Evening Laser Tag

The kitties have been rather spunky of late, since it’s been cool and rainy.  That seems to bring out the silliness in them.  We’ve not only been having morning games of tag with the laser pointer, but evening ones as well.Corky has turned out to be just as big a fan of the red dot as Fireball. While he began chasing it very timidly, he has since adopted the “whack-a-mole” approach favored by the Baby Comet. And once in a while Pepe and Macaroni will get in on the action for a few minutes.The other night, Pepe did follow the dot around with his eyes, and despite the dot running right up by his feet, didn’t do anything about it. However, no sooner did the dot move on to Fireball than Pepe was standing up and poking the floor where the red dot had previously been.

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

 

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery?

If imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, then one of these cats is complimenting the other quite strongly.Who gets the credit I wonder — Mr. Dangly Paws himself, or the water-wizard, aka Macaroni?

 

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Uninvited Visitors

Mamma Raccoon has been coming by early morning and bringing along her rapidly growing babies to play on the upper deck. They climb the tall spruce tree right by the lower deck and just walk along a branch to get over to the upper one.Then they run around, wrestle, find small sticks to kick and bite, try to pull the tablecloth off the cafe table, and generally make a ruckus. If human or feline are asleep when the raccoon family arrives, they don’t stay that way for long.To the silly human, there are some similarities between the raccoons and cats, striped tails not withstanding.  However, the cats apparently don’t think they have anything in common with these uninvited visitors. They don’t react the way they do when a cat or dog comes into the yard — very territorial — but rather just sit and stare wide-eyed at the raccoon antics.

 

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

More Flying Mice

The orange mice have been leaping and flying through the air at night and landing in lots of plants. This time, a blue mouse got into the action.  Yesterday the plants finally went outside for the summer, so the mice will have to find other things to do at night until the plants come back inside — hopefully not until late October.

 

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own

The Very Last Crunchy

Who knew Macaroni was such a cookie monster?  A few months back if I’d been ask who was the most addicted to crunchies, I’d have nominated the Big Guy.  While he definitely likes his food, it turns out that it’s the Merkitty who really misses having bottomless crunchy bowls upstairs and down.  She shows her disapproval that the upstairs bowl is empty in the middle of the night by hooking the pad on which the elevated water/crunchy bowl sits and pulling it around the room. Her technique is first to pull the pad 90 degrees from its original position, and then to pull it off the rubber mat and out into the room.  That’s often how the water bowl becomes overturned.  Or, sometimes she moves the elevated bowls themselves, as can be seen in this picture. (They were all lined up nice and proper before she got busy.)

Apparently what she’s trying to accomplish is find the last few crunchies that have inevitably fallen below the bowls and onto the pad.  Such a Merkitty!

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own

Playstation 2

If only the new neighbors knew just how much fun the penta pack are having with the new playstation.  This is the first time I’ve seen so many of the meows on or near the unit at one time.

The human has taken to hiding little kitty treats in and on top of various sections of the playstation.  That seems to be going over quite well, although there are still some treats that have yet to be claimed. At least it gives them a bit of hunting practice.

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

 

It’s Morning!

<<Wake up, wake up, it’s morning!  Time to refill our bowls and give us some love.  Wake up, silly human. Wake up!>>

Of course, as soon as the human leaves the bed, in rush the felines. It’s uncanny how they can be running around leaping all over the place until the human gets up. Then they head for her spot and stretch out as though satisfied with the results of their actions. Do they fancy themselves alarm clocks?

Of course, we have to have a few rounds of obligatory play where the human wiggles her fingers on or under the covers and the cats attack.

<<We indulge her desire to play with us by pretending to whack her hands. Does she really think we can’t tell the difference between her and real prey? We know it’s just a miserable excuse to play with our paws. So much unpleasantness to endure…>>

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

The Monster Under the Table

It’s the worst fear of small human children that a monster lives under their bed and will come out and get them while they sleep unawares.

Well, in this house, we don’t so much worry about monsters under the bed — the monsters are usually on top of the bed stretched out in luxury leaving the human very little space.  However, we’ve recently become aware of monsters that occasionally take up residence under the kitchen table.

You see, the human always has tablecloths covering the kitchen table. That means that 4-legged monsters can sit or lay on the seats of any of the chairs and pretty much be assured of being hidden from view.
In a moment of inspiration the human tied one of the rainbow mice, which already was attached to a long string, to the finial on top of one of the chairs a week or so back.

That’s proven to be a very entertaining spot for kitties who like to get in the chair and bat the mouse around. Of course, it’s also immensely entertaining for the human who is sitting nearby trying to eat her breakfast.

<<Just who are you laughing at, Human?>>

 

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

There Actually are 3 Cats Here. Can You Find Them All?

Okay, yes, it’s been cold and wet and we’ve had thunderstorms off an on. (Caesar H*A*T*E*S thunderstorms.)  That, of course, brought out the pile-o’-cats activities again. I chanced upon this cuddle collection last week. I’m guessing that Caesar and Fireball were originally curled up together and Mac came by and decided to insert herself into the middle of the love fest. Caesar actually has his big leg around Mac and she has hers around him.  Poor Baby Comet is that orange fluff to the right of Mac, who is actually laying on top of his side and hip. It can’t be as uncomfortable as it looks as they stayed that way for quite some time.

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own

Playstation

The new kitty condo is very popular, as you can see.

I suppose it’s a variation on the cat-in-small-box theme, but Pepe absolutely LOVE to climb into the little “house” in the playstation and dangle all kinds of body parts out of the two open sides.

Nintendo has nothing on these cats!

 

 

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own

Who Could Resist those Paws?

Here’s Mr. Dangly Paws looking oh so sophisticated as he reclines in one of his kitty beds. He gets immensely annoyed with the human when she bends down to kiss him on the head and to play with his paws, but who could resist those gorgeous big feet?  They’re actually as soft and warm as they look.  And, oh, the cute little leopard spots on his tummy. They’re another “off-limits” location for the human.

 

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own

Lap Wars

Both Macaroni and Pepe need a lot more emotional contact with the human than the other meows. In fact, as soon as either Mac or Pepe sees or hears another cat getting some attention, they have to insert themselves in the middle of the 4-legged and the 2-legged so they claim their share of the affection.  (That usually results in the other cat leaving, which is all the better.) Both Mac and Pepe signal their desire for the otherwise inattentive human’s focus by standing up on their hind legs and putting their paws (and in Mac’s case, claws) into the human’s legs when she’s sitting down, while they chirp or cry plaintively.  That’s the human’s signal to reach down and pick the needy meow up and give him or her cuddles.

Recently, the human has taught both of the climbers how to jump in her lap when she signals. For the last 2 mornings, that has led to an interesting situation when both cats wanted to be held at the same time. Yesterday, Mac had already had 2 sessions herself and decided she needed a third. Pepe, who was on his second cuddle session, was on the human’s lap when Mac decided she was coming up. It didn’t slow her down in the least that there was another (rather large) black & white kitty sitting on the human. She dug her spurs in, chirped, and up she came.  Well, Pepe doesn’t like to share, as we’ve noted previously, so he decided that having to split the human’s attention with Mac wasn’t going to work for him, so down he went to “sulk” nearby.  I guess I should be flattered that I’m so popular with these higher life forms.

(c) Copyright 2015, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.