A Very Cali Christmas

December 20, 2025 | cat9984

Nana Cali has been hosting a family Christmas dinner as long as anyone could remember. She had been doing all the work herself. She always made her family-famous fish stew. There were various kinds of kibble and a creamy eggnog or catnip punch to drink. She welcomed contributions but rarely got them.

It was usually a great time for all involved. But this year things didn’t seem to run as smoothly. It began with the invitations:

Tortoiseshell and calicoes and torbies, oh my! - Way of Cats

Cousin Sally: Nana, you know that I’ve been seeing Richard for months. Why wasn’t he on the chat?

Cousin Ruth: Probably because when he came to the picnic, he spent all of his time complaining about the location and the food.

Cousin Jenny: And he snarfed down enough for a Maine Coon.

(The younger family members had convinced Nana to use a group chat rather than just spreading the word. She was already regretting it.)

Cousin Sally: Well, I’m not coming if he can’t come.

Nana: Sweetie, you’re overreacting. I only sent it to family. There will be plenty of food.

Aunt Gertrude: That reminds me. Can we get something other than fish this year? My Calista really doesn’t like fish.

8 Cats Who Love Fish In Honor Of 'Go Fishing Day' - CatTime

Uncle Dill: You’re welcome to bring whatever you want for her. Mom makes the stew, but she doesn’t mind if others bring additional food.

Aunt Gertrude: Then it’s really not hosting, is it?

Aunt Jess: Do you always have to be so dramatic, Gert? Of course, she’s hosting. It’s at her house. There’s plenty of food and drink. And you’re welcome to bring something more if you want.

Ever seen a cat catching a ride on a pig? 🐷🐱 This is Silo the pig & Opal the cat! Thanks for sharing Jessica Hebert!

Cousin Bruno: Do you know what would be really epic? Let’s get a roast pig!

Cousin Drago: Yeah! That would be the best thing ever!

Nana was very upset. She thought that she had been doing a nice thing, and now it looked like no one was going to be happy. She talked it over with Gramps.

How Do Cats Communicate With Each Other? (It's Complicated.) - Petful

Nana: I think maybe I shouldn’t have the dinner this year.

Gramps: Why not? It’s one of the few times we get to see all of our kids and grandkids.

Nana: They talked me into creating what they call a group chat. No body actually talks to anybody. It seems like they just type whatever they want to in it. I don’t want to make a roast pig.

How this pig and cat became BFFs | story | Kids News

Gramps: A roast pig? Why would you make that? It would be three times as big as you are.

Nana: And they don’t want the fish stew. They want me to make all kinds of other food. I don’t think I want to do it anymore. I think I’m just getting too old.

Gramps read the chat. He was furious. He called their and told them to come over for a family meeting. Soon Gertrude, Dill, Jess, and Moonlight were there. Moonlight didn’t follow the chat and was very confused to see her parents so upset.

Gramps: Okay, listen up. Which one of you decided that it would be a good idea to let the entire family weigh in on how Nana does her dinner?

Gertrude: I guess it was me. It’s how the kids make plans, so I thought it would be good for us. It lets everyone contribute to what’s going on.

Gramps: Thanks to your brilliant idea, Nana doesn’t want to do Christmas dinner anymore.

Using Your Smartphone to Keep Your Pet Healthy - The Animal Medical Center

Moonlight: Wait a minute. What? Why?

Nana: Because apparently people are tired of my fish stew. They want more variety. And a roast pig.

Moonlight: That’s ridiculous. I hate social media. Everyone thinks they can say whatever garbage pops into their heads. What idiot suggested a roast pig for a cat family dinner?

How Do I Apologize to My Cat in A Way They Understand? 7 Vet-Approved Ways - Catster

Dill: I think it was my sons. Sorry, Mom. I didn’t realize you’d take them seriously.

Nana: Well, I might not have if Gertrude hadn’t said that I should make something different for Calista. I thought everyone liked my fish stew. I said you were welcome to bring your own dishes if you wanted to.

Jess and Dill glared at Gertrude.

Non-Recognition Aggression Syndrome In Cats - Good Pet Parent

Jess: Tell Dad what you said to that suggestion.

Gertrude looked embarrassed.

Gertrude: I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.

