Kitty’s on lockdown

Way back when Tulip first got here, she had a little accident at the bottom of the stairs. All of our living space is upstairs, so the only thing at the bottom of the stairs is the front door. I never did get around to asking Janet, but I suspect that where Tulip was fostered there is a full downstairs and possibly a litterbox near the bottom of the stairs somewhere. She still occasionally seems very confused by the fact that the stairs don’t go anywhere.

In any case, a week or two ago kitty was down at the bottom of the stairs meowing at the top of her and wrestling with the rug. We didn’t think too much of it because she seems to like to play down there. As it turns out, she ended up peeing on the rug down there again. Needless to say, the rug is now gone. Every time kitty heads down the stairs, I shoo her back up.

Usually in the evenings after she eats, she’s ready to run around and play. That’s usually when she wants to head downstairs. With that in mind, kitty has been on lockdown in the bedroom/bathroom area at night. It’s usually a pretty big production. We bring the kitty bed and Mini Tiger in there for her. She goes from door to door to verify that she’s locked in. Then she usually flops herself over on her side on the stripy rug that’s between the bedroom and bathroom. By morning she is usually curled up in a ball in the crook of my legs. I swear, this cat has more routines than a 5-year-old child.

Bed launch

A few days ago, Tulip started wrestling with her kitty bed. She attacked it and flipped it over on top of herself. She then kicked it with both hind feet and launched it across the room, where it landed upright on top of her bowling toy. She got up and walked around looking for it. When she found it, she climbed back in. She had kind of a confused look on her face as if to say “What’s my bed doing over here?”

There’s one more photo in Tulip’s FlickR photo stream to the right.

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Wild thing

We’re in the midst of another heatwave. All day yesterday our house was blazing hot. As a result, all three of us spent a good portion of the day napping. At bedtime it was still 86 degrees in our house. We finally decided we’d had enough and turned on the AC.

It took most of the night for the house to cool down to a reasonable temperature. But kitty woke up around 4:30, obviously feeling quite a bit better. She was into everything. Into the recycling bag, batting her ball around the entire house, on my nightstand, wrestling with my shoes, on and off the bed 100 times. She had way too much energy. By 7:00 I couldn’t take it anymore, so I got up and made coffee.

Tu is still tearing up the place. When I last saw her she was laying on the bed wrestling with one of her toys. She was curled up in a ball biting and kicking at it. Then I heard her jump off the bed and take a tour of the bedroom in a flurry of claws on the hardwood floors. Punkish! She keeps letting out these little “brrrrrrrt!” sounds and darting off into the next room to look for something else to get into. She’s been at it for hours. I may have to let the house warm back up again…

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I came home from work last night to pick up Eve, as we had plans with friends. When I got home, Tulip Kitty met me at the top of the stairs. She purred and rubbed her head all over me when I bent down and stuck my face in hers.

When Eve was ready to leave, kitty was still sitting at the top of the stairs, off to one side. She let Eve pass. As I tried to walk by, she stuck her paw out in front of me to trip me up. I stopped and looked down at her. She sat there looking up at me with that innocent, “who me?” face. Punkish! I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Caturday

That’s right. It’s a tu-for-one special today. It’s feast or famine around here.

This morning I got an early text from my friend Caprice. She wanted to meet for breakfast. I couldn’t wake Eve up, but decided I wanted to go. So I got up, fed Tulip, took a shower, and left.

When I came back from breakfast, the house was still quiet and dark. Kitty didn’t meet me at the top of the stairs. I went back to the bedroom and found Eve and Tulip curled up, asleep in the blankets still. I said “Tu! It’s Caturday! Wake up!” She stretched and yawned and let me pet her. That’s when I made the mistake of sticking my face all up in her business. Now I have a lovely scratch that extends across my cheek. She immediately knew she did something bad and bowed down her little head in apology. Could she just not resort to the claws first thing? Geez. I guess I had that one coming, but I’m still hoping that some day she’ll fully understand what affection is all about.

Busy, busy

We’re still working on cleaning up and reorganizing our office. Kitty is quite interested in helping out with this project. Here’s Tulip helping Evie sort some receipts.

“2007s go in here, Mama.”

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I found something new!

Not that every other cat isn’t, but Tulip is extremely curious. Even with no eyes, she finds her way into everything. We had this collapsible bag sitting in the living room, and kitty though it would be fun to get in it. That is, until it ate her!

Hey guys! Look what I found!
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Uh ooooh
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Oh noooooooes! It’s eating me!
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Only foolin‘! I’m right here.
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Is that not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?

Caught in the act

Last weekend Eve and I were in the office talking. Tulip Kitty was bored because it was raining, and she couldn’t go out on the deck. Instead, she jumped up on the bed and started attacking Violet. I told you she’s a bully! We have evidence!

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My eye!

Tulip tried her best to give me a black eye this morning. She was curled up next to me when the alarm went off. She stretched and purred while I petted her. Then I sat up, which intimidated her because she could feel me looming over her. So of course she threw herself at me, claws and fangs out. Her nose hit me right in the eye full force. All I saw was a bright flash, followed by throbbing pain. I couldn’t even open that eye for a few minutes to see if it was okay. It’s a little bloodshot, but not too puffy now. Happy Friday!

Tulip realized right away what she had done. She sat down on the end of the bed with a pitiful look on her face. I was so pissed off initially that I left her sitting there. Once I decided I was going to live, I went out to the kitchen to make coffee. Kitty came out and rubbed up against my leg, looking for some approval. She got a pet and some breakfast, but she wasn’t very interested in eating.

While I sat and drank my coffee, she was still pretty sheepish. I finally coaxed her over to me and gave her another pet. Kitty was sorry! She curled up at my feet and watched the news with me while I finished my coffee.

I know that Tulip does most of the crazy things she does because she can’t see. I suspect that she’s used to being punked by the other cats she used to live with, so she’s very defensive unless she’s 200% sure who is touching her (or even near her sometimes) and why. But did I really need a punch in the eye at 5:30 in the morning?

Naughty girl

On Saturday I was cleaning the bathroom. I moved Tulip’s litterbox out to the main part of the bathroom while I cleaned, because it was in my way. As I was working away, I noticed a scratch, scratch, scratch and the tell-tale tssssss of fine grains kitty litter bouncing on the floor. I looked over and watched as Tulip sat outside her litterbox and flung kitty litter all over the place. She’d flick it with her paw onto the floor. Then she’d cock her head to the side and listen with that goofy kitty smile on her face. Apparently she liked the sound of it hitting the floor. She thought it was great fun. Punk!