The next day, I sat by the door the whole day.  Baby seemed a little down.  I suppose that's because she looks forward to her ten minutes of love every morning and has even gotten a little needy of late.  She sometimes lets people pet her outside of those ten minutes.  Our brother, Scoutie, who has gone home with his people came for a visit.  It's always fun to have him back, but even that didn't cheer me up because he, too, was sitting by the door, waiting for his people.  Toothless was just pitiful, moping around and waiting for his person.  It's a little hard to tell what's going on with Maya because she keeps to herself.  But when my person didn't come back the third day, I knew something was up.  Something had to be.  My person wouldn't abandon me for so long.

I had just given up hope when my person came back!!!  There she was, and she didn't even grab me first thing.  I had to tolerate one of the other people holding me and touching me, but I was happy to do it.  I missed my daily loves.  But then my person did finally grab me and hold me!  I didn't even pretend to try to get away or struggle or anything like I do when she just puts me on her lap and ignores me.  She's back, and I'm in heaven!

Another Weird Thing

Okay, so check it.  My person took out this loud thing that moved and wiggled in funny ways.  It was really cool.  I couldn't take my eyes off this thing.  She would put cloth into it, it would make weird noises, and that cloth would come out the other side.  I really didn't understand it, but it was awesome.  I wanted to pat it and attack it.  It had this little part that went up and down into the cloth.  It also had this spinny thing on the side that I kept trying to kill.  Oh, and best of all, it had this great round thing on top that spun and spun and released string.  Most of all, I wanted that string.

But my person wouldn't let me play with it.  I'd go to attack the string, and she'd stop me.  I'd go to attack the round thing on the side, and she'd stop me.  Then I'd go to attack the pointy silver thing that went into the cloth, and she'd really get upset.  She was playing with it.  Why couldn't I?  She didn't get quite as upset when I attacked the cloth.  I don't get what it is about this time of year, but people seem to be busier and do more things that don't involve me.  I'm not sure what I think of it yet.  I like the fake tree type thing I talked about last week.  I really liked this moving loud thingy.  But I don't want to be ignored.  So is it a good time or a bad time?  I'm not sure yet.

The jungle gym is back!

Ruru the Cat here.  Last year, I talked all about this most awesome thing that appeared in my house.  I mean, it was so COOL.  It was big and green and kind of looked like a tree but didn't smell like one.  But it was all covered in these fun shiny things that shook when you attacked them and then flew off in all directions if you swiped at them them hard enough.  Well, guess what?  It's back!  I don't understand why it disappeared to begin with, and I certainly don't know why it's suddenly here again.  People don't really make sense most of the time.

But regardless of why it's back, it is here, and it is so much fun!  The very first thing I did when it showed up was to climb up to the very top just to show that I could.  At first, it didn't have anything on it.  It was just there for hours and hours, all night and into the next day.  Then these glittery balls and strings and toys started appearing all over it.  I had to be patient and wait until people walked away to attack.  And then I had some competition because all the other cats in the house want to climb it, too.  I saw my people watching a video that looked kind of like me and what I want to do with the tree.  They laughed the whole time, but they don't seem to think it's so funny when I make stuff fly off in the same way:  video of my fantasy.  For any cats reading this, I highly recommend you talk your people into getting one of these things.  I wonder what it would take to get my people to keep it here forever.

The REAL Way to Act like a Cat

This is Ruru the Cat here, and I refuse to let my sister, Baby, guest blog.  She wants to tell you...

                                                    (Doesn't Baby even look snotty?)
                                 (No, I look FABULOUS and self-assured.)
                                                 
Okay, little humans of the world.  This is Baby, the only cat around here who knows how to really act like a cat.  All that crap Ruru filled you with last week?  It's all mouse droppings.  That's not how a proper cat behaves.  Let me give you some evidence she doesn't know what she's talking about:

                                                        (Me, being adored and loved.)
                         (Correction, Ruru looking sycophantic and misused.)


1. She lets people [especially her human] do whatever they want to her, whenever they want. Really?  It's an embarrassment. Seriously, a cat decides how and when and if she should be touched.  The cat is in charge and sets the rules.  If a cat [say, me, for instance] only wants to be touched for ten seconds to ten minutes once a day, first thing in the morning when said human is not fully awake yet then will attack any hand that dares touch the cat's fur outside that arbitrary and self-chosen time frame, that is a cat's prerogative.  Cats are queens.  Humans are staff, living at the mercy and whim of the cat.  Clueless, little Ruru hasn't figured this out yet. Humans don't yet understand they have been conquered by the great and mighty feline and are owned body and soul.  

             (Me, coincidentally sitting somewhere near the puppy.)
              (Ruru kissing up to that stupid mutt.)

