Chat Aux Sphynx

Remembrance Day: Lest We Forget

2008-11-11T12:30:00.001+01:00

November 11th is Remembrance Day. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we pause for two minutes, to remember those who have lost their lives in war and in peace support operations, and to honour those who have served and who continue to serve.

As many of you know, our human dad is an officer in the Canadian Forces, and we are very proud of him. His grandfather served in the Second World War. Although we have never met him, we are very proud of him and his service as well.

Please take a moment to attend your local Remembrance Day ceremonies. If that's not possible, Canadians can watch the ceremony at the National War Memorial on CBC. At the very least, please pause for two minutes of silence at 11:00.

Also take a moment to reflect on the lines in the poem, In Flanders Fields, written by Canadian physician, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, in the trenches in WW I on May 3, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
In Flanders Fields, by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

More resources on Remembrance Day:

Mancat Monday: Cuteness

2008-11-10T13:49:00.002+01:00

Dragonheart: When I sleep like this, my humans say I look SO cute.

We are sorry we haven't been posting and visiting our friends as much as we used to. Our mom's laptop is giving her some grief at the moment when trying to make blog posts or visit other blogs. We hope to have this sorted out soon!

Blog Blast for Peace and Thursday Thirteen

2008-11-06T07:57:00.002+01:00

Today is the BlogBlast for Peace! We are purring for peace.

It is also Veterans' Week (November 5-11). Since our human dad is an officer in the Canadian Forces, Veterans' Week and Remembrance Day are very important to us. Our dad's grandfather is a veteran who served in the Second World War. We would like to thank all the men and women who have served their country, and those who continue to serve, in order to protect our freedoms and to bring freedom to others throughout the world, and who try to bring peace or keep the peace in areas under conflict.

13 Ways to Take Part in Veterans' Week (courtesy of Veteran's Affairs Canada)

Pause for the "2-Minute Wave of Silence" at 11:00 a.m. on November 11 for the men and women who served our country during wartime.
Attend commemorative ceremonies at the local cenotaph.
Watch the national Remembrance Day services on television and remember that the National War Memorial in Ottawa is dedicated to those who served in time of war.
Wear a poppy in tribute to the men and women who sacrificed their lives for freedom.
Plan a candlelight tribute to commemorate a special anniversary with one of the regiments, air force groups or naval associations in your area. Visit Veterans Affairs Canada's Web site for links to Veterans' groups and organizations.
Spread the word about Veterans' Week.
Organize a lunchtime discussion on how the wars still have an impact on our lives today.
Encourage your local public library or archives, both important resources for community history, to create a display of wartime memorabilia (for example, photographs, uniforms, badges, military medals and decorations, diaries) in your office complex.
Hold a series of readings during the Week on books by or about Veterans and the wars.
Organize a walking tour of historic sites related to Veterans' achievements in your community, for example businesses, hospitals, museums, grave sites, etc.
Contact your local Royal Canadian Legion Branch, local historical or genealogical society, the history department at a nearby university or community college, or local Veterans' groups for information and speakers. Bookmark Veterans Affairs Canada's Web site for links to Veterans' organizations.
Visit a Veterans' residence, senior citizens' residence or nursing home to talk to older men and women about their lives and experiences during times of war.
Ask your local school board, a trustee or teachers to use the school resources provided free each year by Veterans Affairs Canada in the classroom.

and for those currently serving:

Get in touch with a member of the Canadian Forces either in Canada or overseas. All the addresses for Canadian Forces bases and overseas operations are listed on the National Defence Web site at Write to the Troops.

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Dessert

2008-11-05T09:15:00.003+01:00

Merlin: My Meezer Rule for today: Just because we cats are obligate carnivores, doesn't mean we can't enjoy a bit of dessert! Whenever possible, try to share a yummy dessert with your humans, such as this delicious apple pastry! (Who says that cats don't have sweet taste buds!)

Tags: Meezer Rule Wednesday, Meezer, Pointed Sphynx, Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, hairless cat,

Marathon Monday: The Boys are Back in Town!

2008-11-03T11:29:00.004+01:00

We are Back! We had a great week at the Katzenpension, as you can see in the photos below. We are well looked after, and had lots of wonderful cozy spots to curl up in, cat trees to climb, and toys to play with. We also had wonderful humans looking after us, feeding us, giving us fresh water, scooping our litterbox, and giving us lots of attention! As you can see in the photos below, Merlin was looking out the window, really wanting to go outside in the cat run, but it was too cold for us to venture outside. Merlin was a little jealous of the furred kitties in the room next door, who were able to go outside. He could see them in their cat run and wanted to go out in ours!

While we were at the Katzenpension, our humans were having a wonderful time in Dublin. They really enjoyed visiting the city, and running the marathon. It was our mom's slowest marathon (and our dad's too, but he was running with her at our mom's pace, and not on his own), but it was also her most enjoyable! You see, her first marathon ended up being a freakish hot, humid day, so towards the end she was walking in the sun, and running in the shade, because it was so hot and humid. For her second marathon, her stomach starting bothering her after the half-way point, so she ended up running as much as her stomach would let her, and walking when it was bad.

For this marathon, our mom had a plan: she ran with her heart rate monitor, and let it tell her how fast or slow to run. So she ended up walking on some of the hills and when they were running right into the strong wind. The weather, apart from the wind, was perfect for marathon running. Cool and cloudy, but not cold (about 8°C/46°F). But the wind was really strong in some spots. The wind never dropped below 20 km/hr (12.5 mph) and at it's strongest it was blowing at 32 km/hr (20 mph) with a few stronger gusts. Especially towards the end, the winds were really strong, and blowing right into their faces. Other than that, it was a great race. Very well organized, terrific crowd support, excellent water stops along the route, and lots of people running at our mom's slow pace, so there were always people around her and our dad!

You can check out some photos of our humans during the race here and here. We will share more stories and photos from their trip later in the week.

Lots has gone on while we were away, and we will do our best to get caught up as soon as possible. We are happy to be home!

Thoughts on Thursday

2008-10-23T13:27:00.002+02:00

Well, tomorrow we are off to the Katzenpension (luxury cat hotel) for a week, while our humans are in Dublin. They will be running the Dublin marathon on Monday.

At the Katzenpension we will have a room entirely to ourselves, with plenty of cubbyholes to curl up in, and cat trees to climb. Unlike in August, when we were able to use the outdoor run on a daily basis, it probably won't be warm enough for us to go outside. Merlin is disappointed, as he loved the outdoor run!

The ladies at the Katzenpension take very good care of us, and spend lots of time petting us, playing with us, and, of course, feeding us and cleaning our litterbox. They enjoy having us there, because we are so friendly and unique!

