Butterfly Kisses

Star, of her own volition, without coercion, was downstairs for quite a while today. She even took a few swats at a toy, something she hasn’t done downstairs a whole lot since Leo got his confidence. She’s been too on guard to relax and play when she’s down.
　
Then I made a mistake. I thought, well if she’s gonna play, I’ll play with her! And I got out the kitty teaser. Leo had been snoozing on the back of the couch, but as soon as the teaser came out he got alert. I wiggled it at Star and she played with it for a little bit. Then she noticed that Leo had jumped down, and even though he wasn’t that closer to her, she grumbled and stopped playing so she could keep an eye on him. I even had good enough aim to let it land over her back and head where I could slowly drag it, but nothing. She was done.
　

I played with Leo for a bit with the teaser and Star made her way back upstairs. I’m still mad at myself for trying to get in on her play time and causing it to end. She still plays upstairs at night. She loves to attack the back scratcher especially if I run it under the sheets. And lately she’s been burrowing under the sheets so I puff them up and tickle the outside and she tries to attack my hand. I have to be quick, because she’s got the fastest paws in the west and I haven’t been able to trim her claws in a while. But still, I want her comfortable enough to play downstairs when she wants to.

　
Since she was sick, she hasn’t been playing a lot, and sometimes I think she’s feeling her age. So when I saw that she wanted to play, I got the idea that maybe we should take up a toy or two for her to play with upstairs where, for the most part, she is comfortable. I thought we should take the wicker ring with feathers up before Leo chewed all the feathers off it. It’s one of the few feather toys that still has most of it’s feathers! Greg grabbed her butterfly, her favorite toy. Ah ha! That was a great idea. That’ll keep it safe from the toy destroyer as well as let her have her fav.
　
When she saw her butterfly on the bed, you’d have thought it was Christmas, Easter, and her birthday all rolled together! She grabbed it, rolled over and started rubbing it on her face. Pure bliss. She licked it sopping wet and accepted all kinds of ear rubs and scritches. Totally blissed out. But don’t take my word for it. See for yourself.
　

　
　
　

Leo: I sense a toy being played with somewhere...

Territorial Disputes

My hand is doing much better. Whoever invented liquid bandage is a genius. Even the little blisters that had started to form have gone down. Thank you for the well wishes, I'm sure I'll be fine in a day or two.

The other day I reported that Leo was surprised in the 'library' window. I'm happy to say that he's been in that window several more times. Not so happy to say that those magazines that gave him such trouble the first time I saw him there apparently are still giving him trouble.. I found them on the floor, and one in the uh.. porcelain fountain. Not pleasant.
　
I was in there putting away towels and sorting.. Isn't it funny how messy they can get? But I'm not going to go off on a rant about that particular pet peeve.. Anyway, as I was sorting, Leo ran in, saw me and skidded to a stop. I knew Star was in the bedroom, so I quietly called him and told him that he didn't have to run, as he was preparing to do. He did leave, but turned around immediately and crept back in, keeping an eye on me. I pretended to be engrossed in towels, and he got over his nervousness.
　
He jumped onto the porcelain fountain and I thought, ah, that's right, he's not a great jumper, he won't go right onto the counter. While it's true that he is an uncertain jumper, that wasn't his only reason for jumping there apparently.. He had to get a drink. Ugh I try not to think about that too much, bleh. Anyway, I rolled my eyes and kept working on my sloppy cabinet, The next time I looked over, he was at the window. Good, I thought, a much better place.
　
Then he tiptoed over to the other side of the counter and got another drink. Out of Star's special glass... This is a tall glass that always sits there full to the rim, refilled frequently because she likes it cool, and always topped up because she gives me dirty looks if it's below half an inch from the top. But it's hers. The sacred water chalice set aside for her tongue alone.. And the infidel defiled it. Ut oh.. Trouble brewing, I thought.
And that was an understatement. Because little did either of us know that Princess HissyFace must have sensed a breach of protocol and came to investigate. She arrived at the doorway and immediately started vocalizing her displeasure.
　
Leo stopped drinking from the sacred chalice, but could not get down from the counter or leave the room. Mostly because HissyFace was blocking the door with her expanded growling, grumbling and hissing. What was he supposed to do? After a few minutes of contemplating, he made his decision. He’s quick, runs like the wind. So he used this natural talent, hampered slightly by his clumsy jumping style, and bolted past Star to dive down the stairs.
　
I explained that this was not very lady like behavior for her, but Star was unimpressed. She gave me such a look and then left. Now, if she didn’t want to come in, and didn’t want a drink herself, why did she have to chase the boy away? Because it’s her territory I suppose. At least no one got smacked, that’s some kind of progress I guess.
　
Anyway, I’m pleased that Leo doesn’t seem to care about all the fussing Star does at him. He’s been back to the window a few more times. And while it’s a little too hot to keep it open now, he can still enjoy the birdies and squirrels.
　
This post has taken longer to write than I should have.. I had to take a twenty minute break to allow Star to lay on me. She nudged the lid to the laptop with her chin until it closed, and then to make sure the time sucking device didn’t distract me from petting her, she laid on it. Point to Star. The memory card to the camera was in the computer slot, and she was laying directly over it. Point to Star. I did attempt to retrieve it.. But she threatened to surgically remove my arm, however I declined her offer and left it where it was.
　

