Very slow response!

Hi Everyone!

Sorry to keep you waiting for so long. The stork brought our blurpy girl on Friday, Sept. 5th, but the stork didn't bring her to the house. Mom and Dad had to go get her. It was kind of rough because Mom was gone for days and we missed her so much. Fortunately, we had the grandmas here to keep us company while she was gone. Then one day Mom came home, but there was no blurpy girl! It turns out she's ok though. Something happened and she was very yellow and had to stay more time in the hospital (2 extra days). They let mom stay the first extra day, but not the second. Oh, and Mom says the yellow was caused by a very big bruise on the baby's head from a long and sort of difficult birth. But everyone is ok now and we've all been home together since the 9th.

The grandmas stayed for awhile after that and then they left and we've been trying to settle into a routine. Mom has been terrible about helping us blog, but we are forgiving her because it seems all she does is feed the blurpy girl (they had some trouble with that at first too, but it's worked out now), try to sleep, and try to sneak in loving with us when she can. There was one point where she didn't even shower for days! So we are forgiving her.

Harlie had a tough adjustment at first. I moved right into my role of big brother and like to check on the baby when she's sleeping (but I know not to get in the cradle with her!) and sit next to Mom on the arm of the couch when it's feeding time, but Harlie was upset at first and wouldn't go near the baby or Mom and just kept close to Dad and the Grandmas. But within a few days, everything was back to normal, and she's back to sleeping on Mom at night, which she hasn't been able to do since before Mom got huge, and she seems to like the smell of the baby now.

It will still probably be a few days before we can come around and visit other blogs, but we wanted to make sure to finally update. Sorry it took us so long, but if we can be patient with Mom, hopefully you can too! So without further ado... here are some pictures!

Abigail Elizabeth
Born September 5, 2008
8 pounds, 3oz, 20 inches long

Here's Harlie getting her first look. Moments later her tail was puffed up and she went under the bed. It's hard to tell here, but there is a kitty face embroidered on the baby's hat!

Here she is with our Dad. There are kitties and bunnies on her shirt.
Here she is strengthening her neck and back muscles!

Here she is wearing another kitty shirt!

Hopefully we'll be around more soon! Lots of purrs and love to all of you in the blogosphere!

Purrs,
Mattingly

Lots of Waiting

Well, our blurpy baby girl is late. Mom and Dad have thought she was on her way here a few times, but they were false alarms. Mom is spending her days working on the computer and waiting and every day Mom and Dad go out and do something in the hopes they can make the thing come. There's also a lot of waiting involved for our outdoor kitty friend. Mom and Dad spotted her last week on their way home from the store one night, and Mom stayed outside with her, but she was scared off before Dad could make it back downstairs with some food and the carrier. Mom came upstairs with leaky eyes because she said the kitty didn't look as good as other times they had seen her. Nocat has eaten the food they've been putting out for several days now. For awhile, the food was being eaten by somecat. They couldn't be sure it was her, but at least there was hope as long as it was disappearing, but now it's been almost a week since the food was eaten. We won't give up hope though.

In the meantime, there is all this great baby stuff around the house that we would like to explore and sleep in, but we are not allowed. I made it into one of the beds once, but right after that, things got sticky, and nothing associated with this baby seems to be comfortable. (NOTE FROM MOM: We put contact paper upside down in the cradle, pack 'n play, and on the changing table. It is kind of mean, but very effective!)

So what are Harlie and I doing to keep busy with all the waiting? Well, I'm spending as much quality time with Dad as I can, since soon he will probably be pretty distracted:
Harlie is enjoying the new bed they got just for us, but that she took over almost exclusively:
I prefer to keep napping on Mom's slippers. I love these slippers.
Hopefully we'll have some good news to report soon!

Generous Gifts

Last week, we all received a very lovely package from our dear friends The Crew. Mattingly and I knew it was coming because they emailed us ahead of time, but it was a complete surprise to Mom and Dad. They were very tickled. The box was full of stuff for our new baby bean girl who is due to arrive any day now. Mattingly was first to check out the bibs and clothes...
...while I looked at the books. At first I wasn't to thrilled about a book with a dog on the cover, but there was a kitty inside, so it was ok.
Then I wanted to check out the bibs and clothes for myself...
I asked Mom if she thought a bib might look nice on me since they were pink and girly and I'm a girl! Maybe Max would think I would look pretty, and I've never tried on fashions before like some of the kitties I admire, Daisy and Lilly Lu.It turns out wearing a bib wasn't all I thought it would be and I don't think I'll be wearing any fashions again.

