Formerly Feral Friday - Last of Dobby (LT)

As you all know Dobby (formerly known as LT) is now living happily with Merlin. This is the last picture I took of him in my apartment last Friday (a week ago). I just came into the apartment and saw him and Bubbles on the couch. I think they were actually sleeping together. Or I interrupted Dobby pouncing the sleeping Bubbles!

And here is a picture of Mrs. B and Dobby after they settled on which cat-cup Dobby will take with him and which one will stay.

Although it was very sad for me to say goodbye to Dobby, I am so grateful that he found such a great forever home. And I think the 2 Bs are also grateful!

Mrs. B is complaining that Dobby is still hogging the blog even though he's not even living with us anymore! So, I'll try my best not to post many more pictures of him (but he is just so cute)!

Musical catbed

I have several times before talked about Mrs. B's catbed. Here is a re-cap. She had this very pretty bed that matched her eyes.

She really loved this bed. But naturally when Dobby (LT) came to live here, he decided that he also loved the bed.

So I bought another bed for Mrs. B. Dobby of couse also loved the new bed. But eventually it was settled that Dobby will take the green bed with him and Mrs. B will keep the new bed.

Mrs. B seems to be pretty happy with the new bed.

But the story is not over yet. Check out Merlin and Dobby's blog for the further adventures of the green cat bed.

Settling In

For a recently feral cat, Madness is doing very well. She is still a little skittish, especially when I walk around the apartment. I think I just look so huge to her. But if I sit down she will come over to me and let me touch her and even scratch her tummy. However she does NOT like to be picked up.

She is also VERY talkative. Not like her brother (Dobby) that rarely said anything. Until last night I put her in her jail at night when I went to sleep. But last night she told me in no uncertain terms that she is now settled enough to be allowed to run around during the night. Her other favorite thing to tell me is: PLAY. PLAY. PLAY. She loves those fev-vers! She is not as bouncy as Dobby, but is a big jumper.

Here she and Bubbles are sleeping on the couch. Bubbles would prefer to be outside, but I just decided that he had to stay inside since it was pretty cold. After he made a few pitiful crying sounds her accepted his fate and took a nap.

As usual Mrs. B doesn't really care one way or another, as long Madness doesn't eat her food.

Now I'm going to try and catch up on all the blogs I missed this week.

Midnight Madness Monday

Do you remember that LT (Dobby) had a little sibling, Little Blackie (LB)?

I've been putting out food at a new site for Momcat since December, but did not see LB. In the beginning of January, I noticed a little black cat of about the right age show up where I feed Momcat.

In any case it's been showing up regularly for about 4 weeks now. Since we all know The 2 Bs does not want a new "friend" I made up my mind that I'll just feed it, but nothing else. And so the weather got colder and wetter and the kitten became cuter and cuter. So Friday night I trapped her!

At the moment I'm calling her Midnight Madness. The madness part has nothing to do with her temperament. It is to remind me that I knew very well that I was crazy to take in another cat, knowing full well that the 2 Bs will not be happy. But what can I say? I'm a sucker! I just could not leave her out there.

So here she is (sorry about the flashed eyes). At the moment she is still confined to a large wire cage (with her litterbox, food and bed). She allows me to scratch her and is pretty friendly. I've let her out a little Sunday evening to explore the bedroom, but she spent most of it hiding under the bed. She is missing about a third of her tail. It's not very clear on this picture.

Of course I cannot be 100% sure that she is Dobby's sibling, but she is the right age and just look at the little white spot on her chest. I've looked at some of the pictures I took of the kittens before the den was distroyed and I'm pretty sure it's her. In any case it does not really matter now.

So it is offical now. I'm a Crazy Cat Lady.

It's my Birthday!

Hello all. It's me Madness. And today I'm one whole year old! Can you believe that! And so is my brother Dobby!

OK, so we don't know exactly what day we were born, but the vet said it was one year ago today, so I'm sticking to my story.

Well, we are still all doing well. Me and Bubbles like hanging our in the courtyard and I hide under this big plant and plan attacks on all the lizzies that live around there. Bubbles catches lots of mice and sometimes he even lets me play with them. Mrs. B is also fine. She stays inside and plans attacks on my food bowl.

Well, it was nice to chat with you all again. We wish Mom would update more often, but she is just too lazy (oh sorry "busy"). Bye for now.

