Hey Folks,

I am guessing that ya'll are enjoying the warm days as much as we are. What do you think of lying in a sunny spot on the bed for hours and hours? I know you do it all the time because WE DO.

JJ is at it again. Cooking up ideas that will take up all of her time. Gee, will we ever see the kitty brush again? Or get to play with Da Bird or the laser light (sigh)? Well, I am being a little dramatic -- we got to play with the laser light last night...what FUN!

Anyway, JJ is trying to help folks find their lost cats!! She has lost Mr. Lucky (King of the Household, she says, and don't you forget it) two times!! And gotten him back TWO times so she feels that indicates she should share her luck and all she learned while looking for him.

Since it IS a good cause and we want ALL lost kitties to find their way home to food and comfort, I guess we will let her do it (maybe even help her a little bit). So far, she has made friends all over the United States and is even going to a training session in New Hampshire. I am sure glad we don't have to go because I am totally against that airplane thing!

Guess what? Guess what JJ got in the mail yesterday? Pictures of Mr. Jinx, her kitty friend down in St. Lucia, WI. He lives with Mrs. Andrea at Talk2Me Cool Spot in Soufriere, St. Lucia. JJ smiled so much when she looked at those pictures. Mr. Jinx is fat and happy and looking good.

That sunny window is calling -- gotta go.

Purrs and meows, Oregano

Well, hello all. You aren't really used to hearing from me (although I must say that you are lucky to do so right now as I am THE most special cat in this house). I thought I might be able to sneak over to the computer while Achilles (my own personal HEEL if you know what I mean) is distracted by the new cat bed. He SO picks on me and blows up that silly tail of his to three times its normal size. I am NOT scared! I only run and screech to make JJ come to protect me and then pet me (which she always does).

JJ says the other cats pick on me because I am a bee-atch. Humph. As if I don't deserve to be!! As special as I am they should be glad they get to live in the same house with me!

Yesterday, JJ worked with her friend in the basement -- it was A., another cat-lady (or cat-zilla as KP calls them) who came to help her. They went in A's truck and got rolls and rolls of pink stuff and poked it up in the ceiling of the basement. Now what on earth for? AND, they wouldn't even leave any of it out for us to investigate!! Really, humans are just totally stupid. Personally, I think the best way to spend Saturday afternoon is asleep on the top of the closet in JJ's clothes room (JJ has, of course, left several flannel shirts and a jacket up there for me to sleep on). AAAHHHH, I can let my leg hang off the side, just like the prima donna I am!!

Another thing I like to do is ask to go out. JJ started letting me go outside a little bit because all of the other cats picked on me -- and also because I would stand at the door and yowl and swat at her when she wouldn't let me -- First, I wait till JJ has sat down for a rest on the couch, maybe she is watching some TV SO I go and start pawing the blinds really hard, like I am going to tear them down. Finally, JJ will get up and let me out the door -- of course, I meowrreek for good measure as she does so. THEN, I wait a little while -- maybe JJ will go to the kitchen while she is up or do something else, THEN, just after she sits down again, leans back and let's one of the cheewawas snuggle up, I start pawing on the window - PAW,PAW,PAW,PAW,PAW,PAW, -- I just keep doing it till she gets up and let's me in. Then, I wait about 30 minutes and do it all over again. What fun!

Well, it is TOO COLD to play that game tonight! I do not like to get my whiskers the least bit cold -- although I DID walk on the "snow" the other day -- I am SO brave. Oh, I am just THE best cat ever!! I think I shall go and think about how wonderful I am -- and sleep on the top of the closet.

Queen Melody

We hope that all of ya'll had a Merry Christmas, Catmas or Dogmas -- whatever you celebrate at your house -- here at JJ's house, we celebrate all three!

AND, guess what we did today? We had a big CATNIP party in the kitchen!! It was a blast. JJ made a bunch of little piles of catnip and we got to go and eat it and wallow in it and act C-R-A-Z-Y! Then, later, we found cat treats in all of our favorite places!! As a surprise -- so we just found them when we went for a snooze. What fun!

The cheewawas -- yes, notice there IS an "s" on that word cheewawa -- got extra baby carrots and CheeChee ate a bone. The new cheewawa didn't like the bones but he had a lot of fun with a dog toy that JJ brought up from the basement (our basement) -- the toy is bigger than he is and looks like a reindeer! This cheewawa came from a house where they didn't want to pay any attention to him. He is smaller than CheeChee and, right now, he is very skinny -- but that won't last long. His name is Cinnamon and he drives us nuts. CheeChee won't have anything at all to do with him and snaps if he gets too close -- so he trys to play with US!!! Achilles ignores him, Tita runs from him (of course, he won't go near His Majesty Lucky) and Spooky popped him in the head. Is this an animal house? Or what?

