Cassie's finally being honest about it!

Dixie has a weight problem.

Click - it's really funny! Our aunt Elise is a great writer; make sure you scroll past the picture to the poem.

Sorry I disappeared there. First I had my college scholarship, then my Internet went out, and it's been a bit of a mess trying to get it back. But I'm done and here I am again, so give us a few days and we'll post some new stuff.

-L

Photoblog #5 - D'Artagnan is Catman, or, Hello, Memory Card!

My camera went and died on me so I went and sent it out to be fixed about two months back, but I stupidly forgot to remove the memory card and I had to go through ninety million different people to convince them to send it back to me. Actually, they sent it out and then the next day I found out my camera was in the "shipping center" ready to be returned.

But I wanted to share this with you:

Yes, that is D'Artagnan. He is all ready for Halloween!

Cassie says he looks like David Boreanaz, the guy currently playing the FBI agent on Bones. That's a great show, but I don't see it.

Do you?

Moving on...

This is what Cassie calls Dixie Hiccup's professional shot. It's truly not professional. I'm the one one that took it.

I'll post more soon.

-L

The Return of Buster!

**Scroll down three posts for CARNIVAL OF THE CATS**

Buster's back where she belongs.

Post's up, ready to go!

From the Misunderstood Mind of Buster.

-L

Updates

**Scroll down two posts for CARNIVAL OF THE CATS.**

I kind of feel like it's the end of an era here...

No, we're still not sure about the future of Cat Philanthropy, but I still have news to share. I suppose this can be considered good news, but it still feels a bit melancholy.

Buster's humor blog is back as "misunderstood" instead of "misguided" but please give me a day or so to post.

D'Artagnan's new blog is up; a post is already there. It's entirely about his overprotective nature. Feedback on the theme would really be appreciated.

Cocoa Posts! is still up and I will be updating it as soon as I can.

I will make certain I post on Buster's, D'Artagnan's, Cocoa's or all blogs if Cat Philanthropy has to close. If that happens, it will be back, I promise.

Thank you all so much for the support!

Lily

Support Adventures in Cat Philanthropy

(Scroll to next post for Carnival.)
Cassie created this nifty sign for all Cat Philanthropy supporters. She says, "For all of you in the Cat Blogosphere who are friends of Cat Philanthropy, take the badge! Show your support and keep Lily's blog where it is, which is where it rightfully should stay!"

Thank you, Cassie!

Also, thank you to everyone on the Blogosphere who has been so supportive first though the hate mail and now through this! I never thought when I started Cat Philanthropy that I would end up making so many friends, but I have and I am so glad I did. You are a buoying network of support. We still don't have the verdict on whether it's safe enough for my blog to stay, but, regardless of the future of the current blog, Cat Philanthropy is coming back, perhaps not at the same URL or as Adventures in Cat Philanthropy, but we will return, bigger and better than before.

-L

Welcome to the Carnival of the Cats here at Cat Philanthropy!

Er, well, not exactly here.

1. Please, please, turn your speakers on!

2. Follow the order of the posts. They were posted like that for a reason.

3. Click here.

Thank you!

-Lily and the Feline Five

Lots of News

Someone definitely breached Cocoa's account and I was advised to close down the majority of the accounts and the blogs attached to them.

Here's what's going to happen.

1. If you come back at 3 o'clock EST, the CotC will be here. I cannot guarantee it will still be here tomorrow, but it will be here today.

2. Buster's blog will be coming back.

3. Cocoa's blog will be coming back.

4. I may have to close down Adventures in Cat Philanthropy. Don't worry - it's going to come back bigger and stronger. If you can't get in here, check the Cat Blogosphere. I'll post the new web address as soon as I have it.

Please do not email any of the cats right now; their accounts have been deleted. You can email me at lily.felinefive@gmail.com. If the blog is gone, though, it's likely my email will be gone, too. I will post that it's gone on the Blogosphere also.

I really hope you all have enjoyed Cat Philanthropy and will come back to my second blog if I have to close this one down.

Thanks,
Lily Locke

NO! NO! NO! NO!

To everyone who got a comment or a message or an email or anything saything that there was going to be a blog-trashing party here:

THIS IS NOT TRUE!

THIS IS NOT TRUE!

GOOD GRIEF, NO! THIS IS NOT TRUE!

I am not going out of town, I am not going anywhere. I just saw on Shadow's blog a comment that there's going to be a blog trashing party here.

All I can guess is that someone broke into Cocoa's blogger account.