Your Cat Etiquette Guide: What to Keep in Mind If You're Hosting Thanksgiving - Vetstreet | Vetstreet

Gramps: What did you say?

Gertrude: I said it didn’t really sound like hosting if we had to bring our own food.

Gramps: Why would you say that?

Ever get bored and drink with your cat ? This is a chicken Churu flavored Icelandic spring water Meow-tini. I had a vesper on my side. : r/cocktails

Gertrude: I don’t know. It was probably the two niptinis I had. It was a bad day.

Dill: If you’ve messed up our Christmas dinner, Gertrude, you better run because I’m coming after you.

Jess: Yep. It’s the highlight of the holiday season.

Moonlight: You’re not really going to cancel the dinner, are you, Mom?

How to keep your cat from jumping on the table while you're eating - Dr. Marty Becker

Nana: I don’t know. It really hurt to hear that you aren’t happy with it.

Jess: We didn’t say we wanted to change anything. It was just the princess over there.

Gertrude: I’m sorry. I didn’t think about how it sounded. I can make some turkey if you’ll keep the rest of it.

Happy Thanksgiving!! From Maya and her giant turkey leg 🍗 We're so grateful to be a part of such an incredible community, and to get to know all of you!! 💛💛 (For

The cats looked at Nana and waited.

Nana: Okay. I guess it’s back on.

Gramps: And the group chat is off.

Merry Christmas Animated Images Free GIFs | Tenor

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

Do They Sell Fleas at a Flea Market?

August 2, 2025 | cat9984

You may recall that Sgt Stripes is on Thomas Tabby’s Communications Team. He is trying to figure out how something that sounded so good could be this far off track. He’s reading through a recent chain on the official Cheeseland social media account @CheeselandHappenings.

@cassiecat Can you believe what they’ve put up on the community bulletin board? It’s an ad for a Flea Market!

Cheeseland Sale

Do they really think any of us will go to an event sponsored by fleas?

@rexrover This is a terrible idea. Do you have any idea how many animals have suffered with flea bites? Or how many of us have suffered through an infestation?

@mimiminx I know we’re supposed to be some kind of ultra-tolerant, open-to-everyone kind of place, but this is ridiculous. Fleas are parasites. Why would we want to get anywhere near a flea?

@goofygiraffe It’s kind of confusing. Is a flea market a place where fleas sell stuff or a place to buy fleas?

@dabears It sounds like they’re running the thing, so I guess they’re selling stuff. But what would a flea have to sell?

@gingertom I’ve heard that they make flea farms so you can grow your own fleas.

@redthedog That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Who wants to grow fleas?

@cassiecat That’s probably why they want us to bring stuff to sell. They know no one would come to their lame sale otherwise.

@pussinsandals I bet they’re trying to infiltrate Cheeseland to take it over. If they get enough of us there, they can jump on us while we’re busy looking at other animals’ stuff. They’re probably going to bring lots of pregnant lady fleas. We’re looking at a total infestation if we’re not careful.

@dambuilderbeaver Maybe the doctors are in on it too. They’ll make a fortune helping us get rid of the fleas.

@alexbear And some of us are allergic. They’re probably trying to ruin our entire way of life.

@alligatore They’re not even animals. I don’t think they should even be allowed in Cheeseland.

@fabfeline You’re right. We need to stop this madness before it gets out of hand. Our very existence may be at stake.

Moderator: Please do not make unsubstantiated accusations on this site. As a point of reference, the term “flea market” refers to a busy second-hand market where previously owned items are resold. The French humans have been having them for over 100 human years.

@fabfeline So why is it called a flea market if the humans invented them?

Moderator: No one knows for sure. Probably because used upholstered furniture would likely have contained fleas. France and other places humans have had fleas in their furniture. It’s actually kind of disgusting. Humans always blame us for fleas.

@roborobert That doesn’t make any sense. Why would human fleas be showing up at our fair? I think we need proof that there won’t be any fleas before we set up any tables there.

@artsyaardvark We need to talk to whoever put this thing together. How dumb is it to bring fleas to something that’s full of animals?

@supersquirrel Maybe we could invite some lizards for flea control.

@cassiecat I don’t think I want to be a part of something where I have to hire protection.

