My Housemates

The gang's all here -- all six of 'em! They're here in order of me getting to know them.

Arie
Arie is a cockatiel named after Mom's favorite race car driver, Arie Luyendyk, Sr., a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500.

That being said, Arie's not really all that fast, unless you're trying to catch him when he flies around the house.

When we first moved in together, I used to stalk Arie a little bit, but he and his mate, Bonnie, really didn't do that much for me. I mean, they're interesting and all, but Arie is kind of my brother, so eating him would probably upset Mom and Dad. Since they're the ones that feed me, it's just not in my best interest to upset them too much.

A cat has to know her limits.

Arie is my older brother, but not by much. Oh, and he can talk. He says "hello" and a few other things. I don't remember what they are. Really haven't paid that much attention.

Bonnie
Bonnie has been with Arie for a long time. She moved here with him and Mom from New Hampshire. I hear it gets cold there. Being an Arizona native, I really wouldn't know about that.

Bonnie's a lutino cockatiel, which means she's got a yellow body instead of the grey body Arie has.

She's laid a few eggs over the past couple of years, but nothing's hatched from them. Mom says she has to learn how to sit on the eggs and turn them once in a while so they don't get all scrambled.

Mmmmmmmm... scrambled eggs...

What!?

That's her in the Christmas tree one year. When she flew in there, Dad told her she wasn't a partridge. I don't get it, but then I don't get most of what Dad says.

Sassy
Sassy is my third companion. She came home after Callie and Blair went off to the Rainbow Bridge.

Dad says when he and Mom went looking for a new friend for me, they visited Sassy twice at the shelter. The second time, Dad was holding Sassy and she decided to let him know she really wanted to come home to meet me, so she licked him on the nose.

That did it. Sassy came home. With that name, by the way. That's what her shelter name was, and it seems to fit, so she got to keep it.

At first, I really didn't much care for her. I wasn't looking for a new friend, but no matter how much I hissed and growled at Sassy, she just walked about like she didn't have a care in the world.

Personally, I think she's a little loopy. But, I love her like the sister she's become.

Back in the days when we had the run of things, we literally had the run of things. We'd chase each other all over the house and have a great time doing it. We don't do that as much now for fear of colliding with a kitten or two (see below), but we do sneak in a little fun now and then when the others are napping.

Billie
The way Dad tells it, he and Mom were getting things ready in our new house in August 2006, and this rat-thing came out from under the house one day and rubbed up against his legs.

He's a real sucker, you know?

Anyway, my humans took in this scrawny little beast and set her up with food, water, a litter box, and a couple of toys. Dad would drop by the house before we all moved in to check on her. They took her to the vet (our now-ex-vet) to make sure she wasn't going to pass along some horrible disease to Sassy and me, and we all moved in after she was cleared.

She got her name after Mom and Dad emailed a picture of her to their friends and family. One of Mom's sisters said she had a "whiplash smile", whatever that means. Dad says some guy named Billy Idol put out a record with that name and he had the same look on his face on the album cover. So, Mom and Dad decided to name ol' scrawny "Billie".

Whatever. All I know is after living with her since September 2006, we've come to an understanding. I understand that I don't like her, and she understands that I don't like her. Sassy's not crazy about her, either, but we're all trying to get along so we don't get on the humans' nerves too much.

Oh, something my brilliant Mom and Dad didn't know -- Billie was pregnant when they took her in, which is why I have to put up with the next two housemates.

Lindsay
Mom and Dad call Lindsay their "Dirt Devil Otter". Why? Why do humans do anything?

Apparently, one of Mom's sisters saw an early picture of Lindsay where you could see her horns. Did I mention she has horns? Well, my aunt said Lindsay looked like a "devil otter" in that picture.

The "Dirt Devil" part apparently comes from the giant sucky beast of the same name since Lindsay seems to eat everything in sight.

That would account for her eating the curling ribbon and long piece of string that landed her in the hospital when she was just 4 months old. Seems she couldn't bring up or pass the ribbon or the string, and the string was starting to wrap around her intestines, so one of our vets had to cut Lindsay open and take out the ribbon and string which she saved for Mom and Dad.

Humans are weird.

Kittens are weirder.

Oh, and Lindsay is just fine now.

Stevie
Lindsay's sister looks like all cuteness and innocence, doesn't she?

If you only knew.

But, you don't so I'm going to tell you.

Not content to let Lindsay be the star of the vet's office, Stevie decided to cut one of her back legs really badly. It wasn't enough that she bled all over Mom and Dad's bed. Oh, no. She also ended up cutting a couple of tendons that had to be surgically repaired.

She did this when she was just over 6 months old.

Mom and Dad got home right after this happened. They rushed Stevie to the emergency room and the vets there fixed her up. She had to wear a cast for a few weeks and sleep in a cage which I got a good chuckle about, but now she's fine, too.

Makes me wonder how I survived being a kitten.

Oh, yeah. The kittens are named after Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, a couple of famous singers to keep the Rock n' Roll theme going after naming their mom after Billy Idol.