Category Archives: Pets

It’s a Girl!

No, we didn’t have a baby. At least not a human one. We did add to our family though. Meet Miss Oswin!

Oswin at 8 weeks

Oswin at 8 weeks

Two weeks ago, our Monday started off like any other day. Then, I had an errand to the grocery store. And when I arrived, there was a mother and daughter giving away the last kitten from a litter of five. And, she looked so cute. And I texted my husband and daughter (the real cat lovers) about her. And I went into the store and debated the pros and cons of bringing her home. And then decided that if she was still out front when I left the store, I’d bring her home. Well, she had already been given away when I left the store. So I figured that it was meant to be, and I would go about the rest of my day, getting that little kitten out of my thoughts.
Then, my husband went to our friend’s house. This friend tends to have a lot of cats and kittens on his property. Kevin sent me a text about this cute little Tortie kitten. So Heather and I assumed that he would be bringing her home and we’d have a new kitten after all. He didn’t. However, he did go back to our friend’s house later in the evening, and this time, he did come home with her.
Her name is “Oswin”, after the latest companion in the “Dr. Who” show. I thought that it was a cool name, for a cat. She seems to have adapted to our house and family really well. She’s a pro at using the litter box and has become quite the hovering mooch when we sit down to eat. The other cats are getting used to having her around. They’re 9 years old and aren’t as active as this new little gal is. Oscar seems to be the one who is most accepting of her. He sort of watches out for her, but also lets her know when she’s overstepping her boundaries without hissing or smacking her. IMG_6248 Welcome to the family Oswin!

Elizabeth

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A Glitch?

This is Aslan

Alert!

Alert!

Pampered

Pampered

Hides from loud noises (like fireworks)

Hides from loud noises (like fireworks)

Guards the house

Guards the house

IMG_4320Is this Aslan?

Nope!  This is Aslan’s doppelganger!

When we first saw him, we thought it was Aslan, but soon realized that he wasn’t.  We call him “Glitch” after a scene in “The Matrix” where Neo saw  two identical cats walk by the same doorway.  When he told Trinity what he had seen, she asked, “Was it a different cat or the same cat?”  If it was the same cat, then that was an indicator that there was a glitch in the Matrix.

We have no idea what his name is, but “Glitch” works for us 🙂

Elizabeth

The Entitled Feline

The weather here in Oregon is making that odd transition from Summer to Fall.  We have mornings that are overcast, chilly and rainy followed by afternoons full of sunshine (though still a bit chilly), and finally moving into evenings that have enough of a chill to justify a fire in the fireplace and a hot beverage.

On this sunny/chilly morning, our cat, “Paws” (or “Crazy Panther” as our son has been calling him) thought it might be nice to catch some rays through the window, before the cloud cover comes back.

I’m sure that he’s happy that our window sills are wide enough for him to lay on.

 

 

 

 

 

Such a proud, entitled sunbather……..

 

 

 

 

 

 

“No more pictures thank you!”                                                                                                                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“This is my spot.  No one else is allowed to sunbathe here!”  Maybe we should have named him “Sheldon”

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth

The Rain Has Arrived

Finally, it’s feeling like Fall, and we’re experiencing the weather that Oregon is known for.   The rain has come.   Last night, we finally had a downpour, which I like to listen to as the rain lands on our roof.  It makes me want to curl up on the couch with some tea and either watch a movie or read a good book.  When I go to bed, it lulls me to sleep.

For Oscar, the rain provides him with more places to get a drink.

Elizabeth

Indoor Life

We aren’t the only ones who are adjusting to our new surroundings.  We have cats who are adjusting as well.  Adjusting to having to be in the garage or inside the house for a while so they can become acclimated to the scents of the house, so hopefully, when they go outdoors, they won’t wander off.  They are currently not very happy about this arrangement.   They are “outdoorsy”, especially at this time of year.

They look out of the windows and wonder, “Why can’t I go outside?” “I saw a chicken walk by and I would love to check it out!”

So all they really can do while indoors, is eat, sleep, do their “business” and bathe.  The last on that list is usually done in the presence of family.   Then they are offended if you notice, or at least they look peeved.  “A little privacy please!   And I’m going to confiscate your camera if you don’t put it away!”
Elizabeth

Miss “Fonzie”

 Originally posted on my old blog on April 19, 2010)

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted any blog and since I have some recent pictures of Fonzie, I thought that I’d go ahead and post them as well as the little story of how we acquired her.

About 3 years ago, when we already had 3 young cats, this black & white cat started showing up in our yard regularly.  It tended to like to nap under our shrubs a lot.  We also were keeping our cats’ food outside as well, so that may have been the main reason that this new cat kept showing up.

One Saturday, Kevin and Heather thought that they could coax her to come into the house and hopefully make her a pet.

Once she was in our home, it didn’t take her long to figure out that she had it made, and from that time, she has made herself at home anywhere and everywhere in our house!

Obviously, by now, she has acclimated to her new home very well, as she seems to feel free to lay in our window sill all of the time (the problem with her sleeping in the windowsill is that after she falls asleep, she falls out of the window, unplugging our DVD player on the way down, after which, she jumps right back up to repeat the process 5-10 minutes later).