Also in the box was a package of some nice smelling bath stuff for Mom to pamper herself with. It was wrapped in plastic, so of course I had to try to eat some of it. I love plastic.But by far, the best gift of all was the box that everything came in. It's always the best part.Thank you so much Crew! It was so furry sweet of you to think of our family and get our baby blurpy girl some gifts. Now we just have to get her here so she can wear them! Mom and Dad are getting pretty impatient at this point. We'll be sure to keep you posted!

Keeping a lookout

We've been watching out for the outdoor kitty. Mom and Dad have been putting out food every night. It seems like she ate it the first few nights, but then we had some big rain storms, and she doesn't seem to have come back since. They were able to borrow another trap from Dad's co-worker though, so they are going to try that. We'll keep you posted on how that goes!

Remembering

We have been thinking so much about Sprout and her family these past few days, and will continue to pray and purr for them today. We'll be back blogging about other things after tomorrow.

We're speechless...

... and sending all our purrs and prayers.

Outdoor kitty friend

**This post is written by Mom**

Hi everyone. Thanks for the well-wishes. No baby bean here yet... should be only 2 or 3 weeks now!

You may remember that I was trying to catch a stray/feral kitty over the winter. I posted about it here and here. Well, after those posts and the day I fed her on the sidewalk, I didn't see her again for months. For several weeks I kept putting out the trap I had borrowed, and I took lots of walks looking for her, and all winter I carried a can of food in my coat pocket, but I never saw her again. Eventually, the lady I borrowed the trap from needed it back, so I returned it and just prayed that my sweet little tuxie girl found a safe place to make it through the winter.

Then, about two months ago, my husband reported sighting her while he was walking to our building after a late shift. It was dark and she was farther down the block so he couldn't give me any details about how she looked, but he could tell it was her from her limp. I was so happy to hear that she was alive and survived the winter! I meant to blog about it then, but I forgot.

Two nights ago, my husband was coming home after a late shift again (it was about 1am) and he called me from outside our building to tell me she was hiding under a car. So I threw on some clothes and grabbed a can of food and ran downstairs. I was able to coax her out with the food and get her on the sidewalk. She looked ok, a little scruffy and dirty, but here eyes were clear. She wouldn't let us get too close, but I again had the impression that she is used to being fed by people. Her ears perked and her head turned as soon as I popped the top on the can. She knows that sound! She was moving quickly through the food so my husband ran upstairs and got one of our carriers just in case and another can. At one point we had her half in the carrier eating out of a can of food! I thought we were going to catch her! But I think we were too ambitious and we spooked her. She ran in the bushes and wouldn't come out again for us. We were both heartbroken, but at that point she had eaten 1.5 cans of food, so we just couldn't lure her back out. I left the remaining half a can for her and went in to bed (it was almost 2am at that point).

Yesterday I retrieved the can from the bushes and the rest of the food was gone so I hope she ate it. Last night I put out another can in the same spot... secluded in the bushes where she had gone to hide and feel safe. This morning the can was nearly empty! We don't have a trap and she's so spooked I'm not sure I want to go that route right now anyway. Our plan is to put food out every night and get her used to coming to the same place, and then maybe try to trap her in a few weeks. Though, of course we are going to be very busy in a few weeks. We won't give up on her though! It's so tough because there are so many dogs and people around all the time. I have no way of knowing if it's her that ate the food, but I can't sit outside every night at 1am, especially in my current condition! And I'm worried that we blew it by spooking her.

For those with experience, does this seem like a good plan? I want to catch her, but I don't have quite the same sense of urgency I had in the winter. It's apparent that she can survive and take care of herself. She's fast, even on her limpy leg. She obviously found a place to get through the cold nights and winter storms. She's not nearly as filled out as Mattingly or Harlie, but neither is she scrawny. And it does seem that she has some experience being fed by people, so I think someone somewhere has their eye on her. I want her off the street, so I'm going to keep trying, but I also know these things take time. I read many stories when I was trying to catch her the first time, and I know sometimes it can take months to build up relationships and get them trapped. So I'm going to try to be patient. Again though, I welcome any advice!

