Vicious Dog

I know Charlie doesn't look it, but he can turn his vicious on when he needs to. Mom bought Charlie a mechanical mouse for Christmas. He loves it. He loves it so much he doesn't want the cat anywhere near it. This is how he warns the kitty that he's serious about the mouse. When I saw him doing this I laughed until I cried!

Rambo

If you recall from previous posts, Alex and I took Rambo, Leo, and Charlie to the Mettler's house in MN for Christmas. Now the Mettler's house is nearly always chaotic, especially after 8 pm. Not many animals, let alone cats, would be comfortable with that, but Rambo loved it. He spent every evening sitting in the middle of everything just soaking it all up.

Jack Gets His Teeth Brushed

Jack is Charlie's cousin. We recently saw Jack over the holidays. This is grandma brushing his teeth.

House of Cats

Alex and I brought our cats to his parents house in Minnesota--his brother brought his two cats to his parents house in Minnesota--his sister brought her cat to his parents house in Minnesota. That's a lot of cats. Fortunately they all got along. Here they all are hanging out on the couch together: (from left to right) Leo, OJ, Butchy, Mauer, Rambo.

The Zoo on Wheels

Recently Alex and I drove Charlie, Leo, and Rambo out to Minnesota. That's about an 11 hour drive. We let the cats roam free in the car--it turns out they behave better that way. The first hour was a bit rough while they loudly and continuously protested their circumstances, but they eventually accepted their fate and settled in for the long haul. Leo settled between the seats where he was easily able to give Alex driving advice. Rambo took comfort next to Charlie with his nose pressed against the back window.















On the way back from Minnesota they decided the front seat was the prime location and fought over the passenger seat lap. Eventually they decided they could share.

Condolences

Every other day, after I give Leo his ear medicine he slinks off to find a quiet place to sulk. I normally don't see him for the next few to 12 hours. This time, however, he chose an easily visible sulking corner and I caught Rambo giving his condolences.

Charlie's New Castle

I spent last weekend building Charlie a doghouse. As per usual Messinger style, I over-built it. It's way bigger than necessary. Partly it's big to accommodate another dog (coming this spring) but partly it's just big. Here's the almost finished product--I still have to shingle the roof and paint the walls. The painting may be a long time coming since I doubt we are going to have a 24 hour period of 40 degree weather anytime soon.