Greetings from Hawaii

Hi All,

Well, I have limited Internet access while I'm here in Hawaii, but I found I just couldn't stay away. Yes, I'm that addicted! I've missed seeing everyone's postings and just had to log on and visit you all. Plus, this is one way that I can look at my darling 9 and sweetie pie Chani. I miss them so much despite the love I have for Hawaii and how much I love being here. (I think they might be missing me too (or are very put out at my going on vacation), as they are leaving "presents" outside of their litter box which Chris has had to clean up... Eeek!  I owe him for this.)

So, here's a little picture that I took with my camera phone.

Yes, this is an avocado from my mom's house's garden. This is also the reason why I have a warped sense about what avocados should look like and what size they should be.

And... this is a small one. I remember my mom taking photos of avocados from this tree that were about 12-14 inches long.  Craziness.

More pictures when I get back (I get home on Friday, and will be trying to adjust to jetlag over the weekend. I hope to post more pictures then!)

See you all soon!

Friends from Down Under

As I mentioned before, I attended a wedding this past weekend and took photos. Today, the newlywed couple came to visit me and to meet 9 and Chani. Above you see, Ellen. And below, you see Greg.
Greg and Ellen are from the Bay Area, but now live in Sydney Australia. They have a pair of their own kitties, but love to meet new kitties anytime. Ellen and Q were not always on the best of terms, but towards then end, when Q got mellow, he and Ellen bonded over kitty treats and drinking water out of the bathroom faucet (Ellen would cup her hands together to catch the water and then present it to Q. He would then graciously drink out of her hands). 

At any rate, 9 had a blast with Ellen and Greg, playing with the remains of Evil Feather Toy II. Ellen complimented him on his stunning looks, calling him handsome.  She also thought Chani was very cute.

Ok, this is my last posting for now. I might post while in Hawaii, but we'll have to see how my internet connection is there. If not, I'm going to try to enjoy myself as much as possible and maybe try to stay away from the online world.

Aloha everyone!

Chair possession

9 and Chani sleep with me in my room. When I wake up (anywhere between my 5 o'clock bathroom break that used to be the time I would feed Q his breakfast to 7:30), my beloved pair will get all antsy to leave my room for their morning kibble krunchies.

This morning was no exception.  They were let out around 7 a.m.
When I woke up for good around 8:45, I came out to the front room to see them sitting in this chair. Of course, I had to take a photo or two. I love the color of the first shot without a flash, but Chani was too much in the shadows, so I had to take a second shot. Still, I love 9's expression in the first shot.

Man, I just love my pair of kittens! I'm going to miss them so much when I'm in Hawaii. Sigh... I'll be thinking about them a lot.

Enjoy yourselves everyone! See you when I get back!

9 and Chani at home

After a rather eventful weekend of a wedding reception in Los Angeles on Saturday and a wedding in the Bay Area on Sunday, I'm finally back home. However, I am getting ready for yet another trip starting Friday. Going to Hawaii to visit some family, celebrate a cousin's daughter's first birthday and general shenanginery... if that is even a word. I'll be back a week from Friday.

9 and Chani still have fleas. They've had a second bath and a second dosing of Frontline (the first dose was about 3 weeks ago. I know that it's supposed to be once a month, but I was assured that 3 weeks is ok too). I was able to comb out a few fleas off of both of them today. When I get back, I think that I will take them to Dr. S's and have them both flea dipped. Simultaneously, we will flea bomb the apartment. Ugh, I hate fleas.

I hope you are all having a great Tuesday! Oh, and I will definitely post more. That picture of the dead fleas on the toilet seat really creeps me out.

Bathing the Kitties

So, as I have tweeted and blogged, poor Chani has fleas. Last night, I bought some DeFlea Pet Shampoo. No, I did not get it at Petco, but you get the idea.

I decided to 'tackle' Chani first. I knew that she would be a bit more difficult to bathe compared to 9 as she's a bit more of a Princess and 9 is very flopsy.

After reading a few tips on how to bathe a cat, I filled up the bath tub with few inches of warm water, stopped the water flow (which is what cats fear/dislike the most, I read) and stopped it up. Then, I got a little plastic tub to pour water on Chani.  Picked her up, put her in the bath and started the bathing process.

If you ever want to hear one of the most heartbreaking sounds, listen to Chani meow while I'm giving her a bath. I felt so bad! But, it needed to be done.

While wet, it was much easier to see all the fleas infesting my darling girl.
Those are the evil bloodsuckers I managed to pick off of her after I slightly dried her off. I had to use tweezers to get them and some of them were still alive. Poor Chani had to get shampooed up twice as well as rinsed off twice. My heart was breaking as I was trying to make reassuring noises to my dear little girl.

