Thankful Thursday

TAZ:   I haven't been here a year yet, so there are a limited number of pictures of "just me" ta show.

There were some comments and emails about my Birfday Monday.  And I am thankful for those.  But I thought I should add more memories.

I did pretty well in the Shelter Community Room (and so did Binq but we weren't special friends at the time).  Some kitties just hid from the Bein visitors and some wouldn't greet Beins at all.

But when TBT visited and just sat down in the middle of the room, Binq and I just ran right over to him.  We could tell he was "OK".  I was all talky and touchy.  Binq literally danced around him.  No other kitties came near.  Not even the one he came there to see.  

Which left him in a confussin situation.  He arrived only wanting one (as a Orange/Ginger male friend to Lori (but we dint know that then).  So he couldn't decide.  I was the definite choice.  But Binq was dancing around him and pushing her head into his hands.  So he told the Shelter Beins he would take both of us.  

They were thrilled.  We were thrilled.  I mean, the Shelter Community Room was good, but kinna small an with a a dozen of us in one room.  And some of the other kitties there were not really friendly.

So when TBT took us home and put Binq and I in a room, that seemed peaceful and safe.  Good food and private litterboxes too.  Binq and I became more attuned to each other in those few days.  No fussies.  And when he let us out to meet Lori and Marley, we discovered we were in a great big house.

Binq kinna stayed in the room for more days but I went right out.  Marley was so accepting.  Lori not so much.  But hey, better than the Shelter Community Room, right?  Binq did come out, but she mostly likes the room we were in at first.

In Spring, TBT let me outside in the PTU to sniff.  And eventually let me free to look at The Big Back Yard while he followed me around.  It was scary at first but after being carried around, I understood that the yard was sort of "part of our new house".  And I liked it!

Binq took a lot longer to even feel safe on the deck, but she did enjoy it after some encouragement from Marley and me.  And even today, she seldom leaves the deck.

Our Gotcha Day is still a couple of big moons away, but we are both happy here.  I wish Lori would calm down, but it seems a previous cat didnt treat her well an she is still suspicious.  I hope that changes someday.

Some pictures of our 1st day...

So Binq and I are both very thankful...

Thankful Thursday

TBT:  Remembering past Mews... 

Young Skeeter (8 months)...  I need to see the old pictures to remember how much he was more "spotted" than "tabby".  And I picture more white.  Without seeing actual pictures, I think of him looking more like Marley.  But he was so different!

LC, old...  This was actually one of her last pictures.  The younger ones are "cute".  But this one is the memory I will always hold.  At peace with the world and showing her love of the outside world.  No indoor waterbowl for her; she loved the taste of pondwater best.  The ripples from her tongue are wonderful.  It may be the best picture I ever took.  Not that I had anything to do with composing it.  It just happened and I was lucky enough to have a camera at hand.

Young Ayla...  Maybe a year old.  As a Princess, posing "purrfectly" just came naturally to her.  I can't have just "one favorite cat", but she is "up there".  

Middle-age Iza...  Iza was a very strong-minded cat.  Fierce with mousies and intruders and fierce in the house.  But soft as a cotton candy when on my lap or under the covers in bed.

Young Laz...  Too short a life.  A year in a bad home, a calm year here with Lori and I, and then it all went back downhill suddenly in the memories his troubled mind finally couldn't escape.

[Rather much edited as I re-read my original post]

Flashback Friday

I have been focussing on 2010-2014 a lot on these flashbacks.  So lets see what we have for this week in 2020...

It is all about Laz this time, when he was happy and seemingly "normal".  Months of talking to him constantly and quietly had helped him.  He was a happy cat.

He adored me.  And I loved him.  Then.

Had he been an "only cat", he would be here today.  But his mind went off somewhere else to bad memories.

I miss him very much.  Not all flashbacks are about good things.  These times were.  I just didn't know what was to come...

Flashback Friday.

