Gypsy & Tasha - Kaz's Cats

Sadness - Gypsy RIP c. 1 January 1995 to 24 January 2011

2011-01-25T07:51:00.005+11:00

It's the mum here. It is with much sadness that I have to inform you that Gypsy passed away yesterday morning, Monday 24 January 2011.

He has been bravely battling CRF and more recently Pancreatitis, but yesterday was his time. He had a really bad night and I knew when I saw him in the morning that it was time. His little body just needed to rest. We went on one last trip to the v-e-t and he passed away in my arms around 10:15 that morning.

I'm missing him more than I can say right now, and I'll post a better tribute to him later on. For now, Vale Gypsy. You will always be my 'big guy'.

Sunday Snoozing with Updates!

2009-11-22T21:32:00.008+11:00

Hi kitties, it's Gypsy here. Well the Cat Grass we planted last Sunday is actually growing. Here's a picture of me watching over it:
Mum had been a bit worried when she couldn't see anything shooting up out of the ground on Tuesday, but we told her to be patient. Sure enough, by Thursday there were lots of little bits of grass shooting out of the ground - even Mum could see them. We might look into adding to our garden next week - there's some Cat Nip seeds on standby...

Hey big bro, move over, it's Tasha here. It's a bit late, but I wanted to post a picture of some mail that our Sydney furriends, Fui and Suey, sent to us:

You see, we entered a Footy Tipping Competition that they ran to pick the winner of the National Rugby League Grand Final. The Melbourne Storm were battling the Parramatta Eels (featuring Fui Fui's namesake). Since we're from Melbourne, we had to pick the Storm to win, and they did! Fui and Suey very kindly made a donation to the RSPCA (who help lots of animals) on our behalf, and then sent us this lovely card and some scrumptious Temptations. Thanks so much Fui and Suey.

Ready for more Weekend Cat Blogging:

Weekend Cat Blogging

#233 Nov 21-22 Samantha Black & Mr Tigger at Life From a Cat’s Perspective

(see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos

Edition 110 Dec 06, 2009

Kashim & Othello and Salome

(submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats

#297 – Pet’s Garden Blog

(submit your post here)

Easy on Sunday (with Gardening!)

2009-11-15T21:31:00.014+11:00

Hi there, it's Tasha here with an update. I went to the v-e-t yesterday to have my final FIV+ booster vaccination, and had to get on the scales again. Now, when I had my annual check-up 4 weeks ago, I weighed 5.1 kgs. At that time, the otherwise nice v-e-t made remarks about how I could lose a little weight - rubbish I said! But I've been exercising a bit more since then, and not eating quite so much in the crazy hot weather we're having at the moment, and at yesterday's weigh-in, I came in at a svelte 4.85 kg. I'd lost 0.25 kg in 4 weeks!

The v-e-t was pleased but said that I could afford to lose another 0.25 kg. Sheesh! There's no pleasing some people. I guess I can lose a bit more, so we'll see...

My other announcment - We finally got Mum to plant our Cat Grass seeds in some real dirt today, so maybe we can join the ranks of the Society of Feline Gardeners. We're rank amateurs compared to the purresident, Jonesie, but we'll see how we go.

Here's a picture of me checking out our new Cat Grass:

Hey little sister, now don't hog the whole blog. It's Gypsy here, just letting everyone know that there were 2 kitties snoopervising our new crop of Cat Grass. Here's a shot of me in action:

It's exhausting being in charge!

For more great Cat Blogging over the weekend:

Weekend Cat Blogging

#232 Nov 14-15 Breadchick and LB at The Sour Dough

(see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos

Edition 110 Dec 06, 2009

Kashim & Othello and Salome

(submit your post here )

The Carnival of the Cats

#296 – Artsy Catsy

(submit your post here )

Three New Things Meme (We're Back!)

2009-11-08T22:31:00.000+11:00

Finally, we're back to post on our beloved blog. We can't believe how long it's taken our Mum to get back in the groove and find some time to post for us. Mum is still away from home lots during the week 'cos of a long commute to work, but she's making some time for our blog.

Here are photos of us in case anycat forgot what we look like:

This is me, Gypsy:

And this is me Tasha:

To help our Mum get back into things slowly, we're going to finally post a Meme that we were given a while ago...

We were tagged by that Gorgeous Ginger, China Cat, for Tigmut'hep's 3 New Things about Me Meme!

