Heimdall's Phone Conversations

Heimdall writes:

Two years ago, when Mommy was talking with Grammy on the phone, I asked to purr my motorboat purr for her, and then hung up on her by pawing the phone!  I've only done that one time since, and it was when I was purring for Great-Grandma (Mommy's dad's mom).  She heard my purrs, and all of a sudden she was listening to the dial tone!  Mommy called her right back and explained what happened, and everyone got a good laugh out of it.

I love to purr for everyone on the phone!  If Mommy's talking with someone, I immediately hop up onto the desk and start purring, then reach for Mommy's hand or for the phone itself.  She holds it for me and I purr, sometimes listening to the person on the other end talk to me.  When I'm listening to the person talk, I stop purring, then I start again when it's my turn to "talk".

Sometimes, if it's Mommy's dad, he talks in Norwegian to me.  I don't understand many of the words he uses, but I understand his meaning.  Then he purrs back to me!  I back away from the phone and look at Mommy, telling her that he's making that weird noise again!  I guess it's purring, of some sort, but he's a human so he shouldn't be purring.  That's my sound to make to him!

Saying Goodbye to Grandma

This is one of our favorite pictures of Grandma.  That's who the little girl was in our Wordless Wednesday post this week!  Grandma was Mommy's mommy, and she was living with us for the last 7 months.  She died of cancer on August 8th, so we're very sad about that.  There have been a lot of changes around here lately, things moving around, people coming in and out, meeting new people who are relatives whom we've never seen before, and different schedules.

Our purrents say we're a houseful of therapy cats, which is a good thing!  Having Tabby in our family has taught us all to be mindful of our purrents' emotions and behaviors, so when they first heard the news, we all offered ourselves to be petted and to purr for them.  Grandpa (Mommy's dad, who was divorced from Grandma ages ago) came over and immediately got three lap-sitters!  We've all been extremely snuggly and attentive to Mommy and Daddy and social with other people who have come by to offer help and condolences.

Heimdall was the closest to Grandma, and became her "furry doctor".  He would sneak into her room to do his rounds, walking under the desk, then around to check out underneath the hospital bed, then walk to the far wall and look up at her when she was lying in bed.  Then, most of the time, he'd go under the rocking chair and have to be caught to be taken out of the room.  If Grandma was in the rocking chair, he'd go over to her for pets.  None of us could be on Grandma's lap, because she had cancer and so her immune system was compromised by the chemo and radiation.  After she died, Heimdall went in to do his rounds and was very concerned when he didn't see her on the bed.  He hopped up onto the bed and immediately shrunk because he could tell she hadn't been there for a week.  She had been in the hospital for a few days before she died, so by the time Heimdall went into her room it had been almost two weeks since she'd last slept in her bed.  Heimdall immediately let Mommy pick him up and snuggle him, then Freya came over to lick him on the head when he was set in the hallway.  He still pulls on Grandma's door at least twice a day, hoping that she'll reappear.

Tabby is the only one of us who knew that humans could die.  She'd encountered death smells and "not there" smells, as well as ministered to dying friends on her visits, so she's been trying to help the rest of us through this.  However, without direct experience, it's hard for us to visualize one of our people being "not there".  It's a different "not there" than when fosters have been adopted.  This "not there" leaves an empty place that's sad, instead of a happy-sad one, and we don't like it.

Mommy let us smell the death smells on Grandma's things when they were retrieved from the hospital, but that only helped a little.  Human death smells, while similar, are still different enough from kitty death smells that we don't know if what we smelled really was a death smell.  Our purrents say it was, but we can't be sure.  All we know is that our third purrson is missing from our lives.

We love you, Grandma!  We miss you very much, and wish you were here to give us leg pets and hand pets, knit blankets for us, and tell us how much you love us, too.  If you were here, Heimdall would purr his best motorboat purr for you!  We know you are at the Bridge, so we will see you again.  We hope your spirit will come visit us like the spirits of our furry family members Skylar and Spooky.

Stephanie Thompson

July 20, 1948 to

August 8, 2014

Wordless Wednesday: Remembering

Scaredy Missy and scaredy humans!

