Stella-The-Cat

Stella the Cat has moved to a new location

2008-02-22T07:29:00.004+01:00

Hello friends,
Mr. and Mrs. Nice have decided to move my blog to one of their private domains. Since I am not a cat with a background in computer sciences and network administration I have to go along with the experts.

My blog can be found there from now on and as soon as Mrs. Nice has more time, I will have her type up some new stories. I still haven't figured out how to work the keyboard on her notebook myself.

http://stella-the-cat.finji.de

See you there!

What have I been up to?

2008-01-16T21:01:00.000+01:00

I tried the snow and I did not like it. This was taken January 1, 2008.

I haven't been doing much of anything. Between Christmas and New Year it was quite cold and I preferred to stay indoors much more than going outside. Mr. and Mrs. Nice used their spare time after work to occupy me. We also had company at our house. You may remember the post I had about the lady with the big Weimaraner? Well, she spent New Year's at our house and of course, she spoiled me as well.

I much more prefer to play with my shoestrings and Mr. Nice. He is really good at playing with me.

The last two weeks were great. Mr. & Mrs. Nice have been home with home and I get to go out whenever I want now. The weather has been much nicer and the snow is gone. Mrs. Nice said she saw tulips and crocuses peeking out of the ground. It looks like spring is on its way to me. According to Mrs. Nice we will probably have some snow again in February or March. She advised me not to get spring fever yet! Watching her almost getting on ground level looking for plants that is kind of difficult to do. :-)

I reeeeaaally enjoy that!

Before I quit writing, I have to tell you that the neighbors are talking about me! Mrs. Nice was tickled to death after a neighbor told her on New Year's Eve outside that she thinks it is so funny when I leave my house, enter the street, holding up my tail like I am the "diva" of our street. Sounds like they think I am conceited, doesn't it? I am not sure whether I should be offended or not. Mr. & Mrs. Nice just think I am the cutest cat alive. That's enough for me.

Mrs. Nice only had a picture from this summer of me where I am holding my tail up high. What's wrong with that? I avoid bringing home dried leaves that way. I do it all to keep Mr. & Mrs. Nice's house clean. That's right! :-)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2007-12-22T23:01:00.000+01:00

This is my very first Christmas at the Nice's house. I can tell it will be exciting. Today Mr. Nice put up a real tree inside the house and Mrs. Nice spent hours decorating.

She is a little worried that I may climb up her tree because her old cat used to do that when he was a kitten. The Santa Claus you see in the picture looks like something I'd love to get my paws on, but I better not. I know she will get the water bottle out and spray me which I don't care for at all.

Anyhow if I don't get around to drop you a line. Have a Merry Christmas with all your loved ones and all the best for 2008.

Yours truly,
Stella-The-Cat

Way Up High ....

2007-12-09T22:39:00.000+01:00

Usually Mrs. Nice has a clematis growing here, but I thought I should see how difficult it is to climb up here. Great view from up here, I'd say.

At the moment it is too cold outside to have any exciting adventures outdoors. Mrs. Nice says I act like Garfield the cat when I am bored. Can you tell me who this is?

Anyhow, have fun looking at my pictures.

Stella-The-Cat

View Album

Get your own

My favorite and not so favorite spots in the house

2007-11-25T19:18:00.001+01:00

When I came to Mr. & Mrs. Nice's home, I had presents waiting for me. One of them was my scratch pole which I have shown for Luna once before and my little wicker basket.

The scratch pole remains to be one of my favorite spots since I can sit there and look out of the window into the garden. Since I don't care to be out very much at the moment, I can sharpen my claws there as well which I do lot.
The wicker basket I liked at the beginning. For some reason which I cannot explain I have avoided it for a while.

Then they bought this red "cave" for me. At the moment this is where I am all the time when I need some peace and quiet. Of course, it is in my favorite room which is the bedroom.

Mr. & Mrs. Nice thought I should have more hiding places and bought another one. This one is blue and it has a pillow with the same design on the inside. She has begged me to use it. Mr. Nice thought that I may be smelling something I don't like, so Mrs. Nice even washed it and put my favorite cuddly blanket in it.
Today they tried again to entice me to use it; to no avail though. I wonder why I just cannot use it quite yet?

So, what do you think of my furniture?

Have a nice week!
Stella

What's there do do ... Part II

2007-11-17T23:57:00.000+01:00

Dear friends,
the cold weather continues. The weekend is here and this usually means that I am allowed to spend a lot of time outdoors when Mr. and Mrs. Nice are home. Since it is dark when they come home in the evening now, I don't care to be out since the temperature has dropped so much.

However, today I had to go out and explore our garden a little. As you can probably tell by the looks of it, my paws were pretty cold. I didn't stay out much longer.

I hurried to make it to the border and back inside the house.
I decided this week I need to take charge of the other couch where Mr. Nice likes to sit with his notebook and surf on the internet. He left the notebook on the couch while he worked on the office computer upstairs and I had time to admire my blog.

I hope wherever you are that your weather is warmer than it is in Bavaria right now.

Have a nice weekend!
Stella-the-Cat

What's there to do ....

2007-11-12T00:11:00.000+01:00

.... in weather like that. I decided for myself to take a nap .. all day long.

Have a nice week!

Stella-The-Cat

The Invasion

2007-10-20T16:26:00.000+02:00

Dear blog friends,
I haven't posted in a while, but nothing exciting has happened lately in my boring life until last week. Of course, I have got to share it with you.

You are probably wondering about the title "The Invasion". Yes, we actually had an invasion kind of ... sort of ... invasion of children and adults.

