Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Got Milk?

She showed up a few days ago and has been hanging out in our yard ever since. She has patches of fur missing on her hind legs according to my mom. I haven't seen her too closely, just through the glass door as she eats food on our deck. Fall has come again. Will she be my new sister?

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Remembering Colby


I said before that this has been a year of saying goodbye to way too many of my friends and family. Colby left us on March 26th. She was 14 years old and she had cancer.

My mom and dad told me that when they adopted Colby she was 6 years old. She was at the Humane Society. They went to look at a different dog, but when that didn't work out they asked if there were any dogs that got along well with kitties. Yes, of course they were told. Go visit "Jake" in cell block 33. Off they went. There was Jake all exited to see them. He was jumping over the top of the other dog sharing the space. Out came "Jake" so they could meet. Love at first sight. Then "Jake" rolled on his back...and mom and dad figured out this was not "Jake"...it's a girl. Who is this dog anyway? It was Colby, the 6 year old Shepherd/Husky mix, who was a fence jumping, cat chasing, too much to handle dog. We think of Jake and hope he got a good home.

When you fall in love in the first 30 seconds you meet, mere words on a page accusing a dog of all sorts of bad deeds isn't enough to keep a dog like Colby from coming home. Mom showed me the rap sheet. Colby came home and promptly chased the kitties and jumped the fence....all bad deeds that were soon stopped with a bit of love and patience.

Colby loved all of us kitties, and she was really good to me when I first arrived and she could have stepped on me and ended it all. She took great pride in babysitting us when mom and dad were gone. Colby didn't bark unless it was really important. She communicated by squeaking her talking toys. She had a different toy for every mood...there was froggy and duckie and monkey and fishie and even a little school bus. She loved riding in the car. I'd sometimes wonder where she was and mom and dad would tell me that she refused to get out of the car because they didn't go enough places.

She loved me and my momma. We loved washing Colby.

She was a little sick for a couple of months, then she got much worse. In one day she went from being able to stand up on her own to my mom and dad carrying her around. My momma stayed right by Colby's side until the very end.


Colby's best friend in the whole world was our brother kitty, Lewis. When Colby first arrived I was told that she chased squirrels and barked at them. They wouldn't come close to her. Lewis taught her how to hunt those pesky squirrels by teaching her how to stalk them like a kitty stalks a bird or a mouse. They would spend hours together in the back yard stalking them. Lewis passed away shortly after Colby did. They say he had cancer too, but I'm pretty sure he died of a broken heart. I'll write more about Lewis later.
I miss my Colby a lot. We now have Grete living with us. Colby would be glad we gave another needy dog a home, just like we did for her. I'm a bit sad because I'm missing Colby and I'm worried about my Grete who will be going in for surgery very soon. It's sometimes a bit much for me. I console myself with singing to boot socks in the middle of the night.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Eat Your Greens


My momma has always believed that you should eat your greens. Lots of them. I don't get it. For me, chicken is what I'm looking for. Salad is yukky. My momma tried to teach me how to eat greenery, but I wasn't going for it.
My momma will go out of her way to steal salad from a plate. Don't turn your back! My mom planted a garden with salad greens. We thought momma would be thrilled to be able to pick greens from a garden. Not! I think there is something about taking it from a plate that makes it taste better.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Happy Anniversary Ginger

This is Ginger when she first arrived:

Ginger moved in on us 1 year ago this weekend. Mom and dad went in the backyard and saw her under a bush, talking up a storm. She had quite a story to tell. Mom and dad weren't sure if she was just mouthy or if she needed help. Mom talked to her for awhile and then sent dad back to get a bowl of food. According to the story I was told, she dove on the dish and inhaled the food. Ok, that answered that. She needed us. We had to monitor how much food she could eat because she inhaled everything we put in front of her. We were afraid she would pop. Ew! At least she slowed down and is sharing now.

So it's been a year. Ginger is a bit of a drama queen. She weighed 10 pounds when she moved in and she is now up to over 15 pounds...that's me+momma=Ginger.


Ginger mostly eats and lies around. That's what Ginger does. I like her but she is too lazy to chase me.


