Uncle Chris

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Reverend Padre here. We have very sad news to repurrt. Our Woofie Cuzin Bruiser had to be helped to the Rainbow Bridge on Monday, February 6. He was approximately 11 years old.

Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris first met Bruiser about 5 years ago. Bruiser had been found running around the streets of South Side in Pittsburgh. He was picked up as a stray and turned in to Animal Rescue League, a shelter in Pittsburgh. As a beagle / basset mix, Bruiser probably followed his nose and wandered off from his former home.

Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris volunteered at that animal shelter. They helped by walking dogs and taking them on day trips to give them some cage breaks and fresh air. Bruiser was one of the dogs they walked.

When Bruiser got adopted by a very nice lady, Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris were happy for Bruiser, but they also missed him. They kept in touch with his adopter. In June 2008 Bruiser’s adopter had to be hospitalized and was in declining health, so Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris took over as his adopters.

As you may remember, Mom and Dad helped Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris when they moved to Meowssouri in July 2008. If you want to read about that Adventure, see Mom and Dad’s blog that they never post to anymore.

Bruiser lived the good life, filled with cuddles and long walkies, trips to see fambly, and lots and lots of love.

Bruiser’s health had been declining in recent months. He had many trips to the V-E-T, and lots of medications to take.

Bruiser was helped to The Bridge on Monday, February 6. He was laid to rest in the woods behind Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris’ house in Meowssouri.

This is a short film to honor our Dear Sweet Woofie Cuzzin Bruiser. May he rest in peace.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYfatIZil1g

If the video does not play, click here to watch it on our YouTube channel.

Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris and our Cuzzins Rainbow, Muse, Cinnamon, and Toast are all very sad right now. We would appreciate it if you could keep them in your purrs, woos, and purrayers.

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Greetings! Our dear friend Poppy Q from New Zealand gave us this beautiful award some time ago. We are just now posting about it. We are very fond of Poppy Q, and adore reading her blog and learning about life in New Zealand, oh so far away.

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY – nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

We are grateful for the award from Poppy Q, but feel unworthy because we have not been good kitteh blogging friends of late. Perhaps we should explainify why we haven’t been visiting as often as we would like.

About a year ago, Mommy began taking on some new responsibilities where she works, including training a new bean. At about the same time, Mommy’s sister (Aunt Patty) was getting married. Shortly after Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris got married, they moved to Missouri. You may remember that we blogged about their wedding, reception, and move. Mommy and Daddy helped Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris, and our cousins Rainbow, Muse, Cinnamon, Toast, and Bruiser move to Missouri.

When Mommy got back to work, she had to hire another two new beans, for a total of three newbeans in five months. So Mommy was busy all day training and then spent most evenings and weekends doing her own work. Which did not leave enough time for us, Daddy, or blogging! Now, the three new beans are just about through with training, so now Mommy can do more of her own work in the daytime, and spend more time with us on the weekends!

So we have been trying to get caught up reading blogs and finding out what all we missed in the Cat Blogosphere. We really appreciate those of you who have continued to follow our blog, and to leave us comments, without our doing much to reciprocate. You make us laugh and smile and cry and be grateful to be part of this wondrous network known as the Cat Blogosphere.

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We thought that you might like to meet our cousins.

When Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris got married this summer, they became a blended family.  Sort of like the Brady Bunch.  They all live in Meowssouri now.

Rainbow and Muse are girl kitties who have lived with Aunt Patty for several years, adopted from a shelter.  Rainbow is a calico kitty, and Muse is a tuxedo kitty.  They are very shy, and hide whenever Other People come to visit.

Rainbow and Muse

Toast is a kitty that Uncle Chris was fostering, and just couldn’t part with.  She is a calico kitty who has extra toesies.  Here is Toast checking out Rainbow’s Gizzy Quilt.

