Shelter Cats and Redemption

Thursday, January 11th, 2018. Not your average run of the mill Thursday.  Well, not for me, anyway. Today was, we hoped, Minnie's day to come home! I took the day off and nervously began our day.  Always being one to "overthink" most things, I spent most of breakfast planning out exactly how we were to get Minnie into the carrier in the first place. I was obsessed with the planning of Minnie's "capture" for the simple reason that I have NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE.  Capturing a stray cat was one part of cat ownership I was completely new at.  So, to my thinking, it was best to over-plan than to under-plan. Needless to say, my plan was carried out to the letter and perfectly!  Minnie was waiting at the door, I gently grabbed her and she went right into the carrier without freaking out or screaming her head off. Her mother, Smudge, and her siblings Wally and Speck were there, and gave us a "what the fuck are you doing to her?" look.  Or were th...

As promised, here is an update on how my colony of 6 cats are doing. Yup, our colony has grown by one to 6 cats.  Minnie and Wally have a brother that we've named Speck.  For the speck of white on his chest of course!  He's quite a lot bigger than Minnie and Wally, so we think he's a boy. The colony is doing quite well, despite the onslaught of bitterly cold weather just after Christmas.  Since last I blogged, I started giving them wet as well as dry food, much to their delight.  Delight is an understatement, they LOVE wet food! Fortunately, large cans of good old Friskies are cheap enough, so no problem seeing to their demand for the "good stuff."  Twice a day they get all the wet and dry food, and even warm water, they need to stay healthy.  It was nice to see them all eat heartily, knowing they had a reliable source of good food and clean water. Minnie has remained her adorably sweet self.  Always showing up at our door, meowing loudly ...

So, just like that, we've "adopted" a colony of 5 feral cats. Adopted?  Not so fast, let me explain. Living on Long Island, with a lot of wooded areas about (yes, there are trees on Long Island,) there are plenty of stray and feral cats in the neighborhood we live in.  A bird sanctuary around the corner I'm sure helps as well.  You know cats and birds after all. I have always noticed several cats that wander our block, occasionally walking into our back yard.  I've even seen one or two stare at me as I get in and out of the car in the driveway, but of course, they always run away when I say anything.  Feral cats hate sarcasm, I guess. This all changed a few weeks ago. As regular readers of my blog know, I work weekends.  I also wake up quite early on weekends to get ready for what are usually long days. A few weeks ago, early one Saturday morning, this cat showed up at our door: Later that day, I put out a small bowl out and filled it with ...

Today, December 9th, is one of the most important dates in the history of my life. On this date, and day, back in 2000, I brought Tyler home from Little Shelter.  Seventeen years.  Just like that.  WHOOSH, it's almost two decades later.   I'm big on commemorating important dates.  Always have.  I've never been one to let important dates go by.  Whether a good event or bad event happened on those dates, I stop and remember.  I reflect.  I reminisce.  Speaking of remembering, let's re-live that very day, shall we?  Here's a re-post of the blog I wrote, describing that very day I brought Tyler home for the first time.   We pick up our story at just the very moment my mother and father met Tyler for the first time, my mother remarking how "serious" Tyler looked....... Saturday, December 9th, 2000 “What does that mean?” I asked my mother.  Serious?  A cat doesn’t smile, they ALWAYS look serio...

Coming soon, to a cat movie friendly theater near you....or at least in this blog....

The other day.....a Miles Davis song came on while I was playing an Apple Music in my office. What does my mind turn to when Miles comes on? Yes, you're right.  Tyler. More than any cat I've owned, Tyler loved music. Human music. I've read some studies that suggest that cats don't care much for human music, and perhaps that's true. Not my Tyler.  He loved human tunes. Ever since I listened to my first song at....who knows how young, my music tastes have been varied and eclectic.  From Beethoven to Metallica, and everything in between, I listen to it all.  Naturally, having spent 14 of his 15 years with me, Tyler got exposed to a lot of music over the years.  Tyler definitely reacted to the music I would listen to.  Not all cats do, indeed none of the cats that have "owned me" since Tyler ever had quite the same reaction as he did when I would blast music in our home. Different types of music would get different types of reactions out of him...

My beloved Tiger, the original "sweetums," would have been 16 this week. As I do every year, I like to commemorate the occasion by re-posting the blog I wrote a few years ago about how Tyler and I met Tiger.  This is a long one, so grab your favorite snack, your favorite device to read this on, and enjoy! Tiger . Let's talk about.....Tiger.  Tyler's brother from another cat-mother. The original "sweetums." Isn't his name Tiger? Yes. So why did I call him "sweetums?" I can't pinpoint the actual day I gave him that nickname, but one day I just started calling Tiger sweetums and it stuck.  He was a sweetums.  He was the sweetest most gentle soul I ever came across, he stole my heart and Tyler's as well. Anyway, here's how we met. By the summer of 2008, Tyler had turned 9.  He was still the lovable curmudgeon I always knew, but the first signs of "senior-itis" were starting to creep in.  He had los...