When our humans return from Dublin, our typist should have more time to help us visit our friends. She'll be taking a month off of running, focusing on swimming, strength training and group fitness (ie. aerobics) classes, and then she'll start running again. She hopes to do several triathlons next spring and summer, as well as a half-marathon or two in the spring. So she'll be focusing on triathlon training over the winter. Although that means she'll be spending a lot of time at the gym, she also promises she'll have lots of time for us to blog and visit our friends, since she won't be doing any super-long runs like she has for marathon training.

So we will be gone all next week. We may be able to sneak a post or two while our humans are gone, but that all depends on whether we can get our paws on a computer. We hope that everyone will have a safe and happy week while we are gone.

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Lap Sharing

2008-10-22T10:03:00.002+02:00

Merlin: My Meezer Rule for today: As long as there is enough room, sharing a lap with a sibling can be enjoyable!

Cats on Tuesday: Toesday

2008-10-21T11:31:00.003+02:00

Can you tell which toes are Dragonheart's and which toes are Merlin's? (If you click on the photos to enlarge them, you can see the bit of fuzz on our toes.)

Click here to see if you were right!

Mancat Monday: Sun!

2008-10-20T12:26:00.005+02:00

Dragonheart: I love to sit next to the window and enjoy the afternoon sun that shines through.

Frootbat Friday

2008-10-17T10:05:00.003+02:00

Thursday Thirteen: People Food

2008-10-16T11:04:00.003+02:00

To continue yesterday's theme, today we bring you:

13 Human Foods We Like to Eat

Salmon - D & M
Milk, the little bit in the bottom of the humans' cereal bowl (it doesn't bother our tummies) - D & M
Yogourt - M
Vanilla ice cream - D & M
Vanilla pudding - M
Animal crackers - M
Digestive cookies/biscuits - M
Cheese - M
Popcorn - M
Chips/Crisps - M
Ritz crackers - M
Sandwich meat - M
Fruit smoothies - M

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Food!

2008-10-15T09:23:00.006+02:00

Merlin: My Meezer Rule for today: Even though we are obligate carnivores, it is perfectly acceptable to eat other types of food. I particularly enjoy eating chips, animal crackers, digestive biscuits, cheese, and yogourt! In the video and photos below, I am enjoying some yummy chips/crisps.

Cats on Tuesday: Tummy Tuesday

2008-10-14T09:03:00.003+02:00

Dragonheart's Tummy:

Merlin's Tummy:

Thanks to everyone who asked about our humans' marathon. They didn't do as well as they hoped, but they get to try again in two weeks in Dublin! They didn't have a great training cycle: our dad injured his calf half-way through training, so had to take a lot of time off while it healed, and our mom has been trying to get her thyroid sorted out (she's hypothyroid, so her thyroid function is low, and they've been trying to figure out the right amount of thyroid hormone for her to take). But even though they didn't do as well as they hoped, they are happy to just be able to run marathons. So thank you for all your purrs and good luck wishes!

Marathon Monday: Thank You!

2008-10-13T11:20:00.001+02:00

Our humans are too tired from running the Munich Marathon yesterday to help us post, so we just wanted to say Thank You to everyone who wished them good luck and who purred for them.

Thank you!

Frootbat Friday

2008-10-10T07:45:00.002+02:00

Thanks to everyone who wished our humans good luck in their marathon! We'll be purring hard for them on Sunday when they run.

(Yes, our mom needs to clean the window that's in front of Merlin's Gizzy quilt. You can see our nose and pawprints on the glass in Dragonheart's photo!)

Thursday Thirteen: The Marathon

2008-10-09T08:54:00.002+02:00

Our humans are running the Munich Marathon on Sunday. In honour of this fact, we bring you:

13 Things About the Marathon

A Marathon is 26.2 miles / 42.2 kilometres. Other races may call themselves "marathons" but an official marathon race is this distance.
This will be our humans' third marathon together. They ran their first in the Fall of 2005, the Prince Edward County Marathon, their second was the Hamburg Marathon in April 2007. Our dad has also run one marathon by himself, the Munich Marathon last October (2007).
The name, "marathon", comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been miraculously defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping, but moments after proclaiming his message to the city he collapsed dead from exhaustion.
The modern marathon was first run during the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This first Olympic marathon was 40 km (24.85 miles). It was an Olympic race for men only until 1984.
The women's marathon was introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics (Los Angeles, USA).
The length of a marathon was at first not fixed since all that was important was that all athletes competed on the same course. The exact length of an Olympic marathon varied depending on the route established for each venue so the choice of distance was somewhat arbitrary.
The marathon at the 1908 Olympic Games in London was set to measure exactly 26 miles and to start on ‘The Long Walk’ – a magnificent avenue in the grounds of Windsor Castle. At his own request it was scheduled to be started by King Edward VII personally. It was only on the day before the race that it was extended by 385 yards from its set 26 miles so that the King could start the race in the Great Courtyard of the Castle (385 yards up the hill) and so that the runners would cross the finish line in front of his wife Queen Alexandra in the Royal family's viewing box in the Olympic Arena - so the length became 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards).
A fixed distance of 42.195 km was adopted in 1921 by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) as the official marathon distance.
The world record time for men over the distance is 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds, set in the Berlin Marathon by by Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia on September 28, 2008.
The world record for women was set by Paula Radcliffe of United Kingdom in the London Marathon on 13 April 2003, in 2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds.
In 2007, in the U.S.A. (the only country we could find statistics for) there were more than 407,000 marathon finishers.
0ver 12,000 runners are expected to participate in the Munich Marathon this year.
We wish our humans all the best on Sunday! Good luck mom and dad!

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Tails

2008-10-08T09:01:00.003+02:00

Merlin: My Meezer Rule for today: Tails make excellent toys! It is perfectly acceptable to play with your tail if there is no other toy available. Grooming your tail first, and then playing with it, is a lot of fun! (As demonstrated in the video below)

Cats on Tuesday: Toesday

2008-10-07T08:14:00.004+02:00

We Sphynx have unique toes! They are long, with thick paw pads. If you look closely (and click to enlarge) you can see the bit of "peach fuzz" hair on our toes!

Dragonheart's Toes:

Merlin's Toes:

Meezer & Mancat Movie Monday: Round and Round

2008-10-06T08:45:00.003+02:00

Merlin: Ball tracks are lots of fun to play with! Here I am enjoying one of ours. You can see Dragonheart watching me in the background.

Frootbat Friday Fun!

2008-10-03T10:30:00.003+02:00

We both love to play with our butterfly toy! It's lots of fun! It is definitely our favourite toy.

Dragonheart: I get excited every time it is brought out and start chittering! I love to play with it!

Merlin: I like to grab hold of it in my mouth and pull it out of my mom's hands! She then takes it back because she doesn't want me eating the little beads on the end.

