I haz a neu friend!

Mr Oliver has a new lobster buddy. The even nap together!

Well he is a black and white cat after all....

Oliver's Pets

You know the kids that bring home every stray in the neighborhood?  I think that Oliver brings home every lizard in the garage to be his pet.  Rowdy found Ollie lizard in his closet today, and another lizard upstairs!  Maybe I shouldn't have laughed as hard as I did when I imagined how that must have looked like, but I think it is so funny.  Too bad there are no pictures.

Jim Morrison the cat.

Oliver is the Lizard King. Of death. What is it, Thursday? I've already had 4 different dead lizards brought in the house this week. I know he is proud of his kills and all, but really. Keep your dead things at least in the garage.

Mai Feathah

mmmmmmm how's I likes my feather. likes likes likes. oh, and licks.

He's Just a Little Guy

At one year old, Oliver weighs just eight pounds.  The vet says that she doesn't think he'll get any bigger than that.  He is half the size of his friend, Black and White Kitty, who is just a huge, long-haired, black-and-white kitty.

Ollie has really taken to being an outdoor cat.  Turns out, he likes to play with the neighbors' dogs, Katie (a little terrier) and Lily (a pit bull), and the cats, the above-named Black and White and little Ralphie (who should be called Cinnabon, but whatever).  Today, for the first time, I watched Ollie and Ralphie play chase with each other and Ollie try to outrun Katie to catch a tennis ball.  When we met Oliver at the Humane Society, he was very playful with the other kittens, so it isn't surprising that he is a sociable cat now.

I'm a slumbercat and I'm OK.

I prowls all night and I sleeps all day!

Photoshop me like you do your French cats Rowdy

The many emotions of Mr Oliver

Mr Oliver's birthday is in a few days and he will be 1 year old! The shelter gave us a rough idea of how old he was when rescuing him and so it works out that he has a birthday in May or maybe June. So I just arbitrarily decided to make it May 1st. And while we'll soon be celebrating the past 365 days of Oliver, why not have a retrospective on the many moods of Mr OH. Serious

Tickled

Introspective

Sleepy

Jovial

Apprehensive

Retro Punk Record

I bet you didn't know Mr Hammond used to be in a punk band did you? Here is the album cover from 1984's album by his punk band, Whisker City. It's entitled Electric Sci-Fi Whip. He was on vocals and sometimes lead guitar. Sadly they broke up to creative differences after this album. He wanted to stay hardcore but the rest went pop, chasing the almighty dollar.

Dang it!

So when your cat runs out from under the garage door at night and doesn't want to come back inside, this is why you don't chase him through bushes, grab him and forcefully take him back in the house against his will.

But what else starts with K?

Kinky little cat, didn't know he was in such a controversial movie.

And I said, you got a pink nose.

Helicopter Pet Owner

Certainly you've heard of "helicopter parents", the ones who can't let their kid just go off and be a kid, make his or her own mistakes and decisions.  Well, I'm pretty much like that with Oliver.

We are starting to let him go outside on his own, off of his leash.  This morning, I let him into our backyard, which is really just a slope with random plants on it and a metal fence.  Since I really want to be sure he knows how to get home and will come home, I keep walking out on the balcony to see where he is.  When I call him, he runs back to where I can see him, but he's wandered into the neighbor's yards and onto the open space next to our house.  He always comes home, though, so that's good.

I watched him pick a fight with a neighbor dog.  Fortunately, there was a chain link fence between them, but he walked right up to it while the dog was barking at him.  Finally and before any damage was done, Oliver ran away.  And just a few minutes ago, I went downstairs to see where he was.  I heard this horrible yeowl, and ran out onto the patio just in time to see Ollie fight off the mean old tuxedo cat that lives on the next block.  I'm happy he's good at defending himself, but that was a good time to bring him inside for awhile.

Addendum:

When R got home, he looked Oliver over and discovered a little spot of what looked like blood on his nose.  No scratch, just blood.  So maybe he really took it to the other cat before I got to them.

I know that Oliver will come home.  When he's in the house, he follows me all around, and he has slept right up next to me for the last few nights.

I'm not having a baby

But Mr Hammond was used in a birth announcement!

Commander Cat

Oliver Hammond as Cmdr. Brandon Furrlicker in...

GRAVITY 2

Feels like his first time...

Well kinda. As he is an inside cat he, doesn't really do lots of outside stuff. But I've been taking him out on a leash more lately and this is his reaction to his really first watching birds:

Mr. Oliver Hammond at Ten Months

Awwww!  Don't be bashful!  We know your fake ID says you are over 21, but you are really only ten months old!

Oliver went in for a comprehensive checkup the other day.  Here are his results:

Weight:  9.1 lbs
Body Condition:  Ideal
Overall Assessment:  Excellent

As usual, he was a great, cooperative patient.  He even tolerated the rectal thermometer, blood draw and fingernail clipping.

