Friday, June 16, 2006

Notes from the Cat House

We have always had cats. When Michel and I married she had two cats, Bowie and Bounder. They both lived until they were 18. Cats do pretty well with us because we keep them indoors and take good care of them. Biggles (left) was a cat I found outside a bar when she was a kitten. She was a scrawny little thing covered in fleas (which she gave to the Bowie and Bounder). She was a funny cat and had psychological problems. She once lived in our basement for 3 months because she decided she was terrified of Bowie. We even had her on Prozac for a little while!

Anyway, Biggles was getting old (she was about 18). She had been staying in our bedroom almost all the time lately and didn't seem to be her normal self. And then one day about 6 weeks ago she disappeared and we haven't seen her since. Cats tend to go off by themselves when they are sick so we think Biggles may have sneaked out to find a quiet place to die. Bounder had done that when her kidneys failed but her quiet place was in the basement in Beth's old baby carriage. Anyway, she was an annoying and insane cat but we loved her and will miss her.

We now have four cats. Malibu, Kokie, Inky, and Tuttle. Malibu and Kokie were adopted from the animal shelter a couple of years ago. Malibu was dumped by her previous owners because she has a heart problem and they didn't want to take care of her. She's a grumpy old cat but gets along great with my daughter. Kokie is a younger, long-haired cat who likes to sleep on top of the TV. We got Inky back in November. He is the first male cat we have ever had. We got him as a little kitten from Mikey's Physical Therapist who had found the kittens in her back yard. Inky is the friendliest cat we have ever had. Inky and the dog are best friends and chase each other around the house. The dog likes to clean Inky which means Inky usually smells like a dog. Tuttle is a tiny little kitten that had been left outside of our vet's office. He took care of them until they were old enough to be adopted. Tuttle and her siblings were so tiny they had to be bottle fed. So we now have four cats and a dog. And Michel wants another dog!

6 comments:

Susan said...

I think it's a sign of fine character when people are so good with animals. It sounds like a happy home for all the critters!

Anonymous said...

Let's see: dog, cats, fish... Another dog - no, no, to become a certified level-3 madhouse, you need --

a bird!

Anonymous said...

Did I say "madhouse"? I meant "cat house", of course.

Maxine Clarke said...

I wish I had cat(s). Unfortuately Malcolm is allergic to their hair. We always had cats as children and my my sisters have always had one or two (or more, accidentally, sometimes!).
Another good thing about cats, living in a town with a tiny garden, is that if you own a cat it keeps the garden "unsullied" by other neighbourhood moggies.

Map -- not sure which is worse, a madhouse or a cathouse!

Maxine Clarke said...

Sorry about the nonsensical bit above. I meant to write "now my sisters have cats" ie years later.

Tom P. said...

All our cats are indoor cats so they don't keep the wild cats away. The dog does that when she runs outside and chases them away! ;)