A Very Special Gotcha Day Anniversary!

 

Rainbow writes:

Hi, everyone!!!  I'm glad to meet all of you!  Mommy didn't introduce me when I first came to live here, but I've been here a whole year now!  What a year it's been, too.  I'm so glad to have found my forever family.  Daddy took the picture above, because I am awesome!

This picture was from March 5, 2020, the day I was adopted.  I look a little out-of-it because I had just woken up and was also still recovering from my spay the day before.  I'd also just moved to the Oregon Humane Society from Bonnie Hays Animal Shelter.

*takes a deep breath to slow down a little*

Ok, I'll back up a bit.  I was born in September 2019 somewhere in Oregon, probably in Washington County somewhere.  Things are blurry until someone brought me to Bonnie Hays Small Animal Shelter in January or February of 2020.  I had a really bad upper respiratory infection and had to be in isolation for a long time.  Once I finally recovered from that, due to the awesome care I got there, I was transferred to the Oregon Humane Society.  I wasn't around other cats there, either, because I was only there for a day before finding my forever home!

The night before I was adopted, Mommy and Daddy were looking at kitty pictures on the OHS website.  They had picked out a senior cat with some special needs so they made plans to go meet him, but they were also looking at all the profiles to see who else was there in case their first choice wasn't right for them.  They saw my picture, and it said that I wasn't yet available and my adoption fee was more than the senior cat's one was because I was still a kitten.

Well, the senior cat needed to be in a home that was a lot calmer than here.  He wouldn't have done well in a home with other cats, especially not ones that can get as rowdy as we like to be!  After looking at all the kitties in the public adoption area, Mommy went to the display with pictures of other adoptable kitties.  There I was, and this time it said I was adoptable!  Daddy has always wanted another calico, since he had one when he was younger and loved her so much.  Mommy didn't have to do much convincing to get him to say yes to adopting me!  They went to a meeting room and the person brought me in.  At first, I wanted to stay around him, because I knew him and didn't know these two strangers who were in the room with us and who were trying to reach out their hands to me.  I finally went over to them and got petted, so I claimed them (as you can see from the picture above)!  That's Mommy that I'm claiming, and Daddy got claimed, too, and I was purring so much because I knew I had people of my very own!

I will share other photos of my adventures this last year, but it's almost time for my treat of wet food for my special day!  I'm going to share with everyone else, especially with my bestie, Shadow, who is only a little older than I am.  Oh, and I'm the "big kitty" (alpha cat) here now, despite being the youngest!  Panther told me I could be, once I learned how to be, and he says I've learned well enough.  I think I'm still kind of in training, though, because I know there's a lot more to learn!

*paw waves*

Oh, and I forgot to say that my name now is the same as it was at both shelters.  It totally fits with my coloring and with my journey, because Mommy and Daddy are sure that aunties Tabby, Rori, and Starla sent me to all the right places to find this home!

Panther got adopted!

Sunday, we had an exciting visitor!

 
Tabby: I'm going to miss you, Panther!
Panther: What's a forever home, Tabby?
Tabby: You'll find out very soon!  That lady who was just here wants you to come live with her and her other cat.
Panther:  Really?

Monday, she came back, and Panther was ready!

Foster Mommy says it's time to get ready for going to my new home!

Down the ladder I go!

New life, here I come!

Now where is everyone? I want to say goodbye first!

Goodbye, Tigress!  Goodbye Tabby!  Anyone in the living room to say goodbye to?

Goodbye, Foster Mommy!  Goodbye, Foster Daddy taking the picture!  Now, could you put me on the floor again, please?

New mommy Cai came over and Missy wanted to horn in on the attention!  After she realized Cai was focused on me, Missy decided to leap up to the table tray.  This is her getting ready to launch herself off to the table tray.

Hi, new mommy Cai!  I like how you pet my tummy, but I'm not sure about coming closer for attention right now.