JJ had a great day too, just hanging out with us. We watched a movie, ate, went for walks, got brushed, snoozed, ate some more. And, in just a little bit, we're going to bed! Awesome.

Peace to everybody! Oregano

Hey ya'll!! Guess what, it's JJ's birthday!!! OMG (she says) I've moved into another age bracket. Well, we say "you're not gettin' older, you're gettin' even MORE lovable"!! HA HA! But, you know me, I'm K-R-A-Z-Y!

What? What, Jinx(sh)? oh, C-R-A-Z-Y!! Well, Jinx(sh) you might be able to spell good but you are soooooo fat you can't... oooh, I probably shouldn't make that public!!

Well, we have been really happy lately because, when JJ isn't riding the rosso bicicletta, she has been spending a lot of time HOME with us!! We had some itty-bitty kittens in here for awhile. We were pretty mad when JJ first brought them home. Jinx(sh) squeezed her fat little body through the cat door into the basement just as fast as she could. Tita GROWLED!

JJ told us that someone had thrown these itty-bitty kitties out in the park near her favorite bike shop, the MOB. She said that most of us were "thrown out" or abandoned at one time. You know what we said "We don't care -- take them back" but she didn't listen to us -- how strange -- usually JJ does just exactly what we tell her too -- NOT! But, finally, she found some other homes for those kittens and we were really GLAD! We told her "no more cats" and "no more cheewawas"!

The Lucky cat, Master of the Household, has been spending most of his time indoors and that makes JJ really happy. She is all of the time petting on him and telling him he is so handsome and wonderful. (BARF-a-nola!!!) We are glad JJ is happy but that cat is SUCH a snob -- he looks down his nose at us and pretends we don't even EXIST!!

We have heard that many of us have our pictures in the AARF 2008 Calendar and are calendar STARS!! Also, Mr. Jinx of St Lucia has his picture in there. JJ still sends food to Mr. Jinx (not to be confused with our Jinx(sh)-y) and his family who live in Soufriere, St. Lucia. I guess we won't ever go and visit him, though, because Jinx(sh) says that we wouldn't like it because of hurry canes AND she said we would have to learn to swim and ride in an airplane a loooonnngggg way. Personally, I would just like to stay in our house for ever and ever -- I didn't even like it when we changed our house -- but now I REALLY like playing in the basement where we can pretend we are SCARYcats!

Well, I had better go because we are going to put kitty paw prints ALL OVER THE HOUSE to celebrate JJ's birthday!! Don't you think she will like that? Maybe we can put them on the front window, too -- and maybe on the computer screen. Whoa!!! There are no limits!! We had better get started now!!

Peace.
Oregano, the doh-doh kitty

O.K. ya'll, she's at it again! JJ has been out riding the Rosso Bicicletta! We thought she would have learned her lesson after having to be in the horsepetal after wrecking in but noooooooo!! I guess we will still have to love on her because she is JJ but we really don't like that dang bicicletta.

JJ went back to work last week but she didn't stay there all day. She came home early and hung out with us. The Cheewawa likes it when JJ gets the HOT thing -- it is this thing that JJ puts in a box in the kitchen, then she takes it out and it is all warm and cozy. JJ likes to put it on her back but the Cheewawa trys to steal it.

So this weekend, JJ was sorta up to her old stuff, mowing the grass, hanging out with friends -- and riding that dang bicicletta! Usually she takes it places to ride it but this weekend she just rode off on it right from here! The Cheewawa really wants to go with her but JJ says she would have to put a big basket on her bicicletta for the Cheewawa to ride in and JJ says that's just not happening! The Cheewawa gets everything else she wants, wonder why that is off limits?

JJ says the Rosso Bicicletta is good as new since she took it to the MOB -- even if she isn't!! HaHa! We don't care if JJ is good as new -- we like her any old way she is.

Oh yeah!! Tita just reminded me to tell everyone that the big gray tabby cat is home!! He was missing for 3 months and, while JJ was home after the bicicletta wreck, she got a call and he had been found! I had been so busy talkin' about JJ and the bicicletta I almost forgot! He still hates us. He stays down in the basement by himself ALL the time. But, it makes JJ happy for him to be home so it makes me happy too!!

Oregano

She's back, everyone! She came back Monday!

She sure smelled funny, though. Tita wouldn't even come around her for a day and a half. She wasn't 100% sure it WAS JJ! But eventually she realized that JJ had just been doing something she had not done before or been somewhere she had not been before and that it really WAS her, under all those weird smells.