It's nice and simple, all you need to do is tell everyone 3 things that are new with you! Link it back to me and the purrson who gave it to you and pass it on to 3 more kitties you'd like to know more about! :)
~~~~~
Here are our 3 New Things:

1. Our weather just turned hot here, so it it's a warm rest of November for us. Mum says the temperature will be over 30 degrees celsius for most of the next week. We'll be 'flat out' in a cool spot if anyone's looking for us...

2. Gypsy: I had a health scare and was limping badly a couple of months ago - possibly partly because some clumsy person tripped over me...But I'm doing okay now - Mum had to give me some goooood painkillers for a while, and neither of us enjoyed that process. They did the job of helping me get back to being mobile...when I don't sleep.

3. Tasha: I just like being my cute and floofy self, although I'd like to get out more. At the moment I've under restrictions while I get vaccinated for FIV - Mum says that I've got to stay near her when I'm outside until I've finished the course. I like to be be cheeky with my big brother and play / fight with him just when he wants to climb up on the bed to go to sleep...hehehehehe

We won't tag anyone since this has been around for quite a while and a lot of kitties will have done it. However, if anycat wants to play, feel free to go for it!

For more great Cat Blogging over the weekend:

Weekend Cat Blogging #231 Nov 07-08 Diamond & Tristan at Digicats(see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of ChaosEdition 110 Dec 06, 2009Kashim & Othello and Salome(submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats#295 – Nikita’s Place(submit your post here)

Holidays in Oz

2008-12-25T16:01:00.028+11:00

It's Gypsy here: Woo hoo!!! It's finally Christmas! We're so happy that it's finally here and that Mum doesn't have to work for 4 whole days!

The very lovely Zoolatry Human, Ann, put together some very nice pictures for the Aussie kitty bloggers. Here is a group shot:

Thanks so much to Maggie and Zoey for letting Ann help us all out!
We actually participated in "Christmas in July" at Purrs'n Snorts and received some very nice early Christmas presents from the kitties at Kazoku Neko, Yuki, Kimiko and Kintaro:

Hey, quit hogging the blog, big brother! Here is some photos of me, Tasha, with the lovely things that Yuki, Kimiko and Kintaro sent us:

It's been lovely weather here today, and we enjoyed relaxing in the garden today!

On a more serious note, we're also sending out special holiday purrs to some missing kitties and their families:

Frodo escaped last week and hasn't been home since. It's very cold where he lives and his family are very worried about him.

Jeter Harris has been spending time outside since his new brother Joba moved in, and was last seen on Sunday. It's also been very cold where Jeter lives, and his Mom especially is worried about him.

Please drop by to visit the other Oz kitties to see a little more about the Holiday season downunder:

In Townsville, Queensland:
Fui & Suey at Forever Foster

In Sydney, New South Wales:
Momo at Mieow
Charlotte at Purrparazzi
Vampy Vic & Mushka at Victor, the Vampire Kitty

In Canberra:
Pye, Trixie and Tigger at Top Cat Rules

In Melbourne, Victoria:
Bangles & Bombay (plus little Slash) at Mac Vets Pets
Huffle Mawson at Huffle Mawson, Explorer Cat
Oscar at Oscar & Friends

In Hobart, Tasmania:
Pablo at Pablog

In Adelaide, South Australia:
Diamond at Diamond, Views of Russian Blue

Wordy Wednesday...

2008-09-03T21:20:00.009+10:00

Hi friends, it's Gypsy here, just touching base with all of our friends. We've been offline for various reasons since Mum had her car accident, but she's promised that she's gonna help us blog more now. We've laid down the law, so she knows what she has to do now, or else...

We are very grateful to all of our furriends who've dropped by and said hi - we're sorry if we didn't get to say thanks to everyone purrsonally, but we have appreciated everyone's kind words.

Today, we found out that we won Moki's raffle, which was set up to help raise money for this brave little guy. Thanks Moki! Little Moki still needs lots of treatment to help him, so if you have any spare green (or any other colour) papers, please drop by his blog and help his family out with a donation - we know that they'd appreciate it. Even if the green (and other coloured) papers are a bit tight, we know that Moki and his family would also appreciate moral support (including purrs) from all of us.

It was only a few weeks ago that we won a lovely blanket from Percy and the Cats Stephens, in another raffle, which was to help raise money for Percy to have one of his toes amputated. Percy is going to have his operation in October, so we reckon that he and his family would also appreciate support and purrs from us, and anyone else who has the time to drop by.

We're very grateful for our furriends, and we're glad to help a little bit, but most of all we just want our furriends to get better.

There'll be photos back on the blog soon, just as soon as our incomp...oh, sorry Mum, didn't see you there...as I was saying, there'll be photos back on the blog as soon as someone downloads that good ones from the camera (like, it's not rocket science...however!...). The little squirt, AKA my sister Tasha is itching to have a go on the blog now, so see you later furriends!

Hi everyone, it's Tasha here, just pushing in to say hi to all of our furriends, especially the tabby and ginger ones...we'll be able to catch up properly now that Mum understands she has to let us blog and talk to our online furriends..so until then, purrs to all!

We're Back!

2008-04-06T20:10:00.006+10:00

It's Gypsy here, to say that we're finally back! As for why we've been away, well our Mum's been really busy at work (or so she said) for the last 6 weeks or so. I can vouch that she's been working something like a squillion hours each week at work, which has seriously cramped our blogging style.

Then last Monday (31 March), our Mum was in a car accident with our little red Toyota Corolla. Mum's still pretty sore, but we're glad that she walked away 'cos the car can't be fixed - it was an older car, and was badly damaged by the impact.

Mum's getting public transport to work now, but it's a bit tough for us cats 'cos we don't get as much outside time as we'd like right now...but we're gonna get through this okay over the next few months.

