RSS WARS

It was a long struggle, because TBT went through a long list of Mac RSS sites, but they were all apps that dint wanna werk on a regular puter very well.  So we finally went to Feedly and turned it into something we recocognizes.  It wasn't easy.  Fortunately, there were lots of treats involved.

But we FINALLY see a list of our favrit blogs on one side.  TBT says he would rather have faced a dozen tomato-eating evil skwerls...  Apparently, most RSSs assume we have mobile wireless devices or something like that.  We dont.  TBT hadda beat the Feedly into submission, but it did werk.  The bad news is that every blog we loaded (um, HE loaded) took manual werk ta put them all in the "Kitty Blog" folder, but they all had hunerds of posts came along. We hadda delete them (our active paws came in handy fer that - Us bein Ayla an Marley).   Iza sat on the back of the chair an pawed at TBT when he slacked.  So she helped too.

It will take a few days to catch up with all our friends' posts, but we will.  TBT says we can still scroll down to see the recent ones at each friend's blog, but it may take some time before we catch the mice, oops before we catch up with evrykitty.

An BTW, TBT says we should all thank The Old Reader folks fer doin the best they could when they got swamped be us Google Reader refugees. They did what they could but they werent expectin to go from 2,000 users to 400,000 users in a month.  We thanked them on their discussion site.

An we thank Feedly fer bein there too.  Its not like TBT could write an RSS program, ya know.  Heck, he quit writing programs at Fortran 4 an Basic.  But he amembers. so he knows a mousewhisper about it.

Us, we dont really care, as long as the visiting stuff werks, right?

An what the heck, heres a picture of us all together on the cat trees from last year...

The Good, The Fat, and The Marley

AYLA:  I'm "the Good" of course an Marley is Marley.  You can guess where that leaves Iza!  

See, TBT feeds me up high here, an Marley waits for me to eat my fill before he jumps up to lick the bowl clean (if there is anny left).   Usually, he waits til I hop down though.  Iza cant jump up that high.  But she caught both of us up there.  She said ta either push the bowl down, or she was gonna pounce the first one of us who jumped.

So Marley an I discussed what ta do.  There was still food in the bowl, but we were both full.  Still, we dint wanna give it to Iza unner threat.

I suggested mebbe we could make the bowl land upside down an TBT would rush in ta clean it up, but it was an iffy aim.  Good old Marley, he reluctantly decided he COULD clean the bowl.  Unlike Iza, Marley can eat ANNY amount of food an not throw up.

So when Iza could tell there was no food left, SHE left (leaving behind a few Farts of Frustration).  I hopped down lightly as usual.  Marley landed on the waterbed with an extra loud WHUMP!  An even HE looked queezy fer a minnit after that.  But he was OK.

He DID spent extra time at the litter boxes later though...

About Yesserdays Post:  We found fake hobbit feet online.




















They are more acceptably furrier.  Do you think we should order some?  They do make his naked pink feets a LITTLE better-lookin...  We even bet he would wear them. But is it worth 20 green papers of treats?  

More update: Given the notice that The Old Reader is leavin general public service (an we unnerstand why), we have moved to Bloglovin, but we are missin somethin.  We can read blogs but not seem to comment.  What are we doin wrong?  We managed it at 2 friends, but not anny others.  It just SITS there an nothin happens.  This is all just awful...  HALP!

Ya know what WE think?  We talked to TBT about this. He thinks mebbe Google is expecting all the other RSS sites will get overrun an drownded by users and they, Google, will come back as a subscription site fer green papers...

We'd pay...  Are you listening Google Reader? 

In the meantime, can annyone tell us how to make Bloglovin werk.  Ya know like ta visit our friends?  We know its something simple we're missin.

Toesie Tuesday

IZA:  I was willin, but TBT is being silly today.  I think he caught it from Marley on Sunday.  Its a good thing he usually stays all clothed up most of the time; his furlessness is actally a bit disturbin!

I just humor him when hes in that mood.  At least you can tell he's not a Hobbit...