2. She likes the dog.  I mean, really.  Letting humans take untoward liberties is one thing.  But while she's writing here on this blog about how much she can't stand that stupid puppy, she's secretly snuggling and licking the dog and sharing her food with it.  It's just not right.  Dogs are unworthy to be noticed, let alone played with.  They can't even catch mice.  Little Ruru.  Pathetic little sister.  I've told you before.  This is not how a cat behaves. 

Whew.  I finally got my computer back.  Don't mind baby.  She thinks she rules the house.  Don't tell her we call her Queen Beast behind her back.  

I heard that!  You will pay for ... 

I think you've heard just about enough from her.  Please disregard my sister.  She just doesn't get it.  There's nothing so nice as being loved by a person.  Nothing at all.  And puppies aren't so bad.  You just have to get to know them.   

     (Me and my annoying sister, in case you're getting confused as to which is which.  The marble tabby with the gray background is Baby.  The marble tabby with the brown background is me.  See?  Huge difference.  Besides, we smell different.  That should help clarify everything.)

Poor Scoutie

                                            [Me being sympathetic to my brother, Scoutie]

Ruru the Cat here.  So Scoutie, my brother, has been super excited about his family moving nearby.   He's missed them so much since they've been living in a place where they couldn't keep him for about a year.  But now we heard his family is moving nearby, all that whiner could do all day long was stare at the door and long for his people.  He kept going on and on and on about how he wanted to be held by them and snuggled by them and fed by them all day long.  He likes my people.  He probably even loves them.  But it's just not the same.  They're not his people.  

Now, his people have moved nearby.  He was so happy to be held by them all the time, passed from one family member to another.  Until they took him away from us, his kitty buddies.  And put him in a smaller space. And then he became an even LOUDER whiner.  He whines when he comes for a visit because he misses them, and he whines for us when he's stuck over there.  Some days, I feel bad for my brother.  I try to lick and snuggle him better because that's what cats do.  Other days, I just want to tease him because he's acting like a kitten.  A teensie weensie baby kitten.    

 

[Me showing an example of how to put up with your people's crap, whether you like it or not.] 

He's got his people back!  That has to count for something.  When my person comes back from a long day away, first, I act like I want nothing to do with her because that's what cats do.  Otherwise, we're in danger of losing our cat badge.  Only dogs stand at the door, waiting for their person.  Then I let her snuggle me.  That's it.  I don't whine when she holds me too tightly or sticks me in a room where I don't want to be.  She's my person.  She can flip me upside down and put bows on my butt.  She's my person.  That's all that matters. Scoutie waits like a dog by the door and snuggles them when it's easy, but as soon as they stick him in a small, unfamiliar space, he complains.  I want to shake that cat.  His people are his people.  There are cat guidelines for this.  You're loyal to your person, but you don't act loyal.  No standing by doors and no whining when you have your people again.  What does it take to teach a cat how to be a cat?  

                [Me, showing you a blackmail shot of my brother.  See?  He's such a baby!] 

Catnip!

[Catnip, glorious catnip!]

Ruru the Cat here.  My person pet is awesome.  Just so very awesome.  She did this thing so outstanding, so cat-like in its awesomeness, that I can't even describe it, but I will try.  So she said something about a science fair.  Whatever.  Then she put dry catnip on one side of the bath tub and fresh garden mint on the other side of the tub to see which we'd pounce on first.  Wow!  Talk about a slice of heaven!  I went right for that overpoweringly wonderfully awesome fresh mint.  At least two of the other cats did the same thing because they're smart.  Not sure what Baby was thinking in going for the catnip first.  I mean, that mint smelled stronger than anything else in the universe.  What bliss!  I'm not surprised that chicken cat, Maia, ran away rather than running to either end of the tub.

                                                           [Post catmageddon]

Anyway, then to show just how outstandingly perfect my person is, she left BOTH THE CATNIP AND THE MINT in that tub for a while, a long while.  It was paradise!  Bliss, I tell you.  We cats went nuts, playing with, chewing on, rolling in that mint AND catnip.  Wow!  What a day!  I don't even care why she did it nor do I know what this science fair stuff is.  But I wonder if we can do that again every day.

Halloween is for Humans

Ruru the Cat here.  This Halloween stuff is just not right.  Not right, I tell you.  People do weird things this time of year like petting me with a fake hand like in that picture above.  They keep scaring the snot out of the puppy every time they come in the house dressed in some weird way, especially when they wear hats.  Our people keep disappearing strange places and coming back with bags full of something that smells good, but they won't give us any.  I think somebody called it chocolate.  I can handle all this.  I can.  I don't like it, but I can handle it.

But then there's the crap I can't handle.  I mean, serious crap.  They want to dress themselves in weird costumes, fine.  My person's been dressed like me for three days now, and she looks silly.  Her cat ears aren't very convincing.  Her tail is sad.  It's just an embarrassing imitation.  But then she starts pulling those tricks on me.  I DON'T wear costumes.  She keeps doing it, too.  And it covers my face.  I look ridiculous.  This Halloween stuff is for the birds.  Worse, for the humans.  I just don't get how my person likes it so much.  She's nuts.  They're all nuts.  I just don't get it.

