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!

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

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)