Not a good choice for your diet

Spike has been feeling the effects of a slightly smaller daily feeding and is looking out the window to see what else he can get his paws on. This is bigger game than the squirrel he was eyeing up the other day but should that window glass not be there, we are quite sure Spike would be up to the task.

So you might ask why our big boy is getting a little less to eat each day. (Easier said than done since he likes to hipcheck the other cats out of the way so he can get his face in their food dishes). Last week the cats were on the checklist to take to the vets. The dogs had gone in the week before - basic check ups for all 3, a few needles, some ear mite medicine for the 12 year old and a spay for the 4 year old (latest rescue woofie). Then it was time to load up the four whitesters for a checkup. Angel, the elder, appears to have a touch of arthritis in one of his back paws so we will getting some glucosamine to help ease the aches. Sadie and Sebastian passed with flying colors. Spike, while looking sweet and lovable, sent the scale flying upwards when he stepped on. The vet advised us it was time to take some weight off the big boy, pointing out a chubby little tummy hidden underneath all that floof. Easy for her to say...she doesn't have to stand there and look at the pleading amber eyes and piteous meows of a hungry kitty cat!

Room for Two

Our woofie looks rather annoyed to wake up and find Spike sprawled out at the end of the couch. Usually this spot is occupied by me when I am working on my laptop. For the past three weeks I have been working on my other commitments in my "spare time" (3 projects for two different educational organizations) on top of the regular 45+ hours day job so have almost doubled my working hours in this time. Short term pain - since it will be coming to an end in a little over two weeks. During my late nights I typically have my two loyal pets keeping me company- the woofie on the couch, then on the floor, then on the couch..and Angel somewhere in the living room, looking over at me occasionally with a loving glance (or at least that is what my bleary eyes see!) Spike has no interest in hanging around with me - he only has eyes for my hubby. But he certainly has an interest in continuing his domination over all things soft and comfortable!

A dog bed for cats

We have two dog beds in the living room against the bookcases - a handy spot for a woofie to settle down out of the way of the rest of the traffic. This morning, I came downstairs and looked into the living room to find hubby having his morning coffee, keeping an eye on a sleeping Sadie, all curled up at the end of the round dog bed. She always chooses odd places to sleep, with the favorite spot last week being the top of a box with a couple of dog towels on it.

About ten minutes after I sat down on the couch in the living room, one woofie decided it was time to claim back part of the dog bed and she carefully climbed onto the back end, looking back at us with a slightly exasperated look.
After a while, the residents of the dog bed moved onto other pursuits, leaving an empty spot....just waiting to be filled by none other than the nest napper himself, Spike. As you can see, there is no room for a woofie to climb back on.

Wherever another cat finds a comfy sleeping spot, we know it is only a matter of time before Spike comes along to lay claim.

Angel is looking for the limelight

This morning I was woken up by a raspy tongue on my nose...Angel's trademark wake call when I am not paying him the attention he feels he deserves. He is the elder in the household and has had many changes in his life here as more animals come into his life. For a cat that spent his first 5 years with his previous owner as a "single" cat he has adjusted well to the changes here. We have recently brought in two more rescue woofies into the household (the Ark doors are now closed!) and Angel has accepted the presence of these with barely a wary look. The three woofies sleep in our room at night in various spots on the carpet and Angel bravely walks by these in order to come sleep on the bed (his place is at the end of the bed, well established over the past years that he has been here). A woofie or two (or three) will not deter him from a comfortable night's sleep.

One of his favorite places to observe the world at large is on the back of one of our chairs in the living room (just a quick jump away from his favorite green cat bed on seat of this chair).

Coffee Table - reserved seating for one

This is a small coffee table we bought several years ago to keep in the family room. Hubby was in the midst of moving this from the family room to the guest bedroom and had put it down for a few minutes in the living room. It didn't take Spike long to find a new spot to test out and as you can see his large body is hanging off both sides.

I thought this would be an appropriate photo to accompany the new banner above. Ann at Zoolatry has captured the personalities of our cats and designed a beautiful banner for Our Furry Boys. For those of you who can identify each cat with a single glance, you will notice that Ann has put Sadie on the far right to follow the "3 white furry boys and now a girl" sub titling. In her email Ann referred to making the banner "a little wider than it might need to be"...which I think aptly describes Spike in this photo!

Peace at last

Hubby went upstairs to take a nap the other day...and found a furry boy all curled up on the bed. Not unusual if it was Angel or Spike..but we don't often see Sebastian here. The woofie sleeps on the floor at the foot of the bed at night so that is usually a deterrent to Sebastian. He does venture in when he thinks he will be there by himself..but he usually sleeps very lightly, with one eye ready to open at the slightest sound or smell of the woofie. This is an unusual pose and we were lucky to get it on camera. He must have felt relaxed enough to curl up and not worry about any unwelcome woofies!

Speaking of relaxed kitties..we couldn't resist taking this photo at one of the local animal rescue shelters. Along with all of the cats and dogs looking for a good home, this shelter also operates a retail shop and there are a few resident kitties who have earned the right to walk around the store at will. We were checking through the cat trees that were up for sale and laughed when we saw what was curled up inside this one. If you look carefully you will see this sweet tabby has her left paw tucked underneath her chin. That is actually her quite large tummy you see there - she is lying on her side with her underside in full view. I had just mentioned to hubby that the sleeping ledges would be too small for our Spike..and then we saw a cat rivalling his size, all tucked away inside this small sleeping space. (I should say "stuffed" into the space since she just barely fits in!)

Now that is a big cat cage!

The intrepid and fearless Spike decided it was time to conquer a new frontier - the woofie's travelling cage. We had taken it out of the car when I had to head out West to pick up older son from college (along with a full load of assorted household articles) and the cage had been sitting in the living room for a few days. We had placed the blue blanket on top since we didn't want any of the cats to jump up and get a paw or two caught in the slats. For the first few days there was an occasional sniff from one of the cats as they walked by but no real interest. Then one day we found Spike pulling at the partially open cage door and then climbing inside to check it out. He settled in for several minutes, looking totally comfortable on the woofie's blanket. Then he decided enough was enough, walked out and then jumped on top of the cage to fall blissfully asleep (likely dreaming of continued world domination, Spike style!)