Three

Wow I'm three! And so is my brother Dobby.

Seven Random Facts

Bubbles was tagged by Millie and Madness by Eric and Flynn to give seven random facts about themselves.

Here are the rules. Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Cats who are tagged need to write on their own blog about the seven things and the rules. You need to choose seven cats to tag and list their names. Leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Seven Random Facts About Bubbles:
1. I have 3 names. At first Mom called me Kathmandu. That is still on my records at the vet. But then she found out that some people around the apartment that knew me before she took me in, called me Cid, so she decided Cid was a good name for me. But for some reason, out of the blue, she just stated calling me Bubbles.
2. I am a fierce fighting cat and I fight with all the stray cats around here.
3. I am extremely gentle with people. I will try to get away from them, but if they pick me up, I will NEVER even try to scratch and bite them. Even if they do terrible things to me at the vet, I do not try to hurt them.
4. If I'm bored in the evening, I sit in the courtyard and breaw-breaw for Mom to come down and play with me. Usually she does, unless she is watching that stupid CSI.
5. I'm a very picky eater. I don't like wet food, unless it is Sheba and only a little bit at a time.
6. Every morning I wake up Mom by poking my paw into her eye.
7. Me and my Mom have a specialy connection and I love her more than anything.

Seven Random Facts About Madness:
1. A part of my tail is missing. Nobody knows where it went.
2. Whenever I do something naughty, like chew the Freak's bed or pounce Bubbles, I plop on my back and show them my tummy. This makes it impossible for them to ever get angry with me. This does not work on Mrs. B.
3. I love to play with tall pieces of grass that the Freak brings in the house specially for this purpose.
4. I am obsessed with Bubbles. I have to follow him everywhere and if possible try to eat his food. Usually the Freak stops me from eating his food though.
5. When I get the crazies (which happens at least once a day) I run around growling at myself.
6. My rolemodel on the blogoshere is Grr. I want to be just like her when I grow up.
7. I LOVE to eat bugs.

We tag:
1. Bathsheba
2. Cheeto
3. Rascal
4. Merlin & Dobby
5. Grr
6. Fat Eric
7. Speedy

Mrs. B's Secret Paws

At last Mom let me open my Secret Paws from Edsel/The Pooch. It's about time! Oh goodie, just look at that big box!

Oh, I think I can smell Edsel. Sniff, sniff.....

Mom, look at all this stuff! I just know there is something tasty in there.

Grffff. There is even something for Mom. I'm sure if she knew that, she would not have made me wait so long to open it!

OK, Mom are you finished taking pictures? Can I jump in now? Can I? Can I?

Just look at all this great stuff! Kitty grass and jingle balls. Fur mousies and mousies bathed in catnip! Even a beautiful card! A catnip bag and Oh, oh, TEMPTATIONS! TWO WHOLE BAGS of TEMPTATIONS! Oh Edsel, you know me so well!

Oh yes, Mom got a beautiful kitty shaped picture frame. I think a picture of me would look gorgeous in it. But Mom will probably put a picture of that little Dobby (LT) in it! Grrrffff!

Mom: OK Mrs. B choose something to play with now, and the rest we will keep for later.

I choose THIS! Temptations!

Mom: Are you sure? Don't you rather want one of the mousies?

Are you blind woman! I said I want my T'tations!

Hmmm. Yum, yum. That's what I'm talking about.

Thanks a lot for my fantastic Secret Paws Edsel. I love it.

Crunch, crunch, crunch ........

What? Oh yes, Moms says thank you for her gift also.

Crunch, crunch, crunch ........

Momcat - trapped at last

At last I trapped Momcat, the mother of Madness and Dobby. She is a beauty. All grey with a little white spot on her chest like Madness. Basically she looks just like Madness except that Madness is Black and she is grey. The pictures does not really do her justice, I'll try to get bettter ones before I release her.

I dropped her off at the vet this morning and will pick her up again tomorrow. She wil get spayed, get all her shots, have her ear clipped and then I will release her again tomorrow evening.

So everycat in the little family has been sterilized now. Yay!

It runs in the family

Apparently love of condensation runs in the family. Those of you that have been around the cat blogosphere for some time will remember my brother Dobby aka LT. Well, he liked to lick cans and I like to lick bottles.


