Happy First Gotcha Day Anniversary to the Twins!!!

 Heimdall writes:

Mommy says it's been a whole year today since she and Daddy came to get us at Salem Friends of Felines.  Wow!  I remember being scared to leave my friends in the kitten room, and glad my sister was with me wherever we were going.  I'm so glad that we came to live with our family!  Mommy says that she asked Uncle Skylar to send them a new tuxedo kitten or kittens, and then she saw my picture on Save A Cat on Facebook, which uses Petfinder ads.  She told Daddy, and Daddy saw my sister's picture.  The next day, they came to get us both!

My favorite activities are kitten-watching (in the picture above) and snuggling with Mommy.  At night, I love snuggling right against her hand or her arm.  If I'm sleeping and wake up and don't feel her arm there, I move so that I'm touching her.  I also like hopping up on the recliner and snuggling with Daddy when he takes his after-work nap.  But mostly I like kitten-watching and trying to play with the kittens through the window!

Freya writes:

Wow, it's been a year already!  When Mommy and Daddy came to see us at Salem Friends of Felines, I didn't want to pay any attention to them, and squirmed to be put back on the snoozing shelf when they picked me up.  They were insistent on seeing me, though, and I'm so glad they did!  I remember talking the whole way home, putting my paws through the carrier door to grab Mommy's hand while my brother stayed in the back of the carrier.  I knew we were going somewhere good, and I wanted to be out to find out where it was!

Now, my favorite activities are playing with sockies, my blue hedgehog with the squeaker and bell in it, and annoying Rori.  I always want to play or snuggle with her, and she sometimes lets me, but not always.  I also love being brushed by Mommy, and will hop up every evening to snuggle and get my brushies!  I love my brushies!

Thinking of Skylar on his first Bridge Day anniversary

There really are no words that fully express what this last year has been like for our family.  Skylar was the first cat who ever adopted me fully, even before I adopted him.  He was my "heart cat", as one of my friends puts it.  He was everyone's favorite, the one who played with all our foster babies and taught them how to have fun.  His sister was the head of the household, but he was next.  When she passed, the new head of household (Rori) still deferred to him a lot of the time.  That alone tells you how revered he was in this family.

As I think about him today, and grieve once again, I will cry into the fur of one who looks and acts so similar to him that sometimes we have to stop ourselves before we call Heimdall by Skylar's name accidentally.  Heimdall was the name given to the keeper of the Rainbow Bridge in Norse mythology, so it's appropriate that we gave that name to the kitten Skylar sent us, three days after he journeyed.  Heimdall and his sister Freya are signs that Skylar is still watching over us every day, and will continue to watch over us on our earthly journey, waiting for us at Bridge's end.

Thank you to all our friends who have supported us through this past year.  We love you all!

Therapy Cat Tales from 7/13/11

Tabby writes:


Sorry this note is so late!  Mommy's birthday, everything with kitten watching because Mama Leopard (our feral cat) brought her kittens by on Mommy's birthday and they all are practically living on our deck now, it all means writing my note took back stage.  That's fine, though, because I love watching the kitten show!

Last Wednesday, when we got on our second bus, the man we sat next to wanted to know all about me and kept waving to me.  He has a cat that he absolutely adores, and his wife has a cat, too.  The bus driver, however, wasn't impressed with me and told Mommy I smelled up the whole bus!  I meowed at him once, right after he made that comment, and everyone on the bus smiled.  Mommy replied that I'd had a bath the day before, and that at least cats didn't smell as bad as wet dogs!

We were early, so we ended up walking from the Rose Quarter/Rose Garden Arena to the Walgreens to do some shopping.  At Walgreens, a lady saw my stroller and picked up a Snoopy doggie toy they had on sale, bringing it over to us and pointing it out to Mommy.  Mommy smiled and said that would be a great toy, if I were a dog!  The lady smiled and looked more carefully, giggling, then took the toy to buy it for her own doggies at home.  It was a cute toy, but not one I would like to have.  We also heard about a new baby chihuahua that just got adopted.

After the store, we walked to H.  My friends had bought my book!  :)  >^..^<  Mommy signed it and I pawtographed it by pressing my paw onto a stamp pad and then onto the book.  :)  I don't like to have anything goopy on my paws, but Mommy cleaned it right off so it wasn't too bad.  I didn't want anyone touching my paw pads for the rest of the day, though!  We love my book, and the residents love it, too.  They had it read to them a few days before, when it came, so we got to hear how much they enjoyed it!

