When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap. —Cynthia Heimel
Well, it’s the end of July, and summer has been in full swing for a month or so now. With summer, we welcome a series of miscellaneous critters in our house, namely bugs. Mowgli has been proving his usefulness in this department for weeks.
Continue Reading 1 comment July 30th, 2008
Well, it’s May, and things at the Awesome household have more or less returned to normal except for the fact that we have one extra cat. Mowgli is officially one of the family, and his personality seems to come out more and more every day. He likes eating popcorn, routinely begs for whatever I’m cooking in the kitchen, and is known to steal things like tissues, pens, and jewelry.
He and Ravi are getting along, too. They’ve sort of come to an understanding that Mowgli is the little brother and that he will always annoy Ravi. Ravi uses this to his advantage and likes to get Mowgli in trouble, and they both like to chase one another around the house. Sometimes Chris and I feel like we need to take cover while they’re playing–they leap over the furniture, fly down the hallway, turn around, and run to the kitchen. It can feel like we’re sitting inside a race track sometimes. And yesterday, I returned home to an end table that was flipped over with remote control and pens all over the floor; I’m pretty sure it was a casualty from one of their chasing escapades.
And they wouldn’t want me to tell you this, but I caught them napping together in the office chair Friday night. We had company over, and I think they were avoiding other people, and the office is the one place they could retreat. I haven’t seen them snuggle since, but maybe they’re hiding their brotherly affection for one another.
Yep, Mowgli is part of the family. I’m sure I’ll have more updates soon!
Add comment May 6th, 2008
Ravi received this email from my mother last week:
Ravi,
I’ve been thinking about you and all the Sarah and Chris have been putting you through. How are you REALLY doing? I know what they are saying, but they might be hiding how upset you really are. If you need someone to talk to, just let me know – I’m a good listener.
I can see some benefits for you with a new feline on the scene. No, I’m not just trying to fool you into liking him! How could you think such a think. If you’ll just listen I’ll tell you what I was thinking. You know how you have had sole responsibility to bother Sarah and Christ when they are trying to sleep – well now you don’t have to do that all by yourself. Neither are you alone in putting things out on the floor for them to step on – I know how you like to see them hop around on one foot when they step one a piece of cat food. Then there is the hair thing – just how much hair can one cat be expected to loose and decorate the house with when they keep cleaning it up. It is a wonder you have any hair left after 2 years of interior decorating. And thing of all the times you’ll be able to nap because they are occupied with you know who. Long, long naps I know that is what you like (and tuna treats).
Well I’ve got to go, you know feed Sarah’s previous cat, Sullivan. Oh, she didn’t tell you he was still here – you’ll have to ask her about that and check for his cat hair when she comes home April 25. I know they say they are going to a concert, but I think Sarah needs to come see Sullivan. Don’t worry about Sullivan too much, he is pretty po’d that she left and is gone so long between visits. He gives her the cold shoulder at times and he really doesn’t like being inside ALL the time.
Hope to see you this summer. Hang in there and I’m sure you can find some other things for Mowgli to do. You are my favorite black cat.
Vicky
I don’t know which is crazier: the fact that I have an email account for Ravi or the fact that my mother sent an email to it.
1 comment April 22nd, 2008
Well, Mowgli has been in our family for three weeks now, and I think it’s time to show you some pictures!
Figure 1. Mowgli is smart.
In this first picture, you can see evidence of Mowgli’s intelligence. Note the glowing eyes that seem to thirst for knowledge. Mowgli will be going to University in the fall, where he will study the art of seduction begging for attention. He will also join the Mouse Chasers club and train for the 2012 Feline Olympic Trials. We hope to display a medal in the family trophy case.
Figure 2. Mowgli is enthusiastic.
In this second picture, note Mowgli’s perked ears. As you can see, he loves having his picture taken, and he loves his new owners. In his spare time, Mowgli likes to knead Sarah and Chris’s bellies, pounce on Ravi, and beg for attention (and tuna treats). He also likes to rub noses with his new friends and likes to generally be underfoot whenever Sarah or Chris are in the kitchen.
Figure 3. Mowgli is untameable.
In this third picture, see the raw power that emanates from Mowgli’s fur and paws. He is strong as a lion and swift as a leopard. He can jump over tall couches and chase plastic toys with the agility of a panther. After University, Mowgli hopes to get a job with the circus. He also hopes to meet a real lion.
