Oscar likes the tub?!

Oscar's been doing a weird thing lately where as soon as you get out of the shower and close the curtain behind you, he'll jump in the backside of the tub and slowly sneak in. He then sits in the tub. That's it. He hates water but loves sitting in the tub! I think he likes to watch the water drip or something. Maybe we'll buy him a little fountain thinger to keep him company. Oh yeah also, he likes to go sit in Emily's lap after sitting in the tub aka rub his wet butt all over her. He never does it to me though ha!

Tragic

me: also we are slacking on our oscar blog

Billy: yeah

right something

ewww

ew

ew

ew

ew

write

With that, I give you...

Toilet Training A Cat
A Tragedy in Five Acts

So as you know, I ordered a cat toilet training kit from The Internet. It is basically a litter box that fits inside the toilet and it has perforated rings that you pop out of the plastic bottom one at a time. Through the course of the training the holes get bigger and bigger until your cat is unwittingly relieving himself in the toilet sans litter. But cats are tricky creatures. Oscar was cool with climbing up to the toilet to go in the litter, but once we popped the first hole out he freaked. He constipated himself, actually. He held his pee so long that he had to pee on his favorite rug in the kitchen. And then he did that weird cat thing that cats do where they use their little paws to cover up their pee by brushing dirt or litter or, in this case, a rug over the pee to, I suppose, conceal it from the world.

I tried to put a piece of toilet paper over the hole in the litter box and cover that with litter like a bear trap but that didn't work either. He's too clever.

Ultimately I decided that trying to get Oscar to poop into the toilet was tantamount to torture for the poor animal and now Billy and I are on the lookout for a new litter box. Maybe we'll get one of those nice ones with a roof over it.

Moving!

Oscar is confused. We're moving to an apt in Roslindale and have been slowly moving things out over the weekend. Every time we put something new on the ground to be moved out, Oscar will lay on it for a while. He has laid on pretty much everything we are moving including boxes, mirrors, the mattress propped against the wall (that was pretty impressive), book cases newspapers, ETC.

We have been pretty good about locking him up before we start moving stuff downstairs but yesterday he actually escaped from the kitchen and made it downstairs! He looked confused and overstimulated. So many things outside! So many smells. So many new things to lay on! He sorta just stood at the top of the staircase to the street and took it all in. I tried to casually walk over and grab him but he knew that'd be a ticket straight back upstairs and jumped down off the porch... right into a dead end (IDIOT!). So he got in trouble for that, but not too much trouble. He is a cat afterall.

Anyways! We are gonna move him into the new place tonight! I think he will love it. This also means that we are gonna start teaching him to poop in the toilet! What an exciting life I lead. We'll keep you posted on how that goes and maybe get some pictures of him doing funny things in our new apt.

Simon's Cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s13dLaTIHSg&feature=bz301

This is what Oscar did yesterday when Billy and I got home from soccer.

Breakin' Shit

So Billy and I had a really fun whirlwind weekend in New York and Connecticut, seeing plays, hanging out with family and friends, etc. It was a great time. We didn't realize that Richie and Fred (the roommates) went away for the weekend too. So Oscar was left alone. Not for very long, mind you. Billy and I left on Saturday morning and were back Sunday night. We left Oscar two bowls of food and two bowls of water and figured he'd be fine. He was fine, in fact, until we came home, totally exhausted at midnight on Sunday, and Oscar needed attention. We didn't give a poop and went to bed.

Also, a bit of history of Oscar's fun little habits is needed here: Oscar really likes knocking my eye glasses off the shelf we have screwed into the wall next to our loft bed (so, like 6.5 feet in the air). He thinks that's an awesomely fun thing to do. So, being the lazy person I am, I don't put my glasses in a case or leave them on a lower table, I just push a water glass in front of the glasses and figure Oscar's not smart enough to figure it out. How wrong I was...

So, 2:30AM rolls around and Billy and I awake with a start because of a loud crashing sound. Perhaps someone is breaking in? No. I look at the shelf next to the bed and realize that the water glass that is usually blocking my glasses doesn't appear to be there. I look at Oscar and he looks guilty. I know cats don't have a wide variety of facial expressions, but this cat looked guilty I tell you! Billy and I peer over the edge of the loft and see shattered glass and water everywhere. We were so mad! We didn't clean it up, we just threw Oscar out of the room in anger and frustration and went back to bed. When he scratched on the door to come in Billy stormed over to the door and threw some water on him to make him go away. This happened a few times throughout the night. Needless to say, we didn't get a lot of sleep.

In the morning, Billy felt bad that he yelled at Oscar and threw water on him in anger. Oscar tried to make ammends by rubbing all over Billy in the bathroom in the morning. Billy decided to be friends with Oscar again. So he petted him, and Oscar walked around the sink, enjoying being petted. And then I hear, from my room, another loud crash. Oscar knocked over the ceramic toothbrush holder and it shattered. I mean, COME ON!

