Merry Christmas

Look what we got for Christmas!

Our good friend Alex sent us a gift! He sent us that beautiful bumper sticker that his mom showed us in this post.

But did our Mom put it on the car bumper? No, she stuck it on the refrigerator, just above our food bowls! Apparently we (well, except Trouble) are packing on too many holiday pounds, and this is supposed to motivate us to watch our figures!

Hmmmfff, if that ugly duck did not make us loose our appetite, nothing will!

Well, at last we convinced her that Alex should get a place among some of our other internet friends on the fridge.

That's better! Thanks a lot Alex. Happy Holidays.

Formaly Feral Friday

Formally Feral Squish loves Christmas, especially the tree.

 

OK, how many sleepies to Christmas?

 

Purring for DMM

Formally Feral Friday Bliss (Trouble)

Formally feral Trouble enjoys face scritches. 

 

Easy like a Fat Mancat Sunday

Life is good for a formally feral Mancat who loves naps and noms.

Kimo please go home

Our old friend Kimo is missing. Please go home Kimo. We are all worried about you.

National Feral Cat Day

Feral cats are cats too!

Easy like Sunday - Squish

No Milkbone-chasing-somebody drama today, so Squish can take it easy on the top level of the cat tree.

Another casualty

Another casualty of The Tail-less One.

Time-out Sunday

Our Easy like Sunday turned into Time-out Sunday for Milkbone and Madness up in a tree. During the past week Milkbone has been a good cat, not chasing anybody, but apparently  it was too much to ask for him to keep that up for the entire weekend.

Bad Milkbone!

Don't worry, Madness is fine. She just got a bit of a scare. *sigh* Why can't everybody just get along! 

Two Tabbies Taking a Nap

Milkbone and Trouble taking a nap on the couch. We've had a couple of cool days, so the snuggling has begun.

Don't be fooled by how innocent Milkbone looks here. He had to go for a time-out earlier since the chased Squish. Now he puts on an innocent act for some sympathy.

Mr. Mean (Part 3)

I continued to feed Mr. Mean, but was very careful not to touch him. Then one day, he head-bumped my hand when I was putting out the food. I carefully petted his head ... and he loved it! It was then that I realized that he was not feral at all. He loved being petted, but soon it became a problem, cause he wanted to come into the house! And he still wanted to eat all my cats.

After Bubbles passed away, I spent a bit more time with him and decided to open the window to my office (it opens on the porch) to see whether he would like to come inside. He promptly jumped in and showed no sign that he ever planned to leave again! All the stray cats I've taken in before, wanted to still go outside all the time. Not so Mr. Mean. I got him a large doggy pillow and he seemed perfectly content to lounge on it for the majority of the time

Because of his love for this pillow I started calling him Milkbone.

A couple of weeks ago I put a kitty door in the window so he can go out when he likes. He seems pretty content to be inside, but since I cannot let him come into the rest of the house, he gets a bit lonely in the office. Eventually I got a pet gate to separate the office, the guest bedroom and bathroom from the rest of the house. This allows him more space when I don't have guests and he can also see what it going on in the downstairs part of the house.

He looks kinda sad behind the gate, but unfortunately he still sees my cats as potential snacks, particularly Squish. He really looks at her as if he wants to hunt her and she is terrified of him. I suspect the absence of a tail and her funny bunny-hop way of trotting around the house is the reason for his interest. Does this behind look tasty?

I've never had to deal with cats in my household that don't get along. Everybody seem relatively content, although Milkbone is a big cuddler and wants to spend more time with me. Don't feel too sorry for him, he does get to sit on the couch with me when I watch TV. He has to wear a harness, so I can keep him close, but he seems to be OK with it.

He is a very good cat. He learned very quickly what he is allowed to do (brow, brow for play) and what not (jumping over the barrier). I'm not sure how all of this will work out in the long term, but for now everybody seem relatively happy. It makes me sad to think that such a nice cat, who obviously had a home at some stage, had to live outside all this time.

I will probably never be able to let him loose in the same part of the house as my other cats, but hopefully he will stay content with his part of the house and his time with me on the harness. So it seems I've created a bit of a headache for myself, but hopefully it will all work out.

Whisker Hump Wednesday - Mr. Mean (Part 2)

In the beginning of May I lost my patience with the tomcat smell on my front door and I decided to trap Mr. Mean and have him neutered at the local low-cost Spay and Neuter clinic. It turned out to be very easy to trap him and I got him on my first try. He was not a happy Mancat.


He got neutered and also got his ear tipped. I let him out the evening after his neutering and he was fine. Surprisingly he came around the house again the very next night. I carefully opened the door on a crack and put some food out for him. Since that day he came around every night at 9pm sharp and cried in front of the door for food. I was very careful not to touch him in case he decided to attack me again. I now basically had a feral cat that I was feeding, but at least the spraying on the front door stopped. I guess it was a fair trade - his manhood for regular food.
TBC.

Whisker Hump Wednesday - Mr. Mean

Last Wednesday I said that I will tell you about the cat in that picture. So for the next few Whisker Hump Wednesdays in memory of our big mancat friend Kismet, I will tell you the Epic Story of Mr. Mean...
When I moved to Georgia in 2008 there were a number of stray/semi-stray/semi-feral cats in the neighborhood. Two of the local strays, Trouble and Squish (and here) eventually became part of our family.