Hey, it's Tasha here, just saying that while I'm missing our outside time, I'm really glad that Mum will be completely okay in a few weeks. Gypsy and I have been purring and snuggling really hard to help her get better, and we think that it's working. Mum said that we'll get another car eventually, but it'll probably be a few months before that happens. There aren't any photos today, as Mum's right hand is pretty sore still from the accident, and she uses that hand to do everything like take photos, and type (our commenting will be a bit sparse for a little while). We'll get around to see everyone soon...

Gypsy - Easy Like Sunday

2008-02-24T19:53:00.005+11:00

Hi kitties and others out there in the blogosphere, it's Gypsy here...thinking about what I need to do the feathery wand...once I rest up and gather my strength...

For more weekend Cat Blogging goodness:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator (submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging i#142 Feb 23-24: Bad Kitty Cats (see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos 02-24-2008 Mz. Mog & Kitty Cats at Mind of Mog Optional Theme - CatNip Or Treats (submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats #206 2/24/08 is going to House of the (Mostly) Black Cats (submit your post here)

Gypsy & Tasha - Wordless Wednesday

2008-02-13T21:33:00.002+11:00

Gypsy - Mancat Monday

2008-02-11T23:01:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here, proving to the world that I am capable of bathing myself, in spite of what people might have thought after yesterday's post. Now, some might say that it looks like I need to work on my abs a little more, but my answer is that camera angles can be deceptive. Anyway, isn't it a known fact that the camera adds 10 pounds? That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

By the way, if you're a Mancat (i.e. a male cat of any age), you can join the M-Cats Club - just follow the link and leave a comment.

Gypsy and Tasha - Easy like Sunday

2008-02-10T19:39:00.000+11:00

Gypsy here...The combatants face-off - what's going to happen next?

Tasha says "You missed a spot big brother!". After I gave him the run around last weekend, (those two blurs that you saw in the photo were Gypsy and I - I was the one tagging him!) I thought that I'd take it easy on him today, although I always like to make sure that he's looking respectable.

For more great cat blogging over the weekend:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator (submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging #140 Feb 9-10 Valentine’s Edition: Kashim & Othello (moved from Paulchen’s)(see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos Edition 31 - 02-10-2008 Mom Robyn & The Hotties at Cat Blogosphere Optional Theme - Cats In Sinks (submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats #203 - Pet and the Bengal Brats at Pet’s Garden Blog Sunday Evening(submit your post here)

Tasha - Formerly Feral Friday & Tribute to Ginger

2008-02-08T19:17:00.000+11:00

It's Tasha, taking a turn on the blog at last...some brothers (not mentioning any names of course) are such blog hogs. I may be a little cheeky sometimes, but deep down I am very thankful that I get to live here and get looked after so well.

Today I thought that I would post a tribute to a very sick kitty called Ginger who went to the Rainbow Bridge last Friday, February 1. This is a photo of that little kitty that Mum took with her phone, so it's not great, but you can see what he looked like.

Mum's friend Amelia found him near the place where they both work. It's in an inner city suburb, but the building is actually on the Yarra River, so there is some vegetation around. Amelia loves animals like Mum, and has two kitties and two dogs at home. There was another local kitty (with collar and tag) keeping Ginger company when Amelia found him, which we thought was a very nice thing to do. Ginger was a small medium-to-long haired ginger kitty, without any collar. Mum said that little Ginger was extremely thin, and had been sick for some time. He was very weak, but he did drink some water that day. Amelia took him to visit her regular vet that afternoon to see if anything could be done to help him. There were some tests done, but the sad truth was that Ginger had been very sick for a long time, and there wasn't anything that the vet could do save him. The nice vet lady said that poor Ginger probably wouldn't survive the night, so Amelia made the difficult decision to have him put to sleep humanely, instead of suffering any more. Both Amelia and Mum were sad that he's gone, but glad that he wasn't suffering any more. As for me, well, I'm very glad that there are people who love animals and help them when they need a helping paw.

For more great cat blogging over the weekend:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator (submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging #140 Feb 9-10 Valentine’s Edition:Kashim & Othello (moved from Paulchen’s)(see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos Edition 31 - 02-10-2008Mom Robyn & The Hotties at Cat BlogosphereOptional Theme - Cats In Sinks (submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats #203 -Pet and the Bengal Brats at Pet’s Garden Blog Sunday Evening(submit your post here)

Gypsy - Wordy Wednesday

2008-02-06T21:11:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here...well Mum finally fixed up Monday's post tonight so that you can see the music player and listen to the music. I was starting to think that I might have to advertise for someone to help me blog who has proven HTML skills. As I was contemplating demoting Mum from Blog Assistant to being just plain Mum, she FINALLY got the player to work properly. I think that I'll keep her on to help me blog, 'cos she obviously needs the practice...

All that work helping Mum fix my blog has left me exhausted...as you can see.

Tasha - Tabby Tuesday - Guard Duty

2008-02-05T19:43:00.000+11:00

It's Tasha here...This is a picture of me on "guard duty" at the front of the unit, looking up towards the road. I'm being very brave here, so I asked Mum to accompany me outside so that she could capture my bravery on camera. If anyone actually walked or drove in, well, I'd naturally be obliged to rush inside or around the back to protect something there...

Gypsy - Mancat Monday & Across The Universe Day

