AnnaZu

Movies...

2010-07-24T14:03:00.005-04:00

If you look down the page a little (A lot a little maybe 2008) You will see that my mom made movie posters for the girls as told the movies WILL now be made! They will be coming out soon so like I said before keep checking!
Anna: I get to be's in a MOVIE!!!
Mia: Yes Anna You get to be in a movie
Zuzu: Does ZUZU get to be in A MOVIE TOO!?
Mia: Yes YOU ALL GET TO BE IN MOVIES!

Under New Management!

2010-07-24T13:14:00.002-04:00

Hi Annazu fans this is Kim's daughter Mia and I will be posting a lot of things now! My mom will still be posting from time to time but she said that I could mostly write things for Annazu. There will be new posts soon so keep an eye out, also don't forget to watch for MISO!

BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG NEWS!

2010-02-19T19:26:00.004-05:00

Two weeks ago, my husband took our dog Carter to the vet for his second round of Lyme disease vaccines while I was at work. Suddenly I got a text message from him: a very SPECIAL text with a very special picture attached. This picture made me so excited, I responded in a flurry of text messages back to him. My husband responded with more pictures. I then sent him about a million texts back, all with the same message: GET ME THIS!

A week later, "this" came to our house.

Would you like to see "this?"
Are you ready?
Would you like to see -- really really REALLY like to see???

Introducing: MISO!

That's right: we have a new kitty -- a new MANCAT ADOPTED-BROTHER HIMALAYAN kitty!

Miso was in a cage in the pet food store next door to our vet hosptial, looking for his forever home. His details are unclear, but apparently he had been found as a stray back around August or October, wondering around in someone's yard, with severely matted fur and chronic diarrhea. I guess he stayed at the hospital for all that time as they worked to figure out the cause of his diarrhea.

Here he is in his little cage -- poor baby!

I had to wait a week to find out if we could adopt him -- my husband put in an application that same day but apparently someone else had an application in ahead of us. Lucky for us, they never returned the hospital's phone calls -- so last Monday, I brought him home to live with US!

He's a doll-faced Himalayan -- no flatface like Zuzu, more like Anna -- but undoubtedly a Himmie: blue eyes, darky points (I think blue point?), chunky fat little body with shorty legs and fluff! Where on earth he came from, I can't imagine -- how could anyone abandon him? Did he get lost? He's only about a year and a half -- poor baby!

So far the transitioning period has been going well -- the first few days Anna hissed her head off at him and Zuzu just looked at him like "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!?" A week and a half later, Zu still avoids him (but watches him with big Zuzu eyes!) and Anna only hissed once today -- when Miso butted into her, in that "pet me" way he has. We're working now on getting him used to Carter -- Carter wants to play very badly, but Miso is "HISSSSSSS, NO DOGGY!" Today, however, they've been staring at each other through the baby gate I have up most of the night with no hissing or barking -- BIG improvement. The hardest part of the transition seems to be getting all kitties on one food: Miso's diarrhea seems to have completely stopped on a special diet of prescription low fat/high protein food. Rather then mess around with what's working for him, I've decided to switch the girls to that, as Anna is prone to diarrhea about twice a month herself (wonder if it's a breed thing?) We have to do this transition very slowly, a little at a time, so as not to upset their tummies!

The best thing about Miso Mancat BrotherBoy Kitty is his temperament: he's a big purring loveball, very sweet with the softest meow I ever heard -- softer even than Zuzu's tiny meow!

I'll keep you posted -- just wanted to share the news!

I Can Drawz Zuzu!

2010-01-22T05:52:00.004-05:00

"I is still very very very prettyZuzu!"

Zuzu ...

2010-01-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

"I is veryveryprettyZUZU!"

Show Jumping Praline!

2009-12-22T07:31:00.005-05:00

One more post for today: once again, Praline continues to inspire!
When I saw this post over at Praline's place, I just had to fire up the ol' Photoshopping software!

Here's Miss Praline engaging in a little feline/equine show jumping.
I have no doubt that she won her class!

Kitty Play Hour!

2009-12-22T07:05:00.008-05:00

(A Zuzu belleh!)

DOODY!

2009-12-20T07:16:00.011-05:00

Weeeeeeeeeee here now -- see?

This be Anna here. dsfakdsueuawie. Can't type so good cuz i gots FLUFFY toes but no what?
You wanna no what?

i BAD! i VERY VERY BAD!
No what i do?
i go doodie all over the basement!
All over big bag they put the Christmas tree in!
Yes i do!
DOODY DOODY DOODY!
Mommy, SHE found it, my doody on bag, 2 days ago! i like that basement! Go in there all the time! One time, I was in there and had to go DOODY! So i did! And i liked it so much i did it again and again and again and nobody knew til yesterday!

i not SO bad tho. No tree in bag when i did it! They throw out the bag tho and don't let me in the basement no more so now i puts my doodie back in my litter box. Boring!

Still, no what?
Wanna no what else?
i CUTE!
Dont matter i doody cuz i cute!
i SNUGGLE ALL THE TIME -- SEE?

An, too, SEE MAH BELLEH?!

Zuzu here now -- SHE GROSS!
I dont go no doody down there never!
Mommy, SHE say, Zuzu, you don't go doody down there, do you?
I say, no -- I veryveryveryverygoodgirlnodoodyzuzu!

Recent Pics

2009-11-15T07:37:00.005-05:00

Some recent shots of the girls:

Anna: very typical "See mah belly?" position

Zuzuzu

TWO!

Zuzu's plumey tail

Zuzu: is a MAGNIFICENT tail!
Kim: Yes, Zuzu, it's very nice.
Zuzu: very very nicemagnificentzuzutail!

Carter and Annabelle

2009-10-17T16:59:00.002-04:00

For such a big dog, Carter is usually pretty gentle with Annabelle.

Zuzu: AH don LIKE him!

Yes, Zuzu, I know -- you hide from him. But you know, if you just let him sniff you every once in a while, he wouldn't be so obsessed with you!

Zuzu: AH WON'T!

Okay, Zuzu.
ANYway, Annabelle not only puts up with Carter, but purposely sometimes goes out of her way to get his attention. Below a video of the two of them. You'll see not only does she appear to enjoy his grooming, but watch how she actually SMACKS him when he starts sniffing his toy and ignoring her:

Not Dead

2009-10-17T06:19:00.002-04:00

Weeeeeeeeeeeee are not dead!
Weeeeeeeeeeeee are still here!
Mom is busy an' we HATES that!
Sheeeeeeeeeeee says she will blogz again, soon!
Weeeeeeeeeeee want u to notz forgetz about us!

Please.

Finally ... PRALINE!

2009-07-09T09:43:00.020-04:00

So remember a looooong time ago I said I wanted to draw Praline, here?

This morning, I did some sketches of our famous Praline, mostly playing around with color -- she's such a fun kitty to draw!
I call this one below "Little Praline in a Big Room." (Unfortunately my scanner wouldn't transfer the sketch very well, so I had to resort to photos and a bit of cropping.)

Anyway, you get the idea:

Click to enlarge

Which was inspired by this post and this picture:

That Praline .... so cute!

Gerbils!

2009-07-08T20:15:00.010-04:00

Is me!
Is Zuzu here now!
See?
Do you know what came to mah house?
Well, do you?
You not even BELIEVE it, maybe!

Ah SHOWS you!
SEE!
What the HECKS THIS STUFFS BE?!
What this stuffs doin' in MAH house?
An how comes it has its OWN house?

Maybe you don know?
Ah shows you 'GAIN -- from others sidez!

WHAT THE HECKS THIS STUFFS BE IN MAH HOUSE?!

Kim, she say "Zuzu, these are gerbils. We are babysitting them for a few weeks while their family goes on vacation."

Ah say, "Well these be toyzes for Zuzu, maybe?"
An ah HAPPY cuz ah do likes toyzes!

But she say, "No no no, Zuzu!"
Then she keep the door where these things be closed the whole time!

Nononozuzu and door closed the whole time!
Well!
Well!

Ah tells you what!
Ah jus glad theys gone now!

That make me crabby, that nononoZuzudoorclosedbusiness!
That make me real real madz!

Harumph!

Grooming Time!

2009-05-28T04:57:00.009-04:00

Anna and Zu LOVE to be groomed.
Whenever I want either of them, all I have to do is tap on the floor with one of the metal combs I use and they both come running. (I usually groom them in the bathroom, as the water, cotton balls and all the other stuff I need is in there.)

Here's some pictures from last weekend's session.
Zuzu came first and within 30 seconds, Anna ran in and tried to take over.
Notice how close she is sitting to Zuzu, trying to get me to groom her:

Three New Videos!

2009-05-18T07:27:00.002-04:00

First, Zuzu's Tiny Meow -- again!

Second, quickie video of Anna with pencil -- so delicate!

Finally, Zuzu's "attack" on her sister. This was odd -- usually it's Anna who occasionally gets aggressive with Zu!

Finally: A New Post!

2009-05-17T04:49:00.006-04:00

Blush.
I know, I know -- it's been FOREVER since I updated Annazu!

I have no real excuse, except the truth, which actually, is SORT of a good excuse. Fortunately or unfortunately as the case may be, I have a tendency to get 100% caught up in whatever little endeavor I'm pursuing at any given moment. Every other little endeavor suffers until I finish with, or somewhat tire of, the current project. Sadly, Anna and Zu's blog suffered badly this winter and spring as I made silly little movies for friends, sold off over half of my model horse collection, got very caught up in finding old friends on Facebook and most recently, starting running again.

Additionally, I am a morning person. If I am to accomplish anything, it must be done in the AM. As I now must be in the office by 8AM, this leaves little time before work to focus on my little projects and/or exercise. HOPEFULLY, as summer rolls around, I'll have more time to update this bloggy!

ZUZU: Harumph! You is big jerk! YOU DO THIS BLOG!

Sorry, Zuzu!

Anyhow, here's a few pics taken recently:

Anna -- WITH NO ARMS!

(I took this picture and I still can't figure out where the heck her front legs are!)

Reason Why You MIGHT Not Want A Himalayan If You Don't Like Fur Around
Your House and On Your Clothes:

From one approximately 10 minute grooming session yesterday. Comprised of about 10% Zuzu fur, 90% Anna fur! Zu's coat is softer and fluffier while Anna's is silkier, longer and denser. Whenever I groom her, I say "Anna, you have WAY too much fur for one little cat!"

Sophie, my friend's kitty!

HOW CUTE IS THIS?! Here is Sophie, relaxing in the direct sunlight, which is why the pic is kinda faded-looking. Is this the cutest little pose ever?!

Hopefully, back with more posts soon! Hope all our friendzes, human and kitty, are doing well!

Anna: See what I can do?!

2009-02-12T05:53:00.007-05:00

"You no what I can do?"

"Watch mah big paws -- real real GOOD!"

Also, complete unrelated, do you know what I would LOVE???
A black and whitey tuxedo Flatface!

OR A PRALINE Flatface:

OR ANY Flatface!

Zuzu: AH HAS A FLATFACE! HARUMPH! YOU SEE MAH FLATFACE?!!

Kim: Oh yes, Zuzu! You have a very pretty flatface!

Zuzu: Yes. (Nods.) Ah have a very very very very very pretty flatface!

STRETCH!

2009-02-10T18:29:00.001-05:00

Zuzu: This nice when ah stretch!
See, too, mah claws?
I FIERCE when ah puts my claws out!
Raaaaah!

UPDATE

2009-02-05T05:09:00.019-05:00

I've been nearly completely out of the kitty blogosphere for the past few months. I've not hardly even been commenting at Goma, Praline or Bhu's blogs and I usually follow these fluffies daily!
It's only today I finally feel like posting here again -- because, thank God, I think Zuzu is finally healing.

