Another Yvette

It's been awhile since I told you how I've been doing. Mostly that's because life's been ordinary...chasing Kara from time to time, eating, sleeping, having my belly rubbed, playing with balls and little stuffed toys that smell sort of funny...but now something has happened that you all need to know about. I went back to Yvette's house.
Perhaps I should start at the beginning. It was early, my people was still asleep, and the Carly or telephone or whatever it is rang. He talked to it while half-asleep, then opened a door and pulled out a little box with a door on it. I knew what that meant, but he must have forgotten why he got it out because the next thing I knew he was in the kitchen, looking as if he was about to give me some food. I rubbed his ankles and started mewing, and suddenly he picked me up! This isn't too out of the ordinary, but as he carried me back into the bigger room I realized that he hadn't forgotten the cage after all. In I went, head-first. I tried to squirm and get away but I didn't have the heart to hurt him. It didn't take him very long to get me in there and shut the door. I tried to get out, but it was no good. It doesn't matter how big you are, there's no getting out of this particular box. A little while later the loud thing rang again and my person talked to it. Then he picked up the cage by a handle on its top, went outside the apartment and toward the front door where I'd run out so very long ago. There was a lady there...she didn't look like Yvette did, as far as I remember, and my people didn't call her by that name either. He gave her the cage, then gave her some papery stuff with pictures and symbols on it, and she left while my people went back inside.
The next little while is very confusing. I went in a car I'd never been in - I've learned that friggintrucks are far bigger than cars, and this thing was small - and we moved along with other cars for awhile. Then we got to a building and the lady took me into it. I knew by the smell that it must be Yvette's house after all, but when they took me out of my cage it didn't look the same. None of the people were the same, not even the animals were the same! At least I didn't have to deal with another dog-kitten though. Anyway, they petted me and fussed over me for a bit, and then poked me with something sharp. The next thing I really remember is lying on a soft thing in my cage, feeling as if I was spinning around and around. I felt strange, as if something had been done to me. I couldn't see what it was, and my body felt all fuzzy and warm. I couldn't get out of the cage and I didn't really mind for awhile. I just lay there, purring contentedly to myself and wondering what was happening. Eventually someone picked up the cage, and a moment later I was back outside. One car ride later, I was back with my people again. The car ride had awakened me a little and I had the decency to cry for awhile at the strange treatment I was getting. My people took me into his little house and let me out of my cage. I went looking for food right away...it felt like I hadn't eaten in ages. I couldn't find any food though, my people must have hidden it. He kept telling me, "Ming, don't jump", but I don't really know why. I just wanted to see him, to headbutt his head and his hands as he sat in his chair, but he must have gotten worried or annoyed or something because he put me in the bathroom for a little while, with a litterbox and a bowl of water but no food. I promptly fell asleep in the bathtub...I love the bathtub! When I awoke next the door was open and I could smell food! I saw that it was dark outside - his big flappy curtains were open a little, enough so that I could see that much - so I must have been asleep for quite awhile. I still felt a bit odd, but set to my food with a will and then curled up for more sleep.
Today has been pretty calm. I feel mostly like my old self again, but there's this little sore place down between my back legs that itches sometimes. I've licked at it a time or two, but it doesn't seem to do any good so I don't think I'll keep doing that. That must have been Yvette's doing, though what she actually did I have no idea. I'm eating, drinking, using my box and very pleased with myself for being a good kitten.
(Human's note: The neutering went very well and with no apparent complications. I was told to make sure Ming got no food just after coming home, but as my older cat had already gone the night before without any kibble, I decided it was best to put Ming in the bathroom for a brief while during the time where he was still sleepy and probably wouldn't mind. I let him out just after midnight - I'd been told I could feed him anytime after nine but dozed off while reading - and he went straight for the dish. Being blind, I'm going to have to get someone to pop over a time or two in the next few days to see whether licking has left the surgery site red or inflamed, but other than that, I'm just glad that everything went well.)

Tortureshell Tuesday?

