Friday, October 8, 2010

Alphabe-thursday...Life of Luxury or...

Laziness? 
This week at Alphabe-Thursday school at Jenny Matlock's Place, we are studying the Letter C. click the link to take you to other lessons.

C is for CAT
Boots(ie) our princess 6/91-12/09 RIP
KitKat, we adopted him and his brother from neglectful owners, these boys were left outside, once they "weren't kittens" any longer, and they weren't even being supplied with food. They actually came looking to us to save them. They always remained a bit Feral, and preferred to be outside most of the time. KitKat is blind in one eye, scratched there by his own brother. He was dxed with Fiv (Feline immunodeficiency virus..like Hiv). When our son moved back home with a male cat, we thought it best to put KitKat down, he was making repeat trips to the vet, due to abscesses and we knew if he got into one fight with My son's cat, he would spread it. He was approx. 12-13 when we put him down 6/10

 KitKat's last snow February 2010







WhiteFace, KitKat's Brother...a TRUE Tom Cat. He went out one night in April of 09, 
hasn't been seen since
Meet Pretty, she showed up in our yard looking for a home and love in January 2010, being a "black Calico" (or Tortoise shell) like my Boots was, I believe that God or "Great Spirit" brought her to me.

 She isn't as loving as Bootsie was; meaning it is on her terms. She is very loving when she wants to be. Here, she is begrudgingly sharing the side LR window with KitKat, 
watching the birds.


 Rolling around in front of the lit Wood stove, soaking up the warmth!
Playing "Peek-a-boo" with Me under the blanket on the couch, 
where it is hanging over to the floor.
In that regard, she is more Playful than Boots, as Pretty is under 2, Bootsie was 17.5, 
when we had to put her down for kidney failure and "sudden onset blindness" (a real disorder for older cats)

 Just lounging in Daddy's chair
Playing outside this past summer.
Outside under one of our Many huge shady maple trees, here she is near the grill and an old park bench and some stuff the men piled up after cleaning this section of our property.
 Enter little Maggie, we wanted to get a female kitten to be Pretty's sister so she would have someone to play with, bonding was most difficult.






Our daughter; Amanda wanted the kitten to be "hers" we agreed on the stipulation that she was in charge of everything for the cat, vet, food etc. (Amanda is 23) so she named her "Maggie" (after the explorer Magellan) as she was and extremely curious kitten.

Hiding under Mommy's  Grandma's blanket.












Trying to get any Ice cream remnants out of Daddy's Grandpa's Sugar-free Klondike wrapper. 
When she lifted her head she was wearing the wrapper.





Pretty and Maggie both napping with Grandma.




 Pretty and Maggie lounging in Grandpa's chair...see pretty's fuzzy mouse?
Our last picture of Maggie, Amanda moved out in September, and took Maggie with her. The cats were all just starting to bond, in fact my son's cat took to Maggie before Pretty did, and he was here less time than Pretty.


This is Caesar, My son Tom's male cat. Caesar has 7 digits on his front paws. (we tell people 6, as the 7th one is very tiny and in between the first and second digit, thus making the first digit, very much like a thumb. He uses it like one also, LOL!
He was named Caesar, because of these "thumbs" (as in thumbs up or thumbs down)









You get a good look here at how big his front paws are.
Caesar is very picky, and only wants to be fussed over when he wants, and sometimes while you are petting him, he'll decide he doesn't like the way you are petting him, and will vocalize this, if you don't stop, he will get aggressive.  I have to say, since living here, this is changing, because hubby and I won't tolerate it, and he is learning. 





My son never tried to teach him or train him in anyway.  So moving back home, 
has been good for his animals at least, LOL. 
Caesar is also getting more and more "friendly" and less "aloof".

                                                      
See his thumb?


We have had other cats over the years, but none of their photos are on the computer. 
We had 2 get hit by cars...both were rescues (where we live is very secluded, and at the end of tourist season, all kinds of animals get dumped out here...over the years we have rescued several cats, 1 rabbit, 1 female peacock, 1 female turkey and a dog--which we found a home for...it was too woolly for me (english sheep dog) other neighbors have also taken in "strays".
We lost another cat to feline leukemia (had to put her down) and one cat got killed by some animal, fox, raccoon, coyote--we're not sure what got him.
Lastly we had another cat go out one night and not return, but within a few years following that, he was spotted at the other end of the road near other people's homes (1 mile away) so we are thinking someone else adopted him.


To me, a Home is NOT a home without a CAT!

10 comments:

Tracy said...

I love cats I have two of my own Tootsie and Tibbles and Em is my grandcat she is staying while her Mum gets her house remoddelled . I so want a new kitten but sensible head says no

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

Cool cat pics.

Amanda has such pretty eyes!

Judie said...

Great pictures! I had a tortoise shell once. She was soooo smart!

Dandelion Dreams said...

I love my girls too. They're my children and there's absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for them. It's a real blessing in life to be able to provide a sense of safety and love to an animal who never felt it before. You have had some beautiful furry additions in your family. :)

I wanted to stop by here real fast and let you know that if you sent me your address for the cuff, it did not arrive in my email box. Just incase there was a spelling mistake or something on either of our parts, my email is fortheloveofcreativity at gmail dot com. Replace the "at" and "dot" with "@"'s and "."'s of course. :)

Have a beautiful weekend!

mub said...

Both of my kitties were tortoise shell cats so they hold a special place in my heart! And I totally agree, a home isn't a home without a cat. My husband is allergic so we're trying to wait until we move into a bigger space where the cat can not always be in his face but I want one right now... heh!

Splendid Little Stars said...

You are so right! A home is NOT a home without a cat! And you have had a number to grace yours. Thanks for the peek into their lives. And thanks for rescuing animals! Megellan/Maggie, the explorer, is such a cool name!

Brenda said...

You have had and do have some pretty cats. We have one. He is a grump and only likes hubs. Spends his days in our walkout basement because he does not like the dog.

Jenny said...

Hi Susan,

The fun thing about this post is that I can 'see' the personality in each of your beloved friends.

I really enjoyed you sharing some of your loved ones with us.

You seem to be such kind and giving person. It's always nice to be reassured that good people do still exist in the world.

Thank you for linking to Alphabe-Thursday!

A+

Teresa said...

I agree you have to have a cat for it to be home. Currently I have two males living downstairs (and sometimes outside), one male living outside (and sometimes downstairs) and my old woman of 19 years is dying of kidney disease upstairs. It's scary how attached we get, knowing it is most likely that we will outlive them.

Annesphamily said...

These kitty cats are amazing. I have a Boots and Rose here. My Boots is older and more worldly. The lil redneck Rose is just a riot. She is a pill! Loved the post! Anne