It all happened on Saturday the 13th, not Friday the 13th. It might as well have been Friday the 13th. It was a quiet Saturday as usual until about 4 p.m. Suddenly there were 4 people on our patio, 2 big people and 2 small boys. They were greeted very lovingly; still no clue who that could be. I kind of stepped ahead to be noticed and the little boys paid attention to me.

Suitcases and lots of bags, goodies for Mr. and Mrs. Nice were carried into the house into the spare bedrooms. What was happening???? Somebody please tell me????

The strangers stayed. They stayed for a week.

There was no place to hide for me anymore. They were everywhere. After about two days I succumbed to the situation. What else was there for me to do? I didn't get the impression that they were leaving anytime soon.

Actually it turned out rather nice. I had many people to spoil me. Later on I found out that the older two were Mrs. Nice's parents and the little boys, who were 9 and 10 years old, were her nephews. I came to appreciate them as fun playmates. Whenever I would go outdoors, one of them would follow and play Hide'n Seek with me. Even Mrs. Nice's mom spoiled me. This was new to Mrs. Nice because she always considered her mom not to be a cat person. Mrs. Nice's dad just observed me from a distance and got tickled at some of my habits.

Today -without telling me, no advance warning whatsoever- suitcases and bags were taken outside into a car, the newfound friends left again. What happened??? I thought they were going to live with us from now on.
Well, Mrs. and Mrs. Nice explained to me that this is called "a visit" and that they return occasionally.

I was relieved after that! At least I know I will see my new friends again. Until that time I will enjoy the piece and quiet again in my house.

On Special Request by Luna

2007-09-17T18:07:00.000+02:00

Luna wanted to see my scratch post and Mrs. Nice got a good shot of it today while I was resting from running around outside all day. This weekend was especially busy since I had the responsibility of observing the border makeover in Mrs. Nice's garden.

What do you think of it, Luna? I like it very much and it feels great to scratch on real wood, especially when you can't go outdoors. Mr. and Mrs. Nice like it because it fits into the house quite well and it doesn't look as artificial as other scratch poles.

They bought something else for me! I haven't gotten a picture of it yet, though. It is a comfy little cave. The inside has fur and I love to sleep in there a lot during the day.

Last week was a quiet week, except for Sunday night/Monday morning. Mrs. Nice's son came home late and I noticed he didn't turn the key and lock the door. Can you guess, what I did? I jumped up the door handle and got out. When Mr. Nice got up in the morning getting ready for work, I was not home and the front door was open. He was very upset about it, which I don't understand because I came right home, when they were getting ready to drive to work which is 6:15 a.m. After that I thought that I could go out every night, but -oh no!- the front door has been locked again. Then again, it was interesting to enjoy the "night life".

Rainy Days

2007-09-11T17:01:00.001+02:00

I am not allowed to go out when it rains. Usually, Mr. & Mrs. Nice let me find out myself whether I like it or not. You probably guessed it, I not only dislike rain, I hate it. Nevertheless, I like to make up my mind anew each time it rains. For whatever reasons my owners do not understand that part of my thinking.

These past weeks have been rather irritating for me. Tied to the house most of the time during the day since Mr. & Mrs. are back to the office, it has been pouring down during the evening when they get home and we've had hail twice in a row. In addition to my urge to hit the road, you have Mrs. Nice who is upset about not being able to do much outdoors and seeing her hostas and other plants looking like Swiss cheese. Great combination, don't you think? You'd believe that she understands me.

Since I am not giving up the right to find out myself whether I like it outdoors or not, I guess we will continue the game which has been documented in pictures of course. ;-)

Here I am checking out the weather from the lower levels.

Looking outside from my scratch pole. Yes, looks kind of wet outside.

Let me out guys!

Why does Mrs. Nice always leave her garden shoes here? The rug has been placed there because of me. Mrs. Nice says I bring the outdoors indoors on my tail and fur.

I wonder if I can open this?

Maybe I need to put my paw between the tilted window?

There has to be a spot somewhere here inbetween where I can slip outdoors without having to beg those two. I know they are watching me.

I give up. YOU RULE - but this time only.

It's been a while

2007-09-02T14:59:00.000+02:00

Mr. and Mrs. Nice have been kind of busy and there wasn't much time to get this week's story online. You may have noticed my absence, but I was not at home. You will read more about this if you stick around.

I have also been a bit upset. They did not tell me that I would be alone in the "cat hotel" for two weeks. Now I know what it means when they get these things called suitcases from the attic. It means one or both will be leaving.

While they were away vacationing on some island where they've decided to get married while there by the way, I had to spend two miserable weeks in a cat hotel. What's REALLY bad about this is that it was the place where they have adopted me. It scared me so bad having to go there, even though it was a separate house and room where only cats stayed whose owners where on vacation. You may have read that I don't really care about other cats. My only enjoyment are the people I stay with. They are the ones spending time with me, cuddling and hugging me, feeding me. I missed them very much.

The two weeks passed by and I was so happy that they returned and had not forgotten about me. Like I have said before the two have gotten married. I thought they already were married, but no .. they've been "living in sin" for 10 years. Oh well, that is not unusual in Germany, but it definitely surprised me. Well, I don't care either way, I am just so happy I have got my Mr. & Mrs. Nice again all to myself and don't have to be away from them now.

The past 1 1/2 weeks I did not let them out of my sight. They've had to carry me around. At night I made sure I slept at the foot of the bed. Mrs. packed a suitcase once again and I was afraid I'd have to go to the "cat hotel" so soon again, but she had to go on a business trip over night and Mr. Nice stayed home. I'll settle for that.

What's new is that both of them leave every day now. In the past months Mrs. Nice has been home with me, but she has to go to something called "office" along with Mr. Nice. They come home every night and then it is "my" time. As long as they come home it is allright with me.