Whisker Hump Wednesday

In memory of our friend Kismet, we submit these Whisker Humps for your approval.


I know our regular readers now have questions... We will share the epic story every week on Whisker Hump Wednesdays in memory of the original Big Mancat.

R.I.P Big Man

Our friend, the Big Man Cat Kismet went to the Bridge. We'll miss you Big Guy.

Sunday with Madness

Since Bubbles got ill, I've not posted much about my other cats, so it occurred to me that some of the newer readers might not know the rest of my cat family. So here is Madness. She is now the cat I've had the longest (since January 2007) and you can read about how she came to live with me here. Madness is now the only cat left that moved with me from Louisiana, since the 2Bs have both passed.

It turns out that her name is well suited to her personality. She can be a wild one. She does not like other cats. She will not pick a fight, she just ignores them. Unless they try to play with her (usually Trouble tries this) or get too close to her - then it is time for extreme hissing.

Like her role model Grr, she definately lives life on her own terms. She likes her tummy rubbed, but only for as long as she decides it's OK, after that you get the claws of death.

She is not a big cuddler, but she likes to sleep on the bed with me (as long as no other cat touches her) and when I sit on the couch she likes to climb on my chest for some scritches. Of course only for as long as I scratch her in exactly the right way and don't move any part of my body except for my scratching hand. Did I mention that everything has to be on her terms?

Thanks for the support

First I want to thank everybody for all the support and kind words. It's been overwhelming to see how many people Bubbles touched and that even through this electronic medium his spirit came through.

I've had cats my entire life and loved them all very much. But Bubbles was special. He was independent and sweet, fierce with other cats and incredibly gentle with people. He loved the outdoors and was fearless out there. But underlying everything was his incredible trust and devotion to me. We had a bond that I've never experienced before.

Since Bubbles was diagnosed I've been hoping desperately that he would die in peace at home or in the garden that he loved so much. However, it was not to be. When I arrived home early on Friday he was lying on the floor, breathing heavily through his mouth. He hasn't been feeling well for a few days and I knew that it was time to help my sweet friend along. I am thankful that I was there with him at the end but it was the most desperately heartbreaking thing I've ever had to do.
At the moment I can't think about him without breaking down, but I hope that in time I will be able to only remember the wonderful days I spent with this gentle, fearless soul who will be a part of me forever.

R.I.P Sweet Friend

Still Life with Cat

Easy & Vishus deer

Ah, this is a nice sunny spot for Easy on Sunday. Maybe I will even roll around in this sandy patch later.

Is there something behind me?

What are they looking at? Do I have bed-head?

Woman, what are you doing up there? Come down this minute and pet me!

Still going strong

When I posted at the end of May, I was very worried about Bubbles. However, an adjustment in his meds has done the trick and he is doing very well right now. In fact, I think he's doing as well as he has since he was diagnosed (I'm a little nervous saying that - I don't want to jinx it).

He continues to surprise everybody and I am thankful for the extra time we are having together. Right now he is sitting on the back of the couch washing his face since he just had some delicious Steamed Wild Alaskan Salmon (Fancy Feast Appetizers). Life is good right now and I can just hope that it will continue for some time.

And here is what Trouble is doing.

Easy like Sunday

A Catnip Elephant!

Bubbles received another package. It was from Wally, Ernie & Zoey of The Island Cats and it included a Catnip Elephant toy! How cool is that? There were also a card, treats and fever mousies.


Trouble immediately grabbed the elephant and made crazy catnip eyes.


Bubbles is still hanging in there. Some days he is doing well and others, not so much. He had a few bad days when I was out of town, but is doing better today and ate an entire Fancy Feast Appetizer serving this evening.
We are getting close to the point now where I have to consider whether his quality of life is still acceptable. Right now he is doing fine; in the crook of my arm, purring and grooming. I hope we will have a nice sunny long weekend in the garden ...

Beautiful Cards

Bubbles received two more cards! This beautiful card with the pink flowers is from our good friends at ManxMnews.

And this unique card of a kitty enjoying the outdoors is from the crew at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life.

Thank you very much. Bubbles is doing well. He had an ulcer on his eye last week, but with treatment it is nearly totally healed now. The vet thought that due to the steroids he is on and his FIV+ status, this would cause serious problems, but Bubbles just keeps surprising everybody. He is still eating well (especially Temptations), and enjoying the garden.

More Gifts for Bubbles

We received more cards and gifts this week. This card with Bubbles on the front and back was from Casper, Cleo and their Mom.

These fever toys and little note pads were from Kari (she doesn't have a bloggie). They came in a beautiful blue package and everything was neatly packaged with little cat stickers everywhere.


Junior & Orion sent us this cute Easter Hello Kitty, card and Temptations. Our Mom loves Hello Kitty and claimed it immediately. We don't think that was fair!

Bubbles did not feel up to playing today, but he did pose with one of the fever toys.

Thanks to everybody thinking about us and purring for Bubbles. He has his good days and his bad days, but is still doing OK.