I don't know what a tortureshell is, or even a tortie. I don't have a shell, I have fur. And what I did isn't exactly torture, but my people says it's okay, so here comes my entry.
My people has a high flat place in his kitchen that he calls a counter, though what he counts on it I don't know. Food goes up there though, and lately I've been getting curious about it. What if he left food up there and didn't pay me any mind for awhile? Maybe I could jump up there and have me a little nibble!
Well, I got my chance! Yesterday my people made food and left some on the counter. I've always been a good kitten and not jumped up on the counter before, so he thought he was safe. He went into the bathroom and sat on the thing next to the tub, and I ran into the kitchen and did a bit of looking. When I realized my people wasn't coming out any time soon, I made a bold leap, found the food and started eating. It was so tasty that when my people came out I didn't even bother to stop! I just looked over my shoulder at him and grinned my cute little kittenish grin. I soon went back on the floor, but I'm still licking my lips at the thought of all that yummy food!
People, watch out! Now that I know I can get up on the counter, you can't leave food out anymore if you don't want me to eat it! This gives me all sorts of ideas about high places...

Catching Up

I haven't written in the last few days because life hasn't been too interesting day by day. I think it's high time I said something though. If you think hard enough you'll always find something to say.
First of all, the screen. It's a wonderful thing, great for climbing. I did it again a few days ago, but got scared when I reached the top and didn't know how to get down. Luckily my people pulled me off and gave me a cuddle, but every time I go back over there he scolds me. I'll go up when he's not paying attention sometime, maybe...but never that high again!
Speaking of heights and stuff, I'm getting very good at jumping! I can leap from the back of my people's chair cleanly onto his couch...the people says this is about a four-foot jump. I can also leap from the couch to the back of the chair if I'm lucky, though sometimes I don't make it all the way and have to use my people's arm for support. I love to jump, it's great fun.
I've been trying to leave Kara alone more lately, but she still grumps and my people still gets upset. I don't know what that old lady's problem is! Can't she loosen up? My people says he's going to try something he calls "herbal", and I hope it's not nasty-smelling or nasty-tasting like those pills turned out to be. Speaking of pills, I don't have to take any anymore, and no more of those stinky washings! I guess he feels that the ringworm is gone.
A lot of other cats seem to have pictures up. My people doesn't see them because his eyes don't seem to work. I ought to try and talk to him about putting a picture of me up here just so you can see what a nice guy I am. I'm not stupid enough to call myself beautiful, only girl cats do that, but I don't think I look half bad. Pretty much all black with big feet and big ears and a cute little nose, and a couple of tiny gray rings round my tail. You can't get a picture of my mews though...I think that's my best quality. I don't sound all squeaky when I mew anymore; I can really shout when I want to, and I'm entertaining my people by talking to him when he tries to talk cat back to me. He mixes up his words and makes funny noises. I'm highly amused.
I'll write more when other interesting things happen. Until then, thanks for reading and paying me some attention.

