Farewell!

Well we said goodbye to Millie and Pepe yesterday and I helped pack them up for their flight. I really hope it was not too bad of a trip for them and that they arrive home safely. It's been such a blast taking care of them and getting to know them. Such interesting individuals. Biscuit seems to be searching the house a little, and is now sleeping on an old spot of Millie's.

I hope they settle in quickly, enjoy their stay in the U.K., and I hope to see them again sometime!

Last night!

Aw! It's the last night with Millie and Pepe, I will miss them so much. I have been looking at them more seriously this past week thinking our time is coming to an end soon. They are such sweeties.

Sammy came over today to pick up the cats and bring them to their last Canadian vet checkup appointment. That went well, they went into their cages fairly easily and came back happy (Millie got out of her cage and grabbed a bite to eat right away!). Pepe seems a little tired, she seems to be lazing around a bit. Millie is currently enjoying some catnip and rolling around on her back!

Only a few more hours with them to go...I will miss them!

Update

All is well, not too much is new. The only thing new is that Pepe came and sat on my lap for a few minutes tonight while I sat in front of the fireplace. That was cute. She's getting a few dreads with winter being here, I try and brush her but she doesn't really like it. Same with Biscuit, she's got some pretty bad mats that I will try and shave off soon, and give her a bit of an all over trim. Millie and Emmy are good also! Emmy chases Millie sometimes, but she's not very interested.

Pepe's outdoor friend...

!!!!

I glanced into the guest room today and caught this scene! Grey and white tabby outside checking Pepe out. We've seen him(?) around the neighbourhood, he's pretty cool and comes up to you to say 'hi' by throwing himself onto his back on the sidewalk in front of you.


I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I made a little makeshift loveseat in front of the other window upstairs so Biscuit can look out the front window again, since she graciously gave up her spot to Millie ;).

This is me knitting earlier today and I had a cat on each arm of the chair beside me! So cute!

Extra cute shot of Miss Puffy Pants taken by M. 

And, getting closerrr....doesn't it look like they are all looking at Pepe, wondering why she looks a little uptight about the closeness?

Lazy Sunday

It's gloomy, rainy, although mild day here today. The cats are in their current favorite cozy spots napping, Pepe in the guest bedroom on the dresser next to the window, Biscuit curled up on the ottoman in the guest room (aw Pepe and Biskee in the same room!). Millie on the couch upstairs (actually now that I'm at the computer, she's in the cat bed on the desk), and Emmy is on the ottoman under my desk.

Everyone is doing well, the relationships aren't changing much. Pepe's in charge (swats everyone when they walk to close to her) although I've heard her and Biscuit chase each other around upstairs (sounds playful, I think?). Emmy and Biscuit play together. Millie, Emmy and Biscuit are often all together hanging out downstairs with M and I, with Pepe walking onto the scene occasionally.

Below is from last night, it's my computer setup, and where the cats like to be. Biscuit is often somewhere at my feet...I know my camera takes poopy indoor pictures.

Getting closer to...

...hugging them all at once!

(pay no mind to the ratty-looking network cable)

Pics! and a note about Pepe

Everyone is doing well. Now that everyone is comfortable and I see all 4 cats often (no one is hiding anymore), it's starting to feel strange to always have at least one set of eyes on me or someone asking me for some attention.

They are all super sweethearts right now, but I really need to say that since Pepe has come out of hiding and has gotten more comfortable, getting to know her is a treat. She is very unique and has lots of little quirks but once she's comfy with you she is sooooo cuddly and sweet!! She is the cat that hangs out upstairs all the time while the other 3 are usually all downstairs with M and I. But when I go up there she follows me around and rubs up to my legs and jumps on the edge of the tub and stretches up to me and paws my belly so I can pick her up and take her for a walk. She perches on my forearm and clings to my shoulder and purrs and purrs. She is soo sweet.

Anyway, here are some pics from the last couple of days....

I wish I knew what she is trying to say when she does this...

A classic "waiting for breakfast" pose...

This doesn't happen too often but it did today (ended in some slow pawing to the face by both parties)

...and Pepe leaving.

This was 2 days after Emmy arrived...

This is 2 days after Emmy's arrival as well...

Emmy is always in this spot (Biscuit *used* to be, I think she was trying underneath as an alternative, but it didn't become a favorite).

