Wordless Wednesday - Tabby Cat and Shelter Day!

 

Styx

Tigris

So Long and Thanks For All The Fish

 It is with a heavy heart we let you know that one of the best constellations of star dust to ever exist, our Zaphod Beeblebrox, went to the bridge yesterday.  He was surrounded by love, laughter and tears in his final moments. 

Zaphod joined our pack almost 13 years ago, as a bribe from the Man to have me move to Quebec.  Found as an extremely underweight stray,  his foster mom named him Zaphod for the alien in Douglas Adam's Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. We liked the name and it, along with Phod, Phody, Bear, Buddy, Old Man, among others, stuck. 

He loved fetch, and his ball Precious. He loved the lake, and did get a dip on the weekend. While initially cautious of people he didn't know, especially men, Phod learned to love most people. He saw our neighours and family as an extension of his pack. He was gentle, playful, loyal and fun. People who didn't love dogs or love shepherds, always fell in love with him.  He wasn't perfect. He got car sick, he loved to eat poop, he loved to roll in poop, as he got old he listened less well. 

I have been fortunate enough to share my home with 4 dogs in my adult life, and while I loved each and every one, Zaphod, truly was a very good dog, one of the best.  I remember talking to the woman at the rescue about him and she said, he was a special, once in a lifetime dog. She was right.   Our lives are ultimately better for having known and loved him. He taught us about forgiveness trust and  unconditional love. 

Zaphod - 2011 to April 28, 2025

Thank you all for letting us share his life with you and for loving him too. 

The Lady, for the Man and the Rivers, Tigris and Styx

Thanks to Ann for creating this for us.

Mischief Monday - Check Up - by Tigris

Dear people I don't know and Lady says you are my friends, but because their might be dogs out there and I am not sure about them, so I am not writing pals.

Last week, Lady got the bright idea to stuff us in our carriers and take us to a place called the vet. 

Styx and i showed our displeasure by singing the we hate this song for the entire 25 minute ride.

When we got there, after the clinic sorted out the actual spelling of our names (Lady and Man picked names that are hard for people apparently - perhaps more on names later), we were taken to an examination room.

Here we were mercifully let out of our carriers and allowed to explore.

Explore we did. We were all over that room, that had great shelves. I came down when needed and Styx needed to be brought down twice.

The people there were fairly nice (couldn't keep their hands off us)  and said we were beautiful. 

The summary:

-We are both in good health and are long cats.

-Styx is likely 2 and not 4 like the shelter said (which Lady thought). 

-When the vet was examining Styx, I didn't take my eyes off them. I was totally watching, ready to attack if she treated Styx poorly.  I am really bonded to my Styx. 

-Rude - I need lose a little weight. I have already lost .44lbs since coming to live with my new servants, I mean the Lady and Man. 

I gave Styx a bath while we were waiting

-I have a bit of a cold and the medication that most cats like, I hate and you have to force me to take.

-Lady and Man can now start switching us to a higher quality food. The shelter, meant to be a temporary holding place, uses whatever food we will eat and is donated etc. because they know how stressful it is to be wrongfully imprisoned. There goal is just to make sure we eat. This may help with my weight as well. 

Apparently, I do not need to be subjected to this torture for another year. 

Can we go yet?

So that was our adventure and I have forgiven the people for this, mostly because there were yummy treats.

Tigris

FFF Nature Friday - Snow Update by Phod

 Dear pals,

I know you are all wondering if spring is truly here and if we still have snow - but first my FFF poem.

The greatest joy of spring

better than almost anything

is drinking water from a puddle.

It is so cold to drink

it makes me think

I like it more than a cuddle.

Now onto the snow. 

Here are the upcoming guesses:

As of yesterday:

The last snow from our front yard disappeared on Easter Sunday.

This is our side yard.

So close to gone, just a little sliver

Here is the backyard:

Still a fair bit of gross snow left in the shade

Sorry Murphy, you aren't this years winner.

