Saving Victor Jr.

The other night we caught one mouse outside and one mouse in our garage. Last night, however, we caught little Victor Jr., but he was still alive in the trap!



My parents feared this would happen one day. These traps are meant for a quick death (and hopefully humane) to rats, and not for little wee mousies (or wee little rats).

So when my parents saw little Victor Jr in the trap this morning, still trying frantically to escape, my parents freed him, after all, he was not injured badly. We think it was his tail that was caught. The only problem with this is he is still going to grow up to be either a big rat or a big mousie and hang out on my property! There is good and bad to everything, always a catch-22.

Here is a video of my parents freeing Victor Jr.!

Another Visitor in My Yard

It's never quiet in my yard anymore. We've got rats, mice, and dogs!





Happy the Eskie came to visit my yard. Not sure I like her too much. She barks a lot and always wants to play. Can't a cat get some rest around here?

Rats Play Tricks

Here's an update on our rodent issue.

Two days ago we caught a BIG Papa Victor rat and one small mousie.

However yesterday, the rats played a trick on us! They ate the bait but didn't set off the two traps! With the 3rd trap, it went off but the trap was empty. These are some smart rats we're dealing with.

If only Mom would let me be the mouser, I'd take care of the problem. Sigh.

Good News and Bad News

The good news is last night at 11pm, we caught Victor Rat #3. The bad news is there sure are a lot of rats. The other bad news (or is this good news) is in the morning when Dad went to dispose of the rat, the trap and rat were gone. Is it good news or bad news that it seems some larger menancing critter disposed of the trap for us?

The other news is we also caught a mouse and Mom disposed of it this morning and reset the traps.

I am confused what is good news and what is bad news.

Victor Strikes Again

Victor struck again. And lost. The trap actually set off early evening yesterday, but no critter was found so Mom reset the trap again. Then during the middle of the night, Mom heard the trap go off. This rat is a grey color. The other was a mix of brown and black and grey, kind of like me! Will have to figure out a better way to trap all the rats. It'll get expensive with using two traps per day! Mom could just use me as a mouser, but she vetoed that idea.

The Thrill of Victory!

There I was, at my patio window, when SHAZAAM! We caught Victor the Rat! I was so excited, I threw up! All these months of being patient finally paid off! But uh oh, not only did Mom clean up the heavy rat, she had to also clean up my carpet!



Despite our victory this afternoon (ewwww... turns out they come out during the DAYTIME!), the smaller mouse traps that we set last night seemed to have WALKED AWAY while the two rat traps were set off but empty.

Hmmmm, seems my house has an outdoor rodent issue, likely because the area in the canyon the rodents live in was being worked on recently. I wonder why my parents won't let me outside on my own to investigate?

Pee. S. Mom only took this photo of Victor because she figured she might need it in the future for identification purposes... in case we need to call in an exterminator.

Phyllis is Adopting a Cat!

Hi Phyllis,
This is Prints the Cat. I am thrilled that you have decided adopting a kitty is the right thing for your family. It's a great idea to go to the shelter to become familiar with kitties, but also know that a kitty will act differently in a shelter vs in their new home. Since you aren't a cat-person yet, you might be like my Mom when my parents first adopted me. Mom wasn't sure what to do with me and would furrow her brows often at me. But she came to love me, even though she knows my favorite person is my Dad, hence my blog. Best of luck when you find your new addition to your family. Be sure you also check if there are any foster kitties in foster homes. The foster parents will have a good idea about each foster cat's personality and maybe you'll be able to find a good match!

A Note to Phyllis

Edited: Phyllis, check out my comment.

This is a note to Phyllis who asked about getting a cat even if though they are eskie people.... I don't have a contact email address to write you back at, so I'm posting here instead.

Hi Phyllis,

This is Prints' Mom. (aka Prince's Mom) Thank you for your comment. I am very sorry to hear about your eskie that passed away recently. Our eskie, Hana, passed away last November. As you've read, we adopted Prints about a week later. I was very skeptical, as I have never been a cat person before. But my husband had cats (and a dog) growing up and he really wanted to get a little furry creature for our home.

Getting a cat was a big change for me, in interesting ways.

- Instead of looking down, I had to learn to look up, like on the kitchen counter! Or on our dresser! But now I'm quite used to it and when I see Prints sitting curled up on the floor, I wonder... what is he doing way down there? He should be up on the table!

- Water. Cats like running water and will drink from the faucet! It's quite cute when Prints comes running to drink water.

- Litter box. This is quite interesting. Prints knew exactly what to do in his litter box! Hooray! Cats don't need any training on this matter, at least Prints didn't.

- Independent. We've been quite busy the past year. It's actually been great that Prints is independent like most cats are. But, he is also very loving and enjoys attention. He likes to sleep on my husband! But, as for when we go out, it's nice not to have to worry about leaving a cat at home. With a dog, they always want to go on a car ride with you and I always would feel horrible about leaving Hana at home. She loved going out with us and I hated to disappoint her when we couldn't take her with us.

