On Thursday morning, my biological brother, Panda Bear, challenged me to a staring contest.  Panda has been in a mood recently, picking fights, mounting Caramel until she squeaks, and chasing me around the house.  (Yes, PB has been nootered, and Caramel has been spayed, but PB keeps climbing on top of her and biting her neck.  Gross.)

So when Panda Bear challenged me to a staring contest, I said,

Bring it on!

We got started in the living room.

After awhile, Panda Bear started caterwauling at me to try to intimidate me.  Even though he weighs about two pounds more than me, I know I can give him the smackdown.

So I kept on staring.

Next Panda Bear added the "paw lift" maneuver.  You know the one.  PB continued staring and caterwauling at me, and then lifted his right front paw off the floor and waved it around, in a feeble attempt to appear menacing.

I kept right on staring.

Eventually Panda Bear gave in, and turned away to blink.

I WON!

Some of you may think it was an unfair fight, what with Panda Bear having only one eye and all.  But I had to keep TWO eyes open while he only had to keep ONE eye open.

Thanks to all of you who commented on our last post!  Panda Bear said to tell you that he really does not mind the cold on his footies, and that he LOVES to go outside whenever he can sneak out.

In other news, a few weeks ago, our house was invaded.

By Sticky Little People.

Exhibit A.

Exhibit B.

The Big People are good friends of Mom and Dad.  The Sticky Little Girl is Mom and Dad's God-Daughter.  Isn't she adorable?  They came to visit a few weeks ago.

Padre made himself completely scarce and hid upstairs for the duration of their visit invasion.

So did Meerkat.

Panda Bear tried to act all cool, but he kept a safe distance.  He studied the train set when the Sticky Little People were in another room.

And my sister Caramel and I got the Sticky Little People all to ourselves!  The Boy was very fun to play with.

The Boy played Feather Toy with Caramel.  She grabbed the Feather Toy in her mouth and walked off, leading The Boy!

The Boy laughed and jumped up and down a lot when Caramel grabbed the Feather Toy.

The Girl was sweet and giggled a lot, but she mostly stayed near her humans.

The Boy even knew how to play with the trackball toy!

He also showed me how to play with the train set!  That was a lot of fun!

The train moves, so I tried to touch it!

The Boy even climbed inside our Kalahari cubes!  He was so much fun to play with!

I hope they come back to visit again soon!

Greetings!  Well, it is January, and here in northeast O-Hi-o, that means two things.

1.  Cold.

2.  Snow.

So, here at Casa Furry Bambino, that means two other things.

a)  I, Panda Bear, try to get outside to frolic in the snow.

b)  Mom and Dad try to keep me from getting outside and frolicking in the snow.

In order to get outside to frolic in the snow, I attempt to seize every opportunity I can.  This involves pretending to be all "Hi Welcome Home from Wherever You People Go Now Outta My Way I Want Out The Front Door".  This method results in success only rarely.  Mom and Dad are on to me.  They do this elaborate dance when they come in the front door that should qualify them to be on the next iteration of River Dance.

The other opportunity is once daily when Mom or Dad opens the back door to feed the squirrels and birdies.

By the way, we haven't seen chipmunks in awhile.  Does anyone know, do chipmunks hibernate?  Do they have time shares in Florida?  Be right back.

OK, I asked my good friend Google who is a real know it all.  Chipmunks DO hibernate! But I digress.

As I was saying, so I get this great opportunity to make my move when Mom or Dad has the back door open to toss peanuts and seed to the outdoor critters.  Cookie thought about it today, too.

So tdoay, after several minutes of plotting, I made my move.

Woo-hoo!!!  Outside!  I'm Outside!!!

Yeah, so OK, the snow is cold on my feet.  But I'm Outside!!!

I had a great time digging in the snow!

I enjoyed the sights, smells, and textures while exploring this morning.  Check out these wicked cool icicles hanging from the roof and power lines.

But for some reason, Mom grabbed me and hauled me back inside when I walked past the door on my way to the back yard.

Oh, well, there's always tomorrow!

Happy Nude Year!

What, Mom?

Oh.  OK.  Happy NEW Year!  We hope that all of you have a safe and nip filled holiday!

Inquiring minds have been wanting to know, what's up with the foster situation at Casa Furry Bambino?

Well, I am pleased to inform you that little Mark joined his furrever home on December 18, 2009!  Wow, it's already been two whole weeks with no fosters at Casa Furry Bambino!  So we Furry Bambinos thought that we should make a post about Mark.

Mark liked to nap.  Here he is borrowing my Gizzy Quilt.

Mark also liked to sleep in The Blue Bed.  The Blue Bed originally belonged to Clyde.

Mark is stretching after a good nap …

… and then Mark yawned real big.

Of all the places that Mark liked to nap, his FAVORITE spots involved Dad.  This is Mark and Dad cuddling on the big comfy chair.

This is a picture of Mark on Dad's lap while Dad is working at the computer.

On his last day here at Casa Furry Bambino, Mark and Padre check each other out one last time.

At PetSmart, Mark studied his adoption paperwork:

Dad says farewell to the little guy:

Mark was OK as fosters go.  I am happy to report that Mark has his own blog now, called a Tabblo!  Well, OK, he shares it with his Dad, but still!  Check it out for some cool photo essays and a movie.  Mark's first post was made as soon as he got to his new home.  Now that's what I call efficient!

Take care, friends!  We will post about the holidays next time!

Greetings, furries!  It's me, Caramel, Lady Floofilicious here!  I have an update of what has been going on here at Casa Furry Bambino.  We are going to try to get caught up reading your blogs and commenting over the next few weeks.  We really miss all of you!

It has been awhile since we last posted, so here is a summary.  But first, a recent photo of me.  Look at the toe-hawks on my back paws!  Cookie and I are 9 months old now, so my floof is really growing in!

Awhile ago, Mommy was sick as a pig.  A lot of people where she works were sick at that time.  Mommy said that the worst part of pig flu was that it made her really really tired.  On the plus side, I was able to score lots of extra naps with Mommy!

Regular readers of our blog know that Mommy and Daddy volunteer with an animal rescue group called PAWS.  On November 15, The Apostles went to a PAWS adoption event held at PetSmart.  They did not get adopted that day though.

There were lots of cute kitties, including these sweeties, Faith (grey), Hope, Love, and Charity.  Hope, Love, and Charity are all sisters, and Faith is a female from another litter.  Faith and Charity got adopted that day.

As you may know, PetSmart does not mind if you want to go to pick out your food and treats yourself.  Usually, we trust Mommy and Daddy to do that for us.  That day, a pet skunk decided to come to PetSmart to check out the food selections.

In other news, we got to have Real Live Fresh Dead TURKEY on Thanksgiving!

Padre is very fond of Real Live Fresh Dead Turkey.

Cookie and I are also very fond of Real Live Fresh Dead Turkey.  I like it even more than Cookie does.

Meerkat doesn't really like it.  You can tell by the expression on her face.

Neither does Panda Bear.

Mom thinks that maybe the eye infections that Meerkat and Panda Bear had as kittens affected their sense of smell or taste, since the rest of us nom nom nommed.  As for The Apostles, Matthew, Mark, and Luke liked the RLFDT, but Joann did not.  The Apostles were at boarding school (PetSmart), but came home for Thanksgiving break.

The day after Thanksgiving was a very busy day.  The Apostles went back to boarding school.  Here they are in their dorm room.

Then Padre, Cookie, and I were taken to the V-E-T!  Cookie WILLINGLY climbed into the PTU that was intended for Padre.  And then she refused to come out.  So Mom shoved Padre into the PTU intended for Cookie and me.

That left no PTU for me, as Mom did not want to put me into Padre's PTU, and the PTU Cookie was in was too small for Cookie and me.  I was thinking that I might have played my cards extremely well, but no such luck.  Mom grabbed me and held me in her lap on the ride to the V-E-T.

When we got there, Mom walked up to the desk to check in, and the girl behind the desk was very complimentary to me!  She said that I was Beautiful!  She asked Mom if she could hold me, and Mom let her.  The girl was very nice to me.  She said that she needed to show me to the Office Manager, or she would get into trouble for not showing her a really cute cat.  So the girl took me back to a very nice lady who held me and cuddled me.  She said that my furs are very soft!  And that the way I let her hold me made her think that I might be part rag doll kitty.  At last, proper treatment for a floofilicious cat like myself!  I was beginning to think the whole V-E-T business was not so bad.

However, Padre was absolutely miserable.  He tried to hide in the back of the PTU.

Cookie explored the exam room, giving it a thorough sniffing, and reported back to Padre and me.

Padre, Cookie, and I each got weighed.  Padre currently weighs 13.0 pounds, Cookie weighs 10.2 pounds, and I weigh 9.2 pounds.

But then!  Oh, the horrors!  Mom asked them to trim my pretty furs!  (Something about litter box issues on a long-haired kitty.)  So they took me to the back and gave me a buzz cut on my derriere.  Oh, the shame.  I am so embarrassed, I can't believe I am even admitting this to all of you.

Later that same day (Friday, November 27), Luke and Matthew got adopted into two separate families!  And someone else applied to adopt Joann and (possibly) Mark.  I guess because it was "Black Friday" it was a good day to adopt black kittens!

As it eventually turned out, Mark was not adopted by the family that adopted Joann.  Joann went to her furrever home on Sunday November 29.  Luke's new family calls him "Shadow".  Matthew's new family calls him "Neo".  And Joann's new name is "Inky".  But Mark is still Mark.  Or Marko.  Or Marko Polo.  And he still lives with us.  But now he is allowed to mingle with the rest of us instead of having to stay in the foster room.

So Dad cleaned out the foster room.  He removed the food dishes, litter boxes, and toys.  Dad took out the rug-sucking monster, and ran it over the whole room.  While Dad was cleaning, he came across this:

A dead mouse.  Apparently, The Apostles are good mousers!

Howdee everyone!  I have been watching "the Apostles" very closely.  They are becoming very tricky.  As they get bigger and bigger, they find it easier and easier to escape their little blockade.  In facts, they have become so good, Mom and Dad caught them on video for us.

Watch how Luke (grey) and Matthew (black) show that nothing can stop them from escaping!  I love to watch them through the fence.  I have learned many new tricks from them that I will work on implementing soon.

By the way, all the movies produced by "The Furry Bambinos" are now available on YouTube.  Click to see our new YouTube channel! I'm not in any of the movies yet, but I hope to be soon!

it was so furry nice of all of you to come to our party to celebrate the anniversary of our adoption!  we really appreciate your warm wishes, and hope that you all had as good a time as we did!

we all had a lot of fun, and perhaps a few of us overdid the partying.  not mentioning any names, but their initials are Padre.  he wound up completely trashed, as evidenced by this photo.  some cats just can't hold their nip!

although i personally could not care less about about the apostles living upstairs behind the closed door, i know that many of you wanted to meet them, so we had sniffing opportunities for you.  the apostles even got into the party spirit.  that's Joann with her itteh bitteh mouth open, and that's Mark with the boa draped over him.  (Mom says this photo of Joann reminds her of the "Frances" the bear children's stories by Russell and Lillian Hoban.  she says if you never read them as a kid, they are wonderful. go to the library or bookstore immediately.)

Matthew had fun batting the lamp cord around.

Luke had fun playing with a toy mouse, practicing his hunting skills …

… then napped in Mommy's lap.

Panda Bear got all mellow and showed us his belly furs while resting on his Gizzy quilt.

that's probably because he enjoyed a few of these first.  he says it was only water …

Cookie likes to climb the dining room chairs when playing.  Daddy calls her Teenage Mutant Ninja Cookie when she gets like this.  you can see the flame mark on her forehead very clearly in this photo.

caramel tried to play hide and seek, but she seemed to misunderstand the hide part.  kittens!  by the way, check out the floof on her tail!  she is becoming floofier every day.

and i had a great time playing with the trackball toy.  i just love it!

thanks again to all of you for stopping by and for the well wishes!

i'm supposed to tell you to check back soon, as dad is working on some movies of the bebbeh kittehs!

Hello kittehs!  Two years ago today, Mommy and Daddy took Panda Bear, Meerkat, and I, Padre, home from PetSmart!  So that means that today is reason to celebrate and share our happiness with our friends in the Cat Blogosphere!

All three of us spent some time living out of doors, so there are many things for which we are very grateful: safe shelter from the elements, fresh food and clean water whever we want, cozy napping spots, love, and most of all, our friends in the Blogosphere!  As elder statescat, and resident padre, I will be leading the group in purrs and purrayers as we give thanks for all the blessings in our lives.

