It's a quiet time of year for me. I've been stuck at home during remodeling and plus I don't generally get a lot of images during winter unless there is snow on the ground. Bare branches don't work well with my techinique. But I'm trying to write a blog every week so I thought I would do something light and talk about my cats.Before you read further I have to say for those out there who are allergic to cats, all printing and framing is done in my studio that is off limits to the cats. I even have a special jacket that I wear that doesn't leave the studio in case I have cat hair on me. You can also see tributes to the cats that have passed here.
Sarge is our oldest at 12. We call him the gentle giant. He's big, not as big as he used to be since he's been on a diet but still biggest cat. He never does anything wrong. Our first cat was Tigger. You can read her tribute on the tribute page. She died too young of liver cancer. She was my husband's baby. When she died he swore he was never getting another cat. He couldn't stand the pain of losing them. We already had Tank who is also on the tribute page. About a year later my husband was having lunch at work and found Sarge begging for food. He was so skinny and my husband brought him home. He loves to chase light. He's not really into the red dot but loves the reflection off of my cell phone.
The next one is Gracie at 11 years old. At the time we got Gracie we had two cats, both boys, and I know that my husband still missed Tigger and really wanted a girl cat. One of his work clients was the Richmond SPCA. He always visited the cats when he went there and one day he was walking past the cages and Gracie reach out and grabbed his shirt. And Gracie came home with him. Gracie is absolutely devoted to my husband. She tolerates me and the other cats but she is definitely queen of the house.
We also take care of a couple of outdoor cats. We live in the country where it is very normal to let your cats run. We're the weird neighbors who insist on keeping ours inside. One day one of the outside cats showed up with two kittens and disappeared a couple days later leaving her kittens. I didn't want to take them to the shelter because they were both mostly black and it is a sad fact that black cats do not get adopted as frequently as other colors. I convinced my husband that we should take them in.
The next one is Little Foot at 9 years old. She was named for her one white back foot. She is the fiesty one. She almost got put back outside after her spaying because my first attempt at capturing her resulted in me having a badly bitten and scratched hand. I did capture her eventually and told the vet to not clip her claws because she was mean and going back outside. She had to stay in the bathroom to recover for a couple days and she turned out to be very sweet. She loves high places and stalking mice. We don't get many mice in the house but they are quickly dispatched. She is tied with Ollie for being the best mouser (2 each).
Braveheart, her sister, also 9 years old is totally misnamed, not brave at all. Will take off to the other side of the house if someone sneezes. She comes every morning for pets but mostly hangs out with her sister or Sarge. Since Sarge lost Tank Braveheart is now his buddy.
Ollie is the newest member at 2 years old. When I had to have Tank put down it was devastating to me. Tank was always with me, on my lap or sleeping next to me. I think Sarge was devastated too. He and Tank had always been buddies. I told my husband I always wanted a ginger cat and that he would be the last cat. I had rescued a couple ginger cats, had taken care of one for friends when they moved and while they got settled, and take a very sick ginger cat to be put down when he was dumped at our house. I never got to keep one. My husband said "we have enough cats". A month or so later my husband sent me this picture, told me he was at the shelter and if I wanted him to go get him.
I did the 45 minute trip in half an hour and came home with Ollie (known as Twizzler at the shelter). Ollie is sweet. Gracie tolerates the other cats but she hangs out with and likes Ollie. When we first brought out Ollie to meet the rest of the cats he went to Gracie first. She gave him her best "get out of my face" look and hissed at him. I went to grab him but he just dropped down into a submissive pose and looked at her with a sad face and didn't move. They are now best buddies. Ollie is the clown of the house. He likes to sit on top of the scratching post or lay completely flat on the floor or the cat tree.
