Feline Friday - Another Visit to the Feline Cafe

Spent time last Saturday with a friend at the Feline Cafe. It was super busy and we had to wait to go in and we only got to be int he cat room for our 40 minutes.  The cats were all very sleepy during our visit. Here are a few who are waiting for their forever homes. 

A Feline Friday - A Visit To The Feline Cafe

Before Christmas a friend and I met for coffee. We decided to check out the Feline Cafe. It is a cafe, that has a cat room which holds cats from a local rescue who are looking for homes.

There are rules about interacting with the cats. No one under the age of 12 is allowed in. They only allow a certain number of people into the cat room at a time. They ask you not to pick up the animals or disturb sleeping ones. Flash photography is forbidden. The cats do have a way out of this room away from people, if they wish

Here are some of the cats.

This little kitten had a great time hunting. 

Here was my favourite cat, Othello. He had arrived at the cafe the night before. While he was active, checking the place out, watching all the people, he was very sweet. If the Man would not have had my head, I would have brought him home! 

Three cats in the bed and the little one said . . . .

This one didn't move from this chair the whole time we were there (which was like 2.5 hours as it wasn't busy!)

Reminded me of my angel Bagheera!

This one, Flower, had an adoption pending, and was my friend's favourite cat.

More with Othello. 

While the beverages were a little more expensive then other cafes, I think it was totally worth it. I loved spending time with the cats and look forward to going back!

Feline Friday - A Weird Dream

I have been itching to get another cat the past few weeks. It started before the great mouse caper of 2015 (to date we have caught 2 adults and the one newborn), but has become stronger since the great mouse freak out. The Man is a very adamant "No" on the subject.

The other night, I had a dream that we came home and found our Nin had died. We had put him in the garage to bury him the next day. The next day we went and he was alive and well.  He was on my lap purring.

When I told the Man he said a zombie cat would be cool. I think that is the only way I am going to get a new cat, and is highly unlikely to happen as I had the cats cremated.

Angel Nin

Feline Friday - Remembering Bagheera and Changes

Yesterday was one year since Bagheera died peacefully in his sleep.

He was the first pet the Man and I had, and we shared just over 19 years together. He was a grumpy but loving boy, who truly thought he was a panther.  He knew what he liked and didn't and wasn't afraid to tell everyone.  As I mentioned last week, I still see him around the house in shadows. I am not surprised he is the one who haunts me as we had a special relationship.

It has now been just over 3 weeks that our house has not had a cat. There have been a few changes in the house. First, it is the first time in about 15 years that there has not been a gate that needed to be moved to get into the laundry room. The laundry room has served as a litter room too. To keep those pesky pups out of it, it has been gated. I must admit this is a change I like as I am not having to put the basket down to fiddle with it.

Secondly, I am now use glass cups and not plastic ones far more often. When I am at home I usually have a glass of water on the go. For years I shared this water with 2 cats. They would jump up and put their heads in. Because my water got knocked over often enough, I switched to plastic, so at least I wouldn't be dealing with glass and spilt water. Now there is none to share with, so glass it is. While I really prefer drinking out of glass, I do miss sharing.

Bagheera - Taken on his 17th birthday

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Tomorrow will be Lady's birthday adventure part 5 - all about fire. While you are all reading that, we will be jammed into the car heading to visit Grammie and the Big Guy and Tendra and Barley for a few days at the lake. Last year, Lady and Phod went alone. This year, all 4 of us are going. We are sure we will have some great adventures! 

Feline Friday - Nin is home

I have been waiting for Nin's return to thank you all for your kind words and love since Nin died. It somehow didn't feel right to thank everyone until he was home. Maybe because this is when his journey really ends. 

We received the call last Thursday that his remains had been returned to our vet clinic. As the clinic is an hour away and neither of us happened to be going to the city we left him there until Monday.

On Monday morning, on my way to work I picked him up. It felt weird all day Monday to know my cat's ashes were sitting on the passenger seat in the car.  It felt weird to be driving with Nin's ashes in the car. He hated the car and would sing the entire ride. It was strange to have any part of him in the car and it be so quiet. I found myself periodically meowing during the drive home.

Nin's remains in a box, on the passenger seat of the car, beside my lunch

When I walked through the door at the end of the day, Hailey who is always excited to see me, went crazy over the box. Perhaps just because it smelt like the vet clinic or perhaps because she understood. Then Man says he heard Nin as I walked in the door. I hear him a lot and I think I see a cat out of the corner of my eye often. I have since Bagheera died almost a year ago. I think some of that is the 20 years and 11 days we spent as cat owners (a little more than half my life!).