2008-02-04T20:34:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here, getting ready to look my best for the big Across The Universe moment. Karl at The Cat Realm has tagged everycat for Across the Universe Day. They were tagged by Chris, long story here, short one below:

"NASA has invited people around the world to play “Across the Universe” on their audio systems at the same time (February 4, 2008, at 00:00 GMT = 7:00 p.m. New York /EST) NASA beams its mp3 version into outer space. And I quote Chris: "Bloggers, let’s do this! This blog got the track ready. I also added Fiona Apple’s version and Beatles’ Here Comes The Sun to the playlist. You can add the playlist to your blog or site, I’ve included its code below. Please invite other bloggers as well to join the celebration."

NB Gypsy's Mum here - apologies for not quite getting this post finished before loading it anyway. We've got some sort of HTML issue that I'll have to fix later - when I work out what the problem is, but we are a bit behind with the Across The Universe Day post anyway, as we're 10 hours ahead of GMT.

Further Update from Gypsy's Mum (Wednesay 6 Feb) - Finally fixed the problem (missing HTML tag) with a bit of help from seeing how other bloggers had loaded this player - Gypsy was starting to threaten to advertise for a new mother with proven HTML skills...just as well I finally got this fixed!!

Gypsy & Tasha - Easy Like Sunday?!?

2008-02-03T19:02:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here, exhausted...if you're wondering why just read on:

One of the blurs in that photo is me, and the other, well, here's a better shot:

Sheesh!

For more Cat Blogging, check these out:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator (submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging is being held by Katie and Puddy at A Byootaful Life (see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is at Megan & Zed Monster at Bad Kitty Festival HomeOptional Theme - Mardi Gras Edition (submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats is going to be with the "Meowers of Death" at When Cats Attack Sunday Evening(submit your post here)

Gypsy - Wordy Wednesday

2008-01-31T00:46:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here. Just a quick note to reassure everycat that I haven't lost my collar - Mum decided to try for some artistic but tasteful photos of me without my collar to see how they turned out.

Gypsy - Mancat Monday

2008-01-28T19:36:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy, just chilling out on a long weekend...well, I guess this is what I do most days. I'm just a little more tired today after spending time yesterday instructing my little sister in the art of playing with the feather wand.

Exercise on Sunday and an Award!

2008-01-27T18:53:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here, chilling out after Australia's national day. Like our friend Pablo wrote on his blog yesterday, Australia Day commemorates the coming of cats to Australia 220 years ago. Nowadays, there's a lot of BBQing of meat that happens on this day, which is great for us cats, since we love eating meat. However, all that eating means that a little exercise on the day after the BBQ is a good idea. As senior cat, I felt it was part of my duty to offer a little instruction to Tasha.

Here I am showing my little sister the correct technique for playing with a feather wand.

Here is Tasha demonstrating her own skills (after instruction by me) with the feather wand:Diamond, a Russian Blue kitty in Adelaide, South Australia very kindly gave us the Bloggers of the World Award:

This award was originally created by Colin at Life. He said when he created it that all people had to do was link back to him as the original point of reference.

Thank you to Diamond for passing this Award onto us. We'd like to pass this onto the following international bloggers:

Sleeping Mommy who juggles kids, dog, cats (Mo & Jasmine) and husband along with updating her blog.

Kitikata-san who is a ginger girl kitty like Tasha.

Boots, DeeDee and Dexter (Cats) and Freckles the dog at Boots and the Interlopers. They're fairly new bloggers like us.

For more cat blogging, try these links:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging #138 Jan 26-27The Tuxie Cats at Tuxedo Gang Hideout(see the week’s host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos Pet & The Bengal Brats at Pet’s Garden Blog• Optional Theme - Feathers Or Birds

Carnival of the Cats #202 is going to Bad Kitty Cats Sunday Evening

Tasha - Formerly Feral Friday

2008-01-25T19:39:00.000+11:00

It's Tasha here, on Formerly Feral Friday. Just stretching out and relaxing here - with a little wrestling practice thrown in for good measure. I've got to stay flexible because I never know when one of those little gray lizards is going to try and ambush me. Now I know you can't see any in this photo, but that's only because they're too fast for Mum and her camera. Lucky for her I'm here.

You see, I can sense that the lizards are thinking about ambushing me, even when they're in the yard next door. So I track them down, capture them and 'invite' them home for interrogation. Mum is usually the spoilsport at this point, and insists that the lizard would prefer to be outside in the yard, and not inside me in the house. I still maintain that it's a cat eat lizard world, in spite of Mum's efforts. Ciao for now.

For more cat blogging, try these links:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator (submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging #138 Jan 26-27The Tuxie Cats at Tuxedo Gang Hideout(see the week’s host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos Pet & The Bengal Brats at Pet’s Garden Blog• Optional Theme - Feathers Or Birds (submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats #202 is going to Bad Kitty Cats Sunday Evening(submit your post here)

Gypsy - Wordless Wednesday

2008-01-23T21:48:00.000+11:00

Take That! on Tabby Tuesday

2008-01-22T19:50:00.000+11:00

Take that, big brother!

It's Tasha here, just sharing my best straight left paw with my big brother. I've been practising my best fake pro-wrestling moves on my big brother. He called me yellow! I couldn't believe it - I'm ginger, not yellow. Then he said, "Oh no, I meant that you're a chicken...", so I went "Whap"...and we started chasing each other around the yard until we forgot what started everything off. Just another day in our life. Ciao, kitties.