Apparently JJ had an accident on the rosso bicicletta. She has had so many people over since she has come home and they all talk about it. From what we can understand, JJ hurt her head and broke bones in her side. Then she had to go to the horsepetal and that is where she has been. I guess there are lots of doctors there along with the horses. We are glad she didn't bring any horses home because they make too much poop.

We can tell that she is hurting a lot because she hasn't slept much since she got home. And when she does go to bed, she falls asleep sitting up against the wall with pillows. She doesn't really seem like she likes that too much -- but when she tries to lay down flat, her regular way, she hollers!

So we have been watching a lot of TV -- and JJ complains about how boring and silly it is. Sometimes she watches stuff that seems crazy to us. But we don't care, we're just glad to have her home. We don't watch much tv anyway.

We've been trying to be good but, with all of the shedding that we have been doing (due to our nervousness over JJ's absence) we have been throwing up a LOT! Sometimes the cheewawa cleans it up but usually it is JJ. I don't know why she doesn't just let the cheewawa do it but she doesn't seem to like that. So, she has to bend over and KJ yells at her if she sees her do it -- apparently JJ is not to bend over because of her bicicletta accident.

It does seem like JJ will be here with us for a while. We are excited about that! We'll write and let you know what we get up too.

Oregano

Hey ya'll. We are missing JJ!! Cousin S and KJ and Nurse Ratchet and Neighbor D have been coming to take good care of us but no JJ!!

About a week ago, JJ went off to ride the Rosso Bicicletta. She said she was going off with Nurse Ratchet to ride a long way. She had already ridden a long way on Saturday -- 65 miles -- so I don't know why she wanted to go and ride a long way again!! But, she hasn't come home!!

All of the others who are coming keep telling us JJ is o.k. and that she will be coming home soon :-( but we sure miss her (I mean, I think the Cheewawa has had 200 anxiety attacks). So, if ya'll see her, give her a hug, a purr, a woof and a lick from us and bring her on home!!

Oregano, the Wonder Cat

We are finally settling down in the new house. We feel pretty safe here now and we even all went to the dr. in our traveling boxes -- except Jinx(sh) because she goes berserk and couldn't be caught. JJ says that a berserk 15 lb cat is a little hard to deal with. Don't tell Jinx(sh) but I heard Dr. Pete tell JJ to just bring Jinx(sh) anytime she can grab hold of her and stick her in a travelling box. Since JJ is home from work with us for a couple of days (YEAH!!) old Jinx(sh)y might be going to get a little poke in the butt! Of course, we all MUST be up-to-date on our rabies and DCR so that we can be healthy kitties.

The Cheewawa had to go and see Dr. Pete a couple of weeks ago because she had a pee problem. She would squat to pee and go and then stay squatted -- and JJ would go and have a cup of coffee and then go back outside and she was STILL in the same position. O.K. I am exaggerating but she DID feel like she had to pee pee ALL of the time. Dr. Pete gave her some teeny-tiny Cheewawa pills and she is all better now.

JJ is very sad, though, because the Lucky-Cat is missing -- the big brown tabby that doesn't like us too much. He loves to be outside where most of us aren't allowed, and one night he didn't come home and JJ said "and that's exactly why the rest of you AREN'T allowed outside." Most of us don't really care but Achilles runs out there every chance he gets. Luckily, since he only has 3 legs and a good disposition, he is easy to catch.

The big tabby has been gone 35 days!! But JJ hasn't given up hope yet. She is still putting up posters and walking and riding around the neighborhood. And Miss Jane is watching and looking for him in our old neighborhood. JJ says she will never get up but she is trying not to be depressed about it. She really, really loves that old boy -- he was her first kitty EVER and taught her how to love kitties...

JJ has been busy as usual. Working on this house and on our other house where someone else is going to live. And, of course, don't forget the ROSSO BICICLETTA -- that thing is in and out of the basement ALL the time. And, she's been getting the Blu Bicicletta out some too. JJ has a new bicycling friend, Ms. KO -- that figures that JJ would have a friend KO -- as in KNOCK OUT -- from the looks of this one, JJ and her will probably ride into one another on their biciclettas and KNOCK EACH OTHER OUT. We think she is just as happy and funny and absent minded as JJ (but we don't know yet if she is just as uncoordinated). Look out!

I have to go -- I am going to watch out the window as JJ does something with a shovel. I don't know what it is but, you know what voyeurs cats are (AND we speak French, too!)

Love you all,
Tita

Hey everyone, guess what? We MOVED!! Now we live on M Street and, since we have been here, property values have risen (because we are such special, literate cats)!

