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.

Too Many Goodbyes, and a Couple Hellos

Last year was a rough year. After Kafka went to the Rainbow Bridge in April, Pearlie Bunnybum (my little cover girl) became ill and went across in September. She was 11 years old. Then, Holden joined his friends on the other side in December. He was also 11 years old. These were both very tough for me, as I had had them both since they were babies and their illnesses were very brief. Pearl had liver failure and Holden had kidney failure.

As a result, I have taken a long hiatus from writing about my furbabies. But Kathy from the Witty Itty Bitty Kitty Committee (http://thewittyittybittykittycommittee.blogspot.com/) has pretty much shamed me into picking up where I left off. Thank you Kathy! You gave me the shove that I needed. I miss all of my lost babies so much, but I know they had the best lives possible and would not have had a life at all if not for me, their rescuer. So I find great comfort in that.

 

This is my newest little girl, Sabrina, who was rescued from the feral colony at the university where I work, and she joins fellow feral rescues Benjamin Bellybutton, Bodhi, Goldie, Fritz, and Pixie. Sabrina has the colorpoint gene but is spotted, similar to a Snowshoe cat. She is mostly white, with light brown marks that have stripes, and her tail is seal, as well as the spot on her nose and outlines of her ears. Her mama is a tuxedo and her brothers and sister are tuxedoes and a tortie. She is 3 months old and very playful. At night, she suckles on TC, who is a boy but looks like her mama. He loves kittens so he is fine with the suckling. He just rolls over on his back and lets her have at it. I think these two will be besties like Domino and Peek-A-Boo were. Poor Peekie never liked any of the other cats, and since Dommie passed, she has stayed in the dining room with Crystal and won't have anything to do with the other cats. She and Dommie were inseparable.

 

This is Laurel. She joined the family last summer when I went to a yard sale in the Laurel Mountains and this couple had about 30 kittens on their front porch, all of them about 8 weeks old. I wanted to take them all! But I picked one, and she has been a good little cat. She's fully grown now, but small like Peek-A-Boo. She is best friends with my Chihuahua, Cha Cha. Cha Cha thinks kittens are her toys and drags them around by their ears. I keep warning her that the kitties will soon be bigger than she is and she will get her ass kicked, but she doesn't listen. Luckily the kittens don't seem to mind too much.

 

Goodbye to a Dear Friend

I have not written in a long time.... so much going on at work and have been busy with my Etsy shop.

The last kitty I wrote about was my fat Siamese Kafka. Sadly, Kafka became ill a few months ago and lost a ton of weight. The vet said kidney failure and put him on some meds and subq fluids. This is Kafka getting his IV. He would sit in the bay window and be so patient while he got his fluids. He never fought me or struggled, he knew it was helping him. He was doing good, but one day I noticed he was jaundiced and took him right to the vet, and the vet said "I think it's time." So I had to say goodbye to my boy, such a sweet boy. I think he was only about 4 years old. Now he has joined Domino, Prudence, Timmy, Boo Boo, and company at the Rainbow Bridge. I will see you again someday, Kafka.

Comfy Kitties

When we woke up this morning, it was 1 degree outside, so Autumn and Kafka decided to stay in bed all day. I love how Autumn crosses her paws. She has always done this. Kafka, on the other hand, is too fat to cross his paws. Sorry, Kafka, it's true.

One Happy Boy

And this is what Kafka looks like today. He loves to take up as much space as possible, and at this rate, I'll have to get a bigger bed soon.