A Basket of Birthday Cats!
This month, our cats Jackson and Jed turned two years old. We’re all a bunch of Scorpios, and Jed and I share the exact same birthday. But that’s not all we have in common. At two years old, these guys suddenly love playing in laundry baskets. Know what? When I was two, I played in them too!

Cat Naps
I’ve been surrounded by so many wonderful animals and animal people in San Diego. Still, I’m ready to get home to all my boys tonight. After after a little cat nap, I’ve got so much to share with you. For now, I travel … and sleep.


Deranged or Rearranged Cat?
We often hear, from those who meet our cats, how confident, bold, and just plain crazy they are. We’ve got some words of our own to add after finding Jed lounging in this position. (No, this image isn’t digitally manipulated,)
Mismatched? Twisted? Deranged or rearranged? What would you call this cat?

Cool Cats on Dancing with the … Straws?
The media frenzy has finally settled after Dancing with the Stars’ politically infused 11th season. Speculation is now abuzz about casting for Season 12. Lindsay Lohan, Portia de Rossi, Cheryl Cole and Christine O’Donnel (on Sarah Palin’s suggestion) are rumored to have made the short list.
I don’t watch the show, but I’d like to add two contenders to the list.
Get Ready to Potty!
DING! DING! DING! DING! We have a winner!
Congratulations, Genevieve Davis! You just won the Litter Kwitter Challenge!
Genevieve’s litter box horror story made me laugh and nearly cry at the thought of a closet full of six litter boxes. And the telling of the story, not just the story itself, is what makes this one a winner. See for yourself:
Litter boxes – I’ve got lots of them. So many in fact, that I turned my storage closet under my stairs into the cats’ own litter box room, complete with an air purifier. 7 cats = 5 to 6 litter boxes at all times. I’d be willing to give them their own guest bathroom if it meant no more litter boxes! My mother had a siamese before I was born that she trained to use the toilet. I remember as a little kid that we both shared the same bathroom. Nothing like walking in the bathroom and finding TupTim on the toilet! I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Now my worst nightmare is when I hear someone jump out of a litter box and open the door to discover they have flipped it over and pine pellets (and sometimes some poop) are scattered all over the floor. They sure now how to use the boxes (most of the time) but they don’t know how to clean up after themselves!
Happy Birthday, Crazy Cats!

Welcome to the party!
Today begins the month-long celebration of our cats turning one year old – and you’re invited!
“Why celebrate the whole month?” you ask.
Jackson turns 1 on October 7th and Jed does so on October 28th (which is also my 40th birthday). Who needs to do math? We’ll simply call it Catoberfest, be done with it, and have fun with it!
“But aren’t your cats brothers? How do they have different birthdays?”
Actually, Jackson and Jed are half brothers. They were born three weeks apart to the same mother but different fathers. For more on that back-country conundrum, read the section called “Our Little Miracles” on the kittens’ adoption post.
“Where are the presents!??”
We’re pulling out all the stops … We’ll have new cat toys from the papa, toys for the momma, and even a toy for one lucky reader and their cat. That’s right!
Check back tomorrow. You’ll learn how to win a Litter Kwitter and rid yourself of that nasty litter box forever. (This is actually the momma’s toy and I want you to join me for an 8 week toilet training adventure.)
Tree Hugging Cats
While my kittens learned to fly like bumble bees during the first outing of their lives, that wasn’t all they learned. Tree hugging at towering heights also made the list.
Spurred on by squirrels (of course, it’s always the squirrels), the kittens surely felt they had something to prove. The rodent skillfully scaled each branch to the top and leapt to the next tree. It didn’t take long before the kittens followed at half pace.
Since one surely couldn’t be outdone by the other, Jed was the first to fly up the trunk and was followed soon after by Jackson. (The video may not reflect this accurately, but their mother remembers well.)
Uneasy about what to do once each climbed a full story up, both took the leap of their lives and landed safely on the ground. Bungee jumpers, eat your hearts out. And to all the mothers of kittens like me, hide your eyes. This is not for the feint of heart! (If you can’t see the video, visit “ target=”_blank”>Tree Hugging Cats” on YouTube.)
The Cats and the Bees
Yes, the saying is usually “the birds and the bees,” but this post is definitely not about that.
Our cats had their first outting in May after they found their way through the dog door. Since then, they’ve been inside recouperating from a couple of neuters, some FLV shots and a bout with ringworm.
Here’s to hoping the dog doors remain dog doors and don’t turn into cat doors, but the fun that Jed and Jackson experienced chasing every carpenter bee, squirrel and cracking leaf likely made for the best day of their lives … (If you can’t see the video, visit “ target=”_blank”>The Cats and the Bees” on YouTube.)
Bucket O’Cat
Like an episode of Seinfeld, nothing monumental happens with the cat or the bucket in this video, but it’s fun to watch all the same.
Episode Synopsis
Jed (or Jeddy) likes chasing his own tail in small spaces and, really, there’s nothing wrong with that. Neighbors drop by… yada, yada, yada… the end.
And now for our feature presentation…
The UnToys
What isn’t a toy with curious kittens? For our 6 month old cats, everything, and I mean everything, is a game in their exploration of the world.
- They’ve played for – and with – the camera.
- They’ve played with fire.
- They’ve played with dog tags as they dangle from the dog’s neck.
- They’ve commandeered remnant rolls of toilet paper.
- And they’ve scaled the mother of all bird cages – filled with birds.
A friend recently said, ” You know, they won’t be like this forever. There will come a time when all they do is sleep.”
All I can say is, “We aren’t there yet.”
And really, for now, we wouldn’t want it any other way.