Thursday Thirteen: Photos

2008-10-02T09:32:00.005+02:00

13 Recent Photos of Us!

(If you missed Merlin's masterpiece yesterday, be sure to scroll down and check it out)

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Art

2008-10-01T08:42:00.004+02:00

Merlin: My Meezer Rule for today: Let your creative side show whenever you want! In the photos below, you can see the artistic masterpieces that I created with toilet paper. For some strange reason, my humans weren't too happy with my creations. Humans are weird.

Cats on Tuesday: Burrow

2008-09-30T08:34:00.003+02:00

We both love to burrow under the covers. We are lucky - our humans leave the futon in the family room open all the time for us, and there are plenty of nice fleece blankets on the futon for us to curl up in and burrow underneath. Now that autumn is here, along with cooler weather, we love to burrow under the fleece blankets and get cozy next to each other. When our mom is sitting on the futon, we usually curl up on our mom's lap - she puts a fleece blanket on her lap for us to get cozy and comfy on and under.

Mancat & Meezer Monday: Cuddles

2008-09-29T07:49:00.002+02:00

We both love to curl up in a human lap when one is available. However, when there isn't a human around, we love to curl up and cuddle with each other.

Frootbat Friday

2008-09-26T08:08:00.003+02:00

In these photos, you can see the very cool way that the sun shines through our ears. :) You can also see our highly-desirable wrinkles, and the colour of our eyes.

Thursday Thirteen: Oktoberfest!

2008-09-25T09:24:00.005+02:00

Since Oktoberfest started last Saturday here in Munich, we thought that this week we would bring you:

13 Things About Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is a sixteen-day festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany during late September and running to early October.
Oktoberfest 2008 runs from September 20th to October 5th.
Oktoberfest called "Oktober"-fest when it actually begins in September for historical reasons. The first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on October 12, 1810 and ended on October 17th with a horse race. In the following years, the celebrations were repeated and, later, the festival was prolonged and moved forward into September.

By moving the festivities up, it allowed for better weather conditions. Because the September nights were warmer, the visitors were able to enjoy the gardens outside the tents and the stroll over “die Wiesen” or the fields much longer without feeling chilly. Historically, the last Oktoberfest weekend was in October and this tradition continues into present times.
Oktoberfest is held on an the Theresienwiese (field, or meadow, of Therese, the princess mentioned above), often called d’ Wiesn for short.
Oktoberfestbiers are the beers that have been served at the event in Munich since 1818, and are supplied by 6 Munich breweries known as the Big Six: Spaten, Löwenbräu, Augustiner, Hofbräu, Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr.
Beer is typically served as a Maß, which is one litre (or 2 pints).
There are 14 main beer tents, with ownership split across the 6 breweries mentioned above from Munich.
(Food served during Oktoberfest is mostly traditional Bavarian fare such as Hendlchicken), Schweinsbraten (roast pork), Haxn (knuckle of pork), Steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick), Würstel (sausages) along with Brezel (Pretzel), Knödeln (potato or bread dumplings), Käsespätzle (cheese noodles), Reiberdatschi (potato pancakes), Sauerkraut or Blaukraut (red cabbage) along with such Bavarian delicacies as Obatzda (a fatty, spiced cheese-butter concoction) and Weisswurst (a white sausage).
Many Bavarian visitors to Oktoberfest wear Trachten - traditional Bavarian clothes: Lederhosen for men, and Dirndl for women. A Dirndl consists of a top and blouse, wide skirt and a colourful apron.
There is more to Oktoberfest than just beer and food. There are carnival rides, parades, and live music.
In 2007, there were 6.2 million visitors to Oktoberfest.
In 2007, appoximately 69.406 hl of beer were served, along with 1.269 hl of non-alcoholic beer.
Oktoberfest is a lot of fun, and is the largest fair in the world.

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Tunnels

2008-09-24T08:59:00.002+02:00

Merlin: My Meezer Rule for today: If you have a tunnel, you can use it any way you want, including lying halfway out of the side tunnel to lie in the sun. If your sibling makes fun of you for lying that way, just get back at them by winning a wrestling match, after you've finished sunbathing. And if your humans laugh at you, just ignore them. What do humans know?

Cats on Tuesday: Cardboard Craze

2008-09-23T07:52:00.005+02:00

Merlin: I LOVE carboard boxes! They are so much fun to play in, and cardboard is so much fun to chew! I love destroying anything made of cardboard. Here you can see I am doing a good job of destroying this cardboard box.

Meezer and Mancat Movie Monday: Grooming

2008-09-22T09:08:00.004+02:00

Grooming your sibling is lots of fun! And it often leads to wrestling matches! Enjoy the video below!

We are sorry that we haven't been around to visit our friends as much as usual recently. Our humans are running the Munich Marathon in three weeks, and then they'll be running the Dublin Marathon two weeks after that, so they've been very busy training hard! The past two weeks have been the peak of their training mileage. We can't wait for the marathons to be over and done with, so our humans will have more time for us again!

Meow Like a Pirate Day!

2008-09-18T08:33:00.005+02:00

Arr! Today be Meow like a Pirate Day, me hearties!

Here be our Pirate Names, yarr!

Dragonheart and Merlin are:

Captain Roger Bonney

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.

Dragonheart's Pirate Name Is...

Dirty Jack of the Baltic

What's Your Pirate Name?

Merlin's Pirate Name Is...

Cannibal Sultan of Timor

What's Your Pirate Name?

Meow Like a Pirate Day!

2008-09-18T08:33:00.004+02:00

Arr! Today be Meow like a Pirate Day, me hearties!

Here be our Pirate Names, yarr!

Dragonheart and Merlin are:
Captain Roger Bonney

Dragonheart's Pirate Name Is...

Dirty Jack of the Baltic

What's Your Pirate Name?

Merlin's Pirate Name Is...

Cannibal Sultan of Timor

What's Your Pirate Name?

Thursday Thirteen: Things We Don't Like to Hear

2008-09-18T08:33:00.003+02:00

13 Things We Don't Like to Hear

Merlin, NO! (when Merlin is doing anything he's not supposed to)
Merlin, GET DOWN! (when Merlin is up on the table, or the treadmill, or other places he shouldn't be)
Merlin, Stop That! (again, when Merlin is doing anything he's not supposed to)
OUT! Get out, Boys! (when we're in the bathroom or the Bowflex/Comic book room, when our humans are going to close the door)
It's too early for crunchies (we only get crunchies at bedtime)
We're all out of fishy treats (Dragonheart likes to have dried fish cubes crushed and sprinkled over his stinky goodness)
Dragonheart, is your brother being a bad influence? (when Dragonheart, normally the "good boy," does something naughty, like Merlin would do)
Get off the laptop! (gee, we're just trying to blog and visit our friends)
You're supposed to be an obligate carnivore! (when Merlin tries to eat people food, like animal crackers, cheese, etc.)
Merlin, we're trying to eat. Leave us alone. (when Merlin climbs all over our humans when they are trying to eat)
It's human alone time (we aren't sure why humans need time alone apart from us)
Not right now, Merlin (when Merlin tries to climb all over our dad, and cuddle on his chest, when our dad is trying to do something)
Bath time (no explanation needed!)