Figure 4. Ravi likes pencils.
So that’s your introduction to Mowgli, the newest member of the Austin clan. For those of you who know our “first-born,” you can see the brotherly resemblance, but when you see them together, it’s easier to tell them apart. Mowgli is fluffier than Ravi, Mowgli is smaller than Ravi (except in the tummy), and Mowgli purrs louder than Ravi. In Figure 4, you can see that Ravi, on the other hand, is sleek, can jump higher, and likes snuggling quietly.
3 comments April 16th, 2008
Life is starting to return to normal around the Austin household. Today we left Mowgli out while we were at work, and since both cats were still alive and the house was still standing when I got home, I assume they got along pretty well. This weekend, we’ll start combining their “facilities” and see if they can eat and drink from the same dishes.
Ravi, smart cat that he is, has a new sleeping location. He has figured out that Mowgli is not a good jumper, so he likes to go to “higher ground” and look down on Numero Dos. The laundry room—atop the washer and dryer—is one place he likes to retreat; just yesterday, he found a laundry basket full of laundry and has made that his new default napping place. It’s up high, quiet, and most importantly, Mowgli can’t reach him there.
We’ve noticed that Mowgli has a thing for human food, particularly orange juice, buttered popcorn, and spaghetti. Every time we sit down to eat, he hops up on our laps to smell the food, but it doesn’t stop there. He insists on putting his nose in our plates and glasses until we are finished or until we’ve pushed him away with some subtle convincing. We’ll definitely have to teach him that he’s being rude and replace his actions with good manners.
He goes to the vet tomorrow for shots. He still has a little kitty cold. It was pretty gross last week; he sneezed all the time, and once his snot landed on the remote control and another time it got all over his face (and he licked it off). Yuck! Anyway, this trip to the vet is just to get him checked out (and I’m sure he wants to see all his lady friends there, too).
1 comment April 10th, 2008
Mowgli and I have a problem: I like naps, and he likes to make sure sleeping people are alive. Today’s nap after work was supposed to be all snuggly and warm with my favorite blanket, but every ten minutes or so I had a nose in my face. And when I covered my head with the blanket, someone pawed it off. He did, however, accept my invitation to snuggle with me under the blanket, and that seemed to resolve part of the problem. Believe me, the problem will be resolved.
He and Ravi still haven’t established Top Cat. This morning, Ravi sat outside Mowgli’s door, and I could see Mowgli’s shadow on the other side; so I presume they were working out their differences through the door. If If this continues to happen, I’ll have to assume they’re making plans for total world domination. Ravi made some strides tonight by claiming the couch, but even that was short lived since Mowgli is now asleep between Chris and I on the couch.
I’ll keep you posted…
1 comment April 8th, 2008
Well, we survived the weekend, and more importantly, the cats did, too. On Friday, we made the addition to the family official and gave Numero Dos his Austin christening: Mowgli.
I was off work on Friday, so the cats and I stayed home all day. By that time, I felt pretty comfortable letting Mowgli out of the office and letting him roam about the house on his own while I was home, and for most of the weekend, we let him out whenever we were home and not sleeping. Mowgli was fine with this arrangement; Ravi, not so much.
Here’s how the weekend pretty much went: We let Mowgli out, and he would immediately seek out Ravi. They would go around in circles growling and hissing at one another, and then they would separate for a bit. After a time, Mowgli would hunt down Ravi by sneaking up on him–sometimes while he was eating, sometimes while he was napping, sometimes while he was in the litterbox. Ravi would eventually be caught off guard, and he would hiss and growl at Mowgli, and the whole process would start again. By the end of the weekend, Mowgli started chasing Ravi around the house, and Ravi would retreat to one of his safe places. And the growling and hissing intensified.
It’s Monday night, and we still haven’t established who the top cat will be. On one hand, Mowgli is kinda aggressive toward Ravi and is instigating the trouble, but on the other hand, Ravi is bigger, older, and has sharper claws (Mowgli’s have been trimmed). So I think either of them could be top cat, but I’m sort of cheering for Ravi because he’s my “first born” of sorts. He just needs to grow a pair (and yes, I recognize the irony).
Add comment April 7th, 2008
Ravi is an enigma. As I write this update, he is making Gremlin-like noises at the black cat that is in our backyard, yet he still won’t have much to do with the “imposter” that’s sleeping in the office.