@dabears Agreed. We don’t want to be a part of anything that has fleas.

@gingertom Who’s responsible for this awful idea? I’d like to have a talk with them.

@tabbytude Isn’t Thomas Tabby responsible for anything that’s between the animals and the humans?

@elephantal I don’t think that includes animals vs parasites.

@tabbytude Maybe not, but I’m not going until someone guarantees there won’t be fleas everywhere.

Sgt Stripes calls an emergency meeting of the Communications Team. They need to save the flea market.

Gator on the Loose

January 13, 2024 | cat9984

We’re visiting the Gator family following the holidays.

Stan picked up his phone and saw that Granny Gator was calling.

Stan: Hi Mom. How are you?

Granny: I’m fine, honey. Is everything settled down from Christmas?

Stan: Yep. The girls are back in school. Adele and I are back at work. Settled back into our regular stuff. How about you?

Granny: Well, I’m a little worried about your Uncle Stu.

Stan: What happened to Stu?

At the mention of Stu’s name, the rest of the family perked up. If it was about Stu, it would be interesting. Stan listened, said “yeah” a couple of times and finally ended the call.

Adele: How’s Granny?

Stan: She’s fine.

Suzy: How’s Uncle Stu?

Stan: We’re not sure.

Adele: What do you mean?

Stan: Well, he went to a New Year’s Eve party with some old friends. He called Granny to wish her a happy new year, but she hasn’t heard from him since.

Adele: What did Vince say? Has he seen his father?

Stan: Apparently, they had some kind of fight on Christmas. They aren’t speaking. Vince says that Stu will show up when he’s ready.

Justine: Rats! I knew we should have gone to Florida for Christmas. We always miss the good stuff.

Adele: So what is she going to do?

Stan: She sent my brothers John and Dave over to Stu’s apartment. He’s not there, but he’s such a slob that they couldn’t tell how long he’s been gone.

Adele: He always did have an issue with being a bit of a hoarder.

Suzy (giggling): Remember when he decided to collect shells?

Justine: Yeah. Except he didn’t realize that things live in the shells. The aquarium really liked the donation.

Suzy: Does Granny want you to help find Uncle Stu, Dad?

Stan: Yes. She has an idea where he might be.

Justine: Up here in South Carolina?

Stan: Do you remember last year when he was up here and got lost?

Justine: He gets lost every time he comes up here.

Stan: Last year, a nice lady gator helped him find us.

Adele: That’s right!

Stan: It seems they became friends on GatorGram and have been keeping in touch. Granny thinks that when Stu and Vince had their fight, he came up to see her.

Adele: Do you know who she is?

Stan: That’s the problem. I don’t think he ever told us her name. And Granny doesn’t know.

Suzy: We can probably help. We’re friends with Uncle Stu on GatorGram.

Adele: You are? Why?

Justine: He’s really funny. And he posts great pictures of food.

Suzy: He eats at amazing places. And has a lot of friends.

Stan: Hmm. I had no idea. You think you might be able to tell who this lady is?

Justine: Give us a few minutes.

The girls got busy on their phones. Soon Justine looked up triumphantly.

Justine: Think I found her! Look!

Suzy: You might be right. It says she’s only a couple of towns over. And she likes everything he posts.

Adele: What do we do now?

Justine: Let me message her and see if she responds. If I tell her we’re looking for Uncle Stu, maybe she won’t think I’m too weird.

Stan: If she’s as nice as Stu said she was, she’ll probably help us.

Justine typed quickly and sent her message. She waited a few minutes with no response.

Justine: I guess we just wait now.

She didn’t get a response that night. The following night at dinner, they discussed what might be a next step.

Adele: Girls, I have a question. If you’re friends with Uncle Stu, why didn’t you just message him?

Justine: He doesn’t believe in chatting with family on social media. He says we should talk in person. He lets us follow him, but blocked communication.

Stan: That sounds like Stu. He has rules for everything. And they all make sense to him.

Adele: And him alone.

Justine: He hasn’t posted anything since New Year’s. I hope he’s okay.

Stan: I think we’re just going to have to wait. He’s not answering his phone. And his lady friend seems to be busy. Vince is right. He can take care of himself.

Next week: Where is Uncle Stu?

