Don't Be Fooled by These Cats

Although it looks like two buddies sharing a couch - it is not so! Angel, the "elder", loves to sit on the afghan. Sebastian snuck up behind him and curled up on a tiny pillow, looking like he is settled in. But... all it takes is a loud sound and our latest addition is off and running. He is slowly finding his comfort level here and it is clear the memory of the cold and unfriendly street life is still fresh in his mind. We don't know what bad experiences he had when he was outside but he is very wary of any sudden movement or sound and when he eats he stays crouched over his food, ready to run at the slightest provocation. He does love his "human" (youngest son) and spends much of his time up in younger son's room, curled up on the bed or on top of a high wardrobe. When he is downstairs with the rest of us, he is usually found by one of the windows with his nose pressed against the glass. He obviously still has a love for the outside - but that is another story.

We Three Kings - Together

Curious cats - not one in sight as we open the front door - but as soon as we turn on the lights and put down the shopping bags they all silently appear, watching to see what we are doing. Note Angel's wary look back up the stairs to see what Spike (The Fluff) is doing. Angel learned early that it is not wise to have one's back to an agile cat who loves to pounce on other unsuspecting cats!

We Three Kings: And Sebastion Makes Three!

To introduce the third member of our furry trio, here is an extract of a letter written to Mama Bear’s friend who works in Administration at the local Humane Society:

March, 2008

I just wanted to let you know that we added a new furry member to the family last week. Hubby and I stopped in at the Humane Society two Saturdays ago to look at the new building (which is certainly beautiful!). We stopped to see all of the cats and saw a big white male huddled in the corner on the top shelf of his cage, with a paw over his food dish. He looked rather scruffy and definitely wasn’t looking to put a head out for a pat. Apparently he had been abandoned and it looked like he had been outside for awhile (nose looked a bit frost bitten, ears were scraggly and looked like they might have been somewhat frost bitten as well. His fur was really rough and quite thick (again, seeming like he had been outside for awhile!) His description indicated that he was neutered and declawed – so obviously someone must have cared for him as a pet for some length of time. In spite of all the really cute little cats in there somehow hubby and I were drawn to this one – feeling sad for him. We also figured that he probably wasn’t the most appealing cat to the general public and might have to stay there for awhile.

We brought our youngest son with us on Sunday to see Frostfire. He put on the yellow apron, sprayed it carefully and reached in to pick up the cat. Frostfire (or Sebastian Frostfire as he is now known) stuck his head right into my son’s neck and started purring. When we put him back in his cage, he had the most soulful sad look on his face. We certainly hadn’t planned on getting another cat (since we have two at home) but none of us could leave him there all alone in his cage! (Mama Bear’s note here: I turned to Papa Bear and said “haul out that wallet…this guy is coming home with us!”) He is just getting through his quarantine period with us (in younger son's room complete with his own cat toilet and food dishes!) so we are looking forward to enjoying more time with him in the future.

We Three Kings - The Second King arrives

D.O.G., Deeojii, Spike, Fluffcat….cat of many names…. and a real King of the Hill.

It was early December, 2007 and we had decided that we had room in our hearts for a second cat. Angel had been with us for two years now and had settled in quite well. His enjoyment of human company led us to believe that he would also be happy with a four legged companion when we weren't home.

Papa Bear had been looking through a local marketplace on Facebook and saw a photo of a beautiful young white cat whose owner was moving to a condo that would not accept pets. Mama Bear willingly picked up the phone right away to call the owner …after reminding Papa Bear about his “no fluffy cats” rule. This was a beautiful cat indeed – and he was one of the fluffiest cats we have ever seen. We found out he was deaf but his owner assured us that this wasn’t really anything to worry about. We also learned that he had spent some time with a house full of cats (where he was harassed by these other cats) and then he went to a house with a small dog (which constantly chased him).

Less than two weeks later we opened the door to see a burly guy carrying a laundry basket filled with cat food dishes and a curious cat! He explained that the cat didn’t have a name until it was time to take him to the vet for his needles. When his owner was asked for a name to write down on the vet records, he decided that D.O.G. would make a good name. Mama Bear thought it would be great to change this to the phonetic Deeojii … but somehow she was the only one who thought this was a good name! Since Papa Bear was instrumental in choosing this particular cat, he had the honor of naming the new addition and picked Spike. (Yes…too much Buffy watching in this house when the girls were younger.) Mama Bear simply calls him Fluffcat (for obvious reasons) knowing that he is not going to answer to his name anyway!

In the first week that Spike joined the family, he showed us that he was a night cat who loved to jump onto the highest places he could get to. That part wasn’t bad – it was the crashing sound when he knocked something down that started to sound too familiar after a few days. Of course, being deaf, he doesn’t hear it when his large paws or huge fluffy tail takes something out….we are the only ones that hear the noises at 3 AM! He has the most amazing effortless jump and can get up on places we have never seen a cat on before. But you’ll hear more about that later.

We Three Kings - The First King

Well…....it didn’t start out as a family of three “boys”. Several years had passed since we last had a cat in the household. The youngest of our brood had entered his teen years and was in agreement with the mother of the family that it was time to bring home a cat. After several weeks of presenting logical and not so logical arguments along with much cajoling we were able to persuade Papa Bear that a cat would be a perfect addition.

So the search began. We were looking for an older cat that needed a new home. Papa Bear said “no fluffy cats’ so our questions always included one about fur length. After several fruitless calls (cats had already found new families) we had a possibility. It was a 5 year old white short haired male cat named Angel. Two of his family members were allergic to him and the family was reluctantly looking for a new home for him. We met with his family and it was agreed we would come to pick him up in several weeks.

Several weeks passed and we eagerly headed across the city to pick up the new furry “baby”. We visited for a short while and then brought in a borrowed travelling cage to carry him home. When he sniffed the cage, he realized that something was about to happen (or maybe it was the smell of the two cats who usually travelled in this cage!) The ride home was not as quiet as it usually was and we found out that Angel had quite a loud voice when he wanted to use it.

So – we thought we had everything set for Angel as soon as he came into our home– fresh food and water, sleeping spot and litter box all ready for use. We went to bed leaving him still wandering around, sniffing at the new sights. In the morning, we came down and couldn’t find him anywhere. We called and called, and kept checking every room in the house with no success. It was horrible to think that we had lost our new cat in less than 24 hours and we didn’t look forward to phoning his previous owners to let them know. After an hour of searching had passed, we heard the faint sounds of footsteps on metal. We looked behind the TV and realized that he had pushed aside the loose grill on the air vent and had climbed down. We held some cat treats by the opening then all of a sudden a furry face popped into view. He climbed out and walked towards us, leaving dusty prints all over the floor. And he was no longer a white cat but a grey and white cat (dust from the vent). Cat proofing the house was our very next step after we had brushed Angel back to being a white cat.

Angel settled in quite quickly after that. He still loves to sniff at anything new in the house and is very much a ladies’ man. His affections lie with Mama Bear and youngest daughter. In fact, he is very loving in the morning when Mama Bear doesn’t wake up at the right time to feed him. He walks up to her face and gives her a little loving lick on the nose. If that doesn’t wake her, the lick turns to a little bite on that same nose. On occasion he becomes very annoying (I mean endearing!) and sits right on Mama Bear’s throat and mouth. This usually does the trick!