Mom thinks it's very cute. Well, she thinks pretty much everything we do is cute.

Lady-parts Operation

My stinky feet broffer Dobby asked whether I had a balentine. No, I don't. The Hairless Freak said I'm too young and that I'm not allowed no balentine 'till I've had my lady-parts operation. So I'm going for the operation on Wednesday, Balentines's day.
So watch out Man Cats, after Wednesday you are all fair game. Mreeeeeooowww-Purrrrrrr.

Tuxie Tuesday

Yes, enough with Madness already! Time for us to take back our blog. And, No Madness, just because you have a Catster page it does not mean you can stay. Just today I heard Mom tell somebody that you are "just a foster" and that you are not staying. ~ Mrs. B

Mom: Madness don't feel sad, little girl. I was talking to the lady that works for my landlord and she saw you and asked why I had another cat, since I'm only allowed 2 cats. So when I said "just a foster" it was not a bad thing. I was just trying to make sure that they don't force me to have to find you a home very soon. I'm still trying to find you a good forever home, but I think I was spoiled with Dobby going to live with Merlin. Because now I want to find just as great a home for you.

Me and Madness

Bubbles here. I just wanted everycat to know that I'm being a very good cat and am very nice to Madness. The same cannot be said about her though. Can you see the scar on my nose?

Here is a close-up. Yes, that is her doing. And I'm still nice to her. I even play with her, a little, sometimes. OK, only when it rains outside and I have to stay inside. And I don't have much of a choice, because she won't leave me alone. But still. I do play with her. Sometimes. A little.

I even allow her to sleep on MY green blankie on MY couch with MY Meowmie. See, I'm a very good cat and am very gentle with her.

I guess she's OK. She doesn't pounce me as much as Dobby used to and she also doesn't like to sit with my Meowmie all the time. For a little girl cat she's kinda nice. I still hope she will leave soon, but I don't mind her so much as long as she allows me to cuddle with Meowmie without being pounced on all the time. No-cat comes between me and my Meowmie. If you need any more evidence of how tolerant I'm being, just look at this picture.

We are nearly touching. But if you look closely you'll see we are not actually touching. I don't understand why she always wants to snuggle with me. I must be irresistible.

Favorite Things Meme

We were tagged my Merlin and Dobby for the favorite things meme. Here Bubbles and Madness are doing one of there favorite things, playing with their blue towel.


Time of Day: Early in the morning and in the evening when Mom lets us play ing the courtyard

Day of the week: Any day Mom is at home all day.

Season of the year: Spring, but that only lasts about 2 weeks here in Louisiana.

Holiday: For us every day is a holiday.

Beaches: We don't know nothing about beaches.

Song: We like the song John sings from his window when we play in the courtyard. It goes something like this: " meow, meow, MEOW, Meooooooowwwww."

Flower: Anything we can chew before Mom takes it away. She is no fun!

Talk show: Mom likes Ellen, but we don't watch.

Movie: We don't watch movies.

Soaps: Mrs. B loves Animal Planet, but that is not exactly a soap.

Beverage: We only get water to drink. Mrs. B loves milk, but Mom doesn't give it to her. Bad Mom!

Fruit: Yuk!

Snack: Temptations.

Food: We love Sheba, but we pretty much only get dry food.

Restaurant: Arby's roast beef or Subway Chicken teryaki. Yummie!

We tag: Anycat that want to play.

Here we go again.

As expected Bubbles is not amused by the presence of Madness. As with Dobby (LT) he just wants to go outside to get away from her. This morning, while we are all nice and cozy inside next to the heater, he went outside. But not on his usual mice hunting adventure. Oh no, he made it very clear that he was only going outside to get away from the inruder. Here he is sitting forlornly, all puffed up against the cold, in the coutyard.

Just look at that expression. He is not a happy guy. To make me feel even worse, just after I took this picture he came and sat right next to my legs for some warmth. But when I called him to come inside, he just gave me a sad look and puffed up even more. *sigh*

UPDATE: Apparenlty Blogger has decided that nobody should be allowed to comment on my blog! I've informed them of my displeasure. I'm awaiting their reaction.

UPDATE: Comments are working now. Yay!

Cat Rescue (kind of)

OK, so after Dobby and Madness I promised myself I'm not going to get involved in rescuing any more cats. Yea well.. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt!