But, to be clear again:

THERE WILL NOT BE A BLOG-TRASHING PARTY AT ADVENTURES IN CAT PHILANTHROPY.

IF YOU GOT A COMMENT, PLEASE EMAIL ME! lily.felinefive@gmail.com.

I need to resolve this ASAP.

Happy Gotcha Day, Dixie Hiccup!

On this day, two years ago, a small, white poof was found in the grass beneath Cassie's family's water meter.

The poof is no longer small; in fact, she's quite large. Now she has a name and a forever family.

Happy Gotcha Day, Dixie!

When I get Cassie's photos of Dixie in party mode, I will definitely post them. Cassie bought her this bedazzly party hat, only it was too heavy for her head, so she substituted a little pink paper candy cup. She looks like a feline genie and she is not a happy cat.

-L

P.S. The Carnival opens tomorrow at 3 PM EST.

Buster's Blog

I have made myself sick from worrying about the carnival and, because school is out and I really don't have anything to throw myself into at the moment, I did another blog, this one for Buster. It's a humor blog.

From the Misguided Mind of Buster.

See it. Read it. Maybe laugh? Just a little? Okay, a smile will do.

-L

NOTE:

If you are planning a visit to Cat Philanthropy late this week before the blog is ready for the Carnival (which should begin about 3:00 EST Sunday), I beg you to wait.

Cat Philanthropy will go through some big changes and I really want it to be a surprise for all the people who come on Sunday, so I may just restrict the blog Saturday and possibly Friday, too. If you come and are blocked out, this is why. I will remove this restriction right before the carnival starts.

And, remember, when you come Sunday, turn your speakers on!

-a very, very nervous L

Updates... Some Incredible, Some Dreadable

(Sorry for the title. I've been babysitting a girl addicted to the poetry of Shel Silverstein.)

Cat Philanthropy is hosting the Carnival of the Cats this Sunday!

This is also the world premiere week (okay, perhaps that's a bit too optimistic - the blogosphere premiere week) of our sister blog (literally) Cocoa Posts! Stop by and say hello to Cocoa avec une Guimauve as she runs amok with her own blog.

I also need a purrayer or two for Dixie Hiccup. When they took her blood at her checkup, her white blood cell count was elevated. He did x-rays and more blood tests, so it's not cancer or anything like that. Our vet says a minor bug is going around so he put her on antibiotics just to be careful and she's going back in sometime next week for another blood test.

Cassie's panicking that it's her fault, that maybe Dixie contracted something from what Cassie's been feeding her (which is not exactly a balanced diet), but I told her that you can't have any regrets or they'll eat you alive. You have to give them the best care you possibly can and, in the end, remember that you did all you possibly could. Cassie knows I don't always practice what I preach; I still have regrets about my sweetheart doggie Tom and I still want to sue the socks off Purina (he died because of kidney failure from their food). At the end of the day, though, that is all you really can do. I told her that Dixie did not get sick because she didn't have a balanced diet. I said that rib meat from the rib place's doggie bag - no pun intended - did not make her sick, but I don't think she believes me...

Anyway, stop back this Sunday and remember to swing by Cocoa's blog!

Cocoa the Klepto

My nightstand is a glass-topped table, where the glass is not attached to the metal base. I woke up this morning at a quarter of five to:

BANG! BANG! BANG! ... BANG! BANG! BANG!

So I sit bolt-upright in bed. In my disorientated semi-sleep state, I'm thinking either the cats - Cassie now calls them my preschool class - are breaking into something or someone's breaking into the house.

I see these glowing green eyes from my left and I look over to see Cocoa avec une Guimauve on my nighstand, hovering over my covered rubber band. As I watch her, too surprised to say anything, she takes the rubber band into her mouth and jumps off the nightstand.

Do you remember that story a couple years ago about that cat that became a kleptomaniac after his owners had their first child? It would go through other people's yards, pick up their toys and stuff, then carry them back to the child's crib? Disgusting, I know, but that cat and Cocoa must share DNA.

Yesterday my pen somehow went missing. On Memorial Day, it was a bunch of little flag candies. Cassie says her cat Dixie gets up on her desk chair to play with pens and little knick-knacks on her desk in the morning, but never takes things, so she can't figure it out. Over Easter, Cocoa consumed a whole Peep on her own - and bounced off the walls for two days - while she hid the row of carefully detached Peep bunnies that were supposed to go on the buffet display, a chicken that gets wound up and clucks, walks, and lays gum "eggs", and one of my cousin's Barbies. We found the wind-up chicken and her clutch spread all through my bed (Coax even tried to chew on one of the eggs to the point that I had to pitch one of my pillowcases because I couldn't get the gum out) and something like all but one of the Peep bunnies, but that Barbie is still MIA. We've found its bunny-ear headband and both shoes, but, as to the rest of its ensemble and the Barbie itself, we've got no clue....

