Two Black Cats and a Pumpkin

We couldn't figure out what enticed the two of them up here but they started intently looking out the window at something and moving their tails wildly back and forth. It was pretty funny to watch. They seemed very serious about it!

Pumpkin Season

October begins tomorrow and that means the Black Radish's birthdays are all right around the corner. You will recall that we celebrate all the black cats birthdays on Halloween.

The festivities begin with pumpkin buying and pictures. They will all get a number of pumpkin pictures posted this October. This one is Simone.

This is Lulu on TOP of the pumpkin! She is so silly!

Later today she was playing with that little orange pumpkin, she kept trying to nudge it off the bench. She was full of energy today and everything was a game to her.

Wheatgrass

We got the whole team a surprise Saturday from the Farmer's Market - WHEATGRASS! It is an edible grass that humans can churn up and put in juice but it is also safe for animals. The cats went nuts for it!

Koof liked to just jump right on top of the grass, Simone liked to eat it! Felix just kind of stared and sniffed.

Next time you are at a juice store, ask for some wheatgrass juice! See what you think it tastes like. I think it tastes like grass.

Mona

Saturday we were leaving to do our first round of chores and we saw this little black cat roaming down the street. Actually, at first we had to ask, "Is that koof?" She is pretty little and strutting around just like Lulu does! But as she got closer, she looked a little more haggard and had a different collar.

We lured her to the back yard with food and eventually saw that her collar said "Mona" and the address was just down the street. We hadn't seen her before so its hard to know what to do. If it was an indoor cat and she got out (like if one of ours got out) we would want someone to call us immediately. If she is an outdoor cat, her person probably wouldn't want a call at 8:00 in the AM on a Saturday to hear the cat is outdoors!

Maybe we should start putting on our cat tags if they are indoors or outdoors, it may make this process easier. I would hate it if one of our cats got out and noone came to their aid simply because they had a collar and assumed they were being taken care of. Remember the white cat too!!!!!

Do you see a lot of cats roaming around your neighborhood?

The Gang's All Here

As I was typing the last post everyone joined me at my desk! They are such fun, sweet rascals! I would love to know more about cat behavior. These cats certainly love to be with each other and us. I don't know if that is a universal cat thing. We have heard that black cats are more social than non-black cats. But I do not know.

My friend BJ was telling me about his cat and how she really does not like it when they have anyone over to the house. She gets very pissy and upset (I will post a picture of her and a story about her if I get one from him!). That sounds more like stereotypical dog behavior but one thing for certain about cats is they are what they are without reservation! Very full of character and personality.

I think I am becoming suspicious of anyone who says they do not like cats!

Sickman the Escape Artist

All week Simone has been ultra stealth about getting out of the house. I am fully aware of her antics and yet still she has sneaked past me two times this week.

One time I would not even have known if I hadn't seen her in the window when I was walking up the front porch. I walked in and knew she would be there trying to get out but before I even blinked an eye she was running down the steps.

Fortunately, she is the easiest to lure in with the simple shake of the cat food!

Sicky loves treats!!!!!

Also, when Maxine is outside she is crying at the door to the backyard just desperately hoping to get out!

One time she got out and went to the lawn and started eating grass, what does that mean??? I am not sure.

Turkey Necks!

Bones 2 Go is where we get the raw food all the animals eat. Today they had frozen turkey necks, which are great for Maxine's teeth! She is gnawing on it right now as I write this.

This picture is from right when she got the neck and she was trying to figure out what angle to approach. Doesn't the sunshine look good on the grass?

Simone Usually Wins

Today I got home from work and everyone was fighting with everyone. It was gato on gato violence. Without Jimmy here all day, they all get a little stir crazy.

Simone was defending the only sun patch in the house. Most of the shades were up so there was this little patch near the kitchen. Koof really loves sunpatches and loves to scrap with Simone even more so when she can potentially get both of them at the same time she is not going to give up easily. See her getting ready to pounce?




