Tiny Tuxie Tuesday...with an EXTRA toe!

Here I am, Kitties, on the CORRECT side of the Catio screen.

Mew!

Mommy saved the best for last! I'm Salem and I'm the latest addition to the Lounge. I came in on Halloween night (no lie!) right around midnight, 2009. Before I was Gotcha'd I had a hugely glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle, but the food situation (or lack thereof) made me decide to settle for a simpler life. I cased out the houses in my territory, looking. Some had dogs, some were indifferent, and some were plain not nice. Along the way I had a ladygardenectomy...but I won't say when 'cause a LadyCat doesn't tell.

Then I found the house with the most excellent setup! After a few loud howling conversations with the existing denizens and exchanging pee-mails I showed myself to the people living there. I'd peer through the front windows at night where the Man could see me and feel sorry for me. (The Other Cats told me this was a sure-fire method.) Since I'm such a cute tiny (6 pounds!) Tuxedo Cat it worked almost right away--after just a couple nights The Man scooped me up and took me into the room with the giant noisy door. He gave me a soft towel in a box, lovins, food and a litter box...and went off to tell The Woman what he'd just done.

::cue music of doom::

The Man woke up The Woman (it was after midnight) and confessed. Groggy, grumbling & stumbling The Woman made her way into the garage. Kitties, it was Love. Instantly I was Their Kitty and they were MY Daddy & Mommy.

My first Flashy-box shot.

The next day Daddy took me to the v-e-t for my Pre-Employment physical, and he told me my name! Since I was black-n-white and came in on Halloween, I HAD to be "Salem". I was quite happy with this, so I said "mew". I passed my exam with flying colors so when we got home Daddy let me explore the house and meet some of the other cats. Well, of course we already knew all about each other...and after a few small boxing matches I settled right in.

Surveying the Dining Room. You can see that Daddy & Mommy LOVE bright colors.

Mommy and Daddy discovered I didn't know how to play with toys and set about rectifying that right away. Nowadays I am a huge nip nanner-kicker and a champion feather hunter. Mommy ties pheasant tail-feathers to the end of a rawhide shoelace that is attatched to a big pole. Instant cat fishing! She catches all sorts of "fishes". May Ling is a "brown trout", Johnson is a "whale", and I'm a "minature orca". (Mommy is kind of silly.) I also am a huge fan of the red dot. I swear, one day I'm gonna get it! Oh, and I have a running battle with the paper towel roll. It is EVIL and must be destroyed. A lot.

After a few days in my new home, Mommy discovered I have a secret in my left front paw. An extra toe! I don't have an extra pad or claw, but my left footie is wider than the right and Mommy can feel the toe bones when she plays with my footie. Daddy did some math, and counting him & Mommy, we have a total of 217 toes at our house! No wonder he mops the floors a couple times a week.

Helping. Pay no attention to the almost-empty bottle of rum that Mommy swizzles out of every afternoon...

I'm a pretty independant puss--but I play with my furblings daily and I whap the heck out of Maui whenever I feel like it. Especially if he tries to horn in on my pile of fresh-cut nip. Don't get in the way of my nip! Mommy & Daddy pick me up and give me lots of lovins, and I'm starting to request pets, too. Take it from me kitties, the simpler life is better!

Mews,

Salem