I'm Thankful for... (Day 2)

my furbaby.

He's warm, soft, big, and super lovable.  My sweet little orange tabby, Diego, has grown into a huge 30 pound sack of cat over the years, but has still maintained the little boy face with the sweet pink ears and nose - oh, and his Cindy Crawford-esque beauty mark!

His eyes are always so bright and lively, even when he's just woken from a long sleep.  He's pretty simple-minded as far as finicky feline needs are concerned - you know, food, soft bed, some water, and catnip toys to chew on. He can still play a mean game of "rat-receiver" (jumping in the air to catch toys we toss to him), and really loves this time of year because he totally digs laying on top of the gift wrapping paper I've carefully measured and cut. 

Diego can sense our moods/emotions better than most humans - seriously!  He knows when we're upset, and can distinguish between "mad" and "sad" (if I'm mad, he runs and hides, if I'm sad, he curls up near me and purrs.)  He can also sense happiness, and tries to butt in by mewing excitedly when my husband and I are chit-chatting and laughing. Silly cat... thinks he's human!

I'm a crazy cat lady, I admit it! I'm thankful for Diego, and although he doesn't do too much, he warms my heart and makes me smile - even when his litter box is a disaster (he's a large cat that can produce large-scale disasters, If ya know what I'm sayin'!)



Diego having a serious conversation with his humans. "When do the Ohio Bobcats play again? I wanna go!"

Do you have a pet that you're thankful for? 

Show him/her some love by giving an extra nuzzle today.

Tom & Jerry on a Saturday Morning

It's 8:20 a.m. on a Saturday morning.  I woke up ten minutes earlier, trudged down to the laundry room and dumped some hoodies into the washer, and now I'm standing in the kitchenette, in a little bit of a sleepy daze, holding my bowl full of Cheerios and getting ready to shove the first spoonful into my mouth. 

CAT. CHASING. SOMETHING. FAST!

All I see is Diego - furiously darting through the dining chairs, my husband's stacks of books and briefcase, my antique stool, over to the couch... I catch a glimpse of a baby mouse, diving under my mid-sized Peterboro magazine basket for safety. I didn't scream - I made that suck-in scared noise, remembered (thankfully) to set my cereal bowl down, ran over, and KICKED the basket.  Scared mouse runs out, Diego chases it all over the apartment. For a second, I forget that my husband, who is deathly afraid of all little vermin, is still sound asleep in our bedroom... and that the door is wide open. I find Diego in our crowded/junk/treadmill room, where he is looking very annoyed and confused. "Where is he?" I asked.  "Meee... meeeep" Diego answers. I'm assuming, at this point, that the mouse is hiding under some junk in the corner, or maybe underneath a bookshelf - because the cat is staring. and watching. in that direction.  But then...

Diego lumbers over to the doorway... then across the hall.. and into our bedroom, where I watch in disbelief as he hops onto the foot of the bed and curls up by the lump of my husband's feet.  WHAT THE _____?!? "I thought you were a MOUSER!" I quietly exclaim to him, careful not to wake up sleeping scared-of-vermin husband.  I start shutting doors... trying to trap the critter into the room I think he's in. And then i run down the street to buy mousetraps. I've never set a mouse trap before... because Diego has always been a mouser!  In the nearly five years that we've had him, he's killed two mice, the last one being about a year ago.  And now... he's quitting on me? ON ME? I feed him, I clean his box, I buy him toys, I nap with him... and he's quitting on me.

My cat and my husband eventually woke up - and my husband and I suffered through a long morning of the most frustrating game of cat and mouse I've ever witnessed.  After watching the mouse peek out, sneak around, and hide several times, I concluded that it must have been very young and very dumb - and verrry lost.  I also concluded that my house cat is too fat, too slow, and too... stupid?  Seriously - at one point, the mouse snuck right up to Diego's face - Diego, who was crouched down quietly and silently, threw a lazy punch and missed. I couldn't believe it.  My cat no longer has a killer instinct - to him, it was all just a game.

We left the cat and mouse, and went to a football game.  Four hours later we returned, hoping to find a dead mouse in the floor... but nothing.  Just a sleepy cat, who hopped off the couch and streeeetched his legs, as if to say, "what's up, guys? How was the game?"

It's been three days and we've seen nothing of the mouse - so apparently, Diego at least scared it away.  My husband and I were so disappointed in him at first, almost like we would be in a human child who brought home an F his report card.  Or, a teenage son who just told us he accidentally knocked a girl up.  It was disappointing, and Diego knew it, too.  He pouted the remainder of the night, curling up and sleeping with a sad expression on his little face.  I got to thinking...