Missy writes:

I almost made a break for it three times yesterday! *shudders* Grandma was not closing the door in decent time and not realizing she wasn't closing the door all the way. Daddy and Mommy both yelled at her for it, but she understood why. Daddy held me in his arms while Grandma and Mommy did fireworks in the driveway. They couldn't go any further away (like to a parking lot or some such place) due to health issues, but they could be outside the house. They felt really bad that it scared me, though. None of the others reacted badly. Most liked the lights in the sky!

Have a happy & safe Fourth!!!

 


Wow!  Happy Independence Day, America!  We're thankful that we live in this great country, where our people have so many freedoms!  That means they also have the freedom to be our purrents, and we have the freedom to live and be chosen as their fur family.

Today is very special for Mommy and her parents (our grandpurrents) every year, because before Mommy was born, she jumped around in Grandma's tummy when the big booms went off during the firework show!  She wasn't supposed to be born until September, but she was just too excited to come out to see what all that racket was about!  Her birthday's not for a little over a week, though.  So she waited a little while.  Growing up, Mommy's parents told her that story as part of the 4th of July celebration each year, and everyone still smiles about it now.  So for her, it's part and parcel of what the 4th is all about.

Enjoy the food, festivities, and fun!  Don't get too scared of the fireworks, make sure your purrents give you a safe place to be during the big booms, and keep your collar on (and keep inside) with all the excitement!

Happy Purrthday to our Carbon!

Carbon writes:

Oh, hi!  Um, what am I doing?  I'm watching Grandma and waiting for some yummies to be given to me for a birthday treatie.  Grandma eats the same things I like:  butterscotch pudding, jam on bread, cream cheese, ham, yogurt, and other people food treats.  There are a few things she eats that I don't like or can't have, but not many!  Whenever she is in the kitchen, she turns around to find me either sitting on this little stool or sitting on the floor looking up at her, waiting patiently for my treat.  I don't get more than just a taste, but it's enough!  Yummy!

We've been enjoying some warm weather lately, so the fans have been going.  I like to be in front of the box fan, letting the wind blow through my fur.  Last night, I wanted to play hide-and-seek and I chose to hide behind the fan!  I thought it was the best hiding place ever, and was so surprised when Mommy found me there!  What's your favorite hiding place?

I'm going to play, play, play, and get a yummy treat for my 9th birthday!

Feral Friday with Tigress

Tigress writes:

Hi everyone!  I know it's been a long time since I've done a Feral Friday post, but I've got some exciting news to share!  The Grandma person is an ok person!  She gives treats, foot pets, talks softly to me, doesn't chase me, and even will come let me out if I ask nicely enough!

At first, I was scared of her when she moved in a couple months ago.  The other cats love her and she'll even pet them occasionally.  I was scared of her, though.  I don't even know why, except that she was a new human.  She didn't do anything scary, but she was just there.  I didn't like being in the house with her, and would ask for out whenever I realized I was sharing the same house with her.  She tried and tried to show me she was nice, and my purrents told me I was safe and they wouldn't ever bring anyone around who would hurt me.  I believe them, but it still scared me.

I saw how nice Grandma was to the other kitties, though.  She would often pet them with her legs or with her feet, and thank them for giving her leg pets (winding around her legs) and wanting to sit with her (even though she can't have them on her lap due to being sick).  I would hear her coughing and would get wide-eyed, going to Mommy or Daddy for reassurance, but after a couple weeks I wasn't wanting out right away when I would see Grandma.  I would watch her from a chair under the dining-room table or from my comfy chair in the bedroom, then want out when she saw where I was.  I wouldn't hide from her, though, unless she was walking toward me.

One day, the twins had a birthday!  We all celebrated by having a big treat!  I didn't know what it was, but the others were very excited about it, and were milling around Grandma in the kitchen.  She got Mommy to help her open a can of something.  I hung out in the hallway and watched, wondering.  Mommy took out plates and showed Grandma how to spoon out the something onto each plate.  Then Mommy set the plates down on the floor in the dining room!

Feast time!  The others invited me to join them, but I said no because I didn't know what the treat was.  It smelled kind of good, but I wanted to watch them eat to make sure it was safe.  They told me it was something called "tuna" and it was a fish.  What fish comes out of a can?  I catch the little fish in the marsh sometimes, but they don't swim around in cans!

