A Very Kitty Christmas

This is a lovely Harmony Kingdom piece called "Gertrude Stein." It's a present from my best friend, Beth Anne, who lives in New Jersey. I fell in love with this little kitty in a gift shop in downtown Medford over Thanksgiving. She remembered and sent it to me for Christmas. Everyone should have a best friend like her!





The next present is a small picture frame given to me by my college bud, Roseann. Aside from its proshness that makes it special, part of the purchase money goes to an animal rescue group. Everyone wins with this gift!












Another gift from BF Beth Anne is this beautiful cat calendar, another item I squeeled over while we were shopping in Haddonfield (which is the most Christmassy, best place on earth to go Christmas shopping!) The cat illustrations are lush, but what I like most about them is the cats are ordinary kitties doing ordinary cat things.









When I was a child, several of our neighbors had cool "TV lights" in their living rooms. I always wanted one, especially the gorgeous, sleek black panthers with the jeweled emerald eyes. Guess what? I finally have one! It's another excellent present from David, who put in some elbow grease to clean it up, replace the cord, install a new light, and re-glue the eyes. It's a flawless specimen. Although it's a "big cat," it reminds me of McSkitterson stalking Dougie.






Humans made out well at Catz 'n' Ratz this Christmas, but the critter folk didn't do too poorly. The cats got several bags of treats in their stocking with the promise of a homemade catnip mouse to come. The rats will receive a new hammock just as soon as I get around to stitching it.

Christmas at Catz 'n' Ratz

This is the uber-cool shoes David bought me for Christmas. I love them! He's a wonderful boyfriend and an excellent cat rancher.

More cat-related Yuletide gift photos tomorrow.

Merry Christmas from Catz 'n' Ratz!

Armand in his holiday finest, being a very good sport.

Heaven...I'm in Heaven

And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.
And I seem to find the happiness I seek,
When we're here together sleeping cheek to cheek.

Pet Nicknames

Simone has been a member of the Catz 'n' Ratz staff for only six weeks and already she has a couple of nicknames: Princess Hissy of Hissalot and McSkittersons.

MacDougall the Maine Coon also is known as Dougall, Dougie, Dougeroo, Dougums, Big'un, Coonie, Cooners, Cancoon (Cancun), and Cooneroo.

Toby is Tibbs, Mr. Tibbs, T, Mr. T, T-bone, Bones, Tibster, Tobster, The General, and The Squabbler.

It would take me all day to list Armand and Elsinore's nicknames.

Marcy Rat, Patty Rat, and Sally Rat have been dubbed (in order) Delivery Rat, Scaredy Rat, and Adventure Rat.

The tropical fish don't have nicknames. In fact, they don't even have names.

Do you nickname your pets, or is it my own weird fetish?

The Lions Sleep Tonight

The Little Kitty Who Stole Christmas

It's 14 days until Christmas, and I still haven't decorated the house for Yule. And I'm not sure I'm going to. Sure, sure, part of my reluctance is due to my own laziness and the knowledge that I could be doing scads of other productive things during the time I'd spend hanging ornaments.

But then there's the Simone Factor.

Yuletide decorations create a paradise of mischief for young kitteroos. Ribbons are great to chew on. Glass tree ornaments are fun to swat at. Trees are made for climbing. Garland is cool to swing on. Mantlepiece ornaments can be knocked off and batted under the sofa.

I'm not sure I want to spend the next two weeks screaming "Stop, stop, stop!" instead of "Ho, ho, ho!" I may skip the holiday trimmings this year in favor of peace on earth and sanity. What do you think?

No Jelly?

Rats enjoy a dab of peanut butter now and then. Too much isn't good for them because most commercial peanut butters contain a lot of sugar. However, a taste now and then given as a treat adds interest to their diet and gives them something fun to do.