Thanks for making it through this extremely long post! Mattingly and Harlie have a new one coming up later this week... I promise!

Chubby Lee

Hi everyone,

The reasons for our much less frequent posts will be given below, but first I need to talk about something upsetting. Harlie and I went to the vet on Thursday for physicals and shots. That is always a horrible experience, but this time it was even worse. It seems I have gained two pounds in the past year (Harlie gained one!). The vet said it was ok, but we definitely shouldn't gain any more than that. So since coming back from the vet, Mom has taken to calling me "Chubby Lee" and I don't think it's very nice. They don't call me Mattingly much anymore, but that's fine because they often call me Mr. Lee which I think is pretty respectful, so that's ok. But Chubby Lee is just mean. It's not that bad! See!?!?!?!?

And I'm sorry, it's particularly rude because it's not like Mom is so fit and thin these days.
Take a look in the mirror lady!:

That's right, in just a few weeks Harlie and I are getting a sister. Mom has been so stressed trying to finish her dissertation and get ready for fall teaching (since she will miss the first several weeks of the semester) that she hasn't been able to help us blog much. Plus for awhile there she kept sleeping all the time! Since she's been home for the summer, she's been hard at work, and has been sure to use her extra time to give us lots of love at attention, and to knit. She's been knitting like crazy, but she made us some cat toys too, so that's ok. This picture was taken a few weeks ago, so she's even bigger now!

At first we were hoping for a kitty sister, but Mom assures us she'll be human. Stay tuned! Things are about to get crazy around here!

Behind again!

Since we've last blogged, we've missed both my birthday and Harlie's gotcha day. We've got a good excuse, which we'll post about soon. Unfortunately, Mom has lost the camera and can't upload the recent pictures. For now, Harlie wants to display the flowers that Max planted for her back on May 1st (which we just found out about today), and also, we thought we would just show some tummy shots to hold you over until our big update post. Purrs to you all!

Frustrated on Friday

Hi kitties. I would like to share a story with you. I know that Mom and Dad love Mattingly and I very much, but sometimes I don't think we get all the respect we deserve. I'm going to give you an example below.

One morning I was sleeping peacefully on the bed:
This is a very comfortable sleeping position and I sleep like this a lot. But I should know better... because it is very easy to get disturbed in this situation. And sure enough, Dad saw me, and even though he was getting ready for work, went and got the camera.

The flash and the camera noise bothered me so I covered my eyes and asked him to leave me alone. But he couldn't help himself and had to rub my tummy. So I was awake and irritated, as you can see in the picture below.
Dad finally left me alone and went off to get ready for work and I went back to sleep, but before I knew it, he was back in the bedroom to put on his socks. And where did he sit? But almost right on top of me!!!I glared really hard into his back to see if he would get the hint and move, but he didn't right away.Eventually he did leave and go to work... but by that point I had given up on the bed and was off to the living room somewhere. Does this ever happen to you? The beans can have the bed at night, but during the day it belongs to the kitties. When will they learn? I wish I could say this was the first time it happened, but things like this happen all the time. I suppose it's a small price to pay for the food, and shelter, and toys, and all the love we get. But still... we are cats... we deserve respect!

Toesday

Here are some leftover shots from the photoshoot I showed yesterday. They are appropriate for Toesday!

Photo Shoot

So I'm certainly not on par with such accomplished cat models as Daisy and Skeezix, but I was inspired to do a bit of modeling of my own after our TV seemed to run old episodes of America's Next Top Model almost continuously this past weekend. For some reason, my Mom is hiding her head in shame. Anyway, since we are so relieved to hear the good news about Lilly Lu, Mu Shue and Iris, I thought I would step out of my comfort zone a bit and show you how I let loose on the bed and let mom do a photo shoot. Enjoy!



Does this still qualify for Mancat Monday? I'm not so sure.

Praying so hard

We had a fun post to put up tonight, but we aren't in the mood anymore after hearing about the News with MuShue, Lilly Lu, Iris, and their Momma. We've decided to just spend our energy on extra purrs and prayers for them. We can't even imagine what their Momma is feeling tonight, but we hope she can sense all the love and support.

Not very lady-like

Here I am trying to look more refined and lady-like in my photos and Mom went and took a picture of my behind!