You can see in the picture how we social-eat.  Dare and Starla are sharing a plate, Missy's eating by herself, Panther's eating by himself, Carbon only eats by himself because he tends to be food-agressive, the twins are sharing a plate, Tabby's eating out of a can, and Little Bit's waiting her turn.  At this point, I was still in the hallway (the first picture).

Mommy brought a plate down the hallway to Rori so she could have some of the tuna treat, also.  She likes it, but she didn't want to brave the mob in the dining room any more than I did!  Grandma stayed in the kitchen and made herself something yummy with the tuna, too.  She put something else in it and mixed it up, then put it on bread for a sandwich.  Heimdall went in to see if she had some more for him, but she had mixed the remainder for her food, so he came back out and licked a can.

I finally got up the courage to go social-eat and found out the tuna was yummy!  Wow!  Do you see me over in the top left?  I'm trying to get to the plate with Freya and social-eat with her.  Dare decided to share the plate that Missy was eating from, and Little Bit got the can that Tabby had.  Tabby got another can that she and Heimdall shared.

After that tuna treat, I decided that Grandma must be an ok person.  I let her pet me once, and almost have come in the door when she's tried to let me inside.  About a week ago, I wanted out and she was the only human awake.  It was my hunting-time, around 5 or 6 in the morning.  That's when the mice and the birds are sleepy, so I can catch them more easily.  I went over to Grandma, who was in the kitchen, and wound around her legs, talking to her.  She thought I was Tabby at first, because she does the same thing when Grandma's in the kitchen.  Nope!  She looked at my paws and saw that it was I instead of Tabby!  She asked me if I wanted out, so I walked over to the door and pawed it.  She walked over and opened the door for me.  I looked at her and meowed once, then ran out like I normally do.  Thank you, Grandma person!

Since then, I've said hi to her most of the time and she's let me outside a few times more.  Today, I even went down the hall to her room to wait outside the door until she came out!  Hi, Grandma!

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary to Starla!

Starla writes:

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary to me!  I remember the day I was gotcha'd by my forever family!  I had wintered out the ice storm in their basement and it was finally starting to be spring.  I was coming inside to visit them frequently, along with the rest of my biological family (Smokey, Little Bit, and Boo-Boo Kitty).  Smokey and I were both in heat, so my forever purrents asked the people who actually owned me (two doors down) if they could adopt us, and the people said yes.  Smokey became a foster, and was then adopted to Mommy Erin and became her forever kitty.  I was going to be a foster, but something wonderful happened!  Besides getting spayed, that is, which in itself was a wonderful thing.  Not the surgery, but the fact that I didn't have to worry about that anymore.

The wonderful thing that happened was this:

I was brought inside so that I could have my surgery the next day.  After my surgery, Skylar curled around me on the futon and looked up at our purrents, pleading with his eyes for permission to keep me.  How could they deny him this wish, when he'd lost his sister a few months before, and we'd all lost Sara Kitty a few weeks before?  Of course, they told him that he could adopt me as his kitty!  Yep, that's right!  I was adopted by another kitty!

Here we are snuggling together, just after Skylar asked Mommy and Daddy if he could keep me!

He and I were best buddies until he went to the Bridge a few years ago.  Now, my best buddies are Rori, the twins, and Panther.  I live in the bathroom (yes, I "graduated" from my isolation room due to the Prozac helping my anxiety) and have my own special cave in there under the sink cabinet.  And, guess what?  I don't even need the Prozac anymore!  I haven't taken any for the last month and a half!  I'm going to celebrate my gotcha day anniversary by going to eat with the other kitties in the dining room, venturing into the living room to use the scratcher, and greeting Grandma in the hallway when she gets up!  Grandma gave us tuna a couple days ago, and I even went out to eat it with everyone else, sharing a plate with Dare!

News Repurrt: Feral Friday, Weather Watch, and New Visitors!

Rori writes:

See how much snow we've gotten?  It all has fallen within the last 16 hours, at the time of purring this repurrt.  We were supposed to get about 5 inches yesterday, but I think we got more than that!  I'm happy that my clowder stays inside and Tigress joins us on days like this.

