Jake and Bathsheba

A blog by two cats who used to live in the same house in Northern Virginia. Unfortunately, they are both no longer with us.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Bloodwork Part I

Saturday began as all days do for me: hungry. Unfortunately for me, it was also a weekend so that meant that breakfast might be later than usual. Still, it seemed that Mom was making even less of an effort to come down and feed me (um, I mean, US).



Here we are waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs.

I pointed out Bathsheba's empty dish, but to no avail. THEN Mom says, "No breakfast!" And Dad brings out the prisoner transport unit (PTU). It's off to the vet for me! I tried to protest, and I put up a good fight about being put into the PTU, but with both Mom AND Dad fighting against me, they managed to shove me inside. While I often holler a lot in the car, this time I decided not to waste my breath because I've come to learn that it's a futile effort.
Once at the vet, appropriately named BATTLEFIELD Animal Clinic, we were greeted by Gypsy the office manager and receptionist. She turned to say something to a fellow staff member just as Mom snapped her picture.


See next post for a continuation, since Blogger is being uncooperative and won't let me post more pictures here.

~Jake

Monday, January 29, 2007

Bloodwork Part II


We took a seat in the empty waiting room.












When it was our turn, Mom took me into the examining room where they weighed me. I still think I'm a BIG Man Cat, but I weigh just under 12 pounds. Before I got this hyperthyroidism, I once weighed 13.6, but Mom said that was too fat for me.








THEN the worst happened. The technicians took my blood. I was a big man and didn't cry, but it helped that I had a good tech who only stuck me once. The doctor came in to examine me and talked with Mom about me. Mom told him that Dad thought that I had fleas since I scratch so much. Mom disagreed. The doctor, seeing no flea evidence, but lots of dry skin, decided that was what was making me itch. I now have some oil to take with my food once a day. I haven't decided yet if I like it.

Mom held me in her arms - I like that - as we awaited the blood test results. Good news! I'm doing great, and I just have to continue my half a pill twice a day. Yay!

After paying the bill, where Gypsy seems to be in charge of the credit card machine, I was anxious to leave because the waiting room was filling up with dogs.










Finally, I was compensated for my troubles with a big late breakfast at home.

~Jake










Jake, you are such a wuss! So many of our friends have had much more serious illnesses and experiences at the VET, but, no, it's all about you here! Hey, I didn't get fed breakfast until after you were gone. And why has Mom let you take over OUR blog lately?! I'll have to have a serious talk with her.

~Bathsheba

Friday, January 26, 2007

Fun for Friday

A couple of weeks ago Mom and I had a great time playing with my crinkle ball. I received it as part of the party pack from Skeezix back in September. Mom would throw it, and I would either catch it or bat it around from my throne in the cat room.


















But then we got more adventuresome and moved on to the rest of the house.


But the sad thing is, the ball was lost by the end of the evening. We don't know where it went. I think Kaze has the same problem.

I really liked that crinkle ball, and it's the first one I ever had. Mom, will you please buy me another? Or else clean out the clutter in this house so that we can find it!

~Jake



Update, 1/28: My dear ol' Dad confessed that he threw out my crinkle ball! He thought it was part of leftover Christmas wrapping stuff and put it in the trash! Can you imagine! Well, I got a new ball over the weekend, so I guess I forgive him.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Whisker Wednesday

The following is a depiction of an actual event that happened after dinner last night. I don't know if my whiskers had anything to do with the outcome, but Mom said that they looked magnificent.




Please Mom, may I have some chicken? You know it's my favorite.












Please, please! Look at how cute I am and look at my long white whiskers!









Mmm, here it comes!








SCORE!









YUM!


~Jake









We continue to have dear Daisy in our thoughts. Please get well, our friend!

