Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Goodbye 2008!

Cory: Can you believe that 2008 is coming to a close? It's been a year of transition. We had to say goodbye to Colby, Mikey, Benjamin and Lewis as they crossed the Bridge. We were so sad that it inspired me to start writing my blog in September. I also got over my fear of singing in front of others and I made my first recording. Looking back, I did my first post on September 5th and we got our first comment on October 7th from Dana and the Creek Cats! I am looking forward to lots of good things next year.

As I look forward to 2009, I'm wondering what my family has in mind for next year.
Bennette: I think we ought to start a girl band!
Ellie: I don't know about a girl band, but I'll be willing to do some background vocals for you, or contribute a track of my own if you put together a CD.
Cory: I can't make up my mind if I want to sing into it or eat it! At least I know the microphone is there at cat level when I feel inspired!
What are other New Years thoughts?
Grete: I want to go back to the dog park and play with my friends.
Cecilia: I want to get Madison to fully share a cat bed with me.
Madison: I want it to be spring.
Jonesie: I want it to be spring and I want to help plant the garden and help the nip grow tall.
Ginger: I want the water faucet to turn on automatically when I show up.
Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Take a Walkie Tuesday

Finally, the snow and ice have melted. I watched out the window as it slowly went away. My Grete dog has been recovering now from her last elbow surgery 4 weeks ago. She has been going stir crazy with her healing process, especially when you think that her first surgery was Oct. 1st. She has not been able to cut loose and play for a long time. She knows that there have been many kitties purring for her speedy recovery so she wants everyone to know how she is doing.
Grete: Yay, I can go out for short walkies now! The Dr. didn't want me trying it in the ice and snow so I had to wait until the street was clear! Here we are starting on our walk to Starbucks! I don't really want coffee, but I'm happy to go along and help.

Grete: Here I am waiting patiently for my dad to come out with stuff.


Grete: Do I really have to wear this gentle leader? I promise I'll be good! I can hardly wait until I get to go back to the dog park! It should only be a short wait now, maybe just a couple of more weeks!
Cory: I admit to playing chase in the house with Grete just a few times, but this time her elbow did not swell up.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Wells Fargo Wagon!

Cory: "Oh the Wells Fargo Wagon is a...comin' down the street oh please let it be for me!" No UPS trucks or Fed Trucks or even garbage trucks have been able to come up my street for days and days because of the snow and ice. Now that it's starting to melt off a bit...the door bell rang. Grete barked. Mom opened the door and found this addressed to me!
Look! It's the Dewey book I won! Thank you Kimo & Sabi...and of course the blurpy girl whose fingers were sticky on the piece of paper with my name on it!

Ellie: What's this Cory?
Bennette: What you got there?
Cory: It's my book! Maybe we can all gather around and mom and dad will read it to us. I promise not to chew the pages!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Jonesie
I'm so into my nap that my pink tongue is sticking out. Hope you have a lazy and restful Sunday.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Photo Hunt-Squeaky

Grete got a squeaky bone for Christmas. She squeaked it over and over again. Then she left it alone on her dog bed, on her dog blankie. I figured out that the squeaky bone was best when it was left alone to be silent.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Friends Forever Friday

Jonathan came to live with my family during the summer of 1993. My mom said that she kept hearing a cat meowing at the bedroom window in the middle of the night. Dad never heard it and thought my mom was dreaming. It went on for a couple of weeks so they put out food and had a flashlight handy so when this midnight serenader came by, they might see who it was. All they could see was a black streak in the night. After about 3 weeks they could finally see him and the plan moved to luring him in. He looked like a mess, with fur falling out. In the end, he still had enough playfulness in him that he chased a string into the house and they trapped him. Mom was afraid that he'd be wild, but when he got to the vet he purred and enjoyed the exam. He spent the night at the vet while they ran tests on him. He was released the next day with a clean bill of health and a neuter. Mom and dad were sure there was no way he would consent to being an indoor kitty. They named him Scrapper John because he was a scrapper, with all the marks of being in a ton of fights. They did not know his age but the vet said he had to be a minimum of 3-5 years old to get in his condition. Later my mom did some research because his teeth were worn down and rounded, not sharp at all. Either he was eating rocks or he was more like 8-12 years old. This picture was taken of him as his fur was beginning to grow back that summer in 1993. It turns out that he didn't like being outside. He went outside every once in awhile, but for the first year or 2 he lived with my family, he stayed securely indoors, his choice. Jonathan was wise. Because he wasn't really a scrapper, his name was changed to Jonathan, because he was more gentlemanly than prize fighter.

Around 2000 or so, Jonathan had a bunch of health problems. His teeth needed work and he was diagnosed with hyperthyroid. During the diagnostic blood work they did for him, they discovered he was FIV+. Mom was in a panic, how could that happen? When he gifted himself to my family in 1993, FIV tests were not routinely run by our vet. The Dr. was pretty sure he came that way given his history and battle scars and his lack of fighting since he lived with us. All the other kitties in the house were given blood tests and all of them tested negative for FIV. Whew! In 7 years he didn't pass it along. Also because our vet said that it's mostly passed through biting, and given that my Jonathan had dull and rounded teeth, they thought he could continue to live his life with his family. He got radioactive iodine treatment for his hyperthyroid and life moved on until the fall of 2005.

Jonathan suddenly lost his sight when his retinas detached due to high blood pressure in October 2005. He endured this episode in his life with great dignity and learned to maneuver through the house just fine...as long as you didn't pick him up and carry him around without putting him back in the same position and spot he was in. He got eye drops, and his retinas reattached and eventually got his sight back but his health was beginning to decline. That's when my momma and I moved in, in May of 2006. My mom was sure that Jonathan might have trouble adjusting to us young girls, but it turns out he LOVED us. We LOVED him. Jonathan and I were inseparable.
Jonathan liked to drink water from the dripping faucet in the tub...we'd sit together and watch the water drip. I didn't want to leave his side.