Tigress writes:

I'm glad, too, Auntie Rori!  Although, I had a lot of fun squishing the snow between my paws to make little snowballs on the deck earlier, and pounced around a lot, but that's before it got as deep as it is.  And as cold as it is!  I slept under the rose bushes for a while, but then I got too much snow on me, so I moved to sleep behind the spare tire that's leaning up against the wall.  That way, I didn't get too much snow on my fur.  I much prefer sleeping inside, though!

I've wanted to stay outside a lot of the time for two reasons, and both have to do with visitors!  There's an orange kitty that's been hanging around in my territory, and I've got to show him that he's trespassing!  Daddy saw him two nights ago, but the kitty didn't stay to be seen long.  Good!  This is my house and my yard.  Daddy says I need to share for a while until they can see if the kitty needs taking care of or if it has a home.  It can't have this home, though.

The other visitor is inside, and she's actually not a true visitor.  She's moved in.  Her name's Grandma.  I've made a meowing acquaintance with her through the back door, and seen her sometimes when I've been inside, but new humans really scare me.  I always ask my purrents for out when I see her.  She tries to not scare me, but it will be a while until I get used to her.

Heimdall writes:

Oh, Tigress!  You don't need to worry about Grandma!  She's very nice and loves all of us.  She calls us her grandcats, which we are, and she makes stuff for us.  She gives us blankies she's made, and pets us with her feet (which I know you like).  She can't pet us with her hands right now because she's not feeling well, but she finds other ways to let us know she loves us.  She's moved into the room with the big bed, but Daddy sleeps on the couch and Mommy sleeps on the little bed, so you can still snuggle with them!  That's what the rest of us do.  We wish we were allowed in Grandma's room, but we can't be up on the bed or chairs or snuggle with her.  Even Carbon waits outside the room until he knows she's asleep before continuing with his evening!  Rori has let Grandma see her, and that's saying a lot!

Thankful Thursday: Heimdall's Need to Purr

Heimdall writes:

Gramma's not feeling well.  She hasn't been to see us in a couple months, because she's taking some medicine but can't risk infection from a lot of things, including potential contamination from our litter box.  She doesn't want to take the chance, even though it's a low risk.  I miss seeing her!  I know she's not feeling well, so when I hear Mommy talking with her on the phone I sit nearby.

One time, Mommy put the phone to me so Gramma could hear me doing my two-tone motorboat purr for her.  Then I hung up the phone by pawing it!  "I love you, Gramma!  Bye!"  The last two times I've sat by Mommy when she's talking with Gramma on the phone, I've made my needs known very forcefully.  The time before last, I took one of Mommy's knuckles in my mouth to tell her I didn't want pets.  I got in trouble for it, but then I asked the phone by putting my paw on it like Tabby does to ask.  Mommy realized what I wanted, so she held the phone to me while I purred for Gramma and she talked to me.  The last time, I ME-YOWWW-ed at Mommy to give me the phone, NOWWW!!!  She did, and I purred for Gramma again.

Gramma loves my purrs and says they help her feel better.  I love my gramma!

Of Vishus Deer, Birdies, and Visiting

Tabby writes:

We've had a crazy week here at the PDX pride!  On Monday, Auntie Diane had back surgery at the same hospital where Daddy had his back surgery.  That meant that I could go visit her!  Mommy and Daddy took me there on Tuesday.  I snuggled right by Auntie Diane on her bed, purred, and got lots of petting.  Auntie Diane was so impressed with my visiting skills, and so were the nursing staff who came to take her for x-rays.  This was a special visit because it was for a family member and I could ride in an air-conditioned vehicle (not the bus).  My regular visiting schedule starts up again next month, when it won't be so hot out.

Miss Marble climbed a tree to go blue jay hunting on Thursday!  Yep, all the way to the top of our dead apple tree out back!  Of course, by the time she got to the top, the jay was long-gone.  Bummers.  I was watching out the kitchen window, and chattered at the jay as it flew off.  Miss Marble yelled for Mommy to come get her out of the tree, but Mommy said she could do it all by herself.  And, guess what?  She did!  She turned herself around and went back down the branch to the trunk.  By that time, Tigress had woken up.  Tigress bounded over to the tree, then put on the brakes when she realized that her sis was up there.  They talked for a few minutes, then Tigress shook her head at her crazy sister and went off to hunt her own food.  Miss Marble came the rest of the way down the tree.  Can you see her in the pics below?  I'll give you the two big pictures, then close-ups of the pictures.