Missy:  What do you mean, I have to move?  Didn't she bring this portable cave just for me?
Panther:  Nope, it's for me!  I'm the one leaving!  If you go, then who will snuggle with Daddy when he sleeps?
Missy:  Oh, I didn't think about that.  I don't want to leave my daddy!
Mommy:  *scruffs Missy and pulls her out, with Cai's help to keep her from holding onto the sides with her claws*
Panther:  Ok, now my turn!
Mommy:  *makes Panther get in the carrier by putting him seat-first through the door when the carrier is on-end*
Panther:  *cries*  Why did you have to put me in there like that?  I do want to go to my new home, but the car ride is a little scary and I don't like being cooped up in this carrier.  *scrabbles at the sides and door, trying to get out*
Cai:  It's ok, Panth!  I'll let you out to explore once we get home.

I have a new brofur!  His name is Beastie, and he's a fluffy white kitty.  He swatted me once to tell me that he's the alpha cat in the household, and otherwise hisses or ignores me.  Within two hours, I was snuggled at Mommy Cai's feet while she and Beastie took naps.  I actually took a nap, too, because all this excitement wore me out!  I like my new home, but it's weird not having the others here.  I looked for them and called to them, but they didn't come out of hiding so I guess it's just the three of us here at this new place called a forever home.  I like my forever home!  I've been sticking to Mommy Cai like velcro, following her from room to room and talking non-stop.  This bothers Beastie, so he's been pouting, but Mommy Cai gives him a lot of attention, too, so he feels included.  She says this is the best transition she's ever had for a new kitty!

Mommy Cai is friends with Foster Mommy on Facebook, so Foster Mommy can share updates on how I'm doing.  Everyone's sure that it won't be long until Beastie and I are great friends!  I love you all, and thank you for being friends with me!

Mommy Cai and Foster Mommy told me that I'm a very special kitty who was sent to Mommy Cai for a reason.  Mommy Cai had a black kitty "visit" her, walk down a hallway, and disappear.  That was a couple months after I got over my pneumonia and became available for adoption, so Foster Mommy told Mommy Cai about me.  Mommy Cai had another kitty, Spot, but Spottie was really sick so he needed round-the-clock care.  Mommy Cai couldn't bring a new kitty into her life (and the household) while she was providing hospice to Spot.  After Spot died, Beastie cried for him for hours on end.  While Mommy Cai and Beastie are still grieving for Spot, I hope I can help ease their grief and lonlieness.  I can also provide playtime for Beastie!

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!

Very Exciting News!!!

Miss Marble writes:

I've decided that I like to be petted!  I come up to the glass door and stand up on it, putting both front paws as high as I can reach, asking to be petted.  The man or lady come and open the door, then reach down and pet me as I rub against them.  I am a bit bitey, but it's just love bites, not hard bites.  I've also learned how to lick their fingers to groom them!  My sister and daddy can't figure out why I like being petted, so they stay back and watch, but they accept that I like it.

My brother Hemming is doing really well at his new home, the mommy says.  He sleeps on his new mommy's face and shoulder at night and is "aggressively affectionate".  We're all so glad that his new home is working out that well!

Missy Kitty writes:

Guess what?!  This thing called Christmas has boxes!  It also has ribbons, which are big strings.  But, the most important thing about Christmas is that it means that I'm in my forever home!  I got adopted officially by Mommy and Daddy today!  And, my third birthday is tomorrow:  New Year's Day!

Happy New Year from the PDX pride!

Wishing you all the best in 2012!

Hemming got adopted!

The PDX pride Mommy writes:

Well, Hemming's at his forever home now!  He did really well, but kept calling and looking for the other cats.  He let Kayla pick him up and snuggle him, and played for a couple minutes with a feather wand.  He investigated the covered litter box and scratched in it, so we know he'll be fine with using that.  We cautioned them about the garland and ornaments on the lower branches of their tree, so they'll be moving things up on that.  But, all in all, it seems like a great home for him!  When he came out of the carrier, he didn't scoot or run, but walked out and investigated things, then made his way around the edges (walls) to the bathroom and hopped in the tub.  He looked at windows, trying to see his sisters, and looked at the mirror, thinking his reflection was another kitty.  By the time we left, he had rubbed up against Kayla also and wasn't as stressed.  He'll do just fine there once he gets used to it and gets used to being an only cat.