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Sharing

2008-09-17T09:18:00.003+02:00

Merlin: My Meezer Rule for today: Even when you are grown, you can still share your mom's lap. If you are feeling generous, you can even let your sibling sit on the actual lap, and you can get comfy on her extended legs. This also applies to other humans' laps as well, as long as their legs are stretched out.

Of course, when I was still a little kitten, and not a fully-grown Mancat, we could both fit on the lap part of the lap, as seen in the photo below, from January 2008.

Cats on Tuesday: Eyes

2008-09-16T07:51:00.003+02:00

Dragonheart

Merlin

Mancat & Meezer Monday: The Old Switcheroo

2008-09-15T07:52:00.004+02:00

We both love to lie in the sun, it feels so good on our skin! Our living room gets the afternoon sun, and it shines in through the huge windows that take up one entire wall in our living room. We love lying on our nice comfy quilts/fleece/beds in the sun.

On occasion, we also like to change places! It's fun to switch spots!

Frootbat Friday

2008-09-12T08:32:00.003+02:00

We both love the sun! And don't we have fabulous ears?

Thursday Thirteen: Nicknames

2008-09-11T12:38:00.004+02:00

Here are thirteen nicknames that our humans call us, in addition to our regular names (Dragonheart and Merlin). Dragonheart's nicknames are followed by a D, Merlin's by an M, and ones that apply to both of us with a D and an M.

Dude (D, M)
Dragon-Dude (D)
Four-legged stomach (M)
Mommy's Good Boy, Good Boy (D)
Handsome, Handsome Boy (D, M)
El Destructo (M)
Purr Meister (M)
Purr Machine (M)
Crazy Cat (D, M)
Psycho, Psycho Kitty (D, M)
Silly, Silly Boy (D)
Little$h!t (M)
Adorable Little $h!t (M)

Gee, from those nicknames, can you tell who's the well-behaved one, and who's the trouble-maker? ;)

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Getting Comfy

2008-09-10T08:12:00.003+02:00

Merlin: My Meezer Rule for today: When you are your sibling are on different levels of the cat tree, it is perfectly acceptable to jump up or down to your sibling's level, and then get comfy on top of them!

Cats on Tuesday: Sleeping Bags

2008-09-09T08:15:00.002+02:00

We both love to curl up inside of sleeping bags and crinkle sacks! It is nice and cozy to curl up inside of a nice, soft sleeping bag.

Dragonheart in his sleeping bag:

Merlin in his crinkle sack:

Mancat & Meezer Monday: Play Fight!

2008-09-08T08:44:00.004+02:00

Although we love each other very much, and enjoy curling up together and cuddling, we also enjoy play fighting! It's a lot of fun to wrestle and attack each other! Enjoy the photos and the video! As you can see in the first photo, it sometimes starts with grooming, but then progresses to a play fight!

Frootbat Friday

2008-09-05T07:44:00.004+02:00

A while back, we won some wonderful prizes from Queen Snickers and Empress. One of those was a huge fleece sleeping bag that their mom sewed! It's a great sleeping bag, but we love curling up on top of it, instead of burrowing into it. Thanks again for this wonderful prize, Queen Snickers and Empress!

Thursday Thirteen: Photos On Our Cat Tree

2008-09-04T08:27:00.006+02:00

Just some random photos of us on our cat tree in the cat room / spare room, that our mom took yesterday (click any photo to view a larger version).

1. Merlin

2. Dragonheart

3. Merlin

4. Dragonheart

5. Dragonheart

6. Dragonheart

7. Merlin attacking his tail

8. Merlin

9. Merlin

10. Dragonheart

11. Merlin

12. Merlin

13. Dragonheart

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Thank You!

2008-09-03T09:08:00.003+02:00

Merlin: I am exhausted after celebrating my birthday yesterday with all of you! Thank you all for coming by to celebrate with me! My Meezer Rule for today: When you celebrate a birthday, be sure to thank everyone who celebrated with you! So thank you all. :)

Merlin's First Birthday!

2008-09-02T08:17:00.005+02:00

Merlin: I am one today, so I officially become a Mancat! Thank you all for stopping by and celebrating my birthday today with me!

I sure have grown a lot in my first year. Here's a look back:

Here I am as a little baby kitten, nursing with my littermates:

Here I am with my brother, only a couple of days old. Weren't we cute?

Here I am at 8 weeks old. Look at those ears!

My first day in my Forever Home, Dec. 22, 2007. I was 14 weeks old:

Here are Dragonheart and I after I'd been in my Forever Home for a week. We quickly became best friends and inseperable. Look how tiny I am, compared to Dragonheart! We are now about the same size, although I outweigh him, because I have a stockier build.

And here I am today, one year old!

Thank you for stopping by to celebrate my first birthday with me!

Mancat & Meezer Monday: Almost a Mancat!

2008-09-01T08:20:00.003+02:00

Merlin: As you can see, my tans lines are still there (click to view a larger image, as always), but I think they are starting to fade.

Sorry that we weren't around on the weekend, and that we missed Chairman Mao's and Ariel's wedding. Our typist was suffering from a stomach bug or food poisoning, and our other human is out of town doing army stuff. We are really, really sorry that we missed everything that was going on, and that we haven't been around to visit our friends recently. Once our typist is back to 100%, we promise we'll get around to visiting all our friends again.

Merlin: Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for my First Birthday Party! Yes, I will be turning one tomorrow, and becoming a Mancat! I hope as many of you as possible will stop by to celebrate with me. Thank you!

Thursday Thirteen: All About Merlin

2008-08-28T09:35:00.003+02:00

13 Things About Merlin!

I was born on September 2, 2007.
I will be turning one next Tuesday, and I will officially be a Mancat!
My litter had two girls and two boys, so I have one brother and two sisters!
My breeder's Cattery name is MiracleLove.
My registered name is MiracleLove Bijan, but my daily use name, as you all know, is Merlin.
I am registered with TICA, The International Cat Association. So I have papers!
My dam was MiracleLove X Opium and my sire was Majikmoon Wolfgang Ama Nudius.
I came to live with my humans in my Forever Home on December 22, 2007, so my mom says I was an early Christmas present.
I am a pointed Sphynx, so when I was born, I was white (pink), and then my points gradually developed and darkened as I grew older.
I am a Seal Point and White Sphynx, with baby blue eyes.
My favourite thing in the entire world is purring! I purr ALL the time. I love to purr!
I'm a "daddy's boy" since Dragonheart has claimed our human mom. I prefer to curl up on my human dad whenever possible, but when he's not home, I'll curl up with our mom (if Dragonheart lets me) or with Dragonheart.
After purring and cuddling, my next favourite thing is playing. I love to play with all kinds of toys, but my favourites are interactive toys, like wand toys, the Whirlybird, and our butterfly toy (the same toy that we sent to Kaze that she loves so much). I also like to get into the trash to find new and exciting toys to play with.

