Mommy Cat

Mommy Cat

A big white cat has been lurking around the apartment these couple of weeks. The Master has been sharing with her my kitty cat food. I don't mind really. There's always more than enough kitty food for everyone.

The Master calls her Mommy Cat because he knows she's had lots of little kitties. Early this year she had a litter. Maybe Caramella's her daughter. I'm not really sure.

When I got to chat with Mommy Cat. She told me the story about how the The Master saved her life. It was the time when the rains came pouring. She got caught in a storm stranded on top of a tree stump surrounded by flood. Luckily the Master came home and saw her. The Master carried her to safety and placed her gently behind the plants in front of Apartment 1B where it was dry and warm.

Feeding Mommy Cat

The Master came home really late one night and I was waiting for him to come home and give me my dinner. On the way in he had discovered Mommy Cat had decided to stay in the plant box in front of Apartment 1B and have another litter. The Master told me we had cute little kitties outside the apartment. I gave the Master a little nosey bump and a cheek rub to remind him that there was also a cute little kitty inside the apartment and that that kitty was really really hungry.

The Master was very happy seeing the kitties outside. He would always give Mommy Cat food every morning and in the evening time. Sometimes he would even feed her ahead of me saying that we should feed our lovely guest first. That's okay I guess.

Surprise at our doorstep!

This morning we have the surprise of our life. Mommy Cat decided to carry all her kitties and that are now living right outside our door. There are five little kitties. Four of them all white- Blanc, Blanche, Blanchette, and Snow- it's really hard to tell them apart right now. They all have identical blue eyes. There is also one black and white who the master calls Pepper.

Surrounding Pepper are Blanc, Blanche, Blanchette, and Snow

Walter Mellon Collie and I look forward to seeing how all of this will pan out. How we can all live inside and outside Apartment 1B.

Pepper

Ari's Street

It’s raining outside and the weather is lazy. I was roaming around the apartment when I heard Walter and some of the apartmentites talking in the kitchen. There were quiet murmurs and silent muffled laughter. I was in no particular mood to join in whatever they were discussing but I decided to walk over anyways.

On the way over a white cloud gently floated down from the kitchen counter in front of me. It was a big white plastic bag. It flowed so beautifully in front of my walking path. As if by magic it wanted to stop me from joining the others. I walked all around it taking in smells so that I could figure out where it may have come from. It smelled of vegetables- carrots, tomatoes, turnips, and tarragon. I guess it came from the Sunday Market where the Master goes to every Sunday. The Master may have left it on the counter. Strange because he’s very fastidious about these things. Plastic bags are folded neatly in small triangles and sorted by size in a neat row.

The big white bag was open. It was moving very slightly from side to side as if it were under water inside Flamenca’s tank and not right in front of me. It was inviting so I slowly stepped in.

Me in the Big wehite Bag

I like plastic bags. I was delivered to my foster mom, Mommy Gia, in one. I don’t remember much of it but my foster brother and sisters told me all about it. Mommy Gia had a dog and three cats. The lovely dog was named Hazel, who thinks she’s a cat and is by all means an honorary cat. Hazel sniffed out the Master when Mommy Gia was interviewing him for the adoption. Hazel said he gave nice pets and knew where to scratch and gave a very nice pep talk while doing it so the Master got approved to adopt me. The three cats were my big brother Mango, and my sisters Gucci and Prada. Mommy Gia preferred cats to luxury bags. They were all adopted from a shelter in Wisconsin. I miss those guys but as Mango said, all cats must find their own way.

My real brother and I were about 7 days old when we were rescued and found our way to Mommy Gia’s home. Our mommy was probably away looking for food that night and someone snatched us and we were places inside a plastic bas and thrown beside a trashcan. Someone did not want us to be where we were.

Luckily 2 boys were out early playing that early morning. It was still dark and they heard our cries over the sound of the oncoming dump truck. The boys were scared and their hearts were beating as faster than the beat of the truck’s diesel engine. One of the boys sucked up the courage to see what was in the bag. It was me and my brother. They snatched just as one of the collectors approached.

We were not yet saved as the boys did not know what to do with us. Two of their girl friends came and told them to take us to Aries St. where a cat lover lived. The house was empty and they were told that the lady of the house out of town. The kids were desperate to find help for us. So the maid who answered the door told the kids of another cat lover on Libra St.