Picture time!

Leo is not fond of the time I spend on the computer either. Aside from playing Leo Scarf where he drapes himself over my shoulder, he's now taken to laying on my wrist rest where I cannot help but admire how adorable he is and pet, scritch and rub him.

Ah yes, love the ear rubs... purrrrrrrrrr

Chin rubs are the best! purrrrrrrrr

I must press my head into your hand... purrrrrrrrrrrrr zzzzzzzzzz

I think I've mentioned Star's closet box? It doesn't look so comfortable to me, but she just loves it!

I don't care what you say, the infidel will NOT be sharing my box!

Necessarily Short

As I spent most of the day with my left hand buried in a bag of frozen peas, this will be a short post. At least it was my left hand that got burnt while I was cooking so I could still use the mouse to get a few pictures ready. It's not a bad burn, just a stripe across the backs of three fingers, but it's enough that I don't feel like typing very much.

On to the pictures!

This is an old one of Star, a year or two old. She has always loved pillows.

 

Stop using the flash, it's my nap time..

Have you ever seen such a silly boy? He's always hanging his head off of whatever he's sitting on. I just missed getting a shot of him with his head turned and looking underneath the chair.

 

Everything looks better upside down.

And this is just....

 

Bliss

Please please please head over to Daily Dose of Dogs AKA Cats With Your Coffee and consider helping her with a huge rescue. (She is going to need a lot more money than she's asking for in her chip in!) 15 cats and kittens living in horrible conditions need immediate help!

While you're there, look over the kitties that are in need of homes. Leo came from there and adopting him was one of the best ideas I've ever had. Getting them to where ever you live isn't a problem with the great folks in the Cat blogosphere!