(The top three photos to the right are from my breeder when I was a baby kitten living with him, and the bottom one is from my first day in my Forever Home.)

I hope that you will all stop by next Tuesday to celebrate my birthday with me!

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Books

2008-08-27T08:20:00.002+02:00

Merlin: My Meezer Rule for today: When a human lies down to read a book, it is important to jump up onto their chest and make yourself comfortable, so that they have to put down the book and pay attention to you! If you purr while doing so, and look adorable, it will be hard for the human to get upset with you.

Cats on Tuesday: Toesday

2008-08-26T07:54:00.002+02:00

Dragonheart's Toes:

Merlin's Toes:

Don't we Sphynx have super-cool paw pads?

Mancat & Meezer Monday: Up High!

2008-08-25T08:23:00.004+02:00

We both like to get up high! In these photos, we are on top of one of the shelves in the Cat Room / Spare room. Our humans have kindly put an old pillow up there for us, so we have something soft to lie on.

Most German homes don't have closets, so people use wardrobes. Our humans had to buy some wardrobes when they moved to Germany, but they also converted some shelves into a make-shift wardrobe as well, as you can see in the photo below. This photo also shows you just how high up we are, when we are on top of the shelves. When we are facing towards the window, we have a great view outside from up high!

Today is also Not The Mama Monday, to thank Mo, Not the Mama, for everything he does. Thanks, Mo, for being such a friend to kitties!

A Relaxing Frootbat Friday

2008-08-22T08:13:00.003+02:00

When we aren't busy playing or curled up in a human lap, we both like to curl up together, especially in a fleece blanket!

Thursday Thirteen: Tuscany

2008-08-21T10:40:00.005+02:00

13 Photos of our Humans' Trip to Tuscany

1. Ruins of a Roman Theatre in Volterra

2. Fortezza of Montalcino

3. The Farm where our humans stayed

4. Siena Duomo (Cathedral)

5. Stained glass window in Siena Duomo

6. Pienza Duomo

7. Palazzo Piccolomini in Pienza

8. Volterra Duomo

9. Towers of San Gimignano

10. San Gimignano

11. A cat they met in San Gimignano

12. Walled city of Monteriggioni

13. Siena's Palazzo Publico

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Flaunt It!

2008-08-20T08:37:00.003+02:00

Merlin: If you got it, flaunt it! For example, I have tan lines from spending time out in the private cat run at the Katzenpension. So here I am proudly flaunting my tan lines. I think they are very cool, even if Dragonheart thinks they look funny.

Cats on Tuesday: Drinking

2008-08-19T09:27:00.004+02:00

Dragonheart: I've discovered a new way of drinking water from our fountain! I like to stand on top of the fountain, and then drink the fresh water coming right out of the spout! Check out the video to see me in action!

Mancat & Meezer Monday: Our Vacation

2008-08-18T09:07:00.002+02:00

As you can see, we are happy and comfortable back at home! We are very glad that our humans are home. They had a wonderful time in Tuscany, and we will share some photos from their trip with you all later this week. While our humans were in Tuscany, we were staying at a Katzenpension, a luxury cat hotel!

At the Katzenpension, we had a Einzelzimmer (private room) to ourselves. The Katzenpension had three private rooms, and one Gruppenzimmer (group room). Each room had an outdoor cat run that was open during the day (the door to it was closed up at night). So we had a room all to ourselves, with plenty of cubbyholes for us to curl up in, as well as a wonderful cat tree. We brought our sleeping bags and fleece blankets with us, so we had familiar items, but there were also plenty of other fleeces and warm spots for us. We also had our own private outdoor run, attached to our room, but we could see the cats from the Gruppenzimmer in the cat run next to us, we just couldn't interact with them.

Merlin: I LOVED the outdoor cat run! It was fabulous! There were all kinds of REAL tree branches to run around on, as well as a bunch of platforms. It was fully enclosed, so we couldn't escape, and there were plenty of shady spots outdoors too. But it was wonderful to explore outdoors, and to feel the sun on my skin! Silly, fraidy-cat Dragonheart didn't go outside very often. I don't know why - it was wonderful outside!

Dragonheart: I wasn't afraid, you silly kitten, but I have a lot more sense than you do! I know to stay out of the sun, so that I don't get sunburned, or end up with funny-looking tan lines like you did! You are lucky that you didn't get sunburned - it's a good thing you aren't a white Sphynx! Besides, I enjoyed watching you behave like a silly fool. I had an excellent view from the window leading outside to the run, and I had more than enough sun and plenty of fresh air from there. (You can see the funny tan lines that Merlin developed in the photos to the right. Click to view a larger version. Basically, the skin between his wrinkles stayed pale in colour, and the skin on the surface darkened!)

We were very well looked after at the Katzenpension, with staff on call 24 hours a day. The nice ladies there fed us, cleaned our litter box, made sure we had fresh water, and played with us and petted us. They really enjoy having us Sphynx there, since we are so friendly (especially Merlin) and so unique! Although we were rather fussy with our food. They feed us fresh food at the Katzenpension (fresh beef or lamb) but because Dragonheart is allergic to poultry, our humans also brought some of our venison food with us. Well, it turns out we only wanted to eat our venison food! We didn't want any of the fresh stuff! Which is astounding, because normally Merlin eats ANYTHING, including foods that aren't for kitties, like Digestive biscuits, animal crackers, popcorn, fruit smoothies, etc.

But, as wonderful as it was at the Katzenpension, we are very happy to be back home, and we are very, very glad that our humans are back! Merlin does miss the outdoor run, though, and keeps scratching at the window, wanting to go outside. Our humans have promised to take us outside on our harnesses once we have a nice, warm sunny day.

The Boys are Back in Town

2008-08-17T12:29:00.003+02:00

We're back! We had a great week at the Katzenpension, while our humans had a terrific week in Tuscany. Unfortunately, we came back to read all the sad news from the past week. We can't believe that little Violette is gone. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Monty and his family, and they have our deepest condolences. We are also saddened that many of our feline friends have gone to the Bridge. All of their families and friends have our most sincere sympathies.

We will post more about our adventures tomorrow. Right now, we are just so sad after reading all the news. We are also upset that our humans are leaving us again tonight! It's just for a few hours: they are going to see Eric Clapton in concert, but we are far more important than a silly concert, especially since they just got back. But we are happy that our humans are home, and have given them lots of love, purrs and attention.

All of you, our friends, have our purrs and our hugs.

Frootbat Friday: Full Montys

2008-08-08T07:57:00.002+02:00

Here are our entries for Monty's Doing the Q Contest:

Dragonheart: Since I am a gentleman cat, my Full Monty is a modest one, with everything covered.

Merlin: I like to let everything hang out! Here I am doing a Full Monty with a twist!

