Missy's Corner

Boy did 2009 go by fast and this year came plenty of new experiences!   I never, ever thought I'd be living in a house with one cat let alone three, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  There is nothing more enjoyable then rolling over in the middle of the night, only to find you are boxed in on all sides by sleeping kittens, and you'll just have to get used to the fetal position; or abruptly awoken to the feeling of teeth in your toes or claws snatching your feet!  Despite all these obnoxious signs of devotion, I love each cat in their own special way.

I knew my mister Monkey was unique from the start.  His curiosity and cuddliness drew Mister and I to contemplate keeping him; but once that little kitten climbed up onto the couch just to sleep on Mister's lap, we knew he had all ready chosen us!  From then on Monkey has grown into a curious little bugger that always seems to find my hair ties (he must have a super duper tracking device somewhere because he finds them even when I hide them!).  He's even adopted a couple of new nicknames like Bunny, since he's always bunny hopping around the bed, all 10 pounds of him; Buddy, since he'll never leave your side, and "Purrs on Contact" because it just takes one pet to get his motor going!

Savannah was a different story.  The only girl in the bunch, I figured she would be the first to be adopted out.  With that sweet looking demeanor and beautiful colors I was very surprised when she was the last one of the litter left.  At first I was a little apprehensive about keeping her, because that would mean three cats instead of two (more food, more toys, more attention, more money).  Don't get me wrong though, there definitely was a part of me that wanted to hang on to her because it was so hard to watch all the others leave.  In the end, Monkey had really bonded with her and over the last eight months, she has bonded to me and Mister as well.  I don't think I could imagine my life without the savvy little girl.  I enjoy the conversations she and I have: "FOOD!" "Play with me!" "Rub my belly!" "Get up so I can sit in your warm spot on the couch then give you the "What did I do wrong?" look!"  I also love our tender little moments during the night; she has take to sleeping behind my back and sometimes sniffing my face.  Savannah turned out to be a resilient, lovable, mischievous terror, that I absolutely adore.


Kitty was all ready special because she allowed us to take care of her before and after she brought those precious babies into the world.  I know that becoming an indoor cat has stressed her out at times, but now she seems to be relaxing and almost regressing in age!  I love the sounds of her chasing Monkey and Savannah around the house, or coming into the bedroom to see her asleep in the bed.  I'm starting to get jealous though, it seems she's really taken a liking to Mister!

Of course, we have had some setback with cat ownership.  For instance, toilet paper will always be a toy and  automatic isn't really efficient.  When we got back from our last trip, Mister and I started thinking about investing in an automatic litter box cleaner; some other cat owners we know love theirs and it sounded like a nice way to make box cleaning easy.  Two weeks ago, we finally bought a Littermaid box that was supposed to clean every hour or so by running a rake through the litter and dumping the dumps into a little container.  The first problem we had, was trying to understand the directions to put the thing together!  They kept making reference to "five black tabs," that should have been covered if the system was assembled right, but we couldn't find them.  Then, the stupid thing wouldn't stop running!  So, I Googled the system for some trouble-shooting options and got it to stop by pressing a little button seven times; not five or ten, because I tried both, but seven!  After that, once the automatic system kicked in an hour later and scared the living day lights out of the cats and still continuously ran!  We gave it our best, but we are back to doing things by hand.  With that little adventure, we also decided against switching to an "automatic" water system.

Lately, Mister and I have been honing Savvy's hunting skills by using a toy bird we bought to try and get the feral kittens interested in meeting us.  We tied the chirping bird to a long string so we could throw it away from us to get the feral cats' attention.  Since we had no luck, the toy went into storage and didn't come out again till last week.  Now, Savannah can't get enough of it!  She enjoys stalking it while hiding under our bed, while Monkey enjoys playing with the string; even Kitty got into the action!  Mister and I have to be careful to make sure Savannah doesn't see where the bird gets put when we are done playing with it; one time I hid it in Mister's top drawer and she tried to get into the dresser once I left the room!

Well this is it, the last Missy's Corner post of 2009!  Hopefully, everyone will get it just before January and 2010 role through.  I figured the best way to finish out the year would be with an "all kittens" post.  When I started this blog shortly after we were blessed with these little guys, I really didn't think it would last!  In all honesty, I don't think Mister thought it would last!  But I enjoy writing updates about Monkey, Savannah, Kitty, Mister, and Me, as well as other things and may this blog continue to bring smiles to faces everywhere in 2010!

P.S. Don't forget to check out the new addition to my blogging.  With that new template program I learned how to add a menu bar and (with Mister's help) I was able to create a new site devoted to my art work!  I hope you enjoy and have a very happy new year!