The Scamperbeasts

The outline of Saja's furry black head barely visible on a black background but his yellow eyes are glowing

Saja denies he is a real chaos demon and lies in wait to ambush all those who would say otherwise

Saja the kitten, eyes VERY wide, with toy.

This just in: for the first time, Saja has discovered the catnip toys.

Saja the kitten, looking like he wants to be anywhere else but in the picture his grinning human is taking

Have you ever seen a kitten more embarrassed to be seen with his human, no, no you have not

In the background, Spice the cat is in the top seat of the office cat tree; in the foreground Smudge looks QUITE put out.

"Damn it, she KNOWS the top bunk is mine! This aggression will not stand, man!"

Saja and Smudge, once again tusslin'!

THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE OF BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER

Saja the kitten looking very very serious and maybe a little bit groggy

"When I woke this up this afternoon I could tell that a couple of very important things of mine were missing. And when I find out who took them... I SHALL HAVE MY VENGEANCE."

(Get your pets fixed, folks)

Spice (in orange) and Sugar (in gray), the day they came home, 10 years ago.

Happy Gotcha Day to Sugar and Spice, who were adopted ten years ago today. Their human gives an appreciation of them (complete with video of the two of them tusslin' as kittens) on his personal site:

whatever.scalzi.com/2025/11/01/a...

Smudge is laying at the top of the cat tree, Spice is in the middle, and Saja is there at the bottom. It's all coming together now!

NEWS FLASH: We have achieved the rare and coveted Cat Tree Triple Decker

The blackness of Saja's fur is contrasted by the morning sunlight making his ears translucently red

Saja in the morning glow.

Smudge the cat with a direct center mlem, so rare yet so perfect

Give us this day our daily mlem

Sugar the cat, outside on the patio, looking annoyed at Saja the kitten, who is inside the house, looking at her through the patio door.

"Only this thin plane of glass keeps you from being smacked SO HARD"

Saja, who is a black cat, with his little legs all tucked in, cute-like

Hello, Bluesky, it is time for your recommended daily allowance of Void Loaf

Spice, looking very serious, with a black and orange octopus cat toy in her fluffy little paws.

Spice wishes to inform you that she has chosen this yarn octopus as her new favorite toy. Please alert the media.

Saja's nose is especially large and elongated thanks to how the lens bends light

Saja discovers that the wide-angle lens is not the best one for portraits

Smudge, looking annoyed in the cat trees, while Saja on the window sill looks out to see flying animals

Saja contemplates birds, Smudge contemplates murder

Sugar, yawning to show how much she does not care.

"Oh, the human is back, let me yawn in an aggressively unconcerned manner to show my lack of interest."

Sugar the cat, looking extremely displeased at the presence of a black kitten on the bed

Mere seconds before what is now known as The Great Kitten Smackenation

(The kitten is fine)

(Sugar is annoyed but also fine)

Spice is being very very patient with you right now. You know that, yes?

Is Spice judging you? Yes.

Did you do something for which you deserve to be judged? Oh, probably.

Saja the kitten is climbing up the cat tree looking to do battle with Smudge and Smudge is having exactly NONE of it.

Shenanigans?

Shenanigans!

Saja the kitten, looking rather leonine while his name floats above him in bold letters

Update: The newest Scamperbeast has an official name. Meet Saja!

whatever.scalzi.com/2025/09/02/s...

Kitten Update: All Hail the Fuzz Butt So, we kept the black kitten. I want to stress this was not the plan all along. I did in fact have a new home scheduled for this kitten, but then, more or less at the last minute, the people at the…

There's important and exciting news today: There's a new official Scamperbeast in the world!

whatever.scalzi.com/2025/09/01/k...

Smudge in the pantry, surrounded by treats he is unable to open

Step One of Smudge's master plan to eat all the treats was accomplished: He had infiltrated the pantry. However, Step Two - grow opposable thumbs - was taking longer than anticipated.

The calico, black and tortie kitten all in a line, looking at the camera.

The foster kittens know how to pose.

Super adorable little calico cat being curious and friendly and also climbing up the human with her little claws extended, ouch

THIS JUST IN: The calico foster kitten says hello

Three kittens, one calico, one black and one a dilute tortie. They're ridiculously cute.

The humans are fostering a trio of kittens, which makes them Temporary Scamperbeasts. Here they are. More details about them (and also how you could adopt one!) here:

whatever.scalzi.com/2025/08/21/p...

Smudge, looking quite quizzical, indeed.

Smudge has questions.

Spice the cat, looking deeply unimpressed.

Spice acknowledges the return of the human after a trip without feeling the need to be impressed by the fact.

Smudge and Spice in the cat tree, looking entirely innocent of whatever it was.

"Whatever happened, we were here the entire time, both of us, you can't prove otherwise, so there."

Smudge sits on a chair at a table, eye narrowed, totally focused on the three fish sticks on the plate in front of him.

Smudge, plotting the Great Fish Stick Heist of 2025

One ear is vibrating and the other ear is folded in half and he's looking at the camera with a bored expression

Smudge caught in the middle of a head shake