See her POUNCE!





Now Lulu is coming around the other side, she just won't give up!


At this point I opened two of the big window blinds and made two additional sun patches.

Once I did that they were no longer really that interested in this patch!

Smash!

I took this picture about 30 minutes after the last post-apparently she did fall off the cliff!

Lulu had subsequently come into the bedroom and slept on my lap for the last thirty, so she is right as rain.

Amazing cats!

Lulu's Dangerous Sleep

We have seen all kinds of "melted cheese" before but it never loses its humor. I guess because cats are normally so graceful and balanced at all times it is funny when they lose their finess just because they are sleeping!

This is little Lulu sleeping the morning away, hopefully she doesn't get too much closer to tipping the balance. This is no small table she is on it is about 4 feet off the ground!

I do have to say, she would land on her feet. These are amazing creatures, these gatolinos.

Nimbus Contemplates Change

This is another picture my sister Lara took of her cat Nimbus. She was telling me that Amber was just running around like a goof ball and acting crazy while Nimbus just stood there watching her and taking in this new entity in his life.

I love the look on his face!

What do you think he is thinking right now?

Lara named the picture, "Nim Contemplates Change."

Scratching!

Have you ever seen a cat scratch a scratch post? WHY!?

This has been the savior of our couch. Without this scratch post positioned exactly where it is our fragile, fabric couch would go to the cats!

Maxine gets more use of the couch, but it provides a specific function for the cats - they love to run up and down it, making bank shots to the moon!

But I will give a prize to the best guess as to why cats need to scratch! (and it will be a good prize!)

Amber and Nimbus

Lara posted some pictures of her beautiful new cat, Amber. Hopefully we will have tales to tell in the future of their crazy antics. For now, they are getting to know each other and even played a little bit their first day out together.

Isn't she cute?


I will post a few more of her and Nimbus, Lara's eight year old cat (i think eight). He is a real social cat who used to be an outdoor cat. Hopefully he is happy to have the company!









Look at her beautiful coat!

Welcome Little Amber!

We have a new cat in the family! Her name is Amber and she is very, very wee. She is only 13 weeks, so just over three months old. She has moved in with Lara (my sister) and Nimbus (my sisters cat, featured here several times). She just got her yesterday and is going through the painful and distressful process of introducing a new cat.

However, I have assured her it will most certainly be worth it!

Amber is named that because she is a black cat with amber colored spots and amber colored eyes! Lara says she looks like a piece of wood! Sounds absolutely beautiful to me.

I will post a picture as soon as I have one and keep you informed about the introduction!

So far the little one has been separated from Nimbus and they have exchanged scents via a sock.
I am excited to see how they get along! More later!

Vampiro

I do not think I have ever properly discussed Felix's choppers. We have discussed the problems in the past he has had and the great job our vets did at saving his teeth, gums and jawbone from total carnage.

But Felix has a distinct trait that the other cats do not have: he has choppers that hang down like fangs. He looks like a vampire!!!! Please enlarge the photo so you can see it, he has distinct fangs!

Don't be scared, I have never seen him use them in any harmful way, but they are sort of unusual.

Oh, and this is his typical super relaxed Sunday morning pose. Isn't it cute!?

Yakuza

Jimmy came home from Japan/Korea today and all the animals were excited! I took Maxine with me to pick up Jimmy and he had this Japanese headband to give to Maxine. I think it means "VICTORY IS OURS."

She looks a little bit like the Yakuza, or the Japanese Mafia, with the headband on. Perhaps we can work it into her role on the "Brindled Tomogo" in the story about the gatos and Maxine on the Japanese sea. Trust me, it will be worth the wait!

Do you think Maxine look like she is enjoying her new "headband?"

Queen of Sheba

I know this is sort of hard to see - black cat on black counters (note the new counters!). But I walked into the kitchen last night and Felix was regally reclined across the counter like the Queen of Sheba. I don't know if you can see it, but his front paw is gently curled underneath him.