I have Buster, who thinks the party starts and ends with her, Locket, who's just a love and a dear, D'Artagnan, the kindest little sweetheart, and Godiva, the mother hen (no pun intended). Then there's the kleptomaniac, Cocoa.

Anyone else got a klepto as a cat? Anyone?

I AM DONE!!!!!

After the most grueling round of finals in my life, I am done!

I got home yesterday and all five cats seemed to know. D'Artagnan met me at the door and rolled over on his back as if to say, "I know you're done. Pet me!"

So I spent the better part of the evening on the couch with the window open (screen still closed, of course), with all five on me. It hasn't gotten terribly hot here yet and there was a breeze out so it was really nice. Every time the cats heard a bird, they lifted their heads and listened.

Anyway, just thought I'd share the news.

Also, purrs and purrayers for Dixie Hiccup. She's got a routine check-up this week. I'm putting a special clause in my purrayer that the vet convinces Cassie to put Dix on a D-I-E-T. The much-publicized "Princess Chunk" (later "Prince Chunk") has been getting a run for his money lately... She says Dixie is still growing and needs the extra nourishment. I asked her if a 55-year-old is still growing. She said no. I said Dixie really is 55. She said Dixie couldn't possibly be. I drug out my Encyclopedia of the Cat, perhaps the most useful and thoughtful gift from Cassie's brother John, and proved it. I swear she had the same look on her face as she did when she was eleven and John's friend told her the truth about Santa Claus. "You mean," she stuttered, "you mean Dixie Hiccup's no longer a kitten?"

Cassie always says that if her cat Dixie had thumbs, she'd rule the world. One day Cassie said that after she becomes a successful psychologist or anthropologist (it changes by the day), she'll get Dixie hand surgery so she can go off and rule the world. I said that Cocoa avec une Guimauve and Buster Theodora Baddie would go with her. They have that type of personality, too. Cocoa's a little Napoleon and Buster tries to rule the roost.

-L


Mark your calendars: Cat Philanthropy is hosting the Carnival of the Cats on 6/07!

News

Sorry for not posting in... good grief, it's been two weeks!

I guess I have a good excuse, though. My college class ends in two weeks and I had a final paper due and finals next week. Regular high school classes end the week after, so I apologize in advance if I don't post for a bit, as I've got finals, papers, and all that good stuff.

Anyway, lots has happened since Easter.

That Monday I got stupendous news: I am an Honors Scholar at my school, which means I am an all-Honors/AP student with a 95 or above in each class. I've been an Honors Scholar for four straight semesters now!

Wednesday brought equally good news. In early March I applied for a Detweiler Scholarship, which pays for a college class in the humanities over the summer. Detweilers are reserved for students who've been Honors Scholars for at least two consecutive semesters. My guidance counselor told me that I had been selected for a course!

It's funny how, for the briefest moment, you think everything's going right, then, crash, you fall flat.

That's kind of what happened to me. Literally.

Friday night, Cassie's brother John came over because it's no fun to watch the Bourne Ultimatum alone (Cassie refuses to watch). John's name is literally John Locke and he thinks it's funny that I named one of my cats that. It's nice when he's around because he can lug three 28-pound jugs of cat litter at once.

This might be a good time to mention that D'Artagnan has taken to following me around with his tail wrapped around my ankle.

Girl + stairs + tail of invisible cat = ?

That's right. A sprained ankle.

And so I'm laying there, sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the ceiling (this was before the pain actually kicked in) and I hear tripping and scuffling and "Move, Buster!" And D'Artagnan is licking me, crying aloud, which I didn't know he was capable of. He sounds like a squeaky recorder.

Then the other four cats descend on me, demanding noisily to know what all the commotion was about.
When I actually get around to sitting up, which John wouldn't let me do until I'd shown him I hadn't broken my neck, I looked down and saw this giant purple goose egg on the side of my ankle. I should have known that when it didn't hurt and all the rest of me did that it was going to be trouble...