Cooties

                                   

                                                [Heroic me saving the puppy from cooties]

Ruru the Cat, here.  Did you know you, person, have cooties?  Yes, You do.  Person cooties are really bad.  I love people, don't get me wrong.  I love to let them pet me when I'm in the mood.  Or even when I'm not in the mood.  I can make space in my mood for people who want to pet me and hug me and play with my ears.  Especially when that person is my special person.  Except when she tries to stick her fingers in my mouth or dress me up in clothing or... well, those are subjects for another day.
But today, I have to tell you that people have serious cooties.  I would let you pet me if you were here, then I'd have to clean off your cooties, every last one.  I can't stand person cooties.  Don't ask me how this makes sense, that I love it when people touch me but can't stand their cooties.  But every time a person so much as touches my ear or the tip of my tail, I have to bathe the spot for a long time.  We're talking ten minutes.  Maybe more.  In cat time?  Let's see.  I've never been good at math.  But it's a LOT.  It's a serious lot of work to clean off your cooties.

So as a humble request from my species to yours, please keep your cooties to yourself.  I've tried to clean person cooties off the person first to make sure you don't spread them, but you spread them anyway.  It's kind of frustrating.  I mean, what self-respecting cat wants to smell like PERSON?  The dog doesn't seem to mind, which seems kind of weird.  I've tried to help her stop smelling like person, but it's kind of useless because she just goes and gets more cooties again, like she likes it.  Seriously, people, it's just gross.  You're gross.  But I love you, anyway.

How do you entertain a human?

                                                       (Me with stupid tape on my head)

Ruru the Cat here.  The funniest thing happened recently.  My person decided to cover the dog in tape.  Okay, maybe not cover her, but put little pieces on her to see how she'd react.  And that dog went nuts, running all over, rolling over, jumping on and off furniture to get those little tape bits off.  She just couldn't figure it out.

I laughed so hard.  On the inside, of  course, because cats can't make it too easy on people when it comes to figuring us mysterious feline types out.  It's kind of a rule, if cats can be said to have rules.  But it was so funny.  It only lasted a minute or two, but I thought I would pee myself from laughing that hard.

But then my person turned that silly tape on me.  That wasn't so funny.  I gave her a glare and ripped that stuff off because, let's face it, cats are a lot smarter than dogs and just won't put up with that nonsense.  But let me tell you what, I will cherish that image of a silly puppy running and rolling everywhere for the rest of my life or at least until I forget, whichever comes first.

TODDLERS....Shudder.

Ruru the Cat here.  I thought dogs were bad.  Not kidding.  I wish to issue an apology to dogs everywhere.  I have discovered something scarier than a dog.  We had two itty bitty humans show up.  Man, if I thought dogs and big people smelled bad, these itty bitty humans smelled much WORSE. One of those itty bitty humans didn't seem to move around much, but the other waddled around the whole house.  I heard a scary word applied to this new creature: TODDLER.

This toddler creature was terrifying.  He kept chasing around anything on four legs and patting them.  Hard.  Okay, so I've heard of worse.  Maya told me toddlers she knew would pick her up and drag her around, sometimes even landing on top of her or pulling her tail.  Nothing is worse than a toddler.  It could definitely have been worse.  He didn't chase all of us all of the time.  He had too much to do, running from room to room, banging loud things together, which hurt my ears, making all sorts of squawking noises, which also hurt my ears, and taking up the space we usually have to run around in.

On the bright side, he dropped bits of yummy stuff everywhere.  But I didn't get them.  I knew better than to actually show myself the WHOLE TIME, so that annoying puppy got them.  Then again, the puppy also got more attention.  Poor puppy.  And though the stuff that came with the itty bitty humans smelled interesting, I watched what happened.  When my brothers played around in and  stuff that smelled of these little bitty people, they got chased off by the big person who watched over these itty bitty people.  My whole house was used up by this toddler and the smaller version of him.

I have to say if I got anything out of this weekend, it's an appreciation for the stupidity and usefulness of puppies.  The puppy kept the toddler busy.  Okay, maybe I won't banish her to another planet.  Yet.

Monster!

This is Ruru the Cat.  Yes, I said cat.  What part of that concept is so hard for my people to understand?  I'm a cat.  I don't like big mean dogs.  Yet my people keep letting these monsters in the house.  It's big, mostly white, and can bark loudly enough to blow a fly off a cat's ear.  I watched it chase Toothless up a wall!  A wall!  I mean, all the way almost up to the top of the doorjamb.

Why do people keep doing this to us defenseless cats?  AND worse yet, it keeps eating our backup food supply, also known the dogs' food.  It's OUR food supply, not the big, hulking monster's.  Mine.  You know what?  Some days, I wish all dogs everywhere would just go find their own planet.  Planet Dog.  We could put up signs, and everyone would know to stay away 'cuz big scary monsters live there, waiting to eat your food and chase you up walls.

