Pepe has Crossed the Rainbow Bridge

After 4 months of struggling with diabetes, during which time he lost almost half of his previous body weight and his rear legs and hips got so weak he struggled to walk, Pepe’s quality of life had gotten so poor that we said goodbye yesterday afternoon. He had a peaceful passing and we’re sure he’s in a much better place now.

Pepe had an outsized personality that was far larger than his normal 19 pounds. He had the softest cutest paws that he categorically said were off limits whenever the human stroked them. Pepe was the official household greeter and had to check out any human who entered the premises. He splashed water all over the floor with Mac, harassed Fireball and Corky, wasn’t sure what to make of the Terrible Tiger Twins, and only Caesar could moderate his behavior. He spent an hour or more each morning sitting on a chair next to the human as they both ate breakfast and she journaled and planned out her day. He often joined her for her lunch as well.

In recent weeks, as he had more trouble walking and navigating stairs, Pepe spent much of the day sleeping in a kitty bed in the human’s office. In fact, in brat cat fashion, if his brother was sleeping there when he arrived, he chased Corky out of the bed and took over himself even though there was a larger bed two feet away that he could have occupied.

Pepe and Corky have lived here for 9 years and the human knew them for 5 years before that when they lived next door at her former neighbors’ home. She not only played with them when she visited, but often cared for them when her neighbors were away. It seems no matter how much time you get to spend with them, with each leaving they take a chunk of your heart with them. And perhaps that’s fitting, since they give so much of their hearts to us.

Rest in peace Pepe and know you were deeply loved and are missed terribly.

(c) Copyright 2024, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Fireball Enjoys the Day

Here’s the Little Red Bee enjoying a bit of of fresh air and sunshine beside an open window.  Thankfully, it was cooler this past week — weather that’s much more comfortable for felines and human alike.

 

 

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

All Work and No Play Makes that Human Duller than Ever

<<Notice that she’s stopped blogging again? She’s been packing gear into her backpack for days. We’re not positive but we think she’s planning to run off into the woods. Good riddance! She’s no fun at all when she’s working all the time. And she gets really testy when we climb into all her camping gear and have a look around. Does she ever stop to think that maybe we’d like a vacation too?  P.S. Don’t tell her but one of us has learned to type, so we’re going to do some blog posting of our own. It’s dangerous to be dependent on such an unpredictable and inconsistent human.>>

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos from Fotolia.com.

Salt Lamp Gymnastics

Yes, that glowing block of light beneath the cat is a Himalayan salt lamp. The human loves them and has many scattered throughout the house. Of course, the kitties must investigate. Mac is constantly head-butting the one on the floor upstairs in the half-bath.  And lately Pepe has been standing up on the one in the office. That’s his final cue that he’s about to jump on the keyboard, so the human had best vacate the work cave and go feed him.  See how well they have her trained?

(c) Copyright 2016, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Snow Sillies

It’s been cold and snowy for days, so of course the 4-leggeds have had the snow sillies.  They’re far better forecasters than the pros on the weather channel.  The other night, Mac hopped into one of her kitty beds on my bed while Caesar snoozed and I read.  At one point goofy girl was actually playing with 3 toys at the same time, flipping them around and tossing them in the air.  Remarkably, as I lay reading, a small pink mouse Mac was tossing around suddenly and quite literally went whizzing by my ear to land in the pocket of one of those bed pillow chairs next to my pillow.  Nice shot!

And the other morning, not only did the Mac and Fireball have a grand time chasing the red dot (from the laser pointer), but even the Big Guy got involved chasing it.  That was a first.  While he definitely watches the red dot as it moves around on the floor and occasionally will stoop to sniff it as it trundles by his front feet, he has always been way too sophisticated to chase such a silly thing…but not that day. He got as silly as the little ones do chasing it around and attacking the rug on which the dot momentarily took rest. Even more remarkable, he puffed up his tail — something I’ve never seen from him before.

Mac has developed a new technique for chasing the laser pointer dot.  She makes big dramatic moves and literally throws herself on top of the spot where the dot was moments before, as though trying to trap it via belly flop.  Fireball, on the other hand, has perfected the art of hitting the dot repeatedly with both front paws (a la whack-a-mole).  He gets fairly incensed when the dot lands on his tail and starts working its way up his back. He rolls halfway over like a harbor seal and literally tries to attack his own tail or hip.

And Caesar gets a fairly menacing look when that ragged piece of denim cloth at the end of the kitty fishing pole starts hovering over him in the air. You can almost see him clench his jaws as he makes remarkably graceful leaps in the air trying to attack it.  The ultimate insult is, of course, when the darned thing lands on his back and he can’t reach it.  He gets his revenge when he does catch the silly thing by trying to chew through the thick black string that holds it to the pole.  Hence, the human has to pay attention to what she’s doing when the kitties have their morning constitutional.

 

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

Charity Mews: D.E.L.T.A – Animal sanctuary asks animal lovers to fund special Holiday stockings for rescued dogs and cats

Caesar, Fireball, and Macaroni made a donation. Maybe your furry friend will too?

What Dignity?

This is the comedy cat. She hopped into a kitty bed last night, flipped around and around chasing a cord that Caesar had been playing with, then laid spread-eagle on her back for 20 minutes.

Clearly, this is a cat with no body-image hangups.  Would that I could say the same!

 

(c) Copyright 2014, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Green Mouse Visits the Ficus Tree

I’ve previously mentioned that the kitties have definitely preferences in their toy mice.  The little cats like the shakey mice in wild colors, although they’ve recently become converts to the “sheeple” mice.  Caesar likes the quiet mice with the fake fur in more natural white and grey and black.  Unfortunately, to date the cats for the most part have totally ignored the toy mice that the human thinks are adorable:  the “fish” with their little metallic scales, the long rainbow-colored something-or-others with tails, and the bright-green spotted mice.  I guess I assume they’ll love anything stuffed with catnip and I guess they guess I’ll only buy them ones that are stuffed to the gills (or ears) with the super-potent strains of cat mint.  Nothing else seems to do.

Given their strong toy preferences, and their general refusal to play with the unappealing toys even when they’ve managed to lose all of the ones they like, I was quite intrigued last week to find that one of the adorable-to-me green mice had found its way downstairs and ended upside down in the potted ficus tree.  This is a sizable and tall pot that is a bit out of the way, so some skillful mouse-flipping skills had to have been employed to get the toy into this particular potted plant.  Hmm, does this mean they are becoming more open minded about what constitutes an acceptable toy?  Or does it mean they’ve given up on having any toy they like available to play with again? Apparently only the Shadow (and the kitties) knows.

 

(c) Copyright 2014, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.