Daddy's rock is out!

 Daddy's rock is out!  He had an appointment for the human vet yesterday, and as he was getting ready the rock came out!  He yelled for Mommy to come see, and they took the rock with them to the human vet.  Yep, it was his kid-knee rock!

As you can see from these pictures, we took very good care of him while the rock was in him.  The first picture is Little Bit nursing Daddy in his recliner, and the second picture is Starla and Daddy snuggling on the couch.  It will still take him a while to get back to feeling all the way better, so we will continue our nursing duties until he feels good again.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Freya's all dressed up as an Irish lass to greet the morning!  Snuggles with brother Heimdall and with Daddy make it complete.  But St. Patrick's Day isn't just a day to celebrate Ireland (and Mommy's part-Irish), it's also another special occasion, or actually three other special occasions!

Happy birthdays to our angel woofie auntie Trixi (Mommy's woofie sis), our great-uncle Bill, and our great-grandma Eunice!  Mommy's going to a big party tonight to celebrate with Great-grandma and her family, and going to call Bill to wish him a good birthday as well.

Daddy has a rock!

We're purrrrrrrrraying bigtime for our daddy!!!  Daddy came home last night and couldn't walk upright like humans are supposed to.  He was all bent over, and then he made icky sounds in the litter box room.  He called our friend Olie and Olie came to get him and took him to the human vet.  Grandma got Mommy from her work and took her there to be with Daddy.

When Daddy came home, Grandma, our uncle and his girlfriend, and Grampa all came, too, along with Mommy, of course.  Everyone made Daddy sit down for a while and drink lots of water.  Daddy was moving around a lot better, and he petted us and made sure we knew he was better than when he left.  Then Grandma and Mommy went to get bottled water for Daddy.  While they were gone, Grandpa came and the others left to go back home.  Mommy came back, and Grandma left to go home.  Then, after a bit, Grandpa went home, too.

Daddy said that he has a rock inside him!  What's a rock doing inside our daddy?  Rocks belong outside!  They don't belong inside people!  Bad rock, making our daddy sickies!  Get out of his kid-knee!  We're all making sure that he sits or sleeps.  Freya's been bringing him her spring, but he doesn't feel like playing right now, so she just left it by him in case he wants it later.  We all are watching out for him and following him around to make sure he's doing ok.  He's still hurting a whole lot, but he's doing a little better and sleeping right now.

Note from Mommy:
He's going to make an appointment with the urologist in the morning.  Luckily, the kidney stone is very small, only 3 mm.  Even so, it's going to take a bit before it passes and during that time he's still going to be in a lot of pain.  It may take up to 7-10 days!

Therapy Cat Tales from 3/9/11

Tabby writes:


Yay, visiting day again!  I've missed visiting, but now our new schedule's figured out.  We'll be going every 2nd and 4th Wednesday from now on.  Today was our first time there on a Wednesday, so we got to meet some different staff members, including the receptionist!  :)

On our way to H., our friend Erin called and said she was downtown Portland, so we stopped off to meet her when we passed through downtown.  She gave me some chin scritches and talked to Mommy and me, then she went to take a bus and we went shopping for a few minutes.  We didn't find anything interesting to buy, though.  A couple people in the store stopped to talk to me, and there was one unhappy human kitten who screamed.  I gave her a LOOK, wondering why she was screaming, but she didn't see me.

When we got to H., I went up to the office door and one of my friends let me in while Mommy was signing us in and getting her nametag.  Then she came and found me, checking out the mini-putting green that had appeared in one of the office rooms!  Weird grass that's not grass, and does NOT taste like it, either!  I made a face and meowed loudly.  R. watched me for a few minutes while Mommy took care of a red, drippy nose.  Mommy has been sick, so her nose had a red drip because of blowing it so often, but she felt better today (or else we would have stayed home).  Then, we got our list of people to visit and off we went!

