Total Kitty Makeover

Heather's favorite column in fitness magazines is the Total Makeover with the before and after photos of people who have transformed their lives. So, let's focus on someone who has been completely transformed in the short time he has lived at my house: Scruffers!





Here he is in the "before" shot: matted fur that was 'icky' to touch, eyes half-closed due to a chronic eye infection, and while not visible to the untrained eye, a very malnourished and weak kitty.





Now for the transformed Scruffers: A healthy kitty who has happily taken over my spot on the love seat in the living room. Since he's napping in this photo, you may not be able to see that his eye infection has completely vanished. The contented smile is a sign of how happy he is to receive two square meals a day and a kitty friend (me!) who keeps him on his toes.

I admit it, I was a little hesitant to invite Scruffers into my house, but watching him open up and learn to love us and his new home has been amazing. And I love having someone to play with every morning. He chases me around the house and sometimes we have swatting contests (until a pre-caffeinated Craig starts to raise his voice at us for making too much noise). It's all in good fun, Craig!

Giuseppe in the Mail

Can you see it? It's me, Giuseppe Gattino, on a U.S. postal stamp! Scruffy and I were having fun one day at work and we ordered a bunch of these. We also surprised Craig with a set of stamps featuring Scruffers lying on Craig while he was napping on the couch. Scruffers mailed those to Craig separately with a note thanking Craig for rescuing him. I admit it, it was a pretty cool thing for him to do.

Are we becoming buddies? Well, sometimes. When Scruffers is in a good mood I like to make him chase me around the house. Of course, when I try to chase him around he gets nervous and has a hissy fit. And he's so darn old I swear all he wants to do is sleep. Take today, for example. We slept all day yesterday while Craig and Heather were out hiking. So today I'm full of energy and all I want to do is run laps around the house. But Scruffers, no. He slept all day yesterday and now all he wants to do is nap all day today too. So I have to run over to Heather and tag her on the leg and make her come chase me. It's just not the same as having a kitty friend.

We're almost touching!

I've been waiting for months to become friends with Scruffers. I know he's a really cool cat - Heather and Craig wouldn't have brought him home if they didn't think he was a great kitty. But he's been so darn nervous around me and it's driving me crazy!

Why won't he let me meet him and get it over with? We have been getting closer. We play together sometimes (I let him chase me around until he hisses and freaks me out). And in the mornings he sometimes lets me hang out close to him.

Here we are today in the dining room. Scruffers was ripping apart the catnip plant and I took the opportunity to see how close I could get to him before he freaked out. Here's how close I got. Of course, this photo was taken seconds before he hissed and scared me off, but that's life! I'll just keep trying!

Don't worry, Scruffers, we'll be friends soon!

(Photo: Giuseppe Gattino trying to greet Scruffers.)

It's a tough job, but someone had to do it

Heather looked so stressed today at work that I decided to help her out. I know, it was really thoughtful - what can I say? I'm a good guy.

I spied her in the living room getting a mailing ready to send out. She looked so methodical - counting out a bunch of brochures and lining everything up into super-organized piles. Then she took a little break and went upstairs.

It was my chance! I knew Heather wouldn't let me help out if I asked, so I decided to intervene: I jumped on all the piles to mix them up so they'd look fun! I took a running start and jumped into the middle of the piles and slid all the way to the other side of the room. I repeated it many times because, heck, it was a lot of fun!

I waited expectantly for Heather to survey my handiwork. When she came downstairs she took one look at the chaos and burst out laughing. See! I knew I could destress her! I added a few more jumping-slide moves so Heather could see me in action.

(Photo: Me, helping out like a good kitty.)

Where can we go where it will be cooler?

I'm ready for a vacation from summer. Yes, I realize the warm weather has only been back for a few days, but you must understand - I'm a Maine Coon. We don't do so well in the heat.

Today it registered 86 at my house, even though the local paper said it was only going to hit 79 degrees. Hmm, someone must not being doing his job... Maybe the meteorologist is on vacation too!

And tomorrow it may be as warm as 86 degrees. So what will that mean at my house? 90? And it's not as though the thermometer is in the sun. No sirree, it is in the shade all day. So no, as a matter of fact, I am not looking forward to tomorrow.

Wish me luck! And pray Heather doesn't try to wrap me in another stupid wet towel again.

But That's MY Spot

Guess who? Yes, that would be Scruffy Gray sitting in my special spot on my favorite loveseat. I came downstairs and there he was, taking over my space. And then I noticed he had scratched on my scratching post and drank water from my water dish. Sheesh!

Don't worry. I already got him back. Yesterday when he was out of his room, I peed in his kitty box. Take that, little guy!

I Love a Rainy Night

Remember that song? Eddie Rabbit. I know, it was produced a few decades before I was born (I am only one year old) but I must have been listening to "kafe 104.3" too much in my spare time.

Anyway, after the miserable heat spell we had now we're below average temperature. It's 64 degrees outside right now. And raining. And you know what? I love it. It's so refreshing to see the tree frogs bounce along in the grass and to spend the day inside hanging out with Heather and Craig. 'Cause it's not like they're outside playing in this weather.

So yeah, I like this weather. It makes everyone stay at home and I like that. I can't wait till winter. (I am a Maine Coon, you know! We like the cold!) We can snuggle around the fireplace and I can sniff everyone's hot chocolate. Just the four of us. That's right. I've accepted that you're here to stay, Scruffers.

Modelling in bed

My modelling shot. What do you think? Very demure. This pic is my favorite for the week.

Now that the weather has cooled down I can hang out in my fleecy snuggle bed again. Except not right now because Heather threw it in the wash. Now I have to claim it as mine all over again by rubbing my scent and fur all over it. I don't know why she wanted to wash my bed; it was perfect!

Kittens in the Oven?

What's wrong with people? I thought our little house was crowded with 2 humans and 2 kitties, but this house must have been hell. Just imagine the stench. This news piece from the Seattle Times is hideously disturbing....

40 cats seized in filthy house in Snohomish County
Forty cats and kittens are in quarantine at the Everett Animal Shelter after being seized in filthy conditions from a house north of Lynnwood on Friday night.
Snohomish County emergency medical technicians responded to a 911 call in the 11700 block of Center Road and found the resident, who needed care. But they also found animals living amid feces and urine. The smell was so overpowering that Snohomish County Animal Control officers donned protective suits with ventilators to enter the house and seize the animals.
Vicki Lubrin, Snohomish County Animal Control manager, said six dead kittens were found wrapped in paper towels inside the oven; bodies of two other kittens and one adult cat were found decomposing elsewhere in the house. Seven animals had to be euthanized.

This makes me want to hide under the bed and forget that people like this exist in the world. I hope those rescued kitties turn out O.K.