Moving was s-c-a-r-y!! We all got packed up in travelling boxes. Some were big, some were regular size and we stayed in them a long time. Except Achilles. He was in a bathroom. He said it made him a little nervous because it was a bathroom he had never been in before but his old bed was in there and the litter box smelled like home so he figured everything was o.k.

JJ's cousins had to come and help catch Jinx(sh). I think JJ might have called her a dirty word. I won't write it here but, it rhymed with itch. Jinx(sh) eluded capture until the very last moment and the bed had to be taken apart to get her. Poor old Jinx(sh) -- she just does not like to be contained!!

So, there was all of this noise and men's voices we had never heard before and going in the moving machine in the boxes. Then, we came to this place that smelled all funny and stayed in the boxes some more.

Finally, everything got quiet and, one by one, JJ opened our boxes. I didn't want to come out!! I didn't know WHAT was out there. I must have stayed in that box till suppertime!! Achilles and Melody were having fun exploring the new house. I told them "watch out you guys, curiosity killed the cats you know".

Me, Jinx(sh), and Lucky just stayed in our travelling boxes for a while, but we came out when we smelled supper. And, we found lots of our stuff right here in this new place.

Melody has discovered the basement -- she goes through a tunnel in the door -- and says there are a few tasty, and pleasingly squishy, bugs to catch and snack on down there. We hear that JJ's friend, KJ, calls those bugs "hoppys" and shrieks when she sees one. But JJ says they are just camel crickets. All I know is that Melody says she has found her calling... patrolling for them. Then she likes to get in some hidey hole where she thinks she is "Melody of the Jungle" and peer out. Jinx(sh) wants to go down and beat Melody up but she isn't sure she can fit through the tunnel! I went on my own one time but I really only like to go when JJ is down there.

We have been staying up LATE trying to get all of our things put away. We have been very helpful to JJ, instructing her where everything should go. We tried to make it seem REALLY home-y by throwing up on JJ's bedspread but, for some reason, she washed it off. People are so weird.

I think it is almost ice cream time!! JJ doesn't let us have any, but we like to watch her eat it cuz she LOVES IT so much -- haha!! Almost as much as us!!

Oregano (of M Street)

Did ya'll think we had died and gone to kitty heaven? Well, we're not ready for that yet -- though we do hear that they serve that new kind of Fancy Feast -- the gourment blends -- up in heaven. JJ got us some when she had a Q-pond and we liked that stuff, I can tell you. JJ said we would all have to get jobs if we wanted to eat that everyday.

We said, "what do you mean GET jobs? We already HAVE jobs!!!" Big Lucky's job is surveying his acreage (which is about to change). Mr. Spooky's job is getting spooked by everything. Jinx(sh)'s job is house mother. Oregano's job (me) is cat journalist and JJ Jester (and love machine). Melody's job is, uh, uh, thinking the rules don't apply to her. Tita's job is catching and eating all of the moths and flying bugs that come in the house. Achilles' job is personal trainer -- he keeps the rest of us in shape by chasing us around the house. You should SEE how I lay my ears back flat on my head and growl at him. He is scared I can tell you (NOT - darn it).

We have not been able to write a lot lately because we have been helping JJ pack. When she is home that is. We think she is going to the new house on M Street. We know what color the walls are going to be because we have seen the back of JJ's work shorts!! Ha Ha!! She is really messy when it comes to paint. JJ says she has been using all kinds of tools and learning new things -- like how to patch drywall. What is drywall anyway? All of the walls in our house are dry. Except when Spooky sprays them (oops, family secret, wasn't supposed to tell about Spooky spraying -- or about "somebody" peeing on the stove -- you know what JJ did about that? She bought some smelly things and put them right on the stove and "somebody" doesn't like the smell and won't go near them -- and neither will any of the rest of us)!

JJ has been spending time with the rosso biciletta, too -- though not as much as she would like (she says). She is collecting $$$ for Multiple Schlerosis riding the rosso bicicletta. Some of the friends have Multiple Schlerosis and she wants to help them out by raising money for a cure to be found. So, all of you who enjoy The Kitty Report need to give JJ a dollar or two for the Tour to Tanglewood Start to Finish MS ride!

I think I have to go. I just heard the doorbell. When the doorbell rings, JJ only has one cat -- Achilles -- because he is the only one that doesn't "disappear" when strangers come to the house.

Cheers!! Oregano

Melody said she heard JJ say we are MOVING!! I'm not sure exactly what that means but Jinx says she thinks it means we are going to go somewhere that looks and smells completely different!! We're not too sure about that!!