I went upstairs to visit, and got mobbed in the tv room!  T., G., H., S., M., and a few others were there, waiting for me.  I made a new friend, B.  She fell and broke her arm, so she's there for a little while until she recovers.  She cried as she petted me and talked to me, because she missed her little doggie that went to the Bridge a few months ago.  She apologized for crying, but Mommy told her that she totally understood and that it was good for her to cry.  I snuggled in, then sat on her walker seat for a bit as well.  She had a Fig Newton wrapper, but didn't have any left to give me.  I looked over at G., but she didn't have any either.  That treat was GOOD last week!

I sat with G. for a few minutes, then went over to see T. and S.  I rolled around on T.'s walker seat again and rolled off again!  Surprised, I shook my head while everyone laughed.  Why, oh why can't I remember that it's not a solid back?!  I sat on S.'s lap, then went over to see M. and let her pet me.  I haven't seen her in a while, so I was really happy to see her again.  Then, I decided it was time to leave the tv room, so I walked out, Mommy following with my stroller.

A lot of my friends were either off doing other things or sleeping, but I got to visit with a lot of people anyway.  I saw B. again, because she'd gone back to her room.  She was happy that Mommy was writing down my adventures, and wondered if she'd be included.  Of course you are, B.!  I don't know if you'll read this, or have it read to you, but I loved visiting with you!  *headbonks*

D. was walking in the hallway, so we stopped to visit with her.  Mommy asked if she was trying to go to her room, or where she was going, and she told us she just wanted to walk for a while.  Good for her!  :)  I sniffed P.'s feet, making her smile.

We visited with a few people another floor, too.  They'd requested that we visit them.  One lady wasn't ready for our visit, because she was taking a nap, but she got up and let us in anyway.  She liked seeing me, but we'll come back another time when she's more ready for a visit.  A man whose family had requested a visit smiled when he was told who was visiting, and fixed his hair for us.  He was happy to have me come in and see him!  Another lady, whom we'd visited with before, was so very glad for my visit.  She'd missed me!  I lay down on the arm of her recliner and let her pet me and snuggle me, then lay down on her lap.  Mommy took her hand and moved it over my stripes while she described me to the lady, who is almost totally blind.  Then the lady petted me and told us stories about the kitties she used to have.

After we got off our last bus going home, Mommy would NOT let me walk!  I usually walk at least a third of the way home from the cross street to our driveway, but she wouldn't unzip the stroller!  She said we didn't have time.  Then, it started to rain, so I was just as glad I wasn't walking in that rain.  I did get to walk up the stairs by myself, though.  I absolutely LOVE stairs!

Wordless Wednesday: Mama Leopard, "Daddy" Tuxie, and baby kittens

Digital scrapbooking design personalized with Smilebox

Happy Gotcha Day anniversary to Tabby & Carbon, and an honor for Heimdall!

The PDX pride mommy here:

Wow, we've been so caught up in the kitten drama with Mama Leopard's kits that *blushes* I forgot that it is Tabby & Carbon's Gotcha Day Anniversary today!  So sorry!  It's 6 years ago today that they came home.  I saw a sign on the feed store in Clatskanie, Oregon, where my husband grew up.  The sign said, "Free Kittens".  All the way down to Long Beach and all the way back, Scott kept on saying, "I want a puddy!  Remind me to stop so we can look at them!"  I knew what we would find when we got back to the store, because I'd had a dream a few years earlier about it.

Sure enough, when we got back to the store, there was a bunny in a cage just outside the front door of the store, and further down the porch was another wire cage with two little kittens!  Just like in my dream!  We felt so bad for them, because it had been 90 degrees out and one of the kittens was black with long fur and didn't look very happy.  The other one was laying down in the litter box.  There was some food in the cage, but it didn't look like it had been eaten, and they had some water as well.

The clerk came out and told us the kittens were from different litters and the rest of the litters had already been adopted.  Just these two were left.  Scott picked up the black one, and immediately the kitten climbed up his shirt and perched on his shoulder and around his neck like a parrot, snuggling in and digging in his claws.  I picked up the little tabby one, and she snuggled into my elbow.  After a few minutes I handed the little one to Scott and picked his off his shoulder to snuggle.  The lady got a cardboard box for us and punched a few holes in it with a scissors, then we put the kittens in it.

When we got in the truck, we opened the box and four big eyes looked up at us.  I asked, "What are you going to name them?"  Scott replied, "Tabitha and Carbon.  A friend had two kittens with the same coloring and personalities, and that's what she named hers.  I helped her find them at the shelter, so that's what these two are going to be named."  We told them their names, and they settled down in the box.

After a while, Tabby decided she wanted to get out and see what the rest of the truck was like.  She liked watching out the windows, but then she wanted to crawl all over Scott when he was driving!  I kept having to pick her off him and try to hold her, while trying to keep her from going into the extended cab!  Carbon was not having a good ride.  He was way too warm, so he threw up a few times.  I cleaned it up each time, and he purred a little and licked my fingers while I petted him.

