Ask Huffle

My very good friend Angus Mhor asked me a question. And it's an important question for all the non-huskies out there. Angus' question was: How did you become an Honorary Husky and how can I become one, too?

Angus, this is probably the hardest question I've been asked so far! There are a lot of elements to being an honorary husky, one of which is definitely having a husky for a best friend, so you can learn from them. As you know, my best friend Zim of the Army of Four is a husky and I learn a lot from him. I also learn heaps from his sister Stormy, Supreme Commander of the Ao4. For example, she taught me how not to pose for photos. That's a very important husky trait.

But to quote my award, an Honorary Husky is for someone who has been helpful or supportive to the husky cause. And that's the biggest thing you can do to become an honorary husky. I can also suggest trying to become a member of HULA. There are a lot of requirements for that:

1. Demonstrating disruptive behavior
2. Cause your human to freak out for no real reason
3. Cause human guilt for no reason, other to get attention or treats
4. Destroy something
5. Human behavior modification
6. Being dressed up as something for the humor of the humans
7. Love of kleenex

One final thing. It also is a requirement to know and appreciate the Tube Wolf to be an Honorary Husky.

I hope that helps, Angus.

Explorer Cat Activities

A couple of weeks ago, I did something I've never done before. And I didn't even get in any trouble.

Can any pup or kitty guess where I am?

Ask Huffle

Gandalf and Grayson had a question for me a little while ago. They wanted to know how many Evil Squirrels does it take to to make our Nana freak out when she sees them... in the hallway?

The answer to that question is one. Two if the first one is in hiding.

Ozzie the Ozmonster had this question: If you were a food, what kind would you be and how would you be prepared?

That's a good question. I don't really think I'd like to be eaten so I would like to taste like brussel sprouts, prepared raw. Then no-one would eat me!

A big thankyou

Mum, Dad and I would like to thank everypup and kitty and human very much for the kind words about poo-face Salvador. Mum spent a long time with leaky eyes reading all the nice messages you left.

For those who didn't know, Salvador was about 16. Dad adopted him as a homeless kitty when he was about one, and had him for 15 years. It was a hard decision to make but we know it was the right one.

Even though Salvador and I didn't see eye to eye (mostly because he always wanted to kill me!) he was my brother and I miss him a lot. I spent a lot of time yesterday sitting by the front door waiting for him to come home. I have to get used to being a single kitty family now.

RIP Poo-Face Salvador

Tonight, my big brother Salvador went to the Rainbow Bridge.
Mum and dad had taken him to the v-e-t this evening because his health had been getting a lot worse lately. He wasn't grooming himself, he kept having accidents in the house, and two days ago he stopped eating properly.
When the v-e-t examined him, he found a very big tumour on one of his kidneys. The v-e-t said that because it had grown so fast (it wasn't there six weeks ago when Salvador last went to the v-e-t) that there was nothing they could do for him, and the fact that he had stopped eating meant that Salvador was telling us it was his time.
Farewell poo-face, I hope you are having fun over the bridge and chasing lots of birds.

Friday at last

It's been a busy week pups and kitties. Mum has been walking for the Idita-Walk challenge but she hasn't bought my Huffle harness yet so I haven't been going with her. I've been doing more important things anyway - working hard in the garden!

There are some strange little things in our garden. I don't know what they're called and mum has never managed to catch one with the flashy beast so I can't even show you a picture. Just know that I am keeping everyone safe in our yard, by attacking these strange little beasties when I see them.

Ask Huffle

My new friend Misha in New Zealand asked me a question last week. Actually, his mum had the question. She wants to know why cats sleep so much. Misha told her that it's because we can, but she wants a better answer.

Well Misha, I have done some extensive research on your question and the best answer I can find is: because we can. Other places I looked said things like this: On average, cats sleep about 16 hours a day, which equates to about two-thirds of their life. In fact, cats get more sleep than virtually any other animal, about twice as much as most mammals. Thus, sleeping is simply a normal behavior for cats. Just how much a particular cat will sleep, however, can depend upon many factors, including their age, their degree of hunger, their sense of security, the temperature and the weather.

Other answers said it's because cats are most active at dusk, and that we need to sleep a lot during the day to conserve energy so we can play Thundering Herd of Elephants at night.

I hope that helps your mum with her question, Misha!

Huzzy Wednesday

I hope that my boyfriendcat MrSippi is feeling a little bit better today. Maybe this photo will help him to smile.

Ask Huffle

I had two questions from the Bumpass Hounds and Kitties last week.

First, Boru (a VERY handsome mancat) asked me for my phone number. I'm blushing! Mum says I am not allowed to post our phone number on the interweb, but you can email me any time Boru.

Second, J.E.B. asked how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? The answer to that question is seven. An alternative answer is: A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

Tagged!

But it wasn't me that got tagged - it was Mum! She was tagged by the Army of Four's mum to play the 40 things about me game. She is a bit hopeless which is why it's taken so long. But I finally got the answers out of her, so here are 40 things you probably didn't need to know about my mum.

1. She was born in Melbourne, Australia, and has lived here ever since.
2. She went to Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University for a degree in Information Management and Library Studies.
3. This means she is really a nerdy librarian.
4. Mum worked as a librarian for six years after uni, but not since then.
5. Mum has had a lot of marketing and event management jobs in her life.
   
