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!

August 21 - Post Box Music

August 21 - Post Music Box

I forgot to mention, I think, that my people brought home a strange thing the day I went out in the friggintruck. He brought it inside when he brought the box with a cage door inside and he put it on the floor before taking me and putting me in the box and leaving. I've figured out what it is! It's what the people calls a scratching-post! It's got little ridges in it, and smells a little funny. It sits in a hard plastic thing that keeps it on a slant, and in behind it there's a furry ball thing on a bouncy springy thing, and the ball has a bell stuck to it...I can see the little shiny thing so I know it's a bell this time. I don't know whether I like the springy puffy ballbell or the post better. I can scratch the post, you see, and I really like doing that...but I've managed to work the spring thing loose, and it's oh so fun to chase! I batted it into the little room where my people washes himself and he stepped on it this morning when he went in there. I think I surprised him. Heard him say something like, "How'd this get in here? Didn't know it could come off...", which must mean something about how proud he was of me for playing with the toy he got for me. The big cat doesn't want anything to do with it though. That's okay...this toy is mine.

My people cleaned my box this morning. This isn't anything special, he uses the scoop thing every day to make sure nothing yucky stays there very long...but I've realized something. Why is it that whenever he's over there, I feel as if I have to be in the box? I don't fully understand. I went in there as my people was getting up, did what I had to do and then left. A very short time later my people went over there to clean it, and suddenly I had the strongest urge to give him another little present like I did last week. He kept nudging me out of the way though, telling me to wait. It was hard, all that waiting. He's not too fast at scooping because he tries to get every bit of nastiness out, and sometimes we cats bury it very very well. As soon as my people took the stinky bag away, I went back in the box and used it again. At least it smells like me. Hey...maybe smell has something to do with it. Hmm...

The sun is high in the sky as my people helps me write this. His computer thing is humming a lot, and it's fairly hot today. There's another people outside somewhere, but I can't see him or smell him. I can hear him though...he's making weird wheezy song sounds somehow. My people says it's an accordion, and that it's music...whatever that means. The sound is annoying, even to my people, and I don't hear any mews. Ick!

August 20 - Pills and Balls

Thank you to Tia and the Lee County Clowder for telling me what pills were. I ate my first one yesterday and my second this morning. I don't think I like them too much, but they're not as bad as you made them seem, Tia. Just a little hard thing that tastes funny. The worst part was how my people made me swallow it! I would've eaten it on my own, honestly I would have! I bit his finger this morning because he was a little too rough. The pills make me feel a little funny, but my people says they're to get rid of my ringworm, whatever that is, and I know he wouldn't give me pills without a reason. Yvette must have her reasons too. I wonder how long a month is. That's how long I have to eat pills for. I hope it's over tomorrow.

My people brought home new toys a couple of days ago! He must have hidden them when he came home the day Scoot got me all wet and put shampoo in my fur, but I found them two days ago when it was dark out. There are little balls with bells in them, and lots of soft stuffy things that make me sneeze. I think I'm going to leave the stuffy things alone, since I've already got a couple of those I can chew on and cuddle with. The balls are great fun though. They roll and jingle and they beg me to pounce them! I can never keep them still though...they roll away and I have to chase, or else they might never come back. Oh, there's one now! I can see it from where I'm laid out on my people's feet. It's near the corner of that big thing he calls a table, and it's not moving. If I'm really quiet, or really quick, maybe I can get it...

August 16 - The Box and the Bath

Not much has happened lately, but today was very interesting and scary. My people went out on Saturday for a long time...just strolled out through the moving wall thing and closed it before I could follow him! He has a lot of nerve walking out on me and not letting me go where I please! When he isn't here, I can't get strokings and cuddles and extra food, after all...he was gone a long time, and smelled like people-sweat and dirt and something bittersweet a little like bread when he got back. I didn't cuddle him till he'd had a shower. He decided to scoop out the box after that, and I gave his hand a warm little gift since I'd been waiting to give it to someone for awhile and he was nearby and looked like he wanted something nice. Besides...I had to go! I couldn't hold it forever, and he was in there with his scoop and his little bag taking away the dirty sand stuff to make the box smell better. What's a kitten to do?

