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

Traitor Tuesday

As mentioned yesterday, our peeps abandoned us for 87 million days. If that is not terrible enough, we went through their phones and found the following . . . . . . . .

We have no words to describe how angry we are at them for this clear betrayal. They have a LOT of sucking up to do to make this up to us.

Another Trip To The Feline Cafe

I have a good friend who is recovering from a major surgery and she thought she could use some animal love, so we headed to the Feline Cafe.  

For those who don't know about this cafe, it is a cafe that has a cat room. For either $5 or $3 with a purchase you can spend at least 40 minutes with cats from Furry Tales Rescue (if others aren't waiting you can stay longer). All the cats are up for adoption. Don't worry there can't be any impulse adoptions as you have to go through the Rescue's process.

During this visit there were a lot of kittens. More than before. At first my friend said she would love a kitten, but after watching them for awhile she thought maybe one of the older cats would be better! She didn't know if she could handle the kitten energy all the time. (She is not going to rescue right now, she is considering a dog once she has finished recovering).

Here are some of the cute cats we hung out with. 

This cat was grumpy, I fell in love

A Cat Free Year

Today marks one year since our angel Nin left us. Nin was 20 years old. Our angel Bagheera left us the year before at age 19. We had a cat in our house for 20 years.

While we have adjusted to a life with a cat, I really miss them. I still go to check/clean the litter every few weeks. I would get another one in a heartbeat and when I read stories of cats being found in yards etc. I am hopeful that one will find its way to our yard and need a home. I think that is about the only way I will convince the Man to get another one at this time. (There are lots of outdoor cats around, so it is possible). 

Today I remember my two cats with love and affection, even if I really don't miss the litter (next cat is being toilet trained).

Baggy on the left and Nin on the right

Cat Rescue Network

As you may remember, in lieu of sending paper Christmas cards for the Blogville card exchange, I decided again this year to make a donation to an animal charity. I love all our fur friends and know they are the lucky ones with homes, so in the spirit of the season I wanted to help others. This year, because it was the first year in 20 Christmases I don't have a cat (and I would love to have one), I decide to help out feline population. I picked the local organization Cat Rescue Network. It is a volunteer run organization helping cats in our community.

Here is part of the email I received from the rescue after our donation:

"Because of your generosity another cat can be taken in and cared for.  You may soon see a cat named Bo posted.  He is one of our most recent intakes and, if all goes well, your gift  has ensured that we now have raised all we need to get him to the vet.  He is a sweet cat, and was abandoned in a rural area where he had little chance of surviving. Happily, someone found him and called us and we had a foster home available.  We also have a kitten named Troy who requires 2 surgeries, so will cost quite a bit over and above his eventual adoption fee.  So, every donation takes the edge off the costs we incur and allows us to keep going. "

I borrowed this picture of Troy from their website, (I hope that is ok cat rescue network), so you could one of the cute faces we all have helped this Christmas.  Thank you all for doing all you do to help animals in need and provide wonderful homes to the ones you have. 

Merry Christmas

Old Habits Die Hard

Our house has been cat free for 7 weeks now.  The biggest change is we get to sleep in on the weekend. The dogs aren't up as early without our Nin alarm. I admit I don't really miss it many mornings.

We were cat "owners" for 20 years and 11 days. In that time I clearly developed some strong habits/routines about the cats. In the past few weeks I have found myself almost writing cat litter on the grocery list when I noticed it was on sale at the grocery store (it was a really good sale). Over the weekend, when as I was walking to the laundry room with a huge load of laundry I thought to myself "I must remember to scoop the litter while I am down here."  I had to laugh out loud both times because I neither need to buy litter nor scope it.

I miss my cats and I miss having cats.  I do occasionally get the urge to bring a new one home, but I know it is not the time. We want to travel more (and that is hard enough with the pups). The idea of a kitten is not appealing and the stress over trying to introduce a new cat to Hailey and Zaphod is intense. So for the time being, we will be cat free and maybe, just maybe, I will get over my litter obsession.

Angels Bagheera and Cinder

Black and White Sunday and Exciting!

A bird pooped on Lee's head! It is the first really nice weekend of the year and this happened. The people can't stop laughing at it!

Exciting News:

Several months ago, our cousin Lemew, Aunt C's cat, died at the age of 17. We were all very sad about this. Aunt C said she was going to get new cats but was waiting for her wedding which is now in 2 weeks.  However, yesterday she accidentally found the purrfect new cousins for us at the Humane Society. [We aren't sure it is an accident if you are there looking at cats!]

So we are thrilled to welcome our new cousins to the pack. We can't wait to meet them!

This is Lupul, named after a hockey player keeping with that theme. He is about 1. He is very playful.

This is Princess Panda (our Lady added the Princess part cause she thinks she looks like a princess). She was named by the Humane Society. She is about 3. She is a little bit shy and is not sure how to play with Lupul yet. They have only lived together for less then a day, so we will give them time to adjust.

We are doing yard work most of the day, so we will pop by your blogs this evening.

Mollie: Lady says over the next few weeks she will share more pictures of the house. She has to take them and is lazy this morning cause she got to sleep in. Here is a picture of the outside.

Wordless Wednesday - Phod the Pillow

New Adventures of an Old Cat

Baggy, trying to cool off. 

Baggy is 17. He is king of the castle in his old age. His new trick is to go out and lay on the deck in the morning. We allow this because we know he is not going to go anywhere. Somehow the other day, he got left on the deck all day. When the Man got home he couldn't find him anywhere. Panic! The deck got hot in the afternoon sun, so Baggy did what any smart old guy would do, he found shade. The Man found him laying happily (and by happily I mean bitching and moaning and not wanting to come in) under the hedge. He had to force him to come back in. He was none the worse for wear. Had a snack, a big drink and a nap. This doesn't seem to deter him, he is still going out every day (and the other evening when it was cooling down!)

Kittens - in need of a good home

While Hailey is totally jealous and mad that not only do I smell like kittens, but I am writing a blog about kittens and not her, it has to be done.

This evening, our good friends (and vet) Woody (aka Dr. Wallar) and Jocelyn invited us over to see the kittens they have been fostering. 

The kittens were abandoned by their mother and have been being hand raised by Woody, Jocelyn and their kids, Matthew, Kathryn and Joseph, for the past month. I must say not only are they cute, they are so friendly. If I didn't think Hailey would eat one, I would have brought one home in my purse!

Here are some pictures of total cuteness!

Waking up from a nap

Kitten love

Look how small his paw is

Snuggle time

The only kind of creature I want to be bottle feeding!

3 of the 5 have homes, but 2 males are still looking for that perfect forever home. If anyone is interested please let me know or contact Dr. Wallar at the Ottawa Vet Hospital.