Ari and Fiero Fellini

Once they were on Libra St. they saw the house and felt everything was going to be okay. The front lawn was full of happy healthy cats. The kids gave us to Mommy Gia who wrapped us in towels and gave us warm kitty milk. My brother and I are going to be okay.

Ahhhh Warm Kitty Milk

I’m glad the Master named me Ari. It’s close to my favorite street- Aries St., my street, the street where I was turned away and found my foster home.

The Monkey Cat

 

The Master has been down these days and I have not been able to cheer him up.  I tried all types of games but all of them do not work. The “bite fingers hiding under the pillows while he’s fast asleep” game. The “run our from under the bed and bite the toes” game. I also tried fishing for fish also known as the “jump on top of the aquarium and scoop out the fish” game. 

Before he would carry me off the aquarium and say “the kitty cat wants to play with the fishies?!” But these days it’s just "Mister Ari Fellini off the Aquarium. Don’t disturb Flamenca (the Fish).” Which brings me to my next point- The Master has been Full Naming me!

Anyways, I know I can find something new to cheer him up. I know the Master uploaded a video of me leaping from the big chair to the bookshelf. That gave him a big kick. So I thought maybe some acrobatics would do the trick.

So while he’s away the bed and I have been practicing walking on Ms. Kathrine the big bed’s rails. Ms Kathrine is quite tall and balancing on the slippery cold metal proved to be quite challenging. The small bed, my bed Duchess also helped. (I should mention her now before she reminds me over and over again to mention that she helped.) Duchess also helped by providing great rest and encouragement for the next practice run.

The other evening, the master was lounging around the apartment. I kinda felt he was again feeling a bit low. So Ms Kathrine, Duchess, and Walter told me to do the thing. Duchess calls it “Balancing on the Bed” and she is ever so dutiful in reminding me that she was the one who invented the name for whatever I was going to do for the Master.

Me doing some Bed Balancing for the Master

So I did! The Master got a kick out of it and now calls me his “Acro-cat.” He says I’m not a bat but a cat so I’m not an Acrobat but an “Acro-Cat”. The second time I did it he called me a “Monkey-Cat”. I much prefer that. It sounds more action movie kung fu technique.

Caramella

The Apartmentites have a new friend- a kitty cat.  She visits in the nighttime when the Master comes home in the evening. Sometimes she waits for the Master along the road and walks him towards the door quietly. Other times she waits for the Master hiding behind one of the outside plants. Once the Master is at the door she pops out and calls out "Meow!"

My view of Caramella with the Plantastics from behind the screen door.

When the Master comes home he usually leaves the big blue door open so Caramella can chat with us. Caramella is a sweet and lovely kitty cat. She rubs her face against the screen door to say hi to everyone. She rolls around on the floor on the opposite side of the screen door while she tells us of the happenings in the neighborhood.  The different cats she played with. The big dogs locked behind metal gates- some nice to them some very territorial and would bark at her. The big rats that she says is as big as her.

The Master is kind enough to give Caramella supper. He shares some of my kitty cat food with her. I don't mind really and Caramella seems to like it. In the beginning she found the dry pebble looking things odd looking. The Master used to mix it with canned Mackerel so that Caramella would eat it and gradually took out the Mackerel. Caramella eventually learned how to eat kitty food.

Our new friend is Orange and White which is why the Master calls her Caramella

The Master once opened the screen door to let her in. The master even said "Come in Caramella." She did and she gave me a big rub on the cheek which was nice. It's been ages since a kitty cat kissed me on the cheek. She sniffed around the apartment for a while. Said hi to Duchess and Walter. The Master asked her "Would you like to live inside the apartment Caramella?"

Caramella gently and quietly stepped out and talked with us some more from the opposite side of the screen door.

The Master and I were a bit surprised that Caramella did not want to live inside the apartment but we were not offended. I did not bother to ask why she did not want to stay with us. She did not bother to explain. We have our own different ways to live and love i guess.

I believe people would term Caramella as as a ferile cat. I would rather call her a neighborhood cat who comes to visit and chat. Not all cats need to be rescued and taken in. All cats - indoors or outdoors- do need to be treated with love and respect. 

Miss Kathrine Gold and Duchess

Welcome to Apartment GF1 Miss Kathrine Gold (pronounced as Ka-trine, the “h” is silent) 
and daughter Duchess.

