Neglected

Maude is a great trial run of how I will treat my children. Totally obsessive about pictures and updates...until month 3 or so...then my ambition falls away. Mother of the year my friends, mother of the year...

So let's do a desperate recap of the past few months. It can honestly be broken down into 2 points: 1) Maude is no longer a reproductive woman
2) Maude is going to be the size of a wildebeest

It's been a rough week or so because after her surgery Maude couldn't play with Stella b/c we didn't want her to hurt herself or tear her stitches. This means that for a week, we listened to Maude and Stella cry at each other on opposite sides of our bedroom door, reaching their paws under the door to touch. We're waiting for them to sit us down and tell us how they always knew they were different...and we can't wait to support their same-cat love.

Here are some photos to entertain and horrify you at her size.



can you spot the two cats in this picture?
hint: stella is a pirate

Maude, only 4 months old here, loves her Steve pillow from Bob and Jess

sleeping is super hard when you're bite-sized

this is the drug log. it's filled with cat nip.
my cats are crack heads.

someone missed the memo that they're too big to fit there

in no way is maude obsessed with stella, there were literally
just no other surfaces in the house for her to sit on

still dealing with her recent weight gain, maude gets stuck...

how normal cats sleep

Rude

We've already discussed how Maude and Stella need to get a secluded cabin somewhere, but it seems that affection isn't the only thing these two share. Stella's bad habits are of course rubbing off on the little one. We have recently discovered the talent that only Stella had presented before in Maude as well: sticking out their tongue. For a dog it's sort of second nature, for a cat, it's just plain weird. Here's some pics and yes, a video of Maude's ridiculousness. Note the ending where Stella decides Maude's had enough attention and goes in for the clean...

8 Hours Required

So it's been awhile since we've posted, and this can be attributed to Maude's insane growth spurts which are both incredible and frightening at once. I'm pretty sure she alternates between 19 hours of sleep and 5 hours of eating a day. Like her predecessor, Maude sleeps like a normal cat. Or not.
More soon.

Jungle Fever

So it appears that the age old Mother's warning of "if he chases you, he likes you," is true. Just take a look at the seriously uncomfortable napping positions we found the ladies in just this week. It seems their previous fists of fury have turned into paws of passion. Ladies, ladies, get a log cabin and keep it private, maybe knit a few sweaters.

Like Kids in the School Yard

Maude's signature move: ball up an use your back legs to rip the face off of your sister.

Stella's infamous Bear Hug of Doom

The battle for king of the cat tree.

Remember when you were little and your Mom told you that if a boy pinched you, made fun of you, or chased you they really liked you? Well if we're holding true to this little proverb, Maude and Stella are madly, awkardly, and innapropriately in love.

I left last week on a work trip for 4 days. By the time I got back I noticed two things: Maude might be bigger than me now, and she and Stella have developed an afinity for ripping each other's heads off. How sweet. More on Maude's freakish growth spurt in a later post.

When we got Miles and had our first two cat experience we did a lot of reading on how to tell if they were getting along. Apparently as long as they don't hiss or have their ears back, they are play fighting. Well these ladies have brought it to a whole new level. It's a rare day that I don't come home from work, exhausted, opening the door the scene of my larger black cat trying to tear the head off my smaller kitten -- but when I break them up the kitten goes bounding after the big cat like "let's do this pansie."

Until I find blood on the carpet or more than 2-3 white hairballs in Stella's mouth (oh we've found one already) I'm going to let them be and just buy them tiny Nacho Libre masks.

Strings, Chords and Safety

It takes a little while for the personality of a new cat to start to shine through. In fact, we've found it takes about a year for all their quirks and likes/dislikes to fully come to the surface. We've just finished Week 2 of the Maude Experience and like Miles before her, she likes strings, power chords and shoe laces. In fact, this is the only thing holding us back from giving her full run of the house while we are at work during the day.

For some reason, kittens seem to like Apple. Like Miles before her, the MacBook power chords, Apple USB cable and chargers for our iPhones/iPods seem to be her favorite over any other cable. Maybe as kittens, they appreciate Steve Jobs emphasis on mechanical design and product aesthetics. Or maybe kittens racially profile their chew-cable of choice by opting for the pure white Apple chords over a more common black/grey. I wish I knew....

Single White Maude

coming to a theater near you...

OK, so we've started integrating Maude into the rest of the house. She now has full access whenever we're home and kept in the guest bedroom while we're away (at least until we know we can trust her with furniture, power chords, etc..). Maude and Stella have been getting along just about as well as you can ask. Stella has established her boundaries and Maude has been surprisingly quick to respect them.

There's only one problem. Maude sort of likes Stella. "Likes" might not be the right word, probably closer to "Love." Too easy, let’s go with “Obsessed.” Even calling her a “Stalker” isn't taking it to the properly level. Maude is so consumed with everything Stella that’s she’s reaching “Single White Female” levels.

Wherever Stella naps, she wants to nap. Whatever room Stella is in, Maude needs to be in it. Even down to the level of whenever we pet Stella, Maude wants to be pet as well. She’s attached at her hip, whether Stella wants her there or not. Let's just say, if Maude has opposable thumbs, we're pretty sure she'd have a creepy photo collage of Stella in a secret closet.