In other news, a brown squirrel has taken up residence in the tree behind the house. He sits up on his hind legs and makes funny noises at Cocoa through the window. I think he thinks because she's so small she's a squirrel, too. Cassie named him Chipmonkey and Cocoa's started chittering at him. (Thank you so much for explaining chittering! I was so worried it would be something bad!)

Well, back to studying...

-L

D'Artagnan's First Post, or, the Friendly Award

Hello, my name is D'Artagnan de Chat Noir and I am Lily's favorite. She asked me to do the post for the next award, as she's busy trying to hide the Peeps for her cousins' Easter baskets.

Thank you so much, Karen Jo, for sending us this fantastic award! Lily helped me link it back to Elin, just like you asked, so click on the award to go to Elin's website.

Cocoa asked - no, demanded - that we give the award to Luxor. That's fine, but Lily also said I could pick my own recipient. To you, Daisy, even though I know you'll always be Skeezix's.

-D'Artagnan de Chat Noir, "All for one and one for all!"

P.S. Hi, Betty! Lily saw your site. She says computers are her sixth love - after us cats, of course!

Happy Easter from Cat Philanthropy!

It's the Feline Five's first Easter!

Every year, Cassie's family comes over and spends Easter with us. We do the classic Paas decorating traditions every Saturday night, but this year Cassie brought this kit that has little sponges in the shapes of bunnies and flowers, with glitter and sparkles and everything.

It will be very interesting to see how the Feline Five act towards the egg decorating and everything. We'll make eggs for all the cats and I've decided we'll do a little treat hunt around the living room, but holidays are still a source of bewilderment for them. Cocoa and Godiva were the only two to actually see the Christmas tree; they were perplexed.

Anyway, Easter came early when I saw the lovely badges the M-Cats Club did for Locket and D'Artagnan. Thank you so much!

I leave you with Cocoa avec une Guimauve playing with the infamous jelly bean. This is her fourth or fifth one. She will only play with the green ones and she'll only play with them on the stairs.

Happy Easter!

Catchup Posts

For a period of a couple of weeks last month, after I got sick with strep, I had Cassie moderating all my comments (see here for reason) because my email was giving me problems and when I went to change it back I did it wrong and we ended up with a big mess, so I never actually saw some of the comments from a few weeks ago. I was going back and sorting through all the comments and I found these awards. I'll be posting them over the next couple of days, oldest to newest, as for some reason my computer keeps timing out my Internet connection if I add more than one image.

My apologies to the Cats of Wildcat Woods and thank you so much for the award!

Okay, so I'm supposed to list six things that make the Feline Five happy and six blogs to recieve this award...

Because I've got five, I'll list a favorite thing for each cat and the sixth can go to Cassie's cat Dixie Hiccup.

1. Cocoa avec une Guimauve's favorite thing: carrying covered rubber bands around the house.
2. Godiva's favorite thing: napping in the sun.
3. Buster's favorite thing: the laser mouse!
4. Locket's favorite thing: playing with Cocoa.
5. D'Artagnan's favorite thing: sleeping on my lap.
6. Dixie Hiccup's favorite thing: sleeping on the end of Cassie's bed.

And the six blogs are:

1. Kitty Limericks
2. A Wizard and an Angel
3. Katiez Furry Mewz!
4. Tom, Official Office Cat
5. Life From A Cat's Perspective
6. Jan's Funny Farm

-L

Terror Past Dusk

On Saturday night, my mother went to dinner with my aunt and my uncle. They live a few hours away from us and so when they come, rather than leave their three boys with a sitter and worry, they leave them with me. Cassie comes over sometimes, but they love the cats so much they usually behave pretty well.

Well, they'd gone out to dinner and I expected them back maybe at midnight. Cassie and I enticed the boys to sleep through building a tent of sheets. All the cats were thrilled at the change of scenery and we ended up burrowed under a mountain of blankets in the family room. You could hardly step anywhere for fear of stepping on a boy or a cat.

The littlest boy, Jordan, in first grade, had Cocoa, who really was just his size. Alex, the middle child, nine, had Locket. James, 11, had Buster. I had D'Artagnan and Cassie ended up with Jordan, because he was scared and wanted to hold her hand.

Anyway, it wasn't even midnight and we were all asleep when all of a sudden D'Artagnan jumps on top of me and starts kneading my shoulder. It hurt like heck and, needless to say, it woke me wide awake.

"Stop," I whispered. "Stop, D'Ar!"

That was when I heard it.

Something in the kitchen fell with a crash. I sat up immediately and D'Ar jumped off me as if to say, Finally!