I get to go outdoors, but I don't stay away for long and come back often to check if they are still at home. I've heard Mrs. Nice tell Mr. Nice that she believes that I have fears of being abandoned again by my "can openers". She may be right. Too bad I cannot tell her in people talk what happened to me before they adopted me at the shelter.

Now you're up-to-date again about Stella's life! Keep coming back!

Gib mir fünf

2007-07-29T00:06:00.000+02:00

I am doing this post in German since German cat friends tagged me for "Give Me Five".

Maus & Allegra haben mich "getagged"

Jetzt soll ich 5 Fragen beantworten, womit ich euch dann so einiges über mich verrate, was ja nicht jeder wissen sollte. Aber wahrscheinlich macht ihr euch sowieso schon Gedanken über mich, wenn ich euch meine Strategien im Internet verrate, wie ich Mr. & Mrs. Nice erziehe.

Frage 1: Nenne deine 5 Lieblingssongs

"Hit the road, Jack, but I will come back ... " Das singe ich, wenn ich vor meinem Kästchen stehen, wo mein Halsband aufbewahrt wird.
"Fisch im Gelee, oh yeah, Fisch im Gelee ..." Das singe ich, wenn ich brav darauf warte, bis meine Dosenöffner mir mein Schälchen gefüllt haben, damit sie wissen, dass Rind nicht mein Lieblingsessen ist.
"I am ready, I am ready to be cuddled, yes, M'am... meow" ... Das singe ich, wenn ich mal wieder schmusen will und das ist ziemlich häufig
"Time to say Good Night" - Das singe ich, wenn ich zum wiederholten Male zu Frauchen komme am Abend, um sie endlich ins Bett zu holen.
"Hello again ..." Das singe ich, wenn ich mich wieder bemerkbar mache nach einem Gartenbesuch, um auf Nummer sicher zu gehen, dass meine Schüssel schon wieder gefüllt ist.

Frage 2: Was sind deine 5 Lieblingsspielzeuge

Die Frösche an und in Nachbars Teich
Meine bunten Bändchen
Mein Weinkorken mit Schnur
Schmetterlinge, aber die lassen sich nicht fangen
Meine kleinen Bällchen, die ich wie ein Fussballprofi durch's Haus kicke

Frage 3: Nenne deine 3 Lieblingssnacks
Jetzt wird's schwierig. Herrchen und Frauchen haben ziemlich schnell gemerkt, dass ich eine Katze bin, die sich aus den ganzen Snacks, die sie gekauft haben, nichts macht. Darum liste ich mal meine Lieblingsfutter.

Herrchen kauft mir immer diese Tütchen von KitKat, die ich liebe. Da komme ich angerannt, wenn er damit winkt. Hmmmmm.....

Thunfisch
Lachs
Alles, worin Leber enthalten ist, auch Trockenfutter
Kabeljau - einfach göttlich
Huhn - dagegen mag ich Truthahn überhaupt nicht.

Frage 4: Nenne deine 5 Lieblingsbeschäftigungen

In den Garten gehen und mich in der Sonne aalen
Auf der Wiese hinter unserem Haus spielen
Schlafen in einer stillen Ecke im Garten
Schmusen
Mit Herrchen spielen, weil der das richtig gut kann

Frage 5: Nenne 5 schlechte Angewohnheiten

Da muss ich richtig überlegen. Eigentlich bin ich perfekt.

Ich nerve meine Dosenöffner mindestens 1 Stunde jeden Abend, wenn ich eigentlich im Haus bleiben muss, damit sie mich doch wieder raus lassen. Aber es funktioniert nicht. Sie bleiben hart. Frauchen sagt immer: "Dass Stella das nach 2 Monaten nicht kapiert, dass sie abends nicht raus darf." Ich hab's schon kapiert, aber bisher hab ich euch ja immer wieder weich gekriegt. Nur da scheint es nicht zu funktionieren.
Ich renne manchmal zwischen die Füße von Frauchen, wenn sie die Treppe runter geht, weil ich vor ihr an der Terrassentür sein möchte.
Wenn Türen geschlossen sind, spring ich hoch und öffne sie. Inzwischen sind die Türgriffe hochgestellt, weil sie nicht immer wollen, dass ich überall rein kann. Bei Sohnemann A. wirkt es aber. Er macht mir auch mitten in der Nacht die Tür auf. Frauchen hat ihm aber gesagt, er soll sie geschlossen halten, wenn er nicht möchte, dass ich zu ihm komme. Allerdings musste Herrchen schon mal durch's Küchenfenster, weil ich die Terrasentür angesprungen hatte und da ist die Tür geschlossen, wenn der Griff unten ist. Jetzt nimmt er aber immer die Schlüssel mit in den Garten.
Ich gehe in fremde Häuser und leg mich auch mal in fremde Betten.

Da Silke und Wolfgang schon Giselas Max nominiert haben und die einzig andere Blog-Katze Luna ist, die ich kenne, gerade in Urlaub ist, muss ich wohl mit meinen Offenbarungen hier allein bleiben. Eure Stella-The-Cat

Week #9 - Sneaking my way into the bedroom

2007-07-26T22:46:00.000+02:00

I cannot remember whether I have told you that Mrs. Nice didn't really like for me to take my naps on her bed. At first the bed was completely off limits.

Then I started joining her in the morning when she would make the bed. She'd open the shades and I could sit on the window sill and look outside.

One day she left the bedroom door open and I laid down on the bedspread. She thought it was cute. The rule changed to: Stella may rest on the bed, but the spread must be on the bed.

Another rule was that I could not sleep in the bedroom at night. They put the door handles upright to keep me from opening the door and hung a scary balloon there which would pop when I jumped at it.