To make a longish story kind of short, sometime in December, Zuzu began developing scabby, itchy spots on her tail base and along her back. Anna had some too, but to a much lesser degree. As I have been battling fleas since August, I assumed this was flea allergy dermatitis and to date, that's what the vet still thinks it is. I kept flea combing the girls, but the truth is, I've been a bad mommy here for two reasons:

1. At least out here in CT, I am convinced Frontline has stopped working effectively. There is some talk that perhaps our east cost fleas have developed a resistance to it -- whatever the reason, it has never worked well for me. So after about three months treatment of Frontline, I decided to switch to Revolution for the cats, K9 Advantix for the dog. Bad Mommy should have switched products sooner! Finally, I think we've won the war on fleas!

2. I am kind of a freak when it comes to flea medication. I hate it. I worry about it WAY more than I should: that maybe it's more harmful to both humans and animals that the manufacturers let on, etc. For this reason, Bad Mommy went well over 6 weeks between applications, hoping the flea combing by itself would do the trick.

(You might be thinking, "What's the big deal about a little flea allergy dermatitis? Why would a little something like that make her so upset she didn't even want to blog? Get a grip!"

You'll see ... keeping reading.)

In early January, I inspected Zuzu's skin again and was horrified: the scabby patches had increased drastically in size and number. Additionally, instead of being "scabby," these patches had turned into lesions: angry-looking red, weepy patches of skin all along her back.

Thus began our (expensive!) multiple trips to the vet.

First, I FINALLY applied the Revolution to both cats, Advantix to dog. All three animals got Capstar, a pill which is supposed to kill all fleas on them in hour. THEN I vacuumed the whole house from top to bottom AND did load after load of laundry: cat and dog bedding, throw rugs, even my comforter where Zuzu likes to sleep. I was then to give both cats 14-days of oral antibiotics, twice a day.

Giving meds to cats is a nightmare! For the first week, I had to wrap Anna in a towel and quickly squirt the meds into her mouth -- which I HATED doing! Eventually I found I was able to mix it into canned food which made me SO happy! No more feeling like I was traumatizing her! Zuzu, however, will not eat canned food at all -- and after about 4 doses of meds via the ol' wrapped-in-a-towel trick, she got wise and squirmed so horribly -- and looked so UPSET -- I gave up.

So back to the vet for Zuzu as I could not get her meds into her -- and her lesions were getting worse.

I need to switch the subject here to give some background:

I've mentioned Little Girl, my first Himalayan, here a number of times. LG also developed flea allergy dermatitis. As treatment, she received injections of steroids, about six of them, in a period of less then two years. Shortly after her last steroid, she developed diabetes.
Steroids are known for their propensity to cause diabetes in cats:

One
Two
Three

For starters.
Keep Googling "diabetes" "cats" and "steroids" and the links keep coming. With steroids, it's a gamble: some kitties have multiple injections of steroids and do just fine. Others, like Little Girl, develop diabetes.

Thing is, during LG's period of injections, NO ONE TOLD ME there were alternatives to steroids! Like a dumb, trusting fool, I let my former veterinary hospital keep poisoning my kitty.
She died, as you know, and her death was long and traumatic.

ANYWAY, so now, here I am, two years or so later, another Himmie and more $#&$ flea allergy dermatitis -- and the possibly of those horrible, $#&% steroids again. All the memories and details of LG's illness and death came flooding back. I couldn't believe I might be facing this nightmare again.

Thank goodness our current vet gets it. He confirmed that, yes, steroids can trigger diabetes in kitties, and supported my decision to NOT treat Zu with them -- except as a very last resort. As I couldn't get the meds into her, the vet gave her an injection of antibiotic which was supposed to last for two weeks. Then sent us home to wait and see.

A week and half later, perhaps a hint of improvement but Zuzu still had lesions all along her back and some on her neck. Back to vet. This time he sent me home with Cortisoothe shampoo and also did blood work in case Zuzu would need the steroids after all. The test would determine if she showed a preexisting condition that would put her at a greater risk for developing diabetes -- if so, steroids would definitely be avoided. (Note: these tests were NOT done on Little Girl, nor was I ever told such a test existed. More evidence of negligence from our former vet hospital. My hatred for that hospital is intense and rages as fresh as if Little Girl died yesterday. Best to leave it as that. Zuzu's bloodwork came back fine, by the way.)

So my husband and I gave her a bath. Overall, she was pretty good about it.

And now, about a week and half later, SHE IS BETTER!!!
Not completely -- I may have to give her another tubby with Cortisoothe but her skin is much, much, much better AND WE DIDN'T HAVE TO USE THOSE CRAPPY STEROIDS!

Zuzu: Ah HATE tubby!

Kim: But you're better, Zuzu!

Zuzu: Hate HATE tubby! An why u wrap me in that towel and force ICKY in mah mouths?

Kim: Groan. I'm sorry, Zuzu. Please try to forget about that -- I was trying to help you!

Zuzu: Harumph! Sorryzuzu NOTHING! Was bad!

Anna: I ALL BETTER! An' want more wet foodies, please!

Kim: I'm glad you're better, Anna -- but you really don't need more canned food. You're kinda fat, you know.

Anna: I NOT THAT WHAT YOU SAY, THAT "TOO FAT!" I NOT THAT!

Anyhow, so far, so good!
Next flea treatment is due next week and you bet your boots I'm giving it to both cats and the dog right on schedule!

Now that I can stop worrying so much, hopefully we'll be back to blogging as we missed everyone!

OH!
Nearly forgot!
As some of you may know, I have, um, a few tattoos. After spending my 30's kind of regretting them as, I've finally learned to say, "I LIKE my tattoos! Who cares what anyone thinks?!"

Here's my latest, just got this one about three weeks ago -- look, Sachie!
A Japanese Maneki Neko or "lucky kitty!" as I call him. I have a whole bunch of these in my house -- don't know if they bring me luck or prosperity, but I've always loved them!

(That's my elbow at the bottom of the pic -- kind of hard to tell where it is from this picture.) I wanted the horseshoe in there for its "luck" symbolism -- but also as a tribute to my love of horses. Thanks to my buddy H for suggesting this!

Finally, some pics of wet Himmies (we gave Anna a bath too, just to be sure, as the vet said it could only help soothe her itchies too!)

Anna
Zuzu

Weeeee Can Has BOX!

2009-01-06T03:59:00.002-05:00

A Few Recent Photos of the Girls

2008-12-18T06:47:00.007-05:00

Anna: such a snuggly little baby!

and

"You still like mah fat?"

Next:

Zuzu, sleeping on the floor next to me while I type.
SO CUTE SO CUTE SO CUTE SO CUTE!
Look at that squishy little FACE!

Picture Meme!

2008-12-09T04:11:00.007-05:00

I know, I know -- I've been posting here far less for the past two weeks! I promise Anna and Zuzu will not disappear again -- I've just been busy with a whole bunch of other little projects, as well as some not-so-little projects, PLUS it's the holidays and all. While I may continue to post less for a bit, no worries -- AnnaZu will not be going anywhere!

I'm late on this, but Praline tagged us for a Meme.
Here are the instructions:

1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.
2. Go to the 6th Folder and then pick the 6th Picture.
3. Post it on your bloggy and tell the story that goes with the picture.
4. Tag 5 other glorious peoples to do the same thing and leave a comment on their bloggy tellin' them 'bout it.

So here we go: Sixth Folder, Sixth Picture is:

This is Miss Anna, playing with a new dog toy bone a friend gave Carter. It took Carter a few weeks to "find" this toy and learn how much fun it is to chew on -- Anna, however, took to it right away.

Click on pic to make larger -- now, look at THAT BELLEH!
Look at THAT TONGUE!

I'm cheating and posting another pic that shows her actually playing with the bone:

I sent these pictures to the friend who gave Carter the bone with an email subject line that said: "Look who loves their new toy!" She opened the email, fully expecting to see Carter -- but saw Anna instead!

I'm now supposed to tag 5 friends, but it looks like the kitty friendzes we know here have already been tagged!

So if you're reading this and you haven't been tagged, feel free to do this one yourself -- and leave a comment here so I can go see!

Thanks, Praline!

Anna: I can has MORE circle!

2008-11-26T05:57:00.007-05:00

Kim: Anna, you be careful. You're getting a little too worked up with that pony-tail holder!
Anna: Don't care!

Kim: Anna! Watch out! You're close to the edge of the window!
Anna: I NOT!

Kim: Anna! You're going to fall!
Anna: NOT GONNA FALL!

Kim: See??? What did I tell you?
Anna: I do's that falls ON PURPOSE!
Kim: You are such a liar!

Also, during this same "photo shoot, " I got a really nice photo of Zuzu:

Zuzu: I is QUEEN!
Kim: You are very pretty, Zuzu!
Zuzu: (proud) Yes! I very very very prettyzuzu!

Anna: Look What I Has!

2008-11-24T05:20:00.001-05:00

"I eats an CIRCLE!"
(It's a pony-tail holder/thingie.)

Christmas "Helpers!"

2008-11-19T05:35:00.016-05:00

Yesterday's post was about how the girls love to "help." Do you know when they are at their most helpful -- especially Zuzu? At Christmas! Perhaps this is because they are "Christmas kitties," as we brought them home on December 23 in 2006.

Here are some photos of the girls showing off their helpful abilities last Christmas, 2007. Below photos are of Zuzu "helping" Mia prepare oatmeal to put outside for Santa's reindeer:

We didn't have a big tree last year as Carter (dog) was only 5-months old. We tested him by setting up the tree undecorated for a few days and sure enough, he thought the tree was his own personal, giant chew toy. To make up for the lack of a tree, Santa left Mia the lighted reindeer and penguin you see in the pictures.

Zuzu

Anna

Both! (I've labeled the picture to help you find them!)

Zuzu: I put this gift in the living room Christmas Eve. I found it in our bedroom on Christmas morning. Apparently one of the girls dragged it all the way back there!
Judging by the way Zuzu appears to be possessively guarding the same gift here on Christmas morning, I'm guessing she did the dragging.

Zuzu: "These Mia's toys? But where MAH toys???"

Here's a few photos from Christmas 2006.
We'd only had Anna and Zuzu for two days -- look how little!

Anna with Rudolph characters

Anna with tent Mia received for Christmas.

TWO! (Zu in box, Anna outside.)

Baby Zu -- I forgot about this picture.
It looks like she's crying:

But no -- she was only playing with Christmas paper!

Hopefully I'll get some good shots of Anna and Zu helping this Christmas.
Hopefully too, Carter will let us have a tree this year!!!
We'll see ...

Anna "Helping"

2008-11-18T05:39:00.014-05:00

I have a lot of little projects I'd like to get started on: the promised AnnaZu and Praline cartoons, photos of Anna and Zu with their Goma buttons, more silly movies like the Anna's Belly one I did last week and more. Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to get some of these started.

Some days, however, I'm lucky I can even get a post up here at all.
Not due to a lack of time but because Anna likes to "help" me write this blog.

The below pictures were taken as I was trying to post the most recent kitty cartoon:

This happens nearly every morning -- Anna plops herself directly in front of the computer screen and grooms herself while I'm trying to type. Every so often, she'll catch sight of the mouse arrow. When this happens, I have to completely give up trying to get anything done as then she'll put her whole fat little body in front of the screen and will try to "catch" the mouse. (It's no use putting her on the floor. She merely jumps right back up on the desk again. Forget closing the door -- she'll sit outside the door meowing and scratching until I let her back in.)

A few years back while researching Himalayans, I found the following article: (Excerpt) "As I sit here writing this article I have a Himmy on my lap and another on my desk. They like their people! Himalayans will often attempt to 'help' you do whatever it is that you are doing, whether it is reading the paper, making the bed or reading blueprints. (My husband just loves it when they help him read blueprints from work!) They ARE in the middle of all of your activities, and they express themselves with a wonderful melodious voice."