Mancat Monday

MARLEY: Sshhh!  I'm huntin mousies today!  Im listnin and sniffin and watchin...

They arent out much in the middle of the day, but its still fun ta search for them.  Sometimes I get lucky.

But not today.  I could hear a few deep down in their holes out of paw reach.  They were sayin "WE know yer out there but we aint comin out to play until its dark an yer inside - NYAH, NYAH"!

I hate those old smart mousies...

Easy Like Sunday

MARLEY:  Iza an Ayla are both taking it Easy in the bedroom today, but kinna hid away so they wouldnt get the flashy in their faces.  So I decided to my part fer all of us.

This is my favrit platform on the cat tree.  I can see across the house an outside the glass door in case annythin innerestings happens on the deck.  Its impawtant to keep track of things even when yer takin it easy.

Unfortunately, I had napped pretty well earlier, so I cant really get back into that right yet.

So there is ONLY one thing to do...
BE SILLY!!!  MOL!

And no Nip was involved, either...

Have a Silly Easy!

Caturday Saturday

The Big Thing here:  Funny story but no pictures...  Ayla went out (as she rarely does)  and went straight up the west side fence (as she does WHEN she goes out).  I was going in and out, so I generally knew where she was sitting.  But then I lost track of her.

Well, the tricorner back yard with the neighbors is kind of wild and she does like to prowl around in there sometimes.  She always comes back over the west fence when I call her.

So I called her.  Imagine my surprise when I saw her on the east fence!  She was up on the top of the fence and COULD have just hopped down and come into the house from there.  But NO!  Apparently habits matter to her. 

She had to hop down outside the yard, run around the front of the house (which she usually HATES), climb UP the west fence side and THEN hop down and run into the house...

I'm still laughing...

Freaky Friday

AYLA:  TBT says my efforts to catch insects on the outside of the deck door is "freaky"!  I call it "practice".  But Iza and especially Marley say Im a bit freaky about it and HIS opinion matters to me a lot.  So I'll worry about THAT tomorrow.

KATYDIDS!  I LOVE them.  They are jumpy, chompy, an colorful.  I seldom see them outside, so I gotta try and catch them when I DO see them!  I don't care if I cant catch them when inside, I just HAVE to go after them.

Iza (and even Marley) are just mostly jealous cuz I can stand up like this.

Even bendy-over whappin the glass...

But I have to follow the katydid down the glass.

Not a flatterin pose, but TBT admired how I can do the whippy-tail an not move the rest of me.  So I allowed it.  My whippy-tail is a important part of me.

The katydid crawled into a, um, bar on the door.  I am showin ya where it is.  See the distance between my ears.  Now look that far more down.  Its a pale green angle-thingie.  Did I get myself positioned right fer that TBT?  Yes?  Good.  Ears are good ta measure with fer the camera.

Now its moved farther over.  Oh now theres a moth to look at too.  

Oh no, come back katydid, I dint mean to ignore ya fer the moth!  Come back.

Drat, no more katydid.  I insulted it by moth-distraction...  *sigh*

Garden Tour Thursday

IZA:  Well The Old Reader down or not, I still want to have a garden tour today.  Cuz today is Daylily week!  We got some nice ones ta show...

Considerin that most are bit shaded most of the day, these are doing rather nicely.  I like tough determined flowers.  They are kinna like me!

TBT says he is gonna rearrange the garden a bit this Fall an put all the daylilies in sunnier spots, so they should be MUCH happier next year.

But how much happier can they get from these flowers?

Hmmm?  Oh, he says they can have MORE flowers and that makes sense.  That would make them MUCH happier.

Now, given that today is much nicer than all the days fer almost 2 WEEKS, we are gonna have our snacks out on the lawn.  TBT is bringin them out (Ayla spills full bowls - well so would I, I spose)...