- I am a cat person now (and a dog person still). When I see the pics and read stories on the cat blogs, I think... ohhhh, what a cute cat. If you had told me 8 months ago that I'd be Ooooing and Ahhhhing over cats, I would have told you you were crazy. But, well, I really like cats now.

- Some people may not know this, but now they will. I even tried to adopt a 2nd cat! It unfortunately didn't work out between the two cats, so we had to find a new home for the 2nd cat. But, wow, it really turned out that I love cats!

- Yes, I do long for another eskie. And we will get another eskie when the time is right. At this time, we are just too busy in our lives to take in a puppy, do the training, etc. But, we are in touch with a lot of eskie people (The Eskie Board - http://forum.eskie.net - please visit us there and introduce yourself!) and am fortunate I can visit with friend's eskies throughout the year. We still think about Hana all the time. Tonight, we decided to take a walk down the street to see the airplanes in the sky. This is the VERY FIRST TIME we have done this without Hana. We used to do this walk with her, to the end of the street to see the airplanes, then we'd all turn around and walk back home. It's been 7 months since we did this, since she passed away. It didn't feel right without her :-(

I think it is a good idea for you to get a cat if you want the familiar pitter patter of little critter paws in the house. Kitties are less work, and that works for us at this time. I love our little Mr. Prince Peepers. He is a great cat! We are lucky to have found him!

Phyllis, I have one question for you.... how come your husband is thinking of getting a cat rather than a dog (eskie)?

~ Prints' Mom

Balloons for Me?

Dad says these balloons are for me. But it's not my birthday.
So, I am confused. What are they for?



Dad says they're "not working." What's not working?
Dad's got me stumped! My parents are just too silly.

Birdie

My Secretary (aka Mom) has been very busy lately. But she managed to attend the NorCal Eskie Meet! It's a meet of CELs (crazy eskie ladies) from the Eskie Board. She got to meet Comet and BLU's girl for the 2nd time. But alas that is another story, an embarrassing one actually, of my Mom's behavior. This is MY blog and I get to blog about ME.

My Angel sister's cousins, Yukon and Kiska, had their Mom hand deliver a present all the way from Alaska to my Mom, for me, at the Eskie Meet. That's some service, isn't it?!! They gave me a big birdie. I quite enjoyed playing with him! Thank you Auntie Soraya and Uncle Lee! Playing birdie is FUN!

You will see I am quite the lazy bones. I enjoy playing but remain seated through out the play session. I find I can accomplish everything I need to while seated.


I gotcha birdie, so there!


I'm not gonna let you get away! Oh no you don't!


Ahhhh, you're not getting away from me if I can help it! Come back here, YOU!


Hmmmm, I know you're behind me. Don't think that I don't know because I DO KNOW!!


Haha, gotcha again!


Mom! What are you doing????

Thank You for Voting for ERU

I want to take this time to thank everyone who has been helping to vote in the Shelter Challenge for Eskie Rescuers United in Connecticut. Your help has been amazing! Thank you! We still have 9 more days to go. ERU is still #1 for Connecticut, however the 2nd place shelter has been edging closer and closer each day to us. For two days in a row, they received 3x more votes than we did. Boo. So, please keep voting for ERU!!! We are SO close to winning the $1,000! My Angel Sister Hana the Dog was an Eskie, so my family has a fondness for eskies.

• click on this link: The Animal Rescue Site
• enter eskie for the shelter
• enter CT (Connecticut) for the state
• when "Eskie Rescuers United" from Colchester, CT shows up, click the "Vote" button
• you'll be prompted to enter in a text word that matches the picture, then click "Confirm Vote"

Please vote daily and use multiple internet browsers! Thank you!

I Love the Outdoors

This week my parents have been busy with my grandpa so they haven't had much time to devote to me. Boo. But I did get to go outside one day this week. Mom got the harness and leash out and I ran over to her! This was the first time I ran to my harness and leash and the first time I walked myself out the door all by myself. Mom says it's good training. Is she talking about me training her OR her training me?

I love to munch on the giant garden buffet.


And I always like to sit in the bark. Ironic, isn't it?


When the sun is out, I rub around on the concrete.


Remember photos add 10 pounds.

Mom's Whisker Collection

Mom has a collection of very fine cat whiskers.

When my sister Hana the Dog passed away, Mom saved a lock of Hana's fur. What she missed were Hana's whiskers. In all of the 9 years that Hana lived, Mom never saw one of Hana's whiskers that had fallen off.

So when I adopted my Mom and she found one of my whiskers on the pillow one day, Mom decided to start a Prints the Cat Whisker collection.

Hmmm, peculiar or endearing? Or perhaps good training?

Dad's Closet is Wonderful!!!

I found the bestest cozy seat in the whole house! It's in my absolute favorite person's closet, Dad's closet. He's got this wonderful pillow on the shelf that smells like him and I'm surrounded by all his clothes. It's the next best thing to cuddling on his lap!