When Baggy died, I had ordered an urn that would fit the two of them. They were truly best friends and I wanted them to be together. I have now placed (felt more like jammed) Nin in with Baggy. They are together again.

The urn is currently in a glass cupboard in the kitchen until we figure out where we want to keep it

This week we received the following letter from the Ontario Veterinarian College Pet Trust in Guelph Ontario. In memory of our dear Cinder, our clinic, Ottawa Veterinarian Hospital,  made a donation to this trust. The money is used for research that hopefully will allow better care for our pets.

Yesterday we received a letter from the Ottawa Humane Society saying our vet clinic had made a donation to them in Nin's honour. We would like to thank the amazing folks at Ottawa Veterinary Hospital for their generosity in Nin's memory. (There is a reason we drive an hour to the vet). 

Thank you all again for sharing this less than fun part of our journey with us. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Our kitty angels, Bagheera (left) and Nin

Feline Friday - Mystery Solved

On Saturday we took the dogs to camp, got groceries (because camp is half way between our house and the grocery store) and then came home and got ready for the wedding.

After the Man's bath he accidentally left the bathmat down. I was doing my hair and I looked over to see Nin finishing his pee on the bathmat. 

Now we know for sure who the bathmat peer is!

I am old and I will pee where I want to

FFHT -Feline Friday - A Story by Nin

Thanks to Murphy and Stanley for hosting this fun event.  Here is Nin's story.

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What story is?

What FFHT is?

Once my people put something on my head. (translation by Hailey)

What head is?

What people is?

It was really, really embarrassing!

What embarrassing is?

"The harder I tried to get it off me . . . the longer the stupid photo shoot took."

What off is?

What photo is?

So I just sucked it up and hoped it was over soon.

The end

What end is?

Angel Bagheera, Hailey and Nin 

Feline Friday - Maybe You Can Teach an Old Cat New Tricks

I was really excited when we won the Torus bowl from http://www.ownedbyahusky.ca.  It arrived and I put it down and Phod ran right to eat and drank. Hailey was scared (after a few days she was fine) and Nin, well he didn't notice. A day or so later, Nin had his first "episode" and we had made the decision to leave both water bowls down. We didn't want to confuse him if he was already having problems.

One morning the old water bowl was out of water, and Nin went over and drank happily out of the Torus bowl. So we have been a one water bowl family every since!

It shows that even our old boy can learn something new!

Nin has had a seemingly good week. We haven't witnessed any more neurological events (although this doesn't mean they aren't happening). He seems himself, so we are just enjoying him! Thanks again for all your POTP.

Feline Friday - Old Cat - Warm Sun

Feline Friday - Living with an Ancient Cat

Stop disturbing my sleep to see if I am alive, I am!

Our Nin is ancient. He is 19 years 9 months old. He is starting to slow down. Some days he is a little "tippy" and his balance isn't great. However, for the time being his quality of life is good and he is not suffering.

We are realistic that our Nin is not going to live forever and since Baggy was lucky enough to go peacefully in his sleep last July, we are hoping for the same for Nin. In the morning if he hasn't starting singing as soon as we get up (often he as started before), we go and check him to make sure he is still alive. Every evening, the first person home (usually Man) checks him to make sure he is still alive. If we haven't seen him for a bit, we check to make sure he is still alive. Each time he is, we say "Glad to see you are still alive Nin."  This is our new reality. Every day or part day with our Nin is a blessing.

Feline Friday - Blast From The Past

Recently I finally unpacked my photo albums and I came across a zillion pictures of the cats.

Here is one from October 1999:

This is how they spent much of their time, snuggled. Bagheera is the one in front and Nin is the one sitting up on the pillow. 

They truly were best friends. 

Feline Friday - More Snuggle Time

Hailey is a very particular sleeper. She can be touching you if she is the one who has decided she is touching you. If you happen to move and touch her or get to close she tells you off. This sleeping habit means there is not a lot of snuggling going on in my house. However, Hailey will let Nin sleep right next to her (most of the time). I am glad because Bagheera and Nin use to snuggle all the time and I am sure he is lonely.

Hailey and Nin

When I wrote about Emma stealing Nin's food on Tuesday, people suggested we put it up high. In the past this is what we have done, but now our 19.5 year old Nin doesn't reliably jump up that high. We can't have it in a high enough space that he will be able to get it and Emma won't. Sigh! 

Feline Friday - Old Cat with New Tricks

I was working at home on Wednesday. I had left my office door (which I generally keep closed) open over my lunch break.  When I returned to my desk, I found this

a Nin on my windowsill. He had hoped up from the chair, to the desk, to the windowsill. He had pushed much of what was on it on the floor. He stayed for nearly an hour. I think he loved it because it was super warm as the heater is below the window and the warm air rose up between the desk and wall. After an hour, he needed a nap, and off he went to the couch. He can still be amazingly spree for an old Man!