That's not very polite at all. I'm appalled. Really.

A Little Goofy on Monday

I've been working on trying to look regal and pretty in my photos, the way a real ladycat should... but sometimes I just can't help being goofy.

Sweet Dreamer

It's a rainy day today, perfect for long naps and sweet, sweet dreams.

We miss everything...

So FINALLY, Mom decides we should blog again. It's been weeks... almost two months, and so many things have happened. First off, Harlie and I need to apologize tremendously to our special kitties, Max and Tipper. They sent us valentines, but today is the first time we've checked our email in over two months!! So here are the very, very sweet valentines sent to us by two very, very sweet kitties...
We send our deepest, most heartfelt apologies for missing such a special day and not even noticing that we had valentines until almost April!

So what's been going on? Well for a few weeks Mom was spending all her free time in the daylight and evenings looking for that kitty she was writing about. She has not seen the kitty once since our last blog post. We had a few big snows, and Mom was out there frantic, but there's been no sign of her. Mom is sure to always carry a can of catfood in her jacket or her school bag just in case the pretty little tuxie girl pops up again. We borrowed a trap from a nice cat rescue lady, but after a month she needed it back. She said she will loan one to Mom pronto if she ever sees the kitty again. We are hoping that someone else found her and took her in and is loving her. We have to think that, otherwise Mom starts crying.

What else has happened? Oh, Harlie turned 2 last Sunday! Thank goodness Catster sent Mom an email to remind her. Harlie got extra kisses, but that's about it. Everyone was working that day too. We need to thank Smeagol and Strider for remembering Harlie's birthday and leaving a nice Birthday Wish for her in the comments. So many kitties have left us such nice comments in our last few posts. We need to get out there and comment back!

Other than that, Mom and Dad have been busier than ever. Mostly work... Mom is teaching only three classes this semester instead of four, but using all the rest of that time to work on her dissertation that is still not finished (after more than a year of "writing"). But she MUST finish it this semester she says. We aren't sure why, but she said she'll tell us soon. In the meantime, Harlie and I are just doing our best to look regal.



Purrs to you all!

Stray/Feral Update

Hi All,

Thanks so much for your encouragement and suggestions. I haven't seen the kitty since I fed her on Thursday. I went out last night at the same time in the same spot with a bowl of food and a magazine. No sign of her after an hour. After that it was dark and cold so I walked around a bit and then just went inside (this would be so much easier if we just had our own property!). I've gone weeks without seeing her before, but then, I've never gone out specifically looking for her before this week. I've decided that I am just going to carry a can of food with me at all times so I can be prepared if I run into her unexpectedly again. And of course I'll keep going out in the evenings.

To answer the questions about what I will do if I catch her, the answer is first to take her to the vet of course. I want her to be thoroughly checked out. I am now convinced that the leg is an old injury, so not as urgent as I was concerned about on Sunday night when I feared there might be an open wound or something. But still I want her to have all her shots, get the leg looked at and make sure she is healthy. The we will get her spayed if she hasn't been already. We have a two bedroom apartment, so we can keep her shut away from Mattingly and Harlie while she gets and rest and recuperates from any procedures. If she seems like she can be socialized, we'll work with her on that and then find her a good home. The rescue group offered to help with that. If she is truly feral and not a stray, the local rescue group said they would help us get her into a sanctuary for injured ferals. Unfortunately, we won't be able to keep her long term assuming she is totally healthy. As it is, we have two cats in an apartment that doesn't allow pets (though the landlord isn't a huge stickler about this). We'll keep her with us as long as necessary to get her completely healthy and into a safe home though.

So my plan for today is to carry food with me when I go out for my walk and to the grocery, and also to see if I can track down the people who feed the cats in the neighborhood. She's going to be really hard to get into a routine of feeding with me since she already has another source of food somewhere else. If I can find the regular feeders, I'm hoping to be able to work with them on trying to get her. No matter what, I'll go out again tonight before dusk with food and my magazine (and a warmer jacket this time) and just keep hoping for the best. I have a feeling this is going to take some time!

Thanks again for all the help and encouragement!

Harlie and Mattingly's Mom

Advice about a stray/feral tuxedo girl

Mattingly and Harlie's Mom here... this is probably going to be a long post, so bear with me.

