Zsa Zsa appears to have adjusted to her new home enough that it is time for the rest of us to start adjusting to her presence. Been a while since I have had a young and spry kitty in the house (and yes, Tunch was one once), so Zsa Zsa has provided some unexpected entertainment.
I was sitting here with the girls on my lap and Tunch on the couch shoulder watching an old episode of Top Chef (I have two left), when this black and white fluffy streak came racing into the living room, crawled halfway up the cat tower, jumped onto the spine of the love seat and ran down it, jumped over to the couch and ran down the spine of that, jumped over Tunch onto the headrest of the la-z-boy, then down onto the end table and on the ground, and just like that she was gone back into her bedroom.
It happened so fast that no one barked or jumped (Tunch and Lily slept through it), but after it was done Rosie looked at me quizzically with a “WTF just happened?” look. I just shook my head and told Rosie “I got nothing.”
Here’s a pick of the little stinker last night getting some lap time during the Oscars:
And here she is returning the favor a few minutes later:
She’s going to fit right in.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
So you’ve got a cat with Rosie’s energy and Tunch’s independence?
Good luck, good sir.
Redshirt
Good story. I was picturing a cat based Speedy Gonzalez zipping around your living room.
Cat Tower’s gonna get some action!
HinTN
Oh yes, kitten energy. Look out, Cole.
jheartney
Ah, the Kitteh Crazies. Even our older ones may do that a bit with the right prompting, like opening the windows for the first time in the Spring, or during a break in the Summer heat. Crazy Kittehs are especially amusing in a multi-floor dwelling, as you hear the galloping rolling overhead like a passing storm.
gogol's wife
That is so cute!
Linda Featheringill
@jheartney:
Yes. A delightful sound. Almost as good as children laughing.
Rosie Outlook
How high do you have to jump to clear Tunch?
Also, how about a picture of Tunch as a kitten? (I almost typed “…as a mitten.”. That would be a bit drastic.)
Litlebritdifrnt
We have a two story house with a master bedroom on the ground floor. On many occasions there is a sound like a herd of baby elephants charging around in the bedroom upstairs. It gets especially loud when the puppy is up there chasing them.
Redshirt
@Rosie Outlook: I’m surprised Zsa Zsa didn’t go into orbit around Tunch once airborne.
raven
Happy Birthday George.
Patricia Kayden
Love that Tunch slept through the whole thing. That’s one cool cat.
Mnemosyne
I apparently have a very uncomfortable lap (or squirm around too much to be a comfy lap) because none of our three will sit in it. They’re happy to sit on the back of the chair, the arm of the chair or (in the winter) at my feet under my lap throw, but no lap sitting.
However, as soon as I go to bed and get settled in, Charlotte plops herself on my legs and stays there the rest of the night. Which was much cuter before she weighed 13 pounds.
zombie rotten mcdonald
@jheartney:
I am always surprised when they turn into horses upstairs.
kc
She’s adorable!
Yutsano
ZSA ZSA KITTEH!!
Lexie likes to go occasionally batshit too. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for it. I just stare at her. It phases her not at all. I think it had something to do with her being born a barnkitteh.
ruemara
Mine go nutty after a good meal. Enjoy. That sounds like a herd of elephants over the head? That’s the sound of kitten happines.
Litlebritdifrnt
Ms. Flossie does this thing in the morning, whereby she charges around the house like a mad thing, including jumping up on the bed running over it, jumping off it then charging up the stairs, after the kittehs, then back again.
PurpleGirl
Kitteh video (or kitteh cam) or it didn’t happen.
dance around in your bones
I always loved it when a quiet kitty sitting on my (shorts-clad) lap would suddenly go insane and launch off my lap, using the handy-dandy claws for leverage.
That was so special.
Cap'n Phealy
I have just one word for you:
Webcam.
scav
Crazier with manic energy than Rosie. This will be fun.
the Conster
You need to build a cat castle. You only need 40 boxes and a spare room! Easy peasy.
gogol's wife
@raven:
Oh God you got me into a cycle of watching the Beatles on YouTube. Cheered me right up. Ed Sullivan, 1964!
Steeplejack
@gogol’s wife:
One of my favorites: “I Need You.”