Then I would sleep in between the hallway and the bedroom before they came to go to bed. I must've looked so cute and they didn't want to wake me, so they left their door open and put the blanket on the floor. Mrs. Nice softened and put my little basket into their room for me to sleep in with the condition that I would not come into their bed.

One night I thought I'd give it a try. Mrs. Nice went to bed and I jumped on the bottom part of the bed. Mr. Nice started laughing and they let me stay there under the condition that I stay at the end of the bed.

Can you see the progression? This is the way to do it .. be sneaky about it, be cute and they will let you do anything. That's my story for week #9. Gotta go and check out the neighborhood! Have a nice weekend!

Week #8 - Being a lazy cat

2007-07-19T18:39:00.001+02:00

Not much happened during my 8th week at my new home. I have pretty much taken over the house. Training Mr. and Mrs. Nice is progressing well. During the week it rained a lot and I stayed indoors and enjoyed lots of hugs and peace & quiet. The weekend was sunny and I wanted to take the opportunity and be outside a lot.This is the chair Mrs. Nice likes to use outside a lot. I found it is a really nice place to relax and take it easy. I wonder if I could have it? Don't think so ...

Have I told you that I enjoy watching television. My servants think this is funny and of course, they've taken a picture of me.

My favorite spots when I can't go outdoors are my scratching post and my basket. Since I have been living at my new home, I found that playing is lots of fun. Mr. Nice plays a lot with me when he gets home from work and I look forward to it every night. However, playing by myself is fun, too. They've bought these tiny balls I like to play with. Mrs. Nice says I look like someone playing soccer when I play with those. Ribbons are also fun to play with. Mrs. Nice got them in all different colors for me.

I hope you've enjoyed my little story, even though not much has happened. Next week's story should be more exciting. I will tell you how I am working my way into the bedroom. :-)

Week #7 - A cat's worst nightmare

2007-07-09T00:09:00.000+02:00

This week was pretty much uneventful for me. I have had to stay indoors a lot due to the weather. I tried to behave to make up for the behavior from week #6, so Mr. & Mrs. Nice would not be upset anymore.

Today - Sunday - was the day any cat in a new home fears. A dog arrived. Not just any dog, a HUGE dog! Have a look. Didn't I have a reason to worry?
His name is Brian, a Weimaraner hunting dog. You tell me - why does he have to come to my house? I live here now.

At first I was scared, so Mr. Nice picked me up.

This must've been punishment for everything I have done last week. Mrs. Nice seemed to know the dog very well. She even touched the dog and the dog LIKED her, too. Hey, dog, that's my Mrs. Nice, not yours. I knew the lady because she came to visit when I first arrived here. Who would think that a nice lady like this would have a HUGE dog like Brian? The question should really be - why??? I thought she liked cats.

You better believe it that I stayed very close and nearby to watch every step they did. I do that anyhow when someone comes into my garden or talks to Mr. & Mrs. Nice. You do understand that, don't know? What kind of cat would I be if I wasn't keeping track of the visitors to our house and garden.
This dog had the nerves to want to play with me. Now why in the world does a dog want to play with a cat? I was NOT interested at all. As a matter of fact, I found a spot between the pots and figured he'd leave me alone. But you know dogs - they have tunnel vision. He was not giving up on that idea.
Here I am hiding next to the blue pot and the little table and HE kept looking for me. (Click on the picture and you'll get a better glimpse of me. Can't miss the dog, I reckon.)

Ok.. well I let him have a look at me, but he better watch out for Stella-The-Cat. I hissed at him to let him know that I did NOT like him and did NOT want to be bothered at all.

Then the lady wanted to have a walk through my garden to look at all the flowers Mrs. Nice planted for me to enjoy. I walked right behind them. When the dog saw me, he charged at me and I took of running to the front of the house. Mrs. Nice told me later he wanted to play. I simply don't care. I do not like dogs.

I was so relieved when they decided to leave. Of course, I made sure to follow them to the front of the house and to see the dog getting into the car.

After they were gone I walked right back into my house and rolled all over the floor everywhere this dog has been laying down to get rid of his scent.

I made sure Mr. & Mrs. Nice KNEW that I did not like it and I gave them some of "my medicine" which is a "cold shoulder". They hate it when I ignore them.

That was my Sunday story for this week and I hope this does NOT happen again.

Week #6 - Time to confess

2007-07-02T13:29:00.000+02:00

It is soooo difficult to admit when you are wrong, but there is no way around it. I just cannot see Mrs. Nice upset and Mr. Nice getting stricter.

Ok... here we go. I confess:

During week #6 I was not the perfect cat you expect me to be.
I stayed out longer than you like.
I irritated you daily in the evening when you thought I was past the point of bugging you to let me out of the house.
I slipped into the neighbor's basement and visited their house. Mrs. Nice said -when she heard this- I better be careful because their cat Paganina will fight me when she catches me in her territory. Talk about someone being upset!!!
I got caught in our neighbor's son's bed and thrown out of the house. I have overheard my can openers telling the neighbors to be really mean and throw me out of the house when they catch me again AND to make it very uncomfortable for me. I have noticed already that they are letting down the shades now. As you can imagine, Mrs. Nice was REALLY not happy anymore. Mr. Nice just had his usual grin like nothing could surprise him.
I have been making a more permanent bed in the next door neighbor's guest room. They could tell where I have been laying down resting. That REALLY brought the pot to a boil. Now I have to be careful around the Mrs.

Mr. and Mrs. Nice seem to have informants everywhere. I really need to slow down because I wouldn't want to push my luck.

Look at me - who could resist. Pure innocence! I am sleeping. I decided on my own it is better to be indoors when it is raining.