Groundhog Day: What Happened on Hog Hill?

February 19, 2022 | cat9984

Things had been a little tense on Hog Hill on February 2 (Groundhog Day). When Gus Groundhog made his annual prediction, he only appeared for a couple of minutes and made the actual announcement on his Twitter account. Not at all the festivities we were expecting. We decided to do do a little investigating.

The first thing we discovered was that Gus hadn’t been on any type of social media since Groundhog Day. Had he gone back into hibernation? We spoke to some of the neighbors.

Peter Rabbit: It’s been very quiet over there. Usually, Gus has a big party after the announcement. But this year, there was nothing.

Penelope Rabbit: Maybe he’s sick.

Bethany Deer: Maybe. He didn’t look very well on the 2nd.

Joe Squirrel: Maybe he just got tired of all the fuss. You know folks blame him for the weather when it’s still snowing in April.

Josie Squirrel: Maybe someone turned off all his accounts. Maybe it’s a conspiracy against groundhogs. Someone should look into that.

Obviously, we are going to have to talk to Gus.

We went to the burrow. But no one answered the door. Maybe there was something wrong. Was he even still in town?

What next? We staked it out, watching both entrances. No movement for over a week. The other animals in the neighborhood were getting curious.

Josie: No luck? I hope everything’s OK. Maybe we should just go in.

Penelope: Do you think so?

Josie: What if he’s really sick? Maybe we should call the animal welfare hotline.

Joe: Hold up, ladies. Groundhogs hibernate. Not seeing one in February is no reason to go bursting into his house. For all we know, he saw that there was going to be a lot more winter, rolled over, and went back to sleep. We’d scare him half to death breaking into his house. He’d have every right to attack us. Have you seen those claws and teeth?

We realized Joe might be right. Maybe there was no story. Just then, Peter hopped up.

Peter: Hey, guys. What’s up?

Joe: Everyone’s worried about Gus. Apparently the media has got everyone wondering about him. Personally, I think we should just let him be.

We felt badly. We had thought it was a quick human interest story. It was never intended to be an investigation. We didn’t want to upset anyone, so we started to pack up our stuff.

Josie: Don’t blame them. They haven’t bothered him. And it’s weird that we haven’t seen Gus during his big time of the year. Usually he’s active after he gets up for the announcement.

A car drove up and stopped in front of Gus’s burrow. A matronly groundhog got out and looked around. She seemed surprised by the group of animals.

Groundhog: Hello. I’m Emma. Is everything okay?

Peter: Hello. We’re well. And yourself?

Emma: Yes, I’m wonderful. I’m here to visit my grandbabies.

Josie squealed.

Josie: Grandbabies? Gus had babies?

Emma (laughing): Technically, Georgette had the babies. But yes – Gus is a daddy. Didn’t he tell you?

Penelope: No, we haven’t heard a thing since he came outside for a couple of minutes on Groundhog Day.

Josie: We’ve been worried about him. He even disappeared off social media. And he’s a local celebrity, so he’s always on Twitter.

Emma: There’s no need to worry. He’s just running around in circles with his five little chucklings.

Emma went up to the door, and Gus let her into the burrow. He lifted a paw and waved at his neighbors.

Gus: Hey, guys! Sorry to have been off the radar. Tons of snaps coming soon. Watch for me!

That was the Gus we knew and loved. It wouldn’t be long before he was back.

We KNEW there had been a story.

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

Gator Family Christmas

December 4, 2021 | cat9984

Stan and Adele and their daughters Justine and Suzy are hosting the family Christmas this year. Most of the relatives from south Florida will be coming to South Carolina for the festivities. You can read about their family reunion here and here.

Justine: I’m so excited! I can’t believe Granny’s going to be here for Christmas! When are they arriving?

Adele: Your Uncle John is supposed to be driving everyone up the week before in his camper.

Suzy: What about Cousin Danny? Is he coming?

Adele: He’s in school until that Tuesday. So he’ll be coming separately.

Stan: Cousin Vinny’s going to be able to get some time off from the resort for the holidays. So he and Uncle Stu will be coming separately. They won’t be staying as long.

Adele: Thank goodness! I was afraid Stu was going to try to find the house by himself, and we’d never see him again.

