Only in our family...

..... Hi all - I've had to mark all as read as its been quite a trip
lately. Blanket purrs and hugs to all. Just thought I'd keep you
updated on Otis and his escapades...

Last night, I was jolted from REM sleep by a still-skunky Otis leaping
in pure terror from *his* REM sleep, off the bed, and into the hall
where I heard him hissing at something. Chester had lept off Jane's bed
to meet Otis and both were standing in fear stance at the top of the
stairs. After some groggy time, I discovered that it was not Otis
hissing but an rather unfortunate form of night breathing that Fred had
developed ... that sounded exactly like a cat hissing. The cats were
terrified.

A little while later, Jane awoke with a nightmare and was convinced that
someone was in her room. As Fred hissed away, I dealt with that.

Otis was now jazzed for being up and about and commenced running laps up
onto the bed, across our heads, and down onto the floor ... leaving a
waft of skunk in his wake. From experience, I know that chasing him to
put him in the basement is utterly futile as he's a rather an athletic
beast who delights in a good game of hide and seek. Zzzzzz

SM

Susan M wrote:
stairs. After some groggy time, I discovered that it was not Otis
hissing but an rather unfortunate form of night breathing that Fred had
developed ... that sounded exactly like a cat hissing. The cats were
terrified.

Awwww... poor Otis and Chester.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

"Susan M" wrote in message
...
.... Hi all - I've had to mark all as read as its been quite a trip
lately. Blanket purrs and hugs to all. Just thought I'd keep you updated
on Otis and his escapades...

Last night, I was jolted from REM sleep by a still-skunky Otis leaping in
pure terror from *his* REM sleep, off the bed, and into the hall where I
heard him hissing at something. Chester had lept off Jane's bed to meet
Otis and both were standing in fear stance at the top of the stairs. After
some groggy time, I discovered that it was not Otis hissing but an rather
unfortunate form of night breathing that Fred had developed ... that
sounded exactly like a cat hissing. The cats were terrified.

A little while later, Jane awoke with a nightmare and was convinced that
someone was in her room. As Fred hissed away, I dealt with that.

Otis was now jazzed for being up and about and commenced running laps up
onto the bed, across our heads, and down onto the floor ... leaving a waft
of skunk in his wake. From experience, I know that chasing him to put him
in the basement is utterly futile as he's a rather an athletic beast who
delights in a good game of hide and seek. Zzzzzz


Many condolences on your lack of sleep. You don't need it from the cats
when you have a baby.
I am not going to show off about how my two sleep downstairs and are
completely silent until whatever time I get up. It's a good job they do, I
counted, I woke up 12 times last night. No reason, it's dark, it's silent.
I just cannot get a good night's sleep so I know what you are going though.
Might be because one of my best friends died.

Tweed

Victor Martinez wrote:
Susan M wrote:
stairs. After some groggy time, I discovered that it was not Otis
hissing but an rather unfortunate form of night breathing that Fred
had developed ... that sounded exactly like a cat hissing. The cats
were terrified.

Awwww... poor Otis and Chester.

Poor Otis and Chester????? ;-)

Susan M
Otis and Chester

hopitus wrote:

I hate to admit it, but I needed this, especially Fred hissing and
scaring the cats.
ROFL although not PC to do so.....

Otis is always glad to help

Susan M
Otis and Chester

Christina Websell wrote:


Many condolences on your lack of sleep. You don't need it from the cats
when you have a baby.
I am not going to show off about how my two sleep downstairs and are
completely silent until whatever time I get up.

Thank you for not telling me that ;-)



It's a good job they do, I
counted, I woke up 12 times last night. No reason, it's dark, it's silent.
I just cannot get a good night's sleep so I know what you are going though.

I come from a long line of proud insomniacs. My dad often says he
hasn't slept in 45 years ... so I know what *you* are going through.

Might be because one of my best friends died.

I'm so sorry to hear this Tweed.

Susan M
Otis and Chester

"Susan M" wrote in message
...
.... Hi all - I've had to mark all as read as its been quite a trip
lately. Blanket purrs and hugs to all. Just thought I'd keep you updated
on Otis and his escapades...

Last night, I was jolted from REM sleep by a still-skunky Otis leaping in
pure terror from *his* REM sleep, off the bed, and into the hall where I
heard him hissing at something. Chester had lept off Jane's bed to meet
Otis and both were standing in fear stance at the top of the stairs. After
some groggy time, I discovered that it was not Otis hissing but an rather
unfortunate form of night breathing that Fred had developed ... that
sounded exactly like a cat hissing. The cats were terrified.

A little while later, Jane awoke with a nightmare and was convinced that
someone was in her room. As Fred hissed away, I dealt with that.

Otis was now jazzed for being up and about and commenced running laps up
onto the bed, across our heads, and down onto the floor ... leaving a waft
of skunk in his wake. From experience, I know that chasing him to put him
in the basement is utterly futile as he's a rather an athletic beast who
delights in a good game of hide and seek. Zzzzzz

SM

LOL, GO OTIS!!!!! You're my kind of cat.

The owners are so used to four to six humans in varying states of snore that
they don't react much to strange noises. Though Qui Gun Kit roused everyone
except Rob the other day by climbing shelf laundry and knocking down all the
Christmas wrap and boxes. A loud crash bang boom and Mandy and I were both
barreling out of our rooms to see what was up. I automatically rounded the
corner and found the living room in an advanced state of alertness. I put
the d-thing out and went back and found Mandy with her arms full of rolls of
Christmas wrap and a disgusted expression on her face. She was in the
process of telling Qui Gun in no uncertain terms what she thought of him.
It wasn't very nice. Qui Gun was sitting there staring at her with his
patient, stupid hoomin, look on his face. Mandy saw me and stopped cursing
at him and he looked around, saw the Butcher of Peace was in the hall and
dashed past me. I suspect that he thought I was going to dab some more
poison on his neck.

