First off, there are new photos of His Lordship at Webshots in his very own album :-). He's doing cat stuff, at the computer, in an empty Christmas decoration box, napping with Raechel, etc. Well, Cheeto is apparently the neighborhood hit! DD says there isn't a day goes by that a gaggle of kids isn't over to the house to play with Cheeto! He seems to love it because he doesn't run away from the kids! DD went in to R's room this weekend just to check. Seems the girls were playing Vet (as in Cat Dr.) and Cheeto was the subject being examined. R said that he was sick (or something) so they had wrapped him in a blanket and had him stuffed into one of her small Princess duffle bags. DD immediately knew she needed to check on the poor little kitty!! Cheeto was just laying there in the bag, calm as could be, waiting patiently for whatever fun things the girls wanted to do next. I think they zipped the bag up again and used it to schlepp him around the house. One day last week, DD came home and was surprised not to be greeted by Himself, KING of Cats! Usually, when he hears the garage door open, he runs to the back of the house and waits because she always picks him up and give him some loves. He wasn't at the door and when she went into the kitchen, she saw that his bowl of food was untouched. Now this is VERY unusual because he's always hungry -- just like a normal little boy would be!! DSonIL tells her that he and the SMDGD have looked all over the house for the cat but he's nowhere to be found. DD asks if anyone might have left the back door open so that Cheeto could have gotten out. Both R & DSIL swear they didn't leave any doors open. Well, DD *knows* how well those two would have looked for the cat so she decides to look. And look she does -- everywhere and then some! STILL no Cheeto and she questions everyone again! They both say they didn't leave any doors open and DSIL looks ar R and tells her if she left the door open and the cat is gone, he will be very angry as this is the first cat he's ever really liked since he's been living on his own! Of course, poor Raechel is now firmly convinced that HER kitty is gone and she's at fault and GrandMother will be very, very angry with her!! DD knows the brat cat is somewhere in the house so she starts to get serious about looking. She's already looked under & behind all the furniture so she starts on the closets. Finally, after ages of searching, she finds Cheeto in the far back corner of her closet, UNDER the dirty clothes, sound asleep and snoring like mad :-)!!! He was so sound asleep and so covered by stuff that he never smelled his food being put out (canned food at that!!) nor did he hear everyone calling him! Needless to say, they were quite thrilled to finally find him. They have all finally learned that they can NOT leave anything even remotely resembling food out anywhere in the house. Even wrapped food is not safe and I'm talking new packages just bought at the store! DD & DSIL both have a habit of using the last of something in the bowl or dish or container, etc. and then not throwing the container away or putting the bowl or whatever in the sink to be washed. This means there is FOOD available and Cheeto is forever getting on the counters and table to lick the bowl, etc. clean. Of course, he's a lummox and ends up knocking stuff over or off the table and making a racket!!! Nor can they leave anything that Cheeto might just possibly think is a toy out in the open. DD calls me every few nights to tell me that he has stolen something or eaten something, etc. He found the basket of dog toys and has been making off with them every now and again. That's OK since Aspen has appropriated one of the mousie cat toys that we brought along with Cheeto. Raechel drags the poor cat around continuously and he gives her a smack or a gently bite every now and again. She immediately starts to cry and comes running to DD to tell her that Cheeto BIT her. Of course, the skin is not broken so DD asks just WHAT it was that R did to the cat to make him need to bite her -- LOLOL! R hasn't really realized that the biting is usually Cheeto just playing. Since he bites anything and everything, then R is fair game. She's finally getting the point and is warning her friends about this. I guess the family hasn't been too vigilant in chastising Cheeto about the biting. He knows that if he is playing with you and you tell him *gentle* in a firm voice, this means he is playing too rough. On Sunday, the family got another new member! This is Sam the Basenji. He's rather small and is good with kids and other dogs & cats. When the Basenji Rescue lady brought him to the house for a visit, he made himself right to home. He walked all over the house sniffing and checking stuff out and then jumped up on the love seat (the one piece of furniture the dogs are allowed on) and sat down right next to Cheeto. Cheeto looked at Sam, pulled his head back a bit, made a little hiss noise, then lay down right next to Sam and proceeded to give him a good sniffing! Aspen, of course, loved Sam immediately. Aspen & Cheeto have now become fast friends as long as Cheeto doesn't try to eat Aspen's food and Aspen doesn't try to run over the top of Cheeto -- LOLOL! Cheeto still comes running whenever he hears someone putting up the foot rest on the recliner. He will wait patiently while you get a blankie arranged and then he jumps up to sit in your lap or lay between your legs for a nice rest. DD sent several photos of him napping with Raechel. She *loves* her blankets so she is always laying around with a blanket (or three) over her. Since Cheeto is a cave kitty, he will burrow under the blanket, circle his wagons, lay down and go to sleep. DD says that sometimes he will eventually slowly inch his way to the top of the blanket so his head is exposed and then go right back to sleep. VBS -- I can't believe how quickly he has bonded with Raechel, DSIL & DD. He absolutely LOVES to be held and fussed over and played with, etc. so this makes DD very happy. He loves to nap with Steven (the DSIL) when Steven is in the recliner and Steven thinks this is just great. Raechel is beside herself and is thrilled to finally have her own kitten. I phoned Sunday night to ask her how Cheeto was doing. She said "He's just awesome Grandmother, things are really *fabulous*!!" And yes, those are her exact words :-). She went through all the good things but said she couldn't tell me all the naughty things (stealing, hiding, being a general P.I.T.A.) he has done because there were just too many -- LOLOLOL! So, that's the latest on Cheeto (the kitten from Hell). DD still calls him that because he's a kitten and he's a boy and he's bonkers, to boot :-)))). Don't forget to go to his album at Webshots to see the latest photos!! CiaoMeow >^;;^<
PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at