Here's what we learned: Oscars need love or they break shit.

Heat Waaaaave!

There was a heat wave this week from Saturday through Tuesday. Oscar spent the entirety of it prostrate under tables. He was not into moving during the 'wave. None of us were. Especially those of us who thought we had an air conditioner but in fact did not. That aside, now that the 'wave has passed Oscar is back to his old self again: climbing all over my shit, putting his face in water glasses, sticking his claws in stuff, chasing nothing, loving wet food, etc. I'm glad he's feeling better.

Also, it looks like our little family will be relocating in August to a sweet two bedroom apartment in Roslindale with a backyard. We have been discussing the possibility of Oscar being an outdoor cat again. I think he misses it. Billy thinks he will just get into trouble. I say let him get into trouble! That's what cats do! He needs to be free! If you love something you have to set it free. He'll be back nightly for snuggles, I have no doubt. Oscar loves a snuggle. Who doesn't love a good snuggle?

Oscar vs LOTRO

The other night I was playing LOTRO and Oscar got pissed I wasn't paying attention to him. He walked in front of me like 6 times and I kept pushing him to the side. He eventually settled down next to my monitor on top of my pile of mail. After doing so he noticed my glass full of water. I guess he was thirsty, so he tried to stick his head into the glass to get a drink. This failed, but succeeded in catching my attention. What the hell is he doing? He gave up on fitting his head in the cup and moved on to his next course of action, dipping his paws into the glass and licking them. It was probably the cutest / smartest thing I have seen him do. At this point I had stopped paying attention to my game for long enough to die (I am a healer and pretty squishy), so I gave up on LOTRO for the night and sat down with Oscar and Emily to watch an episode of Deadwood. So in the end, Oscar got his way and I got a funny story. Win win, no?

Big Trouble Mister!

This is a story from our roomate Fred. I took some liberties to make longer.

I got home from work yesterday and was making supper and there was a knock on the front door of our apartment. I opened the door and one of the girls from the second floor asked if we had a cat and then proceeded to describe a cat that is Oscar. I said, "Yes, you just described Oscar... anything wrong?" She said, "Nope, no problem... but he is currently in our apartment. That little guy sure likes to snuggle!" I went and got him and apologized a lot. The girls seemed pretty upset, I think they wanted to keep him.

So somehow Oscar got out of our apartment and into theirs, without anyone noticing until he was snuggling them. I don't know if I should be proud of him for being so damned sneaky or mad at him for causing trouble. This also proves my theory that he has to be an indoor cat, because he is too friendly and people would steal him.

What would you do if you were sitting at home watching TV and a cute little cat jumped up on your lap and got comfy?

Toilet Training

I am compelled to do things for the environment. I bought a bike recently, for example. I don't have a car. Recycling is a pain in the ass but I try to do it as much as possible. I care about polar bears. I don't eat meat. I eat fish but come on, give me a break. Also, I ate chicken last week but I made sure Billy got free range from Whole Foods with documentation that it had a happy and full life.

Anyway, as part of my ongoing yet somewhat half-assed attempt to be good about the environment, I have purchased a new item. It is a thing to train Oscar to relieve himself in the toilet instead of in a litter box. I know it sounds crazy, but it really seems to work.

http://www.citikitty.com/?gclid=CND7uMi_iJMCFQUilwodSirxfA

(The greatest thing about that website is how scandalized the cats look when they're caught doing their business. I love how dignified cats can be sometimes and then how far they can fall when they are doing something awkward.)

I ordered it. I will update when it is put into action. I hope there aren't too many accidents. Gross.

La Boheme Oscar

Me and Oscar are practicing a new trick in case I ever get fired and need some quick cash. I will play guitar very pathetically and he will sit in my guitar case, equally if not more pathetically, awaiting the money which will poor in. Pretty sure we would be big hit. Instant classic. Maybe I could skip heading to the street and just add one of those pay pal things to the blog like this:


Eh? Eh? Tough crowd.

Trouble in Paradise

I love Oscar. I really do. But sometimes he drives me freaking bananas.

This morning, Oscar was going about his daily morning routine of following me around, getting under my feet, meowing obnoxiously, etc. He does this in the mornings because my morning routine has me feeding him after my shower and after I've gotten makeuped and dressed. So he has to be awake and not eating for about 35 minutes in the morning. Which, apparently, is UNBEARABLE. This morning I decided I would commit to closing the bedroom door on him while I put on makeup/got dressed/blow dried my hair. He scratched the outside of the door like crazy. I decided to let him in. He meowed and scratched the inside of the door like crazy. I let him out. Repeat. You get the idea. I freaked my shit out at this point. I yelled at him.

"What do you want, Oscar?!?! IN OR OUT?!"

Billy sat up in bed and looked at me. He was very confused. Why would I be asking a cat this question? Then, without a word, Billy rolled over and went back to sleep, but the meaning of his look stuck with me. Why was I asking the cat this question? He was trying to get me to feed him. But he was inconveniencing me!