~J&B

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Tricky Tabby Tuesday

This morning Mom fed me my breakfast outside on the deck as usual. I get to sleep in the house despite my disdain for litter boxes, but the 'rents feed me outside to keep me out of 'Sheba's bowl. (She's a slow eater and I only try to help, but no one understands!) It snowed a little on Sunday so you can see a bit of snow on the deck where Dad didn't sweep it off. (I eat under the covered part of the deck, so my food dish stays dry.)





After breakfast, Mom came out to take a picture of me in the snow as I was walking around the yard before doing my business. As her dumb camera took too long to focus, I ducked behind the pyracantha bush and went under the shed out of camera range. That'll teach her for stalking me when I have business to attend to.

An opposum used to live under the shed, but he's gone now.








Darn that Mom! She captured me on film a few minutes later. I thought the coast was clear when I departed my hidey hole.
















Okay, that's enough. It's COLD out here! Let me in NOW.

~Jake


Best wishes to our friends Nelson LaPurr and Daisy the Curly Cat as they recover.

One For Daisy

We were so impressed to learn that our friend Daisy hiked OUR Mom's favorite mountain, Old Rag. It's called that because the mountain is very old (as are all East Coast mountains), and it has a rocky top that looks jagged and raggedy from a distance. Jagged mountains are quite unusual in Virginia. Old Rag is a wonderful hike because of its rock scrambles and wonderful views, but it is essentially loved to death. So many people! Mom only likes to go during the week, but still there are lots of people. She last went this past May when the mountain laurel was in bloom, but she and Dad didn't see Daisy there. It looked like Daisy went in the wintertime--the winds can be very cold then.

Anyway, Mom uses this photo for our computer desktop here at home. (At least she uses a photo of us at her office!) Though the date says 2005, it was actually 2006. Mom had just gotten the camera, and she said that she set the date wrong because it was very hard to see.



Daisy, this one's for you. We hope you get better from your operation in record time!

Love,
~J&B

P.S. Daisy, if you post a picture of the waterfalls of White Oak Canyon, our Mom will fall over.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Tortie Toesday

It's Tortie Toesday, and here's a shot of my left front paw showing a little claw. Mom's bathrobe is the recipient of my numerous claws; it's a good thing for her that it's made of thick terrycloth.






And here I am showing a little of my white tummy to qualify for Tummy Tuesday. You can just barely see my multi-colored back paw pads.


~Bathsheba







We're sorry that we haven't been able do much visiting lately. Our secretary (Mom) went away to Wilmington, Delaware to a conference for a few days, then she came home and didn't feel very good. Dad's the greatest, but he doesn't blog with us. Now Mom is telling us that she has lots of paperwork to catch up on and lots of boring chores to do, and she might not help us blog much for the next week or thereabouts. Say it ain't so, Mom!

We'd better get busy visiting right now while we have a window of opportunity!

~J&B

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Thursday Thirteen - Another Edition

Thirteen Things Our Parents Do That Annoy Us

Last week we listed things that we did that annoyed Mom and Dad. This week we turn the tables.

They:
  1. Try to ignore us and our breakfast needs when sleeping in on the weekends.
  2. Get up when I want to nap on their stretched out legs. (~Jake)
  3. Sometimes keep me waiting when I want to be let in or let out. (~Jake)
  4. Fail to share their dinners with us every night. (Sometimes they share, and sometimes they don’t.)
  5. Pick me up and try to cuddle. (~Bathsheba)
  6. Fail to fix the scratching posts.
  7. Don’t keep the litter box(es) meticulously clean.
  8. Make me leave their bed when Dad comes up to go to sleep. (~Bathsheba)
  9. Fail to notice that I want the water in the bathroom sink turned on for a drink. (~Bathsheba)
  10. Shut the bathroom door.
  11. Ruin our naps by using the toy sucker upper machine.
  12. Use the crushed ice dispenser on the fridge. (Oh, the noise!)
  13. Go away on a trip. (We like Kathy, our sitter, but she only comes twice a day, and we need more attention than that!)

