Today is my birthday!

Chester here! Today is my birthday and I'm 5 years old. I'm not used to celebrating my birthday but mom and dad are pretty excited because (as mom tells it) it's my first birthday with them and it also leads up to Father's Day and then my gotcha day. Wow - that's a lot for one week!

The only thing I really want for my birthday is not a thing but a "to" - I want to play! I sleep all day and am ready at night to play - but mom and dad aren't always excited to play at night. I don't understand this. So for my birthday (weekend) I really want to watch and chase shadows (oh boy, I'm getting excited even thinking about shadows).

In case you don't know about watching shadows, here's one of my videos with a demo:

T is for Tuesday: What transpired after my trip outside

Exotic shorthair Chester here! Today I'll tell in words and pictures how I spent my the time after my trip outside. Once dad removed the tartan walking jacket, I had some water and then jumped on the dining room table to look out the window and view my territory. I got to see a flying machine (a helicopter -mom) and some fast boats. It was so good to be where I'm happy!

Mom still felt bad and came over to see how I was doing. I was doing just fine!

Here's my tummy:

And that's not all - she snapped a picture in-between my licking her fingers.

Here's my tongue!:

These are the last pictures of me before Sunday's bath. So much of my fur came off - my summer coat must be ready to come in!

My cat tree!

Chester here! Mom wants me to post old pictures tell more about my first months in NYC. 

In August 2011, I got a cat tree!

Mom and dad moved it to my room for a few months and now it's in their bedroom - next to that big piece of furniture with the tv. So if you think you have seen this cat tree before, you're right. I used it to get to the top of the "ar mwar" a month back!

Chester doesn't play well with others...other cats that is

(Flashback to June/July 2011) A. and I were still in awe that we had a cat. I never thought that I would have a cat of my own. A. was allergic to cats and has asthma. We did have a dwarf bunny rabbit for 12 years. Yes, that little guy lived to be 12. His name was Harey but the vet dubbed him "The Energizer Bunny".  

After he passed away, A. was devastated and I figured we wouldn't have pets since the bun affected his asthma. 

But then came Chester

Chester meowed when I approached the door to leave for work in the morning. I was filled with guilt because it sounded like crying. When I returned home, he would be waiting by the door. I thought it was time for Chester to have a friend other than his Kong.

The cattery retired a girl cat and was looking to find her a new home. This was a white girl who the breeder told A. Chester liked. I contacted the breeder about getting her as a "friend" for our boy. Well, she said that he was best-suited to be the only cat.  He started fights with and beat up the other cats - Persians! - in the cattery. Really? This cat:

Oh boy! To this day, it's hard for me to believe that Chester could be the aggressor - especially because he's so little - but I wouldn't want to make life miserable for another cat. As someone at work pointed out to me, cats sleep most of the day anyway!

Chester is in the bathroom sink

Chester is almost done shedding his winter coat. Coupled with it being unseasonably warm means it must be time to sleep in the bathroom sink!

Continuing the story of when Chester first became a member of our family, here are some pictures from July 2011 of Chester in the bathroom sink.

 

Chester plays with straws

After about of week of playing with his Kong Kickeroo, Chester moved onto a new toy that we introduced to him - the plastic straw. He would play soccer with the straw and then pounce on it. He got so excited that his tail would get bushy - which was so cute!

Exotic Shorthair Chester has other ideas

Chester arrived on Sunday and by Monday morning he wanted out of the safe rooms! I let him out for "supervised visits" to the kitchen/dining room/living room of our apartment before I left for work and after I arrived home. My husband (he doesn't have an internet presence so I won't be using his name) wasn't thrilled that I wasn't following the plan and letting him out of his rooms, but on Tuesday A. was ok with the boy hanging out with us in the living room at night. Now we had to cat-proof the rest of the apartment quickly instead of in the two weeks we thought we had!

Exotic Shorthair Chester likes his new home

Even though Chester's arrival was delayed by a day, we were still so happy to have him in our lives.  He seemed to be content - he had both a vertical scratching post and a horizontal one, toys, a cat bed and 2 rooms. He even loved the rug! Plus he wasn't bothered by the sounds and smells.

But the bittersweet fact for us was that the boy came to us on a Sunday afternoon,  soon it was evening, and the next day was work. I had more time before work than my husband and visited Chester. He was an unbelievably happy cat