The Master was kind enough to have a bed made for himself and me, a big one for the Master and a small one for me. The Master is quite sweet. Now we both have two beds in the apartment.

I have it on good authority that Mister Ben is now enjoying himself in Grandma's House. I enjoy my time there immensely and I have such fun stories to tell Mister Ben from my trips. Now he can experience first-hand of the life that is in Grandma's house. Granny's place is one big playground of wonder, lots of places to jump and hide. Mister Ben will love it there. They also have several Beds that Mister Ben can exchange stories with.

The new arrivals in the apartment are Miss Kathrine and her daughter Duchess. Miss Kathrine is properly speaking the Master's bed. Duchess is supposed to be my bed. It is strange for the Master to have a bed made for me when he knows perfectly well that I am very much comfortable sharing the big bed with him. Walter said that maybe the Master may want to have some personal space sometimes. I think that that is absurd. I know he likes it when I snuggle up beside him at night. At any rate we are all one big happy family here, everyone is welcome to sleep anywhere they like. I don't mind the Master sleeping on Duchess or any of my other sleeping spaces around the house.

Miss Kathrine and I have been getting more acquainted in the past few days and I must say that having a girl bed is quite different from a boy bed. Mister Ben was kind and wise, a strong character honed by years of drilled discipline and experience. Miss Miss Kathrine is warm and loving. I guess it's because she is a mother.

Warming up to Duchess

Duchess and I had to warm up to each other. She is quite the talker. She looks exactly like her mom only smaller. Duchess likes to tell the story of how she got the name Duchess. She was named after the shade of gold she and her mom came in, Duchess Gold. Ergo Duchess. 

She also likes to play games like “I spy.” and What color am I?”

What color am I goes like this…

“I am the sky,

the sea,

sometimes cheese,

I come with something borrowed,

and sometimes I am you

when you have cheering up to do.

What color am I?

Then I'd guess what color Duchess is referring to. In this case,  “blue.”

I much prefer to play I spy with duchess.

"I spy with my golden eye". Duchess would say while squinting one eye closed. "A clock with seeds of black and peel of Grey". Of course who could it possibly be except Mister Walter Mellon Collie.

Then Duchess would say "I spy with my Golden eye." Again squinting one with one eye so as not to be too obvious at what she is looking at. "A pretty fishie swimming about." Who else is she referring to but Flamenca.

I spy is a fun way to introduce the different residents of the apartment to both Duchess and Miss Kathrine.  

My Last Days with Mister Ben the Bed

Beds do not lie. If they make you a promise, you can sleep soundly that it is true. 

I have been spending all the time i can spare with Mister Ben the Bed. I heard the master talking with someone about delivering a new bed. They are also taking Mister Ben apart and putting him back together at Grandma's house. I think Nana Flor wants to make use of Mister Ben. I'm glad they will be together. At least I can still visit when the Master brings me over. It is just a shame that Mister Ben, the original resident of the apartment is going away. It's all for the best I guess.

Mister Ben and Nana Flor are not my first Bed and Nanny. When i was still with my foster Mom, Mommy Gia and my brother Fiero I remember I also has a Bed and Nanny. I don't remember their names but I remember that my brother Fiero and I would hide under the Bed. It was out favorite playing spot. It was wide enough to run around. When you pull something under it like slippers, shoes, socks, plushie toys- it was yours forever because it was unaccessible to human hands even ones with long arms.

Tiger is what they used to call me because of my fur pattern. 

My brother Fellini w  as called Oreo after a cookie i believe.

Nanny would coax us out with baby talk during bottle time. 

“Wittle Tiger... Wittle Oreo... Milky time!” Nana would call out.

Fiero and I would not budge a muscle. Baby talk is how we were coaxed into a plastic bag and left on the curb beside the trash. The then Mister Bed was kind enough to explain to us that not all humans are bad. He promised that it is all going to be okay and that we should get something to eat so that we would grow big and strong. 

Me in Nana's loving hands. Mister Bed is in the Background. 

We figured that if Mister bed was kind enough to let us play under him and keep us safe all this time we should at least trust him. So we did come out and we were met with loving hands and warm milk. It was all very comforting. What joy to have loving humans to take care of you. After that, we learned how to explore the world from outside the confines of Mister Bed's four legs.