We were a little later than usual, because of our new schedule, but more people were awake this time, so I was happy about that.  G. and T. were sitting in chairs with an empty chair in the middle, so Mommy sat in the empty chair and I took turns being petted by all three of them, walking across Mommy to visit with each of the other ladies.  I even let T. hold my leash!  She loved that, of course.  After a while, M. came in, so I headed over to her and sat on her lap for a few minutes.  Then, I wanted to go see who else I could visit.  First thing I saw when I went out of the room, however, was a recliner rolling down the hallway!  It scared me!  Wheelchairs, walkers, medical equipment, strollers, shopping carts, all those are fine.  I know all those roll.  But a recliner chair????  No, thank you!  Mommy called me over to her and we watched the chair from a safe distance until it got to the room it was going to.  Then we went down a different hallway, in the opposite direction.

I met a few new friends, and even some family members!  I love meeting new friends, and they usually love meeting me.  No exception today!  I heard about one lady's cat that she had to find a new home for.  She said I looked just like her kitty, so I curled up next to her on the bed and purred for her, snuggling in against her side.  Then, she said I felt just like her kitty, too, and I helped her fall asleep for her naptime.  :)  >^..^<

Wordless Wednesday

PhotoHunt: Self-Portrait

Mommy's silhouette on a sunny day last summer!

Thanks for remembering my Gotcha Day!

Starla writes:

Wow!  Thank you, everyone, for remembering my Gotcha Day anniversary today!  I couldn't post a diary entry until now, because Mommy and Daddy both have been coughing and I've got my paws full with my snuggle-doctor duties.  Thank you for the comments, rosettes (on Catster), and well-wishes!

Despite the humans being sick, it's been a really good day.  I spent a lot of time watching the leaves move in the bright sunshine outside the window and make shadows on the curtains in the bedroom.  Freya hopped up on the bed and snuggled with me while we both watched for a couple hours!  This morning, I got lots of hugs and pets from both Mommy and Daddy, and played chase with the kittens, my cousin Little Bit, and even Rori.  Then I found a sun puddle to lay in until it was time for me to snuggle with Mommy for her nap.  This evening, I had a long brushie session.  I love being petted and brushed.  It's always so interesting to sniff the brush before it gets used to pet me, because then I can smell Tabby and Carbon on it.  Then they sniff it to smell me.

Tabby and I have been getting along pretty well lately, but Carbon and I got into a fight about a week ago, when he didn't want to go to his room.  I went in because he was meowing at Mommy, and he chased me.  However, I gave as good as I got, so I was quite proud of that.  I wasn't too shaken up about it, either.  It bothered Carbon more than it did me!

Mommy says that if I learn to wear a harness I can go out into the garage when the kittens explore it, but I'm not willing to wear that string-thing yet.  I always run to the garage door when I hear anyone in the kitchen, though, hoping!  Maybe someday....

Thank you to Callie Rose of the Birthdays and Gotcha Days club on Catster for my beautiful piccy!  (Although it should say "Gotcha Day" instead of "Birthday", but that's ok since I'm not telling when my real birthday is!)

Uh-oh! Freya almost lost her spring toy!

Freya writes:

Mommy and I were playing with my favorite green spring, which I use as a fetch toy, when I realized I had to go pee.  I took my spring with me, because I didn't want to have it stolen in the meantime.  Mommy told me, "Don't you DARE put that spring in the box!"  I set it down there anyway.

Then, I went pee next to it.  "Gross, icky!" said Mommy. When I scratched to cover up my pee, I was very careful to not cover up the spring, because she told me if I covered my toy that it was going away and never coming back. I jumped out, then Little Bit came in the room. Bit took one look at the box, turned to Mommy with a "WTF is THAT doing in THERE???" look, and walked out of the room again!

Mommy said she will sanitize my spring and let me play with it again.  Thank you sooo much, Mommy!  I love you, and I love my spring!  Mommy says that it's lucky my spring's plastic, so it's easy to sanitize.

Annual Purrformance Review of 2010

 Review of:  Mommy (aka our typist)

Date:  2/18/2011

Reviewed by:  the PDX pride of Rori, Freya, Heimdall, Carbon, Little Bit, Starla, and Tabby

Quantity of Output:

Mommy increased the quantity of her output this year, and detailed the most important events of our lives, including deaths and adoptions, with many pictures and video alongside the written journals.  She has also posted every one of Tabby's visit diaries from this past year, an improvement over the previous year.  She fell short of a purrfect score in this category because she didn't post every week for us, but we give her a high score anyway.