The boy has arrived...

Emmy's here! It is now Sunday morning and Emmy has been here since Thursday night. He and all the girls are doing really well. No one is upset or battling for a piece of territory.

Emmy settled in quickly and hasn't been in hiding or been abnormally skittish. He really likes the round part of the scratching post and spends lots of time there. Every morning he is lying on the other couch in the living room where Millie usually is. He and Biscuit are already chasing each other around which is just like old times. I can't wait to see if Emmy will start trying to start playing with Millie or Pepe. The first time he met Millie there was sniffing and he hissed a little but now they just sniff and walk by, not paying too much notice. The first time he met Pepe it seems as though Pepe had no clue he was even there because she was just walking by and froze when she saw him and started meowing and then left. But now I can tell that Pepe likes Emmy even more than Biscuit because Pepe and Emmy sniff noses when they see each other, whereas if Biscuit comes within a foot of Pepe she meows and swipes at her. I think it's a puffy pants competition thing.

We had a poker party here on Friday night and that went well. Pepe stayed in the orange bedroom all night and came out after the last guest left. Millie and Emmy were downstairs all night, sometimes hiding under the bed together. But when we came down they would come and see us so they weren't completely terrified or anything like that. Biscuit came up a couple times during the party and walked right through all the action. I also brought their food down since I think Millie and Emmy didn't really want to come upstairs where everyone was hanging out.

Next time I will post some pictures!

Routines

So Emmy is getting ready to come over today. Things around here seem to have stabilized over the past couple weeks to a good routine where no one is overly scared or hiding all the time.

Here's how a typical day goes...

Biscuit is usually sleeping at my feet on the bed, Millie is on the loveseat by the window upstairs and Pepe is wandering around (it's hard to know what she's up to at all times because she's usually out of sight, but not in a frightened way anymore).

My alarm goes off and Biscuit moves closer to my head where I pet her for a few minutes. I get up and Pepe is always at the bedroom door rubbing her face against the frame and meows in her tiny, non-grown up kitten meow, and then runs away (I think she's trying to get me to follow her to the food bowls).

I get ready for work and Millie is still on the couch, Biscuit is looking out the window or walking around the kitchen/living room and Pepe is sometimes wandering the kitchen or out of sight. Sometimes Millie or Biscuit are waiting on the bottom of the scratching post, staring at the food bowls. Sometimes Pepe walks up to the (currently empty) bowls and sniffs them (nope, still no food). We usually feed them after we're done getting ready for work, before we eat breakfast.

When the food is placed in the bowl, there is a line up (or 'queue' as you might say in the UK ;)), and it's a crapshoot (I'm sure you don't use or hear this word overseas) who will 'win'. Sometimes Pepe gets in there first, and Biscuit and Millie are lined up near the scratching post or sometimes we don't even see Pepe eat at all (must eat after we leave for work).

So we leave and when we come home from work, Biscuit greets us 99% of the time. Millie is on the couch and Pepe sometimes comes around too. The dinner  time is not so dramatic or structured as breakfast. M and I settle in for the evening and Millie and Biscuit are usually close by just hanging out and sometimes (once or twice a week) running around together, and Pepe comes in and out of the pictures throughout the evening to say 'hi' and get a pet or a walk around the house in my arms. They are such sweeties.


So....Emmy I'm sure will disrupt (not in a bad way, just different I'm sure!) this routine, let's see what happens!!

Rrrrrr...rrrr......rrrrr......rrrrrrr.....rrrrrr.....

That's supposed to be the sound of cats purring. Everyone is happy and all is good. I'm sorry I just realized that almost a week has gone by since my last update....

Millie: always in her regular spots (tops of couches and now sometimes in Biscuit's bed on my computer desk). The personal space bubble between her and Biscuit keeps shrinking and shrinking, they look out the window from the couch together sometimes and also seem to look like they want to play and chase each other around.

Pepe: I don't really know where she is sometimes, she is not hiding in her regular hiding spots. Actually, she finally isn't really hiding anymore. She is out and about much more often and is often coming to greet us often (and even though there is food in her dish!). She has been super cuddly and friendly. M got caught with the rolling-on-her-back-for-what-looks-like-a-belly-rub-request trap yesterday. I have been able to pick her up and walk around which is so neat, she grabs onto your shoulder and switches from one shoulder to another, almost feels like a little hug. So cute. She could really use a good brushing all over but she doesn't really let me do anything other than her back and a bit down the side. Have you guys been able to brush more than that, like her belly?

