tulipkitty.com is live now!

Our new and improved kitty blog is now up and running. Please check it out at http://www.tulipkitty.com/!

Good kitty

It hasn't gone unnoticed that Tulip has been a lot sweeter lately. She's really starting to settle into being a nice cat. Unless provoked, she doesn't bite anymore. She still doesn't love being petted, but will actually come and seek it out in small doses. I love her little wake-up routine. When she hears the alarm clock she comes up to me and rubs her head all over my face. She lets me pick her up and hold her for a minute when I get home from work, even though she doesn't really like it. There's a lot of love inside that tough outer shell. I think we're really starting to understand each other. I'm so glad we found her.

Another heatwave

It was as hot as the blazes in our house over the weekend. I happen to enjoy the heat, but I felt pretty bad for Tulip. She was slow roasting all weekend long. She was very good natured about it though. Mostly she lounged around on the wood floors, trying to find a cool spot.

Last night we stuck a fan in front of the sliding door which brought in a nice cool breeze. Kitty sat in front of it and sniffed the cool air. It was blowing her little ears around. She kept shaking her head and licking her nose, but wouldn't walk away. It was adorable.

I'm glad it's supposed to cool off a bit now. She's been a patient girl, but she has to be pretty uncomfortable.

Sushi Friday

Almost every Friday Eve and I go out for sushi, and last night was no exception. We came home with a little fishy treat for Tulip again. Someone's a spoiled girl!

Enjoying some yellowtail.




Mmmmmm mmmmmmmmmm! Yutaka makes the best sashimi!

Mama Tu

In honor of Mother's Day, here is a picture of Tulip Kitty with her collection of "babies". While I was studying this morning, I happened to look down and see her in bed with the majority of her stuffed toys. Cute!

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing all you moms a Happy Mother's Day!
Here's Tulip Kitty inspecting the flowers we picked out for Grandma for Mother's Day... Tulips, of course.

Feline Pine followup

Just to follow up on our switch to Feline Pine kitty litter, things are going great. Tulip seems content to use it. At first she didn't seem to know what to make of it. Maybe she didn't like the texture. She would get in the box, pee, and get out without covering it. She always used it, but seemed like she wanted to get in and out of there as quickly as possible. Now she seems to be back to normal.

Everyone is sneezing less without the clay dust from the old clumping litter. Kitty doesn't smell like aftershave anymore (from the perfume in the old litter). Life is pretty good. We highly recommend it if you haven't tried it.

Kitty weekend

Tulip had a nice weekend I think. Friday night we came home with a little treat of fish scraps from the sushi bar. We diced up a little raw tuna for her, which she proceeded to inhale. Then she contentedly licked her lips and washed her face for the next 10 minutes.

Saturday I was busy cleaning the house. Kitty followed me pretty much everywhere I went. She's a good little helper. She especially likes helping make the bed. As I try to straighten out the blankets, she runs around in circles on top of them. Then she flops herself over on her side like a huge anchor so I can't pull the covers up all the way. Punkish!

On Sunday we had a lot to do. We were in and out all day. Every time we came home, kitty was waiting at the top of the stairs for us, happy to see us. She's been very playful and content lately. I think kitty's growing up!

Sunday night she got the last of her sushi as a snack. After TV, she got up on the bed while I was brushing my teeth. When I was ready to get into bed, she was taking up almost my entire side of the bed. Total punk! I scooted her over which offended her. She went down to the foot of the bed and went to sleep. When I woke up this morning, she was still there. She's a good companion.

Tulip is going www

The kitty blog is one year old! In celebration we have some exciting news. Coming (relatively) soon: http://www.tulipkitty.com/. Most likely I will continue to publish an RSS feed of the kitty blog here, coming from Tulip's new domain.

If any of you Tulip fans have suggestions of features you'd like to see on her new site, please let us know!

Feline Pine

Recently we have tried a lot of different kitty litters. I like the clumping kind because it helps to keep the box fairly clean. However, I generally hate the strong perfume smell, and all the clay dust that ends up everywhere. If I don't like it, I can only imagine how harsh it is on a little kitty nose. I can't imagine all that dust is good for a cat's lungs. Tulip sneezes a lot from it. I decided it was time to try something different.

I had heard of Feline Pine before, but only knew of the original version that looks somewhat like pellet rabbit food. Being blind, I wasn't convinced that Tulip would take to the texture of it. However, I found out recently that they have a scoopable clumping version, so we went out and bought some last night.

I have to say I'm happy with it so far. It smells a lot better since it contains nothing but recycled pine. Every time I smell it, I have visions of summer camp. When it gets wet, you can really smell the pine. The texture is like sawdust, which is exactly what it is. It's still a little bit dusty, but not nearly as bad as the clay.

Kitty was very curios about the new smell. She got in there and proceeded to kick half the box of sawdust all over the bathroom. Not exactly what I had in mind. It's extremely light-weight, so I'm hoping she's just getting used to the fact that it doesn't take a lot of force to move it around. She was perfectly content to use it. I was a little concerned she might not like it and look to take care of business elsewhere.

