Gus v. The Spider

Patrick and Mimi sent us this clip so we could see how Gus is doing. That's Patrick at the controls of the Spider. From Gus's sidelong glances at Patrick, I think Gus may now suspect who he's really playing with! Mimi reports that the first time our floofy boy encountered the big bad creepy crawly he did a back flip! Now that I'd have loved to have on film!!

Wow, has Gus grown!! And that tail sure has grown along with him!! Thanks for sharing Patrick and Mimi!! They have some other stuff coming up for us, too!! :-)

Grey is getting more social (sorta)

Good news... Grey has been frequenting the living room in the evenings, lately. Another step toward being more social. While he's still pretty solitary, staking out the second shelf of the cat tree as his own, he's with the rest of us, instead of up on my bed, which is another step in the right direction.

Our boy always looks soooo serious. Somehow I think of him as the solitary barrister. ;-) Don't know why that image comes to mind.

We had a rare moment last week when Percy came up, they touched noses, and Grey did nothing but back up a few steps. Progress!! Grey hasn't been aggressive at all, but will indicate he wants to be left alone by a soft growl.

Here's the honorable one, giving me the, "Oh, really... not the flashy box again. Please cease and desist," look.

He's started doing something a bit odd, though. (Please pay no attention to the messy closet in the photo...LOL!) He'll go to the door, stretch out to his full length (up to to middle hinge) then sit down, face looking up, in the corner, for a couple of minutes. I can't figure out if he wants to go out (wrong side, fool!) or if he's putting himself in a time out for sins as yet undiscovered! :-)

Sharon, Grey's first foster mom, visited us on Friday and came bearing tons of food and treats. The gang is going to be in hog heaven for a while. Grey had a lovely pet session with her. Aggie was super jealous, though... she jumped up on the bed and tried to start something, the little twerp!

Oh, and speaking of being more socialized... the "Peggy Sue in my lap" thing was not a fluke. She has repeated the behavior almost every day! Yay!!

Tomorrow, we'll have one or two of the catch up with Gus videos Patrick and Mimi sent us!!

And thank you everyone for your wax removal tips. Once I'm done scraping up the worst of it, I'll try them out. (It's everywhere, it's everwhere!! I'm not kidding. It splashed over as far as the steps!!! I thought I'd be done cleaning up on Saturday... ha, ha, ha!).

A Little Aggie Cheescake

I have a beautiful white belly, don't I? Soft. Silky. Alluring.

A girl spends a lot of time keeping her fur in pristine condition.

Ok, enough! Any more and you simply won't be able to resist me. Feel honored, mortal. I don't show my belly to just anyone, you know!

One little cat. One big mess.

Basking in the glow of writing about Peggy Sue's trust (see entry below), I turned to pet Percy, who had jumped up next to me. He was doused with pink. "What in the heck did you get into my boy??" said I. And then it hit me. I bolted out of my chair and found...

Thought that candle warmer was safe on top of the secretary. Thought wrong. Percy, of course, is fine. The wall, the floor and the top of the secretary are not. Guess what I'm up to today?? It would be red wax. *sigh*

Small Victories

OK folks... I know it won't seem like much, but last night we had progress that just warmed the cockles of my heart.

You might remember that I've described Peggy Sue as a big cuddler (especially in bed with me, but also if I'm sitting on the floor), but definitely not a lap cat. I've mentioned before that Peggy Sue prefers her loving with all four paws on the ground (or bed).

Not once in the time I've had her has Peggy Sue tolerated being picked up (she hates being picked up, as Monica will confirm!), voluntarily stayed on my lap when I put her there or, most certainly, ever chosen to get into my lap herself. I was very surprised on Tuesday when she jumped up on the chair next to the computer table and demanded loving.

Last night, with no preamble, Miss Peggy Sue jumped up into my lap! Fortunately the cell phone was close at hand. Sorry about the quality of the pics, but I just had to record the historic event!! And it got even better. After sitting quietly for a moment, she turned and asked for love!

After some serious rubbing, she laid down in my lap!!! At this point, I'm over the top with happiness! It's taken five months but she finally trusts me enough to sit on me!

It was to get even better... Peggy Sue curled up! No feet on the human, ready to spring down at a moment's notice... instead, she was totally relaxed. We loved up for over an hour!

Such small victories are the rewards of fostering! Slowly gaining the trust of a sweet critter like Peggy Sue will, simultaneously, humble you and fill you with joy!

Thankful Thursday

Recognize that title?? I shamelessly stole it from Brian's blog (thanks, Brian!!). And I'm going to try to remember to do this at least a couple of times a month. As you may have seen, I've listed some foster and adoption blogs in the sidebar... but I sure haven't done much to thank them for encouraging Space Paws or for the fine work they do.

In the past week or so I've been triple blessed!!! I've visited some new friends and discovered an old friend was doing a new thing!! So this week is a thank you to folks who have recently begun a foster/adoption blog!

People from all over are trying to make their little corner of the universe a bit better! Let me introduce you to them and tell you that today I am thankful for The Crazy Cat Lady, kittykye, Leslie and Dieter over at Kittitas and Angie at wee furries!

Treat yourself and meet them!!

There are more folks than we realize who really are trying to make a difference. I'm very proud to call these folks friends of Space Paws!

She's in the mood for lovin'

Miss Peggy Sue is quite the cuddler, but doesn't often come forward demanding attention. Tonight was a rare exception, so I had to grab the camera. She continued to love me up for about a half an hour after filming ceased. Hmmmm... the full moon, perhaps?

Board (In)Action

Miss Bitty had been charging back and forth across the kitteh walk so I tried to film a bit. It was the signal to halt. All action stopped when I started filming. Fortunately, Mr. Percy came to the rescue with his adorable belly. And we got a little shot of Miss Peggy Sue in there, too!

I did take another clip with a little more action, but "North by Northwest" was on in the background and the sound was very distracting. Dang, I didn't know I watched TV with the volume up so high!! ;-)

PS- Those popcorn boxes in the clip are the leftovers from Halloween. *sigh* We usually get about 125-150 kids in a night but, I guess because of the drizzle on Saturday, this year only 54.

Cuddle Weekend

Ah, the best laid plans of foster blogers...

The weekend was spent catching up on huggles and play with the kittehs, instead of catching you, gentle readers, up on what's been going on around here. Not that the kitteh's were without affection while Dad was here, or last week, but work and visiting sometimes made the attention a bit perfunctory. So this weekend we really caught up on the loving.

I didn't snap many shots, but here's is are a couple of snuggle pics and some more play on the kitteh stairs.

Aggie, in her favorite snuggle position.

Bitty gives us a little of that gorgeous belly.

Percy, ready for love anywhere...

And Peggy Sue enjoying pets with her four paws on the floor... her favorite way to do it.

This series is of Bitty and Aggie playing Queen of the Contraption. You can almost hear, "My stairs!"... "Oh, yeah? Well my walkway!"

Percy is Looking for a Warm Lap

Our Mr. Percy is almost five months old now. It's time for him to move on to a new lap so we'll be featuring him a bit more. Much as I hate to give up my robe (!), I know some loving heart will love being warmed by him on these cold winter nights to come!

Percy likes to drape himself anywhere. Here he shows his adorable 'tocks off for us.


Plop yourself anywhere and Mr. Percy will be there to keep you company!

And here's Percy, just gently purring on my lap.

Don't worry, that little sneezy thing you hear in the background is Winnie. She's got a little sinus infection, not contagious, right now - her lungs are clear, so she's fine!

You'll be seeing more of our boy this weekend. :-)