I am not one of those people who knows karate or anything. In a fight, I might win because, as a few elementary fights taught me, I'm scrappy and determined, but other than that, I don't have any special skills. I also have an overactive mind that was rapidly churning out facts that I didn't want to digest.

The odds were: two teenage girls, three boys, and five cats against at least one person carrying Lord-knows-what.

James sat up too and whispered, "Don't worry, Lily. I have a green belt!"

Great. So we've got two teenage girls, two boys with no martial arts experience, and an eleven-year-old with a green belt. Oh, also five cats.

I looked for the phone. It was on the tv cabinet across the room.

I shook Cassie until she woke up. "What?" she demanded.

"There's someone in the kitchen!"

She sighed. Cassie thinks I panic too often.

We heard something crinkling, like a plastic bag only stiffer. Cassie froze, her eyes huge. "Oh...my...gosh."

By now the other two boys had woken up.

Jordan was clutching Cocoa so tight her eyes were bugging out of her head. James reached over to free her. "This is not funny, Lily! This is a joke, right?" Jordan whimpered.

"It's okay," James said. "Lily and Cassie will figure out what to do."

"We need the phone," I whispered.

"I-I'll get it," James offered. "I mean, I do have a green belt."

"It's a nice offer, James, but your mother would kill me if I let anything happen to you," I said. I looked at Cassie. "Cass, watch them."

I crawled out of the tent and moved slowly towards the door. D'Artagnan kept a half-beat ahead of me.

The wall the cabinet sits on is also the wall of the kitchen and the phone sat on the edge closest to the doorframe. I crept up carefully, listening fiercely. I heard nothing... except for a strange crunching noise.

I grabbed the phone, but then something occured to me and I forced myself to peer around the corner into the kitchen.

The dry food bag had fallen on its side and there was a slender ringed tail switching from side to side in the opening.

Buster Baddie. The criminal mastermind.

Happy April Fool's Day from all of us here at Cat Philanthropy!

-L

Bonne Nuit, D'Artagnan

Every night before I go to bed, the cats and I have a ritual we do.

The Feline Five sleep in my room at night on five pillows and every night I hold each of them for a little while and scratch their ears and rub their tummies until they're good and sleepy.

D'Artagnan is the only one that sleeps beside my bed. We tried his pillow in the row at first but after three consecutive nights of him waking up on the rug beside my bed, he decided for me that he was not going to leave me. D'Artagnan is my own personal alarm clock. Every morning he hops into my bed and snuggles under my covers to wake me up. It beats an alarm clock hands down.

Well, last night I was reading before I went to bed when all of a sudden D'Artagnan jumps onto my bed and opens his mouth. Well, technically he was crying, but D'Artagnan so rarely cries that I sometimes wonder if he has working vocal chords because no sound ever comes out.

D'Artagnan is the only cat who knows commands in French, so I said to him, like I say whenever he cries, "Qu'est-ce qu'il y a?" or "What is the matter?"

In response, he lied on his back and stared at me with his big green eyes.

I know I don't really have a good photo of D'Artagnan up because he is really camera-shy. He is a sweetheart and a lovebug, but he does not understand the concept of posing like Locket and Cocoa do.

D'Artagnan has a face like a man. It narrows out into a very precise chin and that, coupled with his big ears, makes Cassie call him Batman when she's not calling him James Bond. When he lays on his back and stares up at me with his big eyes in an attempt to look all innocent, he just manages to look stupid. I love him anyway.

So D'Artagnan was laying on his back staring up at me. (He also has a horizontal strip of white across his tummy.) I scratched his tummy where he likes it and he closed his eyes and purred. His little front paws stretched in and out as he kneaded the air.

"Would you like to sleep up here tonight?" I asked him. "Just tonight." My mom says if I let him sleep on my bed routinely, he'll think it's his bed.

He purred louder and curled into an S.

"No," I said, laughing. "Not here. You're in the middle of my bed!"

I picked him up. He kneaded the shoulder of my shirt then allowed me to lay him down beside me. He closed his eyes again and fell asleep.

"Bonne nuit, D'Artagnan," I whispered to him before I picked up my book and started reading.

A moment later he'd put his head on my shoulder.

Should I mention D'Ar snores?

-L

Wonderful News.. and a Question

On Tuesday, Locket went in for his check up... Bye-bye, infection! There was no trace of it! The vet says he thinks the reason it came back so badly this time was because his first round of antibiotics came when he was emaciated - four pounds on the vet's scale! - after I'd first brought him in. I have to continue the antibiotics for five more days and then he'll be done.