Toast

Several months after adopting Toast, an urgent request for a foster home went out to the rescue group that Uncle Chris was part of.  That’s how Cinnamon joined the fambly.  Cinnamon is a gorgeous ginger Big Man Cat.  Uncle Chris calls Cinnamon “The Cat Ambassador” because he is so friendly.

Cinnamon Big Man Cat

And Bruiser is a woofie that Uncle Chris and Aunt Patty used to visit at the shelter.  Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris were both happy and sad when Bruiser got adopted.  But the lady who adopted him became sick, and wanted someone to take care of him.  So that’s how Bruiser joined the fambly.

Bruiser

Bruiser is a beagle – basset hound mix.  He is very gentle, and (ahem) a bit overweight.  Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris take him for walks to help him lose weight.  Bruiser has lost almost 5 pounds since joining their fambly.

When Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris moved to Meowssouri this summer, Rainbow, Muse, and Bruiser met Cinnamon and Toast for the first time.  There was some hissing and fur flying amongst the kitties.  According to Aunt Patty, the kitties are still working things out amongst themselves.

So those are our cousins!  We hope you enjoyed meeting them!

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This is the seventh post in a series about what we did while Mom and Dad abandoned us to help Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris with the M word. Our poor cousins Rainbow, Muse, Cinnamon, Toast, and Bruiser (the woofie) had to endure being cooped up in rooms that moved for days and days. If you want to know what Mom and Dad were doing, go read their stupid blog.

On Sunday, August 3, Aunt Deb told us that Mom and Dad would be coming home that day. Darn! We were having such a great time with Aunt Deb! Here is a picture of me playing with my favorite toy of all: The Milk Ring (plastic ring from a gallon of milk).

Padre Disdains Bouncy Ball in Favor of Milk Ring

Mom and Dad did come home on Sunday night. We greeted them as they unpacked the ginormous room that moves.

Meerkat Greets Mommy and Daddy

Panda Bear Welcomes Daddy Home while Getting His Butt Sniffed by Meerkat

Meerkat Sniffs Mommys Shoe While Padre Shows Off His Spot 13

We made sure to sniff all of their packages and rectangular boxes with zippers.

Padre Sniffs Packages

Meerkat was so happy to see Mommy and Daddy that she clawed one of the dining room chairs in excitement:

Meerkat Claws Dining Room Chair in Excitement to See Mom and Dad

Meerkat gave Daddy’s hand a thorough sniffing.

Meerkat Sniffs Daddys Hand

Daddy picked up Panda Bear and gave him a hug.

Daddy Hugs Panda Bear

Mommy picked me up and made me give her a kissy. I complied, because otherwise I thought she would never put me down.

Padre Gives Mommy Kissy

 

Mostly, we are glad that Mommy and Daddy are home. Except when they take out the Evil Nail Clippers.

 

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This is the sixth post in a series about what we did while Mom and Dad abandoned us to help Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris with the M word. Our poor cousins Rainbow, Muse, Cinnamon, Toast, and Bruiser (the woofie) had to endure being cooped up in rooms that moved for days and days. If you want to know what Mom and Dad were doing, go read their stupid blog.

Dear Mom and Dad,

We confess! We had a few friends over Friday night, August 1st. The usual suspects came over, along with some new kids on the block — Sheldon, Rae, Gordon, Tammy Faye, and who knows who else.

Everything was mellow at first. Some of the new kids started a poker game at the dining room table. Actually, it was strip poker. A few collars and soft paws were shed. When they brought out the cigars, we said no way! This is a nuclear and smoke free zone!

Another group wanted snacks so we let them have some of our leftovers. They got a little raucous and soon a food fight was happenin’! We think Gordon started it because he has kind of a bad reputation, but we don’t really want to point the paw until we know for sure. Someone pukied in a few places, but we are not sayin’ who cuz we don’t want to rat on our friends. We cleaned up best we could, but some of it is still around. On Saturday morning, August 2nd, when Aunt Deb stopped in to feed us, she wanted to use the big noisy thing that sucks up stuff, but she thought that Daddy might not like that.

