Taz’ Very-Bad, Awful Week

Back in early January, poor little Mumtaz (left) was having a grand time running around like a manic inside the house, which turns out to be loads more fun than the (formerly great) outdoors. Taz Bird was chasing her biological brother and main squeeze, Shah Jahan (right), as well as Corky and Fireball, often tackling the bigger males and knocking them to the ground. (She’s a force of nature when she gets wound up.) And at 4 am one morning, she started making noises that — to the evil human’s ears — sounded like she was in heat…weeks ahead of time and weeks before her spaying surgery was scheduled. Worse, she had her butt in the air and the still-intact Shahjah was sauntering down the hallway with a grin on his face. When Taz went to relieve herself in the litterbox in the guest bedroom, the very bad human pulled the door shut and trapped her. That was early Sunday morning.

On Monday morning, the evil human brought her to the vet to get her second distemper shot and learned that they could squeeze little Mumtaz in on Wednesday for her spay surgery, so back to the locked bedroom went a very angry Taz. When Wednesday came, off to the vet she went again. When she woke up, fur was missing from her belly and she felt awful. Back to kitty prison once again she went. Worse, she had to have painkiller administered several times/day by the evil human, which did not endear the 2-legged to Miss Fierceness.

When one cat is locked up in the bedroom, the other cats have a sweet habit of bringing toy mice upstairs from the toy boxes and leaving them lined up outside the door. Taz was a prisoner for more than a week, so over that time a lot of little mice were deposited beside the door for her. It’s the kitty equivalent of get well cards and balloons or flowers.

When she was finally freed, off she went. Since then, she doesn’t let the evil human get too close. Clearly, that 2-legged creature is not to be trusted under any circumstances.

(c) Copyright 2023, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

We Need a New Human

Our blog is languishing from lack of attention from the 2-legged. We’d sell her and buy a new human if we thought we could get a good price. Unfortunately, we tried that several years back and no one was interested. You can’t even give a human like that away.

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Image courtesy of Dreamstime.com. File ID 28725707 © Stevanovicigor.

She Promised to Get Better

Have you seen any posts from her? Have you seen any cute pictures of us? Case closed.

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Image courtesy of Dreamstime.com. File ID 16016049 © Robert Kneschke

One Bad Human

Our very bad human has not posted on our blog for over 90 days. We’ve tried guilt, punishment, acting cute, acting stern, bringing her toys, pouncing on her when she’s trying to sleep, walking across her keyboard when she’s trying to work, yowling when she’s on a conference call, and much more. Still, all she does is complain about her incredibly heavy workload. What does she think we do all day?

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Image courtesy of Dreamstime.com. File ID 176510470 | © Yasir Khan.

Corky Enjoys Plant Time for Kitties

Corky, who is usually shy and retiring — especially when his bossy larger but not older brother Pepe is around — occasionally cuts loose when there’s no one to see him. This time, fortunately, the human was nearby and equipped with her camera.

Since the Corkster had already been tossing a toy mouse around on the kitchen floor, the human figured he might enjoy some fresh greenery and ventured outside for a few leaves of Nepeta cataria (aka catnip or catmint).

Sure enough, the Banu Bear ate a few leaves, then began cuffing the remains of the plant top around on the floor.

The fact that no other cat was around to see him enjoy himself, and the human was quiet while snapping her shots, meant that Corky didn’t feel inhibited and had a grand time.

Eventually, he ate the last of the leaves and then just lay on the floor on his side with a slightly dazed look on his face. <<<Oh happy day!>>>

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

When Box Inspection becomes a Family Affair

Sometimes, box inspection isn’t a solitary activity — even when it starts out that way.

Often, other cats wander over and decide to insert themselves into the middle of the action. Pepe rarely approves. <<<Amateurs!>>>

Of course, not every cat is as well trained and as professional about the inspection process. Some just take up space and don’t seem to know what to do. <<<Dilettantes!>>> Others have short attention spans and wander away. <<<Good riddance!>>>

Box inspection is always best left to the professionals.

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

How Could You Let this Happen?

As you can see from Mac’s exasperated look, during the night the evil human failed to respond to multiple kitty pleas for more crunchies, since there was plenty of other kinds of food around the corner in other bowls. By refusing to wake up and refill the bowl, the 2-legged servant has let a catastrophe unfurl once again. There are only 3 pieces of kibble in the crunchy bowl. How it happened that Mac and Corky were able to eat kibble out of the bowl when the sides and bottom started becoming exposed is a mystery in itself. (Perhaps all the food was eaten by Pepe and Fireball, who don’t seem to have such qualms about eating out of a partially empty bowl.)