Wednesday went well. In general, there was less drama since we kept the two cats completely separated. We found that trails of tuna treats leading to the office door helped Ravi associate the new cat with his favorite treat, but he still wasn’t ready to get too close on his own accord. He’d been filling up on tuna treats, and we put a Numbero Dos-smelling towel under his dish, so he wasn’t eating much.
Numero Dos, on the other hand, was lonely and let the entire house know, so Chris and I spent some extra time with him in the office. We shot some pretty cute video and took some pictures, so maybe I’ll post those this weekend. Numero Dos really likes to play with little mice, and he likes to knead Chris’s tummy. It’s pretty funny.
Not much happened Thursday. Chris and I didn’t get home until 9:00, so the cats were separated again all day. Numero Dos was attention-starved and anxious to get out of the office, so we let him wander around on his own. Ravi was not pleased with our decision, but he dealt with it. The two had a few stand-offs, there was some growling and hissing, but no blood was shed.
Chris and I fell asleep in the living room, and when I awoke to go to bed, Numero Dos was sleeping on top of Chris’s stomach. I put Numero Dos to bed, and Ravi let me pick him up for a little bit. That’s the most contact he’s let me had with him all week.
And that’s been the Great Austin Cat-astophe for the last two days. It’s quite the soap opera…
Add comment April 3rd, 2008
Well, we made it through the night. Cosmo stayed in the office, and Ravi was on speaking terms with us by the morning. He did, however, poop on the kitchen rug while Chris and I were in the kitchen, which I think is a passive-aggressive protest of the recent events. We frantically cleaned the rug and left it on the patio, and we cleaned out the litterbox and moved it from the spare bedroom to the entryway, so Ravi wouldn’t have to go anywhere near the office door.
We left them as they were while we were at work, and the house was still standing when we came home. And all poop was in its assigned litterbox.
Ravi was in a much better mood when we got home and only growled at us if we smelled too much like Cosmo, so after we hung out with Cosmo in the office, we made sure we washed our hands well before approaching Ravi.
We don’t especially like giving Ravi too many tuna treats, but we’ve found that they’re a good incentive to approach the office door. We made a trail of tuna treats down the hall to the door, and he followed them all—right to the door. We also moved his food from the laundry room to the hallway as another way of associating something good with the office door (and therefore, the new cat). We’ll move his food closer and closer to the door this week and continue to make tuna treat trails to the door.
Cosmo got his scent all over my jeans, which were dirty anyway, so I left them in the living room near where Ravi likes to nap overnight. I also left a tuna treat on top of them. I’ll keep putting items that smell like Cosmo in our main living space this week (with tuna treats, I’m sure), so Numero Uno can get used to this new cat smell.
Cosmo is doing very well. He’s quite the love machine: he purrs non-stop and loves rubbing his face on everything that belongs to you. He also likes to love bite, and we have to keep him from rubbing our faces because once he starts rubbing, he tries to nip at us. He has a bit of a kitty cold, but he seems to already be shaking that. He farts quite a bit, and he drools some, too. Hopefully, these little issues will be resolved the older he gets and the more adjusted he gets to our family.
I know he’s only been here a day, but I’m already pretty attached to him…
3 comments April 1st, 2008
Well, we did it. After months of deliberation, we have finally decided to add another member to our family. Last Friday, Ravi and I went to the vet for a check up and shots, and while we were there, we met Cosmo. Cosmo had been found in a crate on the side of a road, and a client of our vet brought him in. He’s been the resident office cat for the last few weeks, but the friendly staff at Cobblestone Veterinary Hospital have been looking for a permanent home for Cosmo.
And Cosmo was exactly what we were looking for: Bombay mix, male, neutered, with claws.
So we brought him home today. The adoption isn’t official; we’re seeing how he fits into our family for a few days. He’s made himself right at home, much to the dismay of Ravi, Cat Numero Uno. We made the mistake of letting Cosmo roam around on his own, and poor Ravi has been beside himself, hiding under one of our end tables. We’re currently trying to repair the damage we’ve already caused by leaving Cosmo in our office. He has quite the set up in there: litterbox, water, food, office chair, and plenty of toys.
I’ll keep you posted on Ravi’s bruised ego and Cosmo’s adjustment to the family. And soon I’ll be able to tell you if we’re officially adopting him and what his new name will be!
Add comment March 31st, 2008
