TYGER'S DIARY DECEMBER 19, 1999

Christmas Celebration

Christmas is just about the best time of the year at our house. We put up our tree and decorations and play Christmas music, and it's always such fun. There are lights in every window and smaller trees, Santas, reindeer, sleighs, and nativities are placed all over the house. Of course, there are stockings hung over the fireplace, including one for each cat and dog in our household! Christmas wouldn't be complete without gifts for our pets. Every good kitty deserves to be remembered by Santa Claus! So naturally, each kitty Christmas stocking will be filled with cat treats and toys, catnip mice, balls, and tasty foods cats love. We often splurge and buy nice play-on toys such as scratching posts and something called a kitty karnival. A word of warning to anyone buying a kitty karnival for your cats this Christmas. Please be aware that these round wheels contain staples, which are used to hold the carpeting material in place. I have noticed that these staples come loose easily as the cats scratch on the carpeting. Be careful that your cats don't get staples in their paws! Another thing to watch out for is tinsle. Tinsle is toxic to cats. Make sure to either hang tinsel out of your cats' reach, if there is such a thing, or keep cats and Christmas tree separate from each other, as in a closed door to the tree room, like we do. Cats in our house aren't allowed near the tree unsupervised. But back to the celebration, Christmas eve and day there is always great food and drink. We open presents, sing Christmas carols, play games, eat, drink, and watch Christmas shows on tv. We also remember the reason for the season, the birth of the Christ child, with a visit to church services and prayers. But don't forget about New Year's Eve! This year especially, all my gang will be eagerly awaiting the drop of the ball in New York City, signifying the beginning of the brand new millenium! We party all night on New Year's Eve, singing and dancing, and watch parades all morning on New Year's Day! The cats always attend the New Year's Eve party, being careful not to get stepped on by any human feet that happen to be around. There are alot of those big feet around on this festive holiday! But the cats have their own kind of fun with cream and tasty treats to eat. After midnight hugs and kisses, they just curl up by the fireside together and sleep contentedly. Mother Keedie, SnowPuff, Misty, Tang, Brownie, Newman, and I all wish you the merriest Christmas and the happiest New Year ever! Happy New Millenium everyone from TygerStar079 and family!

Best Wishes, TygerStar!!!

Mother Keedie, Pampered Princess

Hello, I'm Mother Keedie. I'm the fluffy tri-colored long-haired cat between Misty and the siamese cat, Tang, on the front page. I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself: I'm the mother of our family. I live with 4 cats, 2 dogs, and 2 humans. Two of the cats living with me are my kittens, Misty and SnowPuff. My daughter, Misty, is a calico with double paws. My son, SnowPuff, is an all white long-hair with one blue eye and one green eye. My adopted brother, Tang, is a siamese. I'm 7 years old. I was a stray. I lived the first 2 years of my life outdoors, loved and wanted by nobody. Then one day, I found my human. I came to her house and meowed at the windows and back doors. I followed her around on the street whenever I saw her outside and meowed to her. She started putting food out on the back porch for me. Then one day I brought her my litter of kittens and she started feeding them. Till at long last, one day when she saw me being raped by a dozen tom cats, she took pity on me and decided she had to do something to help me. She took my kittens and I into her home, brought us to the vet where we received all our shots and wormings and were spayed (and my son was neutered), and then kept us with her forever after. We became part of her family. We have lived here ever since. I get all the food I can eat now, instead of having to hunt and sometimes going hungry. I have a nice soft, warm bed to sleep in at night. I sleep right under my human's blanket whenever I feel like it. I have a kitty carnival to play with, which is a big carpet covered wheel. It serves as both a round bed to snuggle in and a scratching post to play and file my claws on. It has a toy spider tied to it that dangles and swings. I play with it for hours. I get catnip and saucers of cream. On holidays we all get special treats to eat, turkey and tuna and beef and other goodies. I keep my human happy by posing for pictures for her. I let her dress me in a doll's dress sometimes, so I can look cute for her pictures. I'm a very happy, loving, laid back cat. Nothing bothers me. I'm so happy here, I purr almost all the time. So do Misty and SnowPuff. Sometimes Tang gets mad at our humans and bites and growls and spits at them. But not us. I just tell him how silly he's being, not appreciating the fact that he has a good home to live in. Then he calms down a bit. I'm a very lucky cat. If it weren't for my human, I might not be here! I show my appreciation with purrs and loving rubs around her legs. I will even let her pick me up and hold me without scratching or biting. I never growl or get mad. I'm not perfect. I do make mistakes sometimes. But I want my human to know how glad I am to be in a nice warm home with plenty to eat and drink! Too much, in fact, as I'm getting fat and lazy now! Once in awhile I look out the window and watch the birds fly by. I chirp at them and remember how much fun it was to chase and catch one. But I'd much rather be inside where I'm safe and cared for. I don't always get along with the dogs in our family. I don't really trust them too much. But they seem to like us. So I just give them a look and go on about my business. They mostly leave me alone. SnowPuff rubs on the dogs and touches noses with them. But, like me, Misty doesn't trust them either. She spits at them and scratches their noses. As for me, I prefer to keep to myself where dogs are concerned. That's my story. I hope you enjoyed it!

Mother Keedie