Saturday, August 8, 2009

Happy World Cat Day!

Today we are celebrating cats. I never had cats as a child, only dogs because my mother was allergic to cats. My first cat Chica, who is still with me, came into my life almost 20 years ago. She started me on my path of caring for and rescuing feral cats and I have learned so much about myself and cats since then. My love for all animals is my passion in life.

To Be of Service
Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission - to be of service to them wherever they require it.
--- Saint Francis of Assisi


I am a humble servant to these loving creatures - both past and present....


Sweet loving Gerogie - littermate of Norm, Sam and Woody.



My first and dearest - Chica - a very spoiled ladycat.



Dear Clarence only lived with us for 18 months. He had cancer and finally died Oct. 2004 of heart failure. He was such a charming yet reserved cat. He won our hearts in such a short time.



Darby was found living under our house one winter - she is my snuggle bunny cat!



Sweetpea is a tiny long haired black cat who loves to sit on your lap and give kisses (French ones)! Yoko, a brown tabby, loves to sleep in piles of laundry, or high up on the closet shelf.



Lily is the feral mom to many of my white cats - she avoided the trap each time and had two litters before we could catch her and the kittens.



Norm, Snowball and Sam - Lily's first litter still love to be with each other.



Joey and Minnie are littermates and can always be found snuggling together. We lost littermate Leroy at six months old while they were still outside - he disappeared and we never found any sign of him. Another brother Nick lost his battle with cancer in Jan 2006.



Mamcita and her daughter Rosa are very shy and don't like a lot of attention. Manny was the other kitten of her litter but we lost him in Jan 2007 of a serious bladder complication.



Going from front to back - Two Spot, Smidge on the floor, Only and Tabitha are from Lily's second litter.



Woody - brother of Norm,Sam and Georgie. He is my very shy boy.



Ivy was the head female of the feral group I inherited when my husband and I bought our farmhouse. She, along with Momcat who passed in 2003, ran the group and kept things going. She is still the boss and running things now that she is an indoor cat.



Big Guy was the head male of our feral group and ran a tight ship! He kept the peace and ran off other tomcats that tried to take over. He passed in my arms Oct. 2004 and the group pretty much broke apart. I took the remaining ones inside since another male cat was chasing the old group off.



Al who is deaf, came into my life after I had lost Clarence and Big Guy within two weeks of each other. He helped me keep going with his silly antics and personality!

Today is catnip and treat day for all these lucky cats. Please remember to help out other animals who don't have caring homes!

For more animal posts check out Camera Critters and Pet Pride.

26 comments:

Mimi said...

What a wonderul fuzzy family!

i beati said...

quite A special tribute on WCD.you are a spewcial LOVER OF CATS AS AM I

JC said...

Thank You ... for posting pics of all your Purr Gang. Question for you ... why so many ferals in your area ?

I'm thrilled that you rescue them. My Lilly Ann was a feral and it took forever to get her to sit with me and let me pet her. She never warmed up to anyone else ... but, she was my sweetheart ... and my heart broke when she past away. (she's the one in my profile photo)

The Kitty Krew said...

They're all some great looking kitties. Thanks for sharing them all with us.

Happy World Cat Day!

Purrs and hugs,
The Kitty Krew

Cats of Wildcat Woods said...

JC - I live in a very rural area in the Appalachian Mountains. In my old neighborhood we had a vet and a BBQ restaurant - both places that people would drop off their cats hoping someone would take them in or they could live off of the scraps available. Plus the locals here do not believe in spay/neuter or TNR! The original cats had kittens and more kittens. The newer ones were feral - having very little human contact. I was the only one who worked to get them all neutered - plenty of folks put food out for the cats. The vet helped me by doing the spay/neuter for almost nothing whenever I caught a cat. I have since moved to another town and took the cats with me.

The Island Cats said...

What a wonderful tribute to those cats still with you and those that are not. Happy World Cat Day!

ZOOLATRY said...

This was a wonderful, beautiful post. We so much enjoyed seeing each of these beautiful fur friends, and reading their individual stories... some sad, some happy, all treasured. Happy World Cat Day to all of you from Maggy and Zoey of Zoolatry.

The Creek Cats said...

What a wonderful tribute to all your kitties!

Happy World Cat Day!

BeadedTail said...

Lovely tribute to all your kitties! Happy World Cat Day to you all!

Baby Patches said...

Wonderfur lovely kitties, Happy World Cat Day!

Purrrrrrrrrrrs

Gemma Wiseman said...

What an amazing tribe of cats! Loved all the little comments on their personalities and traits!

Misty DawnS said...

You have a wonderful heart and soul. These cats are so very lucky to have you... as I am sure you are lucky to have them too.

Janie said...

You've given homes to some beautiful kitties. They're lucky to have you, and I'm sure you feel the same about them.

JC said...

Well that does answer my question ...

Thanks again for taking in all of those Purrfect Furr Balls !!!

mimi said...

love all your cats, they are all sweet and adorable.

Da Fambly Cat-a-blog Kittiez said...

Our momma says that you are the angel that kitties yearn for if they don't have a home to call their own. Our momma says that we should purr for you today and we will because we want you to know that you are a-purr-eciated furry much.

Anya said...

Happy World Cat Day!
Beautiful post with many memories :)

Samantha & Mom said...

Awwwwwwww......thanks so much for sharing about all you lovely Kitties!! We loved all the stories! Happy World Cat Day!! Purrrs from our house to yours!
Your FL furiends,

Karen, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry" said...

Such great looking cats--I think feral cats are so interesting. My dad always used to take them in too, but unfortunately, was not good about getting them vet care and refused to neuter any of them. Apparently the one two females he took in must have been owned at one time and were spayed because he never had any kittens born in his house.

Love all these cat pics!

Mara said...

Cats are one of the most beautiful creatures on earth and the ones living with you must be extremely lucky.

Larry D said...

Great cats, wonderful photos!

SeaThreePeeO said...

Beautiful cats!


Belated Happy World Cat Day!

Elaine said...

You are a kitty angel. How lucky your animals are to have you. My two cats were rescues too. Molly was rescued from a trailer park in NH and Oscar I physically rescued from an apartment parking lot in
Massachusetts.

This is my first Camera Critters.

Sylvia K said...

A great tribute indeed! Happy World Cat Day!
Marvelous photos!

Have a great week!
Sylvia

meowmeowmans said...

Lovely post! Thank you for caring for so many animals.

magiceye said...

feels so good to have you all on at Pet Pride

bozo
Pet Pride

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