A cat's work is never done

Everyone thinks that cats have the easy life with nothing to do all day by eat and sleep. This is absolutely not true. There are so many chores each day that wear us out and that is the real reason we take so many naps and need so much food for energy.

Here are just a few examples of the chores on my plate today. First I had to help Mom with the sheets when they came out of the dryer. You can see me helping in these photos for proof. I had to inspect the entire pile to make sure all the pillow cases were accounted for and that no mice were hiding out in the bundle.

Later I had to inspect the tree outside the front window to count the birds that are nesting there. Birds are clever and don't always come and go on schedule, so it can be very time consuming to sit and count. It can take hours.

I also had to take a bath. You'd be so surprised to see just how dirty my ears and tail get while chasing mice and moths. Checking out all those dark corners in the basement is murder on my whiskers too. Some humans get weekly manicures, well I need a weekly Whiskercure. They get covered in cobwebs and just look awful unless I maintain a strict beauty regime.

Finally at night I have to carry all my "babies' upstairs at bedtime. Since my mouth is on the small side, this takes multiple trips up and down the stairs.

And it all starts all over again the next morning at 5am when I have to work my little tail off to get my Mom out of bed to give us breakfast. You'd be amazed what she can sleep through. I will sit on her chest, tap her on the face, lick her hand and sometimes even that doesn't work. That's when I get my brother Dexter to help.

So don't go around thinking a cat's life is all sunbathing and sleeping. We work hard for our keep.

I love my brother

One thing I am really glad about is that I got adopted into a family with a cool older brother. Dexter is great. When Mom throws his special mouse and I chase it too he lets me. He won't even mind if I grab it and run away with it. He is twice my size, so I'd be in big trouble if he decided to fight me, but he never does. He just lets me do whatever pops into my kitten brain.

At night he lets me snuggle with him and at dinner time he never complains when I nudge him out of his bowl to check out what he's eating. He just switches to my bowl without blinking an eye.

Tonight he even let me use him as a footstool to rest my tired tootsies after we raced around the house together, sounding like galloping elephants according to Mom. To thank him late, I washed his ears for him because I really do love him.

A catnip momment

I have to start out by saying, I am very shy. Most visitors don't even know that my family has two cats because as soon as I hear that doorbell, I am in the basement and I don't come up again until I am certain that the coast is clear.

Occasionally I have to make an appearance if the guests stay overnight, but when that happens, I make sure that I hug the baseboards and slink around and generally try to make myself invisible just long enough to grab some dinner.

However, in the time that I have been living here, I have finally gotten to the point where I can let my hair down and really let loose and live as long as there are no strangers present. In this photo you see me in one of my more wild moments. I am pretty sure I was under the influence of catnip in this case which definitely helps me chill. Normally I would never be this relaxed in daylight and downstairs. I typically reserve this type of unbridled behavior for the top level of the house where, for some unknown reason, I feel the most safe.

A typical day

Today was a typical day and I thought my readers might like to know what that was like. It starts at 5:15am. Even though my Mom sets her alarm for this time, I am always afraid it won't go off and she might oversleep. At least two times a week, I am proved right (usually Saturday and Sunday), if I hadn't been diligent, everyone would have overslept.

Anyway, just in case, I start a few minutes before the alarm is supposed to go off. I alternate between tapping Mom on the cheek with my paw and tapping the alarm clock. Eventually the alarm goes off or Mom gets up and Dexter and I race to beat her to the kitchen for breakfast.

After breakfast we both go back up stairs and sit on the bed while Mom gets ready for work and then we race her back down again when she goes down for her breakfast.

During the day while Mom and Dad are work, we mostly sleep. Sometimes we will wake up between cat naps and chase each other around the house or give each other a bath. If the windows were left open, we might sit on the window sill for part of the day watching the birds and of course when anyone comes home we immediately begin lobbying for more food. We aren't really hungry, but Dexter says we have to do this, so we do.

In the evening, when Mom comes home from work, she will often try to get us to play with our little stuffed mice. This is really, really fun. They rattle and so Mom will shake them and we get so excited and then she throws them across the hardwood floor. We both race after them, but because the floors are so slippery, we usually can't stop in time and end up doing summersaults and other embarrassing but fun maneuvers.

After we get tuckered out, we go back to the scratching post and get comfortable and take our evening nap.

Later, when Mom and Dad go upstairs to watch TV, it is time for me to deliver my babies upstairs. I have two babies. Both look like long strips of fleece attached to a black stick because that's what they really are. Every evening, one at a time, I gather up the fleece in my mouth and drag the "baby" upstairs, mewing the whole time. I drop the baby on the floor and return downstairs to get the other one. Once that job is done, I can climb on the bed and cuddle with Mom until she is ready to go to sleep.

So now you see what my day is like.

I love the Mewvies

My brother Dexter gets into trouble a lot. He often gets up on the kitchen island even though he's been told not to more times than I can count. Mom decided that perhaps he was doing it out of boredom and when she heard about something called a "Mewvie", she bought it for us.

We both love it. We just can't resist it and we could watch for hours except that Mom says she has to limit our screen time so that we get enough exercise.

These Mewvies are so realistic that sometimes I get so wrapped up in the action that I find myself looking behind the TV when the squirrels run off the screen. If you haven't watched one yet, you have to try it. In the photo, you can see our favorite - the Bird Table.

Today I had a Face Massage

Today was a great day. I was lazily lounging in a sun patch near the back door feeling so relaxed and deliciously warm when Dexter plopped down beside me and started licking me on the face. Believe me, unless you'd experienced this, you just don't know how nice and relaxing this is. It is like getting a face massage.

After a bit, I wanted to do the same for him and we ended up trying to lick each others faces at the same time. It was funny and fun.

Meeting my new brother Dexter

As I said in my last post, I came home after my little operation. Mom put my carrier down in the family room while she took off her coat and my new brother Dexter came up to the carrier to check me out.

He was a bit scary looking (because he was so much bigger than me), but he didn't growl or hiss and I was used to taking care of myself out on the streets so I didn't worry too much about him. He seemed to be a big softy.

Mom had a plan all mapped out to ensure we got off on the right foot. She set up a room for me upstairs complete with en-suite litter box. Dexter wasn't going to be allowed in this room for an entire weekend, while I recovered from my surgery and got used to my new mom. The room had a bed and Mom was going to sleep with me every night to help me adjust.

Dexter had other plans. While Mom and I were in the room with the door closed, Dexter knew I was in there. He stuck his big orange and white paws under the door trying to touch me and cried to come in.

Eventually, Mom caved and allowed him in for a few minutes. She and Dad video taped our first meeting and we did quite well. I let Dexter know who was boss and for the most part ignored him. He sniffed me all over and tried to touch me, but was gentle. He wasn't a bully and I appreciated that.

That first night, Mom let him in again when we were on the bed and Dexter was so sweet. He came up to where I was curled up between my new mom's knees and he snuggled up next to me and went to sleep.

Ever since that night, we often snuggle up together at night and cuddle together. He really is a great brother who made me welcome from day one.