Melody said she heard JJ on the phone with KJ and JJ said we are moving somewhere called Ardmore and that there will be a special place there for the biciclettas. AND she heard her say "the cats will like all of the windows". It WOULD be good to have more windows because we kind of fight over the ones we have now! Nikita told me that, at her house, they have LOTS of windows to look out of instead of just a few like we have here.

But, I don't know about having things look and smell different. I might get scared. I just hope that JJ still smells the same. I guess if the cheewawa can handle it, I can. Jinx said that the gray cat and Spooky cat will have to stay indoors when we move... until they know where they are. Now what does that mean? Don't they always know where they are? I ALWAYS know where I am (heehee) except when I am ASLEEP and DREAMING I am chasing a fat mouse in the grass!! Of course, I've never seen a real mouse -- or grass for that matter -- so, perhaps it is a collective memory?? At least that is what Dr. Carl Jung de Whiskers would have said!

Jinx read that Dr. Carl Jung de Whiskers said that the reason I get scared so easy is because I have a FEAR OF ABANDONMENT that might have come from me being away from my mom when I was so young. Being around JJ makes me much braver. I run upstairs when the doorbell rings -- but I come back down to check out who has come over later.

Well, I will write more when I find out more about this "moving" thing. It might just be a big adventure!!

Oregano

It's a New Year with 365 days for fun (and sleeping) ahead! Hooray! Cats love life, especially when we get to chase toy mice and a cheewawa! We do, however, get serious and make New Year's Resolutions so here we go:

Lucky -- Force myself to come inside and spend more time with JJ, even though those, those INTERLOPERS still live in my house.

Spooky -- Stand up to that bully in the neighborhood, the OTHER Spooky. Also, continue to diligently clean out the leftovers from ALL bowls in the house.

Jinx(sh) -- My resolution is to eat more healthily in order to maintain my health as well as possible. AND to encourage JJ to do so also. If we are going to help her with HER resolution, that is one thing we will have to do.

Oregano -- My resolution? Uh, uh, (Tita, now what's a resolution? Oh.) uh, uh -- to become EVEN CUTER and have EVEN MORE FUN! Ha Ha Ha... whoaaaa... where's that mouse?

Tita -- I am going to try to stay OFF the counters in the kitchen. It's going to be hard because I like to get on top of the refrigerator and see if Melody left anything in her bowl up there. And, that oven sure is warm and comfy sometimes. But, I'll give it my best shot.

Melody -- My resolution is to cultivate my ill temper to the point that I ALWAYS get my way (rubbing her paws together and squinting her eyes).

Achilles -- I resolve to learn to jump up on top of the bookshelf even though it is hard to jump that high with just one back leg. I also resolve that, in the process, I will break as few of JJ's knick knacks as possible. She told me that she would appreciate that as she doesn't have very many but some of them are sort of special to her -- like her award for "Worst Scavenger" from a Scavenger Party many years ago and the last unbroken porcelain horse from a set of eight she got for Christmas when she was 13 and wooden cats she has collected from her travels outside the US. Yes, they are wooden, but the tails still break off. I found that out the hard way.

So this is what the Cheewawa said her resolution is: To be more brave so she can better protect JJ.

And JJ, she says her resolution is to eat a healthier diet and follow a training program so that, this summer, she will be able to ride a the rosso bicicletta 100 miles in one day (whaaaaaaaaaat? why would she want to do that?) AND ride 30+ miles at an average of 18 mph. She says it is a big goal and that it will take so much work that, along with her plan to find a way to earn more $$$ for her travel and rescue work, she will have to put off the resolution of falling in love till next year. (We agree with that -- friends are o.k. but LOVE should be reserved just for us!)

I gotta' go. Tita is going to teach me how to Moon Dance. We love that song, Billie Jean... is not my girl...

Love to all, Oregano

The title above is the song we cats like to sing around Christmas -- there is a human song called "O Christmas Tree" and we used that tune but we made up our own words. From what I hear, the last time there was a Christmas Tree around this place was when the old gray tabby and Black Spooky were the only cats here and, even then, most of the ornaments got removed. (Moi? they would ask). We are sure jealous of cats who get Christmas trees in their houses!!

Yesterday JJ went and rode her blu bicicletta with her friend, MC who is Nikita's Dad (remember Nikita? Tita's sister? The scarediest of scaredy cats in the whole wide world?). JJ says that MC has an argento bicicletta -- actually JJ said silver but WE, the amazing multilingual cats who favor speaking Italian, translated it for her so that now she can say it properly. Well, write it properly. None of us has figured out how to say it yet.