Do we think that will all be gone before the end of the day tomorrow for Aunty-Yam to be the winner or do one of the later guesses have the best chance at winning?

Stay tuned!

your pal, Phod

A New Pal - by Zaphod

 Dear pals,

I apologize for the amount of cat content on this blog. I am sure the ghost of Lee is going to come and haunt the Lady. 

I am mostly indifferent to the Rivers. Styx bugs me the most. He will come into the closet and look at me However, my life hasn't really changed at all since they joined the pack and they mostly leave me alone. 

Enough about them. Let's talk about my other new friend.

Lady and Man have been having some trees removed. One of the guys who is doing it brings his dog Tri with him.

Tri is a very nice girl. She is 5. I am very interested in her and want to be friends.

Tri let's be friends

Tri isn't that into me. Her man said that humans had abused her before he got her. She used to be afraid of everything. She is making progress and is cleared loved. 

In spite of her past, Tri still loves people

Lady and Man let me sniff her a bit, and then make me move on. 

It has been nice to get to know her, even if I want to know her more. 

Tomorrow I will catch you up on our snow contest! 

your pal, the friendly Phod

Wordless Wednesday - Pals

 

Trouble on a Tuesday - Styx's second adventure

On Wednesday morning, the Lady left for work very early. As Styx is interested in going outside, because he is interested in everything, Lady watched her feet carefully when she went into the garage. 

A few hours later the Man got up and Styx was no where to be found. There was no sign of him for the whole day. The Man was sure he had escaped. Lady and Man looked outside. They put food outside. They were very upset that not even 4 days later, they had lost a cat.

Sad Lady went to bed early. About an hour after falling asleep she heard the Man call "I found Styx." Turns out, the laundry room door (which has a problem) hadn't been closed properly and Mr. Styx had gotten himself in the ceiling again. It was Tigris who alerted the Man to his location. 

Styx had himself in a different spot and didn't want to come out and couldn't be reached. Man and Lady put some food out on the washer and went to bed. While they didn't like him being in the ceiling, they knew he was safe in there. 

In the morning, he hadn't come out. The Man climbed the ladder with food in hand and he came to the edge. (It had been at least 24 hours since he ate, likely longer as Lady didn't feed the Rivers before she left for work). Man was able to grab him and slowly pull him out, around all the plumbing. As soon as he was down, he started to purr. 

Getting love after the rescue

Lady and Man have been extra careful using the laundry room. They have purchased some plastic to staple up so they can use the room and not worry about him getting in the ceiling (really the litter box should be in this space).  However, their attempt at this failed and in the test, he got up a third time, so the litter box is not going in this space and they hope what they have up can slow him down if he is in the room with them. They have also ordered him a collar that will tell their phones where he is, so at least if they can't find him, they will know he is in the house. Clearly he is an adventurer.

Side note: The SPCA said Styx was 4, but Lady and Man think he may be closer to 1. They also wonder if Tigris is his mom. At any rate the Rivers meet their new vet this week and we will see what they say. 

Mischief Monday - The First Styx Adventure

 It is hard to believe, sitting where we are now, that Styx ever had problems adjusting to this house.

The first day we had the Rivers, we let them out in the laundry room. Turns out, there are two problems in the laundry room we didn't consider (as our old cats were old, and knew us). 

The first, is that the box that was built for the washer and dryer (they need to be raised in our house so the plumbing works), had an entry point at one end. While Tigris came in and out the first day, Styx did not. After 24 hours of knowing he wasn't coming out or eating or drinking, we spent the 2 hours needed to take this apart. The builders of this house had gone crazy with the screws, perhaps hoping to tile it one day. Some of the screws were stripped etc. etc. I am sure the Rivers were terrified as we took it apart (we only put 4 screws in it when we put it back and we added some wood to block the end so they couldn't get under it).

The Man taking the box apart

The good about this, is that we were able to give this area a good cleaning

The second thing, was the ceiling in the laundry room is not finished. As soon as we lifted the lid, Styx, climbed the wall and went into the ceiling. 

