Cat on the run

Oh my, I had a scary experience  yesterday.  One of the little neighbor girls (not Clara this time.) stopped by to show me her Halloween costume before she went out trick or treating (the costume was really cute, that’s not the scary part).  She must not have closed the door all the way.  When we went into the kitchen, the wind must have blown the door open.  When I realized there was a draft blowing through the house, I looked into the living room and saw the door standing wide open and Scout out on the front porch.  Yikes!  My cats don’t go outside…ever.

Heidi shouted, “Baby Goat” and started running toward her.  I got her to stop before she scared the cat and I walked outside, talking quietly to little (?) Scout.  I was able to gather her up and get her inside without her making a mad dash for the road, but it sure did scare me.

Then later, I heard that cat making just the most pitiful crying sound (for such a big cat, she has the daintiest meow).  I was worried that she had managed to get into something and was stuck.  But, no.  She was just sitting in front of the door.  I do not want to start this behavior.  Spook never makes a move to go outside and, prior to this, neither had Scout.  I’m going to have to keep an eagle eye on her for a while…and make sure those kids shut the front door!

aka: Baby Goat

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My Final Message

Be the miracle in a lonely, abandoned, frightened cat’s life…bring that kitty into your home the way the Guardians did with Otis. Give him all the love that he longed for when he was fending for himself out there in the cruel world. Any pet that you rescue will repay you with unconditional love for the rest of his life.
Do what you can with what you have. Share your life with a furry friend. You’ll never regret it.
This is Otis’s good-bye and call to action for all who have followed his journey…a journey that ended much too soon, but that provided him with the miracle of love.

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The Blog of Otis

My Disciples,

If you are reading this, I have departed. Let us first just acknowledge the weight of that. Our journey together was not nearly as long as I hoped it would be, but please know that it has been an honor to have met so many wonderful people, furred and non-furred, and to have shared the trials and triumphs of My life with you.

I know that during My long convalescence many of you were hoping and praying for a miracle to happen that would save My life, and it may seem like that miracle didn’t happen. But I need you to understand something. That miracle did happen. It did happen, and it did save My life, but it happened at the beginning, not the end.

The miracle that saved My life happened seven years ago when two humans looked out into their yard and saw a desperate, starving…

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Fireworks?

English: 352nd Chikugo river Fireworks Festival which is held on 5th, Aug. 2011(Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sometimes I’m not sure what people are thinking…or if they are at all.  Someone has been outside shooting off fireworks this evening.  It’s been really dry around here for the last six weeks or so and one little spark could cause quite the fire.  And, of course, it’s not even legal to be shooting fireworks  here in town anyhow.

Having said all of that, I’ll now tell you the real reason it makes me mad.  I hate it when people shoot off fireworks close to where I live because my poor little kitties get very nervous.  Right now, the kitten is huddled under the desk on my feet.  And Spook has been pacing back and forth growling.  Poor upset little babies!

So come on, people.  Can you possibly limit your fireworks activity to right around the 4th of July?  Okay, I’ll even throw in New Year’s Eve.  But unless you live out of town and there’s no danger of starting a fire, that’s it.

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Her name is Claire

The little neighbor girl who typically greets me when I get home from work in the evening is named Claire.  As unpopular as this is to say, I’m going to say it anyhow.  I’m not a huge fan of children.  Oh sure, I love the kids in my family…the ones who are children now and the ones who used to be kids and have moved on into adulthood.  I’ll always love them and want to spend time with them, remember funny things they’ve done or said, look at pictures and ooh and ah over them.

But other kids?  You know, those loud, uncontrolled, little trouble makers?  Yeah, those are the ones I don’t really like to spend a lot of time around.  They make a lot of noise and mess with my things.  And their parents just laugh and talk about how adorable they are.  I’ve come to the conclusion that most parents think everyone else sees their kids the same way they do, as little darling angels, the most intelligent beings ever to walk the face of the earth, more beautiful than any other child ever born.  When, for most of us, that’s not quite how it is.