You can check out the other entries at Doing the Q. If you like ours, don't forget to vote for us once the voting starts!

Thankful Thursday?

2008-08-07T11:05:00.005+02:00

Sadly, our humans are leaving us for a whole week! They are going to Tuscany, where they will be staying on an olive farm. We don't see why they are going away. We are much more interesting than an olive farm!

However, we are thankful that while they are gone, we will be well looked after. We will have our own private room in a Katzenpension (cat hotel). We will have the entire room to ourselves, with a private exit to a private outdoor run! We hope the weather will be nice so we will be able to go outside. We stayed at this Katzenpension when our humans went to Egypt, and we were well looked after. The ladies there took very good care of us, and were very impressed with our friendliness. They give us wonderful fresh food and water, they clean our litterbox, and they pet us and play with us. Of course, they aren't our mom and dad, but they do a good job.

So we will miss our mom and dad, but we will have a fun adventure while they are gone. We go to the Katzenpension tomorrow, so tomorrow may be our last post for a week or so. We aren't sure if we'll be able to blog at all while we're gone.

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Full Monty

2008-08-06T08:21:00.003+02:00

Merlin: When your mom tries to get you to do a Full Monty, it's okay to make her work for it!

Not of My Species Day

2008-08-05T11:00:00.002+02:00

Our NOMS (Not of My Species) Friend is Titus, of The Furry Kids. Titus is a very nice woofie! He is nice to cats, as evidenced by the fact that he lives with two of them: Earl Grey and Tazo. Titus is a woofie Frootbat, just like we're kitty Frootbats! We think he has fabulous ears. He always has a kind word for us on Frootbat Fridays. :)

Titus engages in competitive eating, which we think is very impressive! Titus also likes looking out the window, just like we do! Titus is a great not-of-my-same-species friend!

Here's a photo of Titus relaxing with his dad:

And here's a photo of him curled up with Tazo:

Thanks for being our NOMS friend, Titus!

Mancat & Meezer Monday: Butterfly Toy!

2008-08-04T08:23:00.002+02:00

We both love playing with our butterfly toy! It is so much fun to attack the strings and beads on the end of the wire! The ribbon on the end ends up shredded very quickly, so it no longer looks like a butterfly, but that's okay! We still love playing with it!

Easy Like Sunday Morning

2008-08-03T11:12:00.002+02:00

Today is bath day, so we are going to enjoy the sunshine both before and after our baths, and spend some time playing as well. The only good thing about being bathed is that we get an extra serving of stinky goodness afterwards!

Two Frootbats on the First Friday in August

2008-08-01T10:46:00.003+02:00

Thursday Thirteen: Bald is Beautiful!

2008-07-31T09:45:00.003+02:00

13 Reasons Bald is Beautiful - Why it is Good to be a Sphynx

No fur = no shedding!
No hairballs!
We don't have to worry about our fur getting matted or otherwise messed up.
Sphynx have a faster metabolism than other cats breeds, which means we can eat more food and stay slim!
Because we don't have any fur, our humans let us sleep with them, snuggled under the covers, so that we stay warm.
Weekly baths result in an extra serving of stinky goodness for being good while being bathed.
Sunlight feels really good against bare skin.
Humans always let us cuddle in their nice, warm laps.
Since Sphynx are friendly and outgoing, we charm everyone who meets us in person.
Large Sphynx ears make it easy to hear (useful for hearing the humans opening cans of stinky goodness or returning home after being away.)
Thick paw pads allow Sphynx to walk very quietly, sneaking around (great for pouncing on unsuspecting prey.)
Our lack of fur shows off our muscular confirmation quite nicely, it's not hidden under fur!

and most important of all:
Our dad, who is allergic to other cat breeds, can tolerate Sphynx, so because we are Sphynx, we get to live with the best humans in the world.

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Siblings

2008-07-30T08:46:00.004+02:00

Merlin: I have posted before that is is perfectly acceptable to use your sibling as a pillow. Well, on occasion, it is also acceptable to let your sibling(s) use you as a pillow.

Cats on Tuesday: Tail Tuesday

2008-07-29T09:14:00.002+02:00

We both have some sparse short, fine hair on our tails (click either of the photos below to see all the details). This is typical of Sphynx. The CFA Breed Standard states:

COAT/SKIN: the appearance of this cat is one of hairlessness. Short, fine hair may be present on the feet, outer edges of the ears, the tail, and the scrotum. The bridge of the nose should be normally coated.

We are both registered with TICA, and this is what the TICA Sphynx Breed standard states:

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Sphynx appears to be a hairless cat, although it is not truly hairless. The skin should have the texture of chamois. It may be covered with very fine down which is almost imperceptible to both the eye and the touch. On the ears, muzzle, tail, feet and scrotum, short, fine hair is allowed. Lack of coat makes the cat quite warm to touch. Whiskers and eyebrows may be present, either whole or broken, or may be totally absent. The cat should not be small or dainty. Males may be up to 25 percent larger so long as proper proportions are maintained. The Sphynx is sweet-tempered, lively, intelligent and above all amenable to handling.

Dragonheart's Tail:

Merlin's Tail:

Mancat & Meezer Monday: Our Dad is Back!

2008-07-28T10:05:00.003+02:00

Yay! Our dad is back from Canada today! :) We are going to be spending a lot of time with him, like this:

(Yes, we have a very silly dad.)

Thanks to everyone for their good luck wishes to our mom yesterday for her first triathlon! Although she is slow, she did great, meeting all her time goals. :) Since she is slow, she finished 160 out of 170 women, but she is still delighted with her time!

Triathlon Sunday!

2008-07-27T05:29:00.003+02:00

As most of you know, both of our humans run a lot - they especially enjoy running marathons (26.2 miles / 42.2 km) and half-marathons (13.1 miles / 21.1 km). Well today, our mom is competing in her first ever triathlon! She's doing a sprint triathlon, and it consists of: a 500m swim, a 20km bike, and a 5km run. She is excited, but nervous too.

While she is busy doing all that exercise, we are going to be cheering her on and doing this:

Frootbat Friday

2008-07-25T09:32:00.003+02:00

Dragonheart: Although Merlin likes to use me as a pillow fairly often, I occasionally use him as a pillow as well. Here we are on the wonderful fleece pad from the Siamese Rescue that Kaze sent us for winning a contest last year!

Merlin: Some of you were asking how big we are. Well, neither of us is very large. I weigh about 7.5 lbs, and Dragonheart weighs about 7lbs. We are both small, but very muscular and fit!

Thursday Thirteen: Enjoying our Cat Tree

2008-07-24T09:27:00.009+02:00

We have a wonderful cat tree in our spare room / cat room. The morning sun shines in through the windows, and it is a great place to spend a sunny morning.

