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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / And Now For Something Completely Different

And Now For Something Completely Different

by John Cole|  December 19, 201310:44 pm| 68 Comments

This post is in: Cat Blogging, Dog Blogging

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All the piglets are fed, walked, freshly shatted, and luxuriating:

piglets

theman

Actually felt guilty today because Steve has so much taken over the house that I realize it had been about a week since I had gotten upset about Tunch. He’s really a magnificent specimen, and every time I look at him I keep waiting for Charlotte to write “SOME CAT” over his head.

I really want another Maine Coon, Steve has turned out to be so awesome. My sister is in town for Christmas and she finally met Steve (she lives in Connecticut) and thought the name sucked until she met him, and he came and loves all over her, and she said “Now I get it. He is a Steve.”

Yes, he is. He’s a band cat beyond description.

*** Update ***

The other funny thing is I thought a lot of Maine Coon cats just looked sloppy with their long, unkept hair, and I liked the look of Tunch, with his pristine white plush fur and his delicate little paws. Now, I look at Steve sauntering in with his enormous mane and floofy coat and dramatic 7 and 6 toes respectively, and when I see other cats, I think they look funny- “What happened to that cat’s toes? It only has 4?”

tunchblimp

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Reader Interactions

68Comments

  1. 1.

    Yatsuno

    December 19, 2013 at 10:46 pm

    Good kitteh iz good. :)

  2. 2.

    asiangrrlMN

    December 19, 2013 at 10:52 pm

    Awwwww, Sir Willie Whiskertons III is exactly what you needed in your life, Cole. And, Tunchie is always in your heart.

    @Yatsuno: Hey, Yusty!!

  3. 3.

    The Dangerman

    December 19, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    Cat appears to be working a mullet; how apropos.

    ETA: Hey, upstairs, get a room!

  4. 4.

    PhoenixRising

    December 19, 2013 at 10:59 pm

    Today was the day. The kitten we’d been waiting for came in from foster at the pound.

    My 14 year old’s dream of someday having a kitten? Check.
    My dream of a pet she can take with her when she goes, God willing? Check.
    My wife’s dream that it would be her turn to name the next pet? Out the window. This is a task for a committee of 12 experts on cat naming.

    He’s silver and white, medium hair, already fixed so this one’s gonna be whale-sized. If he were black I’d have already named him Steinway. (He’ll grow into it.)

  5. 5.

    khead

    December 19, 2013 at 10:59 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    Yup. KITTEH love. Hope you’re doing well, btw.

  6. 6.

    Fuzzy

    December 19, 2013 at 11:00 pm

    We had a great coon cat who hunted the little gophers we have here in CA by waiting for hours without moving for the them to pop their heads out of the holes. Our whole neighborhood agreed not to feed him so he would hunt. He was fed at home of course.

  7. 7.

    Yatsuno

    December 19, 2013 at 11:01 pm

    @asiangrrlMN: Greetings and salutations oh wifey of mine. Today haz been teh suxxors. But at least I got chocolate pudding.

    @The Dangerman: Steve rocks any fur style he selects. He iz fashionale kitteh.

  8. 8.

    Karen in GA

    December 19, 2013 at 11:03 pm

    @PhoenixRising: Welcome kitty!

    And I think the Naming Committee of the Twelve, if truly wise, will realize that he already has a name. He’ll let you know what it is soon enough.

  9. 9.

    Suzanne

    December 19, 2013 at 11:03 pm

    Steve seems wonderful. Though every time I see his picture, I have that millisecond-long flash thinking that it’s a picture of my dearly departed Nico, the best cat ever. All cats I will ever have will be measured against her.

  10. 10.

    Suzanne

    December 19, 2013 at 11:05 pm

    @Yatsuno: HUGZ! Are you feeling any better?

  11. 11.

    Yatsuno

    December 19, 2013 at 11:08 pm

    @Suzanne: Somewhat. They slapped a shit ton of ice on the incision (can’t do an anti-inflammatory because of spike in the blood work) and I have moved as little as possible since. Hoping next dose will help calm it further and more important they keep on schedule.

