LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH: A LIFE IN CATS

My favorite computer geek, John, sent this to our meowmie:

LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH: A LIFE IN CATS

I never had a cat named Fluffy, thank God. The first cat in living memory was Puff, named for the cat in our first grade reader. Puff was a fine big grey tiger tabby; he celebrated Thanksgiving with us one year by bringing in a mouse and killing it under the dining table. I shudder to think what he might have brought in had his name been Fluffy.

Then there was Yogi, a yellow kitten named for Yogi Berra. And the grey cat called Thomas.

I don't recall the name of the stray mother cat who arrived at the back door pregnant and ended up having two litters in the root cellar, resulting in a tribe of eleven cats who would lounge around the back porch all day. That was really too much; my mother obtained a sleeping potion from the vet, and put it in their food. I opposed this, but it was a sight to see: they all staggered around a bit and, one by one, all eleven dropped. We were then able to pack them up and take them to a shelter.

There was yellow Job, named for the biblical sufferer, who actually had a very nice life until somebody poisoned him right at the end of it. And beautiful long-haired Patches, whose human hostess couldn't keep him any longer and bequeathed him to us; he is immortalized in a lovely portrait of my daughters, the elder of whom sits in a velvet chair with Patches on her lap. And KooDoo, Anna's beloved white cat, whom she married one day by taking his paw under that same velvet chair and making a few earnest promises; this makes her upcoming marriage to Chad Walker her second, then.

Then there was Kitty Canaanite who, along with his siblings Kitty Hittite and Kitty Nubian, had belonged to Dan and Bob and couldn't go where they were going when they finished seminary. And lovely little black Jenny, whose tail was paralysed and who fell in love with my husband. And one-eyed Chi Chi, plucked from a life without a future on the streets of Newark, New Jersey.

And then there was April, now famous as the resourceful What's-Her-Name. And Gypsy, plump and pretty but of limited intelligence. And then Noodle, whose continued absence is still so painful to me that I can barely speak of it.

And Ben. The Cat Formerly Known as Benito. Jumps on the girls, knocks over plants, wine glasses on the table, knocks pitchers from the shelves. Sleeps all day and meows all night. What's-Her-Name and Gypsy still can't stand Ben, and I can tell that Q still has his doubts.

But I insist that Ben shows promise,and I have come to love him. Because Ben is who's here now.

Love the One You're With -- words and music by Stephen Stills

If you're down, and confused

And you don't remember, who you're talkin' to

Concentration slips away

'Cause your baby is so far away

Chorus

And there's a rose, in a fisted glove

And the eagle flies, with the dove

And if you can't be, with the one you love, honey,

Love the one you're with

Don't be angry, don't be sad

Don't sit cryin' over good times you had

There's a girl, right next to you

And she's just waitin', for something to do

[Chorus]

Turn your heartache right into joy

She's a girl, and you're a boy

So get it together, make it nice

You ain't gonna need, any more advice

[Chorus]

Copyright © 2007 Barbara Crafton -

http://www.geraniumfarm.org

The Milk Thieves

Meowmie was looking through some pictures she had on her hard drive and she ran across this one. Every morning she would pour glass of milk and the three of us would jump onto the counter and take turns drinking from her glass. Daisy didn't live with us then, but she also likes to drink milk from meowmie's glass too.

The three kitties in this picture are Jazzpurr (the tortie), Serendipity (looking at the camera with the "I've been caught" expression), and Sable the Punk (sitting on the stool). We never knocked over a glass of milk. Meowmie thought that was rather impressive.

Fiona Get Kitty "Time Out"

Hi guys! I'm "One-Eyed" Fiona (aka Fiona Footbiter). My sisfur told you a little bit about me yesterday. I was adopted from the shelter in Bowling Green, KY after mom saw my picture on Petfinders. I had some trust issues that I had to get over when I first came to my forever home in February 2005. I even nipped mom on the cheekbone right under her eye one morning. I thought she might get really mad and yell at me, but instead she calmly put me down before she took care of herself. She said she knew I was afraid and she scared me. You see, she was petting me and she came up on my blind side.

I love my mom now, though and I love to snuggle in her lap when she's watching t.v. I also like to snuggle behind her knees when she is laying on her side in bed at night. My favorite ways to wake her up are to knock things off of her dresser or attack her feet.

I was doing such a fine job at both the other morning that she had to put me in kitty jail. That's the bathroom at our house! I started the jumping between the dresser and the bed at 2:30 in the morning. Mom finally put me in 'time out' around 4:00 that morning. She made me stay in there until she got up for work at 7:00am. It was okay - I had a litterbox and fresh water, and there is a nice rug to sleep on. And the best part was not having my other brofurs and sisfurs bugging me. It was almost like a vacation!

I'm the smallest kitty in the family and weigh in at 8 lbs. Mom says I'm still kittenish even though I'll be four years old next month!

I gotta go now. It's time for my nap...*yawn*

Meow = Hekko = Hello

Wow! My very own blog! I'm so excited! Okay, so my meowmie says I have to share this blog with my two brofurs and four sisfurs. My name is Clarissa Kitty, aka Rissa Roo the Kitty Poo, aka Baby Girl, aka Sweet Cheeks. I'm a beautiful six year old DSH calico. I've lived in my forever home since I was a wee kitten of eight weeks old. Meowmie adopted me from the Kentucky Humane Society. I was the only kitty in the house until Sable the Punk joined us.