JJ says that on New Year's Day she and MC and some other folks from the Peaceniks Riders are going to go and ride with Polar Bears!!! I am a little worried about that because don't Polar Bears eat human beings? I would hate for JJ to get eaten and for us to have to go to the Orphaned Cats Home -- hmmmmm, I think that is called animal control and... well, cats just don't last too long once they get there -- what, what Tita? Oh, thank goodness, Tita says that she heard that "Where there's a Will there's a Way" and that means KJ is going to make sure we are o.k. if a Polar Bear eats JJ -- or some other terrible thing befalls her -- like, like, the next time she goes off with Molly and Julie they zipline right smack into a big tree!! (oh, oh, I'm having an anxiety attack. i don't like to think about something happening to jj, o.k. breath deep, breath deeeeepppp. i'm calming down now. kitty yoga.)

Thank God for Cat Yoga!! Jinx(sh) taught it to us. Jinx(sh) sure is wise for just being 2 years old. Jinx(sh) still does not feel good. She is a little better but she is not herself. When we listen to our wise selves, we know that we should enjoy Jinx(sh) as much as we can because we cannot know how long she will be here with us in body. Of course, she will always be with us in spirit.

Which brings me back to Nikita!! We were talking to her today, yes via cat telepathy, I have told ya'll a million times that we can do that!! Nikita says that sometimes now, she is so brave that she rides in a basket!!! She saw her brother Alex get in the basket and get carried all over the house and thought, well, heck, I should try it. The first time, she said it was really scary but she said it made the humans feel so special that she just had to do it again and again until she got to where she likes it!! Nikita will never cease to amaze us.

O.K. Tita says I should say Adios (hey that's not Italian, Tita -- what, what Water in the Chocolate). Oh, that Tita is nuts. See you all later. I'm off.

Oregano (the great, in case you have forgotten)

I guess I have been the cat voted "most likely to wear a Santa hat" in our household. I think I have the merriest disposition -- truthfully, even merrier than JJ sometimes!

JJ does not like Christmas too much. We wish she would put up a Christmas tree so that we could play in it. There are some cats up in Canada who get to put up and destroy a Christmas tree EVERY YEAR! You can see them here:
http://www.fluffytails.ca/christmas.asp

Anyway, JJ says that everyone is getting ME for Christmas!! I think she means all the Christmas present money went to paying my vet bill :-)! I don't think anyone minds, though, even the college girls, Molly and Julie who usually get a bill or two from JJ at Christmas. If I want to get all sappy about it, I could say that I got my LIFE for Christmas.

Did ya'll know that JJ is keeping ALL of us???? That is another big Christmas present. Tita is so happy she is flopping all over the place. She runs up on the bed next to JJ and, when JJ pets her, she FLOPS, then she will be climbing on the cat tree downstairs and JJ speaks to her and she FLOPS! That's why "we call her the FLOPPER". Anyway, because Jinx(sh) has a virus that could be contagious, none of us kitties can go to other homes so we are all going to stay HERE!! I've got to tell you, we would MUCH rather have a virus and stay here than NOT have a virus and go live somewhere else!!

Oh, and JJ got some plants put in her mouth! She stayed home with us for two days after the plants were put in. Now we are waiting to see if she will speak flowers or leaves or berries!!

Have we told ya'll that JJ also has a blu bicicletta? Yep. She was off riding it today. It gets dirtier than the rosso bicicletta. We don't know why. Yesterday she was off with the rosso bicicletta then today with the blu bicicletta. If we get any more biciclettas around this house, come spring, we will never see JJ at all!

JJ said she left the rosso bicicletta at her favorite bike shop -- Mock Orange Bikes in Winston-Salem's west end. She just LOVES the folks at Mock Orange because they help her out a lot. Yesterday, they lent Molly (second-cousin) who was visiting from Chapel Hill and Orbea (JJ acted like this was something special but we wonder why there are no bikes called BIG TUNA or WHITEFISH).

So, JJ and Molly got to ride around town. JJ wishes Molly would move here so they could do lots of stuff together. We wish she would, too, because she pets us a lot. She likes that little rat dog Cheewawa, too. (We are mad at the Cheewawa because she has been chasing us all over the house.) JJ says Molly probably has more interesting places to choose to live that Winston-Salem. Oh well.

Sometimes, when JJ comes home from riding those biciclettas or from something she calls "working out" (does that mean she is doing her job outdoors?) she gets really cold blue things out of the refrigerator and puts them under her leg. She says it has something to do with getting old. Well, I'm not sitting on anything cold when I am old, I will be laying in the sunshine and sleeping!!! At my age, I just don't get enough sleep -- Jinx(sh) says 22 hours a day is a good amount and I don't think I am sleeping but about 21.

Jinx(sh)e still doesn't feel too good :-( but she was playing a little on the stairs today.