Friday, Daddy looked out the back window and saw Tigress with a baby birdie in her mouth.  It was still alive, and Tig was playing with it.  She let it go, then batted it, then caught it again.  She brought it up to the deck to show Daddy, but he didn't want her playing with it up there.  He opened the door to make her drop the birdie, and in it came!  We had a baby birdie in the house!  We all were so excited, but Heimdall and Little Bit were the most excited.  They started to hunt it, stalking it as it ran around the house looking for a way out.  Daddy got down on hands and knees, trying to capture it, and finally succeeded.  He took it out to the back fence and let it go, telling it that it had better run away quickly.  It ran for a little while, then took off flying.

Yesterday, Daddy, Mommy, and I went to Goble to see how Auntie Diane was doing.  I met her mom and their new doggie, Timber.  Timber barks very loudly!  He's just a puppy, and was doing his best to guard his people from us.  Auntie Diane told him we were ok, but he didn't agree, so he got crated.  I, however, was very calm and curled up on the couch between Auntie Diane and Mommy.  Everyone was so proud of me!  After the visit with them, we went to Gramma and Grampa's.  They live in the town where I was born:  Clatskanie.  I wasn't born in their yard, but that's the same town.  I got pets from Gramma while she and Mommy talked.  Grampa and Daddy did stuff on the computer.  I saw two of their kitties:  Elizabeth and Eeyore.  Pinky was around then, too, but he didn't come out to be seen.  They are all three 12 years old!  That's really old for kitties!

When we left, it was dark.  Daddy knows to drive slower in the dark around there, because there are deer that can run onto the road.  Well, guess what happened?  Yep, a deer ran in front of the car.  He ran to the middle of the road, then just stood there.  We thought we were going to be safe and drive past him, since he was facing away from us and the other side of the road was clear.  Nope, he turned around and came toward us again.  He ran right into Daddy's side of the car!  He hit the door and the front of the car, leaving a big dent.  He also pooped on the car!  It was really scary, and I saw the whole thing because I was standing on Mommy's purse!  Can you believe that deer got back up after it hit us and ran into the woods?  We went back to Gramma and Grampa's so Grampa could check on the car.  We ended up switching the car for the truck (since Grampa owns both vehicles) and drove back home in the truck.  We were all so glad to be back home again safely!

Doggie Dash 2010

Tabby writes:

No, we don't have a dog.  However, I love to stroll and love dogs, so Mommy asked the Oregon Humane Society if we could participate in the Doggie Dash this year.  They said yes, and to our surprise said that another lady brings her cat and does the walk/run with the cat around her shoulders!  We didn't see the lady & cat this year, but heard from many people that she was there again.

So, on Saturday the stroller was packed into Mommy's mom's car, I was harnessed and ready, and water, food, and other essentials were along.  It was a beautiful day, one of the first sunny, warm days we've had since the start of the year, at a high of 74 degrees F.

There was a run, a 2 1/2 mile walk, and a 1 1/2 mile walk.  We participated in the 2 1/2 mile walk.  All three went from downtown Portland, OR, USA, along the Willamette River on the west side, then the longer walk and the run went over a bridge, along the other side of the river, and back over another bridge to the starting point.  A wonderful, scenic route, with lots of photo ops for those who chose to do so!  Everything was untimed, so you could go at your own pace.

SO MANY PEOPLE!!!  The Doggie Dash is now in its 23rd year, with major publicity, but we still were surprised at the amount of people involved.  My friend Diana and I had talked about meeting before the race started, but neither of us could find the other!  At one point, we even lost where Grandma was, and she and Mommy had to call each other on their cell phones and leave messages as to where we were, because of course it was too noisy to hear the cell phones ring!

There was a pancake breakfast before the race started.  I didn't want any, but Mommy said it was good.  At the butter & syrup table, there was even a plate of pancakes with a note that said, "Doggy Cakes"!  After she ate, we walked around to a few of the vendors.  One vendor, LexiDog Boutique, had special t-shirts for sale with "Doggie Dash" on them and the logo, so I got a pink one.  Lexi's mom, who owns and operates the store, told us the shirts stretched, and thought maybe the medium would fit me, but the large fit me best.  I wore it until we got done with the walk, then it was too hot for me to wear a shirt.