We were just getting warmed up on this list when we realized that we're limited to 13 things. Okay, Mom and Dad, we're letting you off easy here.

~J&B

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Late Wacky Wednesday with Jake

Not content with his Fancy Feast topped with crunchies, Jake has to extract the last kibbles out of my bag of food.

~Bathsheba

Monday, January 08, 2007

Just Another Meezer Monday

Here's a meezer that has been put to work.

He's in charge of keeping the bedroom door open. Mom calls him a doorstop. Mom gave him to Grandpa as a gift a long time ago because Grandpa loved meezers. When Grandpa died, Mom took her gift back. I like this meezer okay because any cat that keeps doors OPEN is a friend of mine.

~Bathsheba

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Where is Winter?

It's January, but we haven't seen much of winter so far this season.

It was a record 74 degrees today (um, I mean yesterday, since it's past midnight now). Here I am lounging on the dilapidated antique scratching post out on the deck. Mom sprinkled some of that Cosmic catnip on it a few weeks ago, so it's a great place to relax, if you know what I mean.

Our late grandpa made this post for our sister Precious back in 1982. It's really heavy duty and won't tip over like the ones you buy at a store. When the kitchen was remodeled and the cat TV room (bay window) was installed, the post was sent outside to the covered part of the deck. I'm hoping that Dad will recover the pole part for me so I can use it as a scratcher again.

Mom and Dad made Bathsheba go out to breathe some fresh air, but she didn't want to stay outside for long. She preferred to work with her photographer up in the bedroom to practice her "spicy vixen" look. I think that spicy vixen stuff has gone to her head.

~Jake

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Thursday Thirteen - Edition Nine

It's a little late in the day, but we couldn't let the day pass without listing

13 Ways We Like to Annoy Mom or Dad:
  1. Beg to be let out by frantically scratching on the sliding glass door only to beg to be let in 30 seconds later. (I gotta keep them on their toes! ~ Jake)
  2. Pee on the grill cover on the deck. (I have to let the other animals know that the deck is MY territory. ~ Jake)
  3. Keep backing up when you're blowing chunks and they want to catch them with a newspaper or paper towel. (Making a mess is part of the deal! ~J&B)
  4. Bite their fingers when they give you tasty treats. (Hey, we're excited, it's nothing personal! ~J&B)
  5. Scatter your kibbles around the floor as you eat. (What can I say? ~Bathsheba)
  6. Beg at the table. (So what's wrong with that? Who can resist my cute face? ~Jake)
  7. Stand really close when they're working in the kitchen. (Just dare them to trip over you. ~J&B)
  8. Scratch on the floorlength mirror in the bedroom to get them to get up and feed you on the weekend. (I don't believe in sleeping in. When I'm hungry, I think my servants should feed me right away. ~Jake)
  9. Lie in the middle of the hall or stairs so they have to step over you to pass. (They're lucky I grace this place with my presence. ~ Jake)
  10. Jump in their laps and purr and snuggle when you know that they were just about to get up and do something else. (They need to keep their priorities straight. Nothing is more important than I. ~Jake)
  11. Hunt birdies. (They SAID that we could go after the starlings. How are WE supposed to know the difference between a songbird and a starling? ~J&B)
  12. Scratch, scratch, scratch and make the fur fly. (Why wouldn't they be pleased with a little cat hair on everything? ~J&B)
  13. Wrestle with each other and let out blood curdling cries. (At least we don't do this as much as we used to! ~J&B)

Maybe some other time we'll list things that Mom and Dad do that annoy US!

~J&B

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Toesday


Bathsheba with her freaky extra toes thinks she's a natural for Toesday, but I have cute toes too.




Here I have my claws digging into Mom's knee. She's lucky she's wearing pants!

~Jake

Move, over, Jake! I'll show you some cool toes:






And how's this for a left front paw?

~Bathsheba








Happy Toesday!

~J&B