Then comes Claire quietly sneaking into my life, her little arm wrapped around my porch post, softly asking me what my kitties have been doing all day while I’ve been at work.  When I told her they’d probably been sleeping most of the day, she softly asked, “‘Cause they get tired?”  I had to think about that for a second.  I don’t think Spook and Scout do much of anything to make them get tired, but who knows how a little kid’s mind works?  I finally answered her question, “Yeah, they were probably worn out from watching the birds all day.”  Claire solemnly nodded as if I’d imparted words of wisdom.

Looking up at me through thick lashes, Claire asked the question I’m sure she’d been wanting to ask for days, “Can I pet your kitties?”  Uh oh…my cats aren’t used to children…at all.  I never let them go out into the big, scary world where there are lots of dangerous things just waiting to kill innocent little kitties.  But…there was Claire…wistfully waiting for my answer.  And, before I could stop myself, the words tumbled from my mouth, “Let me see if I can catch one of them…”

Seriously, Patti?  You’re going to let a little girl kidhandle one of your babies?  Apparently so.  I gathered Scout up, thinking she’d be less afraid than Spook would be.  I failed to take into account how big Scout is.  Or that other kids would see Claire petting her and make a beeline to my porch.  That’s when Scout started getting nervous.  I got a nice little scratch on my arm for my efforts, but Claire really enjoyed petting the kitty and commented on her brown eyes.  I finally took Scout back inside and scooped up Spook (against my better judgment).  Imagine my surprise when Spook allowed all of the kids to pet her and fuss over her.

I’ve never seen Claire smile, but she almost did when she was petting Spook.  She kept talking about how green her eyes were and how soft she was.  I know she wanted to take her into her arms, but I didn’t think that was quite the thing to do, not for Spook or for Claire.  And to see that half-smile on Claire’s face made my day.

I guess I have a new little friend.  Her name is Claire.

Spook, my little laundress

Kitty Pals

Nah…not Spooky and Scout, unfortunately.  Spook still torments poor Scout even though Scout weighs twice as much as Spook does.  Scout will be minding her own business and when Spook walks into the room, she quickly walks right up to Scout and starts gnawing on her leg.  She doesn’t hurt her at all so it’s kind of funny to watch how the kitten jumps over her to make her escape.  Every once in a while, Scout will lift a paw as if to fight, but nothing much happens.  It could be a lot worse, I guess.

Fat little Scout

 

Scout doesn’t usually look like she’s this fat, but it looks like I’m going to have to cut back on her treats.  It’s hard to believe she was that cute little kitten not even a year ago and now she’s this huge, but still cute, all grown up cat.

Spooky

 

And then there’s the light-weight, weighing in at only 5 pounds, Spooky.  She looks like she weighs more than she does because her fur is fluffy, but when you pick her up, you can tell she weighs just a little bit of nothing. But she still rules the roost.

My little kitty pals were good company when I was sick, always right there beside me keeping me warm.  So I guess they both deserve a few treats.  Maybe I’ll have to teach Scout how to use the treadmill!!  Sounds like an interesting blog post, doesn’t it?

 

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Writing for Camp NaNo

I didn’t get as much writing done last night on my novel as I’ve been doing.  It was my first day back at work from vacation.  Then I picked up the kitten after work last night and spent quite a bit of time with her and Spook…you know, got to make sure Spook understands she’s still my baby girl, poor thing.

So sat down fairly late to write and ended up only putting down a little over 1100 words…still has me at almost 38000 words for the month, but I don’t want to start slacking now after such a great start.  I still need to write 1200 words a day to reach my goal of 50000 by the end of the month.  Definitely doable, but not if I don’t keep at it.