Is that ever the truth. Which is just one of the reasons I am so crazy about this breed. I've found one has to learn to adjust to what I call the Himalayan's "Follow-follow trait." You learn to work around them as opposed to trying to get them to stay out of your way/off the table/out of the wastebaskets (!!!) and just generally being in your business.

All of which is just fine by me -- I'm fairly certain I will have at least one Himalayan around me at all times for the rest of my life as I just love these cats!

Zuzu: Ooooh, so BAD! (Movie)

2008-11-17T06:28:00.006-05:00

Remember this post back in June when Zuzu told us how she liked to "whomp" the wastebasket by our computer everyday?

I now have proof!
Ohhh, Zuzu -- you are SO BAD!

Sorry the lighting is so dark -- we recorded this last night.

I know why she was so focused on getting in that basket: Zuzu has a "thing" for Post Its, especially the really small ones, the 1 x 2 size, I think.

She actually eats these -- and FAST! She had one in mouth a few months ago for all of about 30 seconds. I didn't even have time to take it away from her -- chew chew chew SWALLOW! She likes the peel-off paper backing from adhesive envelopes, that thin, waxy type stuff. That's what she was after in the wastebasket last night -- after I filmed this, I took that out and put in the kitchen trash -- where she can't reach.

Why do you suppose Zuzu like to eat paper???

Zuzu: YUMMY!

Kim: But it's not good for you, Zuzu!

Zuzu: Is TOO good for youzuzu! Yummy yummy good for youzuzu!

Kim: Oh, Zuzu!

Random Cute: Mini Horses!

2008-11-16T08:06:00.006-05:00

An open letter to mini horses.

Dear Mini Horses:

Why is it again exactly that you guys can't snuggle with me in my bed?

Love,
Kim

Cartoon: Wait

2008-11-15T05:10:00.020-05:00

I found another old cartoon yesterday. This one was done around July of 2006, shortly after I adopted Little Girl. A few months after she came to live with us, she got very sick: fever, very bad diarrhea. The vets weren't sure what was wrong with her -- I was going back and forth to the office, including emergency visits when she became so dehydrated, for nearly a week.

I left her overnight on a Friday for observation. That evening I feared she was never coming home again. The next day, however, she was much better. Within a few days, she was back to her old self.

I did the below cartoon about a week later. It's not my favorite: I used a very large piece of paper and one with a heavy grain -- my colored pencils therefore look like crayon, messy and too light. Also, I went a bit over the top with, ah, "mixed media," working in metallic purple ribbons, blue glitter and cut-out pieces. I'm not sure it worked so well. Also, I'm not sure the story is clear, so I'll provide a translation.

Here's the full piece:

One:

Angels, kitty angels in heaven. They look down on Little Girl throughout the week as she is so sick. Recall, angels make Himmies and miss them when they send them to earth. They worry that humans might not take perfect care of their little fluffy masterpieces! The angels are relieved and happy she is coming back to them.

Two:

The angels pause. They see me sitting with her, missing her already, remembering all the things she did, like hugging my FEET and playing with her toys.

Three:

The angel kitties beg the angels not to take her yet. They beg them to "touch her," heal her so she can stay on earth.

See?

Angel Kitty One is crying!

That time I was lucky.
That time, the angels decided they could live without my Little Girl -- for a little while.
About a year and half later, they couldn't wait any more.
They took her back.

(Insert big sad.)

But, you know Little Girl taught me, truly: almost beautiful, that pain.
For if there wasn't so much love, there could never have been that much pain.

Anna: (tiny voice ) Me?

Kim: ?

Anna: Me!

Kim: 'You' what, Anna?

Anna: YOU SEE ME!

Kim: ?

Zuzu: Ahhh! You not so smartz today! She mean WE HERE NOW! NO MORES SADZ!!!

Kim: OH! Yes, yes, I do see you guys! And in fact, "no more sadz" is the current topic of next cartoon!

Zuzu: GOOD!

Zuzu's Plushy Stuffies

2008-11-14T04:51:00.016-05:00

Zuzu: Ah don't ALWAYS hates plushy stuffies. May be ah don't like them so good here and here, but sometimez ah DO like them!

Like here:
An too, here:

And too also, here:

That plushy stuffy Himlayankins Thing is in this picture too! By mah butt, see?! He don't bother me here tho.

Kim: Zuzu, are you pretending YOU are a plushie?

Zuzu: What "tending?"

Kim: Pretending, Zuzu. It means thinking for a little while that you are something different from what you really are.

Zuzu: ?

Kim: Zuzu? Are you confused?

Zuzu: No. Ah be pretendingzuzu, like you say!

Kim: Pretending to be what? Oh and "Zuzu" isn't part of the word, Zuzu. That's your name.

Zuzu: ?

Kim: Sigh, never mind. What are you pretending to be?

Zuzu: Ah pretendingzuzu to be HOOTIE OWL GHOSTIE SNOW-BEAR MOON-KITTY!!!
SEE???

Kim: Ohhhhhhhhhh.
That's a very special pretending trick, Zuzu!

Zuzu: (Very proud) Yes. It do be.

Carter: A Proper Introduction

2008-11-13T06:17:00.008-05:00

Thought you might like see who has been taking up so much of time and preventing me from updating Anna and Zu's blog all summer.

Introducing Carter, our 16-month old long-haired German Shepherd Dog.
This video was made early this summer -- he's even bigger now!
I picked this song as he is my "Romeo."
I just love mah doggie!
(Then again, I can't think of an animal I don't like.)
(Except well ... I'm afraid of toads and frogs. Blush.)

Zuzu: Love goggie more than us???
Kim: No, no no Zuzu -- not more than you!

Enjoy.

Anna Outside

2008-11-13T05:24:00.002-05:00

Below, short video of Anna outside on her leash for the first time this spring.
She looks like a little bunny!

It Came to Earth: MOVIE!

2008-11-11T17:50:00.003-05:00

I'm certainly making up for lost time here, aren't I?

Truth be told, in addition to being busy with dogs, horses, work and the like, I've also been rather heavily involved with a number of personal writing projects. I recently decided to take a break from these, as some of the topics I write about can get a bit, well, "heated" from time to time. Putting my other writing projects on the back burner has allowed me to focus my energy here -- which is so much fun and gives me a well-needed break.

Zuzu: What 'heated' mean?

Kim: That's when people get upset or very emotional about issues they feel strongly about.

Zuzu: Like doody on fluff???

Kim: Um, well, kinda.

ANYWAY, a few months back I began playing around with Photo Story 3 and made a bunch of silly little "movies."

Tonight I made one for Anna.
I hope you like it!
(Please be sure you have your sound/speakers on !)

Cartoon: MOUSE!

2008-11-11T06:38:00.014-05:00

The following cartoon portrays a true story involving Little Girl, my first Himalayan and a mouse. Luckily I had my camera handy and was able to take pictures.

One early morning, I noticed her sitting motionless by an old heating grate in the hallway.

"Little Girl, what are you doing?" I asked her and walked over to check it out.

Apparently, she had chased and trapped a mouse in there!

The grate is just a metal box with bars over the top, no longer in use, no wiring attached. As the whole unit lifts easily out of the floor, my husband was able to take the whole box outside (um, yes, while wearing just his boxer shorts) and set the poor mouse free.

This temporarily left a hole in the floor, with only a layer of insulation between the floorboards and an approximately 10-foot drop onto the concrete floor of the basement below. Both of us neglected to consider that Little Girl, likely thinking the insulation layer was solid and still intently focused on her mouse, would go into that hole.

And drop ten feet onto hard concrete.

Poor baby! She was okay, only slightly chipped one of her front teeth. It was pretty scary, tho and I felt so bad for her!

Here's the story, in cartoon form.
Per usual, there are errors here also: note in the "Help falling!" pic, I drew her front feet BACKWARDS! She should have her little pads showing, not her claws. This can be easily fixed with a little cutting and pasting, but somehow, I can't bring myself to change it.

Click to enlarge:
You know, I hadn't realized until today that after Little Girl died, and then Smoosh only four months afterward, I completely stopped drawing these kitty cartoons. Those deaths were so incredibly painful, that I couldn't even deal with deciding what to do with the sweaters I was wearing at the veterinary hospital when they died. It was only this summer that I was able to go through this big box of stuff I'd packed away that reminded me of them and sort it out. I was finally able to wash those sweaters and begin wearing them again.

That 30- second Praline sketch I did a few posts down is the first kitty cartoon I've drawn in over two years.

I still say I am no artist. You'll note the above cartoon is very rough and drawn on printer paper, for crying out loud. Still, I enjoy drawing these -- and had forgotten how much I enjoy making them until this week when I began posting them here.

So I thank all my kitty friends and their humans for introducing me to the Kitty Blogosphere and renewing my interest in drawing again. I spent yesterday doing sketches of flatfaced kitties, trying to figure out how to capture that "grumpy" look but without making them look too grumpy -- not easy. I'm happy to say I may have found the right combination of grump and cute.

Hopefully I'll have some time to start working on some new cartoons soon!

Anna and Zuzu's (and Goma's) Family Tree!

2008-11-10T06:40:00.004-05:00

Anna and Zuzu are the first cats I've ever owned who have a pedigree as all my other kitties were strays and rescues. While I'm all for adopting shelter kitties, I've really enjoyed the unique experience of being able to see not only the mom and dad, but also grandparents of my cats.

So today, I bring you Annabelle and Zuzu's Family Tree! Goma fans, please note this Family Tree is Goma's also -- he shares the same mom and dad as my girls, but is from a later litter.

First, meet their daddy Ch Kasiakatz Read Set Go of Cozycreek, aka "Tonka:"

Photos courtesy of Suzette Garey
Please visit Suzette's Cozycreek links found to right of this page.

I love this last one -- look at his back feet!!!

Tonka is a flame-point Himalayan. He has the "extreme" or show-quality flat face. His breeder Suzette described him as having an exceptionally sweet personality. I had the honor of meeting Tonka when we picked up the girls back in December of 2006. My husband, daughter and I were playing with Anna and Zu, and all of a sudden there's Suzette with this gigantic pile of FLUFF in her arms! Tonka was absolutely beautiful, adorable and BIG -- I wanted to pick him up and lug him around all day. He is now retired from breeding and in his forever home.

Quick note on our visit to Suzette's home: at the time we bought the girls, I think she had about 7 or 8 adult Himmies and Persians at her house. I was in heaven -- this was the first time I had seen such beautiful, fluffy, flatfaced kitties other than in pictures! The cats were all loose in her home, not in cages, but hanging out happily with the family. After two minutes in Suzette's home, I knew we were getting our girls from a loving, responsible breeder.

Now meet Tonka's mommy and daddy, or Anna and Zuzu's grandpa and grandma:

Here's Grandpa, Ch Phylcats Walkin Bluline or "Lovey:"

And Grandma, Kimpaw's Maya of Kasiakatz or "Maya:"

Photos courtesy of Cathy Best

Both Grandpa and Grandma were owned by Cathy Best at Kasiakatz Persians and Himalayans. (I warn you, DO NOT click on that link UNLESS you are sitting down! Cathy's site is PACKED with adorable, breath-taking Himmies and Persians! Be prepared to swoon!) Lovey is still producing beautiful kittens at Kasiakatz while Maya is now retired and in her forever home.

Lovey drives me crazy! He is soooooooooooo cute!
And I am delighted to learn the girls have some TORTIE in their background -- that must be where Anna gets her "talky gene" as every Tortie I ever knew always had a lot to say!

