Big world, small paws!

Happy Birthday to my all time favorite boy human. I would have written you a lovely poem, but my language skills do not include rhyming as of yet. I would have composed a song for you, but B tells me that I cannot hold a melody. I would have gotten you a mouse, but it is too cold outside. I will hug you, though and let you play with my favorite new German toy. That is how happy I am for you to be around me and how excited I am that now, you are 24 years and 9 months older than me.

By now, you must know that I like reading about other kittens and animals in the news. Today I ran across the story of Lucky, who was found in a box starved and cold. Apparently, his owner tried to get rid of him by putting him in a box with heavy weights. The box was thrown into a river, but did not sick because of the ice. Someone spotted the box and called the fire department. The wonderful firemen put on their wet suits and rescued Lucky, who was then fed left over turkey and some milk (BTW: It is actually not good to feed kittens real milk. Most of us are lactose intolerant. Petco sells special milk, though that you can feed us.)

What I don’t understand about this story is the fact that Lucky’s owner could have dropped Lucky off at his local shelter. They would have taken Lucky and maybe someone else would have given him a new home. I believe if humans are found trying to kill animals, they can be proscecuted for cruelty. Sad, so sad! But, right now I am very happy that Lucky is OK.

Ok, so I finally got over the web came solicitation from yesterday and am now ready to tell you all about my 2nd Christmas. Last year, I did not really know what was going on. I was so little still and had to come to terms with being adopted and living in this big and beautiful apartment with this often crazy, chocolate-loving German girl. But this year, I was able to take it all in.

The weekend started off with us getting a big package from Mama and Papa Schellenberg in Germany. B got her beloved chocolate and the yucky smelling and salty tasting German licorice and I got THREE (yes, that is right… THREE!!) toys. I was so excited about it. The first gift is a small play mouse in a ball that looks like a cage. You can push it around with your front paws and the mouse, who has a bell on her tail, will make loud noises. It comes in really handy when I don’t want to sleep at night, but rather wake up B to play with me. The second toy is a cat-nip filled straw mouse with feathers. I love the cat-nip, even though it makes me oozy and crazy and sleepy. I am just so surprised that my German parents are sending me drugs. What a fab world am I living in! The third toy is a round toy that hangs on a string. It bounces and when you tocuh it with your paws it makes squeeky noises. At first I was a bit scared of it, but now that it hangs from the side of the fridge, I often try to dislodge it and bite into it. The straw on the outside makes it really easy to dig my nails in and B is happy that I don’t do it anymore on the sofa in the living room. I am so happy with all my gifts and cannot wait to see Mama and Papa Schellenberg next summer. If you think I got a lof of gifts now, just wait till they meet me. They will be so smitten with me that I get my own personal Christmas package next year. Wanna bet?

Saturday evening we went to Kip’s house, where we all exchanged presents and sat in front of the fire. I love fires. They are warm and they makes noises. There is always something that burns and falls. So mcuh fun to watch. Sunday we cooked a big Indian meal. I almost fell over from the crazy smell of all the spices. I survived by finding a special area in Kip’s bed to keep me warm and cozy. Monday, we packed up all of our gifts and left Kip’s house. I was so happy to be with B for four days in a row. And you know, Kip is not a bad human either. He always takes good care of me when I visit and he often allows me to do things that B would never tolerate. That is except for when I get my paws wet in the sink and then immediately step into the litter box. How is a small kitten like me to know that the litter will stick to my wet paws.
Well, I hope you all had a fabulous holiday as well. And if I have not spoken to you yet, here are my best New Year’s wishes for all of you. May you be blessed with furry animals and sunshine.

I was opening my Friendster profile today and saw that I got a new message.  Excited as I get when someone writes me, I was quickly clicking on the link and noticed an email from a man-human named Corey.  Oh, maybe someone I know, I thought.  Then, I opened the email and noticed that it was a solicitation to check him out on his webcam.  What?  I am a kitten!  Why would I want to watch someone on their webcam?  I am not the right species for this kind of thing and I am also way too young.  I care about mice, toys, strings, kitten food, running water and footsteps.  Those are the things that get me excited, not some male human that poses on his webcam.  Shame on these humans that try to solicit little innocent kittens like me.  Shame on them, I say!  Now, all the Christmas joy I had and hoped to carry with me for the next week is gone.  I am going to have to delete the email and relax a little.  Maybe later I will have gathered more new energy to tell you all about my exciting holiday weekend. 

