Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Welcome Mr. Kitty


Taken on his first night.

First off I want to apologize for my absence from the blog since I posted about Lily's passing.  I have not had it in me to even go visit your blogs to thank you for your kind comments, cards and emails.  This one was particularly hard and I think am still in denial.  I do appreciate all of your expressions of sympathy so very much.

Handsome Mr. Kitty

One thing that will take my mind off of this loss is that we have a new kitty with us. Let me start from the beginning.... my oldest friend from childhood has been going through a difficult time.  Her husband had to have a liver transplant recently (some of you know about this from Facebook).  The doctors told Deb that their two beloved senior cats would not be able to stay in her home with her husband when he came home as he will be on immunosuppression drugs for the rest of his life. She asked me to help find them a home.

I posted all over Facebook about the Maine Coon called Mr. Kitty and the sweet tortie named Squeaks.  Unfortunately it is difficult at best to find homes for 15 year old cats.  Since no one had contacted me, I told Deb I would take them.  My husband was in agreement and we made plans for him to drive up to New England from North Carolina to get them.



A few days before Don left on this trip, Deb let me know that Squeaks had passed in her sleep.  She had been very distraught about her human dad being away in the hospital for so long and her human brother had also left for boot camp at the same time.  As one blog friend said, Squeaks most likely had a "delicate constitution." I think the changes in her home took its toll on her and she slipped away.

RIP Squeaks


We still wanted Mr. Kitty so Don drove up and back over the past weekend.  Don was able to enjoy some delicious seafood and visit with friends while he was there.  After a bittersweet parting from his mom, Mr. Kitty made his way to North Carolina with Don without any problems.

Enjoying the nip scratcher from Auntie Peel

He is a sweet gentle soul with an easy laid back temperament.  He loves to be with people but it will take time for him to accept the other cats and them him.  He has his own room for now and we let him out with us when the other cats are napping.  He is a slippery one and and escaped his room a few times to run and inspect the house.  So far all his interactions with the others have been just curious.  He already goes to the door of his room when he wants back in.  For his age, he is doing quite well.

A little nipped out!

I am looking forward to letting him host the blog in the weeks to come.  He is quite a character and will keep us on our toes for sure.  Please welcome Mr. Kitty!




Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Until We Meet Again Sweet Lily


  This one is hard to write.  On April 7 we took our dear Lily to the vet for the last time.  The cancer had grown to fill her mouth and she was not able to eat or drink.  In spite of this, she was as loving and silly as always, right to the end.  Her passing was easy and peaceful - she was ready.  Don and I were loving her as she crossed over.  She would have been 10 this spring.

Lily with her babies outside


 What can I say about this cat who was the embodiment of love?  She had an amazing life for such a short one.  She gave birth to three litters outside and all survived to become wonderful cats themselves.  She was smart enough to not get caught in our humane traps and taught the kittens to keep clear of us - it made trapping them all a challenge for sure.


She was a mother to us as well.  Lily was the one who would be sitting with us if we were not well, ever watchful.  She was always on hyper alert - listening for unusual sounds of alarm.  She loved to sit looking out our windows, keeping an eye on things.  I looked forward to coming home to her  face peeking through the screen.  I knew I had left everyone in good hands.



Even tho she was able to live her life with most of her kittens, she was a stern mother at times.  She had little patience with them.  If they got too rough or playful around her, she would hiss or whap them.  Often she preferred the company of non family members like Ivy.  Ivy, being our oldest at 17, brought out the maternal in Lily - they were always together.  When I read in bed, Ivy sat on me and Lily would lay next to me with her head resting on my body.  Oh how I will miss that.

Ivy and Lily
 
 She could be so silly as well - diving into the refrigerator whenever I opened the door, looking for treats, letting me dress her in costumes for the holidays, begging for a lick of butter with Ivy when I ate my breakfast muffins.


Punk Lily
 
Lily was stubborn, independent, and strong willed, all infused with an incredible unconditional love for us. While all the other cats would be sleeping the days away, she followed us around the house, involved in every activity.  She didn't want to miss a minute of life with us.  She slept only when we were not home or sleeping ourselves.  Perhaps she knew her time with us would be short.  I will end this tribute to our beloved Lily with this quote.

Under the Christmas tree

"When animals enter our life, we start on a journey filled with adventure, learning and love.  The animals reach deep into us and change us in ways that can hardly be described.  We grow in love.  And upon their leaving, we are lost, devastated.  Over time, we explore the story and see the meaning, and stand in awe of these remarkable beings.  What an honor they give us when they walk a part of our lives with us."
-- Barbara Janelle


Thank you, Lily, for sharing your life with us.  We will see you again one day.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Happy Easter!


Look what we got in our Easter Basket - a big tabby cat (Tabitha)!  
Happy Easter to all of our friends on blogland!

Only with two new buddies



Two Spot sharing with the bunnies.

P.S. We are joining the Sunday Selfies today at Cat on my Head.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Wordy Wednesday with Al



As you know we planned on seeing the Acro Cats over the past weekend.  We found out online that they were auditioning local cats for guest spots with the Rock Cats band so we took our Al in.  He is deaf but we have trained him to respond to hand signals and his lack of hearing makes him immune to the noise of the crowd.  Maybe he won't hear the music he makes but he can bang the drums!




We will share some pics of the Acro Cats in action while we finish telling our exciting story about Al.



We went the the theater early and sat thru various other cat's auditions.  When it came to our Al's turn, he did wonderfully!  He caught on quickly and never even wandered from his seat.  After answering a few more questions, we were very excited to learn they had chosen our Al to guest star on Sunday's late show!  That gave them time to work with him a bit.


Flash ahead...time for the show and the theater was filling up quickly with people of all ages.  Samantha began with the star Tuna and introduced each of the cats with a wonderful acrobatic routine.  She even has a groundhog named Garfield, some tightrope walking rats and a chicken named Gregory Peck.  All of her cats are rescues and she told us each of their stories.


Then...drum roll...the highlight of the show - the Rock Cats. The guitarist and keyboard cats came out and finally Al on drums.  He looked specatular!!  It was quite the event to see them all playing along with Tuna on cowbells and Sookie on chimes.





Al wasn't happy with the pink collar he had to wear but all went smoothly and no one knew it was not the actual Rock Cat drummer Dakota until they revealed his identity at the end of the show!  We are so proud of our Al!

















This was a April Fool post from 2013 when we went to see the Acro-cats.  Al does look like their white cat but all of this was made up by our Mom!

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