Still, if the human knows what’s good for her, she’d best get that bowl replenished — and fast! The kitties are not quick to forgive such malfeasance.

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Not a UFO

Although it’s round and flew through the air, this is not a UFO. The human immediately recognized what it was, so the object was not unidentified. The Merkitty is suspected. The human has seen her get the zoomies, race into the bedroom, leap onto the big bed, then leap into the big pink puff only to have it slide precariously close to the edge of the bed. This time, apparently it went off the side of the bed, presumably with her in it. She’s such a goofy girl.

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Look What She Did to My Nails!

<<<First the evil human used the even more evil clippers on Caesar and then she used them on me. Look what she did to my beautiful nails! Is there no authority protecting bodily sanctity here? Okay, so maybe I was shredding the legs of her mahogany bed when she didn’t get up and refill my crunchy bowl at 2 am. Hey, I can’t eat out of it when the bottom is showing. Besides, how are these things even remotely comparable ?>>>

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Mousy Dental Treats

The human tried out a new-to-the-household package of dental treats for the cats. Despite being fish flavored, the monsters ate them up. So, encouraged, the human went back to the petfood store and bought several more packages. At this point, the monsters decided that they did not like the fish-flavored treats and stopped eating them. However, they did put one of their toy mice in the treat bowl just to see if it liked the snack. It did not. The human now has 4 packages of dental treats that are essentially unusable. <<<Heavy sigh…>>>

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Playtime for Corky

Corky is a big fan of the flat scratching disc with a single ball that rolls around it’s perimeter. He’s even a bigger fan of the 3-tiered tower with 3 different balls that can spin around the outside at the same time.

The Corkster hates it when the human catches him having a bit of fun by himself. If she’s not quiet while taking pictures, he stops what he’s doing and sometimes leaves the area.

Still, even when he’s aware that she’s watching, sometimes he’s just having so much fun that he forgets to be self-conscious and goes back to chasing the spinning balls.

He’s got the cutest little white paws and, when he’s into it, he really gets all 3 balls spinning simultaneously.

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Distressing Things that have Happened

It’s been so long since the human has posted that many things have happened to us that our fans don’t know about.

For instance, after inviting our neighbor’s cat to stay with us for 5 days — did anyone think to ask if we were okay with this arrangement? — a few weeks later, the human brought a small kitten into our house.

Granted, the kitten was only here for a few hours while the human arranged to bring it to a shelter. Still, she held it in her arms and cooed over it in our presence. We were not amused. At our age, we do not want to have to start all over and train a kitten.

Fortunately, the human took the tiny kitten away and the tiny kitten was eventually adopted. You have to stay on top of that two-legged every minute because, when you’re not looking, she’ll bring anything into this house.

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

The Monsters were Busy Last Night

This morning, the human found that the far-infrared heated mattress pad wouldn’t turn back on when she pushed the button at 4 am. She flipped the wall switch off and on a few times, as switching the light and mattress pad off is one of the Merkitty’s favorite pastimes when she’s frustrated with the human. Nope, that didn’t fix the problem. When the human finally got up for real and checked the connections on that side of the bed, they were secure. Bummed, she assumed the mattress pad had finally burned out.  However, just to be sure, she checked where the unit’s power cord inserts into a plug multiplier, that in turn plugs into the receptacle. To her dismay and delight, she found the power cord and the plug multiplier dangling out of the receptacle. The human then recalled hearing strange noises under the bed during the night and assumed that Macaroni had learned a new way to irritate the human by pulling the unit out of the wall. Honestly, for an 11 pound/5 kilogram cat, she’s a force to be reckoned with when she’s mad about something. The fun didn’t end there. When the human went downstairs to feed the monsters, she noticed that a lidded plastic container of cookies had been knocked off the table and had landed upside down on the floor, spilling cookies all over. The kitties aren’t allowed on the table, although that apparently doesn’t stop them in the middle of the night. The human theorizes that Pepe was chasing Fireball, who tried to escape by dashing across the table, knocking the cookies off. Fireball has no interest in sweets, but Pepe does. The fact that at least one cookie appeared to be missing a corner adds to the weight of evidence that Pepe was there.  Ah well, the human’s loss is the birds’ and squirrels’ gain.