We put Tabby back in the box and closed them both in it while we went into the pet store to get supplies, because Scott wasn't prepared for adopting any cats.  I had agreed to adopt Skylar and Lydia a few days earlier, but we weren't living together yet, so the house was without anything for kitties.  Scratching post, litter box, two kinds of food, CHECK.  Toys, CHECK.

Once in the house, we put everything out for them and then opened the box.  Immediately, Carbon found Scott's work boot and hopped in it.  Mind you, he was only 5 weeks and Tabby was only 4 weeks at the time, so he fit perfectly in that boot!  He took a mini nap while Tabs explored, then he hopped out and explored, too.  I was eating some cake, and Tabby wanted to know what I was doing, so I lifted her onto the couch and she took a nosedive into the cake!  From that point on, she's loved cake, whipped cream, and any people food.  Carbon helped her clean up, of course.

Later on, we noticed the house was too quiet for a house with kittens.  We'd been watching a movie and letting them explore the house after showing them the food and litter box.  We just about turned the whole house upside down looking for them, and found them curled up in the top two drawers of Scott's dresser!  They were asleep, and looked at us like, "Well, we found comfy nap spots!  Why did you wake us up?"  They'd crawled up the back of the dresser behind the drawers, using the drawers as steps!

Heimdall has an honor today, as well.  He's Captain of the Week over at Cathugger!

Mama Leopard & kittens update

Mama Leopard writes:

Yesterday was a busy day for my kittens, Tuxie, and myself.  We spent nearly all of it lounging on the deck or in the freshly-mown and mulched grass in the yard.  I really like this yard.  It supplies many needed things for raising my kittens properly:  food, water, hunting training ground, shelter!  Tux likes it here, too, and that's a plus.  We all slept under the deck or on the deck.

Yesterday afternoon, Tuxie and I took the babies into the grass to teach them how to camouflage themselves.  My little ones were more interested in playing and roughhousing than the lesson, but they did well with reminders to stay down and watch for movement.  The humans didn't even see us until one of my babies popped its head up to look at the house, and then they saw us!

Last night, I was very brave and let the human lady look at my babies from just the other side of the window-door.  She was on one side, touching the glass, and my striped baby was eating on the other side.  I watched, stared at her long enough so that she knew she wasn't supposed to come out of that door, and then proceeded to take a bath!  Tux felt comfortable enough to turn his back on her with the baby there, too!

This morning, we stayed on the deck while she reached out her hand to put food on the deck for us.  She says that's an improvement, and we think so, too.  I was snuggled on the deck with two of my babies, and I got up but didn't disappear underneath.

I am polydactyl, and one of my tabby kids is, too.  I now have shown the lady that I have another kitten!  Previously, she knew about (and filmed) two tabbies and a white & tabby.  The white & tabby that she filmed is a little boy.  Well, when I was sleeping on the deck, I was snuggled with TWO white & tabby kittens!  So, I have four kittens total!

Mama Leopard's kitten presentation day!

Mama Leopard writes:

I'd been considering bringing my kittens to the food place for a few days, but there was a loud machine in their yard.  The machine cut the grass and stirred up the mice, so yesterday (when it was all quiet) I decided to bring my kittens.  I looked around to make sure it was safe, then hopped up on the deck.  My kittens followed, then scurried around on the new surface, testing it out and smelling all the smells.  As I went over to eat from the food pile the lady and man leave for us, my kittens saw the inside cats for the first time.  Were they ever surprised, on both sides of the funny window-door!

I saw one of the inside cats run off, then come back with the human lady.  She was very happy to see my little family and told me what a good mama I am!  Then she got a funny-looking thing and set it up on the floor where the inside kitties have their food bowls.  I knew she wouldn't come outside without letting me know first, so I kept eating and one of my little ones joined me, discovering what kibble was for the first time.  The lady put something on the food container inside, then lay down on the floor!  She said she was going to take a video of us.




Later on last night, Tuxie and I came back with my kittens.  Tuxie's a good dad to my kittens, washing them and playing with them a bit, even though he looks at them like they just landed out of the blue sometimes.

My kittens are now about 8 1/2 weeks old.  I have one who looks like me, one with a classic marbled tabby pattern, and one who is white with tabby patches and reminds me of the inside kitty named Starla.  The little ones are very interested in the inside kitties, and go up to the window-door to look in and play by tapping their little paws on the glass.  Heimdall plays back, and tries to bat at their little tails as they run past the window!

Happy Birthday to our Mommy!!!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!!!

Today's Mommy's birthday!  Freya's helping her celebrate by bringing her string, blue hedgehog, and blue sockie.  Rori's helping her celebrate by letting her pet.  Everyone's celebrating by giving her snuggles!  Daddy got her two Harry Potter movies, so we'll all be watching those later on today.