Soooo... About 3 weeks ago I started seeing a cat around our apartment block hopping on 3 legs. It seemed he could not put any weight on his one front leg. He seemed pretty wild and I wasn't sure whether he was a stray or really feral. I felt sorry for him, but I absolutely cannot take in another cat! I just kept repeating: "You can't save every cat. You can't save every cat."

But, of course I also could not stand that he/she was in pain, an not try to help. So I got a trap from the lady that helped me before, and actually got him trapped on the first attempt. His left leg is swollen, but I cannot make out whether it is broken.

So this morning I took him to the vet. And it was good news. His leg is not broken. He does have a severe abscess. They treated the abscess and also neutered him.

So this evening I will set him free again. I wish I could find him a home, but he seem to be quite wild and I just don't have a place to keep a semi-feral cat for any length of time. He and Bubbles have gotten into several bad fights, so there is no chance that I can keep him in my apartment. Not to mention that my landlord will probably kick me out!

He is a beautiful cat. Well, at least he has been treated, neutered and got his shots. I feel I've done what I could with my resources.

Mamacat and Kitten need home

I have several times before mentioned the Lady that runs a local trap-neuter-return program and who is helping we out with trapping the rest of Dobby's family and getting them all sterilized (at no cost to me). You can read more about the wonderful work she does here.

I received the following e-mail from her today.

I have been fostering two cats since late August. The mother cat was trapped on campus by Facility Services with her three kittens. They had obviously been dumped. I couldn't find a foster home so I took them. I had the mama tested for leukemia and aids and she was negative so I did not test the kittens.

I adopted out all three of the kittens but the home for Benjy did not work out. I retrieved him five days after he was adopted and he was well on the way to becoming a feral kitten. He calmed down as soon as he returned to my house.

The mother cat was spayed the day all three kittens were adopted, which was a Monday. I brought her home on a Wednesday and she did not eat or drink or use the litterbox until I brought Benjy home on Friday. She was that upset that the kittens were gone. When I brought Benjy back, she jumped down from her hiding place and ate and drank within five minutes of his reappearance. If I had not retrieved him, I think she would have died. A few weeks later, I discovered she had been declawed. Some idiot decided the claws could go but didn't bother to fix her.

Well, after the trauma of all that and the many tears that I shed, I decided to let them calm down and didn't try to adopt them to anyone. I thought they both needed a break. I have now fallen in love with them but it is impossible for me to keep them. I have four inside cats that are between 14 and 17 years old and their adjustment to two new young cats would be too difficult. I am heartbroken that I can't keep them but they deserve a house to run around in and not just a room. I cry every time I think about giving them away but it is the right thing to do for them.

The mother cat is probably 1.5 years old. Benjy is about 7-8 months old. They are totally bonded and must go together. They play like kittens and they play hard.

Benjy is a born acrobat and he loves to fetch. His favorite toy is twist ties tied in a strand and then thrown somewhere. He will then chase them down and bring them to me. He also can catch them the way a dog catches a frisbee in mid-air. Mama Cat just watches and thinks he is nuts.

I believe the mother cat was abused. She does not seem to need petting. She is very verbal and I can pick her up and love her but she doesn't seem to demand it. After all this time, she has just started to jump into my lap. Benjy, being the bossy little thing that he is, jumps up immediately and Mama Cat leaves in a huff.

Benjy is completely bonded to me and I can hug and kiss him and rub his belly. I am going to need a wonderfully patient and kind-hearted cat lover who will win Benjy over. I know it can be done and I will make regular visits to the person's house to help make the transition happen if the new family/person will let me.

If you hear of anyone that is looking for two wonderful pets please let me know. All of their gear is going with them...litter boxes, scratching posts, bowls, chow, toys, etc. I want the transition to be as easy on them as possible.

Thanks for reading this really long email. I needed to let you all know the whole story.

Mamacat

Benjy

Mom and son

I know we are all just about filled up on our kitty quota. I myself am still looking for a home for Madness. But I would really like to help this lady out. She is doing such great work around our campus and she has helped me out so much with my "little project". We are in Baton Rouge, Louisiana but I'm pretty sure transport can be arranged if we can find a good home for these kitties.

Bonnie's Meme - The Bubbles Edition

My sweet Bathsheba tagged me for this meme.