It's a cat.  What does he owe us? Nothing.  We keep him inside, where he's safe from outside danger but has no fresh grass to walk in or open air to breathe .  We spoil him rotten, but if anything, we owe him - because his company is the best company. He doesn't complain, I feel like he loves his human mom and dad, and he's always there with us. Rubbing up against our legs when we get home from work... curling up beside us when things are stressful... talking to us when we're excitedly talking about something, and he wants in on the conversation.  If Diego had fun playing with his little mouse friend, then I hope his little mouse friend returns. 

I doubt my husband feels the same!

And so, with that little "tale" coming to an end, I thought it would be fun to share one of my favorite Tom & Jerry cartoons that I watched at least a hundred billion times when I was a kid: "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse". Take a 7-minute break and enjoy being a kid again - you deserve it!

(not so wordless) Wordless Wednesday

Lyrics: "Everything", by Michael Buble. Photos: weheartit.

Meet Diego

If you've been following my blog, you probably already know that I'm addicted to sweets and Bath and Body Works, I love being artsy and creative, and I'm a girly sports fan.  

I would like to add "Cat Lover" to the list of things you must know about me.

I have a 4 year old yellow & white tom housecat named Diego:

(Left - Diego & I, summer '06; Right, Diego & I, summer '10)

He was given to me as a wedding gift from my lovely girlfriends.  They adopted him for me on the night of my bachelorette "festivities".

He has been a part of my little Snyder family ever since June 2006, and his needs, wants, and demands have always come first in our little family of three!

He is HUGE.  He weighs around 30 pounds and is nearly 4.5 feet in length when stretched out.  His head is big, his paws are big, his tail is long, and his gut is super chunky.  There's a whole lotta CAT to love!

He prefers Yeeowww! Catnip and Meow Mix Party Mix treats.  His favorite hobbies include: playing rat receiver, napping, trash-talking, bird watching, and nibbling on human toes. He isn't much of a cuddler, but he likes to be in the same room with his humans, shuffling around, furring up the furniture and voicing his opinions in little "mews" and "meeps".  

My fuzzy feline is my world! He feels like a best friend - I've humanized him way more than anyone should ever humanize a pet - but to me, he's a person, too! He can sense excitement, sadness, trying times and good times - he's always there, invested in everything going on.   Like most cats, he has his finicky moments, and sometimes prefers to be left alone.  Regardless of his kitty mood, his face is always sweet and heart-melting.

I've always been a cat lover, but having my very own pet in my own home for the past few years has intensified my love for animals in the strongest way! 

I felt the need to introduce Diego to my blog family - he is just as much a part of my life as my husband, my mom, and my chocolate addiction...

Seriously... how could anyone resist his little cat face?  

"Look what the cat dragged in" (#1)

My cat, Diego, weighs just over 30 pounds, but he's still pretty active - in very very very short spurts. He LOVES his toys and takes them very seriously - he doesn't like anything that he can't "catch" with his paws (he likes to play "wide receiver"... his vertical is right up there with Randy Moss!)

Diego also prefers a certain kind of catnip - the day that I brought home the "Yeowww! Catnip Purrmuda Triangle", his life changed forever. He's never been quite the same about his catnip toys since. Todd and I were at the airport in Cincinnati when i stumbled on Yeowww! Catnip in a random gift shop. I'd never heard of it, and it was nearly $4, but I missed Diego - so I purchased the little surprise for him and gave it to him as soon as we got home a couple of days later. WHOA... he grabbed the triangle with his front paws, collapsed on his side in the floor, hugged and mauled it for at least 20 minutes. When he finally had his fill, the triangle was a slimy, chewed up mess! I could actually smell the 'nip - and then he just went crazy. He was an extremely high kitty... I knew right then that I had to find out where to buy more Yeowww! Catnip toys!

In the last three years, Diego has mangled a Yeowww! Rainbow, banana, cigar, polluck fish, and many sardines in addition to the purrmuda triangle. He has also consumed an entire

bag of loose Yeowww! Catnip. There have been several occasions when we've left for the weekend, and returned on Sunday to find toys all over the place and catnip all over the floor - clear signs of some hard cat partying.

Currently, Diego's drug of choice is the Stinkies Sardine - he can completely eat a whole one in 2-3 months. My cat is a Yeowww! catnip addict - he won't even lookat any other kind of catnip toy. Does anyone know where I can find a Catnip Anonymous group for him to attend???

Yeowww! Catnip is also 100% Organic - only the best for my fat kitty!

I purchase Yeowww! Catnip at the local PetLand, and also at Moochie & Co in Columbus. It can also be purchased at the following websites:

Amazon

The Cat Connection

Pet Food Direct

So spoil your kitty & buy some Yeowww!

Yeowww! Brand Catnip is *Diego Approved