I also have a question about a behavior I've noticed in Locket and Buster that's really starting to disturb me. So it's warming up here and all the birds are back in the trees behind my house. Godiva, Cocoa, and D'Artagnan watch them, but not as much as Locket and Buster. Well, I came home from school both Monday and yesterday to find them so transfixed on the birds they didn't run to the door to see who it was. As I'm standing there watching them I hear this reallly funny noise: click-click-click-click, like a rattlesnake. When I look down at Locket, he's watching a squirrel intensely with his mouth open, clicking his teeth. I considered scolding him, but then he wasn't doing anything technically bad; he could have been trying to talk, for all I knew. I came back a half-hour later to Buster clicking just like Locket had, only at a big, fat bird. What is this? Is this aggression? I asked Cassie if her cat Dixie Hiccup does this and she said no, so I am completely in the dark. If any beans or furbabies could help me understand this, I would really appreciate it.

-L

Wordy Wednesday 2009 (Again)!

Lots of thanks and my sincerest apologies to Zoolatry, who made this lovely photo of Cocoa avec une Guimauve. (I posted the photo on the wrong date.) This is the epitome of Cocoa!

-L

Introducing... The Cat Philanthropy Purr-ney Express!

This greeting card is one my great-great-grandfather sent to his future wife in 1909.I have several huge books of postcards from between maybe 1890 and 1930. If anyone needs any cards for any occasions, just let me know. I've got bunches. Email me at lily.felinefive@gmail.com.

-L

Homecoming!

If you were at my vet clinic today, you would have seen Locket throwing a little kitty fit and me crying. Cassie wasn't there, but she says she has a pretty good idea of what happened...

(Cassie's taking Writing for the Screen this semester.)

INT. VETERINARY EXAM ROOM - DAY.

LILY LOCKE is standing beside a metal exam table with a pet taxi. She is impatient. She is considering pacing the floor.

The rear door OPENS and TRISHA, the vet tech, comes out carrying LOCKET, wrapped in a blanket.

SFX: Locket CRYING pitifully.

LOCKET (VO)

Lily! Lily! Where were you? I thought you left me

here for good!

Lily scoops him up and cuddles him. She is crying.

LILY

It's okay, Locket! It's okay, sweetie. You're going home

and you're going to see Buster and D'Artagnan. And Cocoa!

Cocoa's been going crazy about you!

LOCKET (VO)

Lily, you'll never guess what happened to me! This big, fat cat

yelled at me!

LILY

I missed you, Locky! Are you okay? Are you all better?

LOCKET (VO)

And then Trisha scolded him and when she wasn't looking,

he took his hairy paw and tried to hit me. I bit him!

LILY

I know, I know, you'll be fine. We're going home and

you and I are going to have a nice quiet weekend with the

rest of th cats! If you climb into the cage like a good boy -

LOCKET (VO)

But Lily, you're not listening to me! Someone hissed at me!

LILY

- I'll let you out in the car and you can sleep on the

backseat in the sun.

LOCKET (VO)

Hmmm... That doesn't sound like such a bad idea...

Locket puts his head on Lily's shoulder and purrs. Lily beams. She rocks him a minute, then puts him in his cage. He purrs louder.

END OF SCENE

Okay, so I can't exactly vouch for Cassie's formatting skills, but that is eerily similar to the way it happened. Cassie knows me too well.

-L

Update on Locket

Thank you so much, Zoolatry!

Okay, so I called the vet and asked how Locket was and the prognosis is good.

They expect him home Friday afternoon, but I need to keep him up on his antibiotics over the weekend and on Tuesday he needs to come in for a blood test. Trina, the vet tech who loves Locket because of his full name, John Locke (see Locky's profile), said one of the other cats hissed at him and he was so shocked he just stared. (We have a no hissing policy in our house.)

I asked if I should keep him crated, but the vet said so long as I keep him quiet he'd be okay. He says he'd be much happier on my lap than he would in his cage.

I'll take my final two midsemester exams tomorrow and then I don't have anything else to do. Locket and I can catch up on old A-Team episodes and I can read him Louisa May Alcott's mysteries.

Purrs and Purrayers Needed...

Thank you, KC and ML, for the lovely purrs picture.

Locket needs some purrs and purrayers tonight. The infection he had when he came in returned twice as bad today and we rushed him to the vet. He said relapses were common with that type of infection and he needs to keep Locket overnight for observation. He cried at me when the technician took him back to the cat room.