Score:  3 paws

Quality of Output:

As always, we are quite pleased with Mommy's choices of pictures, videos, and anecdotes written on our blog.  Most of us helped choose the pictures by pawing the ones we wanted when she edited them, and meowed our choices of stories we wanted written, and our meows were heard and accommodated quite nicely.

Score:  4 paws

Client Pawticipation:

Mommy has increased our readership in two ways this past year:  Networked Blogs and Tabby's Facebook page.  Both links are on our sidebar, for those on Facebook.  Networked Blogs posts our blog as an item in our followers' news feeds on Facebook, so they can easily find our newest posts and click through to read them.  Tabby's Facebook page has copies of each of her visit diaries, plus pictures and discussion topics.  Our Networked Blog fans are mostly members of the Cat Blogosphere, and we're very glad to have this additional way to connect to our readership.  We have also gotten more comments on our blog through this method of publicity than we did the previous year.

Tabby's Facebook page really took off this year, by leaps and pounces.  She is very happy that more people are aware of and asking questions about her therapy cat work.  Because of this added publicity, she was featured on Marg's Animals' blog and interviewed on the Canidae company blog, as well as offered a sponsorship from Canidae/Felidae (which she has accepted and will be sending in the paperwork shortly).  Most of her Facebook fans are not members of the Cat Blogosphere, although some are.  As of this date, she has 660 fans subscribed to her twice-monthly visiting diaries and other posts.

Score:  4 paws

Pawticipation (Part II):

We have not been to many of the Cat Blogosphere special events, due to the changes in our household that occurred throughout this past year.  We regret that, but it is not Mommy's fault.  None of us felt like pawticipating much.  However, we wish to thank each and every one of you for your support of all of us throughout our grief and the comments and purrrrayers.  We also wish to thank you for your constant support and encouragement of our adoption of the kittens, who have brought us much joy in the midst of our sadness and continue to be a light in our lives.

Score:  3 paws

Client Satisfaction:

We have recieved so many pawsitive comments and feedback on our blog posts; thank you all very much for all of it.  We love reading what you have to say, and are purry glad that we purrvide interesting blogs for you.

Score:  4 paws

Overall Rating, Comments, Suggestions:

Mommy's overall score is very high this year.  She was attentive to our needs, in speech, photos, and video, and also in silence when we needed to take time away from typing to curl up and purr.  This coming year, we hope to score higher in the area of group pawticipation, but we are quite pleased overall and will continue to guide Mommy so that she purrvides more excellent posts and journals for everyone to read.

Final Purrformance Review Score:  3.6 paws out of 4.  Very good, Mommy!

Love,

the PDX pride.

Therapy Cat Tales from 2/4/11

Tabby writes:


This may be my last Friday visit to H., because of scheduling conflicts with Mommy's work.  Don't worry; we will still visit!  It'll just be on another day, probably on Wednesdays or possibly on Thursdays.  Mommy says for me to be glad I'm a kitty, that I don't need to worry about things like scheduling conflicts or politics or any of that.  I don't care what my schedule is like, as long as I get to eat, drink water, play, sleep, and see my friends!  :)  >^..^<

It was a sad day on Friday.  Rest in peace, Mrs. E.  :'(  I loved visiting with you, and I wanted to come say goodbye to you, but we didn't want to intrude on your last time with your family.  I don't know if you knew, but they were standing all around your bed, talking to you, with the lights down very low.  One was chanting some kind of a prayer.  We stood outside in the hallway, right outside your door, and I lay down in my stroller while Mommy said a prayer for you and for your family.  Much love to you and yours, and I'll look for you when I eventually cross over the Rainbow Bridge!  I'm sure your furry family and loved ones were there to greet you as you passed.

Another friend may not be there when I visit again in two weeks.  May she rest peacefully in God's arms when it is her time.  That's the sad part of my job; saying goodbye to friends, knowing that they may not be there the next time we visit.  We take comfort in knowing that I did my part to make their lives here a bit more joyful.

