Smokey, or Smokey Joseph as I sometimes call him, has long hair that needs serious brushing. He’s pretty good about letting me brush him, but he had some tangles that were a little more than I wanted to deal with. So we took him down to the vet for a good grooming.

He’s a big old cat, but his meow is a tiny, pitiful little mew, like a kitten. It’s almost embarrassing to listen to him in the crate. He’s very laid back at home, but he was kind of scared at the vet. The groomer was matter of fact.

She didn’t fool around. Smokey took it all pretty well. He seemed to enjoy most of it, but when she started on his under side, he was not as happy. I don’t know whether he blamed us, but he sure looked like he wanted our help.

Help?

He was glad to get home.

Smokey loves a bowl of milk in the morning. Mark usually saves a little from his bowl of cereal. Sometimes Smokey gets a little impatient, though, and climbs up to check on his progress.

Chloe has seemed a little skittish lately. We don’t know why. She will sleep happily at the foot of our bed, but once she’s up, she acts like someone is out to get her. She sneaks around in the living room and tries to hide.

Here she is pretending to be a potted plant.

Sometimes we can’t find Zoe, until we remember that he has a few favorite hiding places, and sometimes Sylvester, Smokey or Zoe annoy Chloe so much that  she finds a hiding place. Sometimes they are the same place.

The space between our headboard and the wall is a pretty secure place. Sylvester and Smokey haven’t tried to chase Chloe out, at least so far. Zoe goes there sometimes when we’re trying to get him so we can put his eyedrops in (he has glaucoma) or go to the vet. It’s nice and enclosed, and it makes them feel safe.

Smokey joins us on the sofa sometimes. He likes to lie down between us and let one or both of us pet him. He turns on his purr machine. If we get up, he stays for a while, just chilling out.

He’s a cool cat.