Biscuit: being hospitable.

Emmy: counting the sleeps until he comes over for the winter, 5 nights more to go!

Cuties, but Pepe still hiding

Pepe is always either behind a curtain or a couch or under a bed, and sometimes when you least expect it, she's right on your dresser. Maybe she just likes that? Or maybe she just can't get used to us. I can pet her a bit but when I try and talk to her she runs away, and she meows an annoyed mew! when she's had it. Maybe this is her way, but maybe she just misses her familiar humans.

At least she has Millie...Saturday morning I was having coffee downstairs and Millie and Pepe were running all over the place back and forth and Millie up and down off the couch panting. It was so cute, clearly she needed to expend some energy.

Also, I think it's backwardsland here, based on what you guys told us Millie hates being held and Pepe loves it...so far it's been the other way around. Millie looks up at me and moaws so I pick her up and walk around with her and she seems like it, Pepe just gets annoyed and wants to jump off. Weird!

So! Everyone is doing good, there were a few hairballs episodes last week but that was just one day (and everyone had to have their hairballs on the same day, I can usually handle cat care pretty well, but wow that's a lot in a day!!).

Oh and as for new nicknames for guest cats....Millers and Peppers...always said in a super high-pitched voice.

Sleepy hungry heads

It's all been pretty much about sleeping and eating these days. We were feeding them 2x a day but had to switch to more frequent smaller meals because they just don't last and the cats started getting really active (ie. begging for food) in the early morning (5ish). This stuff is cute, but inconvenient. Millie walks on you while your are sleeping (dozing) and looks at you like 'why are you just lying there like that? I don't get it...'. Pepe walks in the bedroom purrrrring very loudly and walking around either side of the bed and then leaving and scratching doorways (strange sound, no visible damage). So we trying to feed them a 2nd dinner at our bedtime and ignore them in the morning until after we're pretty much ready to for work before feeding them again....so they don't think they get food the minute we're up and about. I confess I fed Pepe on Saturday morning at 5:30am because I wanted to sleep :( , but that was just one time!!! Biscuit eats like pig often and just yaks it up...silly...so we have to watch her if she looks ravenous.

But other than this feeding stuff, all is good. Millie likes to hang out on my lap when I'm on the computer (so I have her on my lap and Biscuit in her bed on the desk). Pepe still seems a little skittish but she can be very friendly and open. Pepe has taken to sleeping on my dresser. I let her because it's out in the open at least!

Could Bisqué look any more weirded out?

Millie in the sun on the couch

I thought this was cute...

Miss Puffy Pants (the original)

Pepe qualifies as a Miss Puffy Pants too! Poor Millie needs a nickname! Miss Tapered White Jeans?

A few events today....

First, I got up this morning to everyone being really friendly and cute and hanging out together. Behaviour this cute and good usually means one thing, FOOD IS USUALLY SERVED AROUND THIS TIME EVERY DAY.

I also noticed after taking the picture that their Mesmorize ability is only visible in still images. Pepe wins for highest skill in Memorization.

Things broke up afterwards with Millie and Biscuit in one corner....

And Pepe in another....

Secondly, the groomer came today and clipped everyone's front and back nails! Even Biscuit's...that was a super nice treat. That went fairly well, with Pepe doing much better with it than Millie (surprising!). Took no time at all. Although Pepe did well, she is deep in our bedframe right now...

Thirdly and lastly, there was this cool little hangout...

A weekend of hiding cats...

Had some friends over this weekend and they have 2 kids, 2.5 and 1.5 years old. That can get busy and loud so all the cats were hiding away until they left. Well, like usual, Pepe is still hiding regardless. The new thing with her now though is that when she is hiding, and you talk to her, she starts purring really loudly. M can pet her while she's hiding, I don't because I learned my lesson about doing that a few days ago ;). Millie was curled up in an unmade bed all day, looked cozy.

Getting better...

I hope all is well with you guys!!!!