Now meet Anna and Zuzu's mommy, Cozycreek Wish Upon a Star, or "Star:"

At 16 weeks

Photos courtesy of Suzette Garey

Star is seal-point Himmie (I think! I get confused with all the different "points!") with a more "traditional" or "doll faced" nose. Just look at how blue her eyes are! Now we know where Goma got his eyes! Star is also now retired from breeding and in her forever home.

Now meet Star's mommy and daddy, and the second set of grandparents:

Here's Grandpa, Ch Sue-Ral's Utakmyspeechaway or "Josh:"

And Grandma, Indian Summer of Cozycreek or "Piper:"

Photos courtesy of Suzette Garey

LOOK at that Josh!
LOOK at that smooshy, squishy little face!
He looks like a little grumpy bear!

Zuzu: "He NOT grumpy! Just his flat face!"

Um, right -- sorry, Zuzu.

And look how beautiful Piper is -- her face looks so sweet!

It is so interesting to me to see how this "family tree" or breeding manifests in Anna and Zu. While the blue-cream point coloring is the result of a mix of both Tonka and Star's combined coloring, Anna definitely has Star's face and more delicate body:

While Zu has Tonka's face and chunkier or "cobbier" body:

They both have Tonka's lighter blue eye color.

Also interesting is how their personalities were pretty much determined at an early age: at nine weeks old, Anna was curious, fearless, loved to be held and kinda "silly." At the same age, Zuzu was friendly but more cautious and while she follows me everywhere, she does not like to be held. Today, at two years old, their personalities are exactly the same.

Finally, here's a riddle for you:

Q: What happens when you mix a Josh with a Piper and a Star and a Lovey and a Maya and a Tonka?
A:
Special thanks to Suzette Garey and Cathy Best for photos.

Zuzu: "Weeeeeeeeee want fancy names too! I can has Ch Zuzu Eighth Thunky Wonder of the World of Cozycreek an sheeeee can has Ch Annabelle Banana See Mah Belly of Cozycreek!"

Kim: "Um, Zuzu, you guys can't be 'Ch,' because neither of you are champions."

Zuzu: "WHAT YOU MEAN WE NOT CHAMPIONS?!!!"

Kim: "Uh oh ..."

Zuzu: I Don't Like You!

2008-11-08T06:04:00.000-05:00

Remember this post a while back?

Zuzu, she don't like him, that plush Himmie.
I will show you!

"Oh! What you has there?!"

"What is YOU?!"

"NOW IT MOVING!!!"

"I hides from it!"

"It FINDS ME! I squish mahself
'gainst wall AWAY from it!"

"I not even going to LOOK at it!"

"May be I safe down here?"

"That's it!
I WHACK you!"

"Good -- FINALLY you take it away!
Now I show you mah butt.
Bet you sorry now!"

Next New Cartoon?

2008-11-07T17:43:00.000-05:00

I think I must attempt to draw Sweet Praline.
I will need to buy more markers to get her coloring right!

In the meantime, here's a 30 second quick sketch I drew on the back of my paycheck -- MUST CAPTURE THAT BELLY!

"SEE MY BELLY?"

Kitty Cartoon One

2008-11-07T06:41:00.000-05:00

I don't consider myself an "artist." I've never been wonderfully good at drawing and have a hard time translating an image I see in my head to paper.

Still, when I rescued Little Girl, my first Himalayan (see right sidebar), she inspired me to suddenly start drawing all kinds of kitty cartoons. I still don't consider myself an "artist," but I did enjoy making these cartoons.

Little Girl seemed to know when I was trying to draw her -- I used to sit on the couch with my knees tucked up under my chin when I drew. During this time, Little Girl would always come an plunk herself down between my feet.

Here is the first cartoon I ever drew in a series of Himalayan cartoons. The whole "Made in Heaven by angels" theme was truly heartfelt, as every time I looked at Little Girl I was in awe in her. I'd wanted a Himalayan forever and here she was -- in all her sweet, friendly, "you can touch me anywhere, even my belly, and I just purr purr purr!" glory!

Two errors on this cartoon: Yes, I spelled "marshmallow"' wrong and also Little Girl was a blue-cream point, not a tortie-point.

She had a little orange on her face:

which I thought meant tortie.

After she died, Anna and Zu's breeder Suzette helped me correctly identify her coloring by looking at photos.

I still say Himalayans are made by angels!
They are just the sweetest, softest, (fattest!) kitties!

(Click on photos if you're having trouble reading to enlarge.)

Enjoy! :)

Election Day at Our House!

2008-11-06T17:37:00.000-05:00

It got pretty exciting (and okay, a little weird) around here on election day ...

As many of you know, Goma was a candidate. (See?) My nine-year old daughter Mia loves Goma's website as much as I do. When she learned that Goma was running for president, she threw herself into his campaign. Mia decided that Anna should run for president also, with Zuzu as her running mate (she decided Zuzu is too shy to be president and that Anna is a little ... ah, well, let's just say a bit mentally challenged to run the country, therefore they could balance out each other's shortcomings.)

Mia spent a good couple hours on November 4th decorating the house with campaign posters:

These last two are my favorites:

That bottom Goma picture was of course, directly inspired by this super sexxxay Goma Supermodel shot found here:
Fearing sibling rivalry, Mia even drew up an agreement for Goma, Anna and Zuzu to sign:

(Now how on earth did Goma get his paw print on this document? He lives over four hours away!)

Eventually Mia, myself, my husband, Zuzu and Carter (dog) all cast our ballots:

The ballot box

Mia assured me the Carter and Zuzu votes were completely fair: she held out pieces of paper with each candidate's name on them. Carter sniffed at his choice and Zuzu CHEWED on her choice!

The final tally was ...

(Drumroll please!)

Goma!

Luckily, Anna and Zuzu aren't upset at all.
Zuzu spent the day sleeping happily with a friend:

"I has DREAMZ 'bout Gomabrother he say "Free catznips for Zuzu!"

(That's not fair, Zuzu -- only you get free catnip???)

Anna, ah, well, she didn't really understand the whole thing:

"MY BELLY HAS PRESIDENTZ WINS CUZ MY FEETZES ON TABLE! HOORAY"

(Um, what???)

Congratulations on your victory at our house in Connnecticut, Goma!

Lastly, in other news, our Goma Buttons arrived today!

Thank you, Sachie!

Stay tuned for Anna and Zuzu's attempt at super-edgy, high couture photo shoot -- featuring our new buttons!

TRICKS!

2008-11-03T17:17:00.000-05:00

Ooooh, boy!
They MAGIC KITTIES!

Zuzu says ...

2008-11-03T09:43:00.000-05:00

Zuzu has just one quick thing to say this morning:

I has a little flatface.

Goma is TOO MUCH!

2008-11-01T20:00:00.000-04:00

Oh my God.
This is too, too much!
I nearly had to be admitted to the emergency room after viewing!
Sachie's lastest Goma post is dangerous!
He too too cute! See?
TOO MUCH CUTE!

Usually the girls only hang out by the computer with me in the early mornings. But tonight, as I viewed Sachie's post, both of them jumped up on the desk.

You think they wanted to see Goma's supermodel shots?

Anna: GOMABROTHER BE FIERCE FASHION MODEL STAR!
Zuzu: Yes. He do be. Anna, you stinky funny. I smells you.

Zuzu: I close my eyesz and wish some good day I meet Gomabrother.
Anna: Me too wish! I wish so hardz my eyez glow!

Coming soon: fierce fashon shots of Anna and Zuzu with their Goma buttons when they arrive?
I hope they hold still for their big shoot!

Update on Where I've been, as Told by Anna and Zu

2008-11-01T07:19:00.001-04:00

Zuzu: I MAD.
SHE gonna give ALL too MANY excuzes why not blog!
She gonna say she BUSY an stuff.
I mad ANYway! This our blog! Is IMPORTANTS!
She so busy you see she not even clean my eyeses 'fore this picture taken!

Anna: See my BELLY?! YAY MY BELLY!
To be true, she with that dog a whole lot.
This him when little last year:

Anna: 'Cept he BIG NOW! :

Anna: I don mind him so much.
He not so big when he was little an sometimes I sit with him:

Zuzu: I don't like him! Too big too breathey panty too play play play!

Anna: I not scared of him. He not mean to catzes. But somtimes, he try to do this to me!:

Anna: SQUISH ME HE THINK I IS A MARSHYMELLOW!
Still, he not mean an I not scardzes TOO much.

Zuzu: She with that dog alot. She EVEN with deer!

Zuzu: An today, she gonna be with horse!

Zuzu: She love that big horse. See?

Zuzu: May be she love that big dog, that big horse, that deer more than us???

Kim: No, no Zuzu! I'm just busy!
Zuzu: You TOO busy sometimes!
Kim: I'm sorry, Zuzu.
Anna: She sorry, Zuzu.
Zuzu: Well, okay. BUT DO OUR BLOG!
Kim: I just did :)!
Zuzu: ....? Oh! Goods! I happy now! Go play with mah CATSZNIPSZ NOW!

Little Bear!

2008-10-01T06:48:00.000-04:00

Anna is probably the cuddliest kitty I've ever had. Last night she climbed on top of my chest and promptly fell asleep. (Yes, I photoshopped my face out. I looked horrible but Anna looks so cute I had to post this!)

She looks like a little white teddy bear!

BAD MOMMY!

2008-09-30T14:40:00.000-04:00

Bad.
I am bad, bad, BAD mommy.

Rest assured, I'm reading everyone else's blogs -- just been too busy or preoccupied to keep Anna and Zuzu's blog or even comment at the other cat blogs. Another couple of busy weeks ahead (big annual breast cancer benefit this weekend and then some articles to write) and then I HOPE to give AnnaZu blog the attention it deserves.

Actually, tho, you all haven't missed much. It's been, well, GROSS around here: both girls have a bad flea infestation -- hoping another month of Frontline will do the trick. Also, Anna had another bout with icky poopy, getting it all over her fluffy pants. I cleaned her up best I could, but couldn't get her as squeaky clean as I'd like -- low and behold, she chooses that night to sleep on MY PILLOW -- right next to my face!

Anna: Was my REVENGES! You too wet water and combing and clippy with SCISSORS around my butt!

Sorry, Anna.

Can You Help: Walk for Animals, September 7th

2008-09-03T13:22:00.000-04:00

Zuzu: Weeee just wanted to tell your our mommy Kim and her family are doing something extra special this Sunday, September 7 in Springfield, Massachusetts!

Anna: THEY WALKING FOR CATZES!

Zuzu: They are partipating in the MSPCA-Angell's Walk for Animals -- all of the money goes to help poor catzes and dogsesz and rabbitiz and birdses and even horsesz!

Anna: WALKY WALKY WALKY FOR CATZES! YAY!

Zuzu: If you can spare anything at all, please go here to donate to our mommy's team, The Fur-Reals, right here: The Fur-Real's Page!

Anna: YAY MONEY FOR CATSEZ!

Zuzu: Weee know we are way late on annoucing this as the walk is this weekend, but Mommy only TELLS US about this a few days ago!

Anna: How she expect us to "fundraise" when weeeee don't even know 'bout this til now?!

Zuzu: Anyway, we shows you some animals that were helped by MSPCA here:

"Oh. It's YOU. Well. See me? Yes, you do see me and I am Creamy. Do you know what I am? I am a HIMALAYAN! I sure the heck am! Do you know where I was? Once? At the MSPCA shelter -- and homeless!

Me!
Homeless!

I was found wandering the streets with no more love! And I am a HIMALAYAN, for God's sake! I purr purr purr in the shelter so much that I was adopted. Good thing too! Because I love hair! I love to roll around in your hair if you let me and get silly! If you sleep over my house someday, I might get in your hair! S' fun! You'll like it!

You can't toucha mah belleh tho. I don't LIKE that! But you can pet and pet and pet and pet my head! You can also give me treats. Do you know why? Because treats is the way I roll!"