(Looking out the window, you see the underside of the deck. Our house is a bungalow with a walk out basement. My office is in the basement at the back of the house. Since our big deck runs across the back, my big office window looks out under it.)

Feline Friday - A Day in The Life of Nin

As the sun rises (currently 7:00 am or when the people start to stir) - sit on the couch and sing. Then wander around the house and sing at the top of my lungs.

Breakfast: Come up and demand soft food is feed to me on the counter. Don't really eat it, get off the counter. Have a big drink. Go downstairs and check my hard food dish. Sing if there is food, sing if there is no food.

Sit on the couch all day. If a person sits on the couch, sit on their lap. Make sure to walk around in circles and make them very uncomfortable before picking a place.

Evening: Go for a stroll around the house. Let Hailey hump me. Laugh when Hailey gets yelled at for being to rough. Sit on a person's lap on the couch (see note above).

Bedtime: Sometimes go upstairs and act like I want to sleep with them. Get on the bed but decide to go back to the couch.

Repeat.

This is the life of an old Nin.

Feline Friday - My Demon Cat

I was trying to get a nice picture of Nin sitting on my lap last night The light wasn't the best and I ended up with this:

The sweet old man looks like the spawn of the devil! LOL!

Christmas card update:

We got some more Christmas cards in the mail this week bringing our total to:

Pups: 54 (yes they got 3 more cards this week)

People: 23 (we got one more)

Congratulations to Murphy and Stanley (http://murphyandstanley.blogspot.ca) on their inauguration today. 

Feline Friday: Nin Tells All

Here is Nin telling a short story (note this is only a short clip of a 10 minute story)

Feline Friday - Nin's Adventures

While we were away, Nin went to stay with Uncle Chris and Emma. 

Nin has always hated the car, and here is a sample of him protesting on the way to Uncle Chris'. (This is only a fraction of the yelling at I got when I brought him home Monday night, but being alone in the car made it impossible to tape. Needless to say, it was a long hour drive home!)

Nin did great at Uncle Chris'. As soon as we got there, he checked the place out. He didn't hiss or seem stressed, which is impressive especially when you remember he is 19.5 years old. He found great spots to sleep. Uncle Chris gave him lots of extra treats (any food he was interested in he pretty much got!). Uncle Chris reported that he was annoying (he has always been a chatty cat) but more active then he has seen him for a long time. 

Emma, who normally can be found snuggling with Nin when she is visiting our house, did NOT enjoy having him in her house. She began piling all her toys so she could guard them. She did not like when he drank out of her water dish (there was another for him, but he is use to sharing with dogs). She didn't like that he slept in her spot. Overall, she was the stressed one.

Emma will be staying with us for all of February and March, so we will see how the two get along then!

Hailey and Phod were very excited to see Nin and to check him out and smell him and hump him etc. etc. when we got home and Nin seemed happy to be there. 

All members of our pack had a great time away! 

Feline Friday - Halloween Count Down

Nin - 2012

Feline Friday - A letter to the cats - by Zaphod

Dear Bagheera and Nin,

You know I love you very much. Sometimes I want to run with you, but I never play rough or try to hump you like LeeLee does. I keep my distance. I respect your space. I want you to love me. I am a good dog brother. I just want to ask you that why, even though I am such a good dog, do you keep peeing on my dog beds? Lady keeps having to take them away to clean them. Sometimes she has to get rid of them. I would really appreciate if you could stop doing this. 

But Baggy if this makes you too stressed and you may want to kill me in my sleep for suggesting you don't pee on my things, please keep peeing on my bed. [Baggy you still kind of scare me].

Thank you,

Love your Phody

Feline Friday - A Lazy Day in the Sun

Now that Bagheera is old (and there is no danger in him running away), we allow him to occasionally join us outside. Last Sunday was a beautiful day and we took him out in the grass with us. It is one of his favourite things and at 19, he deserves as much fun and love as we can give him.

Watching the world go by

Wanting to nap in the grass but I am in his face taking a picture

Lazing in the sun with Hailey

Now there are 4 (and you can see how close to the Man Baggy was)

Now you may wonder where Nin was during all of this - he was inside fast asleep on his couch. He doesn't mind going out, but doesn't love it the way Baggy does (maybe that is because once, maybe 6 years ago, he accidentally got locked out of the house and spent a night under the deck. We thought we had lost him, but he stayed scared in the yard!)