Anyway, back to today, since not much has happened between then and now except running around and chasing things. Today my people went out again, and I might have cried for him to come back but I'll never admit it...I'm not a baby anymore, after all, I'm growing up. He was gone a long time, and his big cat didn't want to play or talk or snuggle so it was a boring time for me. Eventually he did come back, and he brought in a bag with something hard in it, and a big box with hard little open squares on the front of it. I know what those are. Peoples put kittens in them when kittens have to go somewhere. Sure enough, he found me, cuddled me, then put me in the box. I didn't cry...I just sniffed around for awhile as he closed the front. Then I realized I couldn't get out, but by that point it was too late. He'd already picked the box up and was going outside with it. Out through the moving wall, then through another set of walls that I could sort of see through, and out to a car or a friggintruck with two female peoples in it. I heard my people call one of these females Scoot...is that really her name? It sounds silly, even for peoples! He got in the big grumbling friggintruck and it started growling louder and moving! I could see out the side of it, and all sorts of things were rushing past really really fast. The box was bouncing around a bit on my people's legs and I mewed to let him know that he shouldn't break me. After awhile though, when we started passing things faster than I could ever hope to run, I got really scared. I yelled like I've never yelled before, but my people wouldn't let me out. He kept talking to me, said, "Ming, it's okay, it's okay", but it wasn't okay! I was flying in a box too fast to stop, and I couldn't get out! Any cat would be scared, I think. After awhile, the friggintruck stopped and we went inside a people house, but this one was big and with hard floors and no food close by. I still couldn't get out of the box. My people talked to another female, then brought me into a small room and closed the wall.

Then I was let out. Scoot, the female, wouldn't let me run away, but she stroked me and gave me cuddles, and I gave her a bit of purring to show her that everything was all right. I wasn't really scared anymore, just a bit confused and curious. A little while later, another female came in, and said she was Yvette. Yvette...now there's a people name I like! My people insists on calling her "a vet", but the other one is better. Why do peoples have to mess around with words and how they look anyway? So, back to Yvette, or the vet, or whatever her name was. She put me on a hard bed thing and started shining lights on me and talking. I licked her. She was nice. She poked me a little and I grumbled at her, but she was gentle so I didn't bite or scratch. I really do like peoples when they're nice to me. She talked with my people, and then they put me back in the box. I knew what that meant, all right, and yelled right away. It didn't stop them though. They went back out to the big room with lots of people - and this time there was a big hairy four-legged thing Scoot called a "puppy"...a babydog I think, and it was trying to sniff me in my box. I knew it couldn't get at me, so I just curled up and let it sniff. My people took me back outside to the friggintruck and then we went back home. That trip was even worse than the first!

When we got home, my people let me out and Scoot took me for cuddles. He picked up the Carly right away and started talking to it - he has a lot of nerve talking to the Carly after putting me through that, by the way - while Scoot brought me over to the little metal box with a hole where he washes the things he eats from...a sink, I think it's called, maybe a dishes. She took all the stuff out of it, then started filling it with water. She had something in her other hand that my people had brought back from Yvette's house; it smelled a bit strange, a bit like the stuff my people uses in his hair to make him think it's clean. Then, all of a sudden, Scoot dipped me into the water, and I was wet! WET!! I hate being wet! Water is a tasty thing, but I don't want to swim in it! Splash, yes; drown, no! She got all of me very wet, then started using the stuff on me...she called it shampoo. Shampoo sounds a bit like the word my people uses when he's cleaning my box...the poo part, anyway. Maybe that's why I don't much like how it smells. She started rubbing me all over with this shampoo stuff, and it got foamy and slimy on my fur. Ugh! I tried to get away...I just wanted to roll around and get rid of it. I was thinking that Scoot must be a horrible person if she wants to drown kittens in foamy shampoo slime, but then she started to make it go away. There was more water, warm water still, and I still wanted to get away, but at least that horrible icky feeling was going away. Finally she pulled out a round thing that was in the hole in the sink and all the water started to go away. She wrapped me in a big fluffy thing my people calls a towel and started rubbing me to get rid of the rest of the water in my fur. Maybe Scoot isn't horrible after all. She didn't leave me wet; I was almost entirely dry when she was finished rubbing me, and I gave her thanks by purring.