Oh, and credit where credit is due - to further refine my technique, I've been following the online whapping lessons of the famous "Whapinator", also know as Sammy Meezer - he's an excellent teacher, and I can recommend checking his blog for regular whapping tips.

Mancat Monday - Charity Auction & Vale, Caesar

2008-01-21T19:18:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here, in a reflective mood...This is a picture of me sitting on the driveway at my place.

I could be looking out to see what I can do for the Foreclosure Cats from Cincinnati, Ohio. The full details of the over 60 abandoned cats can be found at the website. There are still about 20 left waiting to be adopted. Part of the fundraising towards their care has been done by having an Art Fundraiser Auction on Ebay. Here is a link to the auction. Alternatively, you can use the advance search on eBay and input "Foreclosure Cats". There is about 2.5 days left to run on all of these auctions. Here is a quote from the website explaining how these artworks were created: "The Foreclosure Cats Project artwork celebrates the beautiful, individual spirit of each precious cat, and a huge debt of thanks is owed to the talented artists from around the country who donated their fantastic representations of these creatures to raise funds for their continued support and care." If there's anything there that takes your fancy, then remember that the proceeds will go to a very worthy cause.

Given my own advancing years, I could also be reflecting on the legacy of that magnificient almost 17 year old "Tuxie Tiger", Caesar. While I didn't know him personally, it's evident that he was greatly loved, and will be missed by his littermate Princess and his human family.

This graphic is courtesy of Skeezix, and he's given anycat permission to use it.

Gypsy - Easy Like Sunday Morning

2008-01-20T20:12:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here, and this is me flat out on the couch after someone kept me up until the wee small hours watching tennis. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine sport, but this is my couch!!! You can see something of my special long furred 'blankie' in the picture - if my 'blankie' is on the couch, then I own all parts of the couch touched by the blanket. This is a two and a half person couch, so I feel that I should get at least half of it, and then Mum and Tasha can squish up on the other half. I am the mancat in the household after all!

For more cat blogging try these links:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging is being held with Sher & Upsie at What Did You Eat

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is at Mz. Mog & Kitty Cats at Mind of Mog Optional Theme - Tummy Poses

The Carnival of the Cats #201 is going to Missy, KC, Sol & Smokey Sunday Evening

An Award on Saturday

2008-01-19T22:27:00.000+11:00

It's Tasha here, and I'm just so excited today. We've won an award!!!! I can't believe it, I just can't believe it...::spins around and dances happy dance::...Did you hear Gypsy, we won an award!...::does back somersault and collapses exhausted::

Alright, alright, have a little nap Tasha. It's Gypsy here - time for a bit of decorum - Tasha is a bit overexcited so I'll finish this post.

TT very kindly gave us the So Special Award:That was very generous of TT and her family. We like reading about their adventures, and especially like the way that their beans are giving Fatty, an outside kitty, lots of time to get to know and trust them.

We'd now like to pass this award onto the following worthy winners:

Diamond, a mature Russian Blue cat living in Adelaide, South Australia.
Java, a fairly recently rescued snowshoe Siamese cat who blogs about his adventures.
Mozart and Gonzo - Mozart is a brave ginger cat living with cardiomyopathy, and Gonzo is his recently adopted little brother.

Now I'll wake Tasha up and we'll go and tell the new award winners the good news.

For more cat blogging try these links:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging is being held with Sher & Upsie at What Did You Eat

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is at Mz. Mog & Kitty Cats at Mind of Mog Optional Theme - Tummy Poses

The Carnival of the Cats #201 is going to Missy, KC, Sol & Smokey Sunday Evening

Tasha - Formerly Feral

2008-01-18T19:29:00.000+11:00

Hello kitties and others, it's Tasha here. I thought that I'd try a "glamour" shot today in honour of Formerly Feral Friday. Let me know what you think...

We've been a bit quiet here this week 'cos Mum wasn't feeling so good. Gypsy and I really put in the purrs, and she's feeling better now.

Now a few of you wondered how much Gypsy and I liked watching the Australian Open tennis on TV. Speaking for myself, I don't mind a game of "chasing the little people across the screen" every so often. Tennis is good for that, along with numerous animal programs. Loud noises are also good for getting my attention, and some of the tennis players go all out with weird 'grunts' as they hit the ball. Gypsy generally becomes very geezer-like in front of the TV, decides he has to conserve energy and "views" most of the tennis through his closed eyelids.

Today (Friday 18 January) was a big day for young Aussie giant killer Casey Dellacqua when she beat yet another seeded player, #18 Amelie Mauresmo in the 3rd round. That was after she beat #15 seed Patty Schnyder in the 2nd round. Mum says that's great 'cos it's nice to see someone start really believing in themselves, especially when that someone is an Aussie.

Serena and Venus Williams have both been playing well, Maria Sharapova sent former champ Lindsay Davenport packing, and Justine Henin has come here hungry this year. It looks like it's going to be tough, whoever ends up winning the women's title.

On the men's side, Lleyton Hewitt is still flying the Aussie flag in the singles, but he'll have a tough match on Saturday when he comes up against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

Roger Federer has been in pretty devasting form so far - he hasn't even looked looked like losing a set, let alone a match. Rafael Nadal has also been playing well, but Sir Roger's going to be very tough to beat. American Andy Roddick's having a tough time against German Philipp Kohlscheiber at the moment, but Mum thinks he'll come through. In case you're wondering, Mum's a bit of a sports nerd, so we're watching quite a bit of tennis this fortnight.