We saw a group of people stopping to take pictures along the walking route, so we asked a volunteer from the Oregon Humane Society to take one of us.  I would NOT look at the camera, though!

While we were doing the walk, or should I say Mommy was doing the walk and I was riding in my stroller, we got mixed reactions from the other people and dogs.  Some people questioned whether I should be there, two dogs didn't like me (but Mommy pulled the stroller back when she saw them react to my scent from a safe distance and kept everyone safe), but then we had others who thought that it was great that we were there.  That's the normal mix we get when we go out anywhere.  I got kisses and tongue baths from five or six dogs, nose touches, and some tried to sniff my rear end.  No reaction from me, of course, except I did hiss at one that kept on too long, but other than that I let the dogs sniff and lick away, and sniffed them back.  Mommy said I was a good girl during the whole day!  :)

Three dogs had never seen a cat before in their lives, so their owners asked if they could introduce the dogs to me and see their reaction.  Two of those dogs licked me, one touched noses with me, but one could've cared less!  It was like it was saying, "Oh, THAT'S a cat?  So???"  Looked, then sniffed the grass.  Another dog was afraid of wheels, but we ended up walking by her during a lot of the time and she didn't even flinch at the stroller or at various bikes that went by!  Her mom was so proud of her!  We were also a landmark for a couple people as we were strolling, hearing every so often:  "I'm right by/behind the cat!"  We met some therapy dogs and complimented each other on the good work that we do.  Of course, the other animal-assisted therapy team people were nonplussed about a cat working, because they know the training required for it, and their dogs ignored the fact that there was a cat in the stroller, because they knew that they weren't supposed to react.

The 2 1/2 miles took us an hour and 10 minutes.  After the walk, Grandma, Mommy, and I strolled around to all the vendors and also watched sheepdog trials.  Mommy had a border collie/Aussie shepherd/golden retriever mix when she was growing up, so she still loves to watch them "work", even if it's for show.

I was getting very warm, so Mommy took my pink shirt off me.  Mommy was going to cool me down with water and get me into the shade, and a couple people who stopped to pet me had commented on that as well, but then she saw a vendor that was selling cooling collars!  I now have a blue cooling collar made by Outward Hound, and I LOVE it!  It's got crystals in it that expand when it's soaked, so they keep the water and the cold.  It's the same system as the bandannas that are available for people.  The vendor, PetUtopia, was also selling cooling vests, but Mommy thought that would be a bit much for me.  I'm very glad they had the cooling collars, though, because they were the only ones who had anything like that for sale!  With the warm weather, we were surprised that none of the other vendors had thought about that.

I cooled right off with my new collar, and meowed at Mommy to re-soak it when it started drying out again two hours later.  I posed proudly for a few pictures that other participants took, and some that are for the official Doggie Dash photo page.  Volunteers walked around and took pictures of participants and vendors, then the pictures will go up on a website.  Prints will be available for $5 each from the Oregon Humane Society, and all proceeds will go towards the shelter programs.

At one point, I saw a welcoming patch of grass in the shade and sat up very tall in my stroller, wanting to stop so I could jump out.  Mommy stopped, and I walked into the Woodin' You booth, with its food/water bowls & pet beds.  Belly-down in the cool grass, with Mommy holding the end of my leash, I crossed my paws and closed my eyes, taking a little time out from all the activity around me.  After a few minutes, I got some visitors who sniffed and licked me, and some who petted me.  The person who was running the booth let us be in there for as long as we wanted and didn't comment on it, instead just smiled and went about helping customers.  When I was done resting for a bit, I sat up again and Mommy got a really good pic of me.  Then she picked me up and put me back in the stroller.

We went to a couple more booths, then found Grandma again and left.  We stopped for food on the way home, went to the Vancouver side of the Columbia River to a park to eat, where Mommy soaked my collar again, then went home.  All the other cats sniffed EVERYTHING all over when we got back, of course!  I was SO tired, so after some food and a litter box trip, I took a long nap!

Photo Friday: Grandmother

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