Last April we all moved to a new apartment building. I was relieved at first not to see any ferals around, since there were so many in our last neighborhood (Mattingly was one as a kitten) that it used to break my heart all the time, even though I knew they were being fed by the local rescue group (that we got Harlie from). A few times over the past few months though I noticed a small, black and white cat that I assumed was a female based on her very small stature. When I saw her this past Sunday, I noticed that she was limping and decided I needed to catch her and have her looked at. It was the first time I had noticed the limp, but my husband said he thought she always limped. So I got in touch with some local rescue groups and found a lady who was willing to loan me a Havahart trap and show me how to use it and everything. I was able to get everything Tuesday evening, so I put the trap out then and again on Wednesday (I got permission from our building super to trap the cat on this property). I brought it in at midnight though because the lady who loaned me the trap warned that even though we live in a very populated area, she tends to catch things like raccoons real late at night, and since this trap does not have a back door, it would be very hard to get a raccoon out. So I put the trap out from 6pm to midnight and got nothing.

Late this afternoon, around 5:20pm, I was walking home from the grocery and there she was just grooming herself in the middle of the sidewalk. Since she was grooming her delicate parts I am now almost certain she is a "she", but then, that fur is black so it's hard to tell. Anyway, I had some cat food in my bag, so I popped the top off one and put it on the sidewalk. At first she hid under a car, but I backed far off the food and she came out to eat. I moved it to the grass so she would be out of the way of everything, but even though we were not on a main road, we were still on a pretty high-traffic sidewalk, especially at that time of day. I of course didn't have the trap or anything with me.

I was able to get a decent look at the back leg that she limps on and it's clearly an old injury... almost like she was in a fight or hit by a car. The whole leg is turned out a bit at the hip. She gets around on it, but I worry because she really needs her back legs to be strong to get away and defend herself on the streets. Otherwise, her eyes were clear, there were no visible mites in her ears, and her coat was pretty shiny and rather healthy looking. She ate about half a can of food before she got completely chased off by a young child (I won't go into my frustrations about that). One lady that stopped while she was eating did tell me that she knew about some people who fed strays/ferals a few blocks over, so I felt better knowing that there is some source of food out there... and I was also heartened that she ate only about four feet away from me, so she must have had some experience with human contact.

Anyway, now I don't know what to do. I've never tried to catch a stray/feral before, and the fact that we don't have our own property/lawn/garden makes it very difficult. Where I saw her today (about half a block away from where I was putting the trap) I don't think i can put the trap out. There are no bushes to hide it in, and it was in front of another building, so I don't have permission to trap there. Not only that, it's right by a dog walk where locals take their dogs in the evening to do their business. I don't dare leave the trap in plain sight since it's not mine and I don't know if it will be tampered with or stolen (though obviously I would replace it if something were to happen to it). And I obviously can't sit out with the trap on the sidewalk all night. I'm thinking about going out tomorrow at the same time with food and the trap, but I'm wondering if I should try something less intimidating like putting the food in one of our carriers and trying to close the door with her in it. I just don't know. I've never done anything like this before. I thought about trying to find the people who feed the strays and ferals in the area, but I wouldn't know how. Our block is all large apartment buildings, and the houses a few blocks over are all close together and have high fences, so I wouldn't even be able to see into yards to see where food and shelter is set up. I walk these neighborhoods quite a bit and never noticed anything. So I just don't know the best way to proceed. Prayers and any advice are tremendously appreciated. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks,
Harlie and Mattingly's Mom

Not a Good ManCat Monday

Here I am moping on the office chair. Why am I moping? Because I've just realized what a lousy mancat I am. I forgot my very first anniversary with my special girl Tipper. And I didn't just forget it. I REALLY forgot it. I'm over a month late! This is the post from last year when I let her know how I feel. I'm afraid that now that I've forgotten our anniversary, she'll think my feelings have changed. But I promise you Tipper... they haven't! I hope you can forgive me. Would you like to come over and play Cat Dancer with me? It's my most favorite toy ever, and lots of times I don't even let Harlie play. But I'll let you play any day. We've got extra treats and even a cushy new bed to sleep on. What do you say? Will you forgive me?

I hope she forgives me.

My Cave Habit

It hasn't been very cold lately. But when it is cold, I love to make caves. Lately I sit in front of the (open) window and dream of cooler days. I'm much more active when it's cooler. Any other kitty like that?