The Big Empty

I'm sorry to have been quiet of late, but I couldn't help it if I lost my interpreter! It's a fun but tragic story with what seems to be a happy ending. My people is back, he loves me, and there's no new peoples involved anymore.
A long time ago - my people says it's the day after the last time I talked to you but I don't know how long ago that is - a female people came to my house. She is almost as tall as my people, but has a lot of fun-to-bat long hair. It didn't take me long to realize that she was the Carly my people has been talking to. She looks a lot different than the thing he holds up to his ear, though, and I'm still a little confused about that. Anyway, Carly brought a big box on wheels with her - a suitcase, I soon realized - which made me wonder if she was just about to leave again. She didn't, though. She and my people seem to like each other very very much. As the days passed, they kept going out and leaving me alone with Kara. When they came back, they had strange smells on their skin and hair. Carly seemed very upset by the way I'm trying to play with Kara, and a couple of times my people even put me in the bathroom with a box and a dish to keep us apart! I didn't mind, though; it's warm in there, and there are lots of things to play with. After a few days of this sort of thing, my people put a bunch of his things into Carly's suitcase, Carly put some things in as well, and then they both left. I thought they'd be back later that day, but they weren't.
The next long while is by far the longest I've gone without seeing my people. Penny came in a friggintruck sometimes to feed me and give me my pills, and a younger female came sometimes too when Penny couldn't. My people says she's his cousin, Jennifer, Penny's kitten. She's nice. At one point, Penny's other kitten, a male named Jake, came over and built some hard things in my people's kitchen...he calls them shelves and puts heavy things on them instead of storing them in the little rooms under his sink. In all honesty, as time went by, I started getting scared that my people would never come back. I kept trying to show Penny and her kittens that I was upset by finding pieces of stuff from the box and batting them around the apartment, because it's stinky and usually peoples will get the message if kittens do that. They didn't, though, just used that loud machine on the floor again, got rid of the pieces and left me alone.
At long, long last though, my people came back! I wouldn't let him out of my sight. I'm not ashamed to say I was climbing on him and mewing at him for most of the evening when he returned. He smelled as if he'd been to a lot of places, and I could smell Scoot on him...remember Scoot? He seemed very tired, and carly did, too, so I tried not to be mean or spiteful. They still didn't seem to like me chasing Kara though, so I went back in the bathroom. I cried my poor little heart out! How dare they do that after I waited so long to see them! The day after that, my people and Carly stayed home, snoring a lot and lying in the bed thing. I let Kara cuddle with them for awhile, because I'm sure she missed them too even if she didn't say so. I went back in the bathroom again that night, very late, while Carly and my people listened to the computer thing make noises. The next morning, the two of them went out again, and I got scared they wouldn't come back again, but Carly left her suitcase here so I thought she'd have to come back for that if nothing else. Eventually they did, only to leave very shortly afterword. When the car they'd left in came back, only my people came inside. Carly was gone. She must have a home somewhere else and decided to go back to it. I haven't been in the bathroom since, but I've noticed that my people seems a little different than when he left...
My people wants to tell you about his trip to see his mommy in Alaska, but this is a blog about kittens, not people. I don't even know what Alaska is! He says they did a lot of shopping, whatever that means, and that they had a good time visiting with family and doing a lot of memorable things like visiting a huge building made of ice, swimming in a stinky hot spring, exploring a gold-mining site, riding a riverboat, touching dead animals and their fur and seeing the house where some people named Santa Claws lives. I don't know what most of that even means, so I'll leave you to figure it out if you want to. I think my own adventures sound far more interesting, personally, but that's just me.

August 26 - The Revolt Continues!

He did it again! My people left me alone again, not once but twice! First for a long while, then later for not so long a while. He came back the first time with some food, but didn't bring anything the second time. Penny was here again...I guess she takes my people in her friggintruck when he needs to do things he can't do by himself. Penny stayed for a little while after the first time they left, and they fiddled around for awhile in the area where food comes from...the kitchen. I love the kitchen! Then they got the other cat and put some stinky stuff in her ears...I could smell it even though I was asleep under the couch thing. Kara growled and got upset because they also cut her claws shorter...she won't scratch anything except the carpet and the flat thing my people sits on when he wants to play with the big black and white noise-making thing he calls a piano. The thing he sits on has claw marks in it now because of Kara...I'd never dream of scratching it of course, so it must be her fault. I don't know why people cut our claws; most cats are totally happy to scratch the things our peoples so kindly provide, like couches and bedsheets and odd socks, and people themselves at times, and it's not as if our claws ever hurt us or get in our way. It must be some sort of fashion thing for peoples not to like longer claws. Yvette clipped mine last week, but they're starting to grow again.

Anyway, I think I broke another rule today. As to exactly which rule it is, I don't know because peoples are confusing...but I'm sure there's some rule-breaking involved somewhere. I tipped the food dish over today...spilled it all over the floor, then started playing with the food. It bounces! It rattles! And it's tasty! It's almost better than bellballs! My people has cleaned it up, but it took him awhile to find it all. I kept it in the kitchen because it rolls better on that floor, but oh what a great time I had! Cleaning the floor and getting my food back in the dish is the price he pays for leaving me alone again! Maybe I'll start tracking litter next, making his carpet nice and stinky and sticky and crunchy! One way or another, this ignoring and bad treatment has got to end!