Cocoa's been walking around looking for him. I feel so bad.

I've had to leave cats at the vet's before and each time it's heartwrenching. I'm worried he thinks I've left him there for good. Poor baby, he's hardly six months old and he's never been away from his family before, ever. He's probably scared out of his wits.

I can't think about it. It makes me feel so bad, like I'm a bad pet parent to have left him there.

Wordy Wednesday 2009

Thank you so much, Zoolatry! This fits Cocoa avec une Guimauve perfectly!

Oh, and I almost forgot, Happy St. Patrick's Day to all the beans and furbabies! Éirinn go Brách! (Ireland Forever!)

-Lily

P.S. Any furbabies want to talk to Cassie for me about messing with my blog? (Just joking!)

Shh!

Lily's out of town, so I decided to spruce up her blog while she was away...

How do all the beans and furbabies out there like it?

The Triple Threat

Yay! Yippee!

"Adventures in Cat Philanthropy" was nominated for Best Animal Blog...



...and Best Blog Host....



...and Best Hobby Blog!



Show your support and vote!

(Thanks, Kat, for letting me know! And thanks, Karen, for the donation!)

-Lily

Photoblog #4 - 5th Photo Meme

Here's my best little buddy, Locket, who coincidentally shares the same name as the fifth folder on Lily's computer. It's not the best photo. Lily still hadn't gotten the hang of her new camera when she took this and it did a double-flash, a new feature to reduce red eye, which makes us furbabies blink. Can you see his double locket?

Poor Locket got into a terrible fight saving me from a turkey vulture. That's why he's got the scar on his nose. You can't see it unless I turn a certain way, but I have two little scars on the back of my ear from that same vulture. Locket and I are very thankful our bean Lily and her cousin Cassie were there to get rid of it. For a bean, she's really short but she can run really fast. Of course, this was all before she brought us inside.

Cassie says our big brother D'Artagnan is like James Bond - so suave and macho - and Locket's like his socially awkward little brother, Jamie Bond. I think this is very mean because while D'Ar is a fierce mancat, Locket is sweeter. He comforted Cassie for hours after her gerbil Wheezy died and she came over. Come to think of it, Cassie's been over here a lot since her gerbil Wheezy died, even though she has her own furbaby Parker, which Cassie swears should be in covert ops, whatever that is. But that's another story.

And here's another one. This one isn't the fifth photo, but it's the most recent of my mommy and me. Cassie took this when Lily was at her human vet getting antibiotics.

This is me cleaning my mommy's face. She'd already cleaned mine, so the least I could do was return the favor. Cassie always tells me I have the pinkest tongue. Err... I have to ask all the other furbabies out there who've been with their beans longer - is this a compliment?

Oh, and I'm supposed to list a whole bunch of furblogs for the next round of the 5th Photo Meme - Lily said five, I think? - so here they are.

1. Curlz and Swirlz

2. The Island Cats

3. Derby the Sassy Cat

4. The Kattonic Cats

5. Daisy the Curly Cat

Have fun and remember to donate! I don't know what I'd do without Lily or my mommy and my brothers and sister but Lily would have to separate us and give us to all different homes if she doesn't get a little help. (Thank you to Daniel and Lynn who donated.)

Avec tellement baisers (with lots of kisses),

Cocoa avec une Guimauve (as dictated to Cassie Locke)

Photoblog #3 - Buster Baddie

I'd like to introduce Buster. The party starts and ends with her.

"Go ahead. Make my day."














(Despite her tough expression, she's a sweetheart.)

Photoblog #2 - Crimes Against the Kitchen

First of all, I'd like to enter into evidence the following two photographs taken of Cocoa, known alias: Squiggles.

Exhibit A:

The image above is of Cocoa after coming out from a restricted access area (under the buffet). She has a cobweb on her ear.

Exhibit B:

This one is self-explanatory.

Exhibit C:

Statement from Lily Locke.

"I was making vanilla cupcakes and I left the kitchen for one minute. When I returned, a certain small black cat was sitting on the counter. She had dumped the mixing bowl on its side and her head was inside.

"I cleaned off her face, but I left this telltale peice of evidence [as seen above] for entrance into evidence."

Cocoa is hereby formally tried and found guilty in crimes against the kitchen. She is sentenced to three treats and six hugs.

