Here’s a video of the Tulip and Moo showing off their ball-playing skills. This is one of their favorite pass times.

I came home to find Mini Tiger in the pooper. I guess the competition for the litterbox is pretty stiff these days. At least he’s potty trained.

Since I know someone will ask: Tulip likes to play with Mini Tiger by flinging him up in the air and trying to catch him. She was doing this in the bathroom when I left the house. I guess she flung him in there and didn’t bother to rescue him. Better the clean litterbox than the toilet I suppose.

Ever since we came back from vacation, Moo has been kind of distant.  She just hangs out on the rug in the living room, and doesn’t really want anything to do with us.  At first we thought she liked staying with Eve’s parents better than being at our house.  Then we thought maybe she was just upset about all the traveling and changes she’s been through lately.  Then we though, maybe she’s just hot.  Nooooo, Moo wants her blankie!

A few days ago I put on the air conditioner because our house was steaming.  Once it cooled down a bit, I plopped on the couch and put Moo’s favorite blanket over my legs.  As soon as I did, there was Moo kneading in the blanket.  She curled up and went to sleep in my lap.  The Moomoo is back.

Ever since, I’ve been running the darn air conditioner at night so Moo can sleep on the bed with her blanket.  She’s happy as can be.  She walks around with her pouty Moo face.  She’s more talkative.  She seems content again.  Talk about a punk!  Moo better be paying the electric bill this month. ☺

Moo still passed out in her blankie this morning after everyone else got up:

Over the last couple of days, Tulip has been constipated.  She kept climbing into the litterbox, sitting there for a long time with a look of concentration on her face, then coming back out disappointed.  I’m not sure if it was the heat or what, but this is very unusual for her.  Her appetite, thirst, behavior, and attitude have all been normal.

Before calling the vet, I wanted to have a look online to see what others had to say about this kind of problem.  I found what I thought was a pretty interesting recommendation: canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling, just plain old canned pumpkin with no additives).  It’s very moist, has a lot of fiber, and apparently cats usually enjoy the taste.  It seemed harmless enough, so we decided to give it a try.

Both Miracle and Tulip got a heaping tablespoon full.  They loved it.  “We has a punkin’ pie, Mama!”  It was like the biggest treat we could have given them.  A short while later, Tulip was off to the litterbox and succeeded in taking a huge poop.  Whew!  So far, so good.

Now I hope it goes without saying that if your cat can’t poop, you should consult the vet.  It’s not completely unusual for Tulip to skip a day pooping, but this had been maybe 3 or 4 days.  The right thing to do would have been to call the vet a lot sooner.  For whatever reason, we were finally ready to call today.  In the mean time we figured that either way, the pumpkin couldn’t hurt.  It just happened that it worked almost immediately.  Her poop wasn’t particularly unusual, maybe just a bit dry.  We’ll keep an eye on her and see how she does.

The article I read about the canned pumpkin had what I thought was a cool suggestion.  It said to take the leftover pumpkin and divide it up into an ice cube tray.  Once the cubes are frozen, you can pop them in a bag and just take one out when you need it.  The article recommended once a week.  In my opinion, that seems like a lot, but what do I know?  In any case, I’m glad Tulip is back in the groove, and amused to know that cats like “punkin’ pie”.

At the advice of Dr. Côté, Janet, and several others, I finally got around to getting some wet food for the mini tigers.  Aside from an occasional sushi treat, they’ve been eating nothing by dry food.  I knew it would turn out to be a bit of an adventure, so I took a bunch of pictures.  Here’s what went down.

The food I went with. This was more about what was available at the particular store I went to than any particular ingredients, etc.

The kitties seemed pretty impressed right out of the gate.

“Moo, how are you doing?”

“Boy, this food sticks to my tongue.”

“Tu, do you need any help? ‘Cause I’ve got your back…”

“Damn, this sticks to my tongue!”

“Seriously, my tongue!”

“Tu, what’s your problem? Pull yourself together.”

When you’re finished playing with the kitties, please be courteous and return them to their storage rack.
Thank you.

The bottom section of the kitty tree is getting a lot more traffic these days, since that we took down that swinging tunnel.  Both cats were very intimidated by it.  I’m sure they couldn’t figure out why it moved, so both of them avoided it.  It might be fun for sighted kittens, but the tree is much for function for Tulip and Miracle without it.

Finally, some video of Moo doing what Moos do.  Here she is playing with a bunch of toys and Mooing (meowing) at the top of her little kitty lungs. Tiger Tu makes a couple of punky appearances as well.

Yesterday while we were out doing errands we stopped by the Japanese market to get some fish.  We decided it was a Saturday Night Sushi kind of night.  I cut up all the fish, but set aside a couple pieces for the punks.  Moo was already mooing and carrying on the second I opened the packaging.  Aren’t we presumptuous!

Eve and I stuffed ourselves with salmon, yellowtail, and amber jack.  Then Eve mashed up the pieces we set aside and divided it up on 2 sides of a big plate.  As soon as the plate hit the floor, the kitties were all over it.  They were so excited for fish that they didn’t even mind that they were sharing a plate.  Moo’s was gone before Tulip even finished chewing her first bite.  They gulped down their fish then touched noses and licked their chops.  Then Moo proceeded to wash the entire plate.  Tulip helped her out a bit, but then sat back and “watched” while she finished up.  Food is definitely the peace-keeper in our house.

Moo has suddenly decided that she likes Tulip’s big kitty bed.  For the longest time she wanted nothing to do with it.  Recently she decided to give it a shot.  The big bed is in the office, which is the warmest room in the house.  I think that’s why they enjoy their afternoon naps in there.

The other day Tulip went into the office and discovered Moo in her bed.  She sniffed her, then left the room disgusted.  Today, the shoe was on the other foot.  Moo went in there to have a nap and Tulip was already in the bed.  Moo left very disappointed and hopped up on our bed.  At least she gets to curl up in the down blanket.  They’re going to have to make appointments to nap now!

There’s probably enough room for both of them in the big kitty bed, if they’d just be nice to each other.  Maybe they’re working their way up to that, because I caught them napping together on the couch.  I have evidence!  I’ll post the pictures in the next day or two.

Yesterday afternoon, Miss Tulip and I spent a good deal of time out on our deck. There were kids in swimming in the pool all day, and she was very interested in “watching” them. She sat on her chair and listened to their ruckus for a long time.

At one point she discovered a huge fly bouncing around by the screen door. She would listen, pounce, listen some more, pounce. She landed on him several times and batted him around for a while before getting bored and eating him. Mmmmm!

Mostly she sat in the sun and enjoyed the warmth. She’d turn her face up towards the sun with that little smiley expression that cats make when they’re content. I can’t help but smile when she does that. She even posed for a couple of pictures. You can see the others at Tulip’s FlickR photostream on the right.