Mommy also got a big blue ball for her birthday.  We don't quite know why she replaced the office chair with this new ball, but she says it's good for her balance to sit on it?  We can still hop up and sit on her lap, and that's the main thing.  And...we get the old office chair as a scratching post!  Yay!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day from all of us at the PDX pride!  Stay safe, celebrate freedom and those who gave their lives for it!  Keep your pets indoors, please, with lots of water and in cool conditions.  We will be watching the fireworks from the windows!  :)  >^..^<

Therapy Cat Tales from 6/30/11

Tabby writes:


Wow, such a busy day!  I was half-snoozing under the folding chair when it was time to leave, so Mommy had to pull me out of my nice, snug cave to put me in the stroller.  Missy just looked at me, interested in what was happening, but Heimdall wanted to come with me!  Mommy told him he'd have a turn in the stroller when we came back.  He loves to ride around the house in it.  :)  At the marsh right by our house, I saw a mama duck with two little baby ducklings!  Nice!  The mama was teaching them how to give themselves baths.

On the MAX train, a boy in a wheelchair got on with his nurse.  It took a few minutes for the nurse to realize that I was a cat instead of a human baby, mol, but then she wanted to pet me.  Mommy told her it was ok, and asked if the boy wanted to pet me as well.  When the boy nodded, I got to sit on his lap.  He was wearing this huge raincoat that covered his chair as well, kind of like a big, zippered bag, so the nurse unzipped it for him and then he could pet me.  I wanted to snuggle in his coat!  :)  Nice and warm!  He loved me doing that!

At H., Mommy showed my friends in the office a flyer of my book, and they looked at the website for it.  They love that I have a book now!  They may even order it for the library there!  If they do, I'll paw-sign the copy and Mommy will sign it, too.  Then we went up to see my other friends.

D. rode up in the elevator with us, and was really glad to see me.  Then, S. was waiting patiently in the lobby when we got off the elevator.  She comes from another floor specifically to see me on my visiting days!  She used to feed a feral cat when she had her own room, but can't anymore.  I purred for her and Mommy talked with her about her previous cats.  We went into the tv room to see T., and I sat on T.'s walker again.  I wanted tummy rubs, so I rolled over, and fell off!  I had thought that the walker bag was solid, but I rolled right through it!  I landed on my paws, shook, and looked up at Mommy and T., wondering what happened!  Mommy told me and made sure I was ok, then I jumped in my stroller and onto T.'s lap again.  MOL!  G. was very happy to see me, too, and she had a yummy treat for me.  It's called a fig newton, and I ate a quarter of it!  *licks lips happily*  I ate it right out of her hand while she smiled at me!  Totally made her day, as well as mine!  In R.'s room, there were two loud monsters, one near R. and one near the other lady.  I kept looking back and forth between them, then I started telling the closer one off for being so loud!  I don't like those monsters.  Mommy called them oxygen machines.

After visiting, we went to the pet store and they put the flyer for my book on their bulletin board.  The owner was quite impressed that we wrote a children's book!  :)  >^..^<  When we got on the MAX to go home, there was a lady who is moving to Portland with her two cats and looking for housing that will allow pets.  She loves the stroller idea, and loved petting me and talking with Mommy.  Another lady on the bus talked with Mommy about therapy pets vs. service animals, and regulations for each, because her autistic son is going to college next fall and loves cats.  She didn't know that cats could be service animals for autistic people, so Mommy told her to check out the Service Animal Registry of America page to find trainers and more information.  They certify many different kinds of service animals, and also certify therapy pets even though we are not service animals.

Tabby's written a book!!!

Tabby writes:

I'm excited to announce my children's book!  You can preview it below.  It's 26 pages of photographs and text, about my life and my work.  The cost is $19.43 for this softcover square book.  To purchase, click "Book Info" at the end of the preview.

Meet Tabby the Therapy Cat by Written and photographed by Karen Thompson | Make Your Own Book

Spooky 2's diary from Catster

Spooky writes:

First of all, Mommy can't believe she forgot my Bridge anniversary on the 6th!  It's ok, Mommy, I forgive you.

As our family moves from Catster to Cathugger, we are each publishing our previous diary entries here so that we will still have them and others can read them if they like.  These entries are mostly previous to the creation of "Furry Tails of the PDX pride", and are from earliest to latest, organized by cat.

The new house!

December 30th 2009 2:58 am

Fun!!! I got to be on harness for the first time, and ride in a car! Foster Mommy and Foster Daddy were so proud of me and impressed with my car-riding skills. I sat on Foster Mommy's lap the whole way to the new house and purred!

I didn't know what a fireplace or a fire was before I came here. I've only tried to climb the screen once, and that was when there wasn't anything inside. I talk to Foster Mommy and Foster Daddy about the fire, and am mesmerized by the whole thing.