  12. 12.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 19, 2013 at 11:11 pm

    Cole: “Steve is my copilot, which explains why my Subaru is in a field and it doesn’t really bother me.”

  13. 13.

    Ash Can

    December 19, 2013 at 11:12 pm

    That pic of Tunch is a classic. And it’s so great to see Steve assuming the mantle of Top Cat.

  14. 14.

    Violet

    December 19, 2013 at 11:13 pm

    @Yatsuno: How are you feeling? Hope all is going well. Glad you are well enough to comment here!

    Cole, that cat is all ear.

    @PhoenixRising:

    He’s silver and white, medium hair, already fixed so this one’s gonna be whale-sized.

    Sounds like he’s Moby Dick to me.

  15. 15.

    Violet

    December 19, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    Love, love, love that picture of Tunch.

  16. 16.

    Karen in GA

    December 19, 2013 at 11:17 pm

    The vet that diagnosed Phoebe, the World’s Most Affectionate Cat, looked over the results from the second opinion vet, consulted with her boss, and got input from the vet at the lab that handles their testing. The verdict: stage 2 chronic renal failure. She still has at least 2/3rds of her kidney function if not more, and might only need a good senior diet rather than a prescription food — the vet’s boss says at this point it’s up to me, since it was caught early.

    I’m relieved. Now I just have to make sure whatever food I choose won’t kill her quickly, and we’re good to go.

  17. 17.

    Karen in GA

    December 19, 2013 at 11:18 pm

    @Yatsuno: Sending many, many healing thoughts.

  18. 18.

    Hungry Joe

    December 19, 2013 at 11:21 pm

    Last Sunday, Phoebe, our five-month-old kitten monster, managed to wriggle behind a 4′ x 5′ mirror leaning against a wall. (My wife used it to practice her nia dance stuff.) From the kitchen we heard a shattering explosion and ran into the living room just as a small calico blur was streaking out. Guess how we spent the rest of the morning. Does anyone need two large boxes of broken mirror shards, a la Dan Aykroyd’s “Bag o’ Glass”? $0.00 + $19.95 postage & handling.

  19. 19.

    Culture of Truth

    December 19, 2013 at 11:24 pm

    Just checked in. Apparently the car is still outstanding in its field. Oh dear.
    Earlier today I saw this and thought I should post at Chez Cole at some point.
    Struggles of Clumsy People

  20. 20.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 19, 2013 at 11:27 pm

    @Hungry Joe:

    Phobe the kitten monster: “I didn’t do it!”

  21. 21.

    Culture of Truth

    December 19, 2013 at 11:30 pm

    @PhoenixRising: Awww…. what kind?

  22. 22.

    Mike in NC

    December 19, 2013 at 11:30 pm

    Maine Coons are awesome. Our friends had a pair that lived about 20 years, and they were very cool.

  23. 23.

    Gwangung

    December 19, 2013 at 11:34 pm

    @Yatsuno: You are yet conscious and making sense….it is GOOD thing (unlike this show I’m seeing).

  24. 24.

    Gex

    December 19, 2013 at 11:39 pm

    @Yatsuno: Good to see you on here! Sending healing vibes your way.

  25. 25.

    indycat32

    December 19, 2013 at 11:40 pm

    Got an email from a former coworker asking if I wanted the kitten he rescued from the cold. I already have two cats, so I told him only as a last resort if all other options failed. I have a feeling I’m getting a kitten for Christmas.

  26. 26.

    PhoenixRising

    December 19, 2013 at 11:46 pm

    @Culture of Truth: Um, much like my daughter: I know where I went (in this case, the pound) and I know what’s written on the receipt (background “info”), but that’s an unknown at this time.

    He’s grey and white on the outside, pink on the inside, and purrs like an outboard. I wanted to call him Evenrude, but that’s been spiked already.

    (In related pet news, the Dane is going to the vet in the AM to get her left eyeball examined. This dog has lived with cats at least once before; getting that close to a baby one means she needs her head examined.)

  27. 27.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 19, 2013 at 11:47 pm

    @Yatsuno: Dude, shouldn’t you be drugged and asleep?

    ETA: Or is that me?