The first thing I did when I got up to my floor was greet the new nurse.  I love making new friends!  She was so nice, and gave me ear scritches.  Then, she said that two people were waiting especially for me in the TV room!  Wow!  Sure enough, they had their printouts of the day's schedule, with the part with "Tabby the Cat" folded to show on the top!  That's ME!!!!!  :)  >^..^<  G. wanted me to show off my tricks, but I could feel the sad atmosphere from Mrs. E.'s room and didn't really want to do any of them.  However, after about 5 minutes, I did walk on my leash and everyone smiled and laughed.  After that, I asked Mommy for pets, then sat on G.'s walker seat (she was sitting in a chair at the time, so her walker seat was empty) while she petted me and M. petted me.  Then, we made our rounds through the 10 or so people in the TV room, two of which had wheeled down just to see me because they'd heard I was there.  One lady even got to take her medicine a half hour later because she hadn't yet visited with me!

After the TV room friends, we made our way down each of the hallways on the floor, stopping in to see friends and new people.  One lady, who was there for just a few weeks anyway, was just leaving and going to go back home to her very own kitty!  She had her husband stop pushing her chair so that she could pet me.  I purred and purred for them both!  I was happy to hear that she could go back home to her own kitty.

When we were done, Mommy called Daddy and he came to get me.  He and I drove to go get our friend Erin and her little boy JJ, then came back to pick Mommy up after her work.  Erin and JJ got to spend the weekend with us!

Monday Mysteries: the Garage!

 Heimdall:  See this basket?  It's the laundry basket, but it lives someplace called "the Garage".  It's not in the house!  It comes in the house sometimes, like when this picture was taken, and it brings the smelly clothes and towels out to the garage.  I like balancing on the basket, Auntie Tabby likes eating it, and Freya likes scratching on it.

Freya:  Sometimes my brother likes climbing inside it, too, and going for rides in it while Mommy or Daddy is bringing it in.  We aren't supposed to follow it into the garage, though.

Heimdall:  A few weeks ago, Erin suggested that we start going out to the garage on our harnesses.  I always want out there whenever our purrents go out there, so I was very excited about the idea of actually exploring!  My sister wasn't, so she practiced more with her harness on inside, playing with the string-leash.

Guess what?  There's something called a cement floor out there that's cold to your paws!  The laundry goes into a white box called the washer, and there's a noisy grey box called the furnace that Mommy says heats up air for the house.  I found Daddy's work boots, the laundry, Mommy's bike, and lots of other things!  So many different smells, too!

This is where Daddy chops up the wood for our fireplace!  He has a HUGE pile of it in the garage, then he brings it in using a big box.  I got to climb all over the wood pile!

Today, after I was done helping Mommy do laundry, a very funny thing happened!  When I was going inside the doorway, Starla nosed her way past me and went out into the garage, too!  She wasn't on harness, so Mommy let me go inside by myself and spent about 7 minutes walking around the garage with Starla, letting her explore a little and then guiding her back toward the door.

Starla:  I had FUN!  The garage isn't what I expected at all!  The only garage I've known was at the other place, where I slept underground on the dryer.  My washer and dryer are out in this new garage, and many other things I recognized, such as the gardening tools, but it all was confusing.  So many new smells, plus the wood out there when it should be in the yard or growing as a tree.  Then there's this thing called the garage door, which smells like it has a road on the other side of it.  Mommy finally said we had to go back inside, and I thought she was mad at me for escaping out there.  She said she wasn't mad at me, but that I had to be on harness next time.  I don't like the harness, but I might let her put it on me if it means going out there again!

Freya:  After I saw Starla come back in and she told me her adventures, I kept thinking about that other room.  I thought while playing spring, while eating, while taking a short nap, and then I decided:  I wanted to go out MYSELF!  I really did!  Now, how to tell Mommy?  I sat by the door and squeaked, then cried louder.  She came to see what I wanted, and I just looked at her and sat up very, very straight.  She asked if I wanted to go out to the garage, and I squeaked again! Yes, yes, yes!  I got harnessed and leashed, and so did my brother, then Mommy picked me up and put me on a white metal box.  Mommy picked my brother up and put him on the box too, but he jumped down into that laundry hamper to play in it.  I lay down on the box, which I was told is called a washer, and looked around excitedly.  So THIS is what the garage is!  Wow!!!  Mommy started the dryer, and it made a loud sound, but we weren't scared (at least not too much).  I got up the courage to investigate it, thinking there must be some giant mousie inside it to make that much noise.  Whatever's in there doesn't come out, though, just makes noise in the box.  Clothes come out of it, all warm and snuggly!  The box moves like it's purring, and is very nice to lay on.