I love the wide open spaces and dash from room to room. Foster Mommy throws my jingle balls down the long hallway, and I run after them happily.

They adopted me!!!

January 14th 2010 1:32 am

I'm at my new forever home! No, I didn't go somewhere else. I got to stay right here with my foster family, who are now my REAL family! Mommy and Daddy had a serious talk tonight, and they told me that my new last name is the same as theirs now. Yay!

Happy snuggles,

Spooky T.

CH? What's that?

February 4th 2010 1:27 am

Mommy and Daddy both have been trying to figure out why I fall and why I'm so floppy. Today, Mommy did an internet search and they have been talking about something called CH. It doesn't sound scary. It's just letters, so why does it bother them so much?

CH, cerebellar hypoplasia, would explain my falling and flopping. We put a question up in the "Answers" part on here, but that was before Mommy noticed my almost-imperceptible head bobbing, which is the only thing missing from a "correct" CH diagnosis, according to what she's been reading.

Luckily, my family loves me ANYWAY, and told me that I'm theirs and that they will never leave me like my first family did. Yay!

-- Spooky, one happy, floppy kitten.

I love music! Music means snuggles!

March 11th 2010 1:50 am

Guess what?! Music playing on the computer means that Mommy has a snuggle lap for me! Tonight I was flopped on the floor of the dining room after eating, when all of a sudden I heard a song coming from the computer in the kitty tree room. I knew Mommy was in there, so I went running at top speed, came around the corner, skidded to a halt in front of the computer chair, and jumped up in her lap! Snuggles, loves, and singing, all equal a happy ME!!!!!! And a happy MOMMY!!!!!!

Oh, and a jealous Carbon kitty who spat at me as I raced by and then he went and hid under the bed, MOL. I was too focused on getting my snuggles that I didn't chase him this time.

What happened?

June 6th 2010 6:26 am

Yesterday afternoon, I was curled up in the dining room in my favorite spot, when all of a sudden I felt weird. Something was happening, and not a good something! Mommy was sleeping, and Daddy was taking a shower, so I ran to Daddy since he was closest. I skidded to a halt in the hallway just as he came out of the shower, meowed my concern long and loud, then flopped over and started drooling, dripping a small puddle onto my paws and the floor. Daddy cleaned me and it up, then set me on the couch so I could snuggle with him and Skylar.

Then, it happened again! My eyes went wide and unseeing, my body went rigid, and I started drooling heavily again! After it was done, I meowed a complaint and my confusion.

Daddy called for Mommy, who woke up and came out. They both petted me while they tried to decide what to do. Daddy called our friend Kellee, who's a vet tech, but she couldn't come until the next day.

About an hour later, I had another seizure. This time, I was sitting on Mommy's lap when it started. I looked helplessly at her, then lifted my tail and peed. I couldn't help it! Then the wide-eyed seizure, then drooling again, and my confused meowing. Mommy and Daddy tried to get me to relax afterwards, petting me to calm me down again. That helped a little, and I took a bit of a nap for a couple hours.

While I was asleep, Mommy searched online for vets that were open on a Saturday evening. Of course, many were not. She found one that was, and called them. It was a 24-hour place, so when I woke up (and had another seizure) she and Daddy packed me into a carrier and drove to the hospital.

The people were so kind! I had a seizure again as my purrents were filling out the paperwork, and the people immediately took me back and put me on a big table in the open room. I looked at them and meowed, and one of them went to ask my purrents if they could give me something to help calm me down. Of course, Daddy said yes, so they gave me Valium.

The vet came out to discuss options with my purrents. She said that I probably had sustained brain damage from the seizures, and there was a poor prognosis if I survived. The vet wanted to keep me in for 24 hours at least, give me i.v.'s and do bloodwork. Even then, it would be the same prognosis: not likely to survive, or very brain-damaged if I did survive. Mommy & Daddy said their goodbyes, and Mommy stayed with me and petted my head and cheek as the shot was given. :'( The hospital needs to hold my body until Monday so that the state can release it (standard procedure for anyone who comes in with seizures), so my purrents will bury my body then. My new profile picture is my picture superimposed on the bag that the vet did for my purrents to take home, containing a bit of my fur and the heart from my catheter wrap.

