Benjamin Bellybutton

 Benjamin Bellybutton and his brother Bodhi were rescued from the Cats of Cal U colony in the Spring of 2010, when they were about 6 weeks old. They are now 4 years old, and Benjamin is the bigger of the two. He is huge! And he is so cuddly, I call him "Benjie the Love Bug." He is particularly enamored of this stuffed Siamese cat, which is his "Lovey." He sleeps with her every day, and today I found him on top of her like this. He will also knead her when he's sleepy.

When I go to bed, Benjie gets in bed right beside me and purrs like crazy. If I don't pet him enough because I'm reading, he lets me know by grabbing my hand and placing it on his head.

Benjie is joined here by (clockwise from top) Pookie, Reese, Sweet Pea, and Atticus on a lazy Sunday afternoon.



Bed Hog

Cha Cha was all freaked out because Fritz was laying on her bed. She sat next to the bed and stared at me. I could just hear her saying "Mom! Fritz is in my bed!" I told her "There's plenty of room on the bed, Cha Cha. Just get in there and cuddle with him. It's okay, he won't mind." And she did!

Pookie

One day this past Spring, I was walking campus at lunchtime, and I stopped by the feral colony shelters that my friend Ed built to see if any kitties were out. Of course, the adults near the feeder scattered; but there were two tiny black kittens crawling out of the shelter. I walked a bit closer, knelt down, and said "Hi, kittens!" One kitten turned and ran back into the shelter, but this little guy ran straight toward me! I picked him up, and he purred like crazy. "Well, I can't very well put you back on the colony now!" I said, so off we went to the office, where he spent the rest of the day getting love from all of the employees and student workers.

The first picture was taken as we were walking back to the office. He looks like he's raising holy hell, but he's just meowing VERY loudly. The other two were taken today. You can see he has quite a personality. I couldn't think of an appropriate name at first, and just started calling him Pookie for something to call him, and it stuck. He is long, lean, and silky-shiny. He's all black, except for about 5 white hairs right under his neck.

About a month ago, he gave me a scare when he didn't come to bed one night. I had been out kind of late, and thought it odd that he wasn't in bed when I went to bed, because he always sleeps with me. But it was late, and I was tired, so I went to sleep. In the morning, he still wasn't in bed, so I got worried and went looking for him. I found him laying on the bare basement floor. When I picked him up, he was practically limp in my hands, very lethargic. This is a kitten who is extremely active. I immediately called the vet, who said bring him in.

Pookie had a temperature of 105 degrees, which is very high. The vet recommended testing him for leukemia, which would take about 10 minutes. They took him back for blood and brought him back to me, and I sat there crying for 10 minutes while they ran the test. Doc came back in and said the test was negative, and I breathed again. He said they could give him a shot to bring down the fever and see what happens, but this was probably some kind of virus. He got the shot and some medicine to bring home, and by the next morning at 5 a.m., Pookie was attacking my feet just like always. I hope he outgrows this habit soon...even on the weekends he attacks my feet at 5 a.m., as well as his brothers and sisters. But he's so dang cute, I can't help but just laugh at him. He's five months old now and will be neutered soon; maybe that will calm his little butt down a bit.

Just everyday stuff...

This happens every Saturday when I try to change the sheets...

Sabrina is so pretty. Her blue eyes are so pale, they tend to look red in photos. She has the colorpoint gene but was born in a litter of black & white and torties in Spring 2013. Her fur is very thick and fuzzy. Her favorite thing to do is chase the little ball around the donut toy.