Office Supurrvisors (in Training)

As you may remember, Boudicca was my designated Office Supurrvisor, as she hung out in her bed-box or sprawled on the window seat to sunbathe. That way she could be near me, close enough to receive scritches, but not be in the way.

“Being an Office Supurrvisor is not for novices.”

“I’ll lay here in case you feel like petting me. No pressure though.”

The boys haven’t quite figured out the duties of being an upstanding Office Supurrvisor yet. Garrus and Charlie, especially, have been rather persistent and increasing their frequency of desk visits, and Charlie likes to bunt my hands and paw at the cursor.

“Hi Mom! We think you should take a study break and feed us dinner at 3 PM!”

“Pardon? Were you doing schoolwork? What do you mean we’re in the way?”

The boys recognize the tone of my voice and gestures, so if I ask them to get down, they do. Thankfully, they don’t knock items off my desk either, but they have smacked me in the face with their tails a couple of times! Silly cats!

Super Cozy

Mau is such a chill cat, especially in the evenings during regularly scheduled lap time. He loves to snuggle and can be found flipped on his back nestled between us. We can also tuck Mau into our throw blankets and he seems quite happy to snooze there.

He purred at me as I took photos.

Look at how handsome he is!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Happy New Year!

May you all have a most happy new year!

As you can see, Charlie and Mau will start 2019 with a snooze in Aaron’s sock bin.

Garrus found a perch on Aaron’s freshly folded shirt. The boys have been exploring the clothes rack lately. So much climbing!

Mostly snuzzling (snoozing + snuggling – or would that be snoozling?) though. So much zzz.

Happy New Year!

What are your plans for New Year’s Eve? Share in the comments! 

Desk Visits

Garrus has always been reserved but he has been slowly becoming more affectionate. Being on Zylkene has noticeably helped him be more relaxed, faff about less and actually eat at meal times, and regularly ask for pets. He’s not accustomed to being picked up or held much, though, so we will continue to work on that.

Lately, Garrus started jumping onto Aaron’s Mac desk in his office and recently started to do the same on my desk more often as well. At first, he was more interested in sniffing the monitors and investigating everything on the desk. When he turned his attention to either Aaron or me, he seemed like he didn’t know what to do. (Charlie and Mau, by contrast, know exactly how to ask for pets and can be most persuasive about it.) We talk to him and offer him scritches, and if he is in the way (e.g. standing in front of the monitor we are working on), we can ask him to move and he does. He doesn’t knock items off the desk either.

“Excuse me, I would like attention please.”

“Pardon me, madam. Would you please take a break from reading your library book to give me scritches? I would most appreciate it.” After giving me this look, he softly bunted my chin and he received a smooch on his head in return. [please excuse the messy desk]

Often, when Garrus comes over for desk visits, Charlie trots into my office squeaking and flops onto the window seat for his own visit. Then I have to ensure both kitties get enough attention! It’s a demanding job to be sure.

Look at this purr monster!

I believe that Charlie is a happy little boy. I mean, look at that face!

Do your cats demand desk visits? Do they demand visits in other locales in your home? Do they get obnoxious about it or are they polite? Please share in the comments!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

The boys are certainly thankful for their blue elephant pillow because it has room for three.

Mau is thankful for his housemates aka his pillows.

But most of all, we’re thankful for each other.

The Bromance Thickens

Charlie and Garrus have been best buds since the summer of 2017, just before we brought them home as fosters. They see each other as belonging to the same “social group,” groom each other, play together, and snuggle together. Charlie often uses Garrus as a pillow, which apparently, Garrus doesn’t seem to mind.

But look at this! Garrus’ position as Charlie’s pillow has been usurped by Mau! Scandalous!

I can tell you that all three were making happy kitty sighs. Charlie was nearly snoring with contentment. You can actually see him smiling in his sleep too.

Lovey Boy

Mau likes to snooze on the cat tree and purrs most happily whenever he gets a visit.