13 Photos of Us Enjoying Our Cat Tree

We would like to thank all our friends for their purrs for our mom. She is feeling much better now. For those who asked, she has had two surgeries for endometriosis, and has good pain relief for several years after surgery, but then the endometriosis lesions grow back, and the pain returns. Sadly, there is no cure. Even hysterectomy is not a cure, as many women will sadly have endometriosis return, even after a hysterectomy. Some of the drugs used to treat endometriosis, like Lupron, have nasty side effects, such as bone loss. It can be a very painful disease, and we hope that some day they find a cure.

Cats on Tuesday: Sun Bathing

2008-07-22T09:41:00.003+02:00

Yesterday afternoon, we both enjoyed the sun that was shining in through the wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling windows in our family room/living room. We both love the way the sun feels on our bare skin. We are glad we took the time to enjoy lots of sun yesterday, because today it is raining out!

We apologize for the fact that we haven't had a lot of time to visit our friends recently. Our mom (who is our typist) suffers from endometriosis, and she's been experiencing a lot of pain recently. We promise that we will catch up with all our friends when she is feeling better. Thanks for understanding.

Mancat & Meezer Monday: Together

2008-07-21T08:36:00.002+02:00

When we aren't curled up in a human lap, playing, or curled up next to each other, we like to sit on Merlin's Gizzy quilt on our toy chest. We can turn around and look out the window, or we can enjoy the warm afternoon sun when it shines in.

Thank you!

2008-07-19T08:04:00.003+02:00

Dragonheart: I would like to thank everyone who came to my birthday party yesterday! I hope you all had a great time in the Englischer Garten - I know I did!

I will get around to thank each of you individually, and I'll have a little "thank you graphic" for all of you, but right now, our dad is getting ready for a trip to Canada, so we are going to spend some time with him. But we promise we'll spend the next couple of days getting around to all of you to thank you for coming by for my birthday.

Once again, thank you all! You are all wonderful friends and I am very lucky to have met all of you. The Cat Blogosphere, and all of our woofie, bun, and horse friends, are a wonderful group of individuals!

Dragonheart's Second Birthday!!!

2008-07-18T08:34:00.005+02:00

Dragonheart: Thank you all for stopping by to help me celebrate my second birthday today! For the party, we are going to go to the Englischer Garten, a large park in the middle of Munich, similar to Central Park in New York, but much larger!

In the Englischer Garten, we can watch the swans and cygnets, the geese and goslings, and the ducks and ducklings:

We can even watch crazy people surf in land-locked Munich! There's one spot on the Isar river that runs through Munich, where there is a standing wave that people can surf!

Finally, we'll settle down in the Chinesischer Turm Biergarten (a traditional Bavarian beer garden) for some traditional Bavarian food:

Among the Bavarian specialties to sample include:

Weisswurst (White sausage)

Donau Zander (Pickerel from the Danube)

And of course, since Bavaria is the beer capital of the world, Bavarian Beer:

To grab a seat in the Biergarten and enjoy!

Thursday Thirteen: The Year in Review

2008-07-17T08:02:00.007+02:00

Dragonheart: Tomorrow is my birthday! I'll turn two! We sure to stop by for a party!

So, in honour of my second birthday tomorrow, today's Thursday Thirteen is

13 Photos - A Year in Dragonheart's Life

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Sibling Pillows

2008-07-16T08:15:00.003+02:00

Merlin: When a human lap isn't available to curl up in, using your sibling as a pillow is a perfectly acceptable alternative. Siblings can make excellent pillows!

Dragonheart: My second birthday is coming up on Friday! I can't believe I'll be 2!

Cats on Tuesday: Burrowing

2008-07-15T08:46:00.003+02:00

We both love to burrow under the covers! In fact, our humans leave the futon in the family room open for us, and have placed a bunch of fleece blankets on us for us to burrow under. They've also given up on making the bed, since we just mess it up anyhow, by burrowing under the covers!

Mancat & Meezer Monday: Exploring Outdoors!

2008-07-14T09:31:00.005+02:00

We had rain all weekend. As we mentioned yesterday, our crazy humans were out running 18 miles (30 km) in the POURING rain. They are clearly insane. We apologize for not visiting all our friends yesterday, but our typist was exhausted after running all that way in the rain.

Fortunately, on Friday afternoon, we had nice, warm sunny weather. So we went out to explore our tiny Garten on our harnesses! We had a lot of fun sniffing around and checking everything out!

Easy Like Sunday Morning: For Us Cats!

2008-07-13T06:57:00.003+02:00

While our silly humans are out running 18 miles (almost 30km), in the rain (which we think is just crazy), we are going to be relaxing, playing, wrestling, and otherwise having fun and taking it easy.

Photo Hunt: Support

2008-07-12T08:50:00.003+02:00

Support

This perch on our cat tree is just big enough to support the two of us!

Two Fabulous Frootbats on Friday

2008-07-11T09:26:00.003+02:00

Dragonheart: In these photos, you can enjoy the way the sun shines through our ears! You can also see my ear tufts! I have fuzz on my ears, whereas Merlin's ears are naked! And guess what? In one week, I'll turn two years old!

Merlin: In my photo, you can see that my eyes need to be cleaned. Because we Sphynx have no eyelashes and no eyebrow whiskers, we get goopy eyes a lot, and they need to be cleaned. Our eye secretions can build up around our eyes, and that's the yucky brown stuff you see around mine.

Thursday Thirteen: Kaltenberger Ritterturnier

2008-07-10T10:02:00.008+02:00

As we mentioned on Monday, our humans spent last Sunday at the Kaltenberger Ritterturnier, the largest Knights' Tournament in modern times. There is an entire Medieval Festival and Market that takes place. Both before and after the actual Tournament itself, there are shows put on at smaller stages throughout the Tournament grounds, featuring jesters, musical groups, dancers, theatre, contortionists, magicians, and many other acts. There is also a Medieval fair, with craftspeople selling all kinds of handmade products, such as wooden and leather goods, medieval clothing, herbs and spices, hand-blown glass, and many other products. There are also stalls offering all kinds of food and drink, such as venison stew, grilled fish, and other traditional foods, along with beer, wine, mead, water and other drinks.

So this week, we bring you 13 (+ a few) photos from the Kaltenberger Ritterturnier

A victorious knight

The Black Knight

The Princess and Prince

Jousting

A Knight

A Fire-Breather

The Group of Knights

Jousting

The Knights

One of the Knights

Jousting

A Group of Knights

Corvus Corax, one of the musical groups

Flag Throwing Team

Displays of Horsemanship

Another display of horsemanship

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Affection

2008-07-09T09:10:00.003+02:00

Merlin: It is perfectly acceptable to show your humans plenty of affection. If you spend lots of time curled up on them, purring and otherwise showing them that you love them, they will be more inclined to forgive you when you are a troublemaker later on.

