Feline news: summer.

We got Sweetpea spayed in July. THAT was an adventure!

Short version: I had to get her a cone of shame. Sweetie did NOT like that. But being trapped in the house was what she hated the most. My poor baby. 8(

May post about it at some point...


Gatito, our Smoky-kitten, became friendly and then affectionate during the summer... now he is an indoor-outdoor cat. (AND a lap cat!) I don't think Tiny Cat even realizes how much more he stays inside.

He can sleep in the house, where it's cooler during the day... and where the monsters aren't invading his space at night. Lately Smoky has been trying to explain to us how he should be allowed to roam free at night. Like he does during the day -- when he mostly sleeps, fwiw.

Saturday he became five months old.

Smoky is the chattiest cat we have. The little purrball. :D He will mrrrrrrrrow at you when he doesn't want to be picked up, among other vocalizations. 8)


And Dingdong stopped being a full-time jerk. He turned into the kitten's best pal and playmate -- we call them each "Buddy" when speaking to either Smoky or DD. "Buddy's out there! ... Are you looking for Buddy?"


Sometimes the younger tomcats [DD, Smoky] will be jerks to the queens, chasing 'em off, but mostly the cats are getting along.

I blame Bad Kitty for this behavior. He got mad that the younger queens got spayed, and he doesn't get along with Shadowcat either. So BK pursues 'em for a while, then calms the eff down.

DD seems to not actually go into his own house anymore. He often sleeps under one of our cars instead.

There was one day he vanished completely -- Smoky was distraught; what happened to Buddy?? Later, either that evening or the next day, Dingdong reappeared. I suspect his humans flea-bombed their house, and took him to a groomer. He was certainly Very Pretty that evening!


Vee-cat continues to be another of the kitten's most constant playmates. She also taught him how to climb trees. After Sweetpea weaned Smoky, she was gravid again, and she wanted nothing to do with her single kitten.

Luckily, Vee took over teaching the kitten. Her moods mostly got better after she was spayed. Mostly! But Vee still has odd times... she'll be affectionate, like today, as if she'd gone back into heat. Or crabby as blazes. Still the bossypants cat. :D

Shadow has gotten a bit pushier about treats and wet food. (She feels they should all belong to her.) She is a cat who is variously semi-feral and a little tame. Apparently some of Vee's bossiness is rubbing off on her mother.