The love of our animals

This past weekend I have been out of town attending a conference and several events (leaving the cats in the care of our youngest son). On Saturday, two of my colleagues were receiving their hard earned and well deserved professional designations and I was particularly touched by the comments they made as part of their recognition of the support they had received along the way. Both recognized the role their pets played in their journey..and it made me think about my own furry family members who give support in their own way. I have probably mentioned that Angel will invariably curl up beside me when it is late at night and I am working on my laptop. He seems to instinctively sense the difference between me watching TV and simply having it on as white noise when I am working - and it is the latter times that he will come to sit beside me. Our woofie is also quite good at staying downstairs with me late evenings - although she will occasionally whine and try to let me know when she thinks it is time to head off to bed (she then gives up and comes back to sit by my feet!) It can be quite lonely at 2 AM when the house is quiet and every one else is in bed ...so the company is much appreciated.

The Watch Cat

A new little baby..and already there is a guardian cat on the job! One of my friends at work is celebrating a new grandchild and had this wonderful photo to show me. The last time I saw this handsome furry was when he was a small kitty just being welcomed into his new family. My friend says her daughter's himmie is well behaved and is very careful when settling in beside the new baby.

The New Face In Town

Check out this new cutie at http://houseofmanycats.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-face-in-town.html Laura at A Life of Many Cats has added a beautiful new lady cat, Khia, to her household. Khia has a marvellous "coat of many colours" and has such beautiful green eyes. I am looking forward to seeing many more photos of this sweetie.

Testing out the sleeping areas

Our new little Sadie lady is testing out potential sleeping spaces. The first option was OK..but Spike kept coming over to sniff her with she curled up in this cat bed. The second option was the couch in the living room - and we found Sadie fast asleep looking oh so comfortable. She loves to stretch her paws out whenever she is lying down. Surprisingly, her paws are almost the same size as Spike's….which is unexpected for a little ladycat.

As we spend more time with her, we are better able to observe the characteristics which make her different from the boys..and those that are similar. She seems to be most like Angel in temperament and actions. The other day when I had my shower, I opened the shower curtain to step out and expected to see Angel sitting comfortably on the clothes basket (he loves the sound of water). But this time it was Sadie who was curled up on the bathroom mat with her head stretched out on my pajamas!

Please..please...let me out!

We have been very fortunate to have great weather this past week .....and we have had our windows open to enjoy the fresh, crisp, Fall weather. Sebastian is the cat who is most entranced by the smell of the great outdoors....and is the one we always have to watch carefully to ensure he doesