lavendertook

I've been looking at petfinder.com pretty much daily since Saki died 4 years ago, to get my siamese fix and see what meezers were out there for adoption. This was the longest stretch I've ever lived without a meezer in my home. I didn't think Moo would be happy with a new addition, being a competitive kitty who did not like competing for attention, and she finally had more of my attention after Saki was gone. And I think it was the right decision and I'm glad I got to give Moo all the attention she wanted for her last 4 years and got to see more sides of her and that there was nothing between her and me loving her up at the end. Tuxie is fine with giving room.

Though Moo and Tuxie didn't seem close since Moo was done mothering him 13 years ago back when I thought they were inseparable, they became close again the first nervous month after the move to the house this summer and huddled together, so they could still take comfort in each other and their sense of family was definitely still there. Since Tuxie had never lived without Moo, I didn't want Tuxie to be alone long after she died. I needed a kitty who craved more attention than Tuxie, as well. I always told Tuxie I was going to get a young siamese kitty to drive him nuts when he'd be an aggressive jerk to his beloved Saki, so it was time for karma to take it's course.

After Moo died the beginning of December, I put in an application on a 2 year old tortie-point siamese who looked like Saki in form, though she had a lot more colors (oranges and blacks) and was described as "an aggressively affectionate bowling ball" in her ad, which would have been a good description of Saki, but someone got there first with their accepted application. Then I applied for 2 more tortie points: a 6 month old, and then a small kitten. I didn't plan on applying for kittens because kittens, and especially siamese kittens, usually place pretty easily, and I'm happy with a young cat up to 5 years, who don't get forever homes as easily, but I was getting desperate to get me a tortie point siamese by the third. I'd love to be able to take in senior cats as they're the most loving and cuddly and so in need, but I've been medicating cats for so long now, I really could use someone young and healthy for a stretch, if luck would grant it, time wise, and also expense wise--there's only so far my retirement will stretch, and my diabetic Tuxie is an expensive little boy to keep healthy. But each of these kitties was spoken for first.

Though getting a tortie point like Saki was my priority, I figured it would be best to get 2 cats and was thinking I would like to have a flame-point siamese as the second, as I've never lived with one of these red-headed beauties, and there had been a young flame-point who had been advertised for a long while on petfinder.com, which might not be a good sign, but she had a sweet face, and I had been considering her, so I put in an application.

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My household is unanimous in wishing the one and only hanarobi a very happy birthday.

Ms. Moo is shocked, absolutely shocked, by the idea of not wishing hanarobi a happy birthday.

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Here's a pic I took yesterday of some daffodils beginning to bloom by the lake. I think the cold has put us a week behind schedule because I do believe the Bradford pears were blooming already at this time last year, and they still look reluctant to open. However, I really prefer the cold to a sudden heat wave that makes the flowers open and fade in a day. I am puzzled, though, by how brown the grass still is--more of it should be green already. I'm wondering if the warmer winters of the last few years have brought a new southern species of grass up here that is having trouble greening in these slightly cooler than average temps.

I've been trying to sight the PanStarrs comet this week, but either there's too much light around here, or I'm not getting a low enough clear view of where it's rising. I did see the beautiful stray cat tonight--the first time since last I mentioned hir. Apparently, Thursday is hir night to be seen.

A very happy birthday to dear i_o_r_h_a_e_l!!! For your birthday, I thought you might enjoy a tour of the cat sanctuary where I brought Brigit, so a good time to post it. (-:

So I've been talking to T once a week to check up on how Brigit is doing in Gettysburg, PA. And, flisties, it sounds like she is doing great. Within a week, she bonded with a cat named Socks, who she cuddles with and they are inseparable, like she was with her sister. I hope Socks is happy with that, because Brigit is a fiercely possessive little girl. She used to hiss at the other cats who came round me when I was filling the feeders. This was before she'd let me pet her at all, but still she wanted the other cats to know this was HER human feeding resource, and I think my company mattered to her as well, if my understanding of cat eye contact is to be relied on. It got so that I made sure not to be friendly with the other cats. Yes, I know, isolating you from your friends is a sign of an abuser in a relationship--I'm working on my kitty codependency. (-; I'll tell you a little more about Brigit's relationship with Socks when I explain T's methods below.

Brigit would hiss at any cat who came near her in Warwick when I was around. It's possible she did have cats she hung out with away from me who didn't accompany her when she'd come to me, but I don't think it was likely. So her having a cat she could bond with and cuddle with on cold nights, like she did with her sister, was beyond what I was hoping for her. I'm so overjoyed about this! And this happening is due to T's methods and her having the kitty assistants to put them into action. I don't know if there is anyone else out there who has this grasp on colony dynamics and could have done this for Brigit, so I'm feeling very good about having brought her up there. She's got the best life a feral cat could have now.


