Thursday 29 January 2009

Thinking Thursday & Step 9 - Operation Daddy...

There has been a lot to think about of late, from sadness and worry to what to call Isis kittens when they arrive! I must say I thought the name "never late for dinner" was a good one, but it seems Mummy has other ideas! ;) Talking of dinners, it seems that our latest order from Royal Canin has arrived today and Mummy has changed Tigmut'hep and myself onto a dry food that will make Tigmut'hep chew his food for once and not just stick his face in the bowl and swallow what ever he can! I'm pleased because it's mostly made of dried up fishes and is very easy on the tummy... Isis likes it too, but at present she mostly eats her own separate bikky that has loads of calories in it and all the calcium her growing babies require too! I think we'll have this new bikky mixed with the oral care stuff we always have as a part of our diet. We've had some of this fishy bikky before as a trial and so Mummy knows we like it and it's easy on my belly... I think I'm really looking forward to Daddy coming home at lunchtime now so he can open up the big bag and pour it into our food buckets so Mummy can feed us! :)

Step 9 - Operation Daddy: By now your Daddy will be making plenty of room for you in the bed, as well as calling you to bed and feeding you treats when ever you demand them. So to all intents and purposes he's a very good Daddy now and will only rarely need an application of the "cold shoulder" as you flaunt your devotion to your Mummy in his face to bring him back in line! But never forget that this is essential to his remaining properly trained and under your control... If you forget this essential step you will find him thinking he's in control and that you should listen to him! Oh yes, he'll get all "Lord and Master" and treat you like an obedient woffy and not as his obvious intelectual superior feline Controler! To prevent this sort of tragic mistake you must always remain vigulent and be ready to assert your dominance... It is much easier to keep your Daddy under control than it is to retain one who has delusions of grandure and status! In extreem cases it may be easier to find yourself a new Daddy than to reform an existing poor model. Once they know this however they may suddenly rehabilitate themselves! So if you do find you have let your Daddy laps into these bad ways you can not only throw yourself at your Mummy showing adoration and devotion, but start to do so to any male visitors you might have! Remember when doing this sort of thing you must totally shun the advances of your Daddy until they are once more made on "your terms"! :)

Friday 23 January 2009

Finking Friday...

The first thing I have been finking about is what wonderful friends I have here! I greatly appreciate all the purrs for my Grammy and Grandpurr in Calgary... Mummy says that Grandpurr's friends have been taking him out to lunch most days, which saves him from having to try and cook much - which in turn saves him from having to eat his own creations! ;) It seems he has less skill in the kitchen than Daddy and Daddy once cooked a frozen pizza with it's wrapper still on it, so you see my worried are quite valid! ;) However Grammy has now had the biopsy taken (so that means they must have her bloodwork looking ok) and we are just waiting for the results. Mummy refers to it as being in limbo, but as far as I can tell there are no low poles to squerm under... Do beans really know what they're saying at times like these? ;)

Secondly I'd like to thank Tama-Chan and Tommy for my lovely award! :) Isis is thrilled with her's too and together we have decided that they should be passed on to our dear Miss Peach and to T'Abby Normal & Stygia who have all helped Isis face the sudden loss of her beloved Sen-Chan. We are so grateful that he lived long enough to know that she was expecting and are sure that he'll be watching over Isis and the kittens when they arrive in just about 3 weeks time now, along with their father Solo's dearly departed friend the lovely Magnificat, whom D'Boy was exceptionally fond of...

Now I fink I will go and snuggle with 'sis on Mummy's bed for a bit as it's all grey and rainy outside and there are no birdies and squirrels to watch. I fink they too must be snuggled away somewhere safe and warm... :)

Wednesday 21 January 2009

Step 8 - Operation Daddy etc...

Now that you are getting sufficient room in bed and for that matter called to bed every night by your Daddy for fussing and treats, I must say you are doing pretty well - as am I! :) The only things left to teach your Daddy are subtle refinements and improvements in the way he treats you. My first goal and therefore my Step 8, has been to teach Daddy to fuss me gently in his sleep...