Justine: It is kind of scary how bad his sense of direction is. We’re friends on GatorGab. Last week, he was walking on the beach and was partway to Daytona before he realized he missed the turn into his subdivision.

Adele: We should probably start cleaning so we can get everything decorated before they get here.

Suzy: Where is everyone going to stay? Our house isn’t that big.

Stan: I’m renting a sauna. They said it feels just like southern Florida in the summer.

Justine: Oooh! That sounds nice.

Stan: And I’m going to set up a sunlamp in the basement.

Granny Gertie arrived with John, Jacob, and Norm a few days before Christmas.

Suzy: Hi Granny! Did you have a good trip?

Granny: It was long. Your Uncle John doesn’t really believe in taking rest breaks while he’s driving. I feel stiff.

John: Mom, you’re an alligator. You always walk like that.

Norm: Besides, it would have taken forever if we had stopped every time you wanted to. You wanted to eat every time you saw a picture of food.

Granny: It all looked so delicious.

John: How are things here? Adele, the house looks amazing.

Adele: Thanks, John. We’re doing well. Today was my last day of work before the holidays. We had our big potluck.

Justine: Mom took swamp grass cookies. They’re always a big hit.

Adele: We exchanged “Secret Santa” gifts. Here’s mine.

She held up a package of “Roadkill Helper.”

Adele: Apparently someone thinks I don’t know how to cook.

Justine: You said your Secret Santa was that goofy chameleon. He’s just afraid of you.

Stan: You did threaten to step on him once.

Granny: Don’t worry about it dear. You can give it back to him at next year’s gift exchange. Could someone show me where we’re sleeping? I’d like to take a nap before dinner.

The visiting gators settled in. Danny arrived a few days later. Three days before Christmas, Vinny and Stu still had not arrived. Justine was scrolling through GatorGab and saw a post from Uncle Stu.

Justine: Hey, guys. Uncle Stu says that he left for South Carolina yesterday. Has anyone heard from him?

Stan: No. Does it say anything about Vinny?

Justine: He says that he is going to pick up Vinny and head here.

Suzy: He’s picking up Vinny?

Norm: It’s supposed to be the other way around. Somebody better call Vinny.

Granny: I’ll try to reach Stu. My brother has the common sense of a pumpkin.

Granny and Stan started trying to figure out what was going on while the others paced around the house.

Granny: Stu got bored waiting for Vinny and decided that he would go to South Miami to pick him up at the club. He says he’s north of the city at a very nice lady gator’s house.

Stan: So Vinny can pick him up there?

Granny: He’s not sure he wants to come anymore. He thinks she might be his soul mate. I told him he’s an idiot.

Stan: Vinny wants to know what he should do.

Granny: He should pick up his idiot father and bring him to the family Christmas.

Justine: Maybe we should invite the lady gator too. Uncle Stu just changed his relationship status to “It’s Complicated” on GatorGab.

Granny Gator began to make a low growling noise deep in her throat.

Next week: Will Uncle Stu and Cousin Vinny make it to South Carolina for Christmas? (see part 2 here)

Critter Capers: Horatio Takes on the Internet

May 19, 2015 | cat9984

Hello Humans. Nice to talk with you again. I’ve been watching Mom on her computer and decided that I need to set the record straight on some of what she was looking at on “social media”. I’m going to start with pictures. I don’t want to get into some of things I’ve seen on Facebook and YouTube. Let’s just say that some people have no common sense filters when it comes to their animals.

Before I start, I must say that I really don’t understand why it is called social media. When hedgehogs are social, there is more than one of us present and we communicate face to face. As far as I can tell, humans are social one at a time and do it over a long period of time. And they don’t actually know who they are talking to.

Anyway, here we go. (Pictures are from Imgur.)

Seriously?! You’re probably looking at this and saying, “awwwww,” aren’t you? Do you know how humiliating it is to be objectified as food? Ladies, would you want to be called “cupcake”?

Of course, there are worse things that can happen:

Is that not the cheapest suit you have ever seen? What makes humans think they can put their hedgehog in something they would never be caught dead in? (It’s a joke: that hedgehog is supposed to be dressed up like Dracula.)

Remember when you were little and your Mom took pictures of you in the bathtub? Then she threatened to show them to your girlfriends/boyfriends? How would you like this?