We are seeing a little more and more of Pepe, which is awesome. Since we closed off her old hiding spot by closing the door of her bedroom hideout, she's got some new spots, but nothing as secluded. She is either under the back of the LaZBoy or behind the couch upstairs behind the curtain. Tonight, I was doing some stuff in the kitchen and she came in and was looking at me and meowing in her tiny tiny voice (so cute!) and walking around the kitchen and dining room. I gave a her a couple treats (which happened to be nearby in a drawer) and she took them and forgot she was scared of me. So that was good. We've also seen her a couple times just walk nearby and then going back into hiding. She's doing better!

Millie is in her usual spots upstairs on either one of our couches. When I feed them, her and Biscuit are always lined up one behind the other for their turns. So cute. Millie has headbutted M a few times and has not minded being brushed by me. She's shedding a bit so I used a soft boar bristle brush on her and she seemed to like it. Sometimes she comes downstairs with us and hangs on on the back of THAT couch. I think she has a thing for the backs of couches.

It's not her, it's US

Although Millie seemed very comfortable the day after she arrived, she seems even more so now. She walks around more, checking out what M and I are doing downstairs, scratching the post down there, sniffing things out a bit. She loves attention in the morning and purrs so loudly in the morning, it sounds a bit like a squeaky car belt. This morning she came in our room around 8 and squeezed into the drawer under our bed. Biscuit has done that too...it really is a super tight squeeze, I opened the drawer and let her out because I didn't want to hear her struggling to try to get out again!

Pepe is still under the bed downstairs :(. Friday night she came out and was in the hallway staring at me while I was sitting at the computer. Biscuit was nearby, on the other side of the wall. Saturday she was under the bed all day, and a bit of progress, that night I came upstairs to go to bed and heard a racket and it was her running down the stairs! She had sneaked up at some point without us noticing. Sunday I thought I would find out if she liked treats, so I gave her one near the bed and that got her out! She liked that a lot and looked like she wanted to be pet because she was raising her head and shoulders, but after about 3 strokes, she hissed and hid back under the bed, like "oh yeah, I miss that...wait! I don't know you! Aaahhh!". She still growls sometimes and makes the beeping/squeaking sounds.

M and I had to go out for a couple of hours tonight and when we got back I saw a little cat face looking out the window onto the street and I assumed it was Biscuit out of habit because she does that. Then I realized it not Biscuit but Millie...but not even! It was Pepe!! We were shocked! So we came in quietly so we wouldn't scare her and there they all were! Upstairs in the living room! So cute...but Pepe looked terrified and ran to our room to hide and then ran back downstairs :(.

So, it seems she's not a total chicken, she gets along great with the girls, it's us she's afraid of.

Looking good...

Pepe is looking at me as I type this! Awesome! Let's hope it lasts. Biscuit is in between Pepe and I as well, which does not seem to phase Pepe, or Biscuit for that matter.

Meanwhile, Millie is becoming part of the couch upstairs...

Days 2 and 3

Day 2 was pretty much the same except that Pepe must have decided to either 1) explore or 2) needed to use the litter because M went to washroom and she was curled up in the shower, beeping and growling. She must have got out from under the bed and chickened out. Poor thing, I really hope she feels better soon!

Last night, Day 3, Pepe was still under the guest room bed but this time when I went to say hi she rolled onto her side and yawned! A little later I was watching TV on the couch and looked back to the bedroom and saw two glowing eyes, she had come out of hiding and was sitting on the floor at the end of the bed. Progress!

Millie looks cozy, still on the couch. This morning she did something new...I think she wanted to come to our room after my alarm went off because there some hissing since Biscuit was on our bed. I got up and Millie was meowing and wanted to be pet lots. Cutie!

Biscuit doesn't seem fine, I thought she would be uptight but she doesn't seem phased at all. She likes the new cat tower and hung out on the top level last night.

The first 24 hours

Biscuit is acting normal, maybe a little more stuck to our side than usual...she slept against my arm all night (unusual unless we've been away for a week). When we went to bed last night, Pepe came up the stairs quickly but ran back down when I looked at her. Now she is hiding under the guest bed downstairs, and growls deeply and almost inaudibly when I try to coax her out. Millie looks good, she was at the top of the stairs all night, on the couch upstairs sleeping when I left for work and on the dining room table when I came home!!! Now she is back on the couch sleeping and looking all nestled into the cushions. Biscuit thinks she should sleep elsewhere if she's not actually going to look out the window, but won't actually tell her that.

Hoping Pepe will feel comfortable soon!