And it doesn't stop at habits either. Most of you know that Stella has an inappropriate man-crush on Steve. A love that will never be thanks to the state laws of Virginia. But now we see Maude, normally aloof, making eyes at Steve, requesting belly rubs from only him, and cleaning herself in full view (I'm guessing this is to make Meg jealous).

There's one thing for sure, Maude is a creepster. If we come home one day and she's dyed her fur black, I'm calling the cops.

It's Like A Hairy Baby With A Death Wish

Oh god PLEASE let me be near you...

Discovering things to mess with that will wake us up in the morning...

Places she's supposed to be...

Explaining to us that we are no where near ready for children.

And that she has a death wish.

We decided it was time for Maude to explore the house and for Stella to take a chill pill, so this weekend marked the "unleashing" of Maude. We kept the guest room doors open all day on Sunday, but Stella's diva attitude kept Maude in the guest room the entire day, too nervous to step outside the safety of the door. Thanks to the long holiday, Maude had another shot on Monday, and girl took it for all it was worth...

What we discovered is that Maude, like her late brother Miles, has a death wish, requiring us to basically cover the condo in bubble wrap. The other thing we discovered is Maude, like her late brother, is head over heals IN LOVE with Stella. Most of the day was spent following Stella around as close as she was allowed, mimicking her movements, and trying so hard to "just be near you..."

Love at First Sight

Here's the video of they're first meeting. Clearly they're in love:

First Meeting = Fail

Meg and I had high hopes for last night. There was enough cordial pawing and face time through a sliding glass door that we thought things could go "ok". Unfortunately, things took a turn.

We opened the door to the guest room and rather quickly Maude saw Stella (see above) while Stella stared down Maude from about 10 feet away. No hissing but both cats frozen in time for about a minute. It wasn't encouraging but at the same time, we thought they had a chance. Then Stella pounced like a lighting bolt right at Maude. Hissing from both sides and Maude ran under the bed to hide. No swating but definitely a very aggressive manuver from Stella. We closed the door and Meg comforted Maude while I hung out with Stella.

I think our mistake was that we tried to introduce them right after they ate dinner. In retrospect, this is also generally when they have the most energy. Meeting two will need to take place when they are both tired out. Stay tuned...

The Thing on the other side of the door...

So after a few days of adjusting to her new surroundings, we figured it was time for Maude and Stella to start acknowledging each other's presence. The thing about Stella is that she doesn't exactly start out new relationships with other cats that well. Those in attendance for the fateful meeting of Stella and Noodles know this quite well. Stella likes to hiss and act anti-social, she doesn't exactly throw open her arms and welcome new arrivals. She greeted Miles the same way, he was just too dumb to fall for the show. Needless to say, we're hoping that Maude and Stella start off on a good 'paw'. We've had a towel shoved under the door to block any early contact. Last night we removed it to see how they'd interact.

Stella standing guard

Check out Stella's eye and paw under the door

Stella does appreciate when Maude tries to get in on the fun

The results were actually encouraging. They pawed at each other and behaved themselves. It was time for Step 2: seeing each other for the first time.

Love at first sign...err not really

Stella hissed, Maude ran and hid. But then Maude got more comfortable and Stella started to get over herself. We were encouraged enough that we decided they should properly meet tonight for the first time. Keep your fingers crossed....

Cat Naps

Maude: Pre-yell. About to realize she wants someone to play with her.

Maude: Gently coaxing me out of sleep.

Since Stella is the queen of the house, and Maude could basically fit in a sandwich bag, it's best to keep them apart for a few days. This let's Maude get used to her new home and allows Stella to get over herself (not an easy task).

Barbara suggested we keep Maude in our bedroom and lock Stella out in the rest of the house, but Stella loves to sleep with us and that just wouldn't be fair. Maude's cute, but Stella was here first, so we opted to keep Maude in the guest room -- alternating which one of us would sleep in there with her so she wasn't alone.

Last night was my shift. I found out that Maude is really good at yelling. Excellent at running full speed in the complete dark. And knows exactly when your patience is up, which she responds to by curling up on your face while you sleep.

If anything this has pushed babies an additional 11 years in the future. I'm going to take a nap.

Introducing: Maude Pants aka "Stella's Ulcer"

Goehler & Mascelli Productions presents
the premiere of

MAUDE

June 27th, 2010, 7:24 PM - 2 lbs. 4 oz., 13 inches long

First Showing:

The Big Announcement

Some of you may have noticed Meg putting on a little weight recently, or Steve obsessively looking at paint smears for the guest room. Then it should come as no real surprise that we have a big announcement: our family is growing, by one hairy, attitude-filled cat.

After losing our favorite boy Miles in January, we took our time before bringing in a new family member; kids are hard to replace. After a ridiculous amount of shelter visits, bookmarking Petfinder.com, and being let down at every turn, we found Maude up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Since we met her a month ago, there has been some serious "nesting" going on. Steve is always sitting on the couch drinking beer, Meg is standing around the guest room hiding wires and breakable items; the normal scene for an impending family expansion.

Today at 2.30 we pick up Maude and bring her home. Stella could not be more excited.