Now the entire world knows you still like bubble baths. Totally humiliating. And it perpetuates that fallacy that we all love water. As far as I’m concerned, water is for drinking.

I won’t even discuss this one. The human probably had it in his/her mouth before they took the picture. Ewwwwww.

I thought I’d include one picture I like. This is me with a new favorite food.

Yep. It’s a chocolate cookie. Mom says it’s genetic since everyone else likes chocolate. I just can’t eat too much. I discovered I like peanut butter too. Human food is OK, but it’ll never replace wax worms. You really should try them.

I’m going to try to convince Mom not to spend anymore time looking at embarrassing hedgehog pictures. They even have ones with the private parts all exposed. I might have shown one of those but I was too embarrassed.

I would also like to request that all of you not post pictures of your animal friends that you would not post of yourself.

On second thought, maybe I should just take your cameras away.

One final question:

Why do humans think this picture is funny?

Happy as a Trog

February 6, 2014 | cat9984

TROGLODYTE

1: a member of any of various peoples (as in antiquity) who lived or were reputed to live chiefly in caves

2: a person characterized by reclusive habits or outmoded or reactionary attitudes

The other night when I was watching “Person of Interest” on TV, the woman who is the brawn of the operation (I love that! I also love that they are finally letting Jim Caviezel smile – he looks so much better) says that she has found “some sort of Bible.” To which the intellectual says something along the lines of “Yes, that’s the Gutenberg Bible.” They did not elaborate on what the Gutenberg Bible was. I wondered if they thought everyone knew or if they just moved on since it was not important to the plot.

Lately I’ve been feeling a bit like a Gutenberg press in a Movable Type world. Ironically, while moveable type is the current standard in web design according to their press release, its roots are older than Gutenberg. It was developed in China by Bi Sheng in the mid-11th century. Gutenberg introduced metal moveable type to Europe in the mid-15th century. Note: the problem with trying to be an intellectual smart-aleck is that either people won’t get the reference or they will be able to show you why it was a stupid analogy to start with.

I am typing this on a desktop PC. I may be the last college-educated person in the country without a laptop. I saw an advertisement on TV for a product that promises to be a laptop when you need it to be and a tablet when you want it to be. I have no idea what that means. That should probably bother me.

I guess I have a stupid phone. Is that what they call a non-smart phone? I can make calls on it. I can even text if I don’t mind hitting the key two or three times to get the different letters. I’ve always hated telephones. I don’t know how to make small-talk.

They probably shouldn’t allow me to have a cell phone in the first place. I’m not allowed to use it at work, and I never remember to turn it on any other time. Most people know this and don’t bother calling me on it. There are two people who insist on calling me on it. They always wonder why it takes me days to get back to them.

We still have a low-definition TV (much to my husband’s dismay). He tells me the sound is also bad on it. I’m not sure. I can tell what the people are saying – most of the time. As soon as I find something on television really worth watching, I’ll worry about getting something better to watch it on.

We don’t have a Blu-Ray anything. We haven’t watched 90 percent of the regular DVD’s we have, so why bother? And the headsets are just creepy to me – people walk around looking like they’re talking to themselves. And then wonder why they’re being ignored when they do ask someone a question.

Even my Kindle is pretty low-tech. I have a regular screen, and only use it to read books. I have a keyboard, but no use for it. I love that I can take it to work and not worry about it getting dog-eared in my locker. I also love that I don’t have to remember to bring a new book when I’m close to finishing the old one.

A couple of people have asked me to go on Twitter. I don’t get Twitter. For every witty bon mot, there seems to be glut of “just saw jen. can’t believe what’s she’s wearing.” Then you have to go to Instagram (or whatever) to actually see it. Of course, it would probably make more sense if I had a smart phone and saw the tweets real-time.

I belong to two LinkedIn networks, one Google circle, and Facebook. I am guessing my old MySpace account is still floating around somewhere too. All of those people probably think that I have moved to Tibersk (or wherever you have to be these days to be unconnected). I think I’m just too anti-social for social media.

Now that I think about it, the Troglodytes might be insulted that I am comparing myself to them. After all, permanent shelter and fire were cutting edge in their day.