In Memory of Hana, Please Help the Eskies in Shelters - We Are So Close to Winning

THANK YOU to everyone who has been voting for Eskie Rescuers United (ERU in Connecticut) in the Shelter Challenge. With so many people's help, we've gone from 3rd place to 1st place, but our percents are starting to slip. There's only half a month more of voting, and I'm hoping that you will vote another time today, to help us secure our first place lead and so we don't slip anymore. Our eskie shelter will win a grant of $1,000 if we have the most votes on April 18th. We are SOOO close to winning. Please help us secure the lead! It is free to do. No registration required. Just click a few links.

• click on this link: The Animal Rescue Site
• enter eskie for the shelter
• enter CT (Connecticut) for the state
• when "Eskie Rescuers United" from Colchester, CT shows up, click the "Vote" button
• you'll be prompted to enter in a text word that matches the picture, then click "Confirm Vote"

Thank you so much for all your help! We are so close to winning. If anything, please do it in memory of my Angel Eskie Sister, Hana the Dog.

p.s. You can vote DAILY, from multiple internet browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc.

Lazy Afternoon

Are YOU looking at ME? Yes, I'm relaxing on the kitchen table. Ironic the evil spray bottle of water is next to me. My Mom is successfully trained to find me on kitchen counters, on chairs, on computer desks, on the bar counter, in cabinets, on the bedroom closet shelf, and in window sills! With a dog, she would look "down", but with a cat, she now looks "up." She says having a cat is different than having a dog.



I'm gonna take a snooze on the very edge of this kitchen table!

Unique or Ordinary Fur

Mom took a close-up photo of my fur. Mom was looking at each strand of fur. Below is a picture of my shoulder. The fur close to my skin is black. Then the middle layer is tan and it's like an undercoat. The next layer is a bit of brown. And the very top layer is a fleck of gold, just on the tippy tip tip. Mom says a lot of people would pay good money for a dye job like this. I'm lucky my color is natural. I was born beautiful.




Here's another shot of me. This time it's of the black stripe down my back. You can see my natural flecked highlights on the tips along the side of my body.




And here's a picture of the whole ME!



Is my fur color unique or ordinary? What type do I have, if there is a word for it? Am I a ticked (agouti) tabby because I have bands of various color on each strand of fur? Likely a mackeral ticked tabby? Since I'm not in touch with my birth parents, I'm not able to ask them. Can you help me out? Please take a look at my other blog pics and you'll see I have the "M" on my forehead and spots on my belly and stripes on my body, too.

Edited: I found this but still am not quite sure what I am: "Both the mackerel tabby and the classic tabby have stripes and bars on the legs and tail and the classic "M" (or fleur-de-lys) marking on the forehead and the belly is usually spotted. The background colour is an agouti pattern, meaning that each individual hair has several bands of colour along its length. The foreground colour is the solid colour (non-agouti) of the markings."

I Am Not a Traitor

You all know how Mom's been training to become my cat masseuse so she can become my favorite. The other day Mom was trying to work on her computer. I must have sat between her and her keyboard at least 8 times that day because I was purring for a Cat Massage. She could barely even do her work because I kept interrupting her. She says she "created a monster!"







Well, when Dad heard about it, instead of coming to my defense about her "monster" comment, he immediately accused me of being a traitor and betraying him!

I am not a traitor! And I proved that to him when I went to use him as my personal pillow. He's still my favorite. There's no denying it, even when he labels me as a traitor.



But, I do plan to keep my Mom. She's pretty good. She gives the best cat massages while Dad makes the best human pillow! Boy, I'm sure a good trainer!

Undermining Dad

I'm gonna tell you a secret. Shhhh..... step closer so I can whisker it to you...



Dad caught wind of Mom's plan to become my favorite. He doesn't want to be undermined by Mom. Last night, when Mom and Dad sat on either side of me, he was really worried I'd choose Mom's lap and not his. He's determined to stay my favorite, so he's gonna learn Mom's new cat massage technique. He whiskered to me in confidence "We guys need to stick together!!" Today, he didn't wait for me to jump into his lap. Instead, he immediately scooped me up and sat me in his lap... he said that was so he could get bonus points.

Hee hee, this people training is going so much better than I thought it would! I've got my parents competing against each other for my affection and it benefits me all around! I've got them wrapped around my paw! What they don't realize is there's plenty of me to go around!

The Art of a Good Cat Massage

My Mom has been training hard to become my favorite person. She started reading a book called "Cat Speak" so she can communicate with me better.



In the book, she learned about cat massage as a way to "bond better with your cat." She isn't sure if the "bonding" is working, but you can see for yourself from these pics that it's a pretty darn good massage!

Gotta get the top of the head... then she'll
get my "M" on my forehead next...


Ohhh, the neck.... that's it Mom, right there...


Must not forget the cheeks...


Ah yes, the other side of my neck....


And now the back of my head..... don't forget the ears please....


I feel so relaxed.....


Mom has massaged my whole head (including cheeks, chin, and the "M" on my forehead), ears, and neck. I'm immensely enjoying it so she just keeps continuing with that approach.

For those of you who are training your humans, here's the massage training guide. It's all nonscientific, but something tells me that won't matter to you.