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Library

We had another mostly peaceful evening with the kitties! Star grumbled, but Leo didn’t even get into a preparing-to-pounce posture. I didn’t have to touch him once to remind him to mind his manners. He did look at her, which she considers a growling offence. Poor boy, he’s trying. Now we have to get Star to try.
　
A funny thing happened earlier this morning (my morning, which is around noon!) I was just getting up, talking to twin 2 who woke me up by having issues with the car alarm on twin 1's car, which is the reason I was up.. As I walked past the closet, Star was on her sleeping box (put there, of course, just for her... as is the bean bag which she is shunning at the moment, it must have offended her somehow..), so I said hi to her and told her what a pretty baby girl she is. I tell her that several times a day. She takes it as her due and agrees that, yes, she is particularly lovely today and every day.
　
After paying obeisance I continued to the hall and as I prepared to enter what my husband calls his library, I noticed a little gray body at the window so I said, "Hi Star..." But before it registered that it couldn’t be Star because while she has the fastest paws in the west, she’s not THAT fast a runner, the gray fur ball had some kind of spastic fit! Ok, that’s just what it looked like when Leo tried to run off the counter but found his traction compromised by a little stack of magazines!
　
Once he did get his paws under him, I think he dove down the stairs without touching a single step! He was gone before I could even laugh! He was gone before twin 2 could correct me and say that was Leo, not Star. He was gone, most importantly, before Star came out to defend her territory. She took her defending duties seriously! She took off mid-pet because Leo had the audacity to come back to the top of the stairs!
　
There must have been a squirrel, or perhaps the birds who nest in the eves (Star keeps a very close eye on that little family of sparrows) were active. Because before I made my way downstairs, Leo made a third attempt at sneaking past Star’s watchful eye to get to that window. She prevailed though, holding off the invader with hiss and growl. Until I did go downstairs, leaving twin 2 to get a nap, because you know.. she wasn’t the one woken up early by a car alarm.. Ah, but she was leaving town today, so the least I could do was let her sleep, and maybe snooze through the time she was supposed to leave, thus keeping her here ! Because the brat decided that she didn’t want to be in town when her twin was gone all summer so she got a job elsewhere too... And the reason for this, of course, is to kill me; same reason twin 1 left town. But I digress...
　
After I went downstairs, Leo was content to stay there and get pet and play with teasers. Star came down after a bit, not caring to share the bed with twin 2 because she texts while she sleeps and the constant noise from her phone disturbs Princess HissyFace. The door was open, so she grumbled at the boy she won’t share a window upstairs with, telling him that she was going to share his door whether he liked it or not. And Leo, content with the chin scritches he was getting, bowed to her highness and let her sit there as long as she wanted. I could almost swear that he was sticking his tongue out at her.. Mentally at least, because he didn’t stop purring or give up the cuddles long enough to physically stick his tongue out. Ain’t my boy sweet??
　
　

Alas poor purple feather.. We hardly knew ye..

　

　

Leo loving the teaser

　

Gimme!

　

Mine, all mine!! Bwahahaha

　

　

Star, aka the Great Grumble Puss, does not like sharing me with the laptop, aka The Distractor

I’ll move when I feel like it. Your toy will wait.

Leo the Fast Learner

What a difference a day makes! Leo was locked in the cat room just two separate times for attacking Star and tonight, wow, what a change! He behaved himself so well that he got an extra few temptations treats today. (So did Star, but she needs to put on a little weight as she lost some when she was sick. Aside from her being intimidated into staying upstairs and so not eating as much as she is used to.)

Lately she’s only been coming downstairs at snack time in the evening. But tonight she was down for hours. I thought that this was her getting over the issues with Leo, but then realized that Greg had shut the bedroom door to keep the air conditioner coolness in there. I had the front door open downstairs, (both cats very happy about that), because the weather was so nice today, so the air was off down and on up.

So because she was down so much longer tonight, there was more opportunity for bad behavior, but there really wasn’t any! Once Leo got himself into a crouched, pounce ready position, but I just put my hand on his back and he settled down and did not attack. Another time he did launch himself off the back of the couch, but as he landed next to me, I again put my hands on him, holding him in place for a moment, and he rethought his attack on the unsuspecting tiny Star.

Two attempts may sound like a lot, but we’re talking over the period of hours here. And up until today, he would attack the minute she showed up downstairs if he was awake and nothing, not touching his back or attempting to hold him down would stop him. He’s a very powerful boy!

I want to stress that I was not hurting him or holding him hard to stop him either. The first time I just lightly put my hand on his back as if to say, hey, I’m right here you better behave. And the second time I lightly pressed him to my side and pet him to hold him there until he lost the alert attack posture.