"Ohhhh. You. Good, I like to see you because I like everybody! That's me: Boo. Boo Who Likes Everybody! Good to see you, too, because I can't hear you. I have no hearing. None. I am deaf.
I, too, was found lost, unloved and scared. I, too, lived at the MSPCA shelter for a little while. Which was better than scary streets but I wasn't happy.

Do you know why?

Because I have GREAT BIG FEETS with about ONE MILLION TOES on them and I like to wrap them around people's necks and hug!

Which is why I'm happy I have a home now!
A home for my TOES!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEE! YOU! YAY! I IS LOLA! Pant pant pant, happy happy happy!

I happy -- now!
Now I happy!
I wasn't happy last year, tho.
No.

Last year I was dropped off at the MSPCA shelter because my owner died. I don't think I was very happy there because that owner was sick and couldn't take care of me too good and I spent too much times in my crate. I HATES crates, now! Instead of crate, I would rather ALL DAY follow follow follow my owners ALL DAY all around the house ALL DAY!

When I got to the shelter I was covered with hair mats and snarls and tangles and YUCK!
I had pieces of WIRE stuck in my beard!
Now, tho, now I HAPPY and have nice home!
And a whole BUNCH of toys and one toy I call Pink Mama!
I would let you play with Pink Mama, too, if you wanted!"

Kim: All of the above animals are owned by my sister and her family. Besides providing a forever home for Creamy, Boo and Lola, they also provide a foster home for at-risk kitties from the MSPCA shelter; cats with delicate health conditions who should not be exposed to potential illness from other animals. This usually turns out to be kittens with brand new baby immune systems.

Zuzu: KITTENS!
Anna: SICK KITTENS, WE HATES IT, SICK KITTENS!

Zuzu: Do you know what I think you need to see now? Another picture of Boo.

Anna: And his one million toes!

Once again, if you can help, just go to our team page, The Fur-Reals!
Thanks everyone!

Treadmill!

2008-08-30T15:23:00.001-04:00

Oh my goodness -- what the heck is that?

Let's take a closer look ...

It's ANNA!

While Annabelle enjoys her new-found snoozing spot, Zuzu contemplates her challenge (click to enlarge):

More kittens!

2008-08-25T05:06:00.000-04:00

Felt like posting more AnnaZu kitten pics.
Enjoy!

We Still Here and ...

2008-08-24T08:26:00.000-04:00

".. I is great big fat!"

Stuff I Love: FLATFACES in Magazines!

2008-07-27T19:30:00.000-04:00

Stopping by Sachie's Goma blog today, I saw she has a video up of Goma talking -- just like my Zuzu's little meow post below! By the way, that soft, but frequent little meow appears to be a trait of Himmies: "Like the Siamese, the Himalayan can be a very vocal cat. The are very communicative and will let you know with a few meows that dinnertime has arrived! Don't worry, their voice is much more similar to that of a Persian than that of a Siamese."

In another article, the Persian/Himalayan meow is described as "soft and pleasant." But true, they talk often! Zuzu has taken to meowing at me every time she want attention and Anna is even more vocal -- slightly louder than Zu, she meows as Goma does -- when rolling around, showing her belly and also quite often at the door, wanting to go out!

Zuzu: We can't, tho, can't go outside. Because, Kim, she say "NonononoZuzu, you are too WHITE and too SOFT and too non-streetwise and cars and predators would hurt you!"

Just below the talky Goma post, Sachie has a post with pictures from a recent photo shoot in Vogue showing models posing with (flatfaced!) Persians.

Sometimes Sachie and I seem so alike and so silly-in love with our kitties, I wonder if we aren't long lost sisters somehow!

A few years back, I noticed Paris Hilton on the cover of Seventeen magazine holding a (flatface!) Persian kitten! Of course, I had to look inside. After seeing the below pictures, I had to buy the magazine! There were baby Himmies in the photo shoot as well as calico and solid color Persians!

(Click on the above picture to make BIG! Look at those grumpy little FLATFACES!)

Finally, another video Zuzu playing with her Mousie below.

Anna: ME IN MOVIES NOW! ME ME ME!

You will be next, Anna, I promises!

MOVIES!

2008-07-20T16:41:00.000-04:00

Played dress up again the other day. Zuzu genuinely seems to enjoy wearing clothes --she rolls around and purrs. Anna, on the other hand, appears to merely endure dress up. She'll put up with it, but doesn't seem too pleased.

Zuzu: "Likes it! Not crabby! Jus mah flatface! I like mah shirty!"

Anna: "Do BE crabby! Hatesez it, shirtzes! OFFS, U take it!"

Now: to make up for my sparse posting here at AnnaZu of late, I give you --

ANNABELLE AND ZUZU CINEMA!

First, Zuzu staring in "Mah Tiny Meeow:"

Um.
Yes, that is blue you are seeing on Zu's left side.
And, yeah, on her right side too.
Ah, well ... I (blush) wanted to try to temporarily dye her white toe blue with a teeny bit of food coloring.
Make her Blue Zu!
She got too wiggly so I settled for just putting a bit on her fluff.

Honest to God, I do not torture my kitties, I SWEAR!
I just have a little bit TOO much fun, I guess.
You'll note when she meows I gasp in awe as if angels were singing, for crying out loud.
As if I hadn't heard her tiny meeow hundreds of times before.
They just drive me crazy, these fluffy, flatfaced little moonbabies -- I can't ever stop marveling at them.
(Be sure to turn up the volume so you can hear her purring too!)

Dang it, I had hoped to upload two more videos, but for some reason YouTube and Blogger are both taking FOREVER to upload a few 45 second videos.

Hmmmm, wonder why.
Anyone have any suggestions?

More, to come, hopefully.

Weee has NOTHER blogzes!

2008-07-18T07:18:00.000-04:00

Today's AnnaZu post is over here at Floof & Fur!
Thank you to our mascot ZeeBee (above) Maggy, Zoey and Anne of Zoolatry for inviting us!

We sorry!

2008-07-17T05:57:00.000-04:00

Zuzu: Mommy BUSY! TOO busy to update our blogsez! That is stink!

Anna: Sheee busy. And with that GOG ALL THE TIME! (dog)

Zuzu: She better updates our blogzes soon! Else, WHOMP her with mah white toe!

Anna: Hee! WHOMP!

To snazz up your summer wardrobe ...

2008-06-29T06:00:00.001-04:00

Wear with pride!

Zuzu: QUIRKZES!

2008-06-17T12:18:00.001-04:00

What?
That Zoolatry Human, she tagzes me.
See?

What do's be "tagzes?"
SHOULDS I PUNCH TAGZES WITH MAH WHITE TOE?!

Oh.
Kim, she say, "NononononoZuzu u talk about 6 quirkzes u have!"

What be "qurikzes?"
SHOULD I PUNCH A QUIRKZES WITH MAH WHITE TOE?!

Kim, she say "NononononoZuzu, a 'quirk' is like a funny little habit. Something u do alot, that only U do!"

???
Kim, may be she nutzes.
What she babble about on and on 'bout tagzes and quirkzes?
Sigh.
i do try tho.
i do will try to tell u bout some quirkzes.
That i have.

I TELL YOU ONE!
Everydayz i KNOCK over wastebasket by computerz!
Everdayz!
Dont matter empty, dont matter full, everydayz i WHOMP! with mah white toe and knocks it over!

i proud!

Thats one quirkzes.
I TELL YOU NOTHER!

Every nightz i jump on bed with that Kim.
Only for 1 second!
Then, PLOP, i DOWN AGAIN.
i dont know y i do this.
Maybe i CHECKIN on her, that Kim?

Thats two quirkzes.
Nohter, i dont like canzed food!
BLECHY STINK!
No toucha that stink!
Three!

Four quirkzes be mah tienee meeyow.
Kim, she say "Zuzu, tell them that means "Tiny meow."
i has it, too, the tienee meeyow!
Like SQUEEK, it be, tienee and better!

i proud of tienee meeyow!

Five quirkyzzzz be may how i spread mah front toes out like TREE FROGZES when Kim puts me down, after she holding me.
Even tho i dont like being holded so well.
TREE FROGZES!

Then six, may be mah flat face!
Used to be too, mah nose was crooked but it do be better now!
Sometimes, that happen with us FLATFACEZ.

Cuz we be LUCKY!

K, done!

Zoozoozoo Human, she say there do's be RULES!
I has to now:

1. Link to the one who tagged me.
i do that ALREADY up top!

2. List the rules on your blog.
i do now!

3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
ALREADY i do that!
Cept WAITZ a MINUTEZ!
MAH quirkzes do be Spectacacularzes!
They not, u say, UNspectacuularzesarzzz!
They specials!
THEY PROUD.
U WATCH it, Zoozoozoozoo Human!
U not say I not Spectacturalsdfszaz!
I MAY BE PUNCHA U WITH WHITE TOE!

Oh.
Kim, she say, "NonononononoZuzu, Zoolatry Human just repeating rules SHE heard. She didn't make up the rules."

I sorry, Zoozoozoo Human.

4. Tag some bloggers friends with links.
GOMA BROTHER and THAT TALKY SMORSIE!

5. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know they've been tagged.
I do that right now.
U sit right here and u wait while i do this.

There.
done!
(Big smile of proud!)

6. What's a quirk?
Kim do that ALREADY up there, she say "NononononoZuzu, a 'quirk' is like a funny little habit. Something u do alot, that only U do!"

So quirkzes be NononononoZuzu, for startz, i guess, then it be's like when u WHOMP wastebasket with a WHITE TOE!

THERE!
SOOOO PROUD OF ME!

Stormie and Stuff I Love: FLATFACES!

2008-06-13T11:45:00.000-04:00

Oh sad :(

Since making all these new FAMOUS FREINDZ I meet new kitty bloggers everyday.

Today, I learned a sweet kitty named Stormie went to The Bridge this morning. Anne at Zoolatry created the below collage of this brave girl kitty.

I post it here, in tribute to this brave, fighter girl:

You did win, Stormie!
You did!

(Read her story here.)

I get so sad whenever I learn someone has lost a loved furry friend. Having gone throught that twice in four months with Little Girl and Smoosh, I know how hard this is. Reading about Stormie had me in tears right here at work.

Thankfully, a friend had emailed me the below picture from Cute Overload, which cheered me up:

LOOK at this little FLATFACE!
How CUTE is THIS baby?
He OWL KITTY, maybe?

I love FLATFACES!

From the above picture at Cute Overload I followed a link to Purfurvid Cattery where I found the below pictures.

WOULD YOU PLEASE LOOK AT THIS GRUMPY LITTLE THING?!

"I NOT, u say, dis 'grumpy!'
Is just mah face flatz."

Well.
But you sure LOOK grumpy!
You do!
I mean, look at you here:

"NOT GRUMPY! IS JUS MAH FLAT FACE!"

(Maybe he is grumpy ... now!)

I sorry Little Flatfacez! You not grumpy! You just Flatface!

"YAY!
Not grumpy!
(Pause)
I go doody now."

As if all if this weren't quite enough, look who I also found at the same cattery:

"See me?
I flatface baby TORTIE!
An' know what I do's already?
WATCH MAH BIG PAWS!"

FAMOUS FAMOUS FAMOUS!

2008-06-12T05:31:00.000-04:00

WEEEEEEEEE FAMOUS AGAINS!
AGAINS, WE FAMOUS!
SEE?
Weeee say "THANKS YOU!" to Zoolatry Human!
Weeee think she may be the best thing ever!

Too, FAMOUS today is GomaBrotherManCatBigPawes!
And Angie who live with that Talky Tortie S'Morzie!
See?

TOO, other FAMOUS catzes we meet today, Billie, Prince Muddy Pawzes and Myst!

YAY FAMOUS!

HOTZEZ CATZES!

