Spotted Cat Designs

Today is the 9th anniversary of the day Panther came to live with us (nine is a special number for cats, the way ten is special for humans). Since he is First Cat, this is also the anniversary of the beginning of cats being part of our family. Dates before this are considered B.C. (Before Cats) and after this C.E. (Cat Era).

Panther is still sleek, beautiful, black, and very special, as befits a cat who was able to call out to me telepathically as I walked through the county shelter, probably just days before they would have taken him out of this world. That’s pretty special indeed, because as cat listeners go, I’m pretty much deaf.

Panther is by far our oldest cat but still manages to get a twinkle in his eye and chase Jennifur around the living room every two or three weeks

Today at work one of the pet groomers came to me and said she had a small kitten that needed a home, would I like to see her?

I was on lunch break, so I asked her to bring the kitten (who was kenneled in our grooming salon). Everyone at work knows I have cats. OK, read "sucker for hard luck cases" But where did you get her and why can’t you keep her…? Questions and more questions.
(more…)

In the last few weeks, we’ve noticed that it was becoming increasingly difficult to tell Nightstar and Panther apart. While it’s true young Nightstar has put on weight, she really wasn’t stocky like Panther. On the other hand, Panther seemed to be shrinking. So off he went to our wonderful local vets.

We were warned that the test results might show anything from diabetes to kidney disease, based on their observation that he had lost 2 pounds in 2 months. We were worried, because he’s our oldest (and first!) cat.

Well, today we found out he has diabetes, and apparently we “caught it” before things got really bad. So we’re learning all sorts of new stuff and learning to give insulin shots (or “jabs” as they call it in England), and Panther is going to have to cut down on soft drinks and candy (only kidding!). And chances are he’ll be able to keep living with us for a long time, as long as we take care of him properly.

If you find yourself having to deal with feline diabetes too, we’ve found some really good resources at VeterinaryPartner.com and FelineDiabetes.com.

Well, we went and did it again again.

This time we went and rescued two kittens at once. Yin and Yang are brothers and needless to say, they are adorable:

(more…)

Cat Insults

Some of the things our cats say to each other are rather nasty. No wonder cats are renowned for getting into fights!

(more…)

Glory continues to show much interest in that chair I was mentioning in my last post. Right now she’s sitting on it without the slightest regard for the fact that today I sat down there first

Today she spent the day in Steven’s room, lying on a down sleeping bag that was just so cozy she barely moved in 6 hours. I came in to visit and she romantically bit my hair…sigh.

Last night I never did get to sleep. I stayed up all night working on fixing various problems with various websites, and then at 4:30 AM, drove Scott to school so he could sign up for a driving class (last month, Susan drove him to school at 6 AM and he didn’t get in!).

Finally I went to sleep around 5:30, secure and happy in the knowledge that Glory (who had slept on a chair all night) was cuddled up next to me. Various people and cats poked at me during the morning hours, but I valiantly ignored them all and slept till a reasonable 2:30 PM or so.

After I actually was walking around the house, Jennifur reasonably wanted to know where the hell I had been for so long. The interesting thing was that she was vocalizing, which she has done very rarely since she came to live with us. I realized she’s been doing that more often lately, and so I told her out loud that I liked to hear from her. She immediately started in with more and more meowing, which made me laugh happily because she really does enjoy pleasing me.

Today Steven went to visit one of his friends, who just got a Siamese-mix kitten. I went to pick him up and ended up picking her up (the kitten, that is). Her name is Marshmallow, which fits because she’s mostly white and has the most incredible soft fluffy fur…not like a Persian but kind of "springy", although it’s not curled up like a Cornish Rex. I held her and she was quite a purrball!

Of course, when I got home, I had to reassure both Glory and Jennifur that they were beautiful and wonderful. They tend not to be jealous in general but take no chances when it comes to cute female kittens!

Charger — My Birthday Cat

Right now they are snuggled up, Charger stretched out on our bed and Glory nestled leaning against him, her head on his broad back. We would never have believed this could happen a year ago…

(more…)

How Jennifur Came To Live With Us

(more…)

How Glory Came to Live with Us

Finding our first purebred cat was an interesting experience, and much more pleasant than, say, buying a car.

(more…)