TUXY TUESDAY: DOMINO FROM HER NOSE TO HER TOES!

Tuesday -- time to celebrate the tuxedo kitties in our lives! As always, my little Domino is a good example of tuxiness. Witness her white muzzle which comes to a muted point above her eyes to merge gradually with the black atop her head. The diminutive snout is capped with the sweetest little pink nose and both are framed quite symmetrically with more of the obsidian darkness that strikes such a contrast to the pristine white.

To quote the late, great Michael Jackson, it may not "matter if you're black or white", but what about when you are both black and white! To me, this is testament that tuxies have a symbiotic relationship with not only themselves, but the rest of the world, as well. They have merged two polar opposites into a harmonious, appealing and intriguing blend. Now, if only humankind could do as much!

However, I digress (as usual)! Back to Domino and her tuxy toes which so ably support her in her quest to sip from the magic bath of bird. Normally Domino has a problem with reaching this goal because she's kind of short, but on this occasion the water level was high enough so that she could dip her delicate pink tongue into the pool of cool.

I focussed in on the tuxy toes because I think they are worthy of purrticular note, whether they be tippytoes straining for height, or relaxed toes just hanging out all nice and easy. In both cases, again the pinkness of the paw pads is best accentuated by the white stockings and gloves that this little female tuxy wears in purrpetuity.

Domino is always dressed in her tuxy best! No less!

MANCAT MONDAY: YOU CAN LEAD A MANCAT TO WATER ...

... AND MOST LIKELY, HE'LL DRINK! At least that seems to be the way it is with any of my three kitties! They just love water -- especially when it's served up in something that isn't their water dish.

Oh, they love to drink the water out of my glass whenever I have one. And, of course, that kind of spoils it for me, and I have to fetch another. I think they know this, and it's just their way of taking it over.

Dante and Dylan like to drink out of the toilet, which I discourage, of course. Domino is too short to make that kind of dip into the bowl. Domino loves puddles for her refreshment.

And, my mancats love to drink out of the birdbath! It doesn't matter if the water is fresh or not -- the dirtier, the better, they think!

It's interesting to see the difference between Dante's birdbath drinking pose and Dylan's. Dylan perches his paws on the carved kitty faces, and Dante, being a fair bit taller, can just rest his paws on the rim of the bowl (must be all that practice from toilet training!).

Strangely enough, I've never witnessed a bird bathing in this bowl -- I imagine the constant threat of the feline presences keep them away. I've seen the odd bug land in the water, unable to escape, only to become a dead thing for mancat amusement. A bug here or there adds a bit of protein to the brew which must also include plant detritus from the overhanging bushes and trees. All the more for the big boys to suck back!

Hey, I just look at this as some kind of kitty enrichment program -- not only because of the protein and greens, but because the guy-kitties actually have to work for their reward. They have to make a concerted effort to balance on their toes and drink at the same time -- much harder than stealing a lazy slurp from mom's glass!

So, I hope you have found some sort of enjoyment from watching my mancats belly up to the birdbath on this magnificent Mancat Monday! It never ceases to amaze me.

OUR SUNDAY POST

You will find our Sunday Post titled "Easy Peasy Sunday with Dante" on Dante's blog. Please click on Dante's picture immediately to the left of this post to take you there. Thanks.

FLEUR-E-SCENT DYLAN!

This was a fortunate happenstance, where Dylan tucked himself behind the flowering plant pot and merged himself with the floral imagery. Dylan was blissfully unaware of me snapping away with the camera. He seems to be focussed on something in the distance (for the most part) which made for an awesome photo op of his pretty green eyes.

So Dylan wishes everyone a Happy Caturday from our cat garden to yours, as the most important element to a cat garden is indeed the cat itself!

3-Ds FURIEND AND NEIGHPURR!

We'd like to introduce you to our little furiend and neighpurr kitty, Figaro. He and Domino are old furiends, and at one time considered marriage (The Marriage of Figaro) but the engagement was called off due to irreconcilable diffurences. (Note: It seems that Domino has a new admirer now, from Sidmouth in the UK.)

Dante likes Figaro and will accept him, but finds it amewsing to chase him from time to time, even though Figaro is loose and Dante is on his leash. It's an ego-thing.

Anyway, here you see Figaro at the bottom of our walkway staring at my husband questioning the whereabouts of the "Temptations". Though normally it is my job to fetch treats for kitties, visiting or resident, I was busy with the camera.

Daddy sprinkled treats for Figaro at the edge of the walk, and then Domino and Dante tried to coax Figaro back for a taste. You can see them welcoming Figaro before trotting off to purrtake of their own treat-feast elsewhere in the cat garden.

So now you can see the pantherish Figaro in all his glory. He quickly gobbles up the pile before him, and then looks around fur more. He's certainly not shy!

Figaro's folks always make sure that he has a collar around his neck, though we often find them strewn in our yard, as have others in the area. They must buy them in bulk or something! Figaro purrfurs to be unfettered.

Figaro normally runs from people he's not familiar with, but I have been fortunate enough to be one of the few that is allowed to pet him -- and I've even picked him up more than once, though he doesn't tolerate the closeness too well.

Farewell, furry furiend, until we meet (and treat) again!

P.S. Tuck is being featured on the LOLSpot today. To see "Tuck's Lollygig" simply click on the LOL Icon, second from the top left. See you there!

DOMINO: TUXY, TUMMY AND TOESIE TUESDAY!

Today Domino is a triple threat with her black and white tuxedo coat, her little white belly exposed to the camera, and her tiny pink toesies visible to all!

Daddy is holding Domino trying to help me get a good shot just for today's post. At furst she squirms, then goes absolutely limp, and finally tries to take a chunk out of Daddy's hand with the claws on her back foot. Ah, such a cute little foot it is, too! I don't know if Daddy's too impurressed, though. Even though you can only see the bottom part of his face, there's no mistaking that grimace of pain.