Here's the welcoming committee at the cat sanctuary. Look, claudia603!!! Siameses and tuxedos together! And a siamese who looks like Saki's and Helo's lovechild. :-D

( So many cats, it's like being at the Hemingway's Home and Museum . . . )

I took Ms. Brigit up to her new home yesterday. I think it's going to be good for her. She's got someone who really knows feral cats to look in on her every day now.

As I mentioned before, this cat sanctuary is in Gettysburg, PA, which is an hour and a half drive from my place, nestled between spurs of the Appalachians. For those of my hobbit posse who have been out here before, it's about a 30 minute drive northwest of the Best Western we mooted at, on the same route even. I went up there on Tuesday to meet T, whose front porch and backyard is the cat sanctuary, and to check out the place. She was a bit prickly, as we were both sussing each other out, and the place is in quite a bit of disrepair, and messy, not unlike Rhosgobel--such is the way of people and places that are looking after many animals. The 2 story shed she planned to keep Brigit in for her first 6 weeks was pretty rickety, though it did sound as though she knew her stuff. I just left that day feeling a bit unsure.

However, T had given me some advice on how to get Brigit into a carrier without bloodshed or kitty stress, and I tried it out that evening. Basically, you put a small carrier with bedding inside the large crate and cover it with a towel so it's nice and dark. It worked like a charm--Brigit went right in it. And not only that, but it made her feel so secure, she then spent time sitting on top of it inside the crate that evening, watching what she could see of the rest of the household, and stayed up there without hisses as Saki, Tuxie and I crawled into bed, where her crate was at the foot, and watched us a while. I only wish I had known to do this before, so she could have been more secure the whole week she was here, and of course, it would have been so much better for both of us when I took her to the vet on Saturday. And in the morning, when I was ready to take her to Gettysburg, she was curled up in the carrier, and all I had to do was shut its door and pull it out of the crate. So, I was totally won over concerning T's competence, and over my jitters about taking Brigit up there. This kind of info just isn't up on the internetz that I could find.


Here's the little girl yesterday morning, getting ready for our drive up. My mantra to her on the way up was "Wet food every day now!!!" I had the carrier in the back seat covered with a towel to keep her secure, but I heard her scurrying about in there. So when I took a rest stop I took the towel off because she really is a kitty who likes to look around and just watch what you're up to.


( Brigit's moving day . . . )

. . .said Gandalf significantly.

Starting yesterday, we've been having the coldest temps we've had in 4 years, with anticipation of a possible dusting of snow tonight and a few inches on Friday, so I've been debating and debating on whether or not I should catch Brigit today and take her in for the next few days. When I refill the dry food auto feeders, I have been placing a bowl of wet food in a carrier, and Brigit has been walking right in, so catching her would be no problem. The only problem is I'm not sure if this is a trick that will work twice, so if we have worse weather in the next month, I may not be able to catch her then--hence the debate.

But when I went out this afternoon, I called and called and she didn't show, as she has every week, except one rainy day, since the end of last March. I filled the feeders, called some more, and then drove around a little, and came back. Then I saw that C. who lives across the road from the feeders had arrived home and went to ask her if she could call me, if she saw her. I'm so glad she's there. She is friendly to Brigit, though she considers her an ugly cat--yes, she does. {-:

I was pretty worried, but just as it was getting dark and I was leaving C's stoop, who should show up, but Ms. Brigit. She was walking kind of slow, and was slow to start eating, and if she didn't have a cold, the cold was certainly being rough on her, so that decided me completely to take her in. I had to wave the bowl of food under her nose a couple of times before she took interest in it when I put it in the carrier, which isn't like her. And then I easily shut the door behind her and loaded it in the back seat. She made a couple of sad meows of half-hearted protest, but we drove home without incident.


This is a pic of Ms. Brigit from a month ago. You can see her winter coat has grown out beautifully.


( The wild is no place for gentlefolk . . . )

I'm waiting to see what the latest is about the storm tomorrow to decide whether or not I should try to trap Brigit when I go up tomorrow and keep her in my bathroom for 5 days. She's at the epicenter of the Delmarva peninsula. She's plenty inland for flooding to not be a life threatening issue, so it's just the wind force that I'm worried about and falling objects. For all the media hype--which I'm giving the finger right now--we are not looking at hurricane force winds, but tropical storm winds are serious enough.

