cats, cats & more cats

Virgil lounging with orange Mama* / Oliver inspecting the stairwell renovation / BleeNessie loves mini pink roses / my office mate / itty bitty hairless Betty / Creative Director extraordinaire / brothers / the chocolate brown nest aver les chat / handsome / a welcome & constant fixture at the teak topped desk / upstairs hallway with cat penthouse & dog lounging look-out chair

Human beings are drawn to cats because they are all 
we are not — self-contained, elegant in everything they do, relaxed, assured, glad of company, yet still possessing secret lives.

Pam Brown

Oh my ! the dramatics psycho-dynamics of the 4 cat household, especially with the introduction of one petite drama queen  female cat - Miss itty bitty Betty. Remember dear Lulu (otherwise known as Squawk-a-molé for her tendency to "meow/yell" at everyone - the boys & me. She was bossy !). Well Betty's got a little bit of a Lulu attitude which drives Virgil and especially Oliver to behave like 12 year old school boys, a-tauntin' and a-teasin' itty bitty whenever & however they can, the more she squawks & hisses the bigger rise they get out of "miss squawk-amolé" junior, the more it eggs them on and I will admit that, yes, Oliver is the ring leader. Doug is Papa and the protector of all itty bitty cats, so Betty runs to Papa. Oliver gets in shit, Virgil escapes to his subterranean domain the basement and dear sweet Bleet stays out of it completely and hangs with his dog Sam - Bleet thinks he is a dog, but that's another story. And I have to remind Doug that Oliver is a cat, and a cat who's convinced he is running this joint 29 Black Street. He believes he is top cat, top dog, top top - so it's only natural that he feels the need, several times daily, to intimidate and harass itty bitty (insert mildly frustrated eye roll here).

Our vet is convinced that the cat bullying may be only one factor in itty bitty Betty's excessive, obsessive grooming & hair loss (see radiator photo No. 5) I'm still threatening to knit her a few tubes ;-). It might also be caused by winter (and her reduced outdoor time for hunting, carnage, killing & roaming), hence boredom, hormonal changes (she was spayed in May after having at least 3 litters of kittens), & her catnapping move to a new home … it's funny she doesn't appear nervous or skittish at all although she does give Oliver a wide berth and if Oliver bugs her she runs quickly into the arms of her ever protective Papa as needed ;-)

Who knew ?? + we're feeding another new cat, a velvety grey and white male un-neutered who we feed twice daily at the kitchen window cat-drive-through sill, we call him Al and he's definitely jonesing to come inside, he's been working his charm on Papa - just what we need 4 boys, 1 female + Sam & Winnie

* we call this vivid orange, bath mat like, nubbly, throw/pillow cover, a second had find, Orange Mama because both Virgil & Betty go into a drooling, loud purring, kneading madly, trance like state as soon as they arrive on this fav window sill spot ;-)