I can’t be another cat. I can’t bear to get another cat. This video makes me happy and sad all at the same time.

Download this video for your iPod

On another note, this video was filmed over a year ago. I never posted it because Mike is sleeping on the bed behind the cats. The reason you don’t get to see more of the cats playing is because they woke him up and he kicked them off the bed.

I haven’t been awoken by a cat fight on my bed for months.

• lolsecretz.com: had 2 menny cheezburgers

This is what they did to her:

After having to have her put to sleep back in September, I’m still a little touchy about it. I left his comment on the site:

Actually, Linda died of kidney failure.

Funny thing is, the person who made this didn’t notice that Linda had a piece of kitty litter stuck to her nose.

There was so much more potential for funny and it was just lost on this one…

Since they didn’t ask permission to use my picture AND they made a joke about her being sick, I’m trying really hard not to be bugged by this.

I’m reluctant to see what kind of LOL they’ll give her with this photo…

I’ve received a lot of joy from LOLCats. I realize LOLSecretz is a different website than LOLCats, but they used the LOLCatBuilder to put it there. I never uploaded Linda’s picture to their website and it is freakin’ impossible to find it in their collection. Do I call our lawyer to have them remove it?

My daily dose of funny cats has kept me happy despite this hell of a year.

I’m trying really hard not to be bugged by this…

Wake up.

Let the dog out.

Wake up Mike.

Feed the dog.

Give me my medicine.

I’ve never known a cat who could communicate the phrase:

It’s time to feed the dog, but he’s not here. Maybe you left him outside?

Unfortunately, she could never understand that we had taken Sid to the kennel.

What am I going to do without my autistic cat?

We had to have Linda put to sleep today. I feel like crap. This year has been hell.

Here are some pictures of Linda when she looked better:

• Pick Me! » Why, yes… Yes, I can.

• Pick Me! » Linda Posing in the Sunbeam

• Pick Me! » A Bath For Linda

• Pick Me! » Kitty Litter

• Pick Me! » Sleeping on the Clutter

• Pick Me! » Maggie Cleaning Linda

• Pick Me! » I’m a Hider

• Pick Me! » Taking Linda to the Vet

• Pick Me! » Linda’s New Hiding Place

Ever since the desk drama, I’ve been trying to find a place for this storage unit. I put it in a disputed spot. I thought it was okay there. Mike didn’t want it there.

Last night, Linda made the decision for us. It stays.

We are at the vet. They squeezed us in at 3:45 pm and now we’re waiting in the exam room. A dog is whining in the other room. Linda is happy to stay in her box. Bad mojo, man, bad mojo…

On a side note, I’m continually amazed at how good a photo I can get with the dime-sized lens on my Treo.

I’m surprised I haven’t talked about this online because it has been such a stress in my life. Right after Christmas, Mike and I realized that neither of us had seen Linda, our orange tabby cat all day. We tried the usual method of luring her out by opening the cheese drawer in the refrigerator and pulling out the cheese. Even opening up the package, calling her name and saying the word, “cheese” didn’t bring her out of hiding. We searched her favorite hiding places and found her under the bed sleeping. We pulled her out and she was lethargic and unwilling to eat, so we took her to the vet the next day.

A blood test showed that she is in the early stages of kidney failure.

She’s nearly fourteen years old, so this wasn’t a surprise to us. We almost lost Linda about ten years ago when she contracted Feline Infectious Anemia. She was lucky to survive it and we had both dealt with the idea of losing her back then. Every year we’ve had her since has felt like a gift and a surprise, so hearing that she might not be with us much longer hasn’t really hit us yet. She survived a nearly fatal disease so long ago. I almost believe she’ll be able to kick this kidney thing too.

She is much better now. We have been feeding her K/D food. She hasn’t gotten dehydrated since then, but if she does, the vet taught me how to give her fluids subcutaneously so that she won’t get weak. Sure, we have to change the kitty litter box more often than most people do, but that’s alright. It’s worth it to keep her around for a couple more years.

The only disconcerting thing is that she is obviously looking for a place to die. Every time a cupboard is opened, she is investigating it. Every time we have opened the door to the small shelf basement, she has tried to get down there. She is looking for a hiding place that is better than her “under the bed” option, which obviously didn’t work last time.

She was always a hider in times of stress. When we moved to the condo in Barrington Park, she somehow opened a drawer, crawled out of the drawer and into the back area of the cabinet. She hid there for hours while we frantically searched. We were only able to find her when she realized that she didn’t know how to get out and started meowing.

Funny thing is, I’m a hider too. I prefer small, enclosed areas to work and relax. Small cubicles never bothered me. I used to do my school work in my closet at my parent’s home in West Valley. I put my desk in there with a light and I would close the closet door. It was the privacy I needed to study in a room I shared with my sister.

Now that I’m an adult, you would think that I wouldn’t feel the need for a hiding spot, but sometimes things get out of hand. Since Linda has been sick, she’s not the only one looking for a hiding place…

I was sitting on my chair in the bedroom when I noticed that Maggie was cleaning Linda. Usually these sessions end up with a cat fight, so I ran to get my camera. Three minutes later, Maggie casually jumped down from the bed and it was all over: no cat fight, just a quiet moment in my life captured on film.

It’s no wonder that Maggie pukes up huge white hairballs on a regular basis…

Ok, I don’t care if Mike feeds the dog Cheetos, but I know for a fact that we don’t have any in the house.

Maybe Stinky Ghost is back with a new habit: eating junk food in the bedroom.

I was running on the treadmill last week and glanced over the room. “I really should pick up that clutter and either throw it away or put it in the basement,” I thought to myself. That’s where the cats like to sleep and when they are being adorable, I would really like to take a picture of them without clutter in the background.

A couple of days ago, it got so bad that Linda slept ON the clutter. All the cats want their light therapy and if the sunbeam is on the clutter, they will just sleep on the clutter. That’ll teach me to clean up after myself…