Armor

Hi, there.  Ruru the Cat here.  Remember that obnoxious puppy I'm always talking about?  Well, she's not so bad.  She plays with me and even snuggles me to sleep.  So I'll let her live.  But sometimes, she gets into these loony moods where she wants to chew on every cat she can find.  She wants to play with us because I guess that's what mentally challenged puppies [oh, I repeat myself] do.

But I don't have to sit and take it anymore.  I have more to defend me than my piddly little claws or my stupid brother, who just rolls over and takes it.  Even my teeth aren't big enough to make a dent.  No, I have a chair.  That's right friends, a chair.  A beautiful little chair that gets knocked down and goes from being a person thing to a thing just for cats.  I can hide under it, and the puppy can't get me.  But it's small enough that I can keep clawing at her from every side.  That chair goes from being a random person object to being clawing, vicious attack armor that will not take crap from a puppy.  It's beautiful.  Where has this suit of armor been all my life?

Guest Blogger: Toothless's Trauma

Ruru the Cat here.  I could fill your ear with the stuff I've been through this week.  But Toothless, my brother, insists he needs to take the blog this week.  Really?  What, so your little trauma of getting locked out and treated like a stranger is worse than what I've been through?  Fine.  Go ahead, Toothless.  Impress us.

Oh, come on, sister mine.  You've already whined about being left home while your person goes to school.  We've heard all about it.  It's my turn. And you promised.  

So check it.  I guess I'm pretty spoiled.  First thing in the morning, I charge into my person's arms and get snuggled.  All day, every day, as often as possible, I get snuggled.  I get food when I want [like everybody else, I steal it from the doggie dishes] and can beg for water whenever someone's near the sink and can start a drip for me to drink from.  I'm so well loved around here.  

Well, one day this week, I slipped out.  I was kind of confused, thinking I was just going into another room.  It smelled interesting, okay?  But then I figured out I was OUTSIDE the house.  I don't remember EVER going outside.  And it was SCARY.  There's this big, loud, black path out there with lots of big, mean monsters zooming by.  They looked ready to destroy me, leaving my little fuzzy, black body broken on the side of the road.  It was TERRIFYING.  So I started crying and crying to be let in.  But people would come out of the house, look around, and not find me.  Maybe because I was hiding, it was so scary.  I spent most of a day out there.  

Finally, my person came to rescue me.  And she thought I was a STRANGER.  Really?  You don't even know your own cat?  Okay, so I look like every other black cat out there, but we don't all SMELL the same.  What is wrong with people?  They locked me in a cage because they thought I was someone else.  Okay, so I wasn't acting like myself because I was still FREAKED OUT.  I was stuck in that cage for a whole NIGHT.  Then they stuck me in the bathroom for a few hours.  I guess they must have searched the house to make sure I was really me because they finally let me out that night, so I could dash right to where the food was and PROVE I was no stranger.  Man, what is wrong with humanity that they couldn't tell me, their beloved friend, from some other black cat?  Okay, here's Ruru back.  

Man, Toothless, you're such a whiner.  

Hey! Drama queen.   

Too late.  I got my blog back.  You see what I put up with around here?  My suffering is way worse than his.  Seriously.  

My plan

Ruru the Cat here.  I told you last week how upset I was that my person goes off EVERY DAY to this stupid place called school.  I'm pretty bitter.  Here's my clever plan to show her EXACTLY how unhappy I am with this whole idea of her going off and leaving me for HOURS and HOURS every single day.  If she tries to grab me, I run away.  If she holds me, I slip away.  It's called a protest.  I'm trying to show her exactly what a bad idea this school stuff is.  

I keep hoping this protest will work.  But she keeps going.  Every day, she goes away.  Except for a couple of days a week that is.  So far, my protest doesn't seem to be working.  She still does it.  I have to resort to letting everyone else hug me because I'm so addicted to being snuggled.  I just don't know what else to do to show my wonderful person that she can't do this to me.  I wonder what else I can do.  

She's Leaving Me!

Ruru the Cat here.  I had such a lovely summer.  I had my person here to love me and snuggle me every day.  She spent all day long patting me and holding me.  It was so nice.

Now, every day, she goes away in the morning and doesn't come back until hours and hours and hours later.  I keep hearing this nasty word "school."  I don't know what it is exactly, but I seem to remember bad things about it, like lots of kids patting me and no food anywhere and this long, awful car drive.  Terrible experience, this school stuff.  And it keeps stealing my person every day except for, like, two days at a time.  I don't get what that's about.  But I live for those days.  They're heaven.  My person is back on those days, spending all day long, holding me and snuggling me.  Curse you, school thing.  Give me my person back.

Box!

