Tatiana (Tanya) (Tat the Cat)!!

Same here...........and Bij usually expects me to bring him back a snack as well!

Jim, how are you and Tat doing?

Yes, inquiring minds want to know.

Oh my - guess I'll say some words to help "inquiring minds"!! I just haven't had much to talk about here - Tat is well and, with the colder weather moving in, she waits for the sunny days, then begins the expedition to search out the warm spots in our house. Usually, mornings finds her on the south-facing stairs to the upstairs as the sun shines through the front-door windows. As the sunlight moves, so does Tat. By noontime, she has reached the bottom step, as the sunlight has completed it's "stairway to heaven". Then, after lunch, it's upstairs to a west-facing window, and more sleep! That takes us to dinner. Tat does some supervision of my cooking, then after chowtime, it's naptime on the livingroom floor. 'Course, this whole thing CAN be changed if Tat decides to curl up on my lap while I'm reading the morning paper - she sleeps, my leg goes to sleep, I cannot move until SHE decides to move - but I LOVE IT !

Next time - have a good one everybody! Caddy Jim

Sounds like she has her day all planned out well enough! And how are you doing lately? All ready for the holidays?

Glad to hear that Tat is well and is following the sun puddles as any good cat will do.
Any current snaps of her.

Many purrs to you, sister. Glad you're well! Sounds like you've got your domain properly mapped out for sunspots and laps, and it sounds like your Caddy Training is in tip top shape. My Ma is in good form on the dead leg thing, but she still occasionally insists on disturbing me to go to the showerrain room. All she does is sit there for a minute, but we were already sitting before! These humans certainly do have their quirks, don't they? Anyway, it's good to see you and your Caddy. Hope he's well, too!

~Weezer

Forgot to mention another exercise that Tat likes! We go to the foyer by the front door - has laminate woodlike flooring - I throw one of the mousies - like the ones that fiffur gave Tat - she chases the mousie all over, with the floor especially slippery, like ice - but SOMETIMES, Tat will jump into the air, seems like several feet vertically, trying to catch the mousie - then she waits until I go over, pick it up, and start the game all over again - EXCELLENT EXCERCISE!! Then she curls up in the corner and gets some well needed rest.

Unfortunately, I can't get a good picture 'cause it's only Tat and Caddy - no one else to snap-snap, but it is fun!

Caddy Jim

Sounds like a fun game.....and good practice for catching those pesky flies that manage to get in the house next summer!

Does sound like fun. Antonio and I hold cat races.

Those slick floors are the best! I have shmousies in the carpet hall upstairs, but the kitchen and baffroom floors make the toys really skitter!

We have cat races too....and the occasional airial mouse catch!

Jim, how are you and Tat doing?

Hi fluffnstuff and all the rest of the forum viewers! Yes, it's been a while since Caddy Jim and Tat have been on these pages (but remember, we've been here everyday, just reading and "watching" ) - it's that we've don't have anything NEW to pass on to you - no funny stories, no animal facts (oh wait, we do have a bunch - about five - of deer come by once or twice a week to munch on the surviving plants) - really, not much! Tat gets some exercise with the fiffur mousie, and once in a while, she settles in my lap for a nice rest.....

Hey, I guess THAT'S what makes being owned by a cat so NICE -

Take care everyone - Tat and Caddy Jim

Hello, Tat and Caddy Jim. It's been a while. Glad things are going well and you're enjoying your cold time as much as possible.

hi, y'all glad your doing well and haven't fallen off the face of the
earth. Don't be such strangers.

Good to hear from you again Jim and Tat! Glad you're putting winter to good use...great time to snuggle and hibernate.

Hey, while I've got all of your attention - :soapbos: - I have a question - - Tat has a funny feature in her behavior, especially when she's curled up in the sun, almost asleep - - when I reach down and scratch her, actually not "scratch", but "rubbing" - on her belly, she reaches out with her two front paws, ALTERNATING and KNEADING, one paw stretched and spread out and the other curled back. Then, she changes her paws with the other one kneading, etc. I think this is called "Kneading", but I'm not sure. It seems to be a "baby kitten" reaction to the days when she was feeding on mama's teats.

Am I right when I call this kneading? Or is there another name? You other cats, do you do this, too? And I wonder about pups, do they do kneading themselves?

I've started off a new debate?? Caddy Jim

I've always called it 'kneading' though I've heard lots of different descriptions, including 'happy paws,' but it seems to be a self-comforting excercise that cats do. All my cats have had their own idiosyncrasies; Ruby had quick happy paws, and Blue had these looooonnnnngg, languishing strokes, where he would stretch each leg all the way to his toenails. That could be quite painful for the lap he was sitting on. I even had one cat, Winston, who would almost go into a trance, and he would occasionally drool a little. Bobby is a regular kneader - nothing too painful.

I've heard that it's a throwback to kittenhood, but who knows what lurks in our felines' minds. Not me! Oh, and I've never seen a dog do it. It's a cat thing.

Some folks call this behavior "making biscuits." When my cat Barry was a kitten, he would combine this with "wool sucking." He would hold fleecy blankets in his mouth, all the while kneading and walking around in a circle. When he was done the blanket would look like soft serve ice cream. Before we actually saw him in action, we had no idea why the fleece blanket at the end of our bed would have this strange appearance.

Tortie does something similar when she gets in my dad's lap, but she does on my dad's legs. We always called it kneading.

So did we when Fiffur would do that.... sometimes he'd knead so hard you'd swear he would wear a hole in your leg! Bijoux tries but mom won't let him. Bij never has tried to knead me, just her. Definitely a throwback to kittenhood when they felt safe and loved with their momma.
I consider being kneaded by a cat a compliment!

fiffur wrote:I consider being kneaded by a cat a compliment!

When Blue would do it it was a very pointy compliment! But I'd go back in a minute if I could...I miss those pointy compliments.

I call them starfish paws. Antonio does them when we cuddle, he will even make sucking contented noises.
He also starts his hum at the same time.

For some reason, GK thinks it's reserved solely for tearing up the furniture.