Heather gave this new cat the name of “Fonzie”.  I have no idea what made her think of this name (especially since the cat is female) as she’s never seen an episode of “Happy Days”.  Heather just thought it sounded good.

“Are you still here with that camera?  Go away, you bother me!”

(really, she isn’t as mad as she looks, however my father-in-law will pester her sometimes to see if she’ll become as mad as she looks).

Lp

Our Furry Family Members Part 2: Aslan

(originally posted to my old blog on January 22, 2010)

I had intended to post a blog about one of our cats every Thursday, however, with the holidays, I was busy.  So this brief entry is about the second cat we acquired, Aslan.

Soon after we had acquired “Paws”,  my husband decided that he wanted a cat of his own.   So one Saturday afternoon, he checked the classifieds for a kitten.  He found one way out in the country about an hour drive from our house.  The lady who was giving him away had several other kittens and cats and her house smelled like it.  This particular kitten, Kevin chose and since he had been allowed to run around a lot outside, he was kind of wild.    So we brought home this wild kitten, and introduced him to Paws.  As to be expected, there was a lot of hissing between the two.  It lasted for about a week.  While this was going on, we tried to find a name for him.  The choices were narrowed down to “Aslan” and “Maverick”.  Obviously, “Aslan” won.
To this day, he is still a “wildish” cat.  The only time he looks relaxed, is when he’s asleep.    Every waking moment he has the wide eyed, wild expression.    As for being Kevin’s cat, he actually likes and has bonded with Heather more (and Kevin has bonded with Heather’s cat ).

This cat has several nicknames.  “Az”, “Spaz”, “Azzie Wazzie” (to name a few).  However the oddest name was given by our son.  He started calling the cat “Mr. Dodie”.  On my mother’s side of the family, “dodie” was something that you did in the bathroom.  It was what my Scottish grandmother (who didn’t have an accent) called it because it’s what her Scottish mother (who did have an accent) called it, and it’s what we taught our kids to call it (it sounded less crude).   After awhile,  my son just started using the crude name and now calls this poor clean cat, “Mr. Poop”.

The Cat Chronicles: “Paws II”

(Originally posted on my old blog on December 10, 2009)
Just a note to start this entry. I am really not a cat person. I grew up with dogs (we had some farm cats, but I didn’t care for them because they scratched more than the dogs did). My dad had Dachshunds, so I guess I’m more of a “little dog” person. However, I married a cat person. My husband has always had a cat (and he has plenty of cat stories of his own). Those cat loving genes were passed on to our daughter as well. So for the rest of my life, I will probably have a cat living in my house.

Apparently, according to this picture, all you can really tell about Paws is that he’s totally black and that his eyes were open when the flash went off. We currently have 5 cats in our house, and they each have some interesting personalities, so I thought I’d devote a blog entry for each one.

So, as the title states, this one is about Heather’s cat “Paws”. When Heather was about 6, she started talking about “when I get a kitty, I’m gonna name it Paws”. For three years, we heard about this cat that she was planning on having. She didn’t seem to have any particular kind of cat in mind other than just having one of her own. When she was almost 9, and it was a hot day in July. Heather was coming home from church camp that day. I had gone to the teacher supply store when someone walked in and said that there were some free kittens in front of the grocery store next door. I left the store to check out these kittens, and saw a little orange tabby snoozing amongst the little black fluffy siblings. I made the impulsive decision to take him home (which surprised my husband because impulsively bringing a kitten home is something he would do……and has done). So Heather came home from camp and found this cute kitten in her room, and he was the “Paws” she had waited for. This little guy had a place on her bed to sleep and he even blended in with all of the stuffed animals.

Unfortunately, that little guy didn’t stay with us long. We only had him for a month and he wound up having to be put to sleep. Heather grieved for several days over him. Kevin started to check the newspapers again for free kittens and found an ad for “rubberized” kittens out in the Thurston area of Springfield. So we drove out to see them and see what “rubberized” meant. The lady giving them away demonstrated by holding them in hand, just under their little armpits and sort of dangle them, and swing them a little before cuddling them. They were the most relaxed kittens we’d ever seen. Heather picked out this little black ball of fur with bright blue eyes, and he became “Paws II” (we eventually dropped the “II”). It turned out that he also had a little bit of white fur between two toes, so I guess his name fit.

We brought him home, and discovered that he liked to beg for food (scrambled eggs). He doesn’t do that now. He’s kind of passive. Anytime he sees other cats get into a fight, he likes to go and be a spectator, not a participant. He’s not a mouser, he’d rather play with it, however he is a bird catcher (gross & sad). And I have never seen a cat so proud when he’s being pet, like this one. He acts like he’s the king of the house. He’s also the only cat in the house who may actually figure out how to open the front door to let himself in and out, and it wouldn’t surprise me if, one day, he figures out how to ring the doorbell to let us know that he wants in. He certainly has tried.

Even though he’s Heather’s cat, he seems to have bonded with Kevin more (it’s ok though because Heather has bonded more with Kevin’s cat “Aslan”)

So, that’s the tale about Paws. Not the most exciting or amusing one, just kind of a lazy one.

Lp