Category Archives: Kip

Kip

Kip going into retirement

Whoa, whoa, whoa, now. I am not putting Kip out to pasture, or something like that.

But let’s be real. For years, Kip has not been getting the attention he deserves. For nearly three years, to be exact. And it sucks. But you know what? You guys would think there was something terribly wrong with me if I neglected my children in favor of Kip. You’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t.

Circumstances at this point are such that I had to make the hard decision to give up Kip. The finances are tight, and with our impending week in a hotel, the timing seemed to point toward Kip no longer living with us. Not to mention the fact that Kip swiped at Chris a couple of weeks ago. He didn’t leave a scratch, but do I really want that to actually happen before its time to give Kip up? Plus, Mike keeps kicking at Kip. As much as we tell him not to do it, Mike and Chris are only going to get more rambunctious. It was time for a calmer home environment for Kip, who is 8 years old.

So, in Kip’s honor, I’ve compiled a top 10 list of Kip posts.

10. Overture to CuteOverload.com — This was a shameless attempt to try to get Kip on CuteOverload.com. Basically its just adorable cat photos.

9. For your consideration — As a kitten, Kip was kind of nuts.

8. Kip + feathers = funny pictures — Eventually, Kip pretty much made this feather toy bald.

7. Recap: Introducing Kip — My first Kip post. He was so cute as a kitten!

6. Impromptu photo shoot with Kip — I was apparently on a quest to get the perfect cute photo of Kip.

5. Bath time — Kip’s grimacing mug anchored my site for a long time. Remember?

4. Kip vs. the Cat Clubhouse — I’d say it was one round before Kip KO’d the club house.

3. Scaredy cat Christmas — Kip HATES workmen.

2. Kip vs. the handle bag — I still don’t know how Kip got his big head into this handle.

1. My cat is a genius — The famous mouth-taping incident that led to a Christmas card and a couple of lolcats.

So, what’s next for Kip? It’s not a shelter, if that’s what you were worried about. Kip is moving to Hollywood, to live with my old coworker Mark, who has been a fan of Kip’s for a while. Mark has a smaller place of course, but Kip won’t have to worry about preschooler feet and toddler hands coming at him all of a sudden at Mark’s.

I have mixed feelings, of course. I am so busy with caring and cleaning up after two young boys and working that trying to maintain Kip has just fallen by the wayside. And at the same time, there’s no avoiding scooping the litter box or trying to sweep up fur and scattered litter. And very honestly, I will be glad not to have to get pissed at Kip when I see paw prints and cat litter strewn across the kitchen table — ew.

At the same time, it’ll be a bummer to not have him sitting on my feet on cold winter nights anymore. And I’ll miss our impromptu boxing matches between the banister bars that made Mike laugh.

Sigh. In a perfect world, we’d be able to keep him. But we surely do not live in a perfect world.

What to do with Kip

Kip just now fell asleep on my foot. He and I are finally friends again, after a long and difficult winter and spring.

The difficulties included my being unable to take play with him like I used to, clean his litter box and the first six months of Michael’s life, which preoccupied me to the point of exhaustion, of course. But, even as it gets easier to take care of Michael (and I’m sure more experienced parents will laugh at that statement), its getting harder to take care of Kip the way I should.

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Oh, Kip

I have been at my wit’s end with Kip lately.

This is just the latest offering he’s left on our light carpet recently. Earlier in the week, he’s also vomited on the carpet — in two places — repeatedly scattered litter on the coffee table (where we eat), oh, and when I walked in the door the other night, he was nonchalantly sleeping on the coffee table. Great.

(And yes, I realize Kip was trying to be a good kitty by giving us a kitty gift. Funny thing was, I was just about to give Kip some treats for being seated on the floor rather than the coffee table when I got home, but I saw the lizard as I turned on the light to get the treats. And, Kip went to his kitty bed, where I sometimes put his treats, looking for the treats he thought I was going to give him. But seeing a lizard in the house is not the first thing I want to see walking in the door after a night shift. I just wish there was a way to articulate this to a cat.)

I want to keep Kip, I really do. Someone please give me some advice on what to do with a bad kitty and a baby.

Kip wins the litter box battle

So much for buying an automatic scooping litter box.

Seriously, all those websites and reviews should include a disclaimer. “If your cat is at least 3 years old and set and his/her ways, s/he will protest the new litter box and litter by peeing on your couches and in the kitchen and smearing his feces all over the machine.”

A disclaimer like that would have really been useful to me. Long story short — we had to buy another regular litter box (a hinged hooded dealio from Target) and go back to the old Scoop Away litter.

So tomorrow, my job is going to be trying to get the hood and permanent litter tray shipped back to the vendors for a refund. On Tuesday, Trin’s going to clean up the litter box and get that shipped off.

Litter distraction

You may be wondering what happened to me this week — did the hives overtake me? Did I drown in work? No, the hives didn’t overtake me, but I am on a two-week regimen of steroids to make sure they go away. I didn’t drown in work, but I am regretting a recent decision that turned out to be a big deal — a new litter box for Kip.

I swear I did my research. I scoured all sorts of reviews on Amazon for all the automatic litterboxes available out there — which include an impressive array of automatic, even flushing, self-cleaning models — and was impressed by ScoopFree‘s average four-star rating from more than 400 reviewers. So I made the decision (with Trinity following along, of course) to shell out about $160+ for the new automatic litter box, a hood and a permanent tray.