I've got to go now 'cos I'm exhausted from all this typing...Ciao kitties.

***2.00 AM Melbourne Time Update - Mum was wrong - Philipp Kohlscheiber did end up beating Andy Roddick in 5 sets, 8-6 in the fifth set.***

For more cat blogging try these links:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator (submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging is being held with Sher & Upsie at What Did You Eat (see the week’s host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is at Mz. Mog & Kitty Cats at Mind of Mog Optional Theme - Tummy Poses (submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats #201 is going to Missy, KC, Sol & Smokey Sunday Evening(submit your post here)

Gypsy - Wordless Wednesday

2008-01-16T21:05:00.001+11:00

Tabby Toes & Tail Tuesday

2008-01-15T19:59:00.000+11:00

It's Tasha here, with the next instalment of Tabby Tuesday. I picked this photo 'cos you can see the toes and paw pads on the back foot and my hooped tail. I did a lot of resting today, getting ready for some more tennis tonight - I need my energy to sit back and watch those tennis players run around.

Bad luck for British fans with Andy Murray going out early. A few Aussies like Alicia Molik, Lleyton Hewitt, Peter Luczak made it through, and others didn't. Justine Henin is looking pretty hard to beat, although those Williams sisters (Serena and Venus) will make it tough. Roger Federer is looking in pretty ominous form, and A-Rod (that's Andy Roddick and not a certain Yankee baseball player) won at Kooyong last week. It's going to be a fun fortnight here.

Mancat Monday

2008-01-14T19:24:00.000+11:00

Well, it's Gypsy here, and I'm back on Mancat Monday. Here's a picture of me making sure I look stunning.

Charlotte asked about why the weather in Melbourne would be down to 11 degrees early in the morning when we've been complaining that it's been so hot. See, people talk about Melbourne as being well-known for having 'four seasons in one day'. The weather can change heaps in a relatively short space of time. We can go from really hot temperatures to rain in the space of 24 hours - Mum says it's different to Queensland where she grew up, 'cos there it takes a lot longer for the weather to change. We saw the Weather Pixie at some other sites, and thought it'd be a cute way for everycat to see how the weather was here in Melbourne whenever they visited us.

It's tennis, tennis, tennis now in Melbourne, 'cos the Australian Open started today. There'll probably be a few more really hot days over the next two weeks. We're off to watch some tennis on TV, and wonder how those players can be so slow...

Gypsy's Gotcha Day Story on Story Sunday

2008-01-13T14:50:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here. I'm going to post a story my mum wrote about how I got to live here. Here it is, as she wrote it for my Catster page.

It's Mum Kaz (or Karen) here: "Gypsy literally appeared at a friend's place one day - he had walked in that night and was sitting in the lounge room when they woke up one day. They had a cat door and her cat was allowed to come and go as he pleased during the night. He must have seen Gypsy looking half-starved and lonely and invited him in. Once Gypsy found somewhere with people to fuss over him and feed him, he didn't plan to leave anytime soon. Margaret (my friend) tried to find his owners around where they lived but didn't have any luck. He was obviously used to being around people, being a very friendly cat, but nobody in her area said that they were missing a friendly orange cat.

She was at the point of taking him to the RSPCA but knew I was thinking about adopting a cat or two. Talk about perfect timing - Gypsy got to move in with me on 10 July 1999, and we've been together ever since. He was named Gypsy (because of his wanderings) when he was at his foster home, so I kept the name. At that stage, they thought he might be a 'she', so hence the 'girly' name. Since moving in with me, Gypsy's been microchipped, registered with the local council and tagged, so there's no way we're going to be separated anytime soon!"

It's Gypsy again: Well there were just the two of us, and we were very happy, until Mum decided that I was ready to learn about sharing. I did point out that I'm a cat and there did pretty well on my own, but she wouldn't listen. So, on 22 January 2005, my little sister Tasha moved in, and my life changed forever.

For more cat blogging try these links:

Friday Ark # 173 at The Modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging # 136 at Chey and Gemini's Place

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos # 27 at The House of Mostly Black Cats

The Carnival of the Cats # 200 with Samantha and Tigger at Life From a Cat's Perspective

Please come home Mao and Annie!

2008-01-12T17:23:00.000+11:00

UPDATE: THEY'RE BOTH HOME SAFE NOW!!!

Please come home soon Mao and Annie! Your families miss you so much.

Tasha - 7 Weird Things Meme

2008-01-11T21:52:00.000+11:00

It's Tasha here, and in honour of Formerly Feral Friday, I've decided that it's my turn to use the blog today. First of all, a temperature update - the cool change came through around lunchtime today, which meant that the temperature only had a chance to get to about 37 degrees Celsius before it started to cool down. Yay!!!! It was much nicer today than yesterday for those of us with built-in fur coats - the temperature was back in the range of 24-27 degrees Celsius.

My good friend Maggie at 3 Boys and a Lady tagged me to reveal "7 Weird Things About Me". Now I don't think I'm weird, but...

The Rules of this Meme are: Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share seven random weird facts about yourself. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Weird Things About Me:

1) I love hunting and chasing (and eventually fetching) things like lizards, insects, birds, small rodents, my toy mousies, the feather wand, etc...

2) If I run out of my favourite food, I use my 'bossy' chirp to get Mum's attention and point out the sad state of my bowl.

3) If I catch one of my wild friends like a lizard, I use another special 'come over here and look at this' chirp to tell Mum to come and see my new (temporary) playmate. Mum's been known to take my playmates away from me at this point and go outside - she should find her own playmates and leave mine alone!

