Mwow, my kitty friends!  My staff are what you’d call healthy eaters.  Yup, they’re fans of all things natural and organic.  So, I have been forced to go along with their preferences–my chow, litter and treats are all natural and organic.  I hear ya.  You’re thinking, “Poor Pook.  Being forced to eat cardboard and use more cardboard for his business.”  Well, ya know?!…..not so bad as all that……especially in the treat department!  Staff knows my preference for the birdies and (since there are no treats around in mousie flavor), buy me Whiskas Temptations in chicken flavor!  Check it out:  Here’s a decription from a PetCo site http://www.petco.com/product/105229/Whiskas-Temptations-All-Natural-Chicken-Cat-Treats.aspx

“Whiskas Temptations® All Natural Treats for cats feature natural premium ingredients, a whole grain crunchy shell with a soft meaty center and added vitamins and minerals. Contains no artificial preservatives, flavors or fillers. Resealable package keeps treats fresh and tasty.”

MMMMMMwow crunchy……soft meaty, and boy, I’ll say fresh and tasty!  Two reviewers gave these treats 5 out of 5!  I’m givin’ ‘em 5 mwows out of 5!  They call ‘em Temptations, I just call ‘em yummy and necessary for my very existance!  Send your staff to the store now to pick some of these up in your favorite flavor!

Fall is here….birdies outside the window have changed from the little tiny ones that hover and stick their tongues out at me to the bigger brown ones with red heads and those even bigger ones that play follow the leader and have a feather that sticks straight up on the top of their head….quail, I think the staff call them…..tasty is what I’d call them….colder, so windows are closed so fewer perches for me…Mwow….last night I hid in the part-time staff’s room when he went to bed and closed his door….heh, heh, heh….it was so nice and dark and cozy there at the foot of his bed…..I was feeling quite pleased with my situation and had just dozed off when I heard the rustling of the treats bag…..oh no!  How can I get my treats?!  I jumped against the door and it wouldn’t budge….finally, one of the staff noticed my absence and came looking for me….whew….I need to think ahead and plan things out better!  On a better note, staff must have read my earlier request for new toys and bought me those cool springy-wormy-things!  Mwow, are they fun!  I can drag them all over, and fling them iin the air….the part-timer learned to sort of shoot them across the room for me….fun-fun-fun!

Today I’d like to share one of my favorite past conquests.  The part-time staff is highly allergic to me–I know, how can that be possible, as appealing, handsome, and impeccably clean as I am.  Whatever. Anyway, the regular staff decided I should no longer have access to Mr. part-time’s sleeping area, so they purchased a two-level contraption where you can only access the bed part by means of a ladder.  Pretty pleased with themselves they were.  I let them marinate in their smugness for a few days……and then, when no one was looking, I climbed right up that ladder and made a nice napping nest in the boy’s comforter.  Oh the look on their faces when they couldn’t find me anywhere and discovered my conquest of the perch-like bed! Heh, heh, heh.  Now I go up there anytime I feel the need to pester just a bit,… and the door to that room is open.  Never underestimate the Pook!  Mwow!

Mwow, it’s been getting chilly here in the evenings!  This cooler weather has been keeping me on the prowl for warmer napping locales.  I don’t want the staff to think I’ve gone all soft on them and have started to prefer their company, but they do radiate body heat.  So, NOT because they’ve moved up in my world, but because I must have my need for warmth met, I’ve started spending time with them on the couch in the evenings and I’ve started sleeping closer to them at night.  Remember, all you other kitties out there, as long as you are thinking of YOUR needs first, “snuggling” with your staff once in a while is acceptable behavior for someone of your stature and position in life!  Just be sure to maintain your aloofness at all other times, and try not to purr too loudly when “snuggling”–you don’t want your staff to get the wrong idea.

Mwow!  It has been sooooo difficult getting any computer time lately.  I must apologize for my infrequent blogging.   It seems like the staff are always on the desktop, typing and clicking and staring at the screen.  What’s up with that?  One of them is spending increasingly more time on it as the week progresses, blathering on about needing to post homework or comments or something…..whatever!  When she’s not doing that, she’s got her nose in a book and a yellow thing in her hand.  That yellow thing sure looks like a toy to me.  She plays with it, moving it over the book sometimes, and sometimes, she sort of mindlessly taps it on her leg.  But when I want to play with it too, does she let me?!  NO!  How rude!  She sure doesn’t get the sharing thing.  I tried to teach her once: when I’d capture a mousie, I’d bring it to her in bed so she could play with it too.  She didn’t get the sharing thing then, either.  No.  She just got all freaked out and chased me out of the room and I had to stalk and capture the mousie all over again.  Boy, she really tries my patience.  Being the fine cat that I am though, I won’t give up my efforts teaching her to share.  I will  help her see that sharing the yellow toy with me will make it more fun for both of us.  Wish me luck.  Maybe she’ll even learn to share the computer….yeah….whatever.