All of our food bowls got washed today -- hooray!! We love anything that has to do with our food bowls. Did we I tell you that Melody eats on top of the refrigerator now? What is WRONG with her! Do they have medicine for cat anxiety -- or to make her stop being ornery? Probably not. We just try to stay out of her way.

Peace. Tita

Shhhhhhhh. We're trying to be quiet because JJ has a BIG headache. She walks around real slow and her eyes look funny. We know she is sad because she has been crying. And, we think it is about Jinx which makes us really sad, too.

Jinx has been acting all different for awhile. At first she was just mad because JJ took her to the vet and then gave her a pill. Was she ever!! At first, she wouldn't come to eat at all, then, sometimes, that fat old Jinx would come downstairs at suppertime, then right as JJ would bring her bowl, she would go racing down the hall and up the stairs as fast as her buddha belly would allow!! So, we sorta didn't notice when she wasn't coming down to eat. But JJ noticed and realized that Jinx(sh)e didn't want to get up and walk and she was lying around all of the time.

Later JJ took her to Dr. Pete but we aren't sure what happened except Jinx said they stuck a big needle in her leg and, if she hadn't felt so tired, she wouldn't have let them. JJ thought she might feel better because she got a shot but she didn't.

Now she just lies on the bed. JJ has to bring her bowl to her or she won't eat. She won't talk to us. Just looks at us and won't meow or anything. Me 'n Tita have been staying with her as much as we can because we feel like she is slipping away from us and we are gonna' miss her!!

We love you Jinx(sh)e!! We don't want you to go where that bridge is that the humans talk about. We want you to stay here with us!!

Oregano

We're not sure what's up with JJ but we kinda suspect it's that she isn't sleeping enough. We try to tell her that she needs to sleep 20-22 hours a day -- we say "try it, you'll like it -- especially if you are the first to commandeer the sunny spot by the window on the landing!"

Some nights she is not sleeping very long -- she has barely gone to bed and BRMMP, BRMMP, BRMMMP goes that loud box, getting her up out of bed.

Tonight, we were watching her and she just about fell asleep standing at the counter. That's it, that's enough -- we're getting JJ to bed EARLY from now on!!

Jinx(sh) -- the only cat with any real power, heehee

Well, folks, as usual it is crazy in this house. I have not been living here long but, already, I see that there is something going on here all of the time!

I sure do like living here, though. For awhile, I was cold and hungry and hurting. At the place I lived before there was this big, mean tomcat, all yellow with yellow eyes and he didn't like me too much. Every day he would try to come after me and usually I could get away. But one day I didn't and he jumped me and bit me all over.

Most of the bites healed up, but my leg kept hurting more and more. I went to the door of the trailer house where the people who sometimes fed me lived and cried and cried. They did not help. One day the man who lived there came out and kicked me, so I did not go around there any more.

Then some nice people came to the house next door. They had a picnic and gave me some cheese and bread. There was a little girl named Anna who petted me a lot. When they went away, I was sad. My leg was hurting more and more all of the time and I could hardly walk. I went into the edge of the woods to find a place to die. I lay there and waited.

All of a sudden I was awakened by Anna's voice. "Come on kitty, we are taking you to get help," she said. It hurt so much when she picked me up, but I didn't care. She and the older woman put me in a basket-like thing and they brought me here, to JJ.

Of course, all of the readers of The Kitty Report know the rest of the story -- I went and stayed with Dr. Pete at Clemmons Veterinary Clinic for a long, long time. Dr. Pete and Dr. Waller were really nice to me -- and, let me tell you, I had the vet techs and office folks wrapped around my tail! When I didn't like one food, they would bring me another and, if I didn't like that, yet another. They petted me and cooed to me and I just ate that up!

I sure was glad to get over her to JJ's house so I could be free from that cage. I had a little friend here, Annie White Paws but she found a forever home. I do miss that little ragamuffin jumping on my head! I play a lot by myself now. Sometimes Tita will play with me. Oregano is scared of me (hmmm, I wonder if that could be because I chase her around the house), Jinx(sh) won't have anything to do with me and Melody may not even know I exist -- I think that cat has mental illness or something, whew, you should just see her sometimes.

I will try to get up here and write some more soon. I don't type so good, you see. Heck, until I came to live at JJ's, I didn't even know what a computer was!!

And, hey, thanks to everyone who has helped to pay my vet bill. I REALLY appreciate it!!

Love and kisses, Achilles

Hey ya'll. You know what, people have been sending love for Achilles to help him get well! He says he feels it and it is making him stronger. JJ says people are helping her with the $$$ too -- and you know what that means -- more cat food for us! No, not really, we'll let her use if for the house payment :-).

