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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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!

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).

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

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

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

Meerkat gave Daddy’s hand a thorough sniffing.

Daddy picked up Panda Bear and gave him a hug.

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

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

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.

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

Your loving bambinos,
Panda Bear, Meerkat, and Padre

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.)

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

On Wednesday, July 30th, Aunt Deb arrived at 7:45 am — can you believe it?  I did not know that Aunt Deb is a Night Owl and a late sleeper, and I cussed her out a little for being late for breakfast.  Aunt Deb hastened to get that stinky goodness in the bowls.  I chowed down, but Panda Bear and Meerkat wanted to play first.

Usually Panda Bear observes for awhile before playing, but this morning both he and Meerkat competed for the feather toy.

They waited to eat for awhile, but they did get to the stinky goodness before Aunt Deb left.

We all watched a squirrel climb up the bird feeder and raid the goodies.  Aunt Deb said that it was amazing how agile that squirrel was!  BTW, Aunt Deb thinks it was the same squirrel that was waiting on the outdoor back porch railing when she first came in today.  She felt bad that she did not have any peanuts to give him or her.  She asked us, where are the peanuts?  We told her that the squirrel food is in the blue plastic tub in the kitty feeding room, but she didn’t understand what we said.

Also, Aunt Deb was wondering if there was a litter box somewhere where she could get to it and clean it out.  She said that she didn’t want us Bambinos to get disgusted and leave any poopies for Mom and Dad.  We didn’t care, though.  Would serve them right for abandoning us!  Heh.

aunt deb made it over to our house by 10 am on tuesday (july 29).  padre greeted her in the front room.  panda bear was sitting under the front room window.  we bambinos had eaten all the fancy feast crunchies from one bowl, and some iams, but still had a full bowl of dry fancy feast crunchies, and plenty of water left.  aunt deb replenished everything, and gave us our stinky goodness!

after we chowed down, we played with the feather toy!  padre and i were into it, but panda bear just sat near aunt deb and groomed himself.

aunt deb sang songs to us: a butchered version of frere jacques, a silly rhyming song that she made up about us, and a few more.  we especially enjoyed when aunt deb sang “the wheels on the bus”.  when she sang “the wipers on the bus go whoosh whoosh whoosh”, i got all excited.  i rolled around on my back on the floor next to aunt deb.  she reached out to me, and i met her finger with my paw, like ET.  awwww — so cute!

we saw a yellow and black butterfly and a squirrel.  that was fun!  aunt deb stayed about 1/2 hour and reminded us about the NO PARTIES rule before she left.  we didn’t promise anything.

Our poor traumatized feline cousins!  Poor Rainbow, Muse, Cinnamon, and Toast!  Even Bruiser, the woofie, had to endure being cooped up in rooms that moved for days and days!  And to think that Mom and Dad (gasp!) helped.  How could they stoop so low?!

Over the next few days, we Furry Bambinos will report on the events of the cross-country M word, as we experienced them.  If you want to know what stupid stuff Mom and Dad were up to, go read their stupid blog.

We should have suspected that something was up when the big rectangular boxes with zippers started appearing all over the house.  Mom and Dad put lots of clothes into them.  They even brought home two new PTU’s (Prisoner Transport Units) and two new comfy cat beds.  Meerkat slept in the pink comfy cat bed over the weekend, thinking it was for her.

Then on the morning of Monday the 28th of July, Mom and Dad mysteriously left.  When they returned, they had a ginormous room that moves with them!  This is what it looked like:

It made all of us a bit nervous, what with the ginormous room that moves and all.  Mom and Dad put all of their rectangular boxes with zippers into it.  Then they left us all alone.  Hoomph!  And I wanted Mom to help us blog!  Well, at least they didn’t drag us along!  We had a relaxing day, napping, watching the birdies and squirrels, and munching on crunchies.  We knew that Aunt Deb would visit us, give us our stinky goodness and crunchies, and play with us, so we weren’t worried.  And with Mom and Dad away, maybe we could try to get a few cats together for a par-tay!