diff --git a/cat-core/src/main/java/com/dianping/cat/Cat.java b/cat-core/src/main/java/com/dianping/cat/Cat.java
index 9e3818ebde85b1c52ee756e5eb7c0bdea9682e94..4d42035baa1a04141b1d33424761068f0f11ceb3 100644
--- a/cat-core/src/main/java/com/dianping/cat/Cat.java
+++ b/cat-core/src/main/java/com/dianping/cat/Cat.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ public class Cat {
 		if (!s_instance.m_initialized) {
 			try {
 				s_instance.setContainer(new DefaultPlexusContainer());
+				s_instance.m_initialized = true;
 			} catch (PlexusContainerException e) {
 				throw new RuntimeException("Error when creating Plexus container, "
 				      + "please make sure the environment was setup correctly!", e);
@@ -87,6 +88,7 @@ public class Cat {
 		if (container != null) {
 			if (!s_instance.m_initialized) {
 				s_instance.setContainer(container);
+				s_instance.m_initialized = true;
 			} else {
 				throw new RuntimeException("Cat has already been initialized before!");
 			}
@@ -102,6 +104,10 @@ public class Cat {
 		}
 	}
 
+	public static boolean isInitialized() {
+		return s_instance.m_initialized;
+	}
+
 	// this should be called when a thread ends to clean some thread local data
 	public static void reset() {
 		getInstance().m_manager.reset();
@@ -114,8 +120,6 @@ public class Cat {
 	}
 
 	void setContainer(PlexusContainer container) {
-		m_initialized = true;
-
 		try {
 			m_manager = (MessageManager) container.lookup(MessageManager.class);
 		} catch (ComponentLookupException e) {
diff --git a/cat-core/src/main/java/com/dianping/cat/message/internal/DefaultMessageManager.java b/cat-core/src/main/java/com/dianping/cat/message/internal/DefaultMessageManager.java
index b0867148c17062b56db8568330fa7a6f258fce11..131745bbfbb7cc78b717e06cd17c232aa43dd4db 100644
--- a/cat-core/src/main/java/com/dianping/cat/message/internal/DefaultMessageManager.java
+++ b/cat-core/src/main/java/com/dianping/cat/message/internal/DefaultMessageManager.java
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ import java.net.UnknownHostException;
 import java.util.Stack;
 import java.util.UUID;
 
+import org.codehaus.plexus.logging.LogEnabled;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.logging.Logger;
+
+import com.dianping.cat.Cat;
 import com.dianping.cat.configuration.model.entity.Config;
 import com.dianping.cat.message.Message;
 import com.dianping.cat.message.Transaction;
@@ -15,7 +19,7 @@ import com.dianping.cat.message.spi.MessageTree;
 import com.dianping.cat.message.spi.internal.DefaultMessageTree;
 import com.site.lookup.ContainerHolder;
 
-public class DefaultMessageManager extends ContainerHolder implements MessageManager {
+public class DefaultMessageManager extends ContainerHolder implements MessageManager, LogEnabled {
 	private TransportManager m_manager;
 
 	// we don't use static modifier since MessageManager is a singleton in
@@ -37,14 +41,27 @@ public class DefaultMessageManager extends ContainerHolder implements MessageMan
 
 	private String m_ipAddress;
 
+	private Logger m_logger;
+
+	private boolean m_firstMessage = true;
+
 	@Override
 	public void add(Message message) {
-		getContext().add(this, message);
+		if (Cat.isInitialized()) {
+			getContext().add(this, message);
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void enableLogging(Logger logger) {
+		m_logger = logger;
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public void end(Transaction transaction) {
-		getContext().end(this, transaction);
+		if (Cat.isInitialized()) {
+			getContext().end(this, transaction);
+		}
 	}
 
 	void flush(MessageTree tree) {
@@ -62,11 +79,6 @@ public class DefaultMessageManager extends ContainerHolder implements MessageMan
 		return m_clientConfig;
 	}
 
-	@Override
-	public Config getServerConfig() {
-		return m_serverConfig;
-	}
-
 	Context getContext() {
 		Context ctx = m_context.get();
 
@@ -78,6 +90,11 @@ public class DefaultMessageManager extends ContainerHolder implements MessageMan
 		}
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	public Config getServerConfig() {
+		return m_serverConfig;
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	public void initializeClient(Config clientConfig) {
 		if (clientConfig != null) {
@@ -123,7 +140,12 @@ public class DefaultMessageManager extends ContainerHolder implements MessageMan
 
