Pinot Did That

In the morning the Old Guy likes to sit at the computer and check stuff out on the web. While he is doing that Chow Mein comes in and likes to sit in front of the computer screen. The Old Guy likens it to a total eclipse of the sun. After a good scratch he usually moves on. Lately I have also started coming into the office when the Old Guy is sitting. I walk around his legs meowing until he picks me up and gives me a good scratch while I lay in his lap. He's getting good at surfing the web one handed.

Today, I decided to check out the office counter where Chow usually roams. Let me tell you, there are a lot of cat toys that I didn't know about. I must have attacked 10 pencils and pens knocking them to the floor, one by one. They are no fun once they fall on the floor, so after I knock one down I move on to another one. After all the pencils and pens were gone I found a really cool eraser which I could throw around. Sometimes it would get stuck under or in a folder. No problem. I just scratch until the folder, or its contents or both, fell on the floor. After 20 minutes of this I moved on. Well, when the Pretty Lady came in she was not amused to see her stuff all over the floor. When asked "who did that?" I answered, "Pinot did that". Unfortunately, the Old Guy was watching me the entire time. Man, that guy is everywhere.

Busted!

I am told that there used to be a cat living in our household named Mon Chella Louisa. It seems that Miss Louisa had to be separated from Chow Mein because when the were together they always fought vicious cat fights. There was a lot of concern that when Pinot entered the household there would be the same result. But, of course, Pinot and Chow get on famously, maybe because there are both males, who knows? Miss Louisa died a few months before I was brought to live in the garage.

Since I have aclimated to household living, there has been the concern that Chow and I would fight like Chow and Louisa. Both Pinot and Chow have told me the history. Anyway, even though I have now lived in the house with Chow and Pinot for 3 months, there is still an overhang of concern about me and Chow. Every now and then, sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, I'll let out the Minet hiss or yowl or screech which indicates Chow is picking on me. Every time I do this, the old guy has yelled at Chow to leave me alone. In fact, when the Pretty Lady and Little Girl were here from New York, Chow and I had a fur-flying-screachathon right in front of the Prettly Lady. She freaked and said Chow was trying to kill me. Ha Ha. Like I'd let him do that.

Anyway, after today I think there will be a change. Chow was laying on a table in the sun. I thought everyone was out of the room, so I walked over and sat under the table. Every time Chow hung his tail or leg over the end, I jumped up and attacked it either with paw or mouth. After I had been doing this for about 10 minutes, Chow got up and chased me. I hissed and screeched. We jumped at each other and then I really screached as I ran across the house with Chow chasing me. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the Old Guy had been watching us for the whole time. As I screached around the house, I got yelled at. I think the jigg is up because what the Old Guy didn't know, until today, is that I am the one who insitgates the fights with Chow. Chow usually could care less about me. But I like to harass Chow until he chases me. Now the Old Guy knows the truth. Bummer!!!

Royalty

I have just realized that there is a certain medieval structure to the operation of my household. Chow Mein is the King. I, Minette, am the Queen. Pinot is the Court Jester. The Old Guy and the Pretty Lady are the Pawns. By the way, the King and Queen don't sleep in the same bed, much less the same room.

Things to do today

5 a.m. Cat chase with Pinot; attack Halloween decorations and drag them across floor.

6 a.m. Sit with Pinot and Chow staring at the Old Guy until he wakes up.

6:15 a.m. Follow Old Guy around in cat herd until he makes coffee and puts out soft cat food.

6:25 a.m. Turn up nose at soft cat food and walk away.

6:30 a.m. Watch Chow eat my soft cat food. I like crunchies better anyway.

6:45 a.m. Dance around house, run all over the place, puff up and set fur on full fluff. Chow and Pinot sleep.

7:15 a.m. Lay down in universal scratching position. When Old Guy comes over to scratch me, run away.

8:00 through 9:30 a.m. See 7:15 a.m. It's fun to watch him get frustrated.

9:45 a.m. Allow Old Guy to catch me and give me a full cat brushing.

10:00 a.m. Beat up on Barbie's head.

10:15 a.m. Nap time.

Running In Place

Chase at my house is a regular event in the morning. We all love to run up the stairs to the living room, make a quick left turn and then run outside on the deck. One problem I'm having is running on the living room floor. When I run up the stairs and make the left turn, my hind legs go flying out from under me sending my butt and then the rest of my body into a tail spin. I guess it's the shiny floor. I've tried everything, claws out, claws in, head up, head down . . . nothing works. Take offs are also problematic. Before I get going I tend to run in place for a second or so, sometimes falling over on my side. Personally, I prefer carpet. Makes for better clawing too even though the Old Guy yells at me when I claw the carpet.

Camping

The pretty little girls, Lulu and Nessie are staying at my house for 10 days. This evening I heard a commotion in the living room. The Old Guy kept telling Pinot to "get out of there". I had to check this out so I slid out from under the bed to see what was going on. I looked into the living room and there was a small red tent, on its side. The Old Guy was running around it yelling at Pinot. I guess Pinot had run into the tent and then thought it would be fun to jump at the sides of the tent. When he did this the tent flipped over. Of course this just encouraged Pinot to jump around more. So the tent was kind of traveling around the house with the Old Guy yelling at it. He finally got Pinot out of the tent. Then, he set it up straight. Well, I can tell you that the Old Guy and Pretty Lady wouldn't fit in that tent. Only Lulu and cats could fit in there. So, after everything calmed down, I walked over. Pinot had gone back in without the Old Guy noticing, and laid down. He took up half the tent. I walked in, sniffed around, and sat at the entrance. I think after everyone goes to bed tonight I'm going to do some camping in the living room.

Fur Flying Fiasco

I enjoy being in my house and am thankful that I live here. I love the food, I like playing chase, there's lots of interesting stuff and the Old Guy gives a great scratch. However, there are a few things that I don't like. I don't like to be touched unless I have made a request to be touched. I don't like a lot of comotion. I refuse to be told what to do.

Last night Chow and I were kind of playing. At some point I lay down and Chow pounced. Now it's not unusual for Chow and Pinot to jump on each other and growl and hiss. They are clearly playing. I guess Chow thought I was Pinot or just got carried away. At the end of his pounce, he landed right on me. I reverted to feral cat and latched on to him to give him a good what for. Well when I did that, I think he figured he could do it too. I screached, Chow screached, I growled, Chow growled and we wrestled across the living room floor. Marina was standing right there and then she screached. I think she said something like Chow Mein's killing Minette. Ha Ha. No way. I can take care of myself. The Old Guy came running and I went running under the bed with Chow following up to the edge. The Old Guy barked at Chow and he ran away downstairs. The floor was covered with clumps of fur. The Old Guy is presently examining it to try to determine whose fur it is. It seems like cat fur, once removed from the cat, all blends in together, except for white fur. Later that night the Old Guy spread catnip all over the toys and busy kitty. Chow and I took turns rolling in it and playing with Barbie's head. But he never touched me.