Heimdall wanted to go back inside, so Mommy let him back in, but I got to stay out with her and explore some more!  I investigated all the things that my brother and Starla have just talked about, but my favorite was the woodpile.  The wood moves when you walk on it, and it's good for chewing!  I stayed out for about a half hour, and then Mommy said we'd better get back inside the house.  Now, I'm wanting to go right back out, but Mommy says we have to wait a while until another day.  But I WANT to go out there!

Therapy Cat Tales: Tabby's Christmas Eve Visit

Tabby writes:

Whew!  I hope you had as great a Christmas as we did!  Ours was pawsome!  Mommy and I started it off by going visiting to H. on Christmas Eve.  I wore my red velvet "Santa Baby" dress over my harness, and got lots of compliments on it when we rode the buses and MAX train.  Mommy wrapped the handle of my stroller with tiny Christmas lights that twinkled, too, so I was all festive!  She waited until nighttime to take a picture of it, but we had them on the whole time we were visiting.

Not many of my friends who work at H. were there, because they all wanted to be home with their families for Christmas Eve, but we met a new friend named V. who takes great pictures and sells them.  She's got kitties at home!

Once we were signed in and had our list, we went up in the elevator with one of the residents and his family.  He's one of my visiting buddies, so his family was glad to meet me.  As we got out of the elevator, we were surprised by (and surprised) M., who had the same Christmas lights as I did, but hers were around her neck like a long necklace!  That gave everyone a laugh!  M. told Mommy how much she enjoyed our visits every time we came, and that just made Mommy so happy.  G. and a friend tried to feed me oyster crackers, but I don't take treats when I'm out.  I sniffed the crackers politely, then asked for pets.

Many of the residents had beaded snowflakes on their walkers or wheelchairs.  I think they'd made them earlier in the week.  They were sooo pretty!  Some of the people had presents to open later on, and/or had Christmas cards that they showed to us.  Everyone loved my pretty red dress!  I walked around proudly, then lay regally in my stroller to ride.  Just before we left, Mommy had someone take our picture by the Christmas tree!

We took the bus back part of the way, then Mommy's dad came and picked us up.  I stayed at home while Mommy went to her grandparents' to celebrate Christmas Eve with them, her uncle, and her dad.  Daddy had to work, but we had our Christmas on Christmas Day with him.

Our Wonderpurr Holidays!!!

We had a great week of Christmas parties and get-togethers!!!  First, Tabby and Mommy visited H. on Christmas Eve, then Mommy went over to be with her dad, uncle, and grandparents for the rest of the evening.  On Christmas Day, Mommy's mom came over to exchange presents, and we got a LOT of boxes and wrapping paper to play in/bite/hide/pounce in!

 Christmas tree over at Mommy's grandparents' house

Lights at Mommy's grandparents' house

 Heimdall is interested in the fire in the fireplace.

In the afternoon on Christmas Day, Erin came over to spend the rest of the day and the night with us.  She was a bit sad, so we did our best to cheer her up.  We think it worked, too!  How could she not be cheered up watching us play and petting us?  Our purrents and Erin had yummy leftovers from Christmas Eve for dinner (meatballs, gravy, and mashed potatoes) and we got the plates afterwards.  Carbon does love his mashed potatoes and gravy treat!!!

 Erin and Freya

 Erin making kissy noises at Freya

 What's that???

What is it???  What's it doing???

Then, on Monday, Daddy went over and got Erin and JJ so we could have Christmas and open gifts with them.  They spent the night, then went back the next day.

When it was bedtime for JJ, he took a bath with his new green bath salts.  Freya, who loves jumping in the bathtub when the water's running for showers, wasn't sure exactly what JJ was doing, but wanted very much to investigate it.  So she jumped on the side of the tub and looked in!  Nope, she didn't slip in.

Fashion Friday: Meowy Catmas!!!

Meowy Catmas from all of us here at the PDX pride!!!!  We purrrray that it's a good one, filled with lots of blessings, snuggles, purrs, treats, and all that makes holidays wonderpurr.

Tabby in her "Santa Baby" dress by our small tree.

Freya wishing for Christmas to come sooner, wearing the "Santa Baby" dress.