:'(

Mommy & Daddy loved you, Mr. Spooky kitten! R.I.P. July 2009 -- June 6, 2010

My burial

June 8th 2010 2:15 am

Daddy brought my body home from the vet's yesterday. He put it on a blanket on the living room floor so my aunties and uncles could all say their goodbyes. Tabby, Little Bit, and Skylar came over, looked at my body, sniffed it from head to tail, then touched noses with each other, conferring with each other. Rori hid, because she mourns in a different way and never has needed to see the body to know. Carbon had been having fun with a catnip toy, so he wasn't keen on going to see what was on the blanket. He was more interested in the box that Daddy had brought home. But Daddy said he couldn't jump in the box, and wanted him to look at the blanket. He didn't quite know why. Mommy picked him up and placed him nose-to-nose with my body. He was kind of afraid of me while I was alive, because he doesn't consider kittens to be cats until they are at least a year old, for some reason. But he sniffed because he was that close, then realized what he was sniffing. He looked at Tabby, who was right beside him, touched noses with her, then looked at Mommy and Daddy and walked away to the other end of the house.

After everyone had sniffed and said their goodbyes, conferring with the others about it, and even Starla had come to say her goodbyes (Mommy brought her out to see and sniff), Daddy carried my body out to the backyard. He and Mommy buried my body in a corner of the yard, at a spot where you can see and hear the geese in the marsh next door. I loved to see and hear the geese, and even got to see one fly one day when I had gone out on leash to the back deck!

Happy Birthday to Tabby!!!

Tabby writes:

What, you mean it's my birthday again already????  Wow!  Mommy says I'm 6 years old today.  I don't feel like I'm 6 years old!  Today, I'm going to sleep on top of the folded laundry on the dresser until Mommy gets up, then I'll watch for Tuxie & Leopard to come eat while I eat my breakfast.  After napping a bit more, I'm going to play with Heimdall, Freya, Little Bit, and maybe our foster cat Missy if she wants to play.  Then, I'll nap with Mommy when she takes her nap.  After that, who knows what I'll do for the rest of the day?  Probably more of the same.  If it's nice weather, Mommy will take me out for a birthday stroll like she did yesterday.  Well, yesterday was my visiting day, but I walked almost half a block y myself on the weay back!  It was just such a nice day to walk and feel the sun on my fur!  I'll write about my visit later on today.

Love,

Tabby.

Happy Birthday to Carbon!!!

Carbon writes:

Happy birthday to me!!!!  This is how I'll spend my birthday:  wake up and annoy Tabby and Rori by leaving a stinkbomb in the box in the bedroom, then run around playing.  Crash on the bed until Mommy wakes up, then watch as she brings Starla into the bedroom.  Then I'll run out to the window and see if any friends are in the backyard, followed by eating and playing with everyone.  I'll try to get Missy Kitty to play (she played with Freya a little yesterday), but I'm still wary of her because she's got a strong left hook.  Then running around playing with some of my favorite toys, snuggling with Mommy and Daddy, and snuggling with shoes.  Yep, I'm looking forward to enjoying MY day!  :)  Mommy and Daddy say they can't quite believe I'm 6 years old already!

Baby-Dot & Baby-Tuxie's diary from Catster

The tiny tuxie angels write:

As our family moves from Catster to Cathugger, we are each publishing our previous diary entries here so that we will still have them and others can read them if they like.  These entries are mostly previous to the creation of "Furry Tails of the PDX pride", and are from earliest to latest, organized by cat.

Gone too soon

September 22nd 2009 12:26 am

Baby-Dot here. I was only with my last foster family for a week. I left for the Bridge when I was 2 1/2 weeks old. Foster Mommy was worried because I never ate as much as my brother, and wasn't as active as he. I was nursing from the bottle when I died, in Foster Mommy's hands. She had taken us to her work so she could feed us after her class, so she called Foster Daddy and he came and got her. My brother was snuggling with my body, so Foster Mommy picked up my body and petted it, kissed it, and arranged the fur. She settled the tiny paws and set the body back into our tote.

At the same time I died, even though I was away from home, Skylar knew. He woke up from a nap and walked over to sit with Foster Daddy in the chair.

Foster Daddy dug a hole by where Lydia and Sara are buried in the backyard, burying my body there. He stroked my fur and both of them told me how sorry they were that I had to leave so early. They told me they loved me, and how they had tried their best to give me what I needed. I know they did their best for me.

Foster Mommy called the lady who cared for me for the first 1 1/2 weeks, and they both cried while talking.

Both brothers are angel kittens now

September 22nd 2009 2:39 am

Baby-Tuxie just left us as well. I took him out to feed him, and he barely meowed. He had been screaming his lungs out, but barely made a sound this time and he was so cold. My husband held him while he went through the same things his brother had.

We buried him in the backyard next to his brother. We think that they had some kind of infection, and had no resistance because they never nursed from their mama cat.

Rest in peace, little ones. We loved you both!

KMR powder warning!

October 7th 2009 1:36 pm

Everyone who fosters needs to check the smell of their KMR powder! If it does NOT smell like milk, call PetAg (the company that makes it) at 800-323-0877 and tell them. They will send out a replacement in liquid form.

The rancid KMR powder is due to excessive heat while shipping! It is NOT a manufacturing issue or anything related to PetAg. It is the fault of the shipping companies letting the product sit in enclosed trailers in the summer heat.

There is no way to tell which packages will be rancid before they are opened. It is not by lot number or by expiration date. It is by when and how they were shipped.

PetAg is being very nice about this issue. Our foster mommy called about our can, and the lady was extremely polite and kind. She is sending liquid replacement that can be stored for up to a year and a half, and sending a call label so the rancid powder can be sent back free of charge.

They are going to reformulate KMR powder so that it stands up better to extreme heat and doesn't separate as much. The liquid wasn't affected at all.

The lady said that some of the symptoms we had (diarrhea, listlessness) could have been caused by the powder, but since we didn't have the vomiting usually associated with food poisoning that it wasn't the whole story.

Please, please, PLEASE pass this on to individuals and organizations who foster!

Missy Update: Back from the vet, and I'm NOT a kitten!

Missy writes:

Foster Mommy put me into a box today and Foster Daddy took me out to the car. I thought they might be getting rid of me, taking me back to where they found me, but they said they were taking me to the doctor to see if I had any icky diseases or not. Then, if I was negative for diseases, I could start meeting the other cats in the household! I thought that sounded ok, so I crouched in the box (carrier) on Foster Mommy's lap and yelled at the cars. I liked seeing all the cars on the freeway.

At the vet, I did extremely well, not talking much and going right over to the vet. His name is Dr. Bob, and he loves kitties. He sat on the floor and let me come right up to him and sniff him! Wow! He checked me over, and I purred for him. Then the vet tech took me into the back and the vampires took some of my blood and shaved my tummy.

The good news is that I'm negative for diseases. The ok news is that I've not been spayed. The surprising news is that I'm about 2 1/2 years old! I'm just a petite cat! The vet gave me a tentative birthdate of Jan. 1, 2009. I'm 6.5 lbs, and about the same size as a year-old cat, but that's a pretty healthy weight for me.

I'm hanging out on a blankie in the living room, under the end table, now. I've met the other kitties here, and hissed at most of them. Tabby came a bit too close, so I swatted her, and then she backed off after going to Foster Mommy for reassurance. Freya keeps her distance, but I can tell she's curious about me. Heimdall isn't sure about me so isn't coming too close. The rest are taking their time investigating, which suits me just fine.

Therapy Cat Tales from 5/18/11

Tabby writes:


So sorry this note is a week late, but we've been busy with our little visitor!  ;)

Last Wednesday, when Mommy said it was visiting day I went to eat one more bite of food and then she put me in my stroller and away we went!  One of the bus drivers laughed at my stroller, because he'd never seen a cat stroller before.  I just looked at him and meowed!

At H., my friends who normally greet me before I start working weren't there, but I saw someone else I knew.  Then, I went up in the elevator to do my rounds.  P. was sitting by the fishtank, and giggled when I paid more attention to the fishies than to her.  But they were interesting!  Then I went over to see D. on the other side of the wall, and saw more fishies!  A big, black one was waving its tail just out of reach, taunting me!

T. was sitting in a chair with her walker in front of her when I strolled up.  She invited me onto her lap, so I hopped up, but then I noticed her walker.  I walked on her lap to her knees, then jumped over to the seat on her walker and curled up.  She loved it!  She kept telling me how everyone loves me.  <3  <3  <3

Some people were sleeping, and others were not there, so we didn't visit as much as I'd have liked to.  We did see one new person, though.  H. (the person, not the place) has a new hip replacement, so she was in bed with a bag of ice on her leg.  She was sooo glad to see me!  She lives on one of the other floors, but because of her surgery she was on our floor for recovering.  I curled up inbetween her feet for a bit, then walked up and sat on her so she could pet me.  Then back to her feet.  Her daughter, C., came in for a visit after a while, and was glad to see me there!  C. had seen "Tabby the Cat" on the schedule for the floor, and wondered what that could be!  It was me!  Even when H. gets better, she may still come down to see me on my visiting days.  Purrrrrrrs!

Up for Adoption: Missy the Torbie!

Missy writes:


Hello!  Foster Mommy said I can write my story here in hopes of getting adopted faster.  So, here's my story, as much as I've told the humans:

I was hanging around Norse Hall, just south of the Franz Bakery, in Portland, OR, on Friday night.  It's a busy neighborhood, with four bus lines, major streets, a lot of industrial buildings of various kinds, and near a highway.  There are some houses, but not many.  Anyway, I was outside Norse Hall, telling the world that I needed food and attention, and hoping someone would listen.  Foster Mommy was teaching a class, and her whole class stopped when they heard me yowl.  Everyone looked at Foster Mommy, knowing that she was going to investigate the cat outside.  Sure enough, she came out to see me.