Jackie
My Cinder, a skunk-nosed 18.9 years old tux momma cat – still raises hell in the middle of the night “killing” her rabbit mice. One toy actually squeaks like a mouse when touched – her fav. She has no idea she’s in her early 90’s (cat adjusted age) and can still scale 6 foot fences at mach speed (if a dog is behind her.) Her much younger feline co-habits don’t have nearly the gumption/energy.
I have no clue how I’ll do when she’s gone. A long, long, long time from now.
Steeplejack
@gogol’s wife:
My other favorite early Harrison: “Don’t Bother Me.”
gogol's wife
@Steeplejack:
Beautiful.
jibeaux
A while back there was a thread on weird pet behaviors. I have a neutered male rat terrier-chihuahua mix who’s buddies with my FIL’s dog, a spayed female three times his size. They wrestle and play, and sometimes she tries to…. Hump his head, is the best way to describe it. He tolerates it for a few seconds and then the novelty wears off. I don’t really understand dog sexuality, or it could just be a dominance move.
Nikolita
She’s so sweet. :)
SiubhanDuinne
I’m having dinner tomorrow night with a friend, her husband (whom I’ve never met) and her two cats (whom I’ve also never met). They aren’t drinkers so instead of showing up with a bottle of wine, I was thinking of something for the kittehs. Any suggestions, apart from a crappy made-in-China mouse stuffed with dubious desiccated catnip?
dance around in your bones
@gogol’s wife: I may have to dive into that rabbit hole as well.
I remember watching the first Ed Sullivan show w/the Beatles while my parents were there – my sister and I pretended to be completely unaffected.
Next weekend the parental units were not at home, and big sister and I sat on our knees and screamed like banshees watching the Beatles.
We also went to the Kirkland AFB in ABQ a bit later and watched A Hard Day’s Night (I say watched, since we couldn’t hear a damn thing since everyone was screaming like banshees).
What a time. Back in the day! (PSIfighter +# whatever :)
SiubhanDuinne
By the way — I would just love to see a picture of Tunch as a kitten!
Joseph Nobles
Actually, I’m most impressed by the reserve of Rosie. A JRT watched that chaos unfold and didn’t contribute? John Cole is a dog whisperer.
PurpleGirl
@dance around in your bones: I was at the Shea Stadium concert in 1964. Spent the day with the family at the World’s Fair and then went to the concert. I had seats (for me and my brother) up on the top tier. Everyone was screaming. If you heard the music, it was in your head from the records because the screaming was way too loud to let you hear the Beatles.
dance around in your bones
1st Beatles Ed Sullivan appearance.
Ok, second Beatles appearance available but the grandkids are screaming and I can’t be arsed to look it up, so y’all will have to do it.
Jeez, living w/grandkids is….difficult. I know, cry me a river – I could be living in my car (if I HAD one).
Mnemosyne
@SiubhanDuinne:
If you go to an independent (non-chain) pet supply store, they should have an assortment of crinkly balls, feather balls, catnip mice, etc. They’re usually near the cash register.
I’m still convinced one of the big reasons I hit it off with my mother-in-law and aunt-in-law from the very beginning was that I brought toys for their cats the first time I came to their house. It goes over very well with pet owners.
stoned stats
Cats and catblogging are not my thing, but damned if I’m not happy for you, Cole.
dance around in your bones
@dance around in your bones: Ooops- Kirtland Air Force Base in ABQ!
I’ve got Costco on my mind, I guess.
Steeplejack
@dance around in your bones:
Here’s the Fab Four on Ed Sullivan.
ETA: No goddamn lip-synching here! Suck it, American Bandstand.
Yutsano
@dance around in your bones: Serenity now. Find your happy place. And just wait until yer a great-grandma!
SiubhanDuinne
@Mnemosyne: Good suggestion, thanks. I’m on the road and have no idea what non-chain pet stores may be on my route between Charlotte and Raleigh, but i’ll find something.
dance around in your bones
@PurpleGirl: I bet you were there with my husband – he actually got to see the Beatles in person back in the day (he was a few years older than I).
I was always so jealous of that. I saw them on TV and movies and heard them on the vinyl (Paul is dead! hahaha!)
22over7
Kitty emergencies are hilarious, as long as it’s not the middle of the night and that my bed is not used as a launchpad. My tortie sounds like a herd of buffalo when she gets a good head of steam.