This is my favorite picture of us together when I was just brand new and I thought he was the wisest and most wonderful cat on the planet.
Jonathan slowly declined and lost weight and got anemic until he finally gave up on Christmas Eve 2006. That was the day he decided he would no longer eat a bite. He also started having trouble breathing. We spent Christmas Day with him and that night we all camped out on the floor with him and read him stories and we listened to a tape of The Wind in the Willows. I stayed close to him the entire time. When we woke up, mom and dad had us say goodbye and he took that one way trip to the vet and then on over the bridge.
If my mom is right and he was at least 8 years old when he came to us then he was about 21 when he left us. My mom and dad found another family in the neighborhood up the street who had a cat who looked just like Jonathan, and he lived to be 23 years old...they could have been neighborhood cat litter mates...we'll never know for sure.
The only thing my mom and dad did special for Jonathan was good premium cat food and lots of love and a low stress life. They made sure his teeth were healthy and quickly acted if there was any sign of an infection. They gave him vitamins his last year because that's the first time he showed signs of anemia.
Jonathan had a theme song, Handle With Care by the Travelling Wilburys:
"Been beat up and battered 'round
Been sent up, and I've been shot down
You're the best thing that I've ever found
Handle me with care
Reputations changeable
Situations tolerable
But baby, you're adorable
Handle me with care
I'm so tired of being lonely
I still have some love to give
Won't you show me that you really care"
We all miss him very much. He taught me a lot.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

Bennette: Let's get this party started!
Cory and Ellie: Yay! Catnip pillows!


Ginger: Yay! Catnip pillows!

Christmas lights on catnip!
Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Twas the Night Before Christmas

We've never had a white Christmas and now it may come true! The robins look like red ornaments in the snowy tree. We are up to 11" of snow!

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.


The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And momma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.
Happy Christmas everyone! We are dreaming of a white Christmas.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Tuxie Tuesday

Bennette here! We got at least 8 inches of snow at our house with a coating of ice to top it off. This picture was taken early in the morning and you can see the lights from our Christmas tree reflected so it looks like we have lights on the outdoor tree.Since it's Christmas and snowy and cold, I'm even being good to our evil squirrels. If you look close you can see the evil squirrel in the bird...I mean squirrel feeder.
We have presents under the tree now, so that means I have to be REALLY good...and I can't try and scratch or chew open the packages. We still are looking forward to Santa filling up our stockings and bringing more presents.

I got a new collar as an early Christmas gift so I can look all spiffy for Santa. I hope he likes it. It's pretty cool. If you biggify the picture you can see the pirate kitty and fish bones on it.


Only 1 more day until Christmas Eve and the roast beast dinner!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Meezer Monday

Ellie here! Because it's Christmas time, I want to give you all a gift. I am going to share with you my special bunny kick techniques. I normally charge a small fee for demonstrating my expertise, but since it's the holidays, I'm donating my time. If you feel this information is valuable, please consider making a holiday donation to your local cat rescue organization. Tell them Ellie sent you. First you must take total control of the foot. See how I use my mouth and front paws in addition to my hind paws to establish my dominance?

Next, twist and turn to confuse the foot.


Don't be afraid to look directly at the foot while you bunny kick it.

Don't let distractions, like Ginger coming by for a kiss... keep you from your mission. Keep kicking no matter what.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Snowy Sunday

The snow started falling early Saturday morning and has not stopped.Jonesie likes sitting outside and watching the snow fall as long as it's not falling on her head.

My momma Ellie likes checking it out, because she is adventurous. I'm not so sure yet.



See my momma's tail all floofed out in the cold as she takes in the snowy yard from our deck?


I prefer to look at the snow from the warm inside of the house.

I'm going to hang out by the fireplace and sleep now.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Photo Hunt- WIDE

I love opening my mouth wide. It's handy for a lot of reasons. Sometimes I just have something to say or I want to sing a song.
Sometimes I am just really sleepy.


Sometimes I am bored.


And sometimes I want to show off my cute fangs.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Formerly Feral Friday

Madison: It's been awhile since we've been given a chance to say hello. Cecilia and I are doing fine, but we have no interest in going outside in all the snow. Although we live in the shop, it's a pretty cool place. We've got doors with windows....
And a nice rug to stand on....we have a little couch too in addition to our cat beds...


Cecilia can look out at the snow and sunshine and not have to get her paws all cold and wet....

And sunbeams come inside to play with us...
We have heard a rumor that Santa might be bringing a cat tree for Christmas...and further rumor has it that it may not go in the house! Cecilia and I may be the ones getting it!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Tabby Thursday and T-13

Ginger: How come there are no presents under the tree? Where is Santa?

Just above Ginger are the stockings of the ones who came before....

Our T-13 is our remembrance of those who came before. Every year we hang up the stockings of those who came before on a garland over the window. My mom and dad counted out the stockings on our garland and we had 13. Our T-13 is our family that watches over us...from left to right listing their names and their stockings and when they crossed the bridge:

1. Callie woofie- August 1988
2. Colby woofie- March 2008
3. Gracie woofie- November 1997
4. Morgan- January 1998
5. Nimue- April 1989
6. Benjamin- April 2008
7. Roger Ramjet- June 1990
8. Lewis- August 2008
9. Max- February 2004
10. Jonathan- December 2006
11. Maggie- November 2005
12. Michelangelo-April 2008
13. Noelle- January 2007

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

Jonesie
Grete- with shaved leg!
Cory

Bennette



Bennette

Bennette and Ellie