I heard that some of you are having a hard time with our Italian. That's o.k. We had to look it up in JJ's I talian book. Anyway, the red bicycle is rosso bicicletta and that is pronouced meowmeme rrrrrrmeowmeow. Haha. Got you! JJ's Italian book says (phonetically -- big word for a cat) row-so bee-chi-clet-a. And we also have that little scoundrel bianco ha pisciato (bee-ah-ko ha pis-chi-ah-toe). We almost spelled a bad word there, oops.

I have been trying to run a little up and down the hall because I really am getting rather fat. I am, however, the mother figure so perhaps it is appropriate. I can't get so fat that I can't jump up on my eating table though! Last night JJ had the light toy out. We can hear that she has it even when she trys to pick it up real quiet and we all come running. I get to play with it a lot, unlike the flying toy when Oregano and Tita knock me out of the way (they really don't have much manners but, teenagers, you know how they are).

We are eight cats now: Lucky, Spooky, Me, Oregano -- residents. And, Melody, Tita, Achilles and Annie White Paws. We wish Achilles and Annie White Paws would go away sometimes because they have changed out routine and we just HATE that! But, Achilles is pretty nice and he doesn't try to fight with anyone. He just watches and plays with Annie White Paws. Now Annie White Paws is another matter. She is wild -- running up and down the halls, jumping on the cheewawa, OMG -- she has more energy that 40 of me.

Sometimes I let Annie chew on my ears, if I am in a good mood. But sometimes she gets on my nerves -- like Melody -- you know, don't tell anyone but, I really can't stand her. That's why I try to beat her up sometimes. She is scared of me and that makes me feel powerful. Well, I know it's bad but it's true! If you humans would say what you really feel you would get in a whole lot less trouble with one another. Ya'll are always saying nice things and thinking other things. Oh well, what are you going to do with humans besides keep them around to open the cat food cans and change the water in our drinking fountain.

We kind of love JJ, though, but we won't admit it {_-

Jinx(sh)

I just noticed that Jinx wrote that Achilles is also known as Bianco ha Pisciato -- well that is wrong! Annie, that new ding-dang-doodle irritating (but fun) kitten is aka Bianco ha Pisciato. I don't even think Achilles has an alias yet -- except when JJ gets mixed up and calls him Ulysses.

Achilles and Spooky went to the vet today. Spooky saw Dr. Waller and got poked with a sticker and then <whoosh> right back in the box. Achilles saw Dr. Waller AND Dr. Gilyard -- isn't he importante! (don't know WHY we are writing all of this Italian when we know that JJ is going to Holland/Belgium and Germany next) Anyway, Achilles has not been feeling super great. He plays some and eats a little but mostly he just sleeps in the kitty cup bed. Dr. Waller said that he has some inflammation in his mammary area but he and Dr. Gilyard both agreed -- more antibiotics and see how it goes. This guy has had an awfully tough time. We haven't even been able to begin the hazing yet!! Though, Tita and I do try to refuse to eat in the same room with him. Usually JJ just tosses us in there anyway and closes the door. We've been revolting a bit and not eating our wet food -- we keep thinking that maybe one day we will get Fancy Feast instead of Friskies like the "old-time" cats, anyway -- so, we just eat LOTS more dry food to make up for it.

I have been feeling lonely lately so have spent lots of time in JJ's lap (when she isn't off with the rosso bicicletta) kneading and pretending. I know JJ loves me but, sometimes, there are so many animals here that it just doesn't seem like she can love us all. And that Cheewawa is so bossy and jealous, she has taken over the entire bed and she isn't but about 12" wide when she is all curled up -- but, don't try to get up there near JJ when she is there or she will start curling her lip at you!! JJ tells her to quit and we get to come around on the other side -- I like to come up to say good night but I usually like to sleep downstairs anyway, just in case I am needed to capture some deadly moths or spiders that have come in from outside -- before they can get upstairs and hurt JJ! I am also always on the lookout for other cats that might come in and try to take up residence -- and burglars, too, though I don't think any burglars would want to come in this house because JJ has a GUN!! She says she doesn't have any bullets for it and it doesn't shoot straight anyway but that she can do some damage beating a burglar over the head with it!! So burglars, with JJ beating you over the head and the cheewawa biting your ankles you won't have a chance!! Ha Ha!

It is getting late and we have to get JJ to go to bed. She has to be getting some sleep because she is going to be Touring Tanglewood on the rosso bicicletta this weekend in honor of her friends, Ellen and Jeanne!

See you 'round! (Tot ziens said Joy in the wooden shoes)

Oregano (aka Ded-de-Doh)