(Really) Quick Update

Okay, I know I promised I would get more pictures up on Saturday or Sunday. The strep hit me harder than I thought it would and today's the first day I haven't had a fever.

If you check back within the next couple of days, I will have pictures and an update posted.

Thanks for all the kind purrs! They really helped!

-Lily

Quick Update

So I woke up today after fighting a cold and now I've got strep throat.

I promise that if you check back on Saturday or Sunday I will have pictures of Buster, Locket, D'Artagnan, and Godiva up.

It's almost overwhelming to have five cats watch over me. Perched at various places around the room, with D'Ar at my feet, none of them have slept, let alone blinked, all day. Cocoa likes the crinkling my Luden's wrappers make. She watches me in awe whenever I unwrap a cough drop. D'Artagnan stands up every time someone enters the room. Locket and Buster are hunkered together on a chair. Neither one is very talkative today. Godiva sits in the corner and she seems, as usual, to watch everything at once.

The Feline Five send their love. Thank you to everyone who has shown their support! My cats and I really appreciate it. Kisses and hugbugs to all the furbabies!

-Lily

Photoblog #1 - Cocoa at Play

Okay, so these were just a couple pictures I managed to take of Cocoa this afternoon, playing with her ball and squeaker mouse. She loves to be photographed, which is funny, because Buster, D'Ar, and Locket really aren't that crazy about it.

She's the smallest of the Feline Five. Here, she looks much bigger than she is. She's still a "squiggly" kitten!

This is her ball, her second-favorite toy behind her squeaker mouse. I think she throws it down the stairs just because she knows I'll pick it up and bring it back to her!

Here's her squeaker mouse. She likes to carry it around by its tail and show it off to everyone. Cocoa can't sleep at night unless she's got her squeaker mouse beside her!

Such a sweetie!

Check back tomorrow for some more photos of the Feline Five!

Buster, Locket, Cocoa, Godiva, and D'Artagnan send a hug and a kiss, a warm ruby wish, and catnip-covered dreams to all the kitties out there!

I never asked for quintupcats...

I received a comment to my post titled the Crouton Incident by someone calling themselves "GosselinWithoutPity". Here is their comment:

Looking for freebies? Just like evil Kate Gosselin. Hypocrite.

Although I do read and comment on gosselinswithoutpity.blogspot.com, this comment is not connected to the Gosselins Without Pity blog. I have spoken with the moderators of the blog and they have confirmed this.

I am not looking for freebies, nor am I like Kate Gosselin. I did not ask for any of this, but these kittens needed a home and I have given them one.

If you ask me, the hypocrite in this situation is whoever posted that redundant comment.

I have never blogged under false pretenses. I am a high school student, doing this solely for my stray, adopted cats. I have saved a mother cat and her four kittens, taking care of them for months now. In my area, we have had -30 degree windchill and they certainly would have died. Before adopting them into my home, I tried to find them homes while caring for them outside in warmer weather. They were skin and bones. I know I saved their lives. They have been dewormed, defleaed, bathed, given their shots, and I'm in the process of getting them all fixed.

Grow up. I'm not doing this for a free Em Tanner t-shirt, although it would make a great blanket for Buster!

They Must Be Italian... The Crouton Incident

It started with Cocoa, the littlest of the bunch. She was playing with her squeaker mouse under Godiva’s watchful eye. I was hurriedly shoving a handful of croutons in my mouth so I could go lug twenty pounds of cat litter around to the various litter pans. I had to hurry because everyone had just eaten and when you give a cat food, you have to give them litter.

Anyway, she was watching me as I was eating – if you could call it eating – and then she fixed her gaze on the croutons, her big yellow eyes wide.

She forgot her squeaker entirely and ran up to me, paused, and cocked her head from side to side.

“Crouton,” I told her, holding it up. “Crouton. Does Cocoa want a crouton?”

She chirped at me like Flipper’s second cousin and took a step back, which was my cue to drop the crouton. Well, I didn’t think she’d eat it, but she loved crackers and it was worth a shot. Cocoa sniffed it awhile, then batted it back and forth between her paws.

Eventually, she decided it was edible and she ate it in her own Cocoa way, which was a combination of her dainty demeanor and the truth that her little kitten mouth could probably only hold a jelly bean on a good day. Cocoa took the whole crouton into her mouth, cracked it in half and let half fall out. She chewed and swallowed, crunching so loud she woke Buster up, who demanded her own crouton bossily.

Soon all five were eating croutons. The size and complexity of their appetites never ceases to amaze me.