Fot today's flashback I am going back to different days.  It's because of the new Mews.  It got me to thinking of the previous ones.  You've seen these pictures before, but it felt right to acknowledge them...

There was Kenani in my childhood.

The was also another siamese female, Hai Yu, but I can't find the picture.  And there were grey tabbies between then and 1992, but I can't find pictures of them either.  Ralph, Sport-Sport, Mischief, Ballou, and Tinkerbell.  I know I have pics of them, but they aren't showing up today.

Skeeter was the first of The Mews when I moved here 37 years ago.  He was the first cat I actually chose for myself.  He wasn't what I went to a Mom&Dad pet store to find (looking for a Siamese female), but he was what I came home with.  The store was being renovated, and the noise was horrible.  Dust everywhere.  Poor Skeeter was alone in a cage at the front, trembling.  How could I not take him away from that?  He was a wonderful friend for 16 years.

The next year, I went to the same place (still looking for a siamese).  There were only 2 cats.  One was gorgeous and friendly.  But she was promised to as a gift for newlyweds.  The other fought like hell to being removed from the cage.  I adopted her anyway.  And she was a great friend for 16 years.

I finally found a siamese breeder and asked about any unwanted one.  She had Iza cheap because "she was smudgy" and not suitable for breeding.  I took her.  "Smudgy" was OK.  I seem to have a thing for unwanted cats...  When I posted her picture on the blog, The Meezers said she was a Tonkinese.  I had never heard of that breed.  But when I looked it up, there was her face staring right back at me!  So I knew.  And the breeder was embarassed...  Seriously, I had papers declaring her a pedigree siamese.  LOL!

And oh damn she loved me!  Followed me around everywhere, great lapcat, fur like mink...  But something went wrong inside her when she was 12.  One morning, she had blood sll over her butt.  The vet couldn't save her.  I was crushed at her loss.

Ayla came from the breeder before Iza.  Graceful, talkative, sweet, kind, friendly.  My Princess.  She lived to 16+ until Sept this year.  She simply stopped eating one day and and after a week, had lost 1.5 pounds (from only 6.4 to start with).  The vet tried several things, but after 2 more days she was staggerring a bit and still not eating, so we agreed to "release her".

Meanwhile, after Iza died so suddenly, I contacted the breeder about another tonkinese.  She didn't know of one, but had a 1/2 siamese 1/2 tabby male she had rescued from a bad home and had been planning to call me about.  She knew I was good with cats.  She practically gave him to me as a "last chance".  You've all read about his struggles.  He left this world a couple weeks ago.  He loved ME, but could never adapt to other cats and the terrors of his kittenhood.

And I finally found a tonkinese kitty.  Lori (Lorelei Lee).  She is adorable.  Like Iza, me-oriented, friendly, and a real lapcat.  I hope she has a long life here.

Which brings us to today.  Loki and Binq from a County shelter.  I went there interested in a different cat I saw on their site but she actually hated me.  But there were 2 others that liked me.  I went home with both.

Loki is very "Marleyish".  Calm, quiet, easy-going.

Binq was stand-offish and hidey for a few days but is now all over me when I approach.

I've loved every cat I've had or been around all my life.  This seemed like a good time to say so...  I wish they had all had longer lives, but 16+ seems to be the time they leave here.  

Two doors closed with Ayla and Laz.  Two more opened with Loki and Binq...

So, now it is December.  A new month.  A new hope for the future.  More food bowls to fill again, more litterbox cleaning again, more attention to be given.  New associations to be made.  More cat-voices to learn.  More places to find cats napping..  More habits to learn...  More cat-experiences...

Thankful Thursday

TBT:   Not to keep posting about Ayla (there will always be times I do).  But I am still adjusting to her absence, and it will take some time.  I've gotten beyond expecting to see her, but I still look at places where she used to spend her time and miss her.

She is sliding into the part of my mind that keeps track of "previous cats".  There are certainly many of them there; all were loved.  But it is a different place as "current cats".  The "current cats" place stays active most of the day.  The "previous cats" place only activates when triggered by something specific.

I am Thankful today for Ayla's 16+ years with me 24/7.  She was the first cat to arrive after I retired in 2006; the first to have my attention all day.  It made a difference in her (compered to previous ones) and to me.  The experience increased my understanding of cats and their responses and needs.

My pre-retirement cats only got outside on weekends and holidays.  They loved it, but their outside time was very limited.  I think Ayla benefited from more outside time (as did the Mews after her).  A house or apartment is good.  But getting outside allows a cat to experience a larger and more natural world.  I think it caused her to have a fuller life.

Yes, maybe a slightly more dangerous one, but she lived as long as the previous (more indoor) cats and was a very happy cat most of her life (well, she could have done without Laz in her elder years).  When she had been outside an hour (hunting mice usually), she would come inside (tail up high) and seek my attention.  She pretty much had the best of both worlds. and certainly seemed to enjoy both.

I've been looking for pics I haven't used recently.  These are all from many years past:

Loving the back yard...

Sniffing for some mousies...

Sitting calmly with Iza...

Sitting happily with Marley...

The Mews sniffing through the deck screen door about 2013.  I have this one framed on my wall...

And I am thankful for every cat that has graced my life...

A Tribute To Spitty

THE BIG THING here:  A tribute to Spitty through Iza's memories in pictures...  Iza adored Spitty from the day she found him.  He had many ladycats who loved him but she was completely devoted to him.  She went over The Bridge in April last year and I know she was waiting (and would have waited many more years).  I present this in honor of both Iza and Spitty...

She loved that he once drove her around in a Furrari.. 

And that he once gave her a whole Goth vest when she asked for one...

And that they once took a balloon ride together...

She loved him with all her huge heart.  And hearts...

Spitty stood by Iza in difficult times...

She wrote him poems...

TO MY DEAREST LOVE, SPITTIKINS –

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways…

I love thee as I love my meals, warm and soft.

I love thee as I love my rattelly toys, noisey and whapable.

I love thee as I love a warm pillow soft and quiet.

I love thee as I love Birdie TV and Fishie TV and  Skwerl TV.

I love thee as  My Protector In The Halloween Adventure.

I love thee as dearly as the deer love to graze on the hostas and azaleas in the front yard.

I love thee as I love My meal, My litterbox when it is clean, and  the warm waterbed.

I love thee as I love the birdies that hit our deck door and wait for me to get out there.

And I love thee Furs of deepest Black, Shining eyes, Claws of sharpness, and deepest mancat mystery…

In my thoughts and in my dreams Thee constant comes; and in between I dream of thee.

In fact, and I’ll say this my King I even did this TWICE. 

Cuz the first version got deleted when TBT furgot to save, and that wasn’t very nice!

IZA-LOVEY

They shared the Scary Halloween Tunnel which was so frightening I will only give a LINK...

Iza loved to show him her silken tummy, and he loved to lay his weary head on it while she adored his company.

There were other (happier) adventures.  Iza and Spitty visited Washington DC monuments and once camped out in the backyard in a tent I made just for them.  Spitty was concerned about being "outside" but Iza reassured him I was watching over them and they were in an enclosed space, so he napped sniffing outside air safely with her.  But pictures get lost sometimes.

Spitty was very special to Iza (and yes some other ladycats).  But Iza nearly existed for his attention.  Now they are both Over The Bridge.  I'm sure Spitty has a clowder of Ladycats around him now...  But I know Iza pushed her way to the front just to see him again.

It is a sadder world without their love.

Saturday Thoughts

While Dad is fussing over the new computer, we thought we would show our headers over time.   Now, ya gotta unnerstand searchin the puter is tricky fer us, but we found a folder he keeps some of them in...

An they are in no particular order.  Dates are confoossing sometimes.

Thats not all of course, but we found a lot...

Enjoy.  Smiles and Meows!