Therefore Step 8 is quite difficult as you're trying to train your Daddy's unconscious brain, so his fussing of you becomes as natural a reflex to him as does rolling over in his sleep to make more room in bed for you! You must therefore go about this with the most gentle of touches so as not to wake the slumbering Daddy... Oh yes just a feather soft touch with a velvet paw will work, though if he remains stubborn you are free to use a little more force, such as the violent headbutt or the claw of death - however this will result in your Dad waking up in a very bad mood, so use them sparingly. The real trick to training your Daddy's subconscious mind is to work on him as he drifts off to sleep and to wake up early to start work on him again the second the radio alarm goes off. If a Dad can fall to sleep fussing you softly and in a pleasing way to you and wake up doing the same, it takes very little for the sleeping brain to work out what it is supposed to be doing when prompted by the touch of your paw... This sort of training is really worthwhile, especially for those Dad's who seem to spend a lot of the day hunting for the family food. It gives you all the time you could want for your fussing with Daddy, while letting him get some vital sleep - I mean you don't want him too weak and tired to hunt you down some yummy treats! Oh no that would be a very bad thing... :( However a Daddy who can fuss you in his sleep will relax deeply and feel more refreshed in the morning, ready to go and tackle the world to get you your rightful treats and dinners! :)

Once you have your Daddy trained in this way you really will have a Daddy to be proud of, though remember to settle for nothing less than purrfection! ;)

On another note I'm having to spend a lot of time cuddling My Mummy right now as she found out yesterday on Grandpurrs 82nd Birthday that Grammy is in hospital (in fact the same one that My Marie's Mommy visits all the time) for a bloodclot in her leg and a suspected tumour in her abdomen, which they haven't been able to biopsy as yet due to the need to bust the clot first. Since Grandpurr is not well domesticated My Mummy's pretty concerned about his ability to look after himself properly, as well as for what is happening to Grammy - especially since she's only just started to recover from having 3 of her 4 parathyroids removed in December. With Isis pregnant too, Mummy's very much bound to be here for the birth and the first few weeks of the kittens lives as she doesn't take her responsibility to us lightly... So if you suddenly notice we're missing for a week or so, you know we're ok and that Mummy's making a mad dash to Calgary. In the meantime, please purr that Grammy is ok and that My Mummy doesn't have to go, cause we just hate it when she's away - even if Daddy is far better trained then he used to be, he's just not My Mummy!

Thursday 15 January 2009

Thinking Thursday...

This being my first Thinking Thursday of 2009, I thought I'd better do some really good thinking... However mostly I've wound up thinking about my belly, what with Isis getting her yummy queen bikky, other delicious treats and late night snacks. Well that and how very silly our housemate Tigmut'hep looks in his pale blue onesies... ;) Additionally with the cold snap we had here last week, I've been thinking about how to keep myself warm and how best to get Daddy to shove over in bed so that I can get into my favourite spot! :)

But on a more serious note, I've been thinking about all the friends we've lost in the past few weeks and even more so about the friend we're about to loose... So far as I'm concerned the Rainbow Bridge has been all too busy of late, with the passing of Vanda (the Guide Dog, aged 7 ) - she was our friend Terry's Guide Dog and without her Terry is both bereft in an emotional sense as well as physically as she was his eyes in the big bad world outside. Sadly Guide Cats for the Blind is not a sensible or apparently legal option, or we'd have sent him Tigmut'hep over to assist him - probably leading Terry to spend prolonged periods of time hunting for catnip or down at the butchers looking for a juicy steak! ;) Next we heard that Magnificat had passed away leaving Solo's Mummy beside herself with grief as he had been with her since his birth just shy of 18 yrs previously. Then my sister's beloved Sen-Chan passed at just 16 months old, leaving a hole in her heart and in that of his #1 as well as his new little sister Tama-Chan and his woffy buddy Tommy. Then Daddy got the news that one of his younger cousins passed this week while his Father was in New Zealand and not due back for a week or so! :( Lastly we just heard that Solo's Mummy's lovely old fawn Aby Fawntasia has a huge and inoperable tumar growing in her chest, it's an aggressive one at that - so after having lost Magnificat, she's having to nurse a terminally ill Fawntasia through her last few weeks this side of the Bridge...

