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Runaway Cat
Oberon ran out the door on one of the hottest days of the year so far. Ugh.
Gabby wasn’t much help… well, at least until she led me to the place below. … Read more
Category: Critters
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Just for future reference
I had to remind Obi today why he couldn’t pick on the new kitten. I thought this might help.
Any questions?… Read more
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Extreme kitten makeover
A couple of weeks ago:
Today:
She’s fought off an infection, taken up eating like there’s no tomorrow, and gotten comfortable enough in her new surroundings to slow down and worry about previously trivial stuff like grooming. All in two weeks.
Oh, and she’s decided that Portia’s her buddy.
Not bad for two weeks. It hasn’t been easy on her by any means; a week ago I thought we were going to lose her to the infection. But now she’s safe, getting healthier, and now she can get to the good stuff – just being a happy housecat.
I can’t save them all though. Spay and neuter your pets, folks. There’s only so much space at my place – I have almost twice as many cats now as I’ve ever had at any one time, because we’ve taken in two rambunctious rescue kittens this year alone (plus a puppy who’s now about the size of a compact car). For every Portia and every Maria that we manage to take in, there’s a lot more who simply don’t make it, and there’s no need for that.… Read more
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Once more unto the increasingly furry breach, dear friends
For the third time since the beginning of 2011, the Tail Waggin’ Mail Wagon has unexpectedly brought home a new face on four legs. This one, though, must have a pretty sad story.
This is a female kitten who almost got herself run over today during my wife’s mail route. She’s skin and bones – you can feel every vertebra, every rib, every bite she’s suffered being out on her own. She was pretty dehydrated. She’s done nothing but sleep, occasionally coming up for air to eat for a bit, since she got here.
She looks like she might be some distant relative of Olivia (for right now, I’ve given her the name Maria – i.e. Olivia’s maid in Twelfth Night – because everyone should have a name). More likely she’s barely survived being part of a litter of kittens dumped somewhere in Crawford County. She has no basic cat socialization skills. She hisses at everyone. She’s pretty skittish around people. She’s had it rough.
Portia seems especially defensive about another new kitten in the house, especially since Portia was a bad kitty today and pretty much destroyed a computer I was getting ready for an OVGE display piece. The more mature cats are giving her a wide berth – they know the drill by now. (This is cat #5. Out of those five, we have only one humane society cat. The rest are adopted strays.) The new kitty ought to feel pretty safe – her bunkmate in the kennel beneath her knows how to deal with the other cats.
We really need to find a home for this one. Four cats plus two dogs is stretching things pretty thin; a fifth cat, especially one who potentially has special needs (she may not be suited to a multi-pet household), is potentially a back-breaker. Get in touch with me if you’re local and would like to give this poor kid a peaceful forever home.… Read more
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Of pictures and pastures and pups
I’ve got several “family portraits” of our cat family, most of which are down to luck. I’ve been trying to keep my eyes open for opportune moments to get both dogs together, but there just haven’t been many opportunities – either they’re not close together, or they’re both asleep (not really at their best), or they’re doing goofy crap like this:
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Gabby attack!
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Say hello to my little rotating friend
This dropped a heap of gigantic hail on my house a while ago (thanks so much for that, by the way).
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Enter G-Dawg
Alas, poor Xena. She’s getting up there in years; make that dog years and she’s really getting up there. She’s served us well as a guard dog and faithful friend. And she’s not going anywhere, except her doghouse here of late. Therein lies the problem: she’s pretty much retired herself from being a terribly effective guard dog. A few token alarm barks and back into her doghouse with what I can only imagine amounts to the dog version of “ah, screw it.” So we need a guard dog to take over from her and learn from her. Enter… Gabby.
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A generational family album of kittehs
You may remember this photo from this post in 2007 – the “O” series:
From left to right, oldest to youngest: Othello, Oberon, Olivia.
The other day, I got this photo of the “P” series in the same window:
“O” cats = Othello and his trainees.
“P” cats = post-Othello: Puck and his trainee(s).
(this blog post typed with Portia sitting on the mousepad)… Read more