Merlin on dad's chest:

Dragonheart on mom's lap:

Tags: Meezer Rule Wednesday, Meezer, Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, hairless cat, hairless kitten, kitten, Sphynx kitten

Cats on Tuesday: Memes!

2008-07-08T08:30:00.005+02:00

This week, we will share the answers to two memes with all of you!

First up is the name meme!

What is your name?
D: My registered name is Hair'N'Skin Dragonheart; my daily use name is Dragonheart
M: My registered name is MiracleLove Bijan; my daily use name is Merlin

If you could change your name what would it be?

D: I like my name just the way it is. It suits me.
M: I like my daily use name, so I wouldn't change it

What is your pet's name?
We have two pets called "Mom" and "Dad"

If you could change your pet's name what would it be?
We think their names are fine

What is your brother or sisters name?
D: I have one brother named Merlin
M: I have one brother named Dragonheart

If you could change their name what would it be?
D: Merlin should be called "Trouble" or "El Destructo"
M: Dragonheart should be called "Little Mister Perfect" or "Goody Two Shoes"

Next comes the 7 Quirks Meme!

Dragonheart:

There are only a few human foods I like: salmon, milk in the bottom of a cereal bowl, and vanilla ice cream.
I love to dig and dig and dig in the litterbox, yet half the time I end up not covering, despite all the digging.
I like to lick the lotion off of my mom's hands.
I follow my mom around from room to room. When she goes upstairs, I follow her. When she comes back downstairs, I follow her too.
I love to burrow! I like to burrow under the covers when I sleep with my humans in bed at night, I like to burrow under the fleece blankets that are laid out on the futon in the family room for us, and I like to burrow under a fleece blanket when I'm curled up on my mom's lap.
I love having my head rubbed, but afterwards I shake my head and my ears made a very cool noise as I'm shaking my head back in forth. When I shake my head, my humans say I'm getting rid of the "human cooties" after they've given me a good head rub.
I like to wake my dad up in the morning by very gently tapping his face with my paw. If he doesn't respond, I get my face very close to his and breathe on him.

Merlin:

Despite the fact that we cats are supposed to be obligate carnivores, I like to eat plenty of different foods! I like to eat animal crackers, Digestive biscuits, cheese, Ritz crackers, sandwich meat, popcorn, fruit smoothies, and of course, fish. In fact, my humans say that I like to eat anything edible. They call me a four-legged stomach and they are always reminding me that I'm supposed to be an obligate carnivore.
I love to chew and attack cardboard.
I love to play! If my humans aren't paying enough attention to me and I want to play, I start to meow (and I have a very loud voice) or else I do things that I'm not supposed to, like jumping up on the table, or attacking the list of emergency contact numbers by the phone.
I love to give my dad head-butts and rub my face into his face! I particularly love running at warp speed across the room and launching myself onto his chest, then rubbing my head all over his face! It's so much fun!
I have a fun game I'll play with my dad: When he's busy working or playing on the laptop, I jump into his lap, rubbing my head all over his face, or walking all over the computer. The minute he puts the laptop down and starts paying attention to me, I stop paying attention to him. This is a really fun game!
Although I don't like being bathed, I do love playing in the bathtub! Attacking the shower curtain is lots of fun, and licking up any water left in the bottom of the bathtub is fun too (although my humans always yell at me to stop doing those things).
I love to purr! I'm almost always purring. You don't even have to touch me, you just need to approach me, and I'll start purring. I even purr at the vet's! I purr when Dragonheart grooms me, I purr when one of my humans pets me, I purr when one of my humans approaches me. If I'm not asleep or busy playing, I'm probably purring!

Mancat & Meezer Movie Monday: Grooming!

2008-07-07T09:00:00.004+02:00

So yesterday we weren't around because our humans went to the Kaltenberger Rittertournier (Kaltenberg Knights' Tournament). It's the largest Medieval Tournament in Modern Times. Other than the fact that it started POURING just as the tournament was beginning, and the heavy, heavy rains lasted for about half an hour, they had a great time! We will share some photos from the tournament with you all on Thursday, or else you can check out this link. Those who understand German can also check out the German site.

For today, we are presenting you with a video of us grooming. We Sphynx groom ourselves just like other cats do! However, because our tongues cannot keep up with the oils our skin secretes, since we have no fur for the oil to distribute itself through, we need weekly or biweekly baths to keep us healthy. Otherwise the oil builds up on our skin and can cause problems, in addition to rubbing off of objects that we spend a lot of time sitting or sleeping on!

If you have trouble viewing the video, you can try viewing another version here.

Photo Hunt: Pointed

2008-07-05T09:13:00.002+02:00

Pointed

Merlin: This week's theme is perfect for me because I am a Pointed Sphynx! This means that my colouration is similar to that of a Siamese cat - with blue eyes and my extremities darker in colour (tail, ears, nose). My exact colouration is called Seal Point and White. So in addition to my Seal Point colour, I also have white patches throughout.

You can see my points very well on my nose. You can see that it is darker in colour (brown). You can also see the white part of my colouration - I have a small white blaze on my face (on my left, or on the right as you are looking at me) and I have white cheeks! In other photos you can also see the white patches on my chest, my legs and my feet. In the last two photos you can see the white patch on my hindquarters.

Two Frootbats on Friday

2008-07-04T12:39:00.003+02:00

Happy 4th of July to all the Americans! We hope you have a great holiday and a wonderful long holiday weekend! (Since we are Canadian / German kitties, we don't celebrate July 4th. We celebrated Canada Day on July 1st).

Merlin's Gizzy quilt is placed on top of the hope chest (our toy chest at the moment) in front of the huge wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling windows in the living/dining/family room. We both love to sit on it, especially when the sun is shining through the windows.

Thursday Thirteen: Canada Day Out-Takes

2008-07-03T08:45:00.006+02:00

Canada Day was celebrated on July 1st! In order to get some decent Canada Day photos, our photographer took a lot of pictures! So here are:

13 out-takes from our Canada Day Photo Shoot

1. Merlin Scratching

2. Looking away

3. Close-up blur!

4. Dragonheart's feet cut-off

5.Looking away and blurry

6. Blur, blur, blur!

7. Backs to the camera

8. Yawn!

9. Checking out the bandana

10. That treat tasted good!

11. Zoomed in too much!

12. Too much cut off!

13. Looking for more modeling rewards: treats!

Meezer Rule Wednesday: Modeling

2008-07-02T10:29:00.005+02:00

Merlin: This week's Meezer Rule: It is acceptable to mostly behave during a photo shoot, when you are being paid in treats. But make sure that you don't behave perfectly, because you don't want the photographer taking you for granted.

Dragonheart: We would like to thank Karen Jo for presenting us with this lovely award:

"The 'Arte y Pico' award was created and to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creative energy and their talents, whether it be writing, artwork in all media's. When you receive this award it is considered a 'special honor'. Once you have received this award, you are to pass it on to at least 5 others."

We would like to pass this award along to: