The crazy things they do

Yesterday I put some bones from the rosticeria chicken in the garbage. Later Miguel and I were sitting in the living room and Loco showed up with the upper lip on one side of his mouth sticking out. Miguel asked Loco what he had, but Loco played dumb and just looked at him with that lop-sided face. Miguel figured out he had a bone, and I sort of panicked because I thought maybe it was stuck in his mouth because Loco wouldn't put it down when told to do so. Finally I got hold of Loco's head and opened his mouth and found the bone from the chicken breast - not stuck at all, just neatly tucked under his lip as he carried it into the living room. Which was his mistake because of course we took it away from him. Normally Loco doesn't go into the garbage but he has regained his appetite and I guess it was just too tempting. I wish I had a picture of that stuck-out lip.

While I'm talking about Loco, someone was asking how he's doing. Loco is still on his antibiotics for ehrlichiosis, and the vet will test him this week to see if he still tests positive. We have no idea what his platelet level is, but so far we've been very lucky that Loco is doing well and behaving as normal as he ever does. Fingers crossed he continues to be ok - will post updates when we have them.

Tonight Maya took a flying leap at the front screen door and just about went through it with her weight. Her claws tore a huge rip and the top of the screen has pulled out of the top of the door from her weight. The reason for the leap? A gecko cruising on the ceiling of the front terrace.

Cappuchina has discovered Luna's secret of climbing up to the second level and opening the screen doors. She's so adorable that guests are happy to have her visit and she's lapping up the attention and making herself quite at home. She will be hard to control when we have guests who may not be enthused about cats, although I must say that almost everyone who stays with us loves animals. It's almost a given, I guess...anyone reading my blog when trying to decide whether to stay with us or not will either want to come and meet our crew, or will stay far away. Some people who come already know the names of all the pets - those are dedicated animal lovers!

Luna brought me dinner the other night, I guess she thought I was looking a little peakish and needed a snack. She dropped the dead rodent right at the front door and then waltzed into the house, no longer interested once she handed it over to my care. A broom and dustpan took care of that, but having to look at the beady eyes while I carried it down the road to toss into the bushes was unappetizing.

Minina is a small adult cat - quite a few guests ask her age, they think she is still a kitten because she's so small. Nope, she's just a little cat, but she is one spitfire for a tiny thing. She does not like stray cats outside her house, and she will run from window to door to window, tail all puffed out, and smack at the screen to let the trespassers know she is not pleased. There is a grey cat that sleeps on the chair on the terrace, and waits for food every morning. It was just finishing its meal when I went out, and Minina was quick to dash out too. She went right at the cat, which ran, and Minina ran right behind and clawed at its behind, hissing and spitting to let it know that she was boss. I got to her just as she was about to jump on the ledge after the cat. She was a writhing little black cat, with her paws paddling the air as I tossed her back into the house.

Then there's Smokey - about the only 'normal' pet we have. The only thing I can say about Smokey is that she likes to bite our feet when we're in bed. It's play time for her, and moving feet are too tempting.