Why do cats like to stretch out like this?

Or, take this picture. I took this not thirty minutes after the above photo. Why do cats like to perch up on objects? This is the same counter where I had placed an oven mit, which Felix promptly perched himself on!

Persnickety

What do you think Maxine is thinking right now? Let me give you some background. She has missed two play dates this week to rain or other circumstances and she was at the Gerard Brown Spa for 10 days last week. Little missy is none too generous with her affections and generally gives very clear messages.

It was about 8:00 and I started reading my book on the bed. I peered over the edge of the book to see this! What do you think she was telling me?

"You have got to be kidding!? A lousy walk is all I get? Dear God, when oh when will I chase and play with another dog again?"

Poor, poor Maxine!

Maxine and Lulu

Before Maxine and I left for our walk I had made the bed and pulled up the red top blanket to cover the pillows so Maxine wouldn't end up sleeping right on our pillows! Lulu was on the bed when I pulled up the blanket and so I covered her right up (she loves to be under the covers!). Maxine and I went for our walk and when we came back she was still there. In fact, right before I took this picture she and Maxine were nose to nose. Can you see the look on Maxine's face? She really does not like the fact that Lulu is in "her" bed! When I didn't remove Lulu from the bed, Maxine sulked into the living room and flopped on the couch with a sigh. She is so funny to let that little tiny cat chase her off her favorite spot!

Catching Mice

The cats are funny, they don't always like to play but they sometimes do. I threw out a few toy mice today for them to play with and Simone and Felix jumped right on them! That's pretty unusual, usually it is Koof that likes to play!

Simon, Cat Burglar At Large

Well, even though the snack drawer has been relocated long ago, Simone just can't help herself when there is a semi-open drawer in the cabinets. She hopes against all hope that somewhere in that set of six drawers there MUST be something to snack on.

If you include plastic bags in the mix, she is probably right. I think you have all heard me talk about what Jimmy calls the "Simon Surprise." In the top right drawer we do keep a bag of plastic poop bags for picking up after Maxine. Well, if Simone gets to them first they are less of a bag and more of a tube and the surprise you get is very mushy and smelly.

Anyway, there is a look of pure satisfaction and anticipation on these cats faces as they busted into these drawers and as a team went for the hunt. I did have to extract Simone out of there as she is the primary cat burglar!

Simone!

This is a picture of Simone being cute. She has been following me around all day begging for pets (which I give her and then she shys away!). Koof has been rambuncious - she can't leave me alone, constantly playing on the computer with me or treating my hair like it was a rope toy for her to play with.

The worst part of posting this picture is that Jimmy gets to see all my shoes at the door! Sorry!

Koof just jumped up here and wanted some attention. She is now eating my receipts from Japan and trying to get on the warm keyboard. She is such a nut!

Let's hear something from Koof: nbhj

Sayonara Japan, Hello Gatos and Max!

Well, I just arrived back in the states and was happy to see everyone home and well. Gerard, Mike and Jana get a "shout out" Japanese style: "Domo Arigato!" Mike and Gerard took great care of Maxine all week and Jana watched over the Black Radishes and the roost while we were away.

I promised Jimmy updated pictures of everyone when I touched down. Hopefully he is not too disappointed with how much the same they look!

Maxine got a long walk and all the gatos got a little special attention. I think the rest of the day we will all be chilling as I try to get my barrings and hopefully some sleep. I left Japan today at 3:44 PM Sunday and arrived here at 1:44 PM Sunday. Pretty strange!

This one is Simone, she was running from the camera!

Lulu was almost too fast to catch, although she also cameo's in Maxine's photo above.





Finally, Mr. Yakamura, Felix!

Japanese Golf Cat

This is one of the weirder pictures. They seem to have no problem animating almost anything with a cat or dog. I was surprised to find out golf was such a big hit here in Japan.