2008-06-11T18:43:00.000-04:00

Whales and "Animal People"

2008-06-10T06:16:00.000-04:00

Annazu are sleeping (Zu at my feet, Anna on the printer, to the right of my monitor.) These guys, always follow follow follow, especially in the mornings. At soon as I got out of bed, Zuzu was right there, like "Finally, you're UP! YAY!"

I love how they follow follow follow all the time.
They really do make me very happy.

Other quick news: our family went to Mystic Aquarium on Sunday. I turned 40 in March -- for my birthday, my husband bought me a whale contact (my 9-year old daughter Mia and I also had a penguin contact on the same day for her birthday earlier this month.) I could do a whole post about these -- being that close to these animals was truly wonderful. But since I only have a few minutes before getting ready for work, I'll stick with what's on my mind: Animal People.

I think, you either are an "Animal Person" or you're not. Me, I have my favorites (horses, cats, dogs, and deer), but I seem to just love them all. Show me a kangaroo and the kangaroo will become my favorite animal for a few weeks. Then, I'll see a television program about, say, wolves and oooooh, the WOLF will be my favorite animal for the next few weeks!

If you're an Animal Person, animals just "do"something to you, you know? You're somehow born with a passionate love for them, all of them.

On the other hand tho, some folks are definitely, decidedly NOT Animal People. These people either don't really give animals much of a second thought or worse, they seem to think animals were put on earth solely for humans to use however we see fit.

Back to aquarium. In between petting penguins and wading with whales, we had some time to walk around. One display had a "touch tank:" a large tank filled with crabs, starfish and miscellaneous other marine life that people were allowed to touch.

I got upset there.

The tank was surrounded by kids, no surprise, all eagerly reaching into the water. That's okay, right? It was a "touch tank, " after all. The problem was, many of these kids were grabbing at the animals, taking them OUT of the water, waving them around and otherwise treating them roughly. The poor aquarium employee repeatedly asked the kids to "Keep the animals in the water," "Be gentle," etc. but the kids didn't seem to hear her or pay her much attention.

Kids are kids. They will get excited. I don't blame them -- I blame the parents.

I kept looking around, wondering where the parents were.
Why weren't the parents instructing their kids to behave appropriately with these poor creatures?
The parents were, in fact, right behind these kids -- and saying nothing. They allowed the kids to get as rough as they wanted with the animals, either not paying attention or smiling and laughing and not correcting them.

That's when I thought: these are not Animal People, these parents.
They are the type of people who just assume animals are here for humans to grope and grab and do with whatever they like.

I had to leave the tank.
Because, to me, it's never "Just a starfish!" or "Just a crab, jeez, settle down!" but innocent living creatures, you know?

Anyway.

Here's one shot of me with my beloved new friend Naku the Beluga whale. I'll try to post more later on:

Ode to Goma Brother's BIG PAWS!

2008-06-09T06:53:00.000-04:00

This morning I walked into the living room and saw Anna in a pose that instantly reminded me of Sachie's Goma Can Has Big Paws! post.

It seems Anna and Goma Mancat Brother share the same admiration for their big FEETS!

Today's News!

2008-06-07T08:13:00.000-04:00

New planets discovered: The MOONBABIES!

Weeee Has New Friendzes!

2008-06-05T17:44:00.000-04:00

Weeeee found Zoey and Maggie (and Ann, too!) at "ZOOLATRY" blogzes today!
Now all kindzes of new catzes be commenting here!

Do you know why?

Because Ann made this very FAMOUS picture of us at her blogzes!

We FAMOUS!

Kim: "No, you're not "famous," Anna and Zuzu. You just settle down, there."

Anna: "ARE TOO FAMOUS!"

Know how weeee find them catzes?
Weeee find them from Rocky, Angie and S'More's Kitty Hut blogzes!
Today, too, we find out that S'morezes?
SHE TALKY!
We knew that tho.
We knew that cuz we thinkzes that ALL Torties be's talky!

Too, we find Lilly and Laila.

Lilly?
She not feeling so goodzes.
Weeee send thunky, fluffy, purr purr purr to that family.
(Weee think, too, Lilly?
She HAPPY now and she feels GOODZES again.
She say "Ohhhh, I feel so much BETTER now at Bridge!)

Welcome to our new FAMOUS FRIENDZES.

Zuzu: PS. I still MAD!

Zuzu: Silly pictures!

2008-06-05T05:20:00.000-04:00

This photo, taken when Zu was about 4 months old, is one of the
WERIDEST pics I've ever taken.
She looks nearly deformed -- like her EYE is popping out!

Zuzu, she not happy I used that photo.
She embarassed!
She MAD!

Maybe she like this ZuBird photo better!

Above, image of the rarely seen ZuBird.
It likes candy, money, gum, snacks and cake!

EDIT: No, not really! Don't worry, Zuzu does not get GUM!

Zuzu: Do TOO get gum!

Kim: You do NOT, Zuzu!

Zuzu: I still mad at you for creepy pic!

Kim: Oh, Zuzu!

Anna: OUTSIDE and Dress Up Day!

2008-06-01T07:15:00.000-04:00

As Anna has been begging to go outside for months, two weeks ago my daughter Mia and I finally took her outside in her new harness for the first time.

After a few moments of "What is ALL OF THIS?!" she took to the outdoors like an old pro:

Later that day , we played dress up:

Anna in a little shirt!

Zuzu ... in overalls!

This silliness just goes to show what great temperaments the girls have.
Zuzu in particular seemed to almost enjoy herself:

Zuzu's Panda

2008-05-17T04:39:00.000-04:00

"I can has PANDA!"

Movie

2008-05-09T07:23:00.000-04:00

Um, this is really quite sad.

I finally figured out how to make a simple, no-frills video for Smoosh and Little Girl, something I've wanted to do for a while.

It's not a happy video, but it wasn't a happy time.

Please don't watch if you feel a sad video about the death of two kitties could upset you.
I wanted to tell their story but I don't want to upset anyone.

EDIT: Um, I feel have to say the picture/s of me in this video with the HUGE hair were taken about 16 years ago. I do NOT, for the love of God, have hair like that now. Smooshy and I went back a long way.

Also, this video was made with a cheapie, icky program -- I've since been using Microsoft Photo Story 3 for my little video "projects" which, except for problems uploading to YouTube, I love.

Additionally, this was a very hard time for me. The decision to send my girls to "the bridge" tore me apart and ... well, suffice to say, their deaths were not pretty at all.

I still have never talked about those last minutes in that damn exam room to anyone.

BUT not everyone has this experience.
I do believe there are times sending a beloved pet to "the bridge" is indeed a kindness.
My heart goes out to anyone who has ever had to make this decision.

Stuff I Love: Plush Himmies!

2008-05-05T16:19:00.000-04:00

Plushie, stuffie, cutey, can-squeeze-them-as- hard-as-I-like-without-hurting them Himalayans!

We have four different ones around our house, one of them shown in the "Goma Brother" post here. (That one, however, looks like a cross between and Himmie and a Ragdoll, what with the white feet. )

We also have the below three by Webkinz and Ty:

OOOH!

Look at this stuffed PERSIAN:

Photo from Batcho.net

Okay, that one is REAL!
But soooo cute -- this moon baby looks like a little stuffed toy!
I would really love to squeeze this kitty!

Annabelle!

2008-05-05T13:24:00.000-04:00

Finally, the promised ALL ABOUT ANNABELLE post!

Anna, December 2006

Anna is a "doll-faced" Himalayan, meaning she doesn't have the extreme or "flat face" that show quality Himmies have. This makes her eyes easier to clean. While she does get "goo," it cleans up quickly and easily as she doesn't have the folds around her nose like Zuzu.

Though Annabelle is her real name, we usually call her Anna or "B."

This happened as gradually her named shortened from Annabelle to AnnaB to finally just "B."

Anna's personality is quite different from Zuzu's. Anna is WAY more curious than Zu and has been from the day we brought her home. She is either very brave, very trusting -- or very stupid, as it seems she is afraid of nothing! Unlike Zuzu, Anna LOVES to be held -- in fact, she will stand on her hind legs and very gently knit her claws on my leg, begging to be picked up:

Visitors don't bother her -- she'll come right up to new people and is fine if they hold her. When she was younger, she was completely fascinated whenever my 8-year old daughter Mia took a a a bath. Anna would sit right on the edge of the tub and stick her paws in the water.
Eventually, she did fall in -- three times!
But, the next time Mia took a tub, Anna would be right back on the side of the tub, ready for more water fun.

Unlike Zuzu, she isn't much bothered by Carter, our 9 month old German Shepherd puppy. When he was smaller,Anna would lie, belly up, right in front of him. These days as Carter nears 80 pounds and is still learning -- slowly! -- not to chase her and to play GENTLY, she avoids him more than she used to. But as long his licking stays gentle, she'll still roll over and purr as he does this.

Anna and Carter, about 6 months old. He's much bigger now!

And boy oh boy does Anna roll -- and rolls and rolls and rolls! I think her motto is "Look at my belly!"

Ever since she was a baby, Anna's always had a very inquisitive/"Who?ME?" look on her face.

Picture by breeder Suzette.

Today, at over a year and a half old, she still has a similar look:

"OH! What you has there?!"

Anna is also GREAT BIG TROUBLE! Zuzu, trouble too, but Anna, oooh, she big trouble!

See?

"I do this."

"Will TOO get lamps!"

"I WHACKS you!"

"WILL eat this!"

"Too, eat THIS!"

Another one of her nicknames it The Anna Bear, so-named for her penchant of standing on her hind legs:

Picture by breeder Suzette. The very scary ANNA BEAR!

Again, The SCARY ANNA BEAR, one year old.

Anna is also much more vocal than her sister. She has much louder "meow" and ain't afraid to use it!

"Meow!" = Pick me up!
"MEEow!" = Did you stop petting me? Pet me more!
"Meeeow!" = I wanna go in the basement!
"MeeeeOW!" = I wanna go outside!

She big noisy baby!

She does want to go outside. Up until now, I haven't let her as I was afraid if she got scared, she'd wiggle out of a harness and I'd lose her!

Anna: Do TOO wanna go outside!
Kim: But it's too rough out there for you!
Anna: Do SO wanna go outside! WILL go outside!
Kim: But if you got lost, you're just a big, white, fluffy BABY and you'd stand out like a sore thumb 'cuz you're so white -- and predators would EAT you, Anna!
Anna: WOULDN'T!
Kim: They would, Anna!
Anna: WOULDN'T ! Go outside!

See? But now, after seeing Goma Brother and Sachie's harness, I'm thinking I'll get one of those for Anna. I feel mean keeping her in. She cries at the door when I'm outside on the porch, begging and begging to come out.

Too, oooh, she FAT! Even though Zuzu is a bigger cat frame-wise, I bet Anna out weights Zu by at least 4 pounds. I'll have to watch this. She may have to go on a diet.

Anna: HATE diet! WILL eat! Wanna eat what YOU eat, too!

So that's a little about Annabelle. I think my favorite thing about her is how I think she would literally let me hold her all day! Whenever I need to hold a kitty -- and sometimes you really do just need to hold a kitty! -- I pick up Anna and walk all around the house with her. She loves it -- will start grooming herself and purring as I hold her.

Stuff I Love: I Can Has Cheezburger!

2008-04-18T06:58:00.000-04:00

What animal lover doesn't love I Can Has Cheezburger?

Thanks to Perilous Cheryl for sending me the below pic -- perfect for kitty fluff lovers!

Stuff I Love: World's Best Cat Litter!

2008-04-18T05:57:00.000-04:00

The post about Anna will definitely happen, but as I've been really busy at work and home, until I have time to write it, I thought I'd instead introduce a new series of posts I plan to do here: Stuff I Love!

