Cats make me laugh.

For all my feline loving friends….   enjoy

As you may recall, I adopted a kitty last August, and named him Sweetness. 

He has been such a good cat – well behaved and very affectionate.  He’s a sweet, sweet boy who loves to cuddle… and to whom I have discovered I am very allergic.   Even though he isn’t allowed in my bedroom, I wash my hands after each cuddle, vacuum almost daily – my skin is not fooled.  It knows there is kitty dander in the air and has been reacting with itchy hives – on my face.    I will spare you any photographs of said hives.    So, as much as I have loved my time with Sweetness, I knew he needed a new home.   

 Today, he joined his new companion named Amy – who is excited to shower him with love.   Although I will miss him, I am happy for him.   Farewell, Sweetness… farewell.

And now, an honorary entry and exciting announcement from my sister, Kristin.

I’d like to introduce you to the new member of our family:  Gelly.  Gelly. Like Jelly. But Gelly, short for Magellen. Named such due to his adventurous spirit and his strong desire to explore his world. I thought perhaps it might be a bit of an adjustment for Gelly to move into a new house with a new family he just met, but he simply headed right out on an expedition that lasted most of the evening, and then settled down happily for a nap, and now you’d think he’s lived here forever. Craig is hoping that Gelly will soon learn that despite the mystic draw it has, he cannot explore the depths of Craig’s desk and office equipment. 

Gelly has enjoyed his safari this afternoon and has checked out both the kitchen cabinets and the upper shelves of my bookcase. This morning he had to be rescued though, because he got stuck – wedged between the back of my credenza and the wall – and couldn’t get himself out.

More about Gelly:  Gelly is a delightful 4 month old who loves to give sweet kisses.

Gelly was abandoned at a farmhouse when he was 4 weeks old. He was in bad shape when he was found and rescued, but he was given tender loving care and was bottle fed and he grew in “strength and stature”.  He is now a sweet, playful, content little kitty who is happy to go wherever you go, whether he follows you down the hall, or you carry him in your arms, on your shoulder, laying sideways or upside down.

Gelly seems to like sleeping in high places.  He will often find the highest comfortable place he can get to, and that’s where he’ll take his nap.  He likes the top of the couch quite a bit, where he can nestle into the throw blankets, and from his happy vantage point see the action going on in the kitchen, the family room and the TV all at the simultaneously.  Last night Gelly spent a comfortable night sleeping in the laundry basket on top of the dryer.

He has the sweetest little squeeky voice. Almost like a little peep.  If he wants to be with you, but can’t find you, that’s your clue.  Little soft squeeks as he wanders up and down the hall.

Gelly likes to play and he loves feathers.  They are his favorite, although he had a fabulous time batting around a “crunch berry” on the hardwood floor this morning, and he decided he need to teach the rubber band he found on the carpet the afternoon a thing or two about who is boss.

Athough he is being outvoted, Craig would like to call him Ernie’s Mother.  This is because he sucks his toes (a reference to a Bob & Doug MacKenzie skit where they talk about their friend Ernie, who had frost bite and so “Ernie’s mother sucked his toes…”)  Gelly likes to suck his toes, probably because he was prematurely parted from his mother and did not nurse long enough.  Sucking his toes is a comfort.  Or now just a habit.  Or a fetish.  I don’t know which.  But in order to prevent him from sucking the fur right off to the point of damaging his skin, we’re taking some action to correct this uncommon behavior now, before he’s totally addicted.  He’s been getting a taste of hot sauce today…  Doesn’t like it so well. 

So meet Gelly.  He’s a sweetheart.

Kitty has a name.  Actually he has two names.  I call him Sweetness, because he is such a sweet, cuddly fellow – lies with his head resting on my shoulder as I brush him.  

But his formal name is Sir Hides-a-lot.   He is a complete scaredy cat, who hides the moment he hears a knock on the door or any loud or mysterious noise.  Here are a few of his favorite spots.

This is one of his “safest” places, because no one can reach him.  He wedges himself in a little nook between my desk and the wall & peeks out into the living room.   

He also likes to hide behind the washing machine in the laundry closet but I couldn’t get a photo.
 
He wouldn’t stop meowing in the kitchen (even after being fed), so I opened the cupboard door and he happily sat behind the mixmaster for an hour.

Here he is behind the vcr/dvd player in my media cabinet.
He can sleep here for hours. Another favorite spot.

An occasional favorite spot is behind the fax machine – which is on the top shelf of a bottom cupboard in the kitchen.

He seems to have an attraction to electric appliances, doesn’t he?

And finally, in the credenza in my office. I thought he’d escaped a week or so ago when I left the door open to run upstairs to tell my neighbor she was flooding my condo.

I searched all his favorite spots and outside as well – but no kitty. After about 5 hours, I heard a soft banging behind me in the cupboard (where I really had looked). I opened the door and there he was, nap over and ready to socialize again. He spent every day there while the fans were on, drying out the carpet.

Fellow cat owners – is this normal?