This must be what it's like to have children. Annoying. But you still love them, somehow.

Every relationship has ups and downs. But you know what? You know you're really in love when you have a cat blog.

P.S. Billy found a sweet site for clipart and is going crazy adding it all over the place. Link at the bottom of the page.

A Few Cute Things

Well hello there friends from work/husbands of friends from work/friends of friends from work who like cats a lot/people in the internet!

A few cute things that Oscar has done recently:

So, yesterday I spent about an hour and a half putting the first coat of paint on the cat house. It's just how I hoped it would be. Just how I wanted to paint my bedroom in high school: each wall a different color. In high school my mom wouldn't let me do that so I had my room painted lavender. Bo-ring! Am I right? But not anymore! I am a grown-up now. I can paint my cat house however I want to! Anyway, it's just the first coat. More glitter will follow. And while the cat house was on the coffee table and I was painting one side yellow and watching The Office on TV Oscar jumped up on the table and went inside the cat house and stuck his cute little cat paws and cute little cat arms out the window and tried to grab my paintbrush. SO CUTE!

The other thing he did was just now, he was sitting on my lap and he was so starved for some String playing that he started batting at my necklace. He just loves playing String! I had to hold his little cat paws so that he wouldn't scratch me. Some would say that's annoying but I think it is cute. He just loves to play String, and can you blame him? String is fun.

Oscar Likes My Sock: Part 2

So Oscar also likes my socks and I have the video to prove it! It kinda hurts cause he has teeth and claws but it's so darn cute you don't wanna stop it.

Spoon Train

SPOON TRAIN, noun, /spun tran/:
A collection of sleeping people or animals, facing back to front, snuggling.

Oscar nestled himself between me and Billy this morning. It was a spoon train.

I wish we had a picture.

Oscar is so funny!

Yesterday I was using my computer and hunched over a little bit but Oscar wanted attention. Normally he just sits in my lap while I type and that is nice, but he couldn't get to my lap... so he jumped up on my back and hung out there! Oh man. Cats are so funny!

Also, here is a recipe for a drink that me and Emily invented last night. It's called Cat's Meow!!!!! Here's how you make it:
1) Get a glass
2) Put ice cubes in it
3) Take a time out to play with your cat!!!!!!!!!!!
4) Add a whole bunch of Ouzo
5) Add Cranberry Rasberry juice until it looks pretty (maybe equal parts to Ouzo?)
6) Drink it!

Since Ouzo turns white when you add water to it, it will turn a pretty color of pink sorta like the background on this blog. Seriously though, this shit is good.

Cute Things Oscar Did Yesterday

Oscar is cute.

Yesterday Oscar did the following things:

1.) Played with Billy's pajama pants string by himself because it was hanging out of the chimny of the cat house and that was almost like a person holding it for him
2.) Tried to race me to the kitchen
3.) Pooped in a box (he's so smart!)
4.) Came and snuggled with me after Billy left early in the morning for a business trip to England because he knew I was lonesome

He's the best.

Also, this is sort of unrelated, but I was telling my dad about how good Oscar is at being nice when people are sad and he told me about his friend's dog Sammy, who is a therapy dog. She goes to old folks homes and hospitals and stuff and cheers people up! And she even goes to schools and libraries and helps kids who have trouble reading. The kids read to Sammy, and Sammy listens (and also, Sammy's owner Linda stands behind the kid with a treat) and wags her tail and then they like to read! How cool is that?

Animals are the best.

Oscar Likes My Sock

My mom hates cats because she's allergic but she used to have this online boutique where she sold gifts and stuff and now she doesn't really run the website anymore but she is left with a basement full of gifts with nobody to give them to. We saw her last weekend and she gave us a present for Oscar. Sort of like a "welcome to the family" present. It was a cat bed with a catnip-filled pillow. So Oscar freaking loves the cat bed. And I came home from work yesterday and he was playing with the pillow in a really cute way. He was like holding the pillow with his front paws and kicking it with his back paws so that it spun around in his hands. And he was also periodically biting it. He's really into this pillow.

So then this morning I was walking around the house in my socks, making coffee, making lunches, etc. So usually when I stand at the sink washing things or whatever, Oscar comes over and rubs up on my legs and sometimes rolls onto his back on my feet and hangs out. But this morning he got kind of out of control and like attached himself to one of my feet and did the thing that he was doing with the pillow last night. He grabbed my foot with his front paws and then kicked it with his back paws and bit my sock. It didn't hurt and was mostly super cute but also I'm afraid he was trying to hump me.

But I don't know how cats hump.

Also here's a picture of our little gentleman taking a nap:

Kitty House

So last night I got my new computer and computers come in boxes. Cats love boxes! Oscar was in it within seconds of me emptying the thing. Emily and me immediately got out the duct tape and scissors and made it into a proper kitty house. It even has a chimney! Pictures below. Oh yeah after that I played with the computer.