The bigger cat was next. Kara made a lot of noise compared to me. She's an old cat, and has probably been in water more times than I could ever dream of, but I was easier about it than she was! I'm very proud of myself, but tried not to be too smug lest she catch wind of it and try chasing me. I'm not big enough or strong enough to fight, and I don't want her to hate me anyway. I just wish we'd get along.

Scoot left after drying Kara in another towel. My people cuddled with me for awhile as he was talking to the Carly some more...but it's weird. Sometimes the Carly makes different sounds...it's almost like there's different people he holds and talks to! Maybe they're not all Carly. I don't really understand, though.

So, I'm clean. I smell a little strange. I'm not too happy, but I'm not too upset either. My people says I have "ringworm", and that he got it from me. I don't know what this means, but I guess I'd better expect more water and smelly shampoo in the future. And maybe worse...but what is a pill?

August 13 - Long Nights, Longer Mornings...

August 13 - Long Nights, Longer Mornings

I like early mornings. The big hot ball of light comes up, the birds start making noises, and my people tries to sleep. My collar makes extra noise, and so do I. I want him to wake up with me! Actually, I want him to know how angry I am at this collar thing, but shh...he doesn't know that. Two mornings ago he didn't sleep like he was supposed to, so the birds were singing just as he was stretching out on his futon-bed. I showed him just how much I loved him. By the end of it, I could see him putting his paws in his eyes a lot, and I took pity on him and started playing with a ball instead. I don't know when he finally went to sleep, but it was probably awhile.

I did the same thing this morning, but not for so long. I wish I was cruel like some cats, and some peoples too, but I'm not. I want cuddles more than I want him to enjoy birds. I fell asleep before he did, purring near his pillow. I hope my purring tells him all it's supposed to tell him. All he usually does is make an "Oh, Ming" noise. I'm Ming, but what's an oh?

The people's big cat, Kara according to him, doesn't like me very much. Whenever I go near her, she yells at me! I don't understand it...all I want to do is say hi and ask her if she wants to play in the tub or something, and then she's hissing and grumbling at me. She keeps telling me she'll bite my ears! My ears are tender, and it would hurt if she bited them! Why do other animals have to be so mean?

I've heard my people talking to the Carly about something he calls a vet. I think I know that word, but I don't hear it too often, so I'm not sure if it means going inside a big thing on wheels, like a friggintruck, or if it's that strange people who puts sharp things in me and touches me under lights. Either way, it might be an adventure if he means to vet me. He's saying Monday, but he has also said something about a job interview on Monday, and I have no idea what that is...just people talk. I hear the words, but that doesn't mean they have to make sense. They should mew instead. Life would be easier that way.

There's a big bowl with tasty things in it that's practically begging me to go eat a bit of it. Maybe I'll come back and have my people write more later on. He didn't wake up very long ago, so he's still sleepy and not talking much.

August 10 - A Beautiful Morning for Screens!

August 10

The big ball of hot light hasn't been here for long, and my person is awake! I woke him up by jumping on his head, then running away and finding something to rattle when he tried to touch me. My circle thing with the bell makes a lot of noise when I run fast, so I ran fast for awhile, too! He's making loud talking noises and rubbing his eyes a lot. I think he's glad to be awake, just like me.

It's been a couple of days since anything really interesting has happened. There was one time where my people went away for a long time and came back with lots of food, then went away again and smelled like smoke and something he called beer. He went into that tub thing and poured water and smelly stuff all over himself for awhile, and he smelled like normal when he came out. I don't know why peoples do this thing. Their own smell goes away and they probably wouldn't be able to know each other by sniffing anymore. Then again, people smell bad sometimes, like just after they eat things that kittens can't eat, so maybe it's good that they get rid of their smells. Come to think of it, I've never seen people sniff each other. I wonder why?