Mwow!  You know, my staff works pretty hard for me.  (I deserve every bit of their efforts.)  In recognition of all their well-intentioned bumblings, I thought it might be nice (whatever) to provide the top 10 list of places I can be found when they’re worried I might have been shut in a closet.

1.  The closet—duh!  You know I love to be in there.  It’s dark and cozy and might have a mousie or two hiding in there.

2.  Under the bed.  Dark.  Cozy.  Mousie possibilities.

3.  Behind the couch.  My newest hiding place.  Not too dark, but definately cozy with the possibility of a mousie passing by.

4.  Laundry room.  A mousie hot zone, in my opinion.  I used to like to be behind the washer and dryer, but now they’ve ruined THAT, I just lurk on the floor in front of the W&D.  (not nearly as effective….whatever!)

5.  Under the big plant in the living room.  Perfect stalk and pounce location…heh, heh, heh!

6.  Behind the dresser.  See # 5.

7.  On my perch in the kitchen.  Bird watching, duh!  Also a comfy place to nap.

8.  The shower.  Cool place for a nap.  Great place to gather mousie intel.

9.  Under the bedroom window on the magazine shreds….I mean magazine “stack”.  2nd only to the shower on hot days for napping.

10.  In the office.  I love to explore all the little nooks and crannies.  Those 2 spikey plants in there–quite yummy!

So.  Waaaay easier than Where’s Waldo, eh?  I’m off to find a new and secret hiding place.  Heh, heh, heh!

Heh, heh, heh!  I must congratulate myself on my superior button-pushing abilities:  Mwow!  So, last night, while staff was watching TV and finishing dinner, I got bored.  I decided to “hide” myself waaaaay back in the temporary staff’s closet.  (He’s the one allergic to cats, so I’m continually pestering him–more on that later.)  Anyway,  I get myself waaaay back in there so he could see just enough of me to be annoying, but too far in to be easily captured.  I refused his “commands” to get out, and continued to hold my ground, barely suppressing my laughter.  He decided to get reinforcements and one of the older staff came and snatched me out of there!  Whatever!  She needed to be punished……so I commenced to pushing a few more buttons!  First, I mwowed annoyingly until she shooed me away.  Then, I raced around the house like the wild jungle kitty I am–eyes dilated, tail puffed, jumping up on things I’m “not allowed” to be on.  Then, when she finally succumbed to my enticements and tried to capture me, I ran and twined between her feet, nearly making her fall!  Heh, heh, heh!  I am the master!

So.  I’ve learned the best laid plans of a jungle kitty often don’t work out as well as was hoped for.  I used to like to take mousies I had captured to a bath tub to play.  Mousie would run and run and run, but couldn’t get away to hide under something!  Cool!  But then, staff found out I was doing this and would come and take mousie away!  Whatever!  I had to come up with a new plan.  My latest plan was to capture mousies and play with them until they got so tired they went to sleep and wouldn’t wake up.  While the mousie slept, I would get a bunch of toys out of my toy basket and place the sleeping mousie in with them so he sorta blended in.  My thought was that staff would NEVER figure this out, and therefore not take be able to take mousie away.  Well, who-da thunk?!  Staff is on to my little trick.  They did find the mousie and now he’s gone.  Mwow.

The responsible staff member has returned!  She seemed a bit tired upon her return, and yet still managed to properly fill my chow bowl and give me my treats in a timely fashion.  Really, how hard is it to provide me with sustenance before I can see the bottom of my bowl and enough treats to keep the DT’s away??!  She rarely requires much more than a nudge as a reminder, but him?  Whatever.  It’s so difficult to find good staff; I’m pleased she has obviously decided to remain in my employ.  I am a bit miffed that she has reclaimed her side of the bed, but what can you do?!  The other staff person does amuse me, so in spite of his hit-and-miss attentions to my culinary requirements, I guess I’ll retain him for a bit longer.  I am feeling quite content today, now that the feeding crisis has been resolved.  I think I’ll meditate on this feeling of well being and how I can exploit it to my benefit………..or whatever……..maybe I’ll go for a nap in the shower instead.  Mwow for now!