Happy Anniversary!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Introducing Grete


There is no such thing as a free lunch or a free dog. Grete is my sister. My family adopted her in May of this year. She is the 2nd dog sister I have had. My other dog sister Colby left us in March. My mom and dad found Grete on the internet, the same way they found me and my momma. She was at the pound in a concrete kennel with dogs barking all around, but Grete was so quiet. That's what I was told. Of course now she won't shut up. My Colby sister was so nice and quiet, but not my Grete sister. It hurts my ears. Grete and I are the same age and we chase each other around the house.
So about Grete. They say there are no bad dogs, but good dogs can have REALLY bad elbows. My Grete won't be able to chase me for awhile because she has to have surgery on her elbows next week. I can't decide if this is good or bad. Good because she won't be chasing me around for awhile, but not so good because I kind of like her chasing me. Now I won't be able to chase her. I'm going to have to be really nice to her. My mom thinks I'll make a great nurse, but I just don't know yet. All I know is that I'm going to worry about her.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Welcome Fall


It happended so fast. One day it was warm and sunny and summer, and the next day there is a nip in the air, the deck is damp and a few leaves are falling. Fall is the best time of year. Pretty soon there will be a fire in the fireplace and mom will cook again. I'm hoping for roast chicken soon.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

All Dressed Up and No Place To Go


It's the weekend. Time to pack the bags and head out for some fun. Whoa! Why am I always booted out of the "to go" bag? You'd think they'd be glad that I packed myself up and made it easy on everyone. I never get to go anywhere.
I'll keep trying....

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Discovering my talent


I started to write when I figured out how to sit on the computer and open up "Notepad" on my very own. No human help, just me sitting on the keys in just the right way to open up the program. My typing skills are limited, I started out just tapping out nonsense, but with a little bit of practice and help I'm now a blogging kitty!

Love and Loss

I'm only a couple of years old, but I have seen so many friends and family members come and go. When I arrived as just a baby, my momma and I were introduced to lots of brothers and sisters. We were adopted by my mom and dad. We were also adopted as sisters by Colby the dog, and 5 kitties named Jonathan, Michelangelo (Mikey), Madison, Lewis, and Jonesie. I told you all about my mentor Jonathan. In the last 6 months, I have also had to say goodbye to Colby, Mikey and Lewis. I'm learning that you have to appreciate your friends while they are here because you just never know. Like Jonathan, Mikey and Colby were old, but Lewis wasn't all that old. You just never know. I still have lots of family because we have new family members now, including Grete the dog, Ginger and Cecilia the kitties. There are also 2 kitties that came and left us in the 2 years that I've been here. Noelle and Benjamin were stray kitties that weren't all that healthy and even though my mom and dad tried to save them, it wasn't to be. Like I said, you just never know so you have to enjoy your friends while they are here even if it's for a short time.

I live close to an apartment complex. We have a backyard that is the local kitty hangout, so when people move out of their apartments they sometimes just leave without all of their family members. That's why my family is so big. I don't understand, but my mom says that we have enough food to share and shelter to share so I've learned to be a sharing kitty. I don't actually get to go in my backyard. Something about "rules". At least I can see it all through the window.

I will write about all of my family because there is lots to say about all of them.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Goodbye Moose

It's been a hard week. Last night, we lost a neighborhood friend, Moose. Moose isn't his real name, it's what we called him because he was a huge grey and white cat. At least twice as big as me. He hung out in our yard and ate food at our dish. I would see him through the glass door as he snacked on our offerings. We don't know if he had a home or if the neighborhood was his home. So if he had a home he probably had a real name...but to us he was Moose, our friend. No collar, no tag, no neuter....

He was hit and killed by a car at about 10pm Wednesday night. There was a knock on our front door because the person who hit him thought maybe he was from our family. My dad went out and took him out of the street. He is now buried on our backyard. We hope we can find his family if he had one. If not, he's a part of our family.

Rest in peace my friend.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Life is a Bowl of Cherries



My love of cherries started when I was just a kitten. I don't understand why I can't have them all of the time. I get to play with them and then when I'm just starting to have lots of fun, they are taken away. I didn't understand what was so great about them until my momma taught me how to play with them.

My mom went out to the backyard one day and came back with a big basket that she put on the kitchen counter. I didn't think it was such a big deal until my smart momma jumped on the counter and showed me how much fun cherries can be.