Happy now?? So I am not perfect. I am a cat. Stella-The-Cat

Week 4 and 5 - Stella on Tour

2007-06-23T15:27:00.000+02:00

These past two weeks have been incredibly busy. I was out and about checking out our neighborhood on my own. It was GREAT! Of course, I made sure to come back so Mrs. Nice would not worry too much.

Mr. and Mrs. have taken off some of the "things" around my neck that you saw in the previous post so I would not get caught in shrubs. The bell was taken off first and the registration tag. However, they decided to leave my little tube with the address inside on my collar.

First time with no leash

Here I am running out the door.

Leaving the terrace

In the backyard - no leash!

Checking out the neighbors. I decided to walk with Mr. & Mrs. Nice. It was a little scary.

The very first time around the block they walked with me and I was glad they did. We have people running loud saws and I didn't want to walk any further. Mr. Nice carried me past the saws. Then we have a big black dog that hates cats. He barked so loud and Mr. Nice picked me up again. Our neighbors right behind us have a male cat. When he saw MY Mrs. Nice and she talked to him he climbed across the fence to talk back at her. When he saw me he sat right across from me and looked at me straight into my eyes. Then he made noises which really scared me. He looked really handsome, though. Mr. Nice carried me the rest of the way, so I would not have to be scared anymore.

I decided to try by myself again the next day. It was enough excitement for one day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My first excursions all by myself took a little longer and on the very first day Mrs. Nice painted the hallway so she had a way to pass time she said while I was running around. It took exactly 3.5 hrs for me to come home. She must've set the stop watch. Now I know how her sons feel when they stay out too long.

I think she tricks me into coming home. There is just enough food in the bowl now that I have to keep coming home to eat. What do you think?

At night I am not allowed to go outdoors at all. When I scratch on the windows they fuss with me. They really don't like that. I run upstairs then and sleep. Then they can fuss all they want, but I don't hear them.

Have I told you that I've got a new favorite place - the bathroom mat? Hey, if they all sleep on the first floor, why should I sleep in the living room? It is another one of my perfect arrangements to keep "things" in this household under control. When they get up I can watch what they are doing. When Mr. Nice gets up, I make sure he does not forget to feed and brush me. When the Mrs. makes the beds I am right there sitting by the bedroom window. Then we go downstairs, she fixes my food, puts my collar on and I am allowed to leave. When they take my collar off, I have to stay indoors. That's easy to understand, isn't it? They have all kind of smart ideas, but they are starting to make sense.

Week 5 I had to be alone in the house for a few days during the day because Mrs. Nice was in the hospital. I watched her pack her suitcase wondering what was happening and could tell she was sad and I didn't leave her alone much on this day. Now she's come back home and I am happy I've got all my family together again. I can come and go as I please during the day and don't have to wait for Mr. Nice until the evening.

Here's another nice picture of me. Mrs. Nice says, I am the perfect garden decoration, don't you agree?

I know how to walk on the fence now. Check me out! Here is a collection of snapshots. Click to enlarge the image.

More next time. I hope you enjoyed my little summary.

I am getting ready .....

2007-06-11T16:09:00.000+02:00

.... to hit the road, Jack, but I am coming back.

Look at what Mrs. Nice got for me! A red collar. My registration number** is attached to it and an annoying bell. Right now I am wondering how I am supposed to catch any birds with a bell around my neck. We'll see if I will keep wearing it.

When Mr. Nice comes home I get to go out by myself - BY MYSELF!!

What do think of me wearing a red shiny safety collar? Be honest. I posed especially nice
** I have a chip implanted behind my ear. If I get lost or hurt, the chip can be read. Mrs. & Mrs. Nice registered me with TASSO. They do all kinds of stuff for animals.

Week #3 or Training Mr. & Mrs. Nice continued

2007-06-10T22:00:00.000+02:00

Thank you for the nice comments you left in my blog and the warm welcome I have received. I was overjoyed and hope you will return.

This was a tough week for me because I have had to put all my efforts and wits into training Mr. & Mrs. Nice. You would not believe the week I have had. However, let me start at the beginning.

I have told you last week that Mr. & Mrs. Nice have noticed that I was loosing hair on one ear. Conscientious as Mrs. Nice is about my welfare it was decided that I had to go to the vet. She checked with the neighbors where they were taking their cats and decided I had to go to the one the nice lady across the street uses. Tuesday was the day for the visit.

I hopped into my new colorful carrier. Just as we went outside to the car this downpour of rain started. Mrs. Nice opened the garage, put me in the car and we drove to the next town. We got there too early, so we went off for another spin around town. We were the first ones to be in the waiting room and the vet asked us to come into the examining room. He was really nice and I had to sit on this shiny table. Mrs. Nice asked all kinds of questions about my health and my shot records. He checked my ears under this ultraviolet light, gave us medicine for it and told us to return in 2 weeks if it did not clear up. Mrs. Nice took along some nasty worm medicine, too, because I am due to take that in 2 months again. I was really afraid he would give me a shot, but Mrs. Nice told me not to be scared and I felt safe and believed her. Then we drove home and since then I get medicine on my ear twice daily. Mr. Nice said it is getting better and I may not have to go back.

All week I have been taken out on my leash. I must not tell you that I am getting veeeeeerrryyyyy tired of that. We went for interesting walks, though. All around where we live I discovered the neatest things. There is a creek nearby and the biggest field!! Beautiful! Do you think Mr. Nice would let me run around there by myself??? Oh no!! When I try ... he picks me up and back to the house we go.

Then Mrs. Nice took me on a walk up the creek. She helped me cross this little bridge. I really didn't want to go across it, but she encouraged me and you know what? It was not scary after all because so many new smells, plants and even another cat was there. I just looked at her, though. At the time I felt it was better to walk with Mrs. Nice; didn't want to scare this cat. :-)

As the week went by I started to push the issue of going outside more seriously. They are at the point now where they are getting tired of having to stop what they are doing to take me outdoors. I have got a feeling that is the status right now. I am allllllmoooost where I want to be. My road to personal freedom.

