Tanya the Cat – Road Trip

Fay and Bob just took me on another really, really long road trip.  I  don’t like it when I have to be “secret kitty” when they take me into a hotel.  I stay real quiet when Fay bundles me in a towel.  I always find my litter box and food in the hotel so that’s not too bad.  When I ride in the car I get lots of attention so that makes the car more fun.

This trip lasted over two months and I got to explore a house in Naples FL.  They told me I couldn’t go to the real outside, only the screened outside (lanai), because I would be an appetizer for one of the gators in the lake or the fire ants would bite me.

I didn’t like the lanai and pool much but would force myself outside if Fay and Bob were there because I liked being with them.   A raccoon came to visit the front porch one day.  That was exciting.  One day Fay left the front door open for a minute and I scooted down the driveway.  Fay was afraid I would get flea bites like I did last year in Clearwater FL but she has been giving me a good medicine so I didn’t get fleas.

I have been drinking lots of water and I lost 11 oz  of weight since May so Fay was really worried about me,  I only weighed 5 lbs and now even less.  She took me to see the pretty Dr. Vee for tests.  Turns out I am pretty ok, no thyroid, kidney or diabetic problems but I have to eat more.  Dr. Vee gave me a new special food to help protect my kidneys.  Fay and Bob have bowls of food in three places in the house.  I have my regular food and one dish is in the TV room and one on the porch.   I have been a pretty good girl and am nibbling on the food when I sit by them.  I only want to eat dry food  and I don’t want to eat it if it has been in my dish for a few hours so I am keeping Fay and Bob busy with “fresh” food in my bowl.  I have three water bowls too.

I am glad to be in my “real” home and hope I don’t have any more road trips soon.  I like to write in the blog.   I hope you enjoy it also.

P.S.  Bob an Fay think I am a little spoiled but they are wrong.   I’m a princess and they are my servants and they LOVE  ME and will do anything for me.

P.S.   From Fay and Bob-  We love Tanya and we gladly do anything for her!!!

Tanya posts “A Cat’s Prayer”

My friend Greg gave me this poem.

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray this cushy life to keep.


I pray for toys that look like mice,

And sofa cushions, soft and nice.


I pray for gourmet kitty snacks,

And someone nice to scratch my back,


For windowsills all warm and bright,

for shadows to explore at night.


I pray I'll always stay real cool

And keep the secret feline rule

To NEVER tell a human that

The world is really ruled by CATS!

Tanya is out numbered by the dogs

Everyone we have met has at least one dog.  Our closest neighbor has three cats. What is nice about the dogs is that their owners are always out walking them and so we get to meet more people.   One of the neighbors has a huge great dane and german shephard.   Nothing so unusual about this because I think all of our neighbors back in MN had a dog.   What is different here is that there are also wild dogs.    We have not seen any yet but have been told they are around and you can here them howl at night.   We do have a problem with  dogs barking which gets irritating but I feel safe sitting in the screen porch listening to them.

I have found places to nap in all the rooms except the dining room but yesterday Fay put cushions on the chairs so now I can sleep in comfort on the dining room chairs.

I love the bed.  Don’t I look beautiful?

The screen porch is one of my favorite places.

Statues that Helen and Ed made of me, Zeus and Misha.

Tanya talks about Key West

Fay and Bob went to a place called Key West so they could see all the special kitties with 6 toes.   A guy named Ernest Hemingway had a house on Key West and he really liked cats, especially the ones with 6 toes.  Fay told me he had 47 of them!  Here are a few pictures.  Looks to me like they have a pretty good life.  Mr. Hemmingway doesn’t live there any more but the cats do.  Did you know cats with 6 toes are called POLYDACTYL CATS?  You can see the kitties that life there with a click on this link.  Charlie Chaplin looks a little like me except his nose is darker.

The man with the hat and the beard is not Mr. Hemingway.   He is dead.

This man is the guide.  

Mr. Hemingway had a water fountain made especially for his cats.   The top is a big vase and water flows to it into a urinal laying on its side.   It came from Mr. Hemingways favorite bar Sloppy Joes.   Bob thought that was really funny.   I guess Mrs. Hemingway hated it.

The kitty in the picture above is getting fresh fish instead of Pounce treats.   I was a little lonesome while Fay and Bob were gone but I slept most of the time and when Bob came home he felt guilty because he gave me lots of Pounce treats.  They are my favorite.  Life is good!

Tanya and pals

I told Fay and Bob I wanted to go to Disney World Magic Kingdom and see Mickey and Minnie.   I know they our mouses and I am a cat but I hear they are really nice mouses and I wouldn’t hurt them.   Fay told me that I was a really good kitty when they sneaked me into hotels but that Disney had much better security and so she didn’t think I could go with them and besides that, they don’t want to go to Magic Kingdom.  They want to see Animal Kingdom (where they have lions and tigers and rhinos) and Epcot.  I felt bad until Fay told me I could sleep with all my Disney like friends every day.  They were really tired when they came home from Animal Kingdom so I’m glad I didn’t go with them.

Here is a picture of me with my new friends.   I really like them and sleep with them every day.

Tanya talks about outside

You already heard I don’t like going out the back door where the pool is very much but I am getting better at going out there.   I can almost walk around the pool now and Fay and Bob gave me my own chair to sit on by the table, just like I have at home, so I feel more at home now.

I also found a new outside when they open the front door. I really like this area and run out the door as soon as they open it.   I think it is because it has grass, even though it is much different grass from Minnesota.  Fay and Bob get all excited when I go out and try to shoo me back in.  I think they are afraid I will go out in the street or get lost. 

Tanya tells all about the trip

The pictures above are of my kitty carrier.  Fay and Bob liked it because it folded up so small in the car.   I only had to be in it a few minutes when they took me into a hotel.   It is in the garage now and I hope it stays there.

I am so glad we are finally in our new home.   We went 1563 miles in Fay’s 2005 Toyota Corolla.  Fay and Bob are really excited on the mileage they got with the car, 35.77 miles per gallon, whatever that is.  I can’t believe all the stuff they got in the car and still left half the backseat for me to sit in.  I rarely sat there.  Almost all of the time I just sat on the arm rest.  I think that Feliway spray really helped me stay calm.   Those 3 different hotel rooms didn’t bother me much at all.  I always found my food and water and litter box and even got catnip and my pounce treats.   I am still a little scared and don’t want to get very far away from Fay and Bob.  They say I am under foot but I don’t think they mind very much because they pick me up and hold me and pet me all the time.

 My new house has lots of rooms for me to explore.  I’m not sure if I like the pool.   I never saw one of those before.   So far I like to sleep on the living room chair and on a pillow on the floor in Fay and Bob’s bedroom.   When I am too scared to go outside I sit in the window and can see Fay and Bob only a few feet away by the pool.  I think I will like this place. 

My bed

I let Fay and Bob sleep here too.

                                                        

Me in the window watching Bob 

Tanya Says

This picture of me was taken on our trip to North Carolina in the fall of 2006.   This was really a nice hotel and the bed was so soft.  

I am not all that excited about this trip.  When I went to North Carolina it was ok once we got there but sitting in the car is boring.  I sleep most of the time.   The two good things are Fay and Bob pet me all the time and they feel sorry for me so I get extra Pounce treats.

I had to get my rabbies shot and Fay got me a new car carrier which I don’t like at all.  They spray it with some special spray, FeliWay pheromones spray to calm me down in the car and the hotel.  Fay told me I need to be real quiet when they take me into the hotel.

 Bob says I will really like the lanai where I can be outside and nothing can get me, like gators or dogs.