Toothless King of the House

It’s hard to believe that Mau has been with us for two months now. When we brought him home in late June, he was timid and certainly not feeling his best given the advanced state of her periodontal disease. In the Pflugerville Animal Shelter, prior to his transfer to Austin Pets Alive! and foster care, he was withdrawn, gaunt, not eating much, and spending most of his time in a plastic bin in his cat condo.

He just looked so sad, stressed out, and in need of serious TLC. Although volunteers regularly loved on him and brushed him, his coat was in a sorry state because he did not groom himself very well.

We breathed a huge sigh of relief when Mau started eating wet food and ate with relish! Because he was underweight, we gave him additional small meals. What does it say about our house that two out of three cats need to eat like Hobbits in order to get to a healthy weight?

When Aaron and I spent time with him, we were nevertheless struck by how sweet he was. With photos like this, it was quite apparent that we had a most handsome boy on our hands too.

One month later, he showed us how much he loved human company and that he was thoroughly down with snuggles. Lap time is an imperative!

After he had his long-awaited and much-needed dental surgery, he started to blossom. While sick, he demonstrated little interest in playing (understandable) but once he started feeling better, we caught him batting crinkle balls and springs around the house. He hopped into boxes and raced up the cat tree, unceremoniously unseating Charlie from his favorite platform.

Our evenings are MC’d by this lovey boy. Isn’t he cute? He greets us with an enthusiastic  and demanding “MEH!” and purrs when he receives the attention he wants. And he’s charmingly fluffy too!

Foster Anniversary

At last year’s Clear the Shelter event (held on Saturday, August 19th), our lives changed when we decided to foster two tabbies. We had not fostered before but Aaron and I decided jointly that these boys really needed us.

Aristotle was gaunt, pitiful-looking, and had patchy fur due to overgrooming. Because of his severe stomatitis, he had (understandably) a poor appetite.

Tink, then two years old, had spent cumulatively 18 months at the shelter (partly in foster care). He had been adopted and returned three times, and had recently lost his buddy cat Pan. While he had been successfully paired with a new buddy, Tink was decidedly not doing well in the shelter and spent 95% of the time hiding.

Both cats were skittish, extremely shy, and wary. They needed a lot of TLC and a quiet respite from the shelter. In our care they made noticeable improvements, especially because we were patient and made an effort to gain their trust. Only two weeks later they moved in! Since we brought them home during the Clear the Shelter event, the adoption fees were waived.

A year later, they are very different, and much happier, cats. They are no longer so skittish and timid. Charlie (formerly known as Tink) blossomed into a perpetually sunny, friendly, and affectionate cat. He squeaks! He flops! He snuggles! Garrus (formerly known as Aristotle) underwent dental surgery to treat his stomatitis and is now a much healthier cat with bunny-soft fur. While still on the reserved side, he now asks for visits, bats at crinkle balls, and chases after the red dot with gusto.

As you can see, Charlie and Garrus are not concerned. They may, however, be only slightly overloved in our house.

Mau the Beautiful

Mau is doing well on his regimen of antibiotics and painkillers. His coat is getting healthier and he eats up to two cans of wet food a day despite his dental issues. We brush him frequently and there are far fewer mats as a result.

Much to our delight, he has started to show a more playful side by chasing after the red dot and batting the crinkle ball and spring around. Oddly though, he only plays with the latter toys when no one else is around! When he wants to explore, though, there’s no stopping him. He really wants to be friends with Charlie and especially Garrus. In a few ways, he does not act like a senior cat! Above all, Mau is a lovey-dovey lap cat who complains when he is left alone or denied access to said lap.

Aaron took two fantastic photos of Mau. Of course I immediately wanted to share them because they show how beautiful Mau really is.

“Hello. I am Mau and I am incredibly gorgeous. You should pet me.”

“Oooh! What’s over there? I wanna go on an adventure!” I love the expression on his face in this photo. Mau really is a darling cat and not just in terms of looks.