It is a drag how hard I have to work on that. At night it irritates them really bad. They want to watch TV and I abuse the window and screen. Remember when I wrote that Mrs. Nice is stricter? Well, I think she and Mr. Nice have a had a conversation about my upbringing. He is STRICT now as well!!! He sprays me with the water bottle when I do something that annoys them badly. But guess what ... he plays with me, when I keep doing it to keep me from being bored. That's a good one, isn't it? Wouldn't you know that I'll remember that? :-) He takes me hundreds of times to my scratching post when I scratch the window or the screen. My original thought in doing that was that they would let me out, but it is not working. My first impression that they are smart people seems to be correct. Instead of opening the door I am taken to the scratching post and being told that this is where I am allowed to scratch. Let me tell you in people words: IT STINKS!!

This is how I start to get them to take me out. What do you think? You may want to show your cat, because it works sometimes.

I walk to the window, hear their sigh in the background, "She wants to go out. Who is taking her?" They are trying to ignore me, because they are really not ready to interrupt what they are doing, but I can tell they're watching me out of the corner of their eyes.

I place myself right in the middle of the room. They HAVE to see me THERE! Still no response from Mr. & Mrs. Nice. Sometimes I believe they think I will evaporate and put my needs behind theirs. Are you kidding me, Stella-The-Cat? I am not a dog!

Ok, one more elegant (but begging) look back to see if I see a reaction on their faces and I have to think about the next strategy.

Ok, here I go! I am going to the front door? Will you take me out there?

I'm REALLY going to the front door, you better believe it!

It is not working!! They are still ignoring me, but I'll get them.

That should get them NOW. They do not like for me to be on top of furniture. I have been wanting to sleep in my carrier since we got back from the vet. Mrs. tells me it doesn't fit into her livingroom, but I could care less. It is considered a piece of furniture now.

NOOOOOWWW I've gotten their attention. They are taking me off the carrier. One last try now.

I am walking towards the dreaded balloon that's supposed to keep me from scratching the window (which I have managed to work around now. Tell you later about that.) THEY ARE WATCHING MEEEEEEE!

I DID IT!!! Can you tell what this is? My little harness to get outdoors. The hands you see are Mr. Nice's hands!! He is a softie .... I am VERY good!!

I am telling you a secret now. Don't tell Mr. & Mrs. Nice I know, though. They are giving up on making me a 75% house cat I've overheard. Once I get a little collar next week, they are allowing me to hit the yard BY MYSELF. It will be difficult to hold back my excitment until then, but WORLD GET READY, HERE COMES STELLA-THE-CAT!

On a more personal note: You will have to show mental support for Mr. & Mrs. Nice. It will be like cutting the umbilical cord for them and letting another child out into the bad world. They just don't know at the moment that I will love them just as much.

The other side of the fence and other things - Week #2

2007-06-06T10:29:00.000+02:00

During the second week I have been getting used to the routine here.

I wonder why they won't take down the balloons at the entry way door, the terrace door in the livingroom and their bedroom? Don't they trust me? It must be the yearning I have in my eyes when I sit on my scratch post or when I stand up against the window looking outside. As much as I have thought about it, there seems to be no way around these balloons.

I like to follow them around the house. THEY get to go outdoors anytime they want, but THEY don't allow ME to go outdoors every time with them.

In this house livingroom, diningroom and kitchen are connected. Between the livingroom and the kitchen there is a sliding door. From the kitchen and livingroom the hallway can be entered. Guess what they did? Mr. & Mrs. Nice put the door handles upright!! Don't they know that I cannot open the doors like that? One would think they'd have given this much better consideration and thought about my needs!! When Mr. Nice mows the lawn and Mrs. Nice works in her flower beds, they trick me. Quickly they lure me into the entry way and they shut these two doors. Then I have to stand against the doors, make the most miserable sounds, waiting for their pity ... but to no avail. I am not allowed back in until the yard work has been completed and I can go outdoors on a leash with them. That's not fair, Mr. & Mrs. Nice! You better believe me, I will remember when they use the trick on me next time. I am wondering this may have something to do with my first Saturday here when Mr. Nice had to climb through the kitchen window?

Mrs. Nice noticed I was loosing some hair on my right ear. It worried her. She is always worried about me, my (now) beautiful shiny coat, that I drink enough, and eat enough. Something else that she cares very much about is cleanliness. My scratch post is being vacuumed every other day. She says, even though I don't shed as badly as her old shorthair cat Streaks, she does not want my hair everywhere. When she vacuums I watch from a distance. As strong as this vacuum cleaner is, I am surprised it does not suck the carpet up as well. When she is done, I get right back up on my scratch post. As you see, I have my personal maid as well. That's a life of luxury. They didn't do this in the animal shelter.

Mr. Nice always told me during the first week, that he doesn't care to walk along the fence in the yard all the time. He likes to sit in one spot and cuddle. Doesn't he know that I am curious about what's past this fence? Who cares what he likes? My needs are important!

Mrs. Nice started taking me past the fence on the leash. Now I know what the front of my house looks like. It is very sunny there in the evening. Mrs. Nice and I sit there on a pretty bench. She gives me enough leash so I can go across the street to the other neighbor's fence. I smelled another cat there, too. There is a nice lady with a husband and another set of twins living there. They came out to welcome me to the neighborhood and warned me about some of the mean cats around here. There is Tommy, another cat in the neighborhood, who watched me during my first outing on the other side of the fence. Mrs. Nice tried to make him leave, but he kept following from a distance. I've got to watch out for this fellow. We even walked to the creek which was neat. I wonder what comes after the creek?