No eating the cord for the lights, Freya!  (The reason we didn't get a full-sized tree this year; Daddy says next year.)

Merry Christmas!  Winter blessings!

Feral Friday: Peek-a-boo Tuxedo

Little Bit's watching Tuxedo watching us.  Can you see him?  He's by his hidey-hole under the deck.

Could you find him????

Peek-a-boo, Tuxedo!

Fashion Friday: Harness-training Kittens

Oh, hi there!  Heimdall here, modeling my mesh harness.  Mommy put them on Freya and me to start harness-training us again, since it's been a while since our last lesson.  I like my harness now, although I wasn't sure if I could jump with it on.  Turns out I can!

Freya here.  I don't really like wearing my harness, but I don't mind it.  In this picture, I'm fighting off the harness strap and the bag handle at the same time!  I ended up winning, but it was a long, tough fight, MOL!!!

See, I told you I won the fight!  Here I am, savoring my victory while still wearing my harness (but with the strap under me).  Mommy says we're doing really, really well at harness-training.  One more lesson and we'll get the strings attached and get to walk around the house with the strings on.  Oh, they're called leashes?  Well, they're strings to me, and I love to POUNCE on them!

Tabby's calendar is now for sale!

Tabby Thompson 2011 Calendar by TraceElements
See other Tabby Calendars

I'm soooo excited!!!  Mommy designed a calendar with my pictures on it, for the new year!  :)  If you click the piccy above, you can see all the designs for every month.  Some pics are just me, and some are with other family members.  I'm dressed in outfits in a few, too!

Therapy Cat Tales from 12/10/10

The rain held off this time, and I was all comfy in my new carrier with my new, warm, fleece raincoat.  :)  It rained a little, but just drizzling and not pouring.  I can't wait until it snows again, though!  I like watching it float down!  When we were at the first bus stop, Mommy took my picture so everyone can see what my new carrier looks like strapped to my stroller.  We have to use both on some of the buses, so that's why we have the new carrier.  This is the one I picked out at the Halloween party, and I love it!  The bag hanging from the stroller is the carrier's bag; it folds down to fit in that.  Very handy for us!

I got some chin scritches from a couple of fellow bus riders while Mommy talked with them on the way to Portland.  Then I got to get out of the carrier and into the stroller.  Boy was I ever surprised when I looked out and saw a GIANT tree!  It was 75 feet tall!  It's the Portland city tree, and it's all decorated with lights!  Mommy says we're going to have a real tree like that in the house this year, only it won't be that tall.  Will it smell as good?

There were trees at H. as well when we got there, all decorated and pretty, but they were fake like the tree we have had the last few years.  I didn't get to investigate them too closely because there were also poinsettias and those can make kitties very sick.  Pretty to look at from a distance, though, but I knew not to jump up by one.

The first thing I did when we got to H., besides go up to the office door, was to go in and show off my pretty new coat to everyone in the office.  I'm very proud of it, and love how toasty-warm I am in it!  :)  >^..^<  Then Mommy showed off my Christmas dress that I'm going to wear for visiting on Christmas Eve.  Yes, I'll be sure to have her take pictures of me in it!  The ladies loved my coat and dress just as much as we do.

As we were getting ready to go up to visit with my friends, a student from the local high school came in.  A group was coming for their first day volunteering.  They were all excited to meet me, and most had never heard of animal-assisted therapy at all, let alone a kitty having a job as important as mine!  They followed us all around while I worked, nine of them, while Mommy explained the health benefits (mental, physical, emotional) of interacting with me.  I kept on looking at them, making sure they were following me, as I went into rooms.  I was soooo proud to show off my skills, do my tricks, have them meet my friends, and have them learn about my work!  Ears up, tail up, proud walk!  :)  >^..^<

We had a short visit because some of the people were gone on adventures outside the building (to the store or elsewhere important) and others were sleeping.  As we were walking to the MAX light rail, we saw a squirrel in the park, eating a nut.  I was too tired to even be bothered by it, but Mommy took a few pictures of it.  I rested on the way home, because being a teacher for a day is very tiring!  We heard about other bus riders' kitties and angel kitties on the ride home, once they found out they were riding with a cat.  I always bring out stories in people, and I love it!  Mommy loves hearing the stories, too.