6. Mum had never owned a cat before I came along.
7. Mum's first dog, Buffy, was a Standard Poodle mix something, and she used to dress him up in her doll's clothes, and sleep in his bed with him. He never complained about this treatment.
8. Mum has been to Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Greece, England, Poland, the USA, Canada, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands, and she is going to New Zealand in March.
   Wait a second, I didn't know anything about this!
9. Mum and dad met on a blind date, and have been together ever since.
10. Mum is a very good cook.
11. Mum does not cook for me; this is not fair as far as I'm concerned.
12. Mum had laser eye surgery in 2007, and now has perfect vision.
13. Mum cannot sew to save her life. It's true. She can't even put a hem up.
14. Mum is quite a good photographer.
15. Mum saw real live polar bears in the wild last year, and says it was the most amazing thing she has ever seen.
16. Mum's family is all Polish.
17. Mum went to Polish School when she was little but doesn't remember much of it. She can still count to 10 though.
18. Mum has a serious addiction to shoes. She has 93 pairs.
19. Mum played tennis three times a week when she was younger.
20. Mum now suffers from tennis elbow, or RSI.
21. Mum had a stroke when she was 22. She is fully recovered these days.
22. Mum learned Japanese for five years at high school, but remembers even less Japanese than Polish. She can still count to 10 in Japanese though.
23. Mum thinks 40 facts about her is a lot; isn't everyone bored yet?
24. Mum has one sister who is 18 months younger than she is.
25. Mum has blonde hair and green eyes; her sister has brown eyes and brown hair.
26. Mum has never broken a bone or had a filling in her teeth.
27. Mum used to play netball when she was a puppy, now she just does some walking. Something about a bad knee...
28. Mum switched from a PC to a Mac at home last year and thinks it is marvellous. I find it pretty good for my Huffle blogging too.
29. Mum's least favourite type of housework is ironing.
30. Mum can remember the phone number of every house she's ever lived in. She can't remember what to buy at the supermarket each week though - she needs a list.
31. Mum is not a coffee drinker but dad makes her a coffee in bed every Saturday and Sunday morning and she really appreciates it, and drinks the coffee happily.
32. Mum works for the Victorian State Government, in catchment management. This means she worries about water for all of us.
33. Mum's favourite book ever is Catch 22, by Joseph Heller.
34. Mum is allergic to peanuts - they cause her migraines.
35. Mum is also allergic to salt.
36. Mum has met a lot of people in her various jobs, and counts a former Premier of Victoria among her friends.
37. Mum travels around the state a lot for her job.
    
38. Mum's favourite colour is purple.
39. Mum is very accident prone, and has fallen down the stairs at home, and at work.
40. Mum is ecstatic we made it to the end of the list.

This is mum at Mount St Helens in October last year.

Now we're going to tag:
Khyra's mum
Star and Jack-a-Roo's mum
The OP Pack's mum

Farewell Sweet Carolina

It's a very sad weekend pups and kitties. My boyfriendcat's sister Sweet Carolina went to the Rainbow Bridge yesterday.


Run free Sweet Carolina. I am purring for MrSippi, Mama, Thor and Marco Polo, and their mum Jill.

Sleepless Saturday

It's been very very hot this week, pups and kitties. Over 40C (102F) every day. I've spent a bit of time in my parsley pot:

But mostly I've been inside where it's a bit cooler. Mr Mouse has still not been behaving that well so I've had to teach him a few lessons. Hopefully he will learn something useful soon!
Mum and I have signed up for the Idita-Walk 2009, with some of the SMS mums and pups. She says she will be getting me my very own Huffle harness so we can go on walks together. I am not sure how I feel about this yet. The idea is: An event to promote physical fitness in the spirit of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The Iditarod Sled dog race is 1049 miles long from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. To complete the Idita-walk, walk 30 minutes a day for 35 days between February 1, 2009 to March 31, 2009 for a total of 1049 minutes.

Ask Huffle

Today's question comes from Princess Eva and her brother Brice. They asked me: did I ever share the story of how I found my treat dispensers? (Otherwise known as mum and dad).

I think I may have covered this story once before, briefly, but here is the whole version. For Christmas 2005, mum decided to get dad a kitten for his present. He had been talking about getting another cat (to keep poo-face Salvador company, but we all know how that turned out) for a long time so she decided to surprise him. Only she had to tell him, so he could pick out the kitten for himself.

So on 28 December 2005, mum and dad set off in the car to visit the Cat Protection Society. They were going to get a little kitten but the lady there said they had a lot of grown up cats looking for a home too. So dad decided to look in the grown up cat area. They saw another grey kitty who looked nice but some people had already decided to adopt him. Mum and dad spent ages in the cat pens playing with all the kitties and patting them, trying to find just the right one. Eventually they narrowed it down to two cats - me and another kitty who looked a lot like poo-face Salvador.

When they went inside to talk to the lady, she had to know what numbers we had on our tags to give mum and dad all our information (how old we were, whether we were boys or girls, how long we had been there, etc). Dad went back out to find the other kitty's tag and the kitty bit dad on the hand! So he decided to not even bother with that other kitty; they decided then and there that I was the kitty for them and we all went home together. I knew if I was good I could choose them for myself, and it all worked out nicely.

Thanks for the question, Eva and Brice! If anyone has more questions for me, feel free to ask any time! I have some more question to answer over the next few weeks from friends who have already asked me important questions... stay tuned.

Modelling Huffle

At first, I was going to complain to the pupparazzi that they should not be showing me in an indelicate pose like this. But then I figured, it shows my flexible side, and shows the modelling agencies how pretty my feets are. Notice also that my paw pads are black like the rest of me. Black is the new black, you know.