So please join us for a day of celebration.  There will be food, and nip, and toys, and games, naps, and fellowship.  Plus, if you want, you can  visit The Apostles (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Joann), through the baby gate.  They haven't been to the V-E-T yet, so sniffing only please!  Mom says that it's OK to SQUEEE, though!

Well, many of you correctly deduced that there are BEBBEH KITTEHS in Mom's Office, which is why The-Door-To-Mom's-Office-Has-Been-Closed.  They are fosters that we are caring for until they get adopted into their furrever homes.

They arrived a few weeks ago, and were about 5 weeks old at that time.  Their Mama is a feral kitteh, and she has had NINE bebbehs already this year.

Including Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Joann.  This is what they looked like on their first day here:

Unfortunately, having been born and raised outside, all four kittehs had um …  ::whispers::  fleas.

So all four kittehs had to have baths with baby shampoo.  I kinda felt sorry for them.  Baths suck.   When they first arrived here, they ranged in weight from just over a pound (Mark) to 1.25 pounds (Matthew).  The kittens were (and still are) too small to get anti-flea medication.  Matthew got his bath first.

After Matthew got bathed, it was Joann's turn.  Daddy is holding Joann in a towel as he dries her.

Luke got his bath next.  He was not happy about it either.  His eyes still look blue in this picture.  All bebbeh kittehs are born with blue eyes, but they change color over time to their adult color.

Mom and Dad tried to remove the fleas by hand to alleviate some of the kittens' scratching.  While doing so, Mommy asked Daddy if this would be the "for worse" part of "for better or for worse".  He replied "No, that would be if I were picking fleas off of you."

This is Mark, the smallest of the bebbeh kittehs.  He has a pronounced kink in his tail, so that makes him easy to tell apart from Matthew and Joann.  In addition, Matthew and Mark have chocolate-black colored furs, while Joann's furs are jet black.  Joann has a longer and thinner build than her brothers, who have rounder bottoms.

The kittens are actually kinda nice.  I've sniffed them through the baby gate a few times.  Initially, Luke was all macho tough guy, but he's gotten over the posturing.  He kind of made me laugh with the arched back and attempt at fuzzing up.  Really now, I could eat him if I wanted to.  That's me on the other side of the baby gate.

Let me just say that the amount of SQUEEING going on around here is enough to give a Furry Bambino a headache!

Please stop by on Thursday, October 22, which is Padre's, Meerkat's, and my Gotchaversary!  We are planning to have a party with food and nip and treats and games and naps.  And yes, you can visit the bebbeh kittehs if you must.  For health precautions, you will have to sniff them through the baby gate, since they have not been to the V-E-T yet.

Hello Kittehs of the Blogosphere!  Thank you all for your fabulous suggestions!  We kittehs of Casa Furry Bambino have been trying to ascertain what all the hubba is about regarding The-Closed-Door-To-Mommy's-Office.

Daisy the Curly Cat agrees with us that this is very mysterious!

Our friends at Jan's Funny Farm, Joanne, Jane, Jill, Johnny, Jay Boy, Jasmine and Capu from Singapore, Parker, Zoey, Ernie, and Wally (AKA The Island Cats), and Charlemagne and Tamar, all suggested that there might be another Furry Bambino in there.  Gasp!  How could Mommy and Daddy do that to us?

Our friend Tammy Faye (whose Mom is one of our kitty sitters), suggested that Mom might just be in there trying to get some work done.  Without us there to help!  Egad!

Our friends Yaffa, Sebastian, and Dante wondered if there might be a woofie in there.  Oh my goodness!

Our friend Poppy Q thinks that there may be more fosters in there!

And our friends Lizzie, Caitie, and Nicky (AKA The Good Cats) suggested that we use our other senses, such as sniffing and listening, to try to learn more.

Well, I can definitely make out a scent that is a mixture of feline, litter, and food.

Look what Panda Bear sniffed out:

He found it in the food pantry next to our bags of crunchies:

Cookie says she heard "ba-ddump ba-ddump ba-ddump" coming from the room.  Meerkat says she heard mewing coming from the room.

Padre saw these on the kitchen counter:

Kittehs, what do all these clues tell us?

By the way, I am supposed to mention that Padre, Panda Bear, and Meerkat will be celebrating their Gotchaversary on Thursday, October 22!  Stop by on Thursday for a party!