For those of you watching the news, the typhoon hit Tokyo this past Thursday night/ Friday morning. We were still in Naoshima, a long way south of Tokyo, and the only effects of the weather was a little more wind than usual.

We did travel back to Tokyo today with no problem and very little sign of any difficult weather. It was a pretty small storm; we Houstonians know how they like to blow these things out of proportion!

Singing Cat

This is the mascot for this huge book, DVD and CD store. Everything was in Japanese, no English anywhere. We made one purchase: a cat magazine to give to the Cat Vet Clinic! It is in Japanese, but the pictures are more important than the words.

We also spent the late morning on Thursday writing another children's book! Well, Jimmy did the text and the story, I have taken pictures to use in the collages. It is, of course, about the three cats and Maxine on an adventure in Japan. It turned out really cute . . .

Mermaid Cat

This is a mural in the little town of Port Uno, the town we took the ferry out to Naoshima from. We had to come back into town on Wednesday so we could change the time our Bullet Train (Shenkansen) leaves Okyama on Saturday. We took a walk around town and happened upon this wild painting of a mermaid cat!

A Real Japanese Cat

So, we have seen a lot of depictions of cats since we arrived in Japan. But until today, we have not seen a real, live, whisker bearing cat.

We are currently in Naoshima, Japan. Island of 3600 inhabitants. Apparently one of those inhabitants is this cat. Lounging next to a grocery store on a very hot afternoon.

He looks comfortable, right? I don:t think he moved from this spot until about an hour after this photo was taken. At that time he moved in sync with the sun, into a new shade spot. We only know the details because we were waiting for a bus for about that amount of time. We, too, needed shade.

Curious thing about the cat, he was not a Manx cat but it had a half tail. Probably an offspring from a Manx. Or perhaps he had a run in with the infamous Mr. Yakamora!!!!

Pooping is Universal

It is always easy to assume that there are more differences among people than there are similarities.

That is, until you have some basic, essential, human traits to look at.

People here in Japan like to jog. Some of them walk to the subway to get to work and some take a cab. Some get a cup of tea to take on the subway and some get a Tully:s Coffee. Some of them look happy and some of them look depressed.

However, if you have a dog you have to pick up poop.

The first sign is from the huge city of Tokyo, where you may suspect that dog doodoo is a major issue (actually it is a very clean city and everyone has very small dogs, so poops are very little). This second picture is far more phenomenal. It is right outside of a shrine on a very, very small island very far away from Tokyo. Why would anyone let their animal poop in a shrine?

People are strange, no matter where you are. And dogs need a good place to poop!!!!

Dr. Filip`s Fellowship

This is a vet clinic in Okayama, Japan. Far, far south of Tokyo. There are a lot of vet clinics here and yet we have yet to see a real, live clinic.



The word on the streets　Dr. Filip is going to do a fellowship here on the island of Naoshima. We will see! We are scoping out patients for him just in case!

More Japanese Black Cats

A few more black cats!

Koof Sending us Off

I forgot to post this pre-Japan picture of little Lulu helping us pack. I had just packed my half of the suitcase and was getting ready to put Jimmy's in when little Koof jumped into the bag. I didn't tell Jimmy and when he went to put his stuff in out jumped Koof! It was pretty funny!

Tokyo Black Cats

Since black cats are a symbol of good luck in Japan, you can find them all over the city. This first one is a company that obviously has the two black cats as their logo.

We have yet to see any cats roaming around, although there seems to be a lot of dogs. Mostly very, very little dogs.

Konishiwa

Greetings from Japan! In the absence of a good picture to post (still have to download them from the camera) I thought I would share a very messed up article with you. It was featured today in The Japan Times along with two stories from Texas: 1) A woman in Texas claims to have the head of chupacabra; 2) Largest spider web found in Texas.

This is syndicated from a newspaper in Australia but printed in the Japanese Times on page 3. The title in the paper is "Australian Cat Gets High on Cocaine."

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/222654/Australian_Cat_high_on_cocaine