Here is where we sit when we go out front.

When I get tired of being on the other side of the fence, I walk back into the garden with Mrs. Nice. It is usually time for me to eat something and get some rest.

This is the view I get. Now tell me, would you run away from here?

This all I have to tell you about my second week in my new home.

Taking it nice'n easy

2007-06-06T00:16:00.000+02:00

I finally met the missing member of the family. He's not home much, but I guess that's normal when you are his age. He has a twin they tell me, who has already moved out. I guess young Mr. Nice is the one I need to wrap around my paws if I want to sleep on a real bed every once and while.

Do you think he would mind when he is not home or at work if I laid down there a little? Look at the picture of him and myself. He likes ME, Stella-The-Cat. I greet him when he gets home from work with Mr. Nice and cuddle with him just like I do with Mr. & Mrs. Nice.

Mrs. Nice is at home at the moment because she is not feeling too well, so I really need to enjoy the time while I have her for company during the day. She's told Mr. Nice that I am like medicine for her - whatever that means. I just love that I get held, my coat brushed and attention whenever I need it.

Mrs. Nice is busy in the house and doesn't always have time for me when I want it, but I have learned to get her attention. I just jump up into her lap and make room for myself. Who could resist when I do that and when I purr like I do?

Mrs. Nice is stricter than Mr. Nice and she tells him about the little tricks I use. She caught me jumping on the diningroom table and I reeeeaaaly got fussed at for that. I better not do that again. As it is with everything in life, you have to try something to find out if you are allowed to do it or not.

I don't jump on kitchen counters either. Mrs. Nice thinks I have really good manners. On the couch I have a soft blanket where I am allowed to sit. My favorite spot is on Mr. Nice's belly. Here is a picture Mrs. Nice has taken when I do that. Mr. Nice thinks this is pretty funny how I demand attention and compares me to the cat his family used to have.

Approximately during the middle of my first week at my new home, I felt good enough to start talking to my family. Now I meow and they talk back. At first, I wouldn't do that and they thought this was strange. Don't ask me why, but talking to them makes things much easier. They seem to understand what I am telling them.

The very first Saturday in my new house Mr. & Mrs. Nice worked outdoors in the garden. Hey, I wanted to go there, too. The door was only pulled shut. I jumped up, but the door did not open. Terrace doors seem to work differently than the regular doors in the house. You should have seen all the excitement escalating outside. Suddenly I hear someone working on the kitchen window which was on tilt and here comes Mr. Nice through the kitchen window. He is no small fellow, you must know. Pretty smart, don't you think? Going out the terrace door and coming back in through the kitchen window. The next time I went to my terrace door there was a balloon hanging there. What a surprise! It looked so inviting and I jumped against it. Have you ever heard a balloon pop? Surely, you have, but you don't know the effect it had on me. It really scared me. I wonder why they did that?

One night I wanted to play with Mr. Nice, but he was in bed already. Mrs. Nice was at the computer. Naturally, I went upstairs, jumped on the door handle, grabbed it with both paws and my weight opened the door with a loud sound. That must've scared him! Quickly I was put back into my basket in the livingroom by Mr. Nice. I don't think he was too happy about me waking him up. The next day they had a balloon on the bedroom door handle as well. I am scared of balloons, so I've decided not to try that one again.

I can't complain, though. Every day I get to go outdoors. Early in the morning, Mr. Nice brushes me before he is off to work. When Mrs. Nice is up I get more food, more loving and lots of attention. I think I will try not to upset them and mind them. Looks like I am the one being trained, doesn't it?

That is a summary of my first week in my new home. The story of week #2 follows soon.

My First Visit Outdoors - Day #2

2007-06-05T22:09:00.000+02:00

On Monday, May 21st, I must have made a face sad enough to soften Mr. & Mrs. Nice's heart. I was sitting at the window, looking out, looking at them, walking to them, going back to the window numerous times. Hey, it worked! Mr. Nice said, he would take me outdoors! World, here I come!

Well, it was not "World, here I come". It was "World, here I come, as far as this leash he puts on will let me." It is better than nothing, right? You have got to see this garden. Lots of green grass, beautiful roses and other flowers and a Swedish garden house. Can you imagine how it feels to sit inside on your scratching post and to be exposed to a view like that, only guessing how it could feel to be out there? No, you probably can't since you get to go outdoors all the time, but TODAY I GET TO GO OUTSIDE WITH MR & MRS. NICE!

Mr. Nice put my little harness on and this expandable leash. I will forgive him for this one since the leash is for dogs, but he means well. They take a lot of pictures of me of everything I do. Sometimes it bores me, but it makes them happy.

Here I am leisurely enjoying the grass.

There are more pictures of me outside. I think I will show them to you. The leash really isn't too bad. At least I get to go outdoors. They tell me I will have to wear it on all my outdoor visits until I know where I belong now. When I do I get to go outdoors by myself. Mrs. Nice said I will have a curfew and not allowed outdoors at night when they are in the house. They are trying to train me to be a 75% house cat. We'll see how that will work. I am sure I can change that. Just got to work on my training. :-) Mr. Nice doesn't want to be recognized, but I had to show you this picture. He allowed me to sit on his shoulders. Anything that makes Stella-The-Cat and Mr.&Mrs. Nice happy.

Here is another one of me just loving the peace and quiet. You will only enjoy this kind of life if you have been inside an animal shelter for a while. I know what I am talking about. Mrs. Nice keeps saying she would hate for me to run away from their house and that she already loves me so much. Running away will be one idea I won't even give any consideration.

This is the end of the story of how I got Mr. & Mrs. Nice to take me outdoors.