Sable the Punk, aka Sable, aka Saboo, aka Handsome, aka Boo Kitty, joined the household in October 2001. He, too, was only eight weeks old. He was a "free to a good home" kitty that meowmie got from a couple of young girls outside a Target store. His real name was "Punk," but meowmie changed it to "Sable" because she didn't want him to live up to it. It didn't work. He was an annoying little black fuzz ball that grew into a great big handsome boy cat. Sable looks like a small black panther, but he is really a big lovey-boy. He likes to snuggle with meowmie in bed at night.

Jazzpurr and Serendipity joined our furry family in October 2004. Meowmie and her older brother saw them at a pet supply store. They were being fostered together and their foster meowmie said she'd prefer for them to be adopted together.

Jazzpurr, aka Jazzy Girl, aka Jazz, aka All that Jazz, aka Little Brown Jug, is approximately the same age as Sable. She is a lovely DSH tortiseshell kitty. She's a little shy around strangers, but she will come around. If you start petting her and scratching her back she will almost do sommersaults as she rolls around. She is short and stocky and, quite frankly, fat. But she is a cutie.

Serendipity was approximately one year old when she joined us. That makes her about three years old now. Another DSH, she is a diluted calico (white/peach/gray). She loves meowmie's brother and spends a lot of her time in his room. She is a pretty girl with a very sweet disposition. Her nicknames include Dippity Doo, Doo Girl, Doin' the Dew, and Seren.

Kitty number five is One-Eyed Fiona. Meowmie usually calls her Fiona or Fiodorous (because she is a little stinker!). Fiona can't see out of her left eye. The slit is there, but it doesn't open. Her shelter name was Patch, but meowmie said as soon as she saw her she knew her name would be One-Eyed Fiona. That's the name of a song by Lyle Lovett. Fiona was adopted from a shelter in February 2005. She was (and still is) fiesty, and that's one of the things meowmie likes about her. The shelter people didn't know anything about her history, except they estimated her age to be around two years old at that time. She was a biter and not very trusting when she first came to our house, but with time and love she has become a snuggler and a sometimes lap cat. She does like to attack meowmie's feet when meowmie is sleeping. Also she and I have an understanding: I leave her alone and she leaves me alone. Fiona is the last DSH calico that meowmie adopted.

The next kitty to come along was a gray tabby stray. Meowmie found out about him through our vettie's office. She got in contact with the young lady who was feeding him and she picked him up a few night's later. He got a clean bill of health at the vettie's office and then he came home. Meowmie named him "Colin Feral" after the actor Colin Farrell. Colin the cat was an intact male, DSH, somewhere between two and three years old. He did have an abcess on his front leg, so he spent a week on antibiotics and living in the bathroom until he could get his shots and get neutered. Colin was very loving and he got along with all of us....even Fiona. About three weeks after Colin was neutered and vaccinated he became lethargic. Meowmie thought he had an infection. He wouldn't get in her lap, and it took every ounce of strength he had to move. She took him to the emergency vettie's office where they did some blood work. The news was not good. His immune system was almost non-existant and his white blood cells were destroying his red blood cells. It was non Feline-Luk, but some type of reaction to his vaccines. The vettie told meowmie that treatment could be done, but it was very, very expensive and the odds were against Colin. However, she left meowmie alone to think about it. When the vettie came back she had more bad news. They ran some more test with Colin's blood and discovered that he also had cancer. It still hurts meowmie to think about it, but she knew the kindest thing to do for Colin would be to help him cross the bridge. Our "Angel Colin" was only with us for one month, but he touched the hearts of everyone who met him.

Approximately two weeks after Colin had joined the household, meowmie took in another stray that she had found out about from a friend. This girl was another DSH tortiseshell and she has cattitude! She enter the household on June 30, 2005. I thought Fiona was a brat until Daisy came along! Meowmie said that Daisy told her her full name is Princess Daisy Thistlechaser of Udell. No wonder she is such a royal pain in the arse! Heehee. Daisy was approximately one year old when she came to live with us. She had been living outside for quite awhile, and she was on skinny side. Meowmie thinks she may have one of the oriental breeds in her background. She was long and lanky, and had a really skinny tail, very dainty feet, and a more triangular shaped head. She also talks...a lot. She purrs and trills, but she is a whiner and a complainer too! Meowmie calls them "cranky cat" sounds. Daisy was a snapper too. But we couldn't blame her for that when we found out why. About five days after she moved in a big abscessed place on her left hip and thigh ruptured. It was really icky and gross. Another trip to the emergency vet's office for treatment. Once it was cleaned up and she went on antibiotics the wound healed and her snapping stopped. She still has an attitude though, and meowmie knows it would be better for Daisy to be in a single cat household. She just doesn't like us other furs. On the other paw, she LOVES meowmie.

Last but not least is my brofur Bandit. He's a big DSH orange and white boy. Meowmie says Bandit has the biggest feet she's seen on a kitty that is not polydactyl. He's about 1.5 years old now (he joined us in October 2005). He's a little shy, and his favorite thing to do is bug Jazzpurr. Bandit doesn't like to held, but he will roll over on his back for belly rubs and he likes to have his feet rubbed. He is our other one eyed kitty, also blind on his left side. Bandit lost his eye to a severe infection. The tip of his right ear is clipped off too. Although he is a shelter adoption meowmie wondered if he had belonged to a feral colony when he was little.

So that's the scoop on me and my furry siblings. I'll get some pictures of us up as soon as I can.

Purrs and Earlicks,

Clarissa