  28. 28.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 19, 2013 at 11:52 pm

    @Yatsuno: hang in there, Yutsano!

  29. 29.

    Yatsuno

    December 19, 2013 at 11:58 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: No reason it can’t be both of us. But there’s another round of meds approaching in a few minutes then an hour after. Sleep will happen, but in awhile.

  30. 30.

    Violet

    December 20, 2013 at 12:00 am

    @Karen in GA: A friend’s senior kitty wasn’t doing well at all. The vet didn’t have any suggestions and said it was a matter of a few months. My friend decided to switch both her cats (the other one of the same age was doing pretty well) to a raw food diet. They bought some fancy grinder on Craigslist and grind up chicken and rabbit, freeze it in single serving portions and put them out for the kitties as needed.

    Both cats are doing amazingly well on the new diet. The sicker of the two has really improved and the other one acts like a young cat again. It’s kind of an amazing change.

    Just wanted to mention it as encouragement in case you do decide to go in that direction. It can have an amazing effect, even in cats that are doing pretty well.

  31. 31.

    Redshirt

    December 20, 2013 at 12:01 am

    Timmeh Original

  32. 32.

    srv

    December 20, 2013 at 12:25 am

    You say the owner has to be there for it to be towed.

    Can you not get the Fratboys out in the field and have them carry it back to the road?

    @PhoenixRising: Moonlight

  33. 33.

    Citizen_X

    December 20, 2013 at 12:30 am

    That second shot’s a Kzin, right?

  34. 34.

    Culture of Truth

    December 20, 2013 at 12:30 am

    @PhoenixRising: Evan? or Rude?

  35. 35.

    Culture of Truth

    December 20, 2013 at 12:32 am

    The Cat is toed.

    The Car is not towed.

    This has been Deep Thoughts with Culture

  36. 36.

    Yatsuno

    December 20, 2013 at 12:34 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Oh and possible interest to you: at the Women’s NCAA volleyball tournament, 12th seeded Wisconsin defeated first seed Texas. So yeah, go Lady Badgers.

  37. 37.

    trollhattan

    December 20, 2013 at 12:34 am

    Gawdamn that TunchBlimp pic is hilarious. May he forever circle the Rose Bowl, mewling for tuna. Good tuna.

  38. 38.

    CaseyL

    December 20, 2013 at 12:44 am

    @Yatsuno: Hey, good to see you posting… er, haven’t they brought the Good Stuff around yet?

    And what is it about the holiday season that turns a young man’s thoughts to major surgery? Another friend of mine had his hip replacement done today, too. Is this a trend?

  39. 39.

    Keith P

    December 20, 2013 at 12:44 am

    I’m starting to wonder if one of mine is part Maine coon. He’s a long-haired gray, like a feral cat (although years of high-end cat food has given him a somewhat purple coat), but he’s got a thick mane that he likes to keep fluffed up. He doesn’t meow like normal cats; he sounds more like a baby going “Wahh! Wahh!”. And his tail action is weird, too…keeps it close to the ground but flicks the tip left and right (all my other cats keep them high and move them with a flourish). Real wide face with ginormous round eyes…huge baby face. Don’t know what he is, but he’s definitely different from every other cat I’ve had.

  40. 40.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 20, 2013 at 12:50 am

    @Yatsuno: I really don’t like volleyball. I was never good at it, and I recently was decent enough to watch my 10 y/o niece in a VB tournament (3 hours of the “game”) – because I am a fucking fantastic uncle. God, volleyball sucks.

  41. 41.

    John Cole

    December 20, 2013 at 12:56 am

    Kind of surprised no one has mentioned the “Fragile” lamp on the table.

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 20, 2013 at 1:01 am

    @John Cole: I am more disturbed by the T&H painting on the wall. We obviously disagree about art.

  43. 43.

    wasabi gasp

    December 20, 2013 at 1:26 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    That’s a killer pick-up line.

  44. 44.

    Anne Laurie

    December 20, 2013 at 1:34 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: Phoebe the kitten monster: “I meant to do that!”

    @Citizen_X:

    That second shot’s a Kzin, right?

