THE TALE OF THE TWITCHY TAIL!

My poor little Domino is possessed by an evil tail that twitches totally out of control. Whenever these spasms occur, she tries to outrun them, and dashes about before sitting down to try to capture it.

Yesterday, she tore around the yard, and then jumped on top of the barbecue, thumping her back legs, rabbitlike, at a rapid pace. The rest of the story you can see in this series of pictures. In some, the tail is slightly blurred as it whips about unbidden.

The origins of this twitchy tail occurred before Domino became mine. As a tiny kitten, she belonged to my son's roommate, and I would see her when I visited Ryan (my son) who would even bring her to my house on occasion. She learned to really love riding in the car. The roommate never took her to a vet, so at the age of eight months she had her first (and only) litter of kittens. She was a very good mommy.

When she was a year old, the roommate moved out, and unbeknownst to my son, left Domino behind in the garage with a dirty litterbox, a little bit of dry food and no water. The garage was used as an extra room by the roommate. Luckily, Ryan found her before she perished from neglect, and when he called me and told me what happened, I asked him to bring her to me right away.

The poor little thing was skinny and flea-ridden, so we took care of that right away and she went to the vet as soon as possible. Since then, she has enjoyed a life of love and luxury, and goes along very happily except for the haphazard incidents with her twitchy tail. I figured she had just been born with random spasms that made her little tail go wildly out of control for short periods of time.

One day, the ex-roommate dropped by with Ryan for a brief visit, and he stopped to pet Domino. I was shocked and dismayed at what happened next. He reached down and pulled her tail and snapped it until it make a cracking sound. I shrieked! He said this was a "game" they always played and that she really liked it! How dumb can a human being actually be? Of course, I asked him to stop immediately and told him that her tail was now permanently injured. He just seemed rather blase about the whole thing -- but what can you expect from someone who abandoned their pet to begin with?

Anyway, this tale has a happy conclusion, because Domino is having the best life she could possibly have despite her sporadic twinges. She is a very loving pet who likes to arrange herself over my shoulder with her arms hanging down my back and be petted for long periods of time. I call her my "familiar" because she will also sit up near my shoulder, like a witch's black cat, or a pirate's parrot.

Domino rules our kitty roost and is the feistiest little thing you'd ever want to meet! The only thing she cannot control is her own tiny tail.

3-DS HOT OFF THE PURRESS!

Today was garbage day, so I went outside to haul ours out, and kitties wanted to come along, too. So, I leashed up Dante and let them all out in the front yard. These pictures are the result.

Though I failed to capture it, Dante immediately went to do his business in our front garden bed (which is fine, because he covers it up and it just acts as fertilizer). Then he did a roam-about on the front lawn and I got some good pics of him posing by the spruce tree, and then later lounging on the front walk.

Dylan posed very nicely for me on our garden bench before taking off to parts unknown.

Domino did her territory pawtrol, and I got some cute pics of her checking out our next-door neighbour's porch, and then trotting across the street to examine another neighbour's trash. Domino is the definition of a nosy neighPURR!

DYLAN: STRIPES OF CREAM

Dylan is my dreamy, creamy boy who is the middle cat of the 3-Ds. He is smaller than Dante, and much larger than Domino, but his place in my heart is top rung (along with his brofur and sisfur).

Here are just a few pictures of him looking soft and plushious in the sunlight.

FURIENDS!

My three kitties have always been the most gracious hosts and welcome others of their own kind, and even the odd dog to visit them, both inside and out. They normally provide a furiety of tidbits to eat, ranging from a selection of cat treats to Fancy Feast to real tuna, and of course, nuggets of cheese for those purrpetually famished doggies.

The furst picture of three cats on the stairs shows Dante and Domino with one of their earliest kitty-guests. The little patched girl in the middle is my brother's cat, Dusty, who later became the mother of five kittens. Dylan was her furst-born, who of course, joined our household on a purrmanent basis!

The next picture shows Dante and my son's kitty, Boomer, celebrating their mutual birthday togefur (January 15th). When this picture was taken, Dante was celebrating his second year, and Boomer was just one year old. (For Boomer's fate, you will have to read "The Touching Tail of Dante and Boomer" on my "All About Lacocoon Dante" Blogspot.)

The pure black kitty which follows is our neighbour's cat, Figaro, who is the 3-Ds most furequent visitor. Of course, he just lives kittycorner (pun intended!) across the street. You can see him chowing down on more than one occasion, and he has even been known to come calling at our back door at night in his quest for treats! If he sees me on the front porch, Figaro will come running and if I have nothing to feed him, he will wait patiently until I fetch something. Gee, it sounds like he has ME trained!

Next we have our doggie furiends. The miniature poodle is Riley who is another neighbour from across the street. Riley and Dante have actually been known to play togefur -- a little bit of chase on the front lawn, but in this game cat chases dog! Dante also likes to nuzzle Riley whenefur he gets the chance.

The little cocker spaniel mix is Bentley, who has inadvertently been spoiled by us and actually purrfurs our home to his own. That's because he gets plenty of treats -- usually cheese, and he's allowed to roam freely in the house and out. Dante is the one who tends to trail him around, too. Dante has an affinity for small dogs. Maybe, it's because he's larger than they are, and feels no threat at all, although he really doesn't like it when they start to bark. It hurts his delicate (and furry sensitive) ears!

Next we come to Sox and Missy! They are my grandcats, and kittens of my only son, Ryan. He adopted them late last summer, and they are now coming up on their furst birthday, sometime in June. Sox is the little, fluffy kitty boy, and Missy is the little short-haired tabby girl.

You can see the congenial atmosphere between my cats and my grandcats. There does seem to be some discussion over who is top cat when they are here, howefur. Missy is quite the dominant little thing. She has tried to overthrow both Dante and Dylan at diffurent times. However, Domino is our own little alpha kitty and still rules the roost, guest or no.

Sox and Missy love to come to visit because we put out a virtual kitty buffet, and they can nosh and schmooze to their little hearts' content.

It's wonderful that my kitties have a social life, which is more extensive during the warmer months, but is very rich and rewarding at any time of year. They are the darlings of kitty society, and efurryone is jonesing fur an invitation!