Lets see.  Skwerl Legs?  Ayla you dint!  Oh, TBT says they are boneless chick-hen wings.  Whew!  And are those, really "Nipmopolitans"?  Outstanding new offer AYLA!  And Marley is draggin out (most of) a pouch of rabbit-flavor lo-cal treats.  Hey Marley, "is that a statement about my weight - GRR"?

"Norpf"  (drops pouch).  "No" I mean not at all.  I tried "a few" and loved them myself.   They were a gift from Chewy.com (more on that soon).  Try them, their "GRRR-ATE"*

* No copyright violations here, we're sure...

Not Werdless Wensday

MARLEY:  Wow, first it was "No-Tummy Tuesday" and now its "Not Werdless Wensday"!  Will tomorrow be "No Garden Tour Thursday"?  Where will it end?

Well, I have werds to say.

Mainly, we got a WHOLE NEW SHELF WORTH of Stinky Goodness arrived at the front door!  I dont know how that happens.  I was thinking Ceiling Cat, but TBT just says "no" and smiles and walks away.  So Im baffled.  But pleased...

Meanwhile, TBT says I should mention that The Old Reader has been pretty much down with "server problems" so its been hard to visit our friends since then an we hope you will all be patient another couple days.  We tried Feedly, but TBT seems to have lost it.  Then we tried the list in our blogger dashboard, but it is SO OLD that half are inactive, half are places where we gotta log in all new each time, and half are places we already visited but it doesnt keep track of that. 

We hope you all are having better luck visitin.  We are thankful fer each an evry visitor we get in these hard RSS times.

So we are gonna focus on helpin TBT take neat new pictures of us for future posts until The Old Reader is werkin again.  An tryin ta mess up the house as fast as he can clean it...

No-Tummy Tuesday

IZA:  Thats right, its a no-tummy picture today

See, what happened was that TBT tossed a couple of door mats up onna hard chair so he could vacuum the floors.  So I took advantage of that and hopped right up an napped.  So he SWEPT the floors instead of usin the sucky-machine so he wouldnt disturb me.  I tell you kitties I have got him TRAINED good!

Then later when he decided I had napped fer a while, he said it was tummy-picture time.  I said "No, Im still nappin.  Go away"!  He took this picture annyway.  But no tummy-pictures (and I thought I had my toesies all covered too).

Ya know, when you give yer Bein a firm decision, ya gotta stick with it or it just confuses them.  But I'll try to make up for it next week...

Mancat Monday

MARLEY:  Well mouse-droppings!  I actally just dont have anny mancat pictures ta use today.  TBT been all obsessed by the evil skwerls attackin his garden an hes been taking TOO MANY pictures of IZA an her toesies...

So I went lookin at last year this same time fer a mancatly picture ta use an I found a nice one.  An I found one that (apparently) we never used!  Which means its like, NEW, right?

Here I am givin Ayla some cuddle/nap time after Iza was a bit mean to her.  Thats a very mancatly thing to do.

Hope you all have a good Monday!

Easy Like Sunday

We are all doin our best today.

Marley is, amazingly, outside.

Sunday Twisted Sister

AYLA:  Iza found a box ta hop into the other day.  Guess who dint bother ta read the box first, MOL?  It certainly suits her to a "T".  T fer "TWISTED" that is.

Shes bootiful, mean, has "angel eyes", is whappy, has soft fur, is devious, lovey to TBT, an ambusher, and lap-napper but claw sticker when she does.  So "Twisted" seems purrfect fer her.

Its like she flips a coin in her head every few minnits (An I DO think there IS room in there fer that) to decide how she will act next.

Heres a ezample.  She is lookin sweet an innocent...

Then see the laser eyes here?  She slips an reveals her true nature sometimes...

And then in a (lack of) flash, she is back to lookin sweet again.

Shes sneaky.

An twisted!

Caturday Saturday

IZA:  We are all just sittin around in the coolth of the house today.  Its BRUTAL HOT outside!