Lots of changes and a Christmas tree!

Hemming writes:

Whoa, what is that thing up there?  It's got shiny balls on it, pretty ribbons, and lots and lots of branches.  It looks like a tree, but what's a tree doing inside?  It doesn't smell like my apple tree outside, the one I used to use to trim my claws.  In fact, it smells like plastic, not like any tree I've ever smelled.  It certainly doesn't smell like the forest I was born in, just a few yards away from the house, where there are trees that look like this one.  But if this is a Christmas tree, then I guess that's what it is.  My foster uncles and foster aunties all say that it is one, even though Uncle Heimdall and Auntie Freya only saw a little tree last year in this house.

The tree went up a week ago, with all of us investigating and "helping" put the branches into the trunk, then watching in surprise as Foster Mommy put the top on and put a cloth around the bottom of it.  Freya and I batted at some of the ornaments and were told "no".  Foster Mommy took some pictures of the tree and of us gathered around looking at it (and tasting it, batting at ornaments, etc.), so I'll post those here in a slideshow:

This free digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

What is this thing called Christmas?  Foster Mommy and Foster Daddy say that I'm a Christmas kitten for my new mommy.  What's a new mommy?  I thought I already had two mommies:  my momcat and my foster mommy!  I'm going to meet this new mommy and this place called a forever home this afternoon.  Everyone's excited for me, and the others are saying this is special, but I'm not sure about it.  I think once I'm there, I'll hide like I did at that other place.  I'll find a good hiding spot to watch what's going on in this place called a forever home.  My foster parents say that's ok to do, and that my new mommy understands.  Good!

I wonder if she'll have a Christmas tree?  If I'm a Christmas kitten, then don't I belong under the tree as a present?  That's what Auntie Tabby says!  After our tree here was up, Foster Mommy supervised us for a while then went to sleep.  She woke up because she was dreaming about playing ping-pong.  Well, guess what the ping-pong ball was?  I had an ornament and was playing with it, down the hall, into the bathroom, bouncing it against the tiles!  All the ornaments are kitten-safe plastic and cloth, so she laughed as she went to retrieve it, wash it, and put it back on the tree.  Soon, I was at it again!  A few days later, she found one of the bows in the middle of the hallway.  Guess who?  Yesterday I tried to climb the tree, but it fell over!  I guess it's not for climbing.  When Foster Mommy was editing the tree pictures on the computer, I tried to get to the tree!  Yep, I'm a tree-obsessed kitten!

I'm also 7 months old today!  Wow!  I told my sisters that, through the window while they looked at the Christmas tree, and they love that we're all a month older!  They don't know what this Christmas thing is either, but as long as it involves food, water, and talking to the inside kitties through the window, it's ok with them!

Happy Gotcha Day to Meeeeee!!! :)

Today's my Gotcha Day!!!! Last year at this time, I was a scared outdoor kitty who had been living in Mommy & Daddy's basement after being abandoned by their neighbors. They brought me inside, then had me spayed the next day. As soon as I was brought home from my spay, Skylar curled up with me to reassure me and keep me warm. He looked at me, looked at Daddy, looked at me again, and snuggled close to me. Daddy said to Mommy, "Well, it looks like Skylar wants to keep her!" And that was that! :)

Now, a year later, we are in a new, bigger house, and I have a little snuggle buddy of my own: the new kitten, Spooky. I'm not sure what he wants me to do, but he snuggles close to me, and sometimes right up against me. I'm ok with that, but sometimes he lowers his head and Mommy says he wants me to wash him. I don't know how to wash another kitty, never having had the opportunity before. My purrents are sure I'll learn eventually.

I love my family!

Love,

Starla.