Ruru the Cat here.  The most awesome thing in the universe showed up in my house this week.  I don't know what it is exactly, but it's like a box but it's SOFT, so it's even better to sleep in.  We are constantly at war over the nifty thing.  Anytime anyone clears out of it, someone else gets in.  Even the stupid puppy, who is, by the way, too long and lanky to fit into it, takes a turn.  It's so cool.  Nowhere else in the universe [besides the arms of my person] feels quite so good.

Then I guess that stupid puppy decided it was hers.  Why?  I don't know.  Maybe because it smells like some other dog I've never met.  But she started gutting it like it was prey.  Little bits of fluff spread across the floor.  Seriously?  We all fell in love with this thing, and now you're chewing it up like it's some bone or treat?  I knew that dog was trouble.  And now, the people have disappeared the wonderful thing.  Just because the puppy made a mess with it.  Man, why ever did we get that puppy?

Again!

                                                             My person is so far away!

Ruru the Cat here.  My person left me for two days AGAIN.  Something about something called Bear Lake, and they all came back smelling like sand and water.  But really?  Does she not know what her leaving does to me?  It wasn't for as long, but still.  It's just not right.  People can be so thoughtless sometimes.

And worse yet, I keep hearing this nasty word "school."  My person and her brother don't seem so happy about that nasty word.  They keep saying the word "go."  I don't like that word.  I seem to remember a time a couple of months ago when my person disappeared ALL DAY every day and only showed up in the afternoon.  Why does my person have to keep going places?  It's a great house.  The whole house is full of warm fuzzies who like to cuddle.  Who needs anything else?

Another one!

Hi.  This is Ruru.  I'm a cat.  As if it's not bad enough that my person brought home a puppy, now, my person keeps coming in smelling of a new furry friend.  Seriously?  Am I not enough for her?  It doesn't smell like a dog or a chicken.  I know what those smell like.  It's definitely not a cat.  I've seen it out the window.  It's a weird thing.  It has the look of a siamese cat, tan with brown on the nose and paws.  The really weird thing about it is it doesn't have a proper tail, just a weird little ball or something where a tail goes.  And really long ears.  What is it?  They said something about "bunny," but I don't know for sure what that is.  It's cat sized, but it's NOT a cat.

My person doesn't bring it in here where I can look at it, or better yet, taste it.  I just don't quite understand why she needs all these furry things that aren't me.  Silly humans.  They don't make sense sometimes.

Abandoned!

Ruru the Cat here.  My person left me!  Granted, it was only for three days, but it felt like three MILLION!  It brought all my nightmares to life, nightmares of being left, abandoned and alone!  I mean, they talked about going somewhere called "Yellow Stone," whatever that is.  I'm not so clear on what yellow is, and we don't get a lot of stones around here on the inside.  But I know what those are.  I think we have lots and lots of yellow stones around here.  I don't know why she had to leave me for three days to find yellow rocks.  I should have smelled a rat [but not in a good, yummy way] when my person filled our food dishes to the brim.  At the time, I figured she was just being really nice and finally getting a clue about how things SHOULD be around here.  I mean, I always want to eat myself senseless, but they only feed me enough food to fill my tummy, never enough to overfill it.  What are they thinking?  But then they LEFT.  She left.

Those three days were MISERABLE.  I was stuck with only the other cats as my company.  Granted, I dig the other cats.  But they don't hold me and rub my belly and tell me how adorably fat I am.  They also don't rearrange my face and make me dance to music, so it wasn't all bad.  It was also good they took those stinking dogs with them.  But still.  How could she LEAVE like that?

We always tease Scoutie, my brother who has been cat sat here for several months, when he sits around, pining for his people.  They visit sometimes but not enough for him.  He's such a WHINER.  But it was his turn to tease me when I spent all three days missing my person.  Now, I get it.  Living without your person sucks.  Now, I have her back.  I just hope she never does that again.

My kind of dog

Ruru the Cat here.  So we had a weird visit this week.  It was a dog.  Another dog.  Seriously?  As if I don't have enough dogs around here already.  In fact, I kind of remembered her smell from a few months ago when she visited before.

It wasn't a bad visit.  She came along with two old people.  I think I heard the words "grandpa and grandma," whatever that means.  The people weren't particularly interesting since they didn't offer me food or snuggle me.  I was able to steal a bit of their milk after breakfast, but that's beside the point.

The really interesting part of their visit was that dog, Skittles.  She was SCARED of me.  Of me, a cat.  And all the other cats.  And the dogs.  Especially the dogs.  We cats sort of steered clear of her since we didn't know what to make of this stranger with funny, fluffy hair and a long, curly tail. I actually like her better than the two dogs we have because she showed us cats the respect we deserve, none of this chewing on cat heads or eating from their own bowls nonsense we get from dogs around here.