August 25 - Scafflaw: Ming vs. People in The Chase

I think finally I might understand this Scafflaw thing. And in light of my new knowledge, I did what I could.

Scafflaw: Don't leave home

And oh how I broke that one today...though, to be fair, it wasn't nearly as bad as the other time I did it.



Someone knocked on my people's moving wall door thing a little while ago. When he opened it to talk to whoever was there, I zipped past his ankles before he could catch me. The stranger only wanted to drop off a little flat thing my people later called a "padded envelope", and soon enough my people was in hot pursuit of me. I wasn't aiming for the wall you can see through, the one that opens onto the outside...I was just running up and down the hall. My bell was jingling and every so often I'd mew to let my people know I was just having fun. He's not as fast as I am, but he's bigger and he's probably smarter too. Eventually I ran into a long hall that had no way out, and he chased me to where I had no exits. I tried to jump and he caught me. Game over. I led him a good chase though. Maybe this will pay him back for all the rotten things he's done to me lately.

I've come to realize that getting outside can be very dangerous for a kitten like me, but surely the hall can't hurt. Here's a law that I might keep breaking since the game was so fun!

August 24 - Terrible Two Days!

What a terrible two days! My people has a lot of explaining to do.



Yesterday morning another people - a female - came over and was moving things around a lot, using a big machine that sucked up the stuff on my people's rug. He has one too, but it's not this big or loud or scary! I ran and hid because I didn't want to be sucked up along with the dust and hair. After awhile the female started using water on things, and some sort of stinky stuff she called shampoo for the carpet. My people puts shampoo on me and then this other people puts it on the rug. It's all very confusing. It made the rug cleaner in the end though, so I guess it must be all right. The people turned on a little thing that makes noise - music, he calls it, but I don't know what that's supposed to mean, still! - and he helped the female out while she was moving things around. After a little while though, the female took me into the little room with the tub and shut the door! A minute later, the big cat came in and the door was shut again! It wasn't very nice being in a small place with that other cat. She didn't like me much, and kept growling at me when I tried to introduce myself. I thought she might calm down, but she didn't. Why does it seem that everyone I try to like - except maybe my people - hates me or does mean things to me? It's not fair! I had to stay in that little room for quite awhile, and then we were let out. Worse was to come though: my people and the female left me on my own with Kara all night! I don't know where he went or why he left me alone...maybe he hates me too.



When my people came back today, he brought the female again and they started doing the same things over again. A little while later, the female called Scoot showed up and started helping them do whatever it was they were doing. A lot of noise and water and strong-smelling stuff...my people said it was "thorough cleaning", but I thought it was a lot of effort for nothing. Both Kara and I were being pretty much ignored the whole time, no matter how I mewed and tried explaining how darling a cuddle might be to interrupt their work. Even my people wouldn't stop and pet me most of the time, and kept telling me to "go away". So I tried. Sometimes the peoples had to open the screen to go outside, bringing stuff in or taking other stuff out, and I tried getting outside a couple of times. I didn't want to go far, I really didn't! I just wanted people to realize that I was important too, and that they couldn't just lock me in a little room with a cat who hates me, chase me with a big loud sucking thing and move everything around in the apartment without expecting me to do something about it. I never did get out, and I didn't try as hard as I could have, but I'm really tempted. If it wasn't for this stupid bell on my neck, I might be able to sneak away from my people for a little while. Maybe even hiding somewhere in the apartment for awhile will be enough to get him to see a little sense. I'm tired of being ignored and of peoples treating me badly, especially -my people.



The apartment smells a bit funny, but it's definitely cleaner, even to me. The people seems very tired and worn-out, and went into the tub first thing after Scoot and the other female - I think her name might be Penny - left in their friggintrucks. All this moving and noise and stress makes me hungry. It's a nip for me, then perhaps a hiding attempt. But shh...my people isn't supposed to know!