Just before midnight, lots of water and light and noise came form the sky outside. We were ascairt, so we all piled up on top of each other under the sofa. After the storm ended, everyone put on their little yellow rain slickers and tiny boots and left us Furry Bambinos to ourselves. We slept until Aunt Deb came over on Saturday morning to feed us.

Panda Bear Waves Goodbye

Mom and Dad, please don’t be mad at us! We promise we will be good!

Your loving bambinos,
Panda Bear, Meerkat, and Padre

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this is the fifth post in a series about what we did while mom and dad abandoned us to help aunt patty and uncle chris with the m word. our poor cousins rainbow, muse, cinnamon, toast, and bruiser (the woofie) had to endure being cooped up in rooms that moved for days and days. if you want to know what mom and dad were doing, go read their stupid blog.

we furry bambinos weren’t that eager to chow down on friday, august 1st. we were more interested in playing with aunt deb. she said that she felt so honored, like sally field when she declared “you like me! you really like me!” upon accepting her oscar. (later aunt deb realized that we bambinos are just not that into the particular type of stinky goodness that she gave us that day. panda bear “covered up” the food as if he was in the litter box as a sign of his disapproval.)

Panda Bear Covers the Leftover Food for Later

then aunt deb fed us and filled our water bowls and fountain. mom must have told aunt deb where the squirrel food is, and that panda bear is a huge flight risk when mom feeds the squirrels. because next she grabbed the outdoor critters’ food, then announced, “NO escapees, guys!” we bambinos backed off, but watched attentively as she flung copious amounts of peanuts and walnuts out the door. aunt deb said that she had to make up for not feeding them before today. she said that those squirrels looked pitiful waiting around for their usual goodies.

then aunt deb tossed a few toys around to see if she could get some indoor activity going. padre and i went for the catnip carrot. aunt deb settled into the rocker for playtime. i sat to the right of her and rolled around on my back to show off my tummy, as i have done everyday. she gave me some skritches and asked if anyone else wanted some.

panda bear parked himself in his usual spot in the dining room by the pile of toys. he looked rather bored, so aunt deb spoke to him by name, and talked in a soothing voice. he answered by giving aunt deb a “love blink”: a slow blink of his eye.

padre posted himself near the door and stood vigil for the squirrels. i said that i wanted to play with the feather toy, so we did that for a good while.

Meerkat Attacks the Red Feather Toy

i really like chasing the feather toy through the cubes, then jumping on top of the cubes and squishing them!

Meerkat Crushes a Kalahari Cube

we furry bambinos nibbled and drank before aunt deb left. she cautioned us to behave ourselves, because she somehow sensed that we had some plans for that night. after that wild party we had last time mom and dad were away, aunt deb said that she is preparing herself for anything when she comes to see us on saturday morning.

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This is the fourth post in a series about what we did while Mom and Dad abandoned us to help Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris with the M word. Our poor cousins Rainbow, Muse, Cinnamon, Toast, and Bruiser (the woofie) had to endure being cooped up in rooms that moved for days and days. If you want to know what Mom and Dad were doing, go read their stupid blog.

On Thursday, July 31, Aunt Deb did not get to our house until noon. She said that she was really exhausted, because she was up way too late Wednesday. Aunt Deb said that she “had an interview with a Californian just b4 midnight EDT Wednesday and it lasted a long time, then I need to wind down b4 hitting the sack”. Yeah, whatever.

We were not especially hungry or angry at Aunt Deb, but we had eaten most of the crunchies. We still had some left and plenty of water, though. Aunt Deb fed us right away as always, and then we played.

Meerkat Plays with Red Ball

One of us Bambinos was especially zealous and had grabbed a feather off the toy, so Aunt Deb disposed of it so that there would be no choking and puking while she was gone. Darn!

Aunt Deb sang us a song with our names, to the tune of O Tannenbaum! Just to make sure it was a multi-cultural songfest, she also sang us a song about us, to the tune of Hava Nagila. We sure do like Aunt Deb’s singing!