Best of all, Skittles didn't seem interested in her bowl of food at all.  Toothless got in there and went to town on her bowl before he got kicked out.  But what kind of a dog doesn't chase cats or even bark at them, finds cats scary, and lets cats steal all their food?  That's my kind of dog, I'll tell you what.  Too bad she left as quickly as she came.  I wonder when she's coming back.

Grumpy Puss

Ruru the Cat, here.  I like to be happy.  My favorite place to be in the entire universe is inside the arms of my person, being snuggled tightly as I purr myself to sleep.  

But there are some things in this universe that make me made...really mad.  One is the puppy.  She tries to chew on my head.  I do not like my head chewed on.  I also don't like that she tends to steal my food and stand between me and my favorite foods, namely cheese and meat.  She perches at the breakfast table and gets my bowl of milk.  She stands at the stove and steals my tidbits of meat and cheese that fall to the floor.  Can you believe the nerve?  She sometimes even steals my mice.  MY mice!  A dog!  What is her problem?  

But I can handle all of that when my person is here. Yesterday, she decided to stay away for a whole night.  She left me!  I had to seek love and affection from other people.  They gave it to me, which is nice, but it's just not the same.  Sometimes, she squishes my face or squeezes my body or yanks on my tail.  That makes me sort of grumpy, but nothing makes me grumpier than not having loving from her at all.  

I'm good with everything and everyone else.  I'll let other people hold me.  The other cats will snuggle me and be sweet to me.  The other dog ignores me.  It's just those things that drive me nuts.  Otherwise, I'm as happy as a purry kitten on a warm, summer day.  

Dog-like Cats and Cat-like dogs

Hi, Ruru the Cat, here.  I've been watching my fellow four-legged people in this house here, and I've noticed not everybody seems to see others in the same way.  See, for me, everybody is pretty much the same.  I'll take dogs, cats, people and snuggle up to them.  As long as they treat me okay--and fill my bowl--they are all right with me.  Of course, my special person is all rightER.  I will sit and let her rearrange my face, drag me around by the armpits, play with my tail, whatever as long as it means I'm getting her love.  I won't let just anyone be that forward.  In fact, I'll let others play with me, even the puppy now, but then I have to clean off their germs.  Except my person.  I like smelling like my person.  It reminds me of her when she's not holding me.  Maia's kind of the same except dogs are scary to her.  Maybe that's because Daisy would chase her.  But other than her special person, everyone else is pretty much the same to her.  We're the dog-like cats. Scoutie is even more extremely like this.  He will take love from anyone, anytime, but he never looks so happy as when he's in his people's arms.  We're the dog-like cats.  We're loyal and loving to just about everyone who is loyal and loving to us.

See, Daisy, the dog who just left us, and Baby, the cat who looks like me but doesn't act like me, seem to see everyone else in the universe as beneath them somehow.  They only want attention when they're good and ready and in the mood.  All other attention is unwelcome because everyone is inferior.  Now, granted, for Daisy, she embraced any baby animals and treated them as something special.  We funny looking puppies who were raised by her are definitely superior to the one and only cat she didn't raise.  She never chased us.  But pretty much everyone was inferior to her.  Daisy is a cat-like dog while Baby is very much a cat-like cat.  You can't get more cat than that.

Then there are Toothless and Dodger.  Toothless is a black cat like Maia, but he doesn't act like Maia. Dodger is a pomeranian.  Both of them act cat-like and uninterested in everyone else but their person.  They are very dog-like and loyal to their person.  Everyone, according to their estimation, is an inferior being to their person, even themselves.  That's a kind of dog-like-cat-like-ness that I find weird and confusing.   Are they dogs?  Are they cats?  who knows.  They are just worshippers of their person.

Then there's Harmony, that weird puppy.  She doesn't seem to get there ARE different breeds.  She's dog-like and devoted to everyone because she sees everyone as equal.  She doesn't seem to understand why she can't eat at the table or get her own plate.  She's a person just like we cats are people.  There is no difference to her.  Except mean meanie heads.  Big people, people who walk through front doors, and people who wear hats are scary mean meanie heads that make her bark and pee herself.  Otherwise, everyone is loved alike and equal.  It doesn't matter who they are.  I can see being loving.  I'm loving to everyone.  But that is a bit over-the-top.  One has to have some sense of descrimination.

Well, there you are.  Now, you can look at the pets you know.  Are they dog-like cats?  Cat-like cats?  Dog-like dogs?  Cat-like dogs?  Or something in between?  How do your pets view the people around them?

Sharing my Person

This is Ruru the Cat.  I know I whined about the puppy a few weeks ago, but I guess she's not so terrible.  She seems to like me and wants to play with me.  I even let her do it sometimes.  But unlike my silly brother, I will NOT be her chew toy.  It trips me out.  The puppy comes along, and he just lets her CHEW on his HEAD.  His HEAD.  Or his legs or back or whatever.  He TAKES it.  The rest of us lay down the law.  She tries to chew on our heads, and we show her with our claws that this is a great way to end up DEAD.