I’ve got a few hours before I have to go to work, so I plan to sit down and do my writing before I go in today…hopefully get more than the minimum today.  I guess that kind of depends on how many things the kitten knocks over or how many times she tries to jump on Spook before I have to get ready!  I’d forgotten how much fun (and how much work) a kitten is…Spook is 6 years old after all, so much calmer than she used to be. But I think she was every bit as active as this little one is…so hopefully they’ll end up being buddies.  Aww…idea for a children’s book…kitties with human attributes, adoption, maybe a separation thing with a reunion at the end???  The ideas are there…now to make the time to take care of all of them.

Kitten playing with Spook’s toy

We have a new addition to our family

Spook’s kitten

Yep, I finally did it.  Finally got Spook a kitten…not that she’s all that fond of her yet.  But it’s so funny to watch this little fearless kitten run out at Spook and Spook hiss and arch her back…really Spook, that kitten is about a fourth your size, okay maybe a third…but still.  I intended to keep them separated for a few days, but the kitten had other ideas and escaped from the room where I was keeping her.

I haven’t come up with a name for her yet…they had named her DeeDee at the shelter, but I don’t like that so I’m just going to see what strikes my fancy as I get to know her personality.  She is extremely active (well, she is a kitten), but she also fell asleep in my lap…sweet.

I hope she’s able to get Spook to warm up to her soon…I really want to see them cuddling and keeping each other company while I’m at work..so we’ll see how that works out!

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Crazy darn cat…

 Oh, look at her…isn’t she sweet?  Ha!  It’s an act, I tell ya!  I was leaning on the kitchen counter talking on the phone…you know, totally minding my own business…not bothering the cat at all.  She walked into the kitchen, walked up to me, grabbed my foot with her two front paws, flopped down on the floor and started digging at my foot with her hind paws while still maintaining her hold with her front paws (read that claws).

In my sternest tone (not my cat whisperer tone), I said, “Spook, stop it!”  Uh…yeah, that worked…so I drug my cat-imprisoned foot over to the cabinet under the sink where I keep a spray bottle of water (you think this hasn’t happened before?).  I picked up the bottle, then wondered if this was the water bottle or the Windex bottle…hmm…sure don’t want to spray the little monster (I mean, little darling) with Windex.  Then I decided it probably didn’t really matter what was in the bottle because usually all I have to do is shake it, which I then did.  Ah yes, that’s the ticket.  She released me, backed up with squinty eyes, then turned and ran into the living room.

Ha!!  I proved that I am at least as smart as the crazy darn cat…right?  Didn’t I?  Or did I?

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ASPCA Rachel Ray $100K Challenge

Anyone who knows me knows I’m an animal lover.  And I know that a lot of my friends are animal lovers as well.  I would like to take this opportunity to try to do a little something for the animal shelter in my hometown and would appreciate your help.   There’s a nationwide challenge going on now through April 16.  You can vote once a day for one of the 104 shelters that are in the running for this challenge.

I think it’s very cool that the shelter here in little old Bloomington, IN is in this challenge.  I didn’t get Spooky from the shelter, but have had cats in years gone by who came to me from a local shelter…I really think they understand that you’ve basically saved their lives when you rescue them from a shelter.  If you feel the same way, could you do me (and a bunch of our little furry friends) the favor of clicking on this link…

http://challenge.aspcapro.org/contestants

and then voting for the Bloomington Animal Care & Control…pretty easy to find…last time I voted (earlier today) our shelter was in first place…isn’t that exciting?  And don’t forget, you can go back and vote every day!!  Spooky thanks you on behalf of her furry cousins…

Spooky enjoying the sunshine

 

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RIP Goldi Girl

I had to have Goldi put to sleep this morning.  She hasn’t been well for the past couple of weeks, but during the past two days she had stopped eating and was drinking very little.  I knew, when she looked at me last night, she was asking me to let her go…that she had fought it as long as she could.  So I took her in this morning and had them put her to sleep.  Of course, I cried while we were doing it…poor old Goldi Girl…

Goldi, in healthier days

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