They put a bow on me and of course a picture was taken.

Other than that there was not much to write about this winter. Mr. and Mrs. Nice were working a lot and I spent a lot of time saving my energy for spring. In other words, I slept a lot and avoided cold weather. Since spring came around I have been busy with Mrs. and Mr. Nice in the garden. They have been doing lots of work in their garden and haven’t had time to help me with my blog. My function was to be the undergardener and have an overview of everything they did in the garden. I must say I approve of everything. It turned out really nice and is a wonderful place for me to relax.

The catnip is ready for me to taste again. Life is great!

Ein Hund denkt: Sie füttern mich, sie sorgen für mich, sie streicheln
mich: Das muessen Goetter sein.

Eine Katze denkt: Sie füttern mich, sie sorgen für mich, sie
streicheln mich: Ich muss ein Gott sein.

A cat thinks: They feed me, they care for me, they pet me. I must be a god.

After taking my antibiotics all week I am feeling much better. Food tastes great again, even though I will not touch my old cat food. When I smell it I am reminded of the pain I had last week. Mrs. Nice said I need to have my teeth cleaned, but she will wait until she off work since I have to have anesthesia.

Mrs. Nice was gone on a business trip all week. I was so happy when she returned on Friday. Saturday she spent all day in the garden and I was right along with her. Today was especially nice and she really worked hard. Of course I assisted her and observed the garden to ensure no other cat – especially Tom – would walk through the flower beds. (That’s my job!)

I took a nap in between and when I woke up she was still out there working. Mr. Nice helped her with the finishing touches and then she came in.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.