For her part, Star did do a lot of grumbling, growling and a touch of hissing, but she was on good behavior as well. She stayed out of his way as much as she could. At one point Leo was laying on my feet on the Royal Footstool and she jumped up onto the arm of the couch. I patted the seat next to me and she started coming over until she saw him. She hissed, and stopped, but didn’t retreat.

Yes, we were a little tense watching them, waiting for problems, but really, it was a nice evening with both of our kitties in the living room with us! Star sat next to Greg for pets and loving like she hasn’t done in such a long time! I know he was glad to have his little girl back next to him. And I was thrilled that Leo didn’t need to be put in the cat room again!

I am not going to fool myself into thinking that this marks the end of the hostilities, but boy, it’s a nice start! And I can hope that we won’t have any more big altercations and that we’ll see more of Star downstairs. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll even see Leo upstairs one day soon! I can hope anyway!

Star is showing off her curly tummy fur! It's so adorable that I just want to rub my face in it..

of course, if I did, I would not have a face left.. sigh

You can look, but no touching!

Ok, that's enough looking....

 The orange feather that Leo stole. And proof of something else he stole.. See the yellow thing on the couch next to him? That's an apron that I left there. I know I know, it should have been put away.. But the point is, it was left there. And the next morning... it was on the floor in the dining room! I would have paid good money to see him dragging that around.. Little goof ball

Everything is my toy...



Break Through

Leo has come a long way in the two months he’s been here. He’s my best buddy, loves me as much as I love him. He will play with feather toys with twin 2's boyfriend. He let twin 2 pet him while we were out of town. But he’s been rather aloof from Greg.
　
But we had a break through! Leo stopped running when Greg’s moving around, so Greg was able to come up to him on the Royal Footstool and pet him every once in a while. Leo would take a pet or two then move off, not exactly running, but definitely getting away from Greg.
　
Then this week, as you’ll see in the following pictures, he stayed put for a long petting session! He was purring and everything! I think he’s decided that Greg can be trusted. Which is kind of odd... Because Greg has had enough of Leo attacking Star every time she ventures downstairs. So when Leo jumps Star, Greg picks him up and puts him in the cat room (which if you read some of the earliest posts is the laundry room).
　
Greg also recently held leo while I trimmed his claws. When he does this for Star, she avoids him for days. And after the medication bit with Star the other week, she was really leery of him! Poor Greg, having to be the bad guy really hurts his relationship with the furry ones..
　
That’s what makes this petting session so amazing! Could it be that Leo needed Greg to set down some tough love on him? Does he respect him for being the disciplinarian? I honestly don’t know, but I’m glad for it! I don’t like to see the kitties act afraid of Greg, and he doesn’t like it either. He loves the little fur-bugs, even if he has a hard time admitting it, and I know it bothers him when they run from him. So yay! Leo’s starting to think he might be a pretty ok guy!
　

Well, ok.. You can pet me I guess..

hmm, your hand is rub-on-able..

ah yeah, that's the spot...

Keep that up and I'm going to fall off the Royal Footstool.. Again..

Pet my tummy? Let me think about it..

purrrr.. I like it....

Alright bub, that's about enough.

I have to wonder if his sudden acceptance of pets from Greg have anything to do with his getting away with stealing the orange feather out of the package. He has a yellow and a purple one, I wasn't going to give him another until those were destroyed.. But he was pawing and pawing something I couldn't see for some time and low and behold, all the sudden he trots past with an orange feather in his mouth! What a smug little kitty he was about it too!
Being on top of the world with a feat like that might have made him extra friendly, no?

You cannot keep any feathers away from me... I will nom them all!

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

Finally got a fairly good picture of his other front paw's wonky claw. See how it lays over his center pad? Doesn't seem to bother him though.

Makes me wonder what he did to do this palm-face, er... paw-face.

Worn out from playing, he still keeps a paw on the toys!