Happy New Year from Sherpa the Farm Cat

Sherpa meows, "Happy New Year" to all of you and best wishes for a great 2012!

Where's the kitty?

Orange guy helping

Hobbes loves to decorate for the holidays.

Or....he just loves the boxes and the mess.

Poor Dakota

So who is boss around here? Well, this was Dakota's new bed (Dakota is the American Eskimo dog that shares the house.) She happily used it all summer, while we stayed in the camper that is. Now, installed at the house in front of the big glass sliding door, it's been, um, permanently borrowed by Mariah and Red.

Dakota's a pretty good sport. She has a different bed in the kitchen that she likes OK. Not quite as fancy as the new one, but it will have to do....

Instructions for Giving Your Cat a Pill

Hehehehe.....

                                     INSTRUCTIONS FOR GIVING YOUR CAT A PILL

1. Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of 10.

4. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

5. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, holding front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold cat's head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.

6. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

7. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with its head just visible from below spouse's armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force cat's mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

8. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply band-aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

9. Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

10. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Throw T-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

11. Ring fire brigade to retrieve cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.

12. Tie cat's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Force cat's mouth open with small spanner. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Hold head vertically and pour 1/2 pint of water down throat to wash pill down.

13. Get spouse to drive you to emergency room; sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Stop by furniture shop on way home to order new table.

14. Arrange for vet to make a house call
                                                     

Hi Mom!

BB, the scaredy cat

The Beebster is a big boy and you might think it makes him brave. But he's a scaredy cat. The closest he ever wants to get to outside, birds or even our resident alley cats is this...



He prefers hanging out (ie: napping) in his Daddy's big comfy recliner...

The Basket Days

I have decided that my new bed and home will be a laundry basket!

 I will spend my days lurking in the depths and pouncing on humans passing feet.

And sleeping of course...

Mouse Hunt--or not

I found Hobbes sitting in the shed the other day.  He was just sitting there, staring into the corner--which means only one thing--mouse.

Sure enough, there it sat. The wee thing, too terrified to move, just sat there blinking those big brown mousie eyes, hoping that my orange stripey would just go away.  Yeah/no.

But apparently as big as Hobbes is, he is not hungry.  And so he walked away from his mouse friend and moved on to other adventures like the leaves blowing across the yard.  They were fun, you see--something to chase.

Smart mouse.

And yes, I scooted him into a bucket and set him free under the fence.

Introducing...

Hello! I'm Billie (girl kitty, not boy). I'm named after Bill the Cat from Bloom County. I enjoy: 

Sleeping (who doesn't?).

Climbing on the fridge and other tall things.

Hiding from naughty humans in bags.

And sleeping!

Among other things of course. I do hope to befriend other red cats in The Red Cat Society. Not that other cats are not as good, but red is an interesting color!

Now, I must go take a nice little cat nap. Tootle-pip!

It's a Catnip Party!

Catnip grows wild in patches here and there and when I catch it in bloom, I pick the buds for my furry little drug addicts. Red, naturally, keeps his cool even when keeping Purrmeister in line. Purrmeister, on the other hand, really gets carried away. Out of view of my iPhone camera, he tackled poor Mariah (who he now outweighs times two.) Note the clumps of fur on the rag rug? Uh huh, looks like some serious smacking going on. It was a wild party and a good time was had by all!

Wake Up Sleepy Head

Wake up Chopper....

I need to use the your bed...the sink...

Come on sleepy head...

Rise and shine...

Inspector Cat Sherpa

Sherpa must give the A-OK to anything that comes into the kitchen.

It seems that the apricots that my neighbor gave me are acceptable.
Perhaps because they are they are in the same color family as my orange beauty.

Wordless Wednesday

Mouse huntin'.

Is it something to do with their color?

Have you noticed that orange stripey cats seem to be bigger than your average cat? Like Lin's Hobbes for instance.

Whenever I post a picture of BB, the orange boy, people comment that he eats well, implying that he is fat. He is not - but he is very tall and very long. He is a BIG boy.

This is BB at approximately 5 months old - we had just adopted him from the Madison-Greene Rescue only an hour or two before...


And this is the very same BB, in the very same place (my husband's lap), almost exactly four years later...



Hmmmm...

a dingo in the garden

The flowers can't compete with this cutie!

Pibby's Drive-Thru Cat Wash Open For Business

Pibby and Star are at it again. This is how I found them early one morning a few Saturdays ago.

Thankfully Pibby started cleaning Star.

Boxes...

Hello all!  Chopper here.  I just wanted to share with you a few of my favorite  boxes...I love a box...any box.

I guess it all started here, when I and my sister Chica could both fit in this wicker box!                                 

This box wasn't very big, but it was big enough!

This was a favorite...it came with crinkly paper inside!

This is my "go to" box...the only one my human has kept for more than two weeks.  And there's a bonus...a hole in the bottom that goes forever.  I know there's something down there...

Sometimes I swear I see it move, and swat around like mad in there to try and catch it, but it's very elusive... 

Introducing Pibby

Hi everybody! I'm Pib. That's the name I came with. The girl I was staying with left me alone for weeks at a time. All I had was a sofa and a tv I couldn't manage to turn on. My new mom had a friend who knew about me so they went on a rescue mission and brought me home. I spent the first few days on the top shelf of the closet warily eyeing the zoo I was brought home to. That is until I managed to fall off and have everything fall on top of me. After that I just stayed on the floor and hissed a lot. Now I hang out with the dogs I used to hate. This picture is the head shot I used for my audition with Red Cat Society. Like the walrus-whisker effect?