There's something outside that rough claw-catching thing that sounds very strange. It buzzes and hisses, and I can't get at it! I wonder what it looks like, how it tastes, if it would play with me or if it would crunch if I bit it. That rough claw-catching thing is a bit scary though. My people calls it a screen. It blocks a big hole in the wall near his big soft thing - he calls it either a bed or a futon, I'm not sure which it is - but if I jump at it or try to scratch it, sometimes my feet get stuck on it and I have to pull really hard to get away. Is it alive and trying to eat me? I don't think so, because it never moves on its own. It definitely doesn't seem too fun to play with. If it wasn't there, though, I could go out of that big hole and find the buzzing hissing thing. I guess I could've found it when I was out last week, but I didn't think of it. I was too busy wondering where I was and being scared that the big moving wall would never open up again to play. This time, though, if I had a big space to run back to if I got scared, and if I knew my people was near me, it might be fun to try. I know that this screen thing can move...it makes a loud noise when it does, though. When he came home with food, he brought it in from the little place just outside his screen by pushing it open and stepping out through the hole. There was a big car or friggintruck outside waiting though, and I was scared of it, so I didn't run out past my person's legs. One of these days, though...

I wonder what those chirpy things are outside. They make a lot more noise than the buzzing hissing thing. I think I've heard my people call them jays or birds. Would they play with a kitten? I've been able to see them by looking through my people's screen, and they can flap parts of them and move through the air without walking! I wish I could do that! Maybe I'll try one day.

I notice that these loud floating things wake up very early, before that big hot light is as big and hot as it gets later on. I want my people to enjoy the bird-jays with me! I think tomorrow maybe I'll wake him up when they wake up. Besides, if he makes more noises at me and tries to go back to sleep, it'll serve him right for putting this loud circle thing on my neck!

I'm going to go explore that screen while my people is distracted eating his food, I think. Maybe he won't notice and I'll learn how to make it move.

August 6 - Feet, Explorations in the Trash, and a Collar! Oh...and a fire alarm, whatever that is...

August 6

There's something special about feet. You can lay on them, bite them, tickle them and get kicked by them. Wonderful things they are. I'm laying on my people's foot right now, purring so hard I bet the rest of him is purring too!

It's been nice since coming back into the people's home. He pets me and talks to me and feeds me good food, and I sleep near him when he lays on the big soft thing at night and rumbles in his nose. His other cat - he calls her Kara but that's not her name - doesn't like me much. She snorts and growls at me if I try to talk to her or introduce myself. She's huge and hairy! I wish she liked me. I wish she'd play with me.

I found a paper tunnel yesterday! It was all rolled up in a plastic hard thing the people calls a garbage can, next to what he calls his computer stand. I saw it and thought it might be fun to get it. So I got it and I made it bigger by batting at it, and it was a tunnel! I crawled in and started rolling, but I couldn't find the other end! My people pulled me out, I think he thought he was rescuing me! I bit him for not understanding. Maybe he'll get it next time. I love love love paper tunnels! And it smelled like old food! A bitter spicy smell with a bread smell underneath...people food, but kittens must eat.

All my people did yesterday was lie around most of the day. His humming box with hard wires in the back - he calls it a computer, but that's just a silly people word - was making talk almost the whole time. How is a kitten to sleep with all that racket? My people seemed interested in whatever his computer was saying while he lay on his big soft thing, so I lay with him and tried to distract him by playing with his fingers and purring as hard as I could. Then I got bored and rolled around in the big steel box with no top...sometimes there's water that comes showering down into it when my people steps into it and pulls the curtain shut. He calls that box a tub. The tub is a bit scary when there's water going into it, but when it's dry it makes lots of bonging noises and is fun to play in. I don't know why my people is so caught up in his computer instead of in me. He's also really interested in the Carly...you know, that little hard thing he holds up to his ear and makes noises at? Carly had better like me. She hasn't shown it yet. All the Carly does is stay still in my people's hand and occasionally make little noises that my people responds to by making noises of his own...usually much louder. The Carly is boring so far.

A little while after the big ball of hot light came up this morning, there was a lot of high beeping sounds from the ceiling. My people said it was a fire alarm test. I don't know what fire is, and I don't know what an alarm is either. All I know is that the beeping really really hurt! I cried. My people held me and petted me and eventually the beeping stopped. I really don't like noises like that. I hope they never come back.

