My incredibly handsome tabbies

I can't believe that I have never made an entry for the two most handsome tabbies I raised -- Peter & Julius. I am still beating myself over this major oversight and I can only hope this long-due post about them could somehow make up for it.

Peter & Julius or PJ for short are my beautiful orange tabbies. Genetics have it that most orange tabbies are male and PJ are no exceptions to that rule. They will turn four years old next month, or 28 in cat years but they will forever be my babies.

Peter has the sweeter face and I think he's the Alpha of the two. He loves to cuddle up and to sit on my chest or tummy. During those times, I've learned to anticipate his pink paws touching my chin or his face coming within kissing distance to my lips. He also sometimes use his big lovely head to bump my face.

Peter also loves the computer. He enjoys watching my fingers type on the keyboard and would sometime put his head on my wrist as I type. His head would bob in different directions as I hit different keys, but it doesn't bother him. He also loves the fact that the computer emits heat to warm him up.

Peter is not war-freak. He is simply very sweet, but he could be a real sourpuss at times as he easily gets jealous of other cats that I own. But he is really perfect in many ways that I call him "Peterrific".

Julius is the more full-bodied, clever and territorial tabby. He is really big, heavy and muscular which prompt people to remark how he's the size of a small dog. Definitely he is bigger than toy dogs. He is not much of a lap cat because he is simply a non-conformist. He does his own thing or things, which make him truly unique.

For one, Julius obeys my verbal commands like no other cat I know. He comes when I say "come here" and when he does, he usually would sit up straight in front of me and start half-raising one of his front legs to touch me. He melts me when he does this and makes me forget how he's also my most stubborn cat. He is also the first cat to learn how to use door bells. You see, I have small wind chimes and door bells on every door knobs to help me know the comings and goings of people. I didn't intend it for cat's use. But Julius taught me it's also to be his tool to let me know he wants to get in or out of a room. Soon, by his example, the other cats are also pawing the door bells when they want to leave a room.

But J can be a real pain -- literally and figuratively. I am truly sorry for the cats he doesn't grow to like. With his size, he could really hurt my other cats. Also, his over territorial manner makes him spray anywhere and everywhere. He's already been neutered so science has no cure for him anymore except for drugs with no real therapeutic claims. But despite his quirks, J or JJ is up there in the hierarchy of cats I love.

I have more things to say about these two tabbies, but for now I am happy to introduce and include them in this blog.

I am Mochi. How do you like me now?

This is Mochi, the sole survivor from Chang's second unwanted pregnancy. She became quite independent much earlier than her four-month older siblings. She quickly learned to answer the call of nature where nature is, meaning the garden -- the grassy areas to be exact. I remember that despite being still too small to wander, Mochi's little legs couldn't resist the outdoors. She would tumble and fall on the way to the garden, but that didn't deter this little, feisty munchkin.

Everybody loves Mochi. Everyone in her family likes washing her and playing with her. She's a glutton, though. But maybe because her bigger siblings invaded her "feeding time" with her mom, stealing milk that should be only hers to begin with. Being smaller also probably made her realize she must be more aggressive than necessary if she wants to sleep with a full tummy.

This photo was taken to commemorate her first Christmas.Her ribbon collar has one red ornament. She has tons of pictures by now but this one seems to capture both her sweetness and naughtiness at the same time. She is my Mochi Ball and smooching her is my latest passion. :)

We are what we wear

We say that we are what we eat. I realize we are also what we wear. Our choice of clothes reveals so much about our personalities.

This afternoon I noticed three of my freshly laundered shirts hanging in the clothes line. I realized how the prints and embroideries on the shirts expose my basic yet strong interests: cats, dogs and plants.

The cat shirt is an embroidery of a cat's head and its tail. It used to be a long night shirt, but I "cut it to tee".

The shirt with dog prints has one chihuahua shaped from silver studs and four black chihuahua that only appear as ghost images. They only appeared that black because the shirt is on the wrong side.

The pink shirt has a patch the shape of a palm tree.

Not all my clothes exhibit my interests though, but I do have a fair amount of shirts with cats or dogs designs. This makes me wonder if the people who wear real fur actually love animals that they love to wear them -- dead -- on their shoulders and around their necks. Hmmm....

What I learned about life, I learned from my cats

We go through life learning from mentors and experiences. Mentors are varied but generally they are either male or female and usually older than us. But they don't strictly come from the human specie, at least in my case.

Years of close contacts with my pets have taught me certain things. The biggest one being patience. Here are at least 13 things my cats and dogs made me realize to be universally true whether you walk with just two or four feet.

* Two meals a day is okay, but three meals are preferred.
* House guests disturb peace and order.
* Even your own siblings can be bitches.
* The only good tunes are your tunes.
* It's best to sleep after you have washed yourself.
* Chocolates can be bad for you.
* Frogs are nasty, avoid at all cost.
* Diving in a swimming pool doesn't build one's character.
* Sharing is conditional.
* Firecrackers are for fools.
* You get good results when you are sweet and nice.
* A nice garden soothes the soul.
* Something is usually good when there's a "string attached".

These snippets of "education" I got from my pets don't end here as they still continue to show me how life could be best live, their way. Till the next class...