It looks like everything is going to work out fine. I'm very happy to find something cheap, clean, recycled, and biodegradable.

I don't like heatwaves

Tulip kitty thinks this hot weather sucks. She has been lethargic and cranky. She's spent the last few days stretched out on various areas of the hardwood floor, looking for a cool spot. She plays with her toys, but only for a few minutes at a time, before getting a drink and sprawling out on the floor again. I feel bad for her. I looked at the thermometer and it was 80 degrees inside our house today. Kitty needs a lighter suit!

The windows are open and the ceiling fans are on. She doesn't really like the breeze generated by the fans, but she'll lay on the bed under one every once in a while. I'm glad it's starting to cool off for her.

Kitty ornament

For my birthday I received a Pawprints Pet Ornament from my friend Steve. We finally got around to making this ornament. Tulip was a pretty unwilling participant. Over the weekend I got the no-bake dough ready. Eve grabbed kitty and held onto her so I could stick her little paws into the dough. The first attempt startled her. I don't think she liked the way the dough felt on her paws. Maybe she just didn't expect it. In any case, I didn't press hard enough so we had to give it another try. The second attempt looked pretty good. Tulip tolerated it fairly well, but she was quite happy to be done with her part of the project. Here's the final result. We thought it was pretty cute. Now Tu is all ready for Christmas. Thanks, Steve!

That's a lotta duckies!

We don't have a lot of guest appearances on Tulip's Garden. However, I thought this was so cool that I had to share. My friend Caprice scored some serious good karma points the other day. On her way home she saw a mother duck that had been hit and killed on the road. She spotted 10 ducklings running around nearby, so she stopped and gathered them all up. They spent the night at her house, then went to a local wildlife rescue the next day.

They're darn cute! I'm pretty sure Miss Tulip would approve of their coloration.

OOOO!

Last night I fell asleep on the couch watching TV. When I woke up in the middle of the night, this was the scene under the coffee table. It's looking a little crowded in there these days, kitty!

New toy

I went out to dinner with some friends last night. After dinner we ended up at Muttropolis where I bought Tulip kitty a fleece rattle ball. I actually stood there and shook them all to see which one had the most pleasant rattle. Dork!

When I got home, kitty was lounging at the top of the stairs waiting for me. I opened up the bag and dropped the ball next to her. The rattle startled her. After I gave her a pet to reassure her, she sniffed at the ball a bit. The next thing I knew, she was batting it all over the house at top speed.

When I left for work this morning, kitty was rolling around on the bed with her new ball, which has come to be known at "snake" (since it sounds a bit like a rattlesnake). Can I pick the toys or what!

Phew!

Chasing around one of those plastic milk jug thingies really takes it out of a Tu.

Kitty argument

Right now Eve and kitty are in the kitchen. Eve went in there to make some tea. Kitty darted right in there after her. It's just after 8:00 PM and Tulip thinks it's time for a snack. The two of them are arguing over this. It's going something like this:

Tu: MRRRREEEEEEEEEW!
Eve: No Kitty.
Tu: MRREEEW!
Eve: NO! It's not time yet.
Tu: MREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Eve: KITty!
Tu: mmmeh.

Contemplating the litterbox

Tulip has been up to some weirdness lately. She keeps going into the bathroom and sitting in front of her litterbox. She just "stares" at it. She does it like 15-20 times a day. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her. She's not going in there and straining to use the box or anything. She just sits in front of it and contemplates it. Freaky!

That's Doctor Tu to you

I came home from my vacation with the flu. Yesterday morning I couldn't even drag myself off the bed. Miss kitty curled up in the blankets to watch over me. She nestled up against me all morning while I faded in and out of sleep. In the afternoon I mustered enough strength to make it to the couch, just for a change of scenery. Tulip followed along. Once I got myself settled in a heap of blankets, she curled up against my stomach. Even when Eve went into the kitchen, kitty stayed by my side. At one point she left, but came right back to take care of me. She even let me pet her.

In the past, whenever I was sick Dee used to take care of me. He'd always lay on me until I felt better. I've missed that ever since he's been gone. I'm so happy that Tulip has decided to take over his practice. What a sweetheart.

Mama's home!

We got back from our roadtrip this afternoon. When I came into the house, Tulip kitty was sitting at the far end of the hallway. She perked up when I called her name, but she didn't seem to be convinced that it was really me. I walked down the hallway to her and reached my hand down so she could smell it. As soon as she did, her whole face lit up. She stood up and arched her back so I could pet her. She let out a little chirp. It melted my little heart.

After we unpacked some of our stuff, Eve took a nap. I had some reading to finish, so I went into the office. Kitty joined me. She was very vocal for the first several minutes. Finally she jumped up in her chair for a big nap. She was out like a light, sleeping in her chair next to my desk, content as could be. She even tolerated a belly rub. Kitty missed us!

I felt bad when I had to leave her again to go to school tonight. I can hardly wait to get home and curl up in bed with her. It was a long few days without her. I missed her every night when I went to sleep, and I missed her every morning when I woke up.