Warning: after losing Smoosh and Little Girl, I became and remain sort of a fanatic about keeping my animals healthy. It is possible that both my cat's deaths could have been avoided. Smoosh's kidney failure may have been the result of that horrible poisoned cat food tragedy that happened last year as she did eat one of the effected brands. Little Girls' diabetes may have been the result of too many steroid injections she had after catching stupid, horrible FLEAS and suffering a skin allergy to their bites.

INSERT GIANT SAD.

I will never know for sure, but their deaths and all that poisoned food stuff has made me very, very cautious and rather extreme when it comes to trying to do the best I can for my animals. What I'm trying to say is, I am NOT a pet nutrition expert or snob; and I in no way think I alone know what's best for animals. I just do what makes me feel good.

And now:Easy to remember, right? World's Best Cat Litter!

I started using this when Anna and Zu were tiny kittens. After Suzette (breeder) told me to use clay-type litter and not the grainy, clumping kind, I realized I had never really thought about litter. Suzette explained that tiny kittens could possibly get the clumping litter stuck in their little paws, then by licking it off, they could ingest it -- which would not be good for their tiny digestive systems.

So then I started doing some research on cat litter and learned about World's Best Cat Litter.

From their website:

"Is it safe? Yes. It is safe for you, your cats and the environment. It can be used by cats and kittens without worry of ingestion, dust or allergy problems. WORLD’S BEST CAT LITTER™ is 99% dust free, containing no clays, silica, synthetic binding or dust reducing agents found in other litters. NOTE: Do not expose kittens to litter before they are 8-weeks of age. Veterinarians and breeders have known for years that the silica dust prevalent in clay-based conventional and clumping litters may cause respiratory problems in both cats and their owners. Over time silica dust, when inhaled can accumulate in the alveoli and air sacs of the lungs. With WORLD’S BEST CAT LITTER™ there is no need to worry about a cat or its owner inhaling problematic dust.

What if my cat ingests WORLD’S BEST CAT LITTER? No problem. Because it is made from whole kernel corn, it will pass harmlessly through your cat’s digestive system and will not obstruct or coat your cat’s intestinal lining. WORLD’S BEST CAT LITTER™ contains no perfumes, chemicals, or sodium bentonite which may be harmful to cats. "

You can read more about it here.

I love it not only because it is completely safe for my babies, but it works great! I never liked the way other clumping kinds of litter get almost TOO clumpy -- or wet and gooey and hard like clay or wet cement. Also, I hated the way all the dust flew in the air when I poured it into the litter box.

World's Best is especially good for Himmies, Persians and other fluffies because it rarely gets stuck in their long fur. With Little Girl, my first Himmie, I used the other clumping kind of litter, as I hadn't heard of World's Best. I would often find this stuff caked between her little toes in hard clumps and stuck on her little fur tufts there. I'd have to wet the clumps and gently try to comb them out -- which she didn't like!

Which is, by the way, another great thing about Himmies: those fluffy, tufty toes!

Anna's tufty foot!

World's Best Cat Litter does clump so that urine is easily scooped out, but not in those cement-y, wet, icky clumps that stick to the scoop and the sides of the litter box. Instead of having to bang and whack the scoop against the trash can to get all that sticky, gray gunk off, World's Best Litter clumps come right off with no banging or remaining residue. It also absorbs odor really well. My litter boxes never stink -- unless one of the Moon Babies just made a big fresh Tootsie Roll in there!

It is expensive -- about $24 for a big bag -- but it lasts a long time! For two cats, I only buy a bag about every three months.

Zuzu: I do's like this stuffie in my litter boxie! It nice!

Anna: Oooh, it nice! I likes it tons and lots! It made from CORNY -- but I don't EATS it!

So there you have it!
I'm off to work soon -- and you can bet I'll have GOMACAM on my monitor all day! (Thanks to Sachie for the tip about making the window small so I can keep Goma on my screen at all times!)

Zuzu!

2008-04-17T07:37:00.000-04:00

ZUZU!

This blog is about Annabelle and Zuzu, two blue-cream point Himalayan sisters from the same litter. While they are sisters, these two are actually quite different. So today, I thought I'd post just about Zu, and the next post about Anna.

Zuzu's nicknames: Zu, Zuzuzuzu!, ZuBOOM!, ZuRUCKUS!, ZuBANG!, Jackie-O (the name breeder Suzette originally named her), ZuMonster, ZuPhant (as in 'elephant').

Zuzu's personality is very different from Annabelle's. Of the two, Zu is definitely the more careful and cautious. While I wouldn't say she is aloof or unfriendly, she does tend to regard strangers with some trepidation at first, usually preferring to watch them from a distance, rarely approaching them right away. In general, she does not like to be picked up and held. If I pick her up, she gets stiff in my arms, and tries to lean over and jump to the floor. Whenever I do pick her up -- which is actually often, I just can't resist! -- I put her down very, very gently, making sure all four of her feet are firmly on the ground before letting her go. She spreads her little front toes out very wide when I place her down -- like a little grabby tree frog feet!

Zu is more of a "one person" type of cat than Anna. Anna, she loves everybody, where as Zu definitely seems to have a preference for me. Whenever I come home from work, she'll usually rouse herself from wherever she's been sleeping and find me to say hello. Oh, and she has the softest, tiniest little meow I've ever heard! It's more like a squeak than a meow. Once, when she was about 5 months old, she got trapped in the closet. Her meow was so soft I would have never heard her crying to get out. She could have been in there all day! Fortunately, just when I was getting ready to leave for work I notice Anna sitting by the closet door, staring very intently at the crack under the door.

"Anna?" I said. "Is your SISSY in there?!"

I opened the door and out ran Zu, poor thing.

When visitors come to the house, they often have a hard time telling Anna and Zuzu apart, even from the front. I find this very amusing as they look so different to me! Aside from the obvious different faces, Zuzu is more "cobby" than Anna: she has a bigger, chunkier looking body which makes her legs look shorter and more "thunky." Zuzu also has a slightly larger, rounder head than her sister and a different texture to her fur. Where as Anna's fur is long and rather silky, Zu's fur is long and more fluffy -- and also tangles easier than Anna's. Zu has a longer, fluffier tail also -- and her tail has one little white "raccoon stripe" in it. Very, very cute!

Her "points" (ears, feet, tail and little face mask) are mostly light grey, with bits of white mixed in. Her right front foot has a big splotch of white on it -- that WHITE TOE that I think is so cute!

"See my white toe?!"

Both of the girls sleep much of the day, becoming most active in the evening and mornings. Over the past year, Zu has developed a habit of hanging out in the bathroom with me while I get ready for work. While I'm putting on my makeup, she'll sit on the toilet -- sometimes jumping into the sink or onto my makeup table:

She loves playing with Q-Tips. Often when jumps on the toilet, I'll carefully put a Q-Tip on the toilet tank. Within seconds, Zu will bat it off the tank and play with it on the floor:

The past few weeks, she's taken to hiding her head under the shower curtain. I think she thinks I can't see her:

Zuzu can be unpredictable. Sometimes, I'll pick her up and put her on the couch or bed next to me, hoping she'll stay but instead of cuddling, she'll jump down and run off. Other days, she'll jump up right next to me herself and staring purring away.

She does, thankfully, love to be groomed. I started combing both Anna and Zu when they were kittens and both of them love it. As Himalayan fur tangles and mats up quickly, ideally, they should be groomed everyday. I usually groom them in the bathroom, as that's where I keep all my grooming supplies: two combs, blunt-tipped scissors for mats that I can't comb out (and for DOODIE in the "pants;" or fur around the back legs), cotton balls, cosmetic squares and water, of course. If I want to groom them, I just sit on the floor in the bathroom and make a little noise with the combs. Within seconds both of them come running in.

A note about all this "doodie" I keep bringing up: I make it sound like the girls are perpetually covered in poopy. No, no, no, not true, not true. They do, however, sometimes get little, ah, "cling ons" in the long hair around their butt.

Zuzu: Can't HELP it! Fur too LONG!

To make keeping them clean easier, I do keep the hair around their little butts trimmed. It just makes life a little easier for all three of us.

Zuzu in particular, LOVES having her armpits combed. I have no idea why. She lets me roll her over onto her back like she's a stuffed animal and sticks her little paws straight back over her head:

As I'm an early riser, each morning both Anna and Zuzu hang out with me in the study/computer room and follow me around when I get up to get coffee, etc. Both of them like to sit on the desk when I'm on the computer, often blocking my view of the screen:

While Zuzu is the more reserved and careful of the two, she alone has developed a habit of climbing up the beams we have in the bedroom, much to my horror! The beams were here when we moved into the house and as they are purely aesthetic and just get in the way, hopefully this year we will have them taken out. I hate the way they look and have walked into the one that runs from floor to ceiling at night. Zuzu, she makes ME SO NERVOUS when she get up there!

The top beam is about 15 feet in the air!

She gets up there by running up that beam to the left.

Every time Zuzu does this, I freak out and run to get the stepladder to get her down. Sometimes, she lets me get her, other times she'll walk away from me, back and forth, down the length of the beam. Recently, I went into the bedroom and found her up there. Per usual, I panicked and went down to the basement to get the ladder. When I got back, she was already down! I don't how she did it, but it makes me feel better knowing she can get down from there safely. Still, I'll be glad when these stupid beams are gone.

"I be's fine! I HAPPY here! You too much worries!"

I don't know what it is with me and Himalayans. Even after owning these cats for a number of years they still drive me crazy. I remember the first time I saw this breed many years ago. A friend of my mother's had two of them. My sister and I were swimming in her pool and the cats came right over to edge of the pool and watched us.

"Ohhhhhh! What kind of cats are those?" I asked my mom's friend.
"Those are seal-point Himalayans," she replied.

She then went on to say something about how much money they cost. I couldn't believe how cute and beautiful the cats were. They were very curious and friendly, indeed seemed ready to get right in the pool with us.

"Maybe they are called 'seal points' because they like to swim -- like SEALS!" we joked.

Even since then, I went crazy with squealing "Ooooooh so cute!" happy-silly whenever I saw a picture of a Himalayan. Still, the woman's comment about how expensive her cats were stuck in my mind and I therefore never dreamed I'd actually own such a fancy kitty!

Note: a Himalayan from a reputable breeder isn't cheap -- but, especially compared to the cost of purebred dog -- or a horse, my other passion -- they are certainly affordable. And while, yes, there are so many kitties in shelters needing homes, it feels wonderful to own these cats, having admired them so long. I am grateful and awed by them nearly everyday.

It's true: I do still feel the same awe when I look at Anna and Zuzu as I did all those years back when I first saw this breed. It sounds stupid, maybe, but somehow, I can't help but feel like these cats were somehow magically tailor-made for me. I just find them so incredibly cute -- when I look at a Himalayan, it's like everything cute I could ever imagine rolled up in one, squishy kitty!

Sometimes, I think they aren't even cats, but SPACE KITTIES! With their blue eyes, roundy little heads, squishy faces, chubby little bodies and long, fluffy fur they seem almost like they are from another planet!

They are MOON BABIES!

Zuzu: "YAY! I BE MOON BABY!"

So know you know a little more about Zuzu.
Stay tuned for a following post all about Annabelle!

BABIES and A Bit of History

2008-04-13T05:40:00.000-04:00

This morning, I thought I'd post some pictures of the girls when they were kittens. They were CHRISTMAS KITTIES, as we picked them up from (breeder) Suzette on December 23, 2006, one day before Christmas Eve.

A bit of background on deciding to purchase Anna and Zu: as previously mentioned, albeit not all that understandably by Anna and Zuzu here, I lost my Himalayan, Little Girl, in November of 2006. As I was keeping another blog at that time, I wrote rather a great deal on the whole experience of her illness and finally, death. Likely someday I'll post some of that here, along with the writings I did when Smoosh passed only four months later, as I still think about both of them nearly every day. But briefly, Little Girl died from a combination of diabetes and kidney failure, Smoosh from kidney failure. Both of their deaths were -- pretty horrible and I took it very hard.

