Another eight-lifer from the news (last item):

A cat stuck in a wall at a house under construction initiated his rescue when he caught the attention of a prospective buyer by meowing and waving his paw out a small hole. The cat had gotten stuck behind the wall but found a gap between a gas pipe and the wall board where he could stick out his paw. He was spotted Saturday by someone touring the house. Collierville Animal Services supervisor Nina Wingfield said she heard a “hoarse meow” after she arrived at the house. “When he knew we were there, it was a very hoarse, frantic meow,“ she said. Wingfield freed the feline by cutting away the wall board with a knife. “He had his paw out touching — not clawing — the whole time, like he was saying ‘Come on! Come on,‘“ Wingfield said. She thinks the cat, who had been stuck without food long enough for his ribs to be showing, is a lost pet. The owners have until Friday to come forward and claim him before he will be offered for adoption to someone else. In the meantime, the animal shelter is calling him by a new name: Wally.

» Out There @ FoxNews: All in All He’s Just Another Kitty in the Wall

Here’s hoping for a happy ending.

Whole Lee CATS!

The gray and white cat traveled some 70 miles on the turnpike December 23. “I’m just amazed that the cat didn’t fall off or get blown off,“ said Karen Dixon-Aquino, director of the Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees. The association is caring for Miracle and plans to put him up for adoption. The SUV’s driver didn’t know about the stowaway until another motorist saw the cat through a wheel well and flagged down the driver.

» AP: Cat hitches a wild turnpike ride

So I walked into the bedroom, and as has been their habit now that it’s cold in the morning all three of the cats were in there on the bed. And although Suzie Q prefers to curl up next to Chris’ pillow Taz and Mickie were fairly close together—also in accordance with their habit though the weather has nothing to do with it.

I put my hand down next to both Taz and Mickie, and Taz sniffed it for a second or two and then started licking. Hearing this, Mickie—who had initially ignored my hand—looked at Taz, watched him for a moment, and then started licking my hand as well.

In the past I’ve found these two in a yin-and-yang pose, each with face toward the other’s belly fur. Last night Chris watched them move into a spooning position.

Occasionally if Mickie catches Suzie curled up in that spot by the pillow, she’s able to get in some licking on Suzie’s head—but if she tries to move the washing down toward Suzie’s chest the older cat will raise a paw in warning and Mickie backs off. And sometimes goes back to washing Suzie’s head.

This establishment is still in business—just not doing much of it lately.

Taz is doing nicely. He still gets insulin twice a day, but it’s just two units.

Mickie is still growing, and lately she has even managed to get Suzie Q willing to engage in some wrestle-play (as opposed to swat-hiss-run-away, which has been her default, and is still her most common, response). Even this morning I saw Suzie try to entice Mickie into a play session, but this time the younger cat was not interested and just went on by.

Lastly, a link—to a striking example of why our cats are exclusively indoor cats.

UPDATE: (see below the fold)

Sad news this week about Laurence Simon’s cat Edloe.

I was reminded of an article that appeared in Guideposts magazine this past February. It examines Judeo-Christian Scripture for an answer to whether our animal friends join us in Heaven, and the answer is very comforting. Recommended reading for everyone with fur families, past, present and future.

Taz is still being a total pro about the whole thing, showing up cheerfully at feeding time, eating with gusto and completely failing to react to the shot. His glucose reading Friday afternoon was in the 280s, so the vet wants us to nudge the insulin up to 4.5 units twice a day. She said not to start on the weekend, though—wait till Monday in case of problems. Makes good sense.

Taz is one who gets in cuddly moods, and when he does, you find out by the large furry football that comes hurtling toward your chest. Last night he was in such a mood, but wisely decided not to try launching himself just yet. All he did was sit by me on the bed and give me the Big Blue Kitty Eyes. I’m no pet psychic, but I correctly interpreted that he wanted a cuddle, and picked him up. Purring ensued.

And tonight, a good sign, I think. Taz has always hated loud noises. On occasions when I have tried to practice violin or harmonica, he has sunk his teeth into my pants leg and ever…so…slowly tightened his grip until I stopped. He also hates it when Kevin and I conduct a conversation with me downstairs and Kevin upstairs. It’s not as bad as you might think—the acoustics in this house make it surprisingly easy—but it’s still too loud for Taz, who takes extreme offense and demonstrates said upon my person as previously noted. Tonight Kevin and I conferred briefly between floors, and Taz stood on his hind legs so he could put his huge claws on my thigh and get the noise stopped.

Taz is still having some ups and downs with his blood sugar, though the symptoms that led to our concerns early last week—just before we left on our trip—seem to have cleared up at last report. Still, once we get ourselves and him home there will need to be twice-daily insulin shots. Meowch.

Chris’ Mom says the blood sugar flux is similar to what her Fred went through before they finally got him stabilized. And if I remember correctly Fred has been getting by on the special food for diabetic cats, and hasn’t been needing insulin shots since.

Taz, a.k.a. “The Amazing Seismic Kitty,“ has been diagnosed with diabetes, but the vet says it’s been caught in its early stages. He’ll be staying with Chris’ mom in Chattanooga during our trip because one of Marie’s cats—Fred, a.k.a. “Marvin the Martian”—is also diabetic so Marie has experience with stabilizing a diabetic cat.

One night at cat-feeding time, Chris was headed to the kitchen to do just that; she observed as she walked, that Taz and Mickie were sitting nearby waiting for her to get moving, but that Suzie Q was already “beating feet” toward the kitchen.

Out in the kitchen on the linoleum floor There’s a set of dishes we all know what they’re for They rattle out loud as the kibble comes pourin’ down! Here comes Suzie, Mickie, and big ol’ Taz That’s what our household has Is three feet-beatin’ kitties. Aw, heel and toe, dosey-do, come on kitties let’s go Beatin’ feet To the kitchen, ‘round the dishes, it’s all so delicious We’ll have some kibble Yeah, felines, see the signs, it’s suppertime Feet-beatin’ kitties!

Taz is weirding me out. A couple of times I have seen him grab Mickie by the scruff and, well, act like a tomcat.

Now, he was about a year old when we adopted him, and was still an intact male up to that point. I often wonder if there might be hissin’-and-spittin’ images of him still running around that neighborhood today.

But dang it, he’s been neutered for more than nine years now. And it isn’t as if he’s had any practice in the meantime.. the other (spayed) female cats who have shared his life during these years would not have reacted well, to say the least. (Two words: Taz confetti.)

Of course, our little Mickie has been initiating quite a bit of kitten-mischief-type physical contact, and she and Taz are official wrestle-and-slurp buddies. But we had her spayed a couple of months ago, before any signs of going into heat (she was five months old at the time), so I would have thought she would be spared the tomcat-and-queen scene.

Maybe I’m overreacting here… this is all probably quite normal… but eeeeeeewwww!