Putting their mind at ease

2007-06-05T21:31:00.001+02:00

More Day One ....

Of course I wanted to know where my toilet would be located. After all I am a clean cat! You wouldn't believe Mr. & Mrs. Nice, though.

I was given a walk through my new accomodations. Guess, where they took me first? You guessed it, my bathroom. It is located in the basement where the washer and dryer are. Off it went to the two other rooms in the basement where Mr. Nice keeps his tools and another huge room they call "The Hobby Room", whatever that is. Looks more like the place where they keep everything they don't really want upstairs.

On the first floor I already knew where the living- and diningroom, kitchen and guest bathroom ("Off limits" to me I overheard them say) were located. I dine in the kitchen near the refrigerator out of three brandnew bowls. One for water, one for dry food and one for canned food. As you can see, I am not lacking anything. I've overheard them talking that they have bought different dry and canned foods in case I was a picky eater. "People! I've lived in an animal shelter! You eat what you get there or you will go hungry!" Well, I won't spoil it for them since they have so much fun spoiling me, Stella-The-Cat.

Now you tell me, can life get any better than that? Three bowls, my choice of food and grass!! This is like eating in a restaurant.

Then we went to the second floor where three bedrooms and the master bathroom are located. Not bad, I thought. I guess I'll stick around for a while. Wonder if they will let me sleep in their bedroom sometimes. Oops, just heard Mrs. Nice say, that sleeping in the bedroom is a "no no". Oh well, someone else sleeps in this house. His room is on this floor, too. I can work on him when I meet him. Then there is the third bedroom which is used for a guestroom. Mrs. Nice said, I can go in there, but not sleep. I guess she is afraid I will claim it for myself and not let any visitors sleep in there. We'll see about that. :-)

The third floor has a huge bedroom that they are working on at the moment and another room where Mrs. Nice has all her painting and craft materials.

In conclusion, I must say, I am going to like it here very much and I am glad I got out of this raggedy joint at the animal shelter.

Do you remember my previous post where I told you about my fuzzy coat? Well, I am looking pretty good now. I have got this neat little brush and comb all to myself and it sure is nice having someone helping me with this long hair. I love being brushed and combed.

This is my new life. Now I have got the difficult task ahead of me of training Mr. & Mrs. Nice.

Oh, before I forget it. They took me about five more times to my bathroom in the basement. Like I am stupid or something! Well, to make life easier I used it and they could rest easily that night.

Ready or not - here I am

2007-06-05T20:10:00.000+02:00

Day One Continued ....

I had to go on a scary ride in the car. Who knows where they were going to take me? During the ride Mr. & Mrs. Nice were talking in the car about their plans for me, i.e. like not being allowed outdoors for the first few weeks without leash. I started to wonder if I really picked the right couple. The ride did not take too long and we arrived at my new home. Since I had to sit in the carrier I couldn't see my new house when we got out the car.

I heard the door open and being locked with a key. Riiiiight, they remembered - I OPEN DOORS! Pretty smart Mr. & Mrs. Nice! They must have the memory of elephants.

In the livingroom my carrier was opened where I peaked outside. "Looks pretty nice", I thought and got out. Then I looked for the new stuff - toys, scratching post and sleeping basket WITH a soft pillow. They must know about cats. But why on earth is the scratching post next to a couch and not near the window? THAT has to change. I've got to take it nice and slow though. First I must make an impression on them.

Here I am looking around my new place.

Not bad, tiled floor. Don't mind my fuzzy coat please. They didn't brush me very often at the shelter. You can't be too picky at a place like that. I am going to change this at this house. This place is like an oasis! I must have picked the right couple.

Check out the basket! Pretty neat, isn't it?

Hey, this is a house with a view! A garden!

Well, Mr. Nice came to me begging, "Stella, the scratch post was quite expensive, why don't you use it?" I wanted to say, "Dummy, there is no view where you've placed it now." But Mrs. Nice said, "The cat doesn't care what you paid for the thing. Move it to the window." "Pretty smart Mrs. Nice! I think I am going to like you!"

So, here I am on my expensive scratch post. Satisfied, Mr. Nice?

After all this excitement it was time for a nap. I will tell you more soon.

How I picked my new owners

2007-06-05T18:05:00.000+02:00

On May 19th, 2007 this really nice couple came to the shelter where I have been living for several months. They were looking for a kitty because they had been without an animal for a long, long time.

They were telling my caretaker that they wanted to look at a BKH-mix they had seen on the web page. What they didn't know was, that I reaaaaly wanted to be with them. I took the first opportunity available and jumped on the lady's shoulders. When Mr. Nice stood close, I went right to him, too. I must have done a really good job because they went nuts about me, stroked me and gave me lots of love.

Then I heard my caretaker telling them that I was a really good cat and liked only myself and the people around me. Nevertheless, they still wanted to look at the other cat. I decided to go outdoors while they were looking, but imagined that my chances were pretty good that they would end up coming back to my room.

Patience pays off! They came back to MY room and THEY wanted ME! ME! ME! There were some hurdles to get past, though. My caretaker is a careful one and she told my prospective can openers that she would not allow me to live near a busy street and she wanted to see the house where I was going to be living. She also told them that I knew how to open doors. Why did she do that? Couldn't they find out themselves? Then I heard the nice couple tell her that they would go to the store and buy a new scratching post, food, a sleeping basket and toys. It sounded like they really wanted me and were willing to spend some €€€€ on me, Stella-The-Cat.

Another long night passed and the next morning on Sunday, May 20th, 8 a.m. they arrived with a new carrying case for ME, Stella-The-Cat. My caretaker put me in there. Then I had to wait and put up with this obnoxious terrier mutt sniffing at my new case while my new friends had to sign adoption papers.

Off I went to my new home!