 	@Override
 	public void start(Transaction transaction) {
-		getContext().start(transaction);
+		if (Cat.isInitialized()) {
+			getContext().start(transaction);
+		} else if (m_firstMessage){
+			m_firstMessage = false;
+			m_logger.warn("CAT client is not enabled because it's not initialized yet");
+		}
 	}
 
 	static class Context {
@@ -138,12 +160,12 @@ public class DefaultMessageManager extends ContainerHolder implements MessageMan
 			m_tree.setDomain(domain);
 			m_tree.setSessionToken(sessionToken);
 			m_tree.setRequestToken(requestToken);
-			
+
 			Thread thread = Thread.currentThread();
-			
+
 			m_tree.setThreadId(Long.toHexString(thread.getId()));
 			m_tree.setThreadId(thread.getName());
-			
+
 			m_tree.setHostName(hostName);
 			m_tree.setIpAddress(ipAddress);
 			m_tree.setMessageId(UUID.randomUUID().toString()); // TODO optimize it
diff --git a/cat-home/src/test/java/com/dianping/cat/SimpleServer.java b/cat-home/src/test/java/com/dianping/cat/SimpleServer.java
index 5ab86e138989340d9de7dcb28d1b3bc39a354c25..12d2e9a9b1128630a347b8a64d8405ebad3ad8b2 100644
--- a/cat-home/src/test/java/com/dianping/cat/SimpleServer.java
+++ b/cat-home/src/test/java/com/dianping/cat/SimpleServer.java
@@ -36,11 +36,6 @@ public class SimpleServer extends SimpleServerSupport {
 		JettyTestSupport.startServer(new SimpleServer());
 	}
 
-	@Override
-	protected File getWarRoot() {
-		return new File("src/main/webapp");
-	}
-
 	public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
 		SimpleServer server = new SimpleServer();
 
@@ -70,19 +65,16 @@ public class SimpleServer extends SimpleServerSupport {
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	protected void postConfigure(Context ctx) {
-		ServletHolder holder = new ServletHolder(s_mvc);
-
-		ctx.addServlet(new ServletHolder(s_cat), "/s/*");
-		ctx.addServlet(holder, "/");
-		ctx.addServlet(holder, "/r/*");
-		ctx.addFilter(GzipFilter.class, "/r/*", Handler.ALL);
-		super.postConfigure(ctx);
+	protected String getContextPath() {
+		return "/cat";
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	protected String getContextPath() {
-		return "/cat";
+	protected File getScratchDir() {
+		File work = new File(System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir", "."), "Cat");
+
+		work.mkdirs();
+		return work;
 	}
 
 	@Override
@@ -90,6 +82,22 @@ public class SimpleServer extends SimpleServerSupport {
 		return 2281;
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	protected File getWarRoot() {
+		return new File("src/main/webapp");
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	protected void postConfigure(Context ctx) {
+		ServletHolder holder = new ServletHolder(s_mvc);
+
+		ctx.addServlet(new ServletHolder(s_cat), "/s/*");
+		ctx.addServlet(holder, "/");
+		ctx.addServlet(holder, "/r/*");
+		ctx.addFilter(GzipFilter.class, "/r/*", Handler.ALL);
+		super.postConfigure(ctx);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void startServer() throws Exception {
 		// open the page in the default browser
@@ -118,15 +126,6 @@ public class SimpleServer extends SimpleServerSupport {
 			}
 		}
 
-		@Override
-		public PlexusContainer getContainer() {
-			return super.getContainer();
-		}
-
-		public void setServerPort(int serverPort) {
-			m_serverPort = serverPort;
-		}
-
 		public void display(String requestUri) throws Exception {
 			StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(256);
 			BrowserManager manager = lookup(BrowserManager.class);
@@ -140,6 +139,11 @@ public class SimpleServer extends SimpleServerSupport {
 			}
 		}
 
+		@Override
+		public PlexusContainer getContainer() {
+			return super.getContainer();
+		}
+
 		@Override
 		public <T> T lookup(Class<T> role) throws Exception {
 			return super.lookup(role);
@@ -149,5 +153,9 @@ public class SimpleServer extends SimpleServerSupport {
 		public <T> T lookup(Class<T> role, Object roleHint) throws Exception {
 			return super.lookup(role, roleHint);
 		}
+
+		public void setServerPort(int serverPort) {
+			m_serverPort = serverPort;
+		}
 	}
 }