StrangeRanger

A Sign?

Very odd occurance at Chez-Ranger yesterday.  It was a lovely day here.  Warm, light breeze, good smells off the garden.  We had the windows open and all inhabitants of the home were enjoying life.  Maddie settled down on her blanket stack on the cedar chest for a nap.  Then this happened:

HeHe... Mad Ninja Skillz...I have them!

Never have we seen the wee tuxedo cat display this much nerve.  For a senior, fixed, female cat she sure has a pair.  Don't know how aware Madie was, but she must have known *something* was up.  It didn't really seem to bother her though.  They both napped a bit:

LadyRanger and I kept an eye on things, to make sure it wasn't Maddie having a nap and Catzilla the Avenger waking up.   things did seem to go well, though:

To our great surprise, things even went well after Maddie turned around and discovered Ivy on Maddie's own blanket!

Crumbs!  there goes the neighborhood...

And at the end of the whole episode, as I was on the bed snapping this last of the photos, Ivy got up, walked over to me, pawed my stomach and settled down next to me.  First time that's happened in two years.  Wild.

So, is this a sign?  And if it is, what of?  That the girls are each resigned to having feline company?  Or just the approaching apocalypse?  Further bulletins as events warrant!

I was there last!

Wednesday was an interesting day here at Chez-Ranger.  I was home sick from school (enjoying myself immensely, aside from the sick part) and reclining on the couch.  The blinds were up and the sun was shining.  Thus the stage was set for a really impressive battle of passive-aggression:  Battle for the SunPuddle, Part Two.  Ivy came in, sniffed around and realized that she could take possession of one ofthe most treasured spots in the house:

Mine mine mine mine mine mine mine...

In the nice sunlight, you can really see her arm-dreads, left intact by our vet 'cause little old Ivy turned into a Fierce Creature (tm) when the vet tried to shave 'em:

Anyways...Ivy stayed for a bit then wandered off and Maddie came in:

Mine mine mine mine mine mine mine...

Maddie wandered off...

I am *so* loving this...

Ivy wandered off...

Ahhh...the sun *loves* me...

And so on.  The really interesting thing was that Ivy eventually won this little contest hands-down.  Not by intimidation or violence, but by changing the arena:

Hah!  In your face!

Ahhh!  Must activate Laser-Vision!!!

I win!  Go me!  I win!  Go me!  <insert little happy humming noises>

Maddie fans, never fear.  Your girl eventually reclaimed the bed and settled in for a long, happy, well-deserved snooze, undisturbed by paparazzi.

Oops, we did it again!

As I'm sure you've noticed, Ivy is a sweet little long-haired cat.  Turns out it's very matted long hair.  Ivy has tummy-dreads, leg-dreads, back-dreads, tail-dreads and even (ick) butt-dreads.  You can get an idea of the tangles from this pic:

She's pretty much given up grooming, and only copes with combing for so long.  We finally had to resort to the most drastic measure, the Lion-Trim!

Go ahead.  Laugh.  I know where you sleep, primate.

As you can see, we made sure Ivy's favorite treat, vanilla ice cream (Hagen Daz) was waiting for her at home.  You'll also notice that the trimmers didn't touch her front legs.  Seems the wee tuxedo cat has some absolute no-go zones.  The vet said Ivy got positively fierce defending her arm-dreads.  We also had some blood work done on the old girl.  Her hyperthyroid is a bit more hyper than last time, so we're upping her meds for that.  Ivy is also hypertensive, so she's now on blood pressure meds.  The good news is that her kidneys are holding their own and we're delighted about that.

Ivy seems to be adapting well to her new, more streamlined condition.  At least fur is a renewable resource.  When we get some more cute pics of the little velvet Elvis, we'll be sure to post them!

Walkabout

We have had some absolutely beautiful spring weather here at Chez-Ranger.  The garden is coming on with a passion, the breezes have been gentle and the windows have been open.  After a brief shift of yard work Lady Ranger and I decided to see if the girls wanted to go out for a walk.  Maddie's response:

What!?  Go out in more awful snow like last time?  I think not.

Ivy, though, was most eager to adventure.  In fact, she was out the door before we coud stop her.  We finally nabbed her and put on her harness.  She immediately wandered over to her spot in the ivy, the spot we found her ill and shivering almost two years ago.

Hmmm...this place looks familiar...

Ivy was quite the intrepid explorer.  At one point she headed across the neighbors yard.  She eventually found her way back to the front of our house and had a little salad:

Nom nom nom...

You can hear the noises of the very busy street in front of the house, which,  I hope, explains the harness and leash.  Anyway, Ivy seems to have had a lovely time out, exploring the lovely spring garden:

 

Another Hungry Cat

Well, here's another hungry cat with a baseball bat.  Who knew that it was such a common tool?

Ivy wonders what all the fuss is about...

hmmmph!  All I have to do is meow and they bring food right to my throne.  Isn't that how it's supposed to work?

And a grateful hat-tip to Dark Roasted Blend for the link!

Time to go feed the cats!