After a few hours, he came out to where we could see and reach him, and using a ladder the Man was able to pull him down.

Later he appeared on this ledge

After that we moved all the cat stuff to the guest room. 

Tomorrow we will tell you about his second adventure. 

Styx - the Trouble Maker

Happy Easter

 Wishing all those who celebrate, a Happy Easter!

We celebrate the cats first hat tax!

Zaphod

Styx (left) and Tigris (right)

Tigris

Styx

A Dispatch from Tigris

 Dear pals,

It has been 5 days since I came to my new home and so far, I my only complaint is that they are not just giving me softy all the time. 

I am curious but cautious. I would rather not be right near the dog, but I am not scared of him. I almost didn't end up in this house because my file said I didn't like dogs.  T

I like to be pet, and am slowly exploring the laps. 

I am the easy cat.

Next week, we will fill you all in on the havoc my brother has caused. 

your new pal, Tigris

Wordless Wednesday - In the Bush with Lady

 

When Will The Snow Be Gone - Check In

 Hi pals,

Let's look back a few weeks. Here is my yard on March 22.

Lots and lots of snow.

Here is my yard now.

A lot less snow, but still snow. Didn't help we got a couple inches last week. Sorry Nelly and Phenny and Duke, you didn't win the contest this year. Thanks for playing.

Will the snow be gone in the next few days so John or Murphy might have the right guess?

Stay tuned.

your pal Phod who is missing the snow

Mischief Monday - The Rivers - by Phod

 Dear pals,

Lady and Man went out on Saturday and I had a very good nap. When they got home, they took me outside and introduced me to the Rivers. 

Are you my new siblings?

Lady says after a crazy day where everyone was out adopting animals, they found these two cats who are now called Tigris (female, formally Lilo, about 3) and Styx (male, formally Stitch and about 4).  They came from the local SPCA.

Tigris - her picture from the SPCA as she won't stay still enough for Lady to take a new one

Styx - who is feeling very overwhelmed with the change.

At the time of writing this, they hadn't been with us for a full day. Tigris has been out and about and exploring. She explored a lot in the night, knocking things over, turning on the TV. Styx has found a hiding place that the people can't get to without making it a construction project. (Lady and Man didn't know it was open at one end). At any rate, he did stick his head out at Lady so she knows he is all right.  She will give him a day or so before taking it apart, taking him out and then fixing it so he can't hide there. 

Can you see the little face peaking up?

I feel there is going to be a lot of mischief in our lives!

Tomorrow, I will do a snow check in.

your pal, who now has cats again after 10 years, Zaphod

Wordless Wednesday - Treat

 

Not Much Going On - By Phod

 Dear pals,

I have settled into the routine of being an only dog. I don't always love it, but I am doing my best. Lady and Man are happy that I have stopped needing to go out in the night to do my business. I often wake up, have a drink and go back to bed. Some days I am really lazy and don't even want to get up. 

Because there is not much going on right now, and because Lady has come out of hibernation and is super busy and hardly home (and when she was on the weekend, we didn't always have power), I will have a modified blog schedule this week. Know we are all doing ok.

your pal, enjoying the last moments of snow, Phod

Nature Friday - Spring is Slowly Springing

 Dear pals,

My front yard still looks like this:

However spring is starting to spring up. 

Lady needs to do some clean up, but do you see the lilies come up?

Our tulips are popping out too. 

Dirty to smell

The temperatures are looking ok with a little snow left. Lady just booked the tire change appointment (we have winter tires) for 2 weeks - will it be the right time? Will the snow all be gone before our first guess on April 14th?

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event. 

your pal, with spring fever, Zaphod

Throwback Thursday - The First Picture of Zaphod We Ever Shared

 This was the first picture of Phod we shared when we introduced him.

He spent much of his first few days curled up by the door.  It didn't take him long to have the run of the house.

This memory made me smile! 

Wordless Wednesday - Play Time

 

Happy 14th Birthday Zaphod!

 Today we wish our beautiful boy a very happy birthday!