I saved the worst for last though. My people has put a little circle around my neck with a noise-making round thing on it. Whenever I run fast or jump or shake my head, the noise-making thing is loud, and my people can find me. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it! I'm not going to run away again...once was scary enough! Why does he have to make me not silent? Why do I have to have a circle thing around my neck? It feels strange, like it might choke me if it got tighter. It's always there, I can't get rid of it. Kittens were meant to be free! They weren't meant to wear little circles around their necks that made noise! If I can't get rid of it myself as I get older, I might have to get very angry. My people won't like me if I'm angry. I have sharp teeth. I have sharp claws. And most of all, I'm faster than he is. I really hope it doesn't come to that, but this collar, as he calls it, has to go.

I have to go too. Maybe I'll get rid of the stupid collar if I roll enough in the tub. Maybe I can rub it off. Either way, rolling and play sounds fun, and writing doesn't, so I'm done.

August 3 - At Long Last...Hello, World!

August 3

He finally gets it! All this ankle-rubbing and grumble-mewing...he finally gets it! He's going to use that humming thing with loud no-face human voice and hard play-strings in the back to tell you all about me!

I'm Ming. That's what he calls me anyway. Peoples couldn't make the proper sounds of my real name, but Ming will do for now. It's funny to hear peoples with big voices try to sound like kittens. If I could laugh I'd laugh.

Peoples use walls to keep us places. Sometimes they make the walls move and then they stop moving, so you have to be quick if you want to go where they don't want you to go. My people did that the other day and I got scared because the wall closed and he was still inside while I was outside. He must not have heard me asking to come back in again, so I wandered away to see if any other walls would move and give me food and ear-rubs. It was a big empty place where meowing came back and little feet make no noise. Lots of smells, food smells and people smells and people-building smells too. Then I saw a wall I could see through! There should be more of those because then you know where you can go even if the wall is closed. I got through the wall, only to find another one behind it, but I was quick and got through that one too. After that the hard sky was gone and the air was always moving. More smells, bad smells that made me sneeze. No food either, just hard ground with no carpets and big rolling loud things on wheels...I think I've heard my people call them cars, but they might be trains or friggintrucks too. I hoped my people would come find me, because being in that big open place was scary and I didn't know how to find the wall to open up and bring me back to him. Also I was hungry, and grass tastes like dirt. Not nice dirt either.

I must have gotten really scared because I don't remember everything. The next thing I knew I was hiding under a friggintruck or car or something that wasn't moving or making more bad smells, feeling very sorry for myself and crying because no one was nice enough to bring me food. Then a female people came, with a big hairy thing on a leash. I was even more scared, but she looked like she might pet me, so I crept out and she picked me up and brought me back inside the people-place and knocked on the wall. And when the wall opened my people was there! He took me from the female people and put me on his shoulder. I yelled at him by purring in his ear. He just smiled. He wouldn't have smiled if he'd known what I was telling him. I wish peoples could understand us more. He closed the wall, got me food and let me eat. Food has never tasted that good! That didn't stop me from trying to nip some chicken from him when he wasn't looking though.

Speaking of looking, I don't know if my people can look properly. His eyes move funny and sometimes when he tries to find me he stands still and wiggles his unsharp claws for me to come instead of being able to just walk to me. I know I wouldn't want to not see, so most of the time I stay close to him and make noises when he might step on me or kick me. He loves to touch me, and I love nibbles and battings with feet and teeth. I'm glad my people likes to play, even if he doesn't see me.

I've decided people are crazy. They tap on things with their unsharp claws. They hold hard things in their hands up near their heads and talk to themselves. Sometimes if I'm on my people's lap I can hear little voices coming from the hard thing. I don't know lots about people talk, but he says Carly a lot when this hard thing is in his hand. Maybe the hard thing is called Carly. Maybe Carly will learn to pet me and love me one day. Maybe I can nibble on her too!

Food smells good! I have to eat, even if I only ate a little while ago. I'll tell my people we can write more later, once I've had some eating and sleeping and petting and playing.