    Hani. (Don’t know if Cherryh’s ever admitted the Hani were based on Maine Coons, but it’s a common enough joke in the fandom.)

  45. 45.

    Anne Laurie

    December 20, 2013 at 1:42 am

    @Keith P: Used to be the Maine Coon breeders said the ‘markers’ for MC genes were little pointed fur tufts at the ends of the ears, the lion mane & squirrel tail, and extra fur between the toes of the (usually very large) paws. And that little high-pitched baby-kitten voice (I call it the Tom Selleck voice) is pretty common, too. The gene set obviously arose independently in a number of places (see also Siberians and Norwegian Forest cats), and because their possessors are gorgeous & usually quite people-friendly, the primates encourage them to breed & spread. (Around heah they’re still called ‘captain’s cats’ by some of the locals.)

  46. 46.

    CaseyL

    December 20, 2013 at 1:42 am

    @John Cole: That lamp? Hah! It looks a lot like one I used to have. They’re more solid than I am.

    @Omnes Omnibus: FSM, that’s a T&H piece? It is vaguely disturbing, in an evil-velvet-Elvis kind of way. I don’t think I’d want them staring down at me…

  47. 47.

    Anne Laurie

    December 20, 2013 at 1:44 am

    @John Cole: I was gonna accuse you of posting that photo just to show off your Fra-GEE-lee lamp, but you couldn’t wait, couldya?

    Gift, or did you actually save up & buy it to match the rest of your day-core?

  48. 48.

    ruemara

    December 20, 2013 at 1:58 am

    @Karen in GA: That’s great news. I’m happy for you. A good diet can really put a halt to that so, all my best to the Karen Kitten.

  49. 49.

    Mike with a Mic

    December 20, 2013 at 2:00 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    If you’ve got the body to show it off volley ball is always fun.

  50. 50.

    max

    December 20, 2013 at 2:09 am

    @Citizen_X: That second shot’s a Kzin, right?

    Anne Laurie is right – the Kzinti are giant orange tabbies, basically.

    Also, in unrelated matters, I concur with Wonkette on Larry Klayman:

    Fresh off his ridiculous unexpected but sadly deserved glorious defeat of the gubmint reading your sexts, one would have thought that Larry Klayman’s victory lap would at least be somewhat coherent. One would be oh so very wrong, of course, because when it comes to Larry Klayman, all bets are on him reverting to his true weird form.

    Klayman went on CNN Tuesday to discuss his big win, as you do when your lawyerin’ succeeds, with Don Lemon and CNN’s ubiquitous legal analyst Jeff Toobin. So far so good. Klayman, of course, can never leave well enough alone, because of how he can’t stop perseverating about the evils of the Kenyan Muslin president, so rather than talking about the NSA case like a normal person, he spent most of the time attacking Don Lemon as a super-left-winger. Wait what?

    The freak put all his chips on red, on the day when that was actually the right thing to do, and whaddya know, the ball dropped.

    max
    [‘Stranger shit has happened.’]

  51. 51.

    eemom

    December 20, 2013 at 2:19 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    the T&H painting on the wall.

    The thing about T&H’s art is, it looks sort of cool until you realize it all looks the same.

    What ever happened to T&H, anyway? Don’t come around here no more from what I’ve seen.

  52. 52.

    piratedan

    December 20, 2013 at 2:28 am

    @Yatsuno: endeavor to persevere…. hope that the blood work gets better and the pain meds do their thang for you good sir.

    @Anne Laurie: possibly with a tabby cross because they do get kinda persnickity, don’t you think?

  53. 53.

    grishaxxx

    December 20, 2013 at 2:31 am

    @John Cole: Thought it was magnificent; does the leg light up?

  54. 54.

    pseudonymous in nc

    December 20, 2013 at 3:20 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    The gene set obviously arose independently in a number of places (see also Siberians and Norwegian Forest cats)

    One of ours is what we call a “Carolina Grumpcat”, because we see many others in the area with very similar features, either with people or listed at shelters. Big, black, fuzzy, MC characteristics, soft undercoat, double purr, chirrups as often as he miaows, usually unimpressed with his people.

  55. 55.

    raven

    December 20, 2013 at 5:34 am

    Sleepy heads.

  56. 56.

    MikeJ

    December 20, 2013 at 5:44 am

    @raven: Watching Canada’s Worst Drivers, dd’ing a server partition, and waiting for the snow to start.

  57. 57.

    Yatsuno

    December 20, 2013 at 5:58 am

    @MikeJ: Awake, but it’s also med time here in a few anyway. Might be going over to Cherry Hill either today or tomorrow, will update info as I know more.

    Chocolate chip scone for brekkies. Also. Too.

  58. 58.

    raven

    December 20, 2013 at 6:06 am

    @Yatsuno: Agile and mobile!

  59. 59.

    WereBear

    December 20, 2013 at 7:57 am

    Actually felt guilty today because Steve has so much taken over the house that I realize it had been about a week since I had gotten upset about Tunch.

    Tunch sent him, obviously. Be cool.

  60. 60.

    Amir Khalid

    December 20, 2013 at 8:44 am

    @eemom:
    He kind of tapered off his presence here over a period of months, as I recall, because fewer and fewer of us were responding to him. Then he was down to just pimping his “art” for a while, and now he doesn’t do even that anymore. The only thing I feel about his absence is relief..

  61. 61.

    Biscuits

    December 20, 2013 at 8:57 am

    Steve is so “dude abides”. Love him!

  62. 62.

    WaterGIrl

    December 20, 2013 at 9:55 am

    @Karen in GA: So glad you have an answer! I have just one thing to say:

    WET FOOD, WET FOOD, WET FOOD

    Best thing you can do for kitties, food wise. Add extra water to the food, too.

    There are several websites that have really good info about kidney failure in cats. My sweet quiver was diagnosed too late, but IIRC there are quite a few things you can do to support the kidneys, so hopefully it never becomes life threatening.

  63. 63.

    WaterGIrl

    December 20, 2013 at 9:55 am

    @Karen in GA: So glad you have an answer! I have just one thing to say:

    WET FOOD, WET FOOD, WET FOOD

    Best thing you can do for kitties, food wise. Add extra water to the food, too.

    There are several websites that have really good info about kidney failure in cats. My sweet quiver was diagnosed too late, but IIRC there are quite a few things you can do to support the kidneys, so hopefully it never becomes life threatening.

  64. 64.

    WaterGIrl

    December 20, 2013 at 10:00 am

    To all kitty lovers out there:

    Be really careful about snacks around kitties.

    Even cheese goldfish, which seem really harmless if you don’t know better, have onion salt in them, and onion is a killer for cats. They have even added onion salt to the yummy organic cheese bunnies.

    Also, garlic is very bad, too.

    So that yummy chex mix? Do not let the kitties near it.

    Anything sweetened with xylitol is very dangerous.

  65. 65.

    PaulW

    December 20, 2013 at 10:17 am

    The cat I just rescued from the forest/parking lot of my apartment complex is a young tuxedo Maine Coon -esque cat (very furry and fuzzier than my previous two shorthair cats). She is more talkative than Page, although much like Tehya the conversations must have some meaning (Page just meowed sometimes just to make sure there was noise in the house).

    Ocean (it’s from Neil Gaiman’s latest book, if you read “The Ocean At the End of the Lane” you’d understand) is a very purring cat. She’s a bit moody right now that she doesn’t go outside anymore (she wants to run back into the woods like she used to, but she doesn’t understand the human’s concerns about fleas and raccoons that humans have), but she wants to get into my face to love me once she knows I’m settled in for the night and she’s been fed.

  66. 66.

    shelly

    December 20, 2013 at 10:31 am

    What’s that poster on the wall above the snoozing dogs?

  67. 67.

    Jay

    December 20, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    “Even saw the lights of the Goodyear Blimp/And it read ‘Tunch Cat’s a pimp.’ “-From the rap song “It Was A Good Day,” by Ice Cube.

    I’ll be here all week.

  68. 68.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    December 20, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    @shelly:

    That’s a commissioned painting of the grateful dead that John bought from the douchiest douche on the blog a couple years ago, IIRC. He’s still fucking paying for it, according to the douche.

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