Oliver's likes:

Playing fetch/learning how to play catch
Sleeping next to Diane
Eating wet cat food
Splashing water from his bowl all over the kitchen floor
Helping Rowdy in the garage
Playing "couch mechanic"
Eating edamame, most green vegetables, and turkey

Oliver tolerates:

Being carried
Going for walks on a leash

Oliver hates:

Getting his teeth brushed.
Leaving Rowdy or Diane alone in the bathroom
Taking a bath

Brandon Furrlicker strikes again...

If he thinks this is going to convince me that Hawaiian driver's license is real he has another thing coming. Out carousing all night.... I wish they'd never legalized catnip!

Queen Bee

Over the last three months of living with Oliver, some clear family roles have been established.  If the female cat is called a queen, then I am definitely the queen of the house.  I'm the one who usually feeds Ollie and takes care of his litter box.  He likes to snuggle with me (as depicted in the above photo), particularly when he decides to sleep in our bed with us.  He always curls up right behind my knees or next to my abdomen.

We joke that Rowdy is the "big brother".  He's the fun one that Oliver likes to play with.  Ollie used to steal food off of Rowdy's plate.  I've seen him take half a sandwich and an Oreo right and run away with them.
That behavior is being extinguished a bit, though.

Ollie did something so cute yesterday evening.  We leave the slider open to our upstairs balcony so he can go outside.  He poked his head into the family room from outside and mewed at me, then went back outside.  Then he did it again, more insistently.  I figured out that he wanted me to go sit on the balcony with him and enjoy the lovely evening.  So that's what I did.  We just sat together and looked at the neighborhood for awhile.

Just for the heck of it.

Oliver was following me around the house today, meowing and talking to me lots. So I said to him, "man I wish cat's spoke English. but then you'd probably wouldn't have much to say." While I may wonder what cat speech would be composed of I do not have to wonder about what certain foods of his taste like. Yeah, you read that right.

More secrets

So now I think I know why Mr Oliver is always cranky and sleepy in the morning. He's hung over! After finding his stash of toys to play fetch I thought I should do a little more looking around.... Hidden under his bed was this fake ID!! I know, can you believe it!

Brandon Furrlicker, I'm on to you!!!

My Other Toy Box is a Sofa

We wondered where all of his toys went.  They were under the sofa!  Silly cat!

Howdy, Padnuh!

Like many pet owners, we sometimes torture our cat in the name of fun and cuteness.  Here's what happened when R tied a bandanna around Oliver's neck:

In the bunkhouse, AKA under the couch.

"Shucks, Ma'am.  I feel like a durn fool."  Maybe, but you're so cuuuuttte!

Hide and Seek

Ok, so I had to move the fridge a little today to rescue Oliver. He was really after a toy that he'd pushed under the fridge. In the process of freeing him from his jam between the wall and the fridge I found 5 of his toys under the fridge. All of them related to how he likes to play fetch. Fetchin' cat!! We'll see how he likes the 50$ worth of cat toys he got today.....a cloth tunnel and a mouse under fabric/circular pounce thingy. I hope these keep him from tossing toys under the fridge that's for sure!

Danger should be his middle name

Ok, you never really know what your cat gets up to when you're gone. I'd like to think it is all very innocuous but it probably isn't. I imagine it's all just nap time but I bet it is more things like this, stuff that'd make me nervous. I caught Mr O out on the balcony the other night. I thought I'd just get cute pictures of him with the plastic owl. But no, instead I see him jump up on a chair and then fully out onto a railing. With about a 18' drop down to the ground on that side!! What if he'd fallen? Scared the crap outta me! And makes me wonder what other types of things he gets onto when I'm not around........

Photoshop is soo much fun.

Unless Oliver really did go to a 7-11 in Japan and get a slurpee.....

We Have a Winner!

The winner of the caption contest is David Armstrong.  Congratulations, David!  You will receive a copy of Guys Can Be Cat Ladies Too, by Michael Showalter.

Because of lunch.

Human Food I Love To Eat. by Mr. O.H.

After doing some research and talking to the vet a few times about it, I've been giving Mr Oliver Hammond human food off and on, to see what he likes. What makes it human food versus cat food? I don't know, to me it's just "food". Heck, the stuff I've offered him but he rejected I just ate myself. But not if I put it in his bowl. I'm not that big of a weirdo. Human Food Mr Oliver Likes -edamame. out of the shell. -lettuce -peas -chicken -avocado -any cooked fish -lactose free milk (the whole household is lactose intolerant) -eggs. oh man how fried eggs are delicious to him. -steak. Here he is bugging the heck outta me to give him a bite after he already ate half a scrambled egg.

Caption Contest

Submit your caption.  Oliver will send the winner a special gift.

Prepare to smile!

I got three pretty good pictures of Mr Oliver the other day, playing with my new flash from xmas/santa. Here is #1 out of a series of three. Starting with the most benign to laugh out loud for #3.

I love the blurred foreground. I love the muted, natural colors. But mostly I love the anthropomorphic way I give human emotion and thoughts to him, based of the look in his eyes. But then if someone was trying to take pictures of me during a nap, how'd I look?