Cat\’s Eye View

Yes, I know those aren’t real words, but I’m a cat, so sue me, k?

Yesterday my people bought be a new replacement for my tunnel…a cat cube. It’s made of this nylon stuff with round entry holes on three sides and streamers hanging from the roof.

It rocks.

Now, being a cat, I must explain that I generally scorn new toys. When I got my tunnel, I ignored it for weeks and had to be coaxed inside. The star bell thing and I still don’t get along and I only play with my scratching post when someone moves it and I need to put it back where it goes.

There have been exceptions of course. My first door mousy was so much fun I beat the squeak out of it in less than 24 hours. I immediately loved my cat tree. Ping pong balls are fun, but feather flips kinda suck.

So Ma thought i might be reticent to try the new cube, but as soon as Da popped it open, I went in to check it out. It’s a great place to hide. It looks like a big leopard box in the living room. I spent most of last night making it smell like me and sleeping in it.

This is a much better pressie than the last one. Maybe I’ll forgive them now for the vaccines.

Next month, my Ma, a bunch of people she knows, and about 899,985 other people are participating in the National Novel Writing in a month program.

It challenges writers to write 50,000 words of a brand new novel in one month. The idea is that a lot of writers (like Ma) revise and revise and never finish the book because they keep trying to make it perfect.

So the solution is to just write as fast as you can and worry about the tweaking and the editing later. It’s a really good idea.

And the program is free…

But the people who run it ahve to buy webspace and all those other administrative thingys that are needed to do something like this for almost a million people. that’s why Ma’s friend Michy made this little widget thingy. It helps people donate to the Office of Letters and Light, the parent company of the sponsors of the program.

But I can’t figure out how to make the widget work, so if you want to give go the Michy’s donation thing here.

People who wanna donate to make the program better can give if they want or just cheer on your favorite writer. I intend to curl up with my mousy, sacrifice some play time and yell, “Go, Ma!” Want to join me?

Remember, I’m a cat so these number things don’t mean a lot to me, but they seem important to people.

Love ya,

Rainy

Today, I heard the man on the television talking about the bailout and the stock market and the recesssion or maybe its a derpression. And, it made me a little sad.

i don’t know what all those words mean, but Ma tells me it means that some kitties don’t have homes anymore or that their people can’t afford to feed them. Tell me this isn’t happening!

Last week, I broke my tunnel. Ma said she got it for 99 cents at Goodwill, whatever that means and they didn’t have any more. So she searched for a week and found me a replacement. It’s not my tunnel, but it’s a good solid cat hidin’ hole. Ma said it was 10 times as expensive as my tunnel, but they got it for me anyway.

I thought if the ‘conomy was bad, people couldn’t buy nothing.

Ma said that the bailout means that some people can buy some things now, but that there will be hell to pay someday. I don’t think i like that.

I’m pretty sure I could have coem up with a better way to stimulate the ‘conomy. Like give everyone a new kitty and food and toys and vet care for a year. Then, the people will love their kitties so much that they’ll work hard to keep buying them stuff.

That’s how it works, right?

No?

Oh, well, I guess i can’t fix the economy, but guess what? Neither can Washington!

I’ve heard a lot of talk recently about vaccines. In kitties, people want to skip them because there is a tiny little danger of the site of the injection developing skin cancer. In people, mothers want to skip them because they’ve heard that the preservatives in the vaccine might be loosely linked to increasing autism.

Now, don’t get me started on what’s being diagnosed these days as autism. That’s another rant all its own.

This rant is completely focused on vaccines. I just had mine last week. They suck big time. They hurt, they involve going to see Dr. Kim (which means going outside) and they make me feel crummy for a day or two. I imagine it is very similar for babies.

Unlike babies, I am not exposed to a lot fo germs. I live only in my huse. I do not play with other kitties or go outside. No other animals are allowed inside my house. In short, the probability that I will get exposed to rabies or feline leukemia are pretty tiny. But Ma gets me vaccinated anyway based on the concept of herd immunity.

The basic concept is that if 80 or 90 percent of the population is immune to something, then major outbreaks don’t happen. So, even though I am an indoor only kitty, I am even more secure against rabies when everyone gets vaccinated.

The same is true of children. When you don’t vaccinate, you create a weakness in the population. then, the virus can take hold in that portion of the population, grow stronger and possibly spread to the rest of the population. One person chosing to be stubborn for very unscientific reasons can weaken the entire population. So, I get my shots.

I hate them. I hiss. I cry and I out, but I get them.  You should too and so should your people.

Love ya,

Rainy Kitty

My Ma & Da call opening the windows and the door money-saving. They say it means that there is no need to run the air conditioning and we save money.

I say its a special vacation.

I don’t actually like to go outside. It’s a scary, scary place. But it smells wonderful. So there is nothing better than an open door on a brisk fall day.

I can smell the squirrels when they come to steal the bread that Ma & Da put out for the birds.  I can watch the birds fight with the squirrels and I can say hello to all my family members that live in the back yard.  Ahhh, the joys of fall…

As you all know, i had to go to the vet on Wednesday. Ma said it was time for my shots and after my shots, I’ve been feeling crummy. Happens every year for a day ro two. Ma says it will happen to her next week when she gets her flu shot.