So I have to sleep on one side while the puppy sleeps on the other.  That's not so bad.  And my person still seems to snuggle me and hug me and play with me MORE.

There are problems.  Here, I thought when Daisy disappeared, I wouldn't have to compete for every piece of cheese or meat when our person mama is cooking.  But that stinking Harmony the Puppy is twice my size.  They go to feed ME a piece of meat or whatever, and that Harmony gets it.  She also has a thing for chewing on our litter box leavings.  I don't even know what that's all about.

But over all, it's okay.  I can handle sharing my person.  Sometimes.  As long as that puppy remembers who's boss.

Gone!

Hi.  Ruru the Cat here.  I had this lovely show I liked to watch whenever I got the chance.  It was called "The Chick Channel."  My people brought in these feathered wonders that looked like the definition of yumminess.  I could stare at that glass box and fantasize about making those little peepers into prey.  When I wasn't playing with a mouse or eating cheese, I would dream lovely dreams of fresh chicken meat.

This week, they disappeared.  The box is still there, but the little peepers are gone.  I think I saw my people haul them out somewhere, but I fully expected them to be brought back.  But they haven't been!  I heard my people say something about the chicks being too big for that little cage, so they'd have to be taken outside.  But I thought they were kidding.  One day, they'll come back.  I know they will.  And when they are, they will be mine.

Guest blog: Farewell, Dog Mama

So this is Ruru the Cat again.  I talked about my cat mama.  I talk a lot about my person mama.  I don't talk much about my dog mama.  When I came here at the ripe old age of 3 weeks, this weeniehuahua adopted me as her funny looking puppy.  In fact, she got all ready to nurse my sister and my brothers and I then remembered she was fixed and couldn't.  Whenever another animal in the house gets snippy with me or tries to fight me, my dog mama, Daisy, runs in to protect me.  I love her.  But at the same time, she drives me nuts. She's almost as big an eater as I am.  Anytime someone is in the kitchen, there I sit, waiting to be given snacks that hit the floor or are handed to me.  Well, when someone actually calls my name to give me treats, there's the Daisy, trying to steal food out of that person's hand if not out of my very mouth.  So I love her, but she drives me nuts.

Well, today, my people drove away to find her a new home.  I guess it's that dang puppy again.  My people don't seem to like to have extra animals.  But once they got that puppy, I got a little crowded out, but my dog mama, Daisy, got a lot crowded out.  In fact, she and the puppy can't stand each other.  Daisy is always nipping at and growling at Harmony, and my people don't like it at all.  Daisy already has her buddy, Dodger.  She only needs one buddy at a time, so Harmony is right out.  Well, before Daisy left, she wrote me a note about what she wanted in her blog, and here it is:

"I've heard them talking about me.  I know something's up.  They're trying to get rid of me, and all because of that dang puppy.  I came here over two years ago.  I was happy where I was before, but I didn't like to stay in the yard.  I loved to run around and try to make babies.  Sometimes, I succeeded.  And I know the boy here loved me, wanted me more than any of the dogs in the world.  So when my old family needed to get rid of me, it made sense for me to come and stay in this home.  It didn't take long for that boy to get bored of me.  And nobody seems to like me very much anymore.

"Maybe it's because I don't listen when I'm called or I steal food or beg for what I can't steal, sometimes taking food right off people's plates.  Maybe it's because I bark at everyone who comes through the door and nips at the new puppy.  Maybe it's because I can always find a way to escape the backyard fence and teach other dogs to follow me into the highway.  But seriously, that's their problem.  I'm cute.  I'm wonderful.  Everyone should love me.  They like cats, right?  I'm just a cat in dog's clothing.

"Well, here's hoping my new house is full of people who love and adore me.  I hear there are five older kids there and another dog that looks just like me.  There's a cat and no puppy.  That sounds promising.  I can't promise I'll be able to blog from there.  So here's me.  My name is Daisy, and I'm awesome."

Here's Ruru again.  Man, my dog mama has an ego.  Ah, well.  Here's hoping she's happy where she's headed.

Red Dot

This is Ruru the cat again.  Where have you been all my life, little red dot?  My person daddy shows up, and suddenly, there's a little red polka dot that flies all over the place.  And I can chase it!  Except everyone else, all the fuzzies in the house, want to chase it, too.  I will almost get that little red dog, and someone else will get it instead.  The weird thing is when they catch it, they aren't able to pick it up.  I don't get it.

But it's really great.  I can chase that little red dot all day.  I wish it were yummy.  My favorite things like mice and cheese and lettuce and meat are yummy.  Sadly, the red dot, from what it seems from when others catch it, is not yummy.  I don't get it.  Something that fast and fun ought to be yummy.

Summer Break!