4) At night I like to sleep against my Mum's legs or feet, unless it's really, really hot, and then I'll sleep by myself in a cool spot.

5) I'm a lot shyer around people in general than my big brother. Once I get to know and like people, then I'll be more friendly, but nothing like Gypsy.

6) I like grooming my Mum and my brother - it's my way of saying hello, nice to see you, good morning, I love you, etc....

7) My Mum nicknamed me 'Pinky' on account of my pinkish nose leather and paw pads - the really weird part is that I answer to it.

I will tag Feline American Pumpkin for this meme, 'cos he looks a lot like me. We're both light coloured gingers, although unlike him I've got some white bits mixed through my fur.

I think most kitties in the blogosphere have been tagged, but if you haven't, feel free to do this meme.

For more cat blogging try these links:

Friday Ark # 173

Weekend Cat Blogging # 136 at Chey and Gemini's Place

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos # 27 at The House of Mostly Black Cats

The Carnival of the Cats # 200 with Samantha and Tigger at Life From a Cat's Perspective

Too Hot Thursday!

2008-01-10T23:09:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here...today we had another day with mercury climbing over 41 degrees Celsius - this is a brief 'action' shot of me showing what I did for the day:

I cheated a bit here 'cos I've used a photo from Wednesday's (9 January) session - neither I nor Mum had the energy for taking photos in the heat. She's back at work (the paying kind) this week, and I'm still flat out conserving my energy. Mum says she's tired when she get home, but she has no idea of the energy it takes to keep an eye on the place while she's away.

We've got another day over 40 degrees Celsius tomorrow (Friday, 11 January), so if you want me, check the shady spots in the garden...anyone's garden.

Gypsy - Wordless Wednesday

2008-01-09T22:15:00.000+11:00

Tasha's Secret Paws!

2008-01-08T20:18:00.000+11:00

It's Tasha here, on Tabby Tuesday. Up until last Saturday, it was really hot here, and we were feeling like a bit like our mate Pablo in Hobart. I'm a little bit floofy, so I like it when it's not so hot, say 23 degrees Celsius (Gypsy just doesn't like the heat 'cos he's sooo much older that me...heh, heh). The last three days have finally been back to normal, but it's about to warm up again, so I'm using a quick burst of energy to post while I still can.

Now I've got to tell everyone about my lovely Secret Paws present. My package arrived about a week before Christmas. It was from Ebony, Dusk, Dawn, Beltaine, Eclipse, Corona, Thor, Morrey, Tabitha, Queenie and Friskie, the Tyson Crew, over in the USA.

It's the first time ever that I've got mail from OVERSEAS - I was so excited, I kept sniffing the box and hanging around it, hinting to Mum that it's be a really good idea to open it SOON. She didn't really need to eat first. Finally, Mum relented and we opened the package.

There was a really nice card and some lovely presents inside from the Tyson Crew - here's a picture of the front of the card, with a big stocking full of lots of mousies, and balls, and a feather wand, and a cute paw-shaped notepad for Mum:

There used to a can of stinky goodness as well, but someone at Customs took it out - there must have been a hungry kitty there who needed it more than me. Mum got me some of my favourite Turkey stinky goodness, so I didn't miss out at all!

Here's the inside of the card, with a lovely message and a beautiful poem from all of the Tyson kitties:
Mum helped me to open the stocking, and I couldn't believe all the mousies and balls and everything!
Gypsy came over to investigate. I told him that we could share 'cos there was plenty for both of us: Thank you very much Tyson Crew for a wonderful Secret Paws! I don't know if they've got a blog to say thanks, but if they do and someone knows the address, please leave it in the comments section. I'd really love it if the Tyson Crew themselves could contact me.

Ain't life grand!

Gypsy - 7 Weird Things Meme

2008-01-07T20:28:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here, and in honour of Mancat Monday, I've decided that it's my turn to use the blog today. My good buddies Rocky at Artsy Catsy and Mrs Lilly White at Whiskers and Purrs both tagged me to reveal "7 Weird Things About Me". Now I don't think I'm weird, but

The rules of this Meme are: Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share seven random weird facts about yourself. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Weird Things About Me:

1) I have a really quiet meow - I open my mouth really wide, but only a soft meow comes out - it sounds like I have a really bad case of laryngitis and can only just get a soft, husky meow out.

2) I love hanging out with people - Mum works long hours sometimes, so I select from the neighbours according to my own rigorous criteria, and then I visit them, and win them over to inviting me in with my stunning personality. Ideally, they should have warm soft places for me to snuggle.

3) As a side effect of #2) (see above), I've helped Mum get to know some of the neighbours when they ring her up after my lengthy all day stays (and sleeps) at their places checking to see if I have a home to go back to at the end of each day.

4) When I catch a mouse at a neighbour's place, I just have to rush home to show it to Mum. No matter if I have to carry it in my mouth over the 5 foot back fence, I just have to get it home so Mum can see what a good boy I am.

5) As a follow-on from #5) (see above), when I show Mum my mouse, I also like to make sure that I bring the mouse inside so that I can release that mouse and play tag with him/her inside - Mum's not so keen on this, and has been known to yell loudly at me to remove myself and my playmate and then point to the back door.

6) I like to mark certain spots around the house and yard, and other parts of my territory - normal cat behaviour you say, but I didn't say HOW I like to mark those spots...and no, I don't always rub my cheeks on these spots to leave my scent - I've found a more direct way to announce my ownership of said territory to visitors.

7) Like Fracas at Artsy Catsy, I have a definite kink in my tail, although it's not at a right-angle.

Now, I tag these seven kitties:

Pablo
Mozart and Gonzo
Pyewacket and Trixie