Little Girl:

The pain of losing them and the whole grief process showed me, in a sense, how lucky I'd been. I'd never really experienced the death of an animal -- or person -- I loved before, save for some relatives who had been ill for sometime and I'd had time to prepare.

When Little Girl died in November, I had a very hard time accepting that she was gone. In my desperation to somehow hold on to her, I tried to find her breeder, thinking I could find out more about her; her parents; something. I had adopted her from a family in Vermont who was going through a divorce and needed to find a new home for her. I didn't know that much about her past, other than she had indeed been purchased from a Vermont breeder.

So I began doing Internet searches for Himalayan breeders in Vermont. I never did find Little Girl's breeder, but along the way I found Cozycreek Cattery and Suzette. I had sent Suzette a picture of Little Girl, asking her if she could tell me what kind of color point she was -- I thought maybe she was tortie point, as she had some orange in her; or blue point, but I wasn't sure. Suzette was very kind and patient, as in my grief, I probably sent her a million emails. She was also able to tell me Little Girl had been a blue-cream point and that she was a "dollfaced" Himmie, meaning she a longer nose then the "flatfaced" or "show quality" Himmies. She wrote that she understood I might not be ready for a new kitten so soon, but she did happen to have some blue-point female kittens available, one in particular named Anna Banana who was also dollfaced.

I didn't think I was ready for a new kitten at all -- but I kept going back to Suzette's site and looking at the pictures of the litter and at Anna. And going back. And going back. After about a week, I decided I wanted Anna, especially after Suzette described her personality, which was and remains utterly sweet and very curious.

Ah, then ... I started thinking about how Anna might be lonely. I knew at 15 years old Smoosh probably wouldn't be interested in playing with a kitten but I couldn't really afford two. When I emailed this concern to Suzette, she replied that she had a flatfaced female who she had been thinking about saving for a breeder friend, but that they had decided she was not breeding quality as her nose was turning out to be slightly off center. Even though Suzette assured me that Zu's nose would in all likelihood straighten out she offered to reduce Zu's price.

So we got two!

Zuzu's nose had indeed straightened out and I'm thrilled to have both a dollfaced Himmie like Little Girl and a flatfaced Himmie -- I never thought I have one of those FANCY FANCY SHOWKITTIES!

Zuzu: (proud) I be FANCY!

I cannot begin to tell you how much having Anna and Zu around helped ease my grief for Little Girl, and three months later, again after I lost Smoosh. They did not of course replace my lost kitties, but whenever I missed them, it was a huge comfort to hold a fat, baby Himalayan kitten.

To be honest, I felt a significant degree of guilt buying two kittens, with so cats and kittens in shelters needing homes -- both Smoosh and Little Girl had been rescues after all.
I no longer feel guilty about this.

Everyone's grief process is unique to them.
Me, I needed these babies very much.

Back to when Anna and Zuzu first arrived: Suzette had been emailing and posting pictures of Anna and Zuzu's litter for about a month before we picked them up. As I result, I knew sort of what they looked liked -- but I had no idea how LITTLE they'd be! When I finally met them at Suzette's house, I was almost afraid to hold them -- so tiny!

The drive back to CT was just under five hours. Anna cried for the first 15 minutes or so, then the both of them slept like rocks. When we got them home about 8PM, they burst out of their little kitty carrier and starting playing as if nothing had changed! I was afraid they'd miss their mommy or their home or be freaked out by the long drive and the new house, but they seemed to be right at home from day one.

The following pictures were all taken on their first night or the first week in their new home:

Anna: ooooh, so bad!

Zu with Christmas paper

Christmas morning

Anna: "I do stinky doodie again on my fluffy pants. I sorry!"

Zuzu

The next pictures were taken by Suzette when the girls were very young -- maybe 5 weeks old, I'm guessing:

Baby Zu:

And Baby Anna:

The last two pics are some of the very precious few I have of the girls with Smoosh. At first, Smoosh hissed at them if they came near her. That was her way with new cats: she'd hiss and growl if approached, but never attacked or initiated contact herself. After about a month, she'd fully accept the new cat.

Here's Smoosh during the first week or so with Little Girl: And a few months later:

With Anna and Zuzu:

Smoosh and Anna

Whew!
Didn't mean to make that so long!
Hope you enjoyed the kitten pictures -- coming soon, VIDEOS of baby Anna and Zu!

Taking Photos

2008-04-12T07:05:00.001-04:00

I've always had great difficulty getting nice photos of the girls. I've got an average digital camera, I guess, nothing fancy but not horribly cheap. Unless the photos are taken in good, natural lighting with no flash, however, their eyes always come out glowing. It drives me crazy as their blue eyes are one of their best features and I can never get good pictures of them!

I've tried using my photo editor program to fix the red eye, but the results are always very unnatural looking -- ditto with the auto red eye program on my camera.

Anyhow, the following are photos from this morning's photo shoot!

Anna: (interrupts) "Weee will bees America's Next Top Models!"

Zuzu: "I will bees America's Next Top Model! I bees 'couture' and 'edgy' model! You just 'catalog' and 'commercial' model!'"

Anna: "What be's 'couture' and 'edgy?' Wet belly, maybe???"

ANYWAY .... As all pictures were taken about six AM, I had no natural lighting. It's easy to tell which photos were taken with flash due to the glowing eyes; and which with no flash -- no glowing eye, but blurry.

Additionally, some photos were taken pre-eye cleaning and combing, some afterward.

(Himalayans/Persians need their eyes cleaned about twice a day. As Anna and Zu have light faces, it's been impossible for me to ever get them looking perfectly clean -- every little stain shows up on them. I should try that Eye Envy stuff someday. They are both pretty tolerant about this eye-cleaning business, but they don't like it and get wriggly if I take too long. As a result, I usually just settle for getting off the goo and don't worry too much about the stains.)

Zuzu: "Thunk, thunk, thunk!"

Zu: She looks like a FLUFFY WEASEL!

Zu: no flash, eyed cleaned!

Zuzu

TWO! WITH EVIL, GLOWING EYES!

Anna: "Am NOT a 'crabby bulldog!' Why you call me that?!"

Anna, eyes cleaned!

Anna: FAT FAT FAT!

Zuzu! Dang it, this would have been so cute if I had got her HEAD in the shot! Still, look at that BELLY and those little back feet!

MOVIE STARS!

2008-04-12T04:41:00.000-04:00

Click on the pictures to make them larger!

Make YOUR kitty a STAR here!

For Sachie and Goma: Anna and Zuzu Meet Goma Brother???

2008-04-11T06:08:00.001-04:00

You can see the REAL Goma Brother here!
As Sachie's wonderful My Cat Goma site inspired me to create this blog, I wanted to get in a post for them right away!

Thank you, Sachie and Goma!

New Catzes on Blog: Smoosh and Little Girl

2008-04-11T04:57:00.000-04:00

Anna: What those catzes be doings over there now on blog?

Zuzu: What catzes?

Anna: That rolly white fluffy thing and that black and whitey?

Zuzu: That Little Girl and Smoosh ... YOU remember Smoosh, yes?

Anna: YES! Sheee HISSSSSSS when first saw us babies. Sheee say "Who YOU?"

Zuzu: Then she like us!

Anna: YES! Where sheee do go?

Zuzu: Sick, she got. Then gone.

Anna: Ohhhhhh. GONE.

Zuzu: I think that rolly-rolly girl kitty picture is FIRST Himalayan in this house. I think that kitty why WE here.

Anna: Oh, about that I knows! I hears Kim tells about her! That Little Girl! Sheee adopted from Vermonty family and oooooooh, Kim, sheee goes CRAZY for her and Himlayans. Then, Little Girl got very, very sick ... then sheee gone toos!

Zuzu: Oh. What "gone?"

Anna: Don't know! DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT 'GONE' NO MORES!

Zuzu: Why she puts them catzes on OUR blog?

Anna: Cuz they do's be's SPECIAL catzes for ever and ever!

Zuzu: Ohhhhh. (Looks worried) We special catzes, too???

Kim: Yes, yes you are both very special catzes! All that was very sad. I was very sad when I lost both those kitties. Having YOU guys around helped very, very much!

Zuzu: You loves us?

Kim: I'm CRAZY for you!

Anna: Then ... why you get that gogie?

Kim: "Gogie?" Oh, you mean "doggie!"

Anna: He EAT ME, maybe! (Runs off)

Kim: (Calls after her) No, he won't eat you, Anna. He's just a puppy and puppies are, well, they are kind of silly sometimes. We'll talk about the gogie maybe later on. Right now this blog is about you.

Zuzu: He BIG puppy, tho. I PUNCH HIM WITH MY WHITE TOE!

Kim: Zuzu, you are a big talker, you know.

Zuzu: PUNCH WITH WHITE TOE!

Kim: YOU'RE CUTE!

Zuzu: No, I SCARY!

Kim: Oh, yes ... very scary. AND CUTE!

Zuzu: Purrrrrrr! Yes. I cute.

Anna: (Suddenly appears back in computer room) My belly WET! Seee?

Kim: Anna! Again?! I thought I put the lid down!

Anna: (looks very proud) NOPE! Now, I WET AGAIN!

Zuzu: She wet again.

Kim: Very bad, Anna. You're very silly, you know.

Anna: Yes. Too, I WET!

Kim: Yes, yes, yes .... and wet.

Weee Are Here Now!

2008-04-10T06:47:00.001-04:00

Anna: Ohhhhhhh! You here now! That good cuz weee here now, too! Weee are two Himalayan SISTERS and this our blog! Sometime, I talk; sometime Zuzu Sister talk; sometime Kim talk. Weee are Annabelle and Zuzu! That's meee, on left and Zuzu Sister on right up there. That picture old about one year and a half. That picture taken on the first day weee met our new family! Weee were little! Yes. Well, weee were!

Zuzu: See us?

Anna: Weee were born on October 24, 2006 and weee are blue-cream point Himalayan catzes. Weee are many interesting. I DOLLFACED, too! That mean my face not so flat. Zuzu, she do's be's a FLATFACE -- that means her face do's be's pretty flat.

Zuzu: Too, I had crooked nose once. I tell you about that later, maybe. If you're good.

Anna: Do you know what breeder name me first? Sheee name me Anna Banana! That Kim, tho, she change-ed my name to Annabelle.

Zuzu: Do you know what breeder name me first? You don't, do you? Someday, maybe I tell you. If you're good.

Anna: That Zuzu, she tricky. I not tricky.

Zuzu: No. You kinda silly, tho.

Anna: Yes.

Kim: Anna, why is your belly all wet?

Anna: Cuz I PLOPPED in toilet again today!

Kim: Sigh. Again?

Zuzu: She do that all the time. She WET again today.

Anna: Is nice!

Kim: No, it's icky, Anna. People go doodie in the toilet, you know.

Anna: DON'T CARE.

Zuzu: She don't care.

Kim: That's enough for now, girls. This is only our very first post on our brand new blog. Let's think about what kind of stuff we want to put on this blog for a while, ok?

Zuzu: PUT PICTURE OF MY WHITE TOE!

Kim: Yes, yes, soon --

Zuzu: PUT PICTURE OF MY WHITE TOE!

Kim: Zuzu, you have patience. And anyway, your white toe IS in the picture above.

Zuzu: MORE!

Kim: Zu, you just have patience, ok?

Anna: I have patiences! That's why I WET!

Kim: Um, what?

Anna: (Silence. Looks happy)

Kim: Never mind.

Zuzu: Okay, then. I have patience ... if you're good.

Anna: Doodie! Doodie doodie doodie!