A Bling Adjustment

IZA:  My Dear Spittikins sent me an adjustment to the instructions for wearing the bling.  Lambikins read the comments in my post and realized he had made an error regarding where I should wear the "leg-wrap thing".  He had meant it to decorate my short but floofy tail and just doesn't know where his mind was when he said to wear it on my back leg.  Actally, I suspect he was thinking of my toesies (which he loves muchly) an got a bit mixed up as he pawed me the instructions.

So I have moved the leg-thing to my tail as he meant and reproduced the pose (which took some really fussy-time with TBT at the camera) for a new picture with that part of the bling worn right.

Actally, TBT drove me crazy and I was getting ready to walk away.  He just HADDA put all the toys back in the right spots, catch the lighting JUST RIGHT, get me to lay in the same pose with all my paws in the same places etc.

But the new picture was FINALLY took and here it is:

Now THAT looks right!  Doesnt it?

You may be wondering WHY I agreed to wear that bling on my leg.  Well, to be honest, I was too.  Its just that I LOVE My Darling Spitty SO MUCH that I will do anything within reason to please him (and its not like I was tryin to run around the house wearing it).  But I CAN walk around the house proudly when Spitty is visitin to show it all off now...

At least its not paw, paw, paw, CLANK; paw, paw, paw, CLANK now.  MOL!

Very Werdy Wensday

IZA:  I am SO happy!  My beloved Spittikins FINALLY covered me in bling again!

OK, he OWED it cuz I caught him hittin on Ayla and it TOOK HIM A WHILE, but he DID come through an I appreciate that he did.  I mean, Ayla really isnt his type.

Look at THIS...

 Am I covered with proof of his love or what?

I LOVE bling.  Especially Goth bling.  What can I say; Im a Goth girlcat.  And My Darling Spittikins really came through on his make-it-up-to-me promise...

I can't decide which I love the best.  The collar is so fantastic, the vest is outstanding, and the red jewel on the forehead is very special.  Not sure what to call that.  A tiara drop?

But the bestest thing HAS to be the back leg wrapping.  Pure silver wire an with a red jewel.  Sigh...  Its a little odd to walk around on, but I will save it fer special occasions like when my darling Spittikins visits to rest his weary head on my soft tummy after a long day of Kinglike werk!.

I am so happy to be loved by such a special mancat like Spitty-Lovey...  Obviously, he likes ME more than anny of those OTHER girlcats.  That kinna bling isnt casual.

Toesie Tuesday

IZA:  Guess who?  Yeah, me MOL!.

I've got some good ones today, iffen I do say so myself.

Well look!   All of me...

Closer to the toes...

And real up close...

And the back toesies...

Then back around to all of me again.  I mean "seriously, is enough of me "enough"?

 And can I snooze or WHAT?

Admit it, I'm purrfect...  The snorgle button s "ON".  What ya think, boycats?

Bad Science

A message from TBT about bad science scaring people about cats...

We are used to SOME people trying to blame cats for "killing all the birds and rodents" as if cats were the major cause of death of birds and rodents.  They see one neighbor's cat catch a bird or mouse and they assume cats kill them all.  Right, as if most of the predators in the world don't eat birds and mice.  Like there are not owls, hawks, dogs, snakes, minks, weasels, etc, etc, etc who must eat several birds and mice daily to survive .

In my experience, where there are households with cats, those people also have birdfeeders, built nesting sites, and otherwise support birds.  When I moved here there were few birds; a couple of cardinals, a few sparrows, and a rare house finch.

After 26 years of arranging the yard to support birds (among other animals), and having cats who hunt, there are typically a dozen cardinals, a dozen house finches, many titmouses, juncos, nuthatches, goldfinches, mourning doves, robins, woodpeckers, etc THESE days.  They were NOT all here before. 

The cats get several per year for sure.  But the total bird population is higher than it was before I and the cats arrived.  They are better off now even with the cats around picking off the weakest of them.  So don't EVEN get me started on the benefits of the survival of the fittest birds...

Tell me how we are harming them overall...

Now I read that cats are destroying humanity by spreading Toxoplasma gondii.  OK, it reproduces in cats.  But it lives in the everyday dirt! 