Fat Eric
Grr

Tasha's Gotcha Day Story on Story Sunday

2008-01-06T19:27:00.000+11:00

It's Tasha here. I'm going to post a story my mum wrote about how I got to live here. Here it is, as she wrote it for my Catster page.

It's Mum Kaz (or Karen) here: I really wanted to get another cat to keep Gypsy company during the day when I'm at work. Because Gypsy was (and still is) a somewhat "set in his ways" mancat, I decided that I should get a younger female cat. I've always had a soft spot for ginger cats, and particularly loved a ginger cat "Arnie" who lived with Mum & Dad for quite a few years.

So I searched for a young, ginger female cat located in Victoria on the Cat Match website (Cats from all over Australia are listed here). I found Tasha's listing and fell in love with her photo straight away. Tasha was living with her foster mum Megan and Megan's family at that time. They lived outside of Geelong, and it would take me well over an hour (or maybe two) to get there from my place. However, there was no question of looking elsewhere - I just had to bite the bullet and drive down there.

I contacted Megan and explained that I'd like to take Tasha to live with Gypsy and me. I could pick her up on the coming Saturday. Megan explained that Tasha would be spayed before I picked her up (very responsible), so there would be a delay of a week before I could pick Tasha up.

The ten days went a bit slowly, but finally the big day came! I checked Megan's address on the web at Whereis dot com, and made sure that I took my Melways street directory with me. It was a good trip, and I found the address without much trouble. There seemed to be heaps of cats and dogs there. Tasha had been living in Megan's room with a few other cats. She was understandably scared about getting into the transport cage, but I did the best I could to get her in quickly and then into the car to start the trip back to Melbourne.

We didn’t go straight home because I’d previously booked her in to see our V-E-T so that she could get her vaccinations before we actually went home. It was a pretty traumatic morning for the little kitty, and when we got home, she just hid under the lounge and slept for hours.

It was a gradual process to introduce Tasha to her new home, and eventually to her big brother, but it all worked out really well. Tasha was young and spunky enough to stand up for herself when she needed to, and won her big brother over by playing with him and grooming him. They’re great mates now!"

It's Tasha again: Mum's right you know, even though my big bro and I have wrestling matches that look ferocious, we really do like being around each other and just generally hanging out. I'm so glad Mum picked me out to come live here.

For more cat blogging try these links:

Friday Ark # 172

Weekend Cat Blogging # 135

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos # 26

The Carnival of the Cats # 199

Gypsy's Secret Paws!

2008-01-05T20:37:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here. Well after the squirt hogged the blog yesterday, I think it's time to inject a bit of maturity and gravitas into proceedings. I finally got my Secret Paws present on Wednesday, 2 January 2008. Do you know why I say finally? No, it's nothing to do with the kitties who sent it to me in plenty of time for it to arrive before Christmas.

My present actually lobbed at our Post Office on Thursday, 20 December 2007. Mum was at work that day, someone needed to sign for it, and the mail-person wouldn't accept my paw print. No respect! I had to wait for mum to get over being at work, being sick and generally being busy with other things, before she finally picked it up 12 days after it should have been here. I just can't get good help these days!

Finally, to the Secret Paws present itself from those wonderful cats and humans at the House of Mostly Black Cats. Thanks very much to Sanjee, Boni, Mini, Gree, Pepi, and Mom Robyn for great presents.

Here is a photo of my little sister trying to move in on me and my presents:

Here's me sorting out this little misunderstanding:

After all, this was my Secret Paws present, not hers. I don't mind sharing, but I'd like a change to open my own present. (BTW, Tasha already had her own present, and Mum'll post pictures in the next few days.) There was a lovely card, addressed to me (Blue is a nickname Aussies often give to redheads, and I'm a red Burmese, so I qualify):

Isn't it great! There was an excellent mouse I really have to bite, plus one of the famous Nip Ravioli's, and a very pretty ornament with lollies (sweets) inside:

There was also a really soft cat blanket for me to snuggle with:

Again, thanks so much to Sanjee, Boni, Mini, Gree, Pepe and Mom Robyn at the House of Mostly Black Cats for a wonderful Secret Paws present.

For more cat blogging try these links:

Friday Ark # 172

Weekend Cat Blogging # 135

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos # 26

The Carnival of the Cats # 199

Formerly Feral Friday

2008-01-04T23:15:00.003+11:00

As the only certified formerly feral kitty living here, I, Tasha, declare this as my day to blog. That's 'cos I was found wandering in the bush when I was just a very young kitty.

Sometimes my brother tries to 'remind' me of his so-called superiority 'cos he's older and supposedly wiser...Here's pic of me with my big bro Gypsy, just after we had a little er...discussion about this topic:

See his tail - it's just a blur. How about the furs on my back? I'm still a bit fluffed up. Mum snapped this photo just about after the fun finished.

Don't worry, we like to wrestle just as seriously as all those pro wrestlers you see on WWE, TNA etc...heh, heh...that is, it's all just for entertainment for us and our Mum.

On the net at last!

2008-01-03T22:21:00.000+11:00

It's Gypsy here - king of all I survey!

I'm the cat in charge around here - big brother to young Tasha and boss to Kaz, otherwise known as Karen, mum, slave, maid, purrsonal assistant, etc - you get the picture... It's taken me a while to train mum up to help us with blogging, but I think she's ready now...Looking forward to hanging out online with the kitties of the Cat Blogosphere!

Hey - move over big bro - it's my turn now - it's little Tasha here - just 'cos you're older doesn't mean you get the whole blog to yourself! We're just new to blogging, but we're hoping to meet lots of other blogging kitties out in the blogosphere....