Happy 7th Birthday Cory!

OMC!  I can't believe it!  I'm 7 years old today!  Seems like just yesterday I was a wee little kitten, climbing Mt. Foot on my Gotcha Day.

 

Mom found another photo that I've never posted before...it's titled "Boys  Dorm".   That is wee little me on the dog bed down below.  In the window from left to right are:  Michelangelo, Jonathan and Lewis.   They are all my guardian angels now.   They all loved me from the moment I set paw in the house.

 

So, if you are hungry, I've got cupcakes all decorated and ready to eat!

 

Mom promises that I'll get lots of sock time too.  Maybe Alfie Marshall will teleport over and we can snuggle and chase bugs together.  Maybe I'll even sing a sock song.

Mancat Monday

 

I know I'm a lucky cat.  All of us kitties that have loving forever homes have so much to be thankful for.  I know that I can take what I have for granted...feel like everything will always be fine.

 

Of course if you know the cats in my family, you know that's not true.  We know a happy life is not a given.  We have all known what it's like to not have a home.  To have a home and to lose it.  Not because of anything we did, but just because bad stuff happens sometimes.

 

If you knew my family when I was adopted, you'd know that I was ill and I was not neutered.  Look at me now...all magnificent.  But it wasn't always that way.

 

Which brings me to what I wanted to meow about today.

 

 

Our furriends Emily, Brutus and Marigold found themselves homeless and in a shelter when their mom  Rose passed away.  Through no fault of their own...they became in danger of losing their own lives.

 

Because of the wonderful humans behind the cats in the Cat Blogosphere, our feline friends are going to have homes with other members of our amazing cat blogging community.  Their story is unfolding as I meow...and their move out of the shelter and to foster...and on to forever homes is going to happen soon.  You can read about their story at the Cat Blogsphere.

 

So now another story...because we are a bit in love with Miss Emily...the lovely lady on the far left of the graphic.  See her black and white lovely fur...see her nose spot?  Oh how mom has a soft spot for a nose spot.

 

She's a puddle looking at Emily.

 

And you know why?

 

Two of our guardian angels were black and white furred...and the signature nose spot.

Michelangelo

(Bridge Angel April 2008)

Roger Ramjet

(Bridge Angel June 1990)

 

We will purr that our furriends have safe travels to their new homes.

 

Monday Memories

Mom and dad went through a bunch of old video tapes and transferred them into the computer.  They said they went back a gazillion 20 years...which is WAY before I was born.  I sat in front of the screen and watched and watched.  I got to see so many cats and a wonderful woofie named Gracie that I've only heard about.   But then...right there in the computer, on the screen was my buddy Michelangelo.  "Mikey" has been gone for over a year now...he ran off to the Bridge, or that's what I was told.  All I know is that I don't get to see him everyday like I used to.  When I saw him I was like..."Hey Mikey!  Whatcha doin' in there"?  "Come on out!".  He ignored me.

I put my paws on the screen to try and get his attention.  I looked behind the monitor to see if he was back there.  Then mom explained that this was just a window to the Bridge.  Mikey couldn't come out.  That made me sad.  But I was happy too because we all got to see him again.  I miss him.

Saturday- Fierce Fighters Continued

I was all ready to write about the photo hunt theme of the day: Reflection...but as I tried to get my mom to help me find a picture that would work, she kept stalling. The whole thing about Fierce Fighters kept on getting to her. I finally wrote about my brother Michelangelo "Mikey", and my poor mom just couldn't let me stop at one post. She still misses him every minute of every day. He left almost 7 months ago. So I thought I did the 8 random things meme....maybe if I could help my mom do this for Mikey she'd feel better. We're not posting any rules...not tagging anyone this time around...so if anyone just wants to consider themselves tagged, that's ok. This is mostly to make my mom feel better.

1. Mikey was very playful and once he did the major healing from his injuries, he wanted to play just like all the other kitties in the family.

2. Mikey usually had a very worried look on his face. Even when he had nothing to worry about, he just looked worried. It took years for that to go away.

3. Mikey loved to go outside. Because of his injuries, he could only go outside 100% supervised by my mom.

4. Once outside, Mikey loved to roll in the dirt. He loved to turn his beautiful white fur brown. He would complain loudly when it was time to go in and get cleaned up.

5. Mikey would have been a great hunter if he was allowed to stalk birdies and mousies by himself. Having mom a few feet away all the time cramped his style.

6. Mikey always slept with my mom every single night. Even if no one knew where he was in the house, if mom got in bed...he would appear on the bed within 30 seconds.

7. Mikey figured out a unique way to wash his paws. He would flip his paw upside down, so the top of his paw was pressed on the floor, then he'd wash his pads. Once he did this, all of the other kitties in the house did it too...they copied him. No one else did this before Mikey did.8. And most important...Mikey really understood why squirrels are evil. They would torture him because they knew he would never catch them. They'd get close, chatter...Mikey would chatter back...they'd sneak back up on him from underneath the tree branch while he thought they were still up above him....but he always believed that one day...one day he would catch them and eat them.

We love you always and forever, sweet Mikey.

Fierce Fighter Friday

There have been many a fierce fighter in my family, many are featured on my side bar. I will focus today on those who have crossed the Bridge since last Christmas. Every year my mom and dad hang our stockings by the fire. For those who came before, their stockings are hung on a garland around a window. This year, we will be hanging 4 more stockings on the garland. Colby, Benjamin, Lewis and Michelangelo. I have already written remembrances of my dear Colby, Benjamin and Lewis. I have not yet written about Michelangelo "Mikey"...because it's so hard.

Michelangelo "Mikey" came to the family long before I was born. He was found in late winter of 1992, less than 2 years after Roger Ramjet left us. My dad found him in the most unlikely place...on the freeway median strip. He had been hit by a car and was left for dead. My smart dad thought he didn't really look dead, so he stopped and was stupid (according to my mom) and fetched him off the freeway. Mikey was a mess. He had a fractured pelvis and awful wounds. The Vet said that he likely wouldn't live because his bowels wouldn't move because there was terrible nerve damage. My mom said, no...he will live...she just believed in this little boy that looked so much like Roger Ramjet...the nose spot had to be a sign. When he finally produced that improbable poop, everyone did the happy dance.

Mikey did live. He was called Miracle Mikey for a long long time. It was a tough road to recovery, but my mom and dad worked with Mikey and nursed him back to health...his nerve damage wasn't so severe after all. He was my mom's baby. No one messed with Mikey, or there was hell to pay.

Mom and dad took in a couple of strays, a dog...a cat...and they picked on Mikey. They were placed in other nice homes. If you couldn't get along and play nice in the sandbox with Mikey...forget it. My mom said this was because even though he was a tough cookie...he was frail and any rough play could jeopardize him.

According to my mom, he was the sweetest cat on the planet...she loved him so much it hurt. My mom worked really hard to get the picture above with Mikey in the tulips...she took over 50 pictures to get just the right one.

When he started having trouble with his injuries catching up to him she did everything she could to help him. He needed enemas...and laculose all the time. Finally, things just stopped working at all. He was 17 years old.

I always liked Mikey and Mikey liked me sort of. My momma Ellie tried so hard to win over Mikey but he was not going for either of us. My mom said not to take it personally because Mikey was so in love with Maggie that he couldn't fall in love with us. But he did like us. I'm sure of it.