The new kitty will breathe new life into your house. Enjoy!
dance around in your bones
@Steeplejack:
@Yutsano:
You guys are so fab. Thanks!
Mnemosyne
@SiubhanDuinne:
If you can’t, even Petco or PetSmart toys are fine if you buy the higher-end ones. It’s the 99 cent cheapo ones that fall apart and only smell vaguely of catnip that are lame.
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: Old friends from college own a pet store. I’ve been meaning to get up there and take a gander around at what they have. It seems like a really decent outfit plus Her Eminence tears through anything from Petco like no one’s business. Maybe I should get a catnip plant.
LT
Love it.
Mnemosyne
@SiubhanDuinne:
@Yutsano:
Or, may I suggest a mail-order purchase that supports one of our very own beloved commenters?
I can vouch for the power of the Stinky Sock — Keaton punched Charlotte in the head when she tried to take it away from him.
dance around in your bones
@Steeplejack:
Just watched the whole thing. You know what’s funny? Watching all the grrls screaming and getting all tingly in the lady parts (gawd knows I did!) whilst the guys in the audience just look kinda bemused.
Odie Hugh Manatee
She probably went Rocket Kitty after using the cat box. I noticed this about young cats many cats ago. They usually enter warp drive after a good dump.
I think they are trying to get away from the smell of it.
My wife and I want another longhair like our dearly departed Maine Coon, Tommy. In the meantime we have our adorable Stewie, a fifteen month old little monster who is the perfect cat (IMHO). Of course, like any good cat, Stewie does have his crazier moments.
He’s a cute little shit. :)
Odie Hugh Manatee
Try this again!
For some reason the pic links got mangled. The two pics of Stewie are sane and insane.
Violet
@Yutsano:
Local gardening store had a pet cat roaming the place. They sold catnip and kept it in a birdcage. They kept that on the tables where they had the plants and vegetables and herbs they sold. If a bit would grow out of it, the kitty could get it, but otherwise it was safe in the birdcage. I always though it would be a good way to have catnip at home.
Skepticat
Zsa Zsa is a beautiful animal. She looks as though there’s a lot of Maine coon cat there, and considering that the recently departed Most Perfect Cat in the World was a MCC, that’s a good thing. They’re generally very affectionate, laid-back, and smart, and she seems to be of that ilk. I’m happy for you.
I never had kittens–my previous cats all arrived as full-grown strays–and now I have three recently feral kittens tearing the place to shreds. The energy level is astounding. They love to savage paper and will even start gnawing on a book as I’m reading it. I’d say that they sleep with me, but it really consists of my trying to sleep as they gambol, wrestle, bounce, rocket, carom, pounce and thrash all over the bed, pausing only to try to chew off my toes. I have found the perfect cat toy: wine corks.
Enjoy your menagerie, JC.
WereBear
@Odie Hugh Manatee: What a cutie! He’s hasn’t even filled out yet.
Rosie Outlook
@SiubhanDuinne: Yes, jingle balls, open weave plastic balls with bells inside them. Cats love them. A spare paper grocery sack or two would also be appreciated.
I am not a kook
@dance around in your bones: Hehe, I woulda been one of those guys leaning back and listening with wrinkled forehead AND sniffing the air for pheromones. Except I was born in ’64…
I did start to look at plane tix from Old Europe to NYC back when somebody tried to get the Fab Four back together again in the 70’s. Not that I could have swung that in any shape or form at 12 yo :)
Odie Hugh Manatee
@WereBear:
He’s a small guy but solid. If he grows out to his whiskers then he’s going to be a big boy.
Here’s a dorky (but cute as hell) looking shot of him.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
He’s got a bit of a kitler thing going on. Nice looking guy, though.
Yutsano
@Odie Hugh Manatee: KITTEH!! My little girl has insanely long whiskers but is amazingly tiny. She looks like a Maine coon in miniature. And she’s all fur.
Paul in KY
@Redshirt: Would be a great video to have Tunch on a bed, with it all squished around him (place 50 lb weight under him) & then photoshop in some paper wads & clips & shoes orbiting around him.
(copyright Paul in KY, 2013).
Paul in KY
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Great looking cat!
WaterGIrl
@Odie Hugh Manatee: The best part comes when you notice the caption: Stewie 2 seconds later
That’s a great set of photos.