Dougal
AKA Mr. Floofypants, Po-Po, and Doogie Bowser D. O. G. - our 9 year old puppy, has been very patient with us. As always, he greets us with smiles and wags when we come home from our pet sitting jobs, but as soon as he gets a whiff of our cat hair covered clothing (the wah-wah-wah sound effect is nearly audible), you can see the sense of betrayal in his eyes. "You are cheating on me... with CATS!" His fuzzy ears droop and his tail wag slows and wilts.
Poor Doogy-Woogy! We love you, you silly beastie! You are always our Number One.
Hayley
Hayley is the friendliest kitty EVAR! From the first day all she wants to do is play, play, play. Sometimes she jumps in our laps to be petted, but that never lasts more than a few seconds because she will suddenly remember, "Wait a minute! I'm not playing!" and she will start climbing all over us, purring and jumping around. She's almost like a puppy the way she greets us at the door; wants to play, eat, and be petted all at the same time; making herself all cute and goofy from conflicting desires. She even looks sad when we leave and meows for us to come back and play no matter how much extra time we spend with her.
Catsby
When I first walked inside of Catsby's apartment, it had been ransacked by the little kitty! His food was everywhere, there was an entire roll of toilet paper destroyed by little claws, and there was some sort of flour everywhere (We still have no idea what it was). He must have taken a walk on the food shelves too, because tubes of chips and boxes of cereal were on the floor.
He is still a kitten, so the silly thing probably wasn't used to being alone and didn't know any better. He was complaining with impatient little mews probably saying, "Where is everybody? pick me up! play with me! and how do you get into the potato chips?"
And that is when I fell in love.
What a cutie! So tiny and sweet (though I'm sure he grew in the last few days), and so full of fun! He is so fast that once when we were playing with the laser pointer he couldn't stop and slid halfway across the floor - almost into a wall! We don't play laser pointer anymore. Mostly we cuddle and play a weird form of kitty-cat fetch where I throw a toy and he runs for it, almost gets to it then turns around to jump in my lap for more petting.
Flounder the Zombie Fish
OMG It's ALIVE!!!!
We had a bit of a scare with Flounder, the fish we were caring for. We followed all the directions, but when we came to check on him the other day he was totally still in the water. Not floating, not sunk to the bottom, just kind of hanging in the middle of the bowl, slightly tilted, motionless... Of course we thought he was dead and we panicked a little because it belongs to a little girl we babysit for occasionally and love, love, love!!
We didn't know if the parents would want a memorial service or a funeral by sea, so we left him in the bowl and put some food in it just in case he was sleeping.
Anyway, we told the parents (Well, Mom texted them), but when they returned the next day they texted, "Zombie Fish lives..." Turns out (after we did some googling) that Vietnamese fighting fish sometimes go into suspended animation. Weird. We're relieved, but, weird.
We couldn't get a good picture of Flounder, so here is a video about zombie love.
Jane & Louise
Jane and Louise have very different personalities. Jane is definitely more outgoing and rolls around on the floor meowing for attention whenever I enter the house. Louise on the other hand watches warily from the other side of the house. After feeding them I sit on the ground playing mainly with Jane, because when I try to pet Louise, Jane pushes her out the way! There is definitely some sibling rivalry going on here. Even when Jane sees Louise eating out of the bowl, she darts over to scare her away.
Maybe Jane is jealous of Louise's beautiful and unusual markings. She certainly is striking!
Overall they are good kitties, though. Jane is really very sweet with people and loves to play with stringy things. Louise likes the laser pointer and a scratch behind the ears - she just needs more alone time. Mom says she sounds like Fanny Price in Mansfield Park and needs more positive encouragement from her Edmund.
Loretta
What a diva! Loretta loves to strut around as if to say, "Aren't I GORGEOUS! Worship me." Loretta is definitely not the playtime kind of cat. She plays for 2 minutes then rolls around asking for love and affection. She's quite spoiled for attention, but you can't help giving it to her because she is so charming.
She also loves to strike a pose for dramatic effect. For instance when we pet or groom her, she outstretches her arms and paws at the air. If we stop for one second she meows in protest, gives the look with her big green eyes, and nuzzles us until we pet her again.