" From Wikipedia:
Toxoplasma gondii (tŏk'sə-plāz'mə gŏn'dē-ī') is an obligate, intracellular, parasitic protozoan that causes the disease toxoplasmosis.
Found worldwide, T. gondii is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals.  In humans, it is one of the most common parasites; serological studies estimate that up to a third of the global population has been exposed to and may be chronically infected with T. gondii, although infection rates differ significantly from country to country. Although mild, flu-like symptoms occasionally occur during the first few weeks following exposure, infection with T. gondii generally produces no symptoms in healthy human adults [bold mine].  However, in infants, HIV/AIDS patients, and others with weakened immunity, infection can cause serious and occasionally fatal illness (toxoplasmosis)".

So don't let the infants play around in the litter box.  I HOPE no one needed to have told that...  (LOL!)

And so it's about as serious as "the common cold".  People do die from that...

Lets get rid of rats and mice first.  I don't know anyone who has free-running outdoor pet rats...

And before anyone goes on a crusade against cats, let's remember the Bubonic Plague in Europe.  The Europeans in medieval times had gone witch-hunting.  They killed 100's of thousands (mostly women but also many men) as witches out of utterly stupid superstition.  They also killed untold many of the "witches" familiars - cats.  With the cat population seriously reduced in Europe, there was nothing to stop the spread of the invading rats from Asia who carried the Plague parasites. 

So a third to half of all European died because they were afraid of witches who weren't witches and killed their pet cats who were keeping the rat population under control.  Way to go you idiots, :applause, applause:

You want another plague? Kill the cats again...

Now, I only told you that to tell you this:  

T. gondii is widespread outside.  Its in the soil.  It is everywhere.  Its not just from cats.  My cats don't poop outside and I'm sure T. gondii is in every cubic inch of soil.  Its always been there, we just realized it recently.

Human infection by T. gondii DROPPED to 9% from 14% from 1999 to 2004.  Yet there are more cats.  Does it make sense to blame cats then?  It makes more sense to me to interpret this as that cats are REDUCING the rodent population that carries T. gondii.

In the article, Spokesperson for American Veteranarian Medical Association, Kimberly May, said that "cats are scapegoats".

It might even be less serious than feared.  Dr Torrey, of John Hopkins Medical University, suggested that the idea of serious human problems from T. gondii is "tenuous".

And from that, you come to the conclusion that cats are "dangerous"?   Carl Sagan once pointed out a wonderful but typical logical fallacy years ago.  When we look at Venus, we cant see anything.  Why?  Its covered by clouds.  What makes clouds?  Water vapor, so Venus is a hot wet world.  Well, what is a hot wet world like?  It is swampy.  What grows in swamps?  Ferns.  What eats ferns?  Dinosaurs.  So Venus must have dinosaurs.

Observation:  We can't see ANYTHING on Venus.  Conclusion:  There must be dinosaurs.

So if the number of cats is increasing and the infection rate from T. gondii is decreasing, this is a problem of MORE cats?  Go re-read that and think about it.  And remember the Europeans dying in medieval times from plague because they killed most of the cats...

Bubonic plague is not extinct:  From Wikipedia:  In 1994, a plague outbreak in 5 Indian States caused an estimated 700 infections (including 52 deaths) and triggered a large migration of Indians within India as they tried to avoid the plague.  In 1994 and 2010 cases were reported in Peru. In 2010 a case was reported in Oregon, United States.  In 2012, cases were reported in Oregon and Colorado, including a 7-year-old girl who contracted Bubonic plague while camping in southwest Colorado.  In September 2012 a herdsman in China was reported to have died of the disease after finding a dead marmot and eating it.  

The Plague is not a serious problem because natural rat predators (like cats) keep the population under control (too thin to spread the disease).  But it could become one again.

My evaluation of the specific "cats are making us sick" and the general "cats are killing the birds"  is that the proponents of those arguments need to take a basic college course in logic and another in history.

