Inspector Stout

I don't know who was out there on the deck last night, but someone visited and left a scent.  It could have been the neighbor cat who's been getting a little braver recently, or, possibly a raccoon, who I noticed rambling down the road the other night. Whatever it was, it caught Wylla's attention, and she was clamoring to get out there on the deck to investigate this morning.

I escorted her outside, and she took some slow steps and big sniffs as she evaluated the scene. Nostrils flared,  her upper lip curled back, and she puffed up a bit.

Charlene sauntered out to the deck once she finished off Wylla's abandoned breakfast. She washed her face as Inspector Stout made her rounds.

Such a look of intensity on her face!  How dare they step on her deck!  The nerve of this creature!

We're Home!

Our flight that was already a late one got delayed a bit thanks to some mechanical issues. Interstate traffic went down to one lane near  Tacoma and created a big slow-down right by our exit.  But finally,  at some point in the middle of the night, we did make it home from our travels.

Normally Wylla and Charlene are waiting at the door for us, but they were both sound asleep upstairs and didn't make their appearance until I was half way done sorting through a week's worth of mail.

When they finally came down,  both paused in the living room with a look that said "Is it you? Is it really you?" before they trotted over to greet us.

We scooped them up, gave lots of hugs, got lots of purrs, then put them down so they could inspect our luggage and shoes.

I quickly got ready for bed, then went upstairs and slipped under the covers. Bean soon joined me, then Wylla, then Craig, and the next thing I knew it was morning.  I woke up with Bean sound asleep on my back with her chin resting between my shoulders.  Wylla was at my side.  Usually, such close snuggles are reserved for colder nights.

I guess they missed us.


Now that we're back, we're ready to receive babies once again. As soon as I'm done returning some emails, making some calls, and catching up on a couple of things this morning, we'll check in with the Foster Department and see if there might be some cuties that need us!  I'll be sure to keep you posted!

So, This Cat Walks Into a Bar...

I'm home! Thank goodness!  I don't know that I could have lasted another day without seeing Charlene and Wylla. I was traveling for three weeks, which is the longest I've ever been away from both the girls. They did fine under the watch of our dear friend Sarah, and though I could tell when we returned that they had missed us, I could also tell they were spoiled while we were away, so any guilt I had quickly disappeared.  They did just fine.

I got a huge hug from Wylla. You can usually get a few quiet purrs from her when you give her a squeeze, but yesterday I got some big ones. They were the large, loud, squeaky purrs that she reserves for moments of complete kitty bliss.  It was all quite welcoming.

Bean just kept rumbling. I gave her a huge hug and we snuggled on the couch for a bit with her motor running strong. Once I stood up, she jumped down, but kept hopping up to brush up against me and to give my hand a few butts with her head.

Of course once our suitcases were unzipped, Inspectors Bean and Stout began some serious investigating.

I was feeling pretty jet-lagged and didn't do much more then make a quick dinner and slip into my jammies.  I tried to stay up until my usual bedtime in attempt to reset my internal clock, but I was out by 7:30 PM.  I woke up at 2:30 AM and the girls were all "YAY BREAKFAST!" I made them wait until 6:00. I know, I'm so mean!

We were traveling in Canada, England, France, and Iceland, and though I saw a few cats in the distance, I only actually made contact with three.

One was in a London alley. The second was the cutie below, who spent an evening in our yard (even slipping into our house) in Pelussin, France.  She was very sweet and jumped up on our laps to say hello.  Though we were there four nights, we only got one visit.




We were in Paris having drinks with some friends and I was talking about the IBKC when suddenly, this little tabby girl jumps up on the wall behind our table and brushed against my head. The timing couldn't have been more perfect!  She said hello to all of us, then mingled with a few other tables and drank from some water glasses.  After making the rounds, she came back to our table and used the wall as a scratching post. She had a tag with her name, but I couldn't read it in the dim light. I wonder if her family knows she hangs out in bars at night!




I haven't checked in with the shelter yet this morning, but hopefully there will be some babies waiting for us!  As I mentioned before, this crew will be answering phones for our FUNdraiser, which will be kicking off soon!

Thanks for being patient these past few days. I'm sorry I wasn't able to post, but as I mentioned last week, I had a computer crisis on the road. I'm taking my Macbook in to be fixed today -- please cross your fingers for me that is fixable.  I think it's just an issue with the display, and hopefully the photos I had uploaded from vacation are unharmed and not lost forever.  Everything else was backed up, so if all is lost, at least the kitten photos are protected!

I still have a half-dozen or so alumni updates to share -- don't worry, we will get to those next week!



I've got a couple of shadows that need snuggles right now. Bean and Wylla sure are sticking close!  Gosh, it's good to be home.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

xoxo

Laurie

PS If anyone would care to see some pics from our travel adventures, you can check out my personal Instagram account HERE.

Inspector Stout

Once Wylla started doing so much better, we noticed a change in her behavior -- she began smelling everything. EVERYTHING. When we return from an outing, we are always greeted by Inspector Stout.  She starts sniffing our shoes, my purse, and any bags we brought in. Once we sit down, she hops on our laps and inspects our clothes, hair, hands... everything. And it's not just a little sniff, it's a very long, slow examination process.

She does the same to anyone houseguests we have, and at a recent dinner party, spent the whole evening working the room and thoroughly investigating each of our guests, one by one.

She smells Charlene, too, especially her head and feet.

Smelling seems to bring her so much joy, and with every scent she takes in, she pauses and processes it, as if it's the very first time she has ever smelled a smell. This has been going on for months now, and you would think that for a cat who's spent so much time out and about in the world, nothing would seem new.

I'm not sure if there is connection between Megaesophagus and her sense of smell, or if maybe it's just pure coincidence that Inspector Stout started her investigating shortly after  she began feeling better, but I need to ask our vet about it during our next visit.

I know we have a few vets and vet techs in the crowd -- any theories on this one?