I therefore think that I should spend more time snuggling with My Mummy as life is all too brief and snuggles are all too precious! :)

Thursday 8 January 2009

Step 7 - Operation Daddy

Now that your Daddy is swift at responding to your demands for him to click the clicker and dole out the treats, you can try softening him up at bedtime! Yes, I know it's a big step but it's very worthwhile as he's pretty big and takes up quite a lot of the bed... ;)

You have already established that your place in bed is right between him and Your Mummy and bedtime just doesn't feel right to him without your presence, now start to rub up against him on your way up the bed to your favourite cuddle spot with Your Mummy. A few headbutts can go a long way to making him give up extra bed space to his new "snuggle buddy". Just make sure that you give him a few extra rubs and headbutts when he's been extra good and warmed up the space he's willingly handing over to you and soon you'll have a well warmed and softened up space to occupy between your beloved Mummy and your Daddy. Oh yes that's right everykitty, you must keep them apart or they'll forget to focus all their love and attention on you at bedtime! If you're like myself and have the additional pleasure of sharing your home with one of your very own siblings, or even a co-operative buddy, (that's NOT how I'd discribe Tigmut'hep, ok!) you can get them to help out by holding down their favoured person (even if that also happens to be Your Mummy, just as long as you and they don't vie for the same part of Your Mummy, it'll work) think of the big picture here and go for every square inch of bed space you can... Once this has been achieved life will be so much sweeter and you'll be able to sleep comfortably between your beans all night long if you wish, without fear of getting squished in the process.

So there you have it, a Daddy who gives you treats on command, who can't sleep without you and who gives you plenty of room in the bed while keeping away from Your Mummy and all you've had to do was acknowledge his existance and let him fuss your glorious furs while on occasion giving him a few headbutts! You're ready for the final steps on the road to making your Daddy Better! :)

Monday 5 January 2009

Mew Year Blues... Operation Daddy - Step 6

Well it's been lovely having Daddy home for the past 2 weeks to work on, but sadly he's back to work today... I guess I'm pleased that D'Boy is back to school too as that gives me more "Mummy Time", but honestly I'm rather missing having my student at home! It seems he's learnt a lot over the past couple of weeks and I have therefore been able to reward him a little more often of late. Ok I admit it I was kind of enjoying rewarding him...

Anyway the clicker training of Daddy has continued over this time and he's now pretty good at supplying my needs on command! :) For this I have started to talk to him directly a little more than I used to. Prior to this almost all my communication with Daddy has gone via My Mummy... It seems he has been studying "cateese" and is now at least able to understand the basic commands without the need for My Mummy to act as his translator! This is a big step forward and I feel that he can now go on to the accelerated program! ;) So remember everykitty that persistence pays off in the end and don't let your Dad slack off his training program, just because he's back to his normal work hours... :)

From this point forward the pace of some Daddy's learning will greatly increase like that of my own, however some will still need a good deal of encouragement and the occasional punishment to keep them in line! I have always found that the best form of punishment is to steal their food, especially when it's getting close to that time when your Mummy goes hunting and the fridge is looking kind of empty, as it's harder for them to find a replacement for that slice of ham you stole from their lunch. Oh yes a few lunches consisting of a marmalade sandwich to go with their banana and a packet of crisps will surely make them pay more attention to you in future! ;)

Anyway for now I can take a break from Daddy's intensive training course and have a good long cuddle with Mummy and Isis! Mummy and I have spent a lot of time cuddling her of late as she's feeling the loss of her beloved Sen-Chan quite a bit... The really lovely thing was Sen-Chan's #1 phoning My Mummy yesterday for a chat and to make sure that Isis is doing just fine healthwise at this time, it quite made all of our days and I gather that there may well be family visits in the future! :)

Talking of family visits Mummy, Daddy and D'boy had a lovely visit with some of Mummy's many cousins and second-cousins on Saturday and she came home with some very nice kitty smells on her. So it seems that 2009 will probably bring us plenty of people to fur on! Well a mancat can but hope... ;)