OK?

Easy Like Sunday

MARLEY:  We are spendin our Easy Like Sunday outside today.  Its hot but dry.  Well, its rained so often we were feelin anxious ta get out.  But because it was hot we were looking fer good spots ta watch the birds while in the shade.  So I went up on a deck rail I usually dont bother with.

I glanced toward the house and what a surprise!  I looked IN through a regular window and saw TBT!  Just standin in the kitchen.  He waved to me (which was kinna weerd) and (apparently) took my picture.

I called Iza ta come over at look in the winder too.

Sorry the pictures are a bit bad, but TBT says its cuz he took them through a sunny winder with a screen...

Ayla was inside nappin.

Saturday Caturday

MARLEY: I watched a science show last night!  Usally Ayla does that watchin TV stuff.  But I was curious.

The colors were intense so I even saw most of them.  And I liked seeing the small stuff movin around!

But I got bored after a while and napped.  I gotta admit that the TV IS warm...

Ayla says watchin golf is best cuz of the little ball moving around.  But that wasn't happenin here.  I dont see much good in it ecept warmth otherwise...

Rain

IZA:  The grass is real long and it rained like hell last night, so it is soaking wet.  Im stayin up on the deck!

I feel sorry fer the neighbor kitty though.  It stayed out last night through the rains!  We dint know it was in our yard, but the neighbor guy rang the doorbell this morning (we all went to the top of the stairs and growled at the door).  He told TBT that his kitty had got out and found a hole unner our fence an wouldnt come back when called.

He said she was an indoor kitty who never stepped off the patio on the rare time when she did go out but for some reason decided to explore.  She picked a bad night for that!  They found her unner our deck against the foundation, an that area stays dry, so that was good.  TBT said she was real quiet but friendly.

An he says shes missin a back paw!  Not from last night, she was borned that way; thats why they chose her.  So iffen we ever see her in our yard when we are out, we wont chase her away...

Garden Tour Thursday

AYLA:  Well, there was a bit of a fuss as to who would do the Garden Tour today!  Marley said Iza had been blogging too much the past few days and Iza whapped at Marley saying he couldnt identify a flower iffen it bit his butt!

 

And I was just laying there innocently (heh-heh-heh).  So I (sigh - but clever) suggested I do it today to "keep the peace" (purrfect, this should keep them fussin all day).  OH, youre here!  Oops...  Ahem...  So I was keepin the peace and when Marley and Iza couldnt agree about who would be hostess, Im(reluctantly agreed.  Well, I try to stay in the background.

Sorry for all that, but the garden tour is just the deck today and that is mostly where I stay WHEN I DO go out, so it DOES make sense, ya know...  So let's leave Iza an Marley ta fuss at each other.  Its rare enough and they are evenly matched.

But off we go for the Garden DECK TOUR.  And there is a reason fer that.  First, the planter of Moonbeam Coreopsis is bloomin nicely.  Its doin great this year...

But here comes the BIG surprise of the week!  Look at THESE...

The smelly-good lilies have finally bloomed.

They are much bigger plants AND flowers than the earlier lilies what looked the same, an the smell is ferocious  strong an TBT loves them.

Look closer an ya can see the pretty flowers petals better.

An then closer an those hangy things show up better INSIDE the flowers!

Thats about as close as ya wanna get though.  The fragrance is so intense it can ruin yer mousie-hunting fer a week.  I know from esperience...

TBT says he is gonna get new planters an separate them smelly ones fer next year so they can make more of themselfs and be in special places around the yard fer the smelly-good fragrances.  An he is gonna try to amamber how tall they get so he can support them better.

Now, since I did the tour, and Marley won the whappy fight, IZA has to choose our after-tour treats.  Lets go in an see what she chose...

Nip, Nip, Nip, Water, and more Nip.  Hmmm, She is not very imaginative (no surprize) .  On the other paw, its Fresh NIP!  Lets go at it!  Run inside with me, its too hot outside...