So, I’ve been more snuggly than usual and stealing Ma’s seat whenever I can. She has this big soft pillow that my Auntie Dawnie made for us and it feels nice on my back when I’m chilly.

Last night, I found out that blankeys can be comfy too. Da noticed that I was curled up tight to the pillow (thanks Auntie Dawn!)  Auntie Dawn lives in Seattle and you can buy her nifty crafts here. She likes to crochet and sometiems lets me play with the yarn. She’s coming to visit me for Halloween.

Anyway, Da saw that I was cold and got me a blankey. It was soft and fuzzy too and kept me warm all night. So, happiness is a warm blankey!

I’m not sure what I did wrong, but Ma was very mean to me today. I must have been very bad.

I tried to hide in the basement when she got the box out. The box means I get all stuffed inside and have to go into the noise maker outside and see Dr. Kim.

Dr.Kim is good people. She amde me feel better when I got sick, but I don’t like to go see her. The last time I was there she stuck a thermometer…well, it wasn’t in my mouth.

So, when I saw her fixin’ the box, I ran and hid from Ma…in the basement. But then she stood at the door and called me and I came running ’cause I’m a good girl. Then, she held the box while Da stuffed me inside. The slamming of that cage door is so awful.

Ma said I looked very scared and my pupils got big. well let me stuff you in a box and you’ll look scared too.

So then we go into the noise maker and went down the road with lots of other noise makers. We got to Dr. Kim’s office and it smelled of doggies. Lots of doggies. Ma tried to introduce me to one, but I turned my back on the door and huddled in the abck of the box.

Dr. Kim wasn’t there today so I saw Dr. Jefferson. He said I was a big kitty. I put on 1 1/2 pounds since he last saw me, but then the last time I was there, I was really sick.  Now, I’m 12 pounds of perfect kitty.

Anyway, he checked my eyes and ears and teeth and that was okay, but then he got out the white thing that makes lots of noise and stings my butt. Ma called in an autoinjector…she said I was getting my rabies and feline leukemia vaccines. And then, those b*tches stole my claws. I growled.

Ma said I was very loud and fierce sounding. The vet techs had two people to hold me. Ha! Serves them right.

Right now, I don’t feel so good. Ma said its a ‘action to my shots. I just wanna sleep…and make the stinging go away.

Ma says unless I get sick, i don’t have to go back for a whole year…I like that idea.

Tonight it’s rainy at my house and I don’t like it, not one little bit.

It makes the lights flicker and the windows rattle. And I cannot hide in my tunnel. Last night, in the greatest of tragedies, my beloved nylon tunnel broke. the metal part at the front, that holds the tunnel open bit my Da and made him bleed. So he said it was time to throw it away. I was very sad.

He tried to buy me a new one, but its very narrow and very long. I don’t like it.

So when the cracking and booming started, I had nowhere to hide. It was horrible and makes me very sad, so sad in fact that I am sitting here with a yak on my head. Well, not a whole yak, but a yak hair bracelet…a think it was made by nuns in support of Free Tibet…and it is one of my favorite toys. Since I lost my tunnel, maybe I can hide under the yak.

The nice lady who owns the house where my people and I live has a yippee dogs. You know the type. He barks at everything under the sun. Today, he is barking at my squirrels.

Man, dogs at dumb. Don’t you know that if you bark, they hear you coming and run away?  A smart dog or a cat would sneak up and grab them before they know what hit them. He is clearly not a smart dog.

Under normal circumstances, he would qualify for union membership. I guess I need to clarify that. union membership is limited to dogs and cats (other animals might be let in on a probationary basis) who have been homeless or who support their homeless brothers and sisters. Pedigreed pups sold in pet stores need not apply.

Anyway, the landlady’s dog should have qualified for membership. He got lost in St. Louis and found his way to Linda who gave him a home.  But he’s dumb and barks all the time, which makes him disqualified. Terriers and other ankle biting dogs are also not allowed until they exhibit superior intelligence. Cat-like dogs such as greyhounds are encouraged to apply.

I’m Rainy Day Kitty and i approved this message.

Every cat knows that we could do what our humans want us to, if we felt like it.

But most of the time, we don’t. It prevents them from getting any illusions that they control us. Luckily, Ma never gets those ideas. She knows all the time that I rule this house.

So, every once in awhile I like to throw her a bone and do what she actually expects of me. She’s so cute. She wrote about me here. She tried to pretend to other humans that she’s in control, but we all know better.

I have her trained to get up when I want breakfast, change my water as soon as she is awake for the day, and get my fish promptly at six o’clock.  Training her wasn’t easy and took some perseverance, but I’m sure you can train your people too.

The key is to look pathetic and cute while being demanding all at the same time. When I was training her to get up at dawn to make my breakfast (yummy cruchy ProPlan!) I had to spend a few days nosing around my dish and making sure she could see that it was empty. I even put one paw up on top of the food container to let her know what I wanted.

Sometimes, with people, you have to speark very slowly and plainly for them to get it.

A couple times, I gave her the belly flop to “show my appreciation.”

now, she is so well-trained, she gets my breakfast at dawn even if I decide to sleep in.