 

(c) Copyright 2020, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Image my own.

What We’ve Learned…

At first we got on the internet to request a new human. When none answered our offer, we tried to sell our old human to see if we could buy a better one. However, after looking around, we’ve come to the conclusion that our old human isn’t so bad after all…even when she forgets to post on our blog for 2 months.  We’ve made up and she’s promised to start posting again.

 

 

(c) Copyright 2020, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images courtesy Fotolia.com.

What! No Takers?

Interestingly, the feline masters seem shocked that not one single human being has applied to become the unpaid help in this house. What a deal it is. You get a small portion of the bed and a few drawers and one small closet to store your clothes, plus a single shelf in the refrigerator for your food. Your job is to be at their beck and call 24/7. Forget about uninterrupted sleep or any ideas of being in charge of the small but bossy 4-leggeds. They won’t tolerate that for a moment.  Guess they’ll have to continue putting up with their well-worn and reasonably well-trained human…at least for a bit longer.

 

 

 

(c) Copyright 2019, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Image (c) Can Stock Photo.

Help Wanted

Our human hasn’t posted on our blog for over 6 weeks.  We’re tired of all the excuses about how hard she’s been working, all the computer problems she’s had, and how tired she is. The fact is, our needs are not coming first — at least not all the time as they should be. Therefore, we’ve decided to look for a replacement human. Perhaps you know someone who would like to apply? Here are the qualifications:

• Must blog regularly.
• Must take daily pictures of us being cute and express appreciation that we allowed our photos to be taken.
• Must not be squeamish when we put our toy mice in the food or water bowls. We do it….regularly. And Mac floods the floors from time to time. Get over it.
• Must be willing to clean the litter boxes daily and wash them every 2 weeks…at minimum.
• Did we mention that this is an unpaid job?
• Must wash our fleece blanket collection at least once a month. We like all our bedding to be hung outside so it smells wonderful.
• Must be available at all times when we wish to play, be petted, get brushed, have snacks, or be entertained…none of this “please don’t wake me up at 2 am” silliness. On the other hand, must respect our boundaries when we don’t want anything to do with you. Get over that too. You’re not in charge.
• Must be willing to work hard (or be financially independent) in order to keep up our home and supply us with all the premium cat food to which we are accustomed and about which we will constantly complain. You must buy it anyway…even if we don’t always eat it.
• And did we mention that this is an unpaid job?
• Must keep the computer on and be willing to vacate it when we want to buy something or complain about our treatment on the blog.
• Must be willing to share your credit card number as we’re very fond of Amazon Prime. In fact, we need more toy mice, as the last batch is messy after too many trips into the food bowls.
• Must tolerate wide fluctuations in temperature — often in the same day — be unbothered by an absolute absence of sunlight much of the year, and not hate winter as it can last 5-6 months. And when it’s not snowing, it’s often raining. We can’t do anything about the weather. However, if you can, we’d really like to talk with you.

Any takers?

(c) Copyright 2019, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Image (c) Can Stock Photo.

What Do You Mean, You Can See Me?

Apparently Pepe thought he was more hidden than he really was….

 

 

(c) Copyright 2019, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved.  Photos my own.

Still Thinking About it…

<<We’re still thinking about giving the human back her old job of writing our blog posts. She does have a lot of experience, and her paws do much better on the keyboard than our own, but we have to remind her that our needs come first…ALL of our needs, not just food, shelter, and litter-box cleaning — all of which, admittedly, she does keep up.  The longer we take to give her an answer, the more desperate she gets, which is pretty funny.>>

 

 

(c) Copyright 2019, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Image from Fotolia.com.

Fired Again

<<The human has hardly posted at all during the last month. She’s been too preoccupied with work deadlines and had too little focus on telling our story to the world. That’s no way to make us feel special. We fired her. She’s contrite and has asked for her old job back. We’re considering it. What do you think? Should we take her back?>>

 

(c) Copyright 2019, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photo from Fotolia.com.

When Humans Run Amok

<<You did WHAT?>>  <<Let me think about that for a moment.>> <<Nope, that was definitely NOT a good idea. What are we going to do with you, human?>>

 

(c) Copyright 2019, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.