I slightly dried her off with a Shamwow (no, I'm not trying to plug products here), cradled her and picked the fleas off of her. She was shaking as I did this.  I feel horrible that I had to put her through this!
Of course, 9 had to get a bath too. What was surprising was how 9's tail poofed up as he waited outside listening to me bathe Chani. I think it seriously stressed him out and frightened him when he heard Chani's wailing meows. He was good and only meowed in complaint once as I bathed him.
I only found about 5 fleas on 9.
After they both had settled down after their baths, I gave them treats. Chani has let me pick her up since and while she hasn't purred, she didn't struggle against me and treat me like I was the most horrible person in the world. 9 has come up to me and stood next to me. Chani hasn't yet.

I hope she forgives me.

Oh, and I should mention that neither cat scratched me while I was bathing them. Although Chani did try to escape, her back claws did brush against my arm, but nothing purposeful. She did try to climb into my shirt to get away.

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On a lighter note, in looking at these pictures, I really need to vaccuum our front entry way and sweep around their food area.  Ugh! How messy!

Tuesday Tidings

Does anyone see a problem in the above picture? Especially since it was around midnight? Yes, my darling, Chani, is thinking that our bed is actually HER bed...

No, not really. She was sleeping next to me and I got up to do something. She then decided it was the perfect time to stretch out and clean herself.

Unfortunately, Chani has fleas right now. The Frontline Plus only worked for about 2 weeks. She was fine when she visited my parents, but I think that we have fleas in the apartment. So, my poor girl has fleas. I combed her last night and was able to kill about 6 fleas. I know there is at least one more that I just could not catch. Chris has said that he will flea dip them this weekend. (I'm going to Los Angeles again.)

And I couldn't go three postings without putting a 9 solo picture up. Isn't he cute in this box? Yes, my boy really loves to play in boxes.

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope to have some interesting news by the end of the week.  Hehe, how's that for whetting one's appetite?

Chani on a Thursday

Yes, Chani is shocked that I'm going to reveal her deepest, darkest secret here...
Chani loves Chris' stinky worn shirts (his dirty laundry pile is just heaven for this little lady).
Ok, here's the scoop. A few weeks ago, my beloved kittens started having fleas. I put Frontline on them and I sprayed the tower with anti-flea spray. Since the tower was the only 'new' piece of furniture and since Q didn't have fleas, it seemed logical that this was the source. At any rate, after I sprayed the tower, Chani didn't have much interest in her formerly favorite locale. So, in order to entice her back to this spot as well as knowing how much she loves rolling around in his dirty laundry when he leaves it on the floor of his room, Chris draped his dirty clothes on said tower. Needless to say, Chani is back to lounging on her favorite perch.

Toesies Tuesday and fur friends of Big Sur

Well, what do we have here? Spotted toesies on an orange kitty? Who could this be?

It's Gary! Gary is a furfriend who lives in Big Sur with Mak and Pam (Yes, I spent the 4th of July with Mak, Pam, Mikey Awesome and another couple... we are all friends via World of Warcraft).

Gary is a big boy. His girth expanded when Mak and Pam adopted two rescue kitties (see below) and he just loved the kitten food. One of his nicknames is:  GarBear... I spent much of the weekend picking up Gary and just hugging him.  He wasn't too keen on that, but he put up with me.
Next up is The Princess.  She is so pretty.  Her head is rather tiny compared to her floofy and yet solid body.  I love the Princess. Though, I'm not sure she loves me all that much.
This is Moxie Crime Fighter.  Moxie is one of the two rescue kitties that Mak and Pam adopted last year (Come to think of it, Gary and Princess were rescues as well). Mak and Pam swear that Moxie has no soul and only exists to steal your soul.  I was able to pick her up once but Pam said that I confused Moxie. Apparently, they only pick up Moxie when she's done something wrong... Corporal cuddling as a punishment.  Ah well, I had fun. At least she didn't bite my toes under the covers as she used to do to other guests.
Finally, this is Tsunami, the force of Nature. Tsunami was a very shy kitten and no one wanted to adopt her. Of course, Pam saw that and just had to bring her home (the adoption group gave Tsu to Pam for free they were so sure that Tsu would not be adopted... can you blame Tsunami for being shy? I mean, here she is at a pet store, in unfamiliar grounds and being handled or stared at by a bunch of strangers! However, she was quite playful when she was in her cage, so Pam knew that Tsu wasn't as shy as everyone thought). Tsunami loves to taunt cat lovers who want to pet her and love on her. She will act like she wants you to pet her, rubbing against furniture, arching her back. However, as soon as you go to pet her... she takes off.  Ah well... The only time I was able to pet her was when she was lounging in her tower. Even that was almost too much for her. Needless to say, I was not able to pick up Tsu at all.
I had a very nice 4th of July. I hope you all did too!

Portrait time again

I really need to work on getting better using my flash.  I can trace the pattern of light when I take flash photos.  At any rate, here are my sweetie kittens.

9 and Chani are now big enough to hop up onto the tops of bookshelves and tv stands.  Of course, they are now causing havoc with everything stored up there.  Sigh...  I think I'm going to have to invest in a proper display case that has doors so these two can't get into my little display items.