This is the third day that my schedule has been trashed.  I don’t know what is going on, but I do know that one of the staff has been missing, and I also know it’s the staff person who usually feeds me and doles out my treats on a somewhat regular basis.  The one who has been left in charge of my care has proven to be woefully inadequate to the task.  The first night, the chow-bowl was filled as an afterthought, and the second night, it wasn’t filled at all until morning!  Yes, there were treats, and last night was better, but this is unacceptable.  It’s past time right now, and I can see the bottom of my bowl!!  I’m not sure who to complain to, but I will not be ignored, if you know what I mean.  I’ve tried sneaking into the office and chewing on a forbidden plant and jumping up on the subwoofer, which is a stupid thing anyway, but I only achieved scolding and not the penitent understanding I was looking for.  These people are so hard-headed.  I guess I can only hope that the one who understands the delicate balance to my enduring comfort level will return as soon as possible.  Oops, time for a chow-bowl check…

Mwow!  It’s been hot here!  47 days in a row over 90!  I’ve designed a new way to nap and stay cool.  One of my staff keeps a stash of her favorite magazines under the bed and near an open window.  I’ve found that if I pull the stack over and shred up some of the pages, it makes a nice cool little nest for me to nap in!  The pages are so smooth and cool and refreshing against my fur.  Mwow!  Staff has not been pleased with my creativity in staying cool.  The other night when I was rebuilding the nest—somehow it gets re-stacked when I’m not looking—staff looked to see what I was doing.  Instead of praising me for my resourcefulness, she squirted me with a water bottle!!!!  She’s so picky!!!  Whatever!!!!

Mwow!  Is that one amazing toy or what?!  It’s a “Cocktail Weiner Dog” from Fat Cat Inc./Kittty Hoots,  (See link in Blogroll) one of their “AppeTeasers”.  The cocktail weinie is absolutely one of my FAVORITE toys!  Mwow!  It has that irresistible, zoomie catnip aroma that brings out my not-so-inner jungle kitty.  Mine looked just like this for about an hour…..it now bears the marks of my jungle-kitty claws and fangs, and maybe some evidence that this toy is sooooo appeteasing that it makes me drool just a little.  It has held up well, inspite of my relentless attacks upon it.  So, I give it 5 MWOWs out of 5!  My staff usually finds Kitty Hoots toys for me in local groceries and pet specialty stores.  Have your staff look in similar places for you, or check out the online option.  I was just at the Fat Cat site, and noticed a new must-have!  Staff-please take notice:  The Springy Worms!!!!!  MWOW!!!!  I just gotta have me one!!!!!

Mwow, what a day.  Earlier this morning, hot on the trail of a mousie, I found myself behind the washer and dryer.  No problem.  I’m a great leaper and I was sure I could get back out.  My staff didn’t see it this way.  They tried luring me out with treats, they tried reaching back in to me and grabbing me by the nape of the neck, they tried yelling at me.  I wanted to get out on my own…..and I did!  Time for staff to eat crow!  Heh, heh, heh! 

Unfortunately, they were unimpressed….something about me damaging hoses and stuff….whatever.  They had already built what they thought would be a barrier to my hunting behind the dryer….I guess it had to do with me totally trashing a dryer exhaust hose earlier by using it as a spring board to get out….whatever, manufacturers should build ‘em stronger than that.  Anyway, staff felt compelled to continue their little building project in an attempt to keep me from getting behind the washer, too.  I let them think all was good until just before bed time, when I was denied my treats when I wanted them–staff was just TOOO busy.  So I thought I’d show them and get back to my “behind the W&D mousie hunting ground”.  AND I DID!!!!!

And then I got stuck.  Mwow.  I couldn’t get out on my own and had to whine until my situation was noticed.  Mwow.  One of the staff had to move the washer out for me to escape, which I just barely did, clamouring and clawing my way out.  Mwow am I embarrassed.  Guess I’m the one eating crow now….just wish it really was crow, or any other birdie for that matter!  Mmmmmmmmwow!

A great big MWOW for Simon’s Cat!  These videos crack me up.  I like to watch them when my staff is being uncooperative or when the hummingbirds are sticking their tongues out of their skinny little beaks at me or when a mousie is hiding just out of my reach….why must birdies and mousies taunt me?!  Arrrgggghhhh! Well, Simon’s cat takes my mind off my troubles for a bit.  I bet you’ll enjoy it too.  Here’s my fav:  “Cat Man Do”.  Enjoy!  Mwow!

Mwow! 

When looking for a way to quench a thirst, A discerning cat has many options.  The most readily available of course, is a water dish.  I make sure my staff keeps mine full and fresh.  It’s OK, effectively quenches, but being filtered, lacks something in  bouquet and complexity.  I find myself drawn to faucets.  My favorites are bathroom sinks.  There’s just no beating the unfiltered bouquet and the slightly metallic finish gained from licking a barely dripping faucet.  Another great source for variety is the inside of a shower door just after a staff member has showered.  This water is often floral on the nose with herbal notes, with a slightly alkaline finish.  The water that really brings out the jungle cat in me has been uavailable this year.  It was such a memorable vintage, that I will discuss it anyway.  For two winters, my staff overwintered a tropical aquatic plant in a pot of water in the kitchen.  There’s just nothing like settling in for a leisurely drink among lush taro leaves.  It was at its best when first brought in, and then again when water was added and the sediments were allowed to circulate a bit, bringing out all those earthy notes.  Mmmmmmmwow!

So, I get this email while the staff was outside yesterday, struggling with some fence thing….check it out: