First, I would like to say I am thankful for creative places to snooze and cuddle. I am also thankful that I was safe through the thunderstorm that we had today. We don’t get them often.
I would like to take this moment to be thankful for our health. Even Georgia. She is still with us. The Woman had a conversation with a friend. Her friend was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago and this was their first opportunity to sit and chat.
The Woman was moved by the sincerity in what was said. As they chatted–all those things that make you wonder what could have caused this to happen, her friend said “I don’t worry about “why me” very much. I mean the first answer that always came up was why NOT me?”
We are thankful to have our lives touched by someone who has found so many positive learning experiences from something so traumatic. We can only hope that in some small way we can pass on that wisdom to others.
Kimo and Sabi are having a house trashing party seeing they have been left alone. As I don’t have to go to the dentist until NEXT week I am all about this house trashing.
I better get cleaned up first. Don’t want to look bad while I trash a house!
My Meezer Rule this week:
Never miss out on a chance to trash someone else’s house!
This is my not so happy face with whoever bit my handsome Ping on the ankle. I will bite you if you don’t watch out!
I am also looking at Cheysuli so that if she is mean to me she is warned when I whap her. I like to whap Cheysuli.
She keeps threatening to set the Whapinator on me but so far she has not done that. Besides, I do not think Sammy will Whap me because he likes Abby who is sister to my boyfriend cat Ping!
Remember last week on Fashion Friday? Maggy at Zoolatry was wearing a hat that looked like mine. Lo and behold! She admitted that it WAS mine and she has returned it.
I feel so much better in my hat.
This is so much more fashionable when I go out and walk with friends like Tony and the Whapinator…
Want to see the original? I have it at the bottom of the main home shopping page.
Well once again we had cats who knew immediately where I was. Ghost and Jade came by and said:
We think you are at the cat statue outside Betsy Ross Home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
To the best of my knowledge that is absolutely right. Latte suggested I go visit there on my way to his place and it was quite pleasant.
The Meezers knew where I was. Apparently their human lived here–does that mean Meezer Mom is really Betsy Ross? Or was that just Miles talking faster than he thinks again?
At any rate, the photo is because Sir Woody adapted the statue to suit me. I find it particularly appropriate and I’d appreciate it if you would all go thank him!
Well once again I have managed to wander off the beaten path or perhaps on to as the case may be. Can anyone help me find my way home?
You know that the most creative answer is featured as well the most correct answer! Have fun.
Need more cats?
Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos
We are very thankful this Thursday that the Woman is done paying rent on her practice. She has a place to rent starting September first and her current rent is paid through then (because she paid her last month’s rent when she moved in). Anyway she is thrilled about that.
She is actually almost too busy in August as she has her own practice and then is covering treatments for two other practitioners that month, so she is worried she won’t have any time to blog for us. She is amazed at how much work can come in all at once! Well at least she can pay for my dentistry now and no longer has to feel like she can’t do anything when auctions come up and stuff!
It’s sunny this week and we are also very thankful for that!
My Meezer Rule: It’s not just being endorsed, it’s WHO endorses you.
From the Cat Post Intelligencer:
Visiting London a couple of weeks ago, US Presidential Candidate Cheysuli met with renowned cat, Crookshanks, who’s heroics are almost chronicled in the Harry Potter books (although the main characters were the children in a one of the most blatant specist historical re-writes even in fiction).
Crookshanks, who is known to be able to smell out falsehoods and see the real character of the person he is dealing with took an immediate liking to Cheysuli and endorsed her on the spot.
This was quite a different reception from when he traveled across the Pond and met with John McCain. Crookshanks had to be forcibly removed from the country after that unfortunate meeting. No one will comment on what really happened in the meeting but McCain was in surgery for hours.
Crookshanks has yet to meet with Senator Obama but after his hearty endorsement of Cheysuli that seems rather pointless.
Momma says I am ever so photogenic. I think she is right. I think she should take more photos of me, particularly those that are up close like this one.
However, Daddy got them a Wii this weekend for their anniversary present. They are going to get the Fit part too but they found the Wii at a good price here — Daddy has been looking at them.
Momma was playing with that more than she was talking to me. Can you believe it? Instead of sitting and watching a movie, and brushing me, they were pretending to bowl in the house! I don’t care if they bowl or whatever but I want to play too and no one got me a control!
I am going to go purr for my Ping. He has a hurt leg and may have to go to the vet. He is ever so shy so this is very scary for him.
From the Cat Post Intelligencer
A reading campaign is Cheysuli’s latest presidential proposal to be ignored by the main stream press. Yesterday the candidate announced that reading would be a priority with her.
“It’s well known that people never read. They surf online and look at pictures. Who reads? No one.
“I propose to bring back reading. Everyone will be required to read a level that allows them to understand Memoirs of a Feline Empress.
“I realize that I am an offender. When running for president, I considered other positions but I knew that presidents had only to read My Pet Goat. I thought that would be enough. However, it’s not.
“Upon graduation every American must be able to read Memoirs of a Feline Empress in Exile. If they cannot, they will not graduate.”
Many are not thrilled with this policy. “I’m not sure I want my young children reading about what Kukka-Maria is up to. That name is not allowed in our house,” stated one concerned source.
“I hate the thought of actually reading online” said another. “I mean–that, like, takes THOUGHT.”
Others were impressed by Cheysuli’s impressive educational innovation program. “It’s the best thing to happen to me ever!” wrote one fan of the proposal.
Oh, Hi, I heard you needed help with the cleaning up…