I am so tired right now. My friend and neighbor cat boy Toby came by this afternoon and we spent an hour together sniffing, playing, chasing, running, hiding and exploring my apartments. Toby is an amazing buddy. He is much older than me, but very gentle. He has patience with me, even when I try to sniff him or touch him. I get so excited around him and nervous that I sometimes act like a little kitten baby. I am not quite sure yet if he likes me or not and so I try to appease him as much as possible. I even let him have some of my food. Now, I am tired out. All that excitement makes me sleepy and even a bowl of egg nog won’t wake me up.

It is not that I wish bad things on humans, but when B showed up an hour after she left this morning, cold and tired from walking, I was happy to see her. Apparently, the shocks on that big bad-ass truck she got went bust and need to be re-placed. Now, I am sitting on her lap under a blanket, where it is nice and warm. I like to be petted and cuddled. If only she would put that ‘puter away and pay me all of her attention. I guess I should only ask for one thing at a time. But like her, I want it ALL… I just hope this extra expense does not have a negative impact on my xmas gifts.

Now that it is colder outside and the temperature in our apartment is turned down to 63 F after 9pm, I like to have a little nightcap. ‘Tis the season for eggnog, which I take with a little brandy. Unfortunately, last night I had too much, as you can see from my picture. Eggnog is deceiving when you warm it up and even my super sensetive tongue cannot often tell how much alcohol is really in it. I got a little wabble last night and B had to put me to bed.

I think part of my drunken stupor also comes from the fact that B says that there is a big dog at her work. Apparently, he belongs to one of the people who works there and he is widely loved. I want to go to her work as well and be petted and cuddled and fed. But, I am not allowed too, because people show more allergies towards cats than dogs. I am so sad and disappointed and these days at home are too long for me. Anyone want to come over for a eggnog?

Now, seriously, who would steal a penguin? And a Jackass penguin of all penguins, a baby so small no one even knows its gender. Bad humans. Unbelievable….

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/12/20/britain.penguin.ap/index.html

It is so sad that people buy children or other grown ups pets for christmas. Did you know that about 90% of those are returned to the animal shelter after the holidays. Human should be required to sign a contract when they buy the pet and leave money. Only when they keep the pet, they will get the money back. Well, I hope you all get only pets from the shelter and you keep them. I am a shelter kitten and I cannot tell you how happy I was when i got adopted. My human is so much fun and so cuddly…

Tomorrow starts the week I have been looking forward to since my birthday in March. I have high hopes for lots of gifts, as I have been exceptional this year. I have learned to sit on my butt and lick my belly, I can climb curtains by only poking small holes and no tears, jump up 3 1/4 feet, stand on my hind legs and be really cute when I get in trouble (which really never happens!!). I hope to get a new toy and maybe some yummy greenies, which are these new environmentally friendly and organic treats from Petco. I was told a small bag costs about 5 human dollars, but they are so good for kittens. Golly hosh, 5 human dollars. That is steep!

You ask what I may give my lovely human this year? Well, she has been nice and fed me all year, cleaned out the pooper and played with me. She should get something nice. I was hoping to get her a small dead mouse, but lately, I have not had a chance to sneak out the door when it is left open. Plus, it is really getting a little cold for hunting. Maybe I will be really sweet for a week and not climb up the curtains. Ah, female humans are so easily satisfied…

By the way, has anyone seen “King Kong”? I heard they have some big animals in that movie. I wonder if I would be scared to watch it.

My friend Eric’s BDay is today. So, please send him an email and congratulate him. It will make him happy and he will feel so loved…

In other exciting news, it appears that penguins gain too much weight in zoos. Thus, the pudgy penguins in Tokyo are now participating in a mandatory exercise program. Here is a link to the full story -> http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/12/15/plump.penguins.ap/index.html. I am happy that I am only 6 lbs and very slim and slender. I have been told to look like the runt of the litter, but I think I am still better looking than these 40 lbs penguins. Tsk!