However, temps will not be dropping near freezing, and if I manage to catch her for this storm, it will most likely be much more difficult to catch her for any other weather conditions that arise this winter, and I'm more worried about getting a bad blizzard some time this winter, or sustained severe subfreezing temps, or a real live hurricane this fall that does have hurricane force winds. If I trap her now, I might not be able to trap her then. So I'm leaning toward leaving well enough alone and just going up again Thursday to check on her. Did I say how much I hate the storm hype? Because I do.

And Pepco is telling us to expect days of power outages. No, Pepco, days of power outages for people who do not live in remote coastal areas are not acceptable just because you want to call this a super storm and other cutesy names. You've got plenty of time to prepare for this one and have lots of remote teams on hand if you're willing to lay out the money you collect from us. The damned hype we're being subjected to means you, Pepco should be prepared, not excused.

I've been having trouble uploading to Scrapbook, so I've been backed up on birthday greetings I've wanted to post for over a week.

So lacking a pic of a coyote, but having seen one approaching at night when I was guarding Brigit while she ate, I bring Brigit the More Than Halfway Feral Kitty, who is surveying what I've got for her in the back of my car, to wish a belated happy birthday to supergee! <3


Is there cake in that car? 'Cause there better be cake! And it better be for me!

I still recommend the Daily Coyote site for weekly coyote domesticity viewing happiness. (-:

That pic of Brigit is from July, when she shed all the fur off her sides. She is doing well. Her coat is still sun-bleached a lighter gray, but she's growing in her winter coat and I can just touch her enough to know it's as soft as it's looking--far healthier looking than when she lived in the Metro garage. How much red you see in her coat depends on light shining directly on her and the angle. She always comes to meet me when I visit once a week to refill her kibble autofeeder and give her a bowl of wet food. I expanded and fortified her feeding station this week, adding a second autofeeder to keep her going longer for weeks when I might not be able to make it out to Warwick. I'm crossing my fingers that people will continue to allow her feeding station and shelter to remain intact where I set it up behind the old church on a big round cement sewer cover along the woods. I don't know how much of the kibble she really eats, as there are other strays and ferals about who partake of it. So far, so good this year. Now, if I could interest someone local to take an interest in helping me keep it up, it would be a further blessing.

Starting the end of October, something that's been taking up quite a bit of my time and energy has been the rehoming to a rural area of Oestra and Brigit, the semi-feral bonded kitties I had been feeding and socializing at the New Carrollton Metro garage the past 3 years. Click on pics to embiggin these pretties.


OESTRA KNOWZ WHUT U DID THAIR!!!


BRIGIT: A STUDY IN FLUFF ON CONCRETE

You can find past posts on the girls here, here, here, and here.

The saga has been kind of a roller coaster, and I will catch you up on it bit by bit. ( trigger warning for unknown cat death )

I now have Saki and Tuxie cuddling on either side of me, and yay for the happy indoorness of my homecrew! And Moo and Tuxie most definitively chose this indoor lifestyle themselves without any coercion from me; i.e., they moved in with never a by-your-leave, bless them. (-: I never wanted to have to worry about outdoor cats ever, but Oestra and Brigit are not yet able to be otherwise, still being too feral, so life happens. In a better world, every cat would have a soft cushion to curl up on, in the sun by day and beside a fireplace by night. *hugs to you all*

Wonton soup, fried rice, and spare ribs hit the spot so well tonight after yesterday's fasting. I got hit with some awful bug, or maybe food poisoning--fever, chills, throwing up, the works--on Thursday. I thought it had lifted Saturday morning only to have it come back with a vengeance that evening, and Sunday, not sure what was going on, but sure my digestive track still wasn't working right, and I wasn't ready for a job interview Monday. So I rescheduled for Wed, fasted all yesterday--the biologic equivalent of pressing the off button to reset this whole damn errant machine, and it seems to have worked and I'm better today. Yay!!! Saki and Tuxie took good care of me all the time I was abed sick--Saki holding my head with velvet paws and a musical rumble, and Tuxie tucked in my arms against my chest and tummy.

So another editing job interview tomorrow-- wish me luck!
( What's been happening the last month )

First I want to thank dear belleferret for the cute card and lovely Sean postcard. Yeah, it didn't get here until today, almost 2 weeks after you sent it--boy those sled ferrets were tired--pulling that mail cart all the way from Ohio!!! I'm glad though, because it was lovely to get it now unexpected. *squooshes you*

Here are my garage sister strays when I visited them on Christmas Eve:

You can see the family resemblance. ( Just more kitty nattering . . . )