Why, hello, back again so soon? We heard there was lamb for tea…

There you are, sniffing the air and enjoying the spacious new tortoise house…

And the next thing you know, you’re getting trampled underfoot by the neighbours…

well, it’s been a bit of a marathon, but we are back. Thank goodness for backups (oh, and the wayback machine).
My upgrade to Wordpress 2.5 was a spectacular failure. It managed to corrupt the database. So, felix Domesticus is broken. Please be patient while I rebuild it from the archives.
Arsinoe demonstrates that anything her mother can do, she can do better…

Sigh… There’s no hope, no hope at all. Where’s decorum when you need it?
I see that owning a cat reduces one’s risk of a stroke by over a third. So does this mean that owning ten cats reduces my risk by ten thirds?
Just because I’m skulking in the cat carrier, it doesn’t mean that you can whisk me off to the vet’s.

Ahmose and Arsinoe demonstrate that there is no such thing as “too small” when it comes to boxes. Indeed, they do so with a degree of dedication.


I mentioned the other day that one of the neighbour’s cats stole some of the steak destined for the bourguinon. Here, pictured, is the prime suspect. He is the only one unable to account for his whereabouts when the crime took place. Indeed, he is the main suspect in the broken butter dish episode yesterday, too, during which a whole slab of butter vanished.
He was nowhere to be seen today. His accomplices where all over the auction, taking whatever they could find and generally making the place their own, much to the annoyance of Honey who simply does not understand the concept of “sharing”. She made her displeasure known with a series of snarls, growls, hisses and the occasional paw swipe when one of the miscreants came within swiping range. She then stomped off in a huff and a half.
A plaintive wail from nowhere in particular became ever more intense as the afternoon wore on. Then, it occurred to one of the humans, that maybe, just maybe, it was coming from the garage and had anyone noticed that Monsieur Bourguinon had not been about today? Could it be that the two were linked? On opening the garage, it was indeed noted that the two were linked. Monsieur Bourguinon shot out and headed straight for the kitchen. “Any steak pieces going for grabs?”




Ever wanted to build a toy for your cat but find you have no tools and no talent? With my New Improved Patented Cat Toy Design you too can build a toy for your cats despite your utter lack of skills and limited resources.
Step One:
Order a large item from the Internet that will be shipped in a cardboard box. Here we've chosen a ceiling fan.
Step Two:
Remove the large item and discard.
Step Three:
Remove cat from box.
Step Four:
Fold the two small flaps in and one large flap down leaving a small square opening near the bottom. Tape the flaps in place.
Step Five:
With scissors cut several small holes, called Smacking Holes, around the sides and on the top of the box. The holes should be slightly larger than a cat's paw.
Step Six:
Add cat treats, toys and/or cat nip to the box to lure your cats in.
Step Seven:
Sit back and giggle as your cats hide in and around the box smacking each other through the small holes you cut.
Friday possesses a Master's degree in wreaking havoc, most cats do. Yet its not just the destruction he causes with his paws that makes him noteworthy. It's his unnerving habit of destroying the things you most want to protect and his uncanny ability to reason and problem solve that make living with him akin to living with a master criminal.
Friday's kitten-hood was spent at my parent's home. In those days, my younger sister's room was full of cat tantalizing objects. There was a semi-inflated helium balloon with a long string that dangled to the floor, a large bed with plenty of cat hiding places but best of all was her inflatable chair.
Yes, an inflatable chair. Possibly one of the dumbest inventions ever inflicted on society. The makers of inflatable chairs, being oblivious to tried and true methods of furniture making, offer a product that is a) unattractive in both color and style, b) uncomfortable to sit in and c) ridiculously overpriced. Despite these shortcomings my sister liked it. In fact, she liked it so much she bought an inflatable throw pillow to go with it.
The throw pillow, which matched neither chair nor room, was silver-gray. It had a big cut out circle in the center of it allowing a view to the innermost workings of inflatable throw pillows. To add some character, the manufacturers filled the center with little Styrofoam balls that when exposed to static electricity tended to wiggle as though alive. Friday can hardly be blamed for his abject fascination with the pillow. It's really no surprise that he pounced it, puncturing the cheap, I mean, fragile, plastic with his claws and sending the pillow to an early death and an ignominious trash can burial.
After the pillow casualty my sister began keeping her bedroom door closed. She forgave Friday the pillow, but she wasn't about to lose her chair. I, too, checked her door once she told me I'd be expected to replace the chair should my cat pop it. I thought the chair a waste of money on the best of days, but it was her money. I had no intention of spending my own money on a replacement.
But Friday is no ordinary cat. No mere bedroom door can stand in the way of his evil genius. We never were quite sure if he managed to open the door himself that day or if he had someone on the inside assist him (Dad?). Either way, my sister returned home to find her door open and her chair a sad puddle of green plastic in the corner.
“FRIDAY,” her fury was palpable. My blood ran cold as I thought of the money I was going to have to shell out for another plastic chair. “Friday,” she barely got his name his name out as she was overcome with laughter. I paused. This wasn't exactly the response I'd expected. I looked in the door. My sister stood holding the deflated chair laughing too hard to explain what was so funny. She held it under my nose. There on the back were three little plastic plugs over the air valves like you would find on a pool float. All three were unplugged. All three had cat teeth marks. Nowhere on the chair itself was there so much as a tear or puncture. Friday had simply unplugged the valves and let the air out of the chair.
How did he know deflating the chair would be such a great joke? Please, if you know the answer, don't tell me. I'd rather not know. That evil genius sleeps right next to my head too often for me to be comfortable with any answer to that question. To this day he gets very excited whenever my sister visits. He thinks of her as the “cool” aunt or maybe he just remembers that she was the victim of the best joke he's ever played – so far. There's always tomorrow...
Last week, I spent several days at the beach. It was wonderful. Endless hours of laying in a chair on the beach reading a book, laying in a chair by the pool reading a book and at night, laying in the hot tub reading a book. All my chores and cares were left far behind me and I could relax.
Obviously, I enjoyed my trip but while I was lounging in my comfy beach chair with my book I couldn’t help but think something was missing. I shrugged it off and rolled over to tan my back. Later, after returning to the condo and showering the sand and salt off, I was relaxing with a drink before going to dinner at one of a number of seafood restaurants. While sitting on the couch, enjoying said drink, glancing at the ballgame on TV and watching the cars on the bridge over the marsh, I imagined that I saw a small shadow in the corner of my eye but when I turned to look it was nothing. When I awoke the next morning, I wondered why I slept so well. It must have been those dark curtains over the window.
Then again, perhaps I slept so well because three cats were back at home and not in the small of my back. Could that strange shadow have been my subconscious looking for one of my cats? Was the nagging feeling that something was missing the result of my reading a book unmolested by fluffy paws and head butts? Yes! I was guilty! I missed my cats.
To ease my cat sickness, I tried to imagine what it would be like to take one of them with me. Hemmy would be the obvious candidate, as riding in the car doesn’t upset him too much. It would be so nice to have a cat there to greet me when I came back in from the beach. He’d be napping in the warm sunshine by the large sliding glass doors and would rise and stretch and yawn. I could just picture him there, blinking happily up at me. I smiled to myself as I imagined the scene.
Then my smile faded. What kind of havoc would he wreck on the condo? Sure, it would be nice having him there but that expensive Berber carpet? Ha! That would be scarred the first day. I could almost see little tufts of it gutted and laying next to the new bald spot. Those lovely wooden chairs? Delightful, vacation scratching posts! And the screened-in porch?! The cat roller coaster of the whole trip! He could dangle for hours from those screens. The large, white marsh birds would look especially delicious. Visions of him dangling at eye level chattering at the birds quickly assured me that taking Hemmy on vacation wouldn’t be terribly relaxing.
So, I plan my next trip and resign myself to spending a few more days away from the cats. After all, packing the litter box, food, bowls, and arranging the car for a four hour trip with a cat makes being apart from them a bit easier to swallow. Still, that patch of warm sunshine was designed for a cat…