I'm sorry for the state of pandemonium in your house, but have to laugh
anyway.

Pam S.

tanadashoes wrote:
"Susan M" wrote in message
...
.... Hi all - I've had to mark all as read as its been quite a trip
lately. Blanket purrs and hugs to all. Just thought I'd keep you updated
on Otis and his escapades...

Last night, I was jolted from REM sleep by a still-skunky Otis leaping in
pure terror from *his* REM sleep, off the bed, and into the hall where I
heard him hissing at something. Chester had lept off Jane's bed to meet
Otis and both were standing in fear stance at the top of the stairs. After
some groggy time, I discovered that it was not Otis hissing but an rather
unfortunate form of night breathing that Fred had developed ... that
sounded exactly like a cat hissing. The cats were terrified.

A little while later, Jane awoke with a nightmare and was convinced that
someone was in her room. As Fred hissed away, I dealt with that.

Otis was now jazzed for being up and about and commenced running laps up
onto the bed, across our heads, and down onto the floor ... leaving a waft
of skunk in his wake. From experience, I know that chasing him to put him
in the basement is utterly futile as he's a rather an athletic beast who
delights in a good game of hide and seek. Zzzzzz

SM

LOL, GO OTIS!!!!! You're my kind of cat.

Do you want to borrow him for a while and see about that? ;-)


The owners are so used to four to six humans in varying states of snore that
they don't react much to strange noises. Though Qui Gun Kit roused everyone
except Rob the other day by climbing shelf laundry and knocking down all the
Christmas wrap and boxes. A loud crash bang boom and Mandy and I were both
barreling out of our rooms to see what was up. I automatically rounded the
corner and found the living room in an advanced state of alertness.

LOL.. "... advanced state of alertness". !!!!

I put
the d-thing out and went back and found Mandy with her arms full of rolls of
Christmas wrap and a disgusted expression on her face. She was in the
process of telling Qui Gun in no uncertain terms what she thought of him.
It wasn't very nice. Qui Gun was sitting there staring at her with his
patient, stupid hoomin, look on his face. Mandy saw me and stopped cursing
at him and he looked around, saw the Butcher of Peace was in the hall and
dashed past me. I suspect that he thought I was going to dab some more
poison on his neck.

Poor Qui Gun ... he was just exploring :-)



I'm sorry for the state of pandemonium in your house, but have to laugh
anyway.

You have to laugh. And laugh and laugh and laugh

Susan M
Otis and Chester

"tanadashoes" wrote in message
...

"Susan M" wrote in message
...
.... Hi all - I've had to mark all as read as its been quite a trip
lately. Blanket purrs and hugs to all. Just thought I'd keep you
updated on Otis and his escapades...

Last night, I was jolted from REM sleep by a still-skunky Otis leaping in
pure terror from *his* REM sleep, off the bed, and into the hall where I
heard him hissing at something. Chester had lept off Jane's bed to meet
Otis and both were standing in fear stance at the top of the stairs.
After some groggy time, I discovered that it was not Otis hissing but an
rather unfortunate form of night breathing that Fred had developed ...
that sounded exactly like a cat hissing. The cats were terrified.

A little while later, Jane awoke with a nightmare and was convinced that
someone was in her room. As Fred hissed away, I dealt with that.

Otis was now jazzed for being up and about and commenced running laps up
onto the bed, across our heads, and down onto the floor ... leaving a
waft of skunk in his wake. From experience, I know that chasing him to
put him in the basement is utterly futile as he's a rather an athletic
beast who delights in a good game of hide and seek. Zzzzzz

SM

LOL, GO OTIS!!!!! You're my kind of cat.

I like to hear about Otis, but what a difficult cat he must be to live with.
Unwanted behaviour is reinforced by responding to it, it gets rewarded by
attention and will always continue if you do. It needs to be ignored from
the first sign of it so there is no positive for them. This works for dogs,
cats and children. IME.

Tweed

Christina Websell wrote:

I like to hear about Otis, but what a difficult cat he must be to live with.
Unwanted behaviour is reinforced by responding to it, it gets rewarded by
attention and will always continue if you do. It needs to be ignored from
the first sign of it so there is no positive for them. This works for dogs,
cats and children. IME.

Christina - I hear you loud and clear and successfully manage this with
the kids and with Chester.

Otis is one of those rare almost un-manageable creatures, I swear on a
stack of bibles. We kept him in for 18 months when we first got him and
never once, in 18 months, did he stop yowling at the door and scratching
the door until his feet bled. 18 months is a really long time.

I sprayed him with water every time he went on the counter, consistently
for months on end. It just made him madder and he stood on the counter
and defiantly yowled and yelled at me without budging an inch.

I do admit that sticking him in the basement helps and he is subdued
afterwards for at least a night. We have had a logistical problem in
that we've had a live-in nanny for the past 8 months and we haven't
wanted to subject her to the cat yowling at the basement door for HOURS
on end, as he does.

I'm thoroughly excited to say that we've hired a new LIVE-OUT nanny. A
lovely cheerful woman who loves kids and who Andrew actually hugged
after the interview, which is unusual. So, now we have the ultimate
weapon back at our disposal. Stay tuned. He tends to get his revenge
in the end somehow though - like getting a bladder infection and peeing
all over the house from the stress of being locked in the basement though.

Susan M
Otis and Chester