This is my buddy Star. Mom calls him Fancy Feast. He has a major posh attitude. He was part of the earlier rescue mission from the same girl who originally wanted to keep me. They were going to take him to the shelter where he would've been...ahhh you know the story. Anyway now we are both back together and most mornings fly up and down the hall sounding like a herd of elephants. 4 am seems to be a good time not to be bothered by the dogs. Now this picture I am trying to look like my hero Hobbes. Notice the orange ottoman pose? I really do have arms and legs.

Just so you know, I am the tough one in the family. There was this bug and Star just let it come cuddle next to him. But when I saw it I pounced about 50 feet in one leap and got it. Mom thought I wasn't paying attention from so far away but I showed her!

See you soon! Happy 4th of July!

Huntin' Season

The butterflies are back in town and full-fledged messin' with Hobbes has resumed.  I don't think he's ever caught one--but it doesn't mean that he gives up trying.

Chopper.....Blending in

I got Chopper as an itty bitty kitten at an adoption fair.

The organization has a no kill policy, and asks me to sign a contract saying that I agree to never let the cat outside and that I will not have him declawed.

O.K.

 This tiny little kitten is in a big dog kennel with four of his sisters.  It's the first time they are away from their mom, and all of them, with the exception of Chopper, is hunkered down in fear.  He is also the only orange one in the bunch!  He's just sitting there, looking around.  Then he gets up, strides across the kennel to one of his cowering siblings, and pounces directly on top of her.  She responds only by cowering even more.  "Hmf" Chopper seems say with his face, and does the same to another sister.

 Probably wondering why no one wantsto play. 

"I'll take the orange one" I say.

      

BB -

The Beebster is 4. He was adopted from the Madison-Greene Rescue in Virginia. They were having an adoption thingy in PetSmart and we were there picking up some food or whatever for our 2 cats. I saw this crazy kitty trying to escape his cage. He had more energy and personality than could be contained in his striped tabby body. I had to meet this character. The Madison-Greene people said he was a little looney because he wasn't used to being in a cage; he lived in a foster home with other cats and people. There was this stiff and stuffy looking couple giving him the eye and I just knew this orange ball of energy was not for them so - Surprise! I took him.

He was about 5 months old so I called him BB for "baby boy" until I could come up with a better name. But less than 24 hours after we took him home BB came to mean "bad boy" and this is why....

New Red cat

Hi there, my name is Little Bit. We were very nicely asked to post on this blog by Hobbes since he is a little tired right now. I came to my new Mom's house as a foster kitty because they were going to send me to the bridge since I had to have a big surgery done to my leg and a lot of people don't want a special care cat.

Well I worked my way right into Marg's heart and she just couldn't let me go. So I am a permanent fixture here now. I am also a feral cat but I am getting better and better every day.

I am learning to trust humans a little bit plus I am using my bad hind leg more and more. So things are looking good right now.

We are so glad to be asked to join this Red Cat Society. There are 3 more red cats here, so we will be back.

Red Cat Society is Looking for Members!

Nothin' like fresh air, freedom of the open yard, and warm sunshine to wear Hobbes out.  You can almost set your watch by him--he's passed out by 9:00 p.m. each night. And always with that silly grin on his face.

Okay, red/orange kitties--we are looking for some fresh contributors to join the Red Cat Society.  As you can see, Hobbes is too exhausted to keep posting--he needs some help!  If you'd like to help him out, please leave me your email address in the comments and we'll hook you up with a membership to the Red Cat Society.  Any kitty who wears orange or red is invited!

Where's the Kitty?

He thinks we can't see him when he's in the grasses.  Silly Hobbes.  He's ottoman-sized and orange for goodness sake!

Remember when you were a kid and you thought if you closed your eyes nobody could see you?  Yeah, it's kinda like that.

My Cat Smiles

Does yours?

Big Red Cats

Here's a good excuse for why I tend to avoid working at my desk. This would be my desk chair. Red Kitty loves the Red cushion. How can I move him when he looks so comfy? So instead, I go and use my work bench chair. Unfortunately, my bills and taxes aren't over there...my art projects are! Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing actually....

But I chose this picture because it shows how big Red Kitty is. Sometime the past month or so, Red Kitty turned 10 years old (it's approximate because it was many months after he was born that he found us and eventually joined our household.) According to my cat age chart here, since he's an indoor cat, he's about 56 in human years. I guess that's middle age. He's definitely the elder statesman among the cats.

He tolerates just about everything and everyone which is more than I can say for the other two cats, who are striving to drive each other nuts.....or maybe it's being shut in for all the crummy weather that's making everybody nuts? Oh well, a warming trend is moving in so there is hope! I was finally able to break up a huge sheet of ice that had formed right in front of my entry door (because of the roof eave above.) It was so nice to see my mat and my wooden deck again! Hoping all the cats get a touch of outdoor time over the next couple of days!

Ignore the Cat in the Sink....

I'm really hoping that he stops growing. It's when Hobbes fills the large side of the sink that I'm gonna start worrying!

A year with Pumpkin

We've had our Pumpkin Pie for a little over a year now so I made a photo mosaic at Big Huge Labs for some of my favorite photos. Click on the image for a larger view.

He really seems to enjoy the snow this winter too!

After a year our cat Zazu has finally decided she will tolerate him!

A little water on the chin after a drink from the fish bowl.

When is Groundhog Day Anyway?

I'm not sure what we are missing more these days--the sunshine, our shadows or the green grass. Sigh.