It's hot.  Really hot.  I mean, I'm a walking fur ball, a cat shedding like mad.  So that's the problem.  But the good stuff way makes up for it.  What's the good stuff, you ask?  My person is home ALL THE TIME!!!!  It's a beautiful thing.  She wants to just hold me and hold me and hold me.  It's beautiful.  I'm perfectly content to let her.  I'm the happiest plush animal you ever saw.  She hauls me around.  She snuggles me to sleep.  She feeds me her food.  Summer vacation, where have you been all my life?  Okay, so I have to put up with that dang puppy she got who wants to play with me and snuggle me and get in my face and sometimes put cats' heads in her mouth for some weird puppyish reason.  It's all good because I have my person home!  This is the life!

Person in Fur

I'm a cat, but I want it known that I'm a person in fur.  To make sure that is known to one and all, I have taken to doing humany things.  Like the other day, there was a cup of milk on the table.  I sat up at the table, like I usually do when everyone else is sitting there, and I drank from a tipped cup just like people do.  And let me emphasize that I do sit at the table when all the PEOPLE sit there because I am a PERSON in fur.  I get fed there like most of the cats don't.  I must emphasize this, so my place isn't endangered by that obnoxious puppy I mentioned last week.  Okay, so that stupid puppy sits at the table, too, and gets fed person food.  But I get the food FIRST.  I also sit nearby when cooking happens, so I can get the person food first.  I want it known that I am a person.  People don't get rid of other people, so if I'm a people, my place here is secure.

I know I sound a little insecure, but this whole puppy business is making me feel insecure.  Every time I want to sit by my person, there's that mutt taking up my spot.  They've caught me playing with her on occasion, but I'm thinking if I befriend her, they'll make sure and keep me.  It's just not fair that I found this wonderful person first, and now I have to share her with this mutt.  Sigh.  Maybe one day soon, I'll get used to the mutt, and everything will feel okay again.  In the meantime, I'm still going to work double time so they don't mistake me for just a regular cat.

PUPPY!

Dang it.  My person has been threatening to get herself a puppy.  I wonder if she noticed that I'm a cat.  I mean, a CAT, like with fur and whiskers.  The works.  I don't know if she's noticed this but CATS DON'T LIKE DOGS.  I tolerate my person mommy's pomeranian.  He's been around here for as long as I can remember, and he's a wuss.  If he crosses me, I can tell him where to go.  The weeniehuahua is like a second mommy to me most of the time.  She snuggles me.  She watches over me.  So she sometimes gets moody and treats me as if I weren't her funny looking puppy.  For one moment, she forgets I'm her child and treats me as if I were a dreaded feline.  But as a rule, they're fine.  I can deal.

But then she delivered on her threat.  My person got herself a stinking puppy.  And this beast stinks, I mean, she smells like a DOG.  I don't care that she's sweet and constantly asking to snuggle up to one of us cats.  I don't care that she's been an angel, and when she looks at you with her blue eyes, your heart starts to melt a little.  I mean, who's ever heard of a dog with blue eyes, anyway?  So she's kind of silver-gray and brown a little like me.  Who cares?  She's a dog, and I don't want her here.  I try to ignore her, but people keep shoving her in my face.  My person insists on snuggling her ALL THE TIME.  What does it take to get service and love around here anymore?  Seriously, this place has gone to the dogs.  Literally.  It's just not right.

My Brother is Awesome

Ruru the cat here.  I have to apologize for saying Toothless, my brother, sucks a few weeks ago.  This week, he was awesome.  He caught a mouse and wanted to play with it, growl over it, and make it clear it was his and only his.  But then he shared it with me.  He let me and only me play with it.  The other cats sat around and watched every move we made.

He supervised everything I did with it, watched from inches away every time I swatted it or chased it.  He wanted to make sure I didn't leave it around like I did with one I caught, so someone stepped on it and flushed it down the toilet.  He didn't want that to happen to his prize.  But I was a good girl and had a blast chasing it around.  It just shows how much he loves me that he'll let me play with his mouse.  My brother is so awesome.  For the moment.  Maybe next week, he'll go back to being on my stink list.  But for right now, brothers are awesome.

My Favorite Channel

Hi, Ruru the Cat here again.  Last night, the most awesome thing appeared in my house: two delicious morsels under glass.  I could watch this new channel all day, every day.  I'm sure there's a way to get inside.  I could watch the little peeping, feathered tidbits all night long.  They look even more defenseless than yummy mice.  One is kind of an orangy yellow with stripes.  I picture that one on a sandwich.  The other one is gray and plumper.  I'd skip the bread for that one.

They make noise all day and all night as they sit under the heat lamp, looking like a burger at a fast food restaurant waiting just for you.  Or anybody else with a couple of bucks.  I want them so badly, I can taste them, but my people aren't being very cooperative at serving them up.  I order one on rye bread, and I get ignored.  I order one raw, and I get ignored.  What does it take to get service around here?  But in the meantime, I will enjoy my channel as often as they'll let me, and watch it with all the enthusiasm of my soul.