I was a bit scared of her at first, although she looked like someone who wouldn't hurt me.  I have some bad memories of humans, though, so I was wary.  I looked at her, went toward her, then ran away under a dumpster.  She followed me over there and knelt down to look at me and talk to me, so I came back out and sniffed her hand.  She picked me up and scruffed me, asking a passerby to go inside and tell Foster Daddy (who was in the office) that she'd caught me.  Foster Daddy came out and held me, asking her what she wanted to do since I couldn't go inside the building.  I was still talking, telling them I wanted down and wanted some food.  They decided to put me in their car until after Foster Mommy's class was over, then take me home with them.  They could see that I had a deliberate cut on my left ear, done by a vet to mark me as a spayed feral, but I'm not feral.

I was put in their car and immediately explored the back seat, then the front seats, then hopped up into the back window to look out.  The humans went inside the building again, so I sniffed around and found some cat food on the floor of the back seat.  I wasn't sure about it, since I haven't had kibble that many times, but I tried it because I was so hungry.  Then I curled up in the driver's seat for a snooze.

When the humans came back and opened the door, I made a break for it, running under some trucks in the next driveway.  The humans followed, and eventually I came within reach again, but only after going behind a chain link fence where they couldn't get me.  They talked me out of there and caught me again, bringing me back into the car.  The whole way to their home, I was wedged between the driver's seat and the door, where I felt safe but could still have Foster Daddy pet me.  That helped calm me down somewhat, even though I talked and talked.

They brought me into their house, and I saw and smelled the other cats (and hissed at them).  I was scared about being in a house, but I didn't struggle much.  They took me to the office room (computer room), where there was a litter box already set up, and brought in food and water bowls.  I ate a few bites, then huddled under the computer desk.

Later on, Foster Mommy came in to type, and she brought another kind of food.  This new kind smelled like what I'd had before, or at least smelled like food to me, so I gobbled it up from its little container.  Foster Mommy was so happy that I ate something, because I'm really skinny (and a bit dehydrated).  Later on, I drank a lot more water, ate a lot more, and used the litter box, then curled up on a fabric-covered binder that I found on the floor.

Saturday, Foster Mommy and Foster Daddy each spent time with me.  Foster Mommy especially spent a lot of time in the room, and she brought in her cereal.  I'd never smelt it before, but her soymilk seemed yummy enough that I jumped up on the computer desk to try to steal it.  She petted me, and I curled up in her lap for the first time and purred.  When she came in again to type for longer, I hopped up again on her lap for more cuddles and petting.  Today, I even sat on Foster Daddy's lap for a few minutes while he petted me.

Here is my description:

Female tortoiseshell/tabby (torbie), approximately 8 months old.
Left ear recently cut to mark her as a spayed feral.
Recently spayed.
Flinches when left ear tip or spay area is touched.
Loves to be petted and held, will let you pick her up by her front shoulders.  Loves chin scritches and neck rubs.
Very talkative, wanting someone in the room with her all the time.
Hisses at the other cats when they peek under the door at her or put their paws under.

Was found in the vicinity of the Franz Bakery in Portland, OR, on 5/20/11.  Had been hanging around for at least 2 weeks before she was caught.  Was fixed within the last 2 months, probably.

I am definitely NOT feral!

No one has put up flyers or put ads in the paper or on websites about me, so I was probably written off as a feral.

If you or someone you know would like to adopt me, please leave a comment here so my foster parents can contact you.  We are asking for a small adoption fee, the name of the vet you use, a brief history of your pet ownership, and (if you're in the area) a home visit where I would come to your home to meet you and check out the place for potential hazards (electrical wires, plastic bags, string, etc.) to see if I would be the right cat for you.

I'm only adoptable to an inside-only home.  No more running the streets for me.

Here's a nice slideshow that Foster Mommy put together for me.  Feel free to share it with any potential adopters.

Slideshow made with Smilebox

Feral Friday: Update on Leopard

Leopard:

I came by this morning and surprised the lady!  Well, she surprised me, too!  I was pawing at the food place, trying to get some food out of the space in-between the boards where it had fallen, and looked up and there was the lady.  She put more food out, but I decided to come back for it later.  I had my kittens, but I'm not telling where my nest is.  I may bring them by when they're old enough to come to the food place.

Mommy's kitty tattoo!

Mommy got a kitty tattoo yesterday, in memory of Skylar & Lydia!  A friend picked her up from the house, and when she came back she was wearing a bright blue bandage.  She smelled funny, but she wouldn't let us sniff the bandage closely.  Later on, she took it off and then we could see the design!  Wow, it looks like them, and like Freya & Heimdall, too!

 Concept drawing by one of Mommy's friends, based on a design Mommy suggested.

 Transferred to Mommy's right arm just below her shoulder.

Outline tattooed, and then the final tattoo.