A) Four places I have lived:

1. Under a house across the street from Meowmie's apartment
   
2. Up-and-down our street
   
3. My current house
   
4. That's it.
   

B) Four things I love to watch:

1. Birds
2. Mousies
   
3. Ratsies
   
4. Across the street, in case there is a cat I can fight with
   

C) Four places I have been outside my home:

1. Everywhere up-and-down our street
   
2. High-up in the palm tree in the courtyard
   
3. The far-away vet
   
4. The close-by vet

D) Four websites I visit daily:

1. The Cat Blogosphere (cat blogging news and mews)
2. Jake & Bathsheba's blog
   
3. Cute Overload
   
4. As many of my cat-friends as I can
   

E) Four of my favorite foods:

1. My crunchies
   
2. Arby's roast beef (only a few small pieces otherwise I blow chunks)
   
3. Subway's chicken teriyaki (ditto)
   
4. Cheese
   

F) Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Behind the apartment in the open field
   
2. Across the street
   
3. Up in the palm tree
   
4. Sitting on Meowmie's lap getting scrithes
   

G) Four toys I have owned and played with:

1. Fev-ver wand
2. My blue towel - good for bunny-kicks
3. Red lobster toy
   
4. The elusive red dot
   

H) Four nicknames my staff have tried to assign me:

1. Bubble-Meister
2. Little-Meister-Man
   
3. Mommy's-little-sweetheart
   
4. Prettiest-kitty-in-the-whole-world-purr-machine
   

I) Regarding Catnip:

1. Love it
2. It's nice
3. Could take it or leave it
4. Don't like it or can't have it
   

Answer: 2

J) Regarding Cat Grass:

1. Love it
2. It's nice
3. Could take it or leave it
4. Don't like it or can't have it
   

Answer: 3 (I eat outside) grass

K) First four things I'd buy after winning the lottery:

1. A new house for Madness, far, far away from me and my Meowmie
   
2. A place with a huge yard and no cars, neighbours or dogs
   
3. A place for homeless kitties so they don't all have to come live with us
   
4. More food for Mrs. B
   

L) Four things I do besides eat, sleep, and litterbox:

1. Hunt birdies, mousies and ratsies
   
2. Fight with other cats, especially Patches-man
   
3. Climb trees
   
4. Play and talk with my Meowmie
   

M) Four things I want to do this summer:

1. Get rid of Madness
   
2. Play with my Meowmie
   
3. Hunt
   
4. Look for cats to fight with
   

N) My four most prized possessions that have limited value to anyone else:

1. My Meowmie
   
2. My couch
   
3. My green blankie on my couch
   
4. My blue towel
   

O) What I’m going to do before tomorrow is over:

1. Look for a cat to fight with
   
2. Roll in the dust
   
3. Make sad faces to my Meowmie when Madness comes near me
   
4. Nap on my green blankie on my couch
   

P) Which of the following is your favorite place to hide and play?

1. Paper bags
2. Plastic bags
3. Boxes
4. Other (please describe)

Answer: 4 On the carpet with my blue towel

Q) Four other "pets" your staff have kept with you:

1. Mrs. B -she was here before me, so she's OK
   
2. The Little Terror aka Dobby
   
3. Madness
   
4. Isn't 3 enough?
   

R) Four furiends I tag to respond:

I think everybody has been tagged. Wait I tag Mrs. B, not Madness though. We already know more about her than we want.

Spay, Shmay

I' m back! Can you believe that The Freak left me at the awful vet place all night and only picked me up this morning?! And then she says she is my Mom. Ffffftttt! Well, I peed in my carrier just to let her know how annoyed I was. In your face, Freak! Here is my special annoyed look. You can also see a tiny piece of my shaved belly.

When I eventually came home, for some reason she wanted me to take it easy. Grrffff! I climbed all over everything. Did I mention that she left me there overnight?

The stupid Bubbles was cheesed off. Ha, ha, I bet he thought I was gone, like my stinky feet broffer Dobby. Well, surprise surprise B-man. You don't get rid of me that easily.

Thanks for all the well-wishes. I'm doing fine. Oh yea, I also tested negative for all the nasties. What did Freakazoid expect? My REAL Mom looked after me very well.

Now if I can just pull out these pesky stitches ... OK, maybe later, it's time for my nap.