Ah well, Daddy's blood sacrifice is worth it, just to get an unimpeded view of Domino with all of those tantalizing parts that you don't normally get to see. With her lovefurly tummy, tender toesies and classic tuxy markings she suits Tuesday to a T!

P.S. PLEASE CHECK OUT CORY AND HER FURMILY ON THE BLOGSPOT TODAY! SOME NEW LOLS HAVE JUST BEEN ADDED! TO GO TO THE LOLSPOT, JUST CLICK ON THE LOL ICON AT THE TOP LEFT OF THIS POST, SECOND ONE DOWN.

MANCAT MONDAY: GENTLECAT OR RUFFIAN?

These pictures document a series of events that took place in my cat garden just yesterday. I realized after looking at them, that they would make a good post for Mancat Monday, even though my little tuxy girl, Domino, was also involved.

In the beginning, Dante comes along and gently greets Dylan who is standing on the bench. Dante then spies Domino coming down the drive, a little way off. Dante very calmly watches as Domino approaches, and greets her with no fanfare, then lets her pass without incident.

Now witness Dylan's approach! He has been watching Domino, too, but waits until she's in the purrone pawsition before he makes his move. Now, this is something that Dylan tends to do a lot -- Domino finds him furry objectionable -- and indeed in this case, it wasn't long before she let out a yowl, bucked him off, and fled in the direction of the front door.

I understand that Dylan's behaviour is instinctual, and even though he is neutered, these feelings don't go away. However, Dante seems to have control of his urges and behaves in a distinctly gentlecatly way.

Some may think that Dylan is the real mancat because he follows his spontaneous nature, but I think that Dante embodies the true essence of a mancat because he is able to put his regard fur ofurs ahead of himself.

I love both my mancats, but Dylan just needs to grow up -- like a lot of manbeans out there. Moderation in all things, I say, including jumping on your sisfur's back!

So what do you say? Is a true mancat a ruffian, or is he a gentlecat?

OUR SATURDAY POST

You can view our Saturday Post titled "A Day in the Life of Dante" on our All About Lacocoon Dante site, by simply clicking on Dante's picture to the immediate left of this post. See you there!

DYLAN ON BOX DAY (INTERNATIONAL, THAT IS)!

On this box day, Dylan pushes the heaviest box in the moving truck.


On this box day, Dylan's bravery saves humanity from another explosive drama.


On this box day, Dylan has the bad luck to actually open Pandora's Box.


As you will see, Dylan is not one to be confined to the four corners of a box. In fact, he does all his best thinking outside the box.

Today, Dylan purrforms his regular work as employee to a moving company, as well as an heroic act which benefits the world population, and also gets himself into a whole lot of trouble by opening up the wrong box.

I'd say that Dylan had his paws more than full on this International Box Day! Hooray fur Dylan -- simply fur surviving!!!

(Thanks to Ann Adamus of Zoolatry for the lovely graphic of Dylan with his box of goodies.)

3-D WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: TRUTH REQUIRES NO WORDS

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty." (John Keats)

TUXY TUESDAY: DOMINO'S SALIVATION!

Today we received a package in the mail with the two plague rats that we ordered from Baby Patches. We are keeping one for the grandkits, but I removed the other one from its plastic bag right away. Even before I could do that the cats were already sniffing around – it has some pawerful aroma, I must say! So, I thought why not just test it here out in the open air (where I wouldn’t have to smell it).

Though Dante was the furst to sample it, he was also distracted by another evil squirrel. So Domino spotted what Dante had left behind and soon became intimately acquainted with the raunchy thing. She started off with a real good sniffing, from its head to the tip of its tail. At this point she appeared to be under the spell of its unique bouquet, and that’s when her mouth began to water. Drops of drool dribbled out of her onto the bricks, around the rat-tail and everywhere in the general vicinity.

Domino is the biggest drooler amongst the 3-Ds. Of course, this usually occurs when she’s kneading biscuits on top of me. I’ve been told this behaviour is a throwback to kittenhood, when the little ones massage their mama cat’s abdomen to increase the flow of life-supporting liquid. As with Pavlov’s dog, drooling at the sound of the infamous bell, the kittens learn to salivate in synch with their tiny paw manipulations which expurress their ultimate reward, i.e., the milk! Such anticipation!

I’m wondering if something about the plague rat reminded Domino of her mama, or of me. It certainly had her saliva glands flowing! You can see the results of this torrent in the last picture, where the ratsie (now covered in cat hair) is surrounded by a number of large, and still furry wet stains.

So, in essence the plague rat is actually the antithesis of the scourge it has long been made out to be, and is, in fact, an instrument of our salivation – or, in the least, Domino’s salivation!

MANCAT MONDAY: DANTE AND DYLAN ON MALE BONDING

I'm Dante, Dante Bond! And I'm Dylan, Dylan Bond. We've bonded without the assistance of Bond's glue or even the ties that bind. In fact, we purrfur casual wear to any type of bondage gear. We just like to hang out together while we're letting it all hang out!

Though we have engaged in cofurt opurrations, we don't like to identify ourselves as spies of any sort, and choose plain clothes instead of fancy. We do have an affinity fur fur, howefur. (Disclaimer: No animals were harmed in the making of these fur coats.)

We believe that male bonding is of the utmost impurrtance to the survival of our species, and indeed our world! All mancats need to have some man-to-man comcat expurrience.

In the end, we like to get togefur at one of our fafurite bars to enjoy a drink or two after a hard day's work! Unlike our cohort James Bond who enjoys his vodka martini "shaken but not stirred", we both purrfur our vodka in a White Russian well-mixed, heavy on the cream!