She picked out the small red toys with handles on them...picked them out of the basket and dropped them to me on the floor. What fun!





Once my momma took care of me and made sure I had lots of small red toys to play with, she played with them too.



It's been awhile since I've been able to play with cherries. My mom brought me a stuffed cherry toy, like it was supposed to make me happy. It's just not the same as the real thing. I was like, WTF mom? You think you can fool a cat like me? I hope I get to play with cherries again soon.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Nursing


I nursed until I was almost 5 months old.

When other cats and people hear it they are a bit surprised because it's not something they believe is possible. It was amusing to my family to watch as Cory kitten (me!) who was almost as big as her momma still was nursing. I just never wanted to stop. My momma didn't want to stop. It was our favorite time together. And so it was when I was about 5 months old that she finally started kicking me in the head with her hind paws and told me no. I pouted.
When I was spayed when I was 6 months old I was really upset and I wanted to nurse again. My momma kicked me in the head. Then she washed me. Now washing is our favorite thing to do.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Fruit


I love fruit. Especially small round fruit that drops to the floor off the kitchen counter when I hit it with my paw. It's even more fun when it rolls. Strawberries don't roll very well but I still like them. I even like hanging out with strawberries.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Ellie

Ellie is my momma.


My momma Ellie had 6 kittens to care for when we were abandoned in a trailer in Tillamook. All of the kittens were not from the same momma, 4 kittens were from one momma and my brother and I were from another momma. When the rescuers found us, the thought the 4 kittens were Ellie's kittens, and my brother and I were orphaned from a different momma who didn't survive being abandoned. All of the other 5 kittens, including my brother looked like my momma. I was the only one who looked different. Anyway, it didn't matter to my momma Ellie, she took care of us all just the same. It was hard for me because I was smaller than the others. The 4 other kittens were a bit older than my brother and me so they were bigger. If it weren't for my momma, none of us kittens would have survived. If it were'nt for the United Paws people, we wouldn't have survived either. My momma doesn't like to talk about it too much. All I know is that I had to share her with the other kittens and now I don't.
My momma is beautiful, kind and smart. I guess it doesn't matter if you've got it all, you can still end up abandoned and alone.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Remembering Jonathan




When my momma and I first moved into our new home, there were lots of other cats and a dog living there. We were totally ok with this because we had been living in foster care and there were lots of cats there too (and a dog!).




When I saw Jonathan, I loved him. My momma said he was older than dirt...and as far as we know he was well over 20 years old. He knew everything! He was wise! He was amazing. And...he was the only one who looked like me. He could have said "go away kid", but he took to me too and he taught me everything he knew. I was the kitten he didn't have (he had a little operation to take care of that).




He had been through hard times in his past. He was taken in by my adopted mom long ago when he wandered into their yard, lost and alone. He was a very brave cat. Just before me and my momma showed up he started having health problems. He had high blood pressure (no one knew) and both of his retinas detached, leaving him blind. This didn't stop him, and eventually his retinas reattached (I told you he was amazing) but his sight was a little fuzzy. By the time I was 8 months old he was not doing well at all. I followed him around and stayed with him to the end. I'm posting a couple of pictures of us hanging out, at the table and hanging out in the tub watching the water drip.




I miss him.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Introducing Cory Cat



Hi, my name is Cory and I've got stuff to say. I'm just a little over 2 years old now. I've been through a lot in my life and it's time to tell my story. The story of Cory, get it! Ha!



Not that I really remember any of my first few weeks, but I'm told that I was born in a trailer somewhere near Tillamook. My mother and 5 other kittens were abandoned in a horrible situation (that's what my rescuers said anyway). My momma, saved all of us kittens by hiding us in a drawer to save us from coyotes and racoons and whatever else lurked in the dark. My momma was weak from starvation, but we were all saved by the wonderful people from United Paws, Judy was my foster mom. I don't really remember any of that part...all I know now is that we were all advertised for adoption. Everyone was adopted, except for me. As it turns out, I was the luckiest kitten of all because the mom and dad who adopted my momma didn't want to separate us, so I got to go live with my momma. Good thing too. I know I was her favorite. I now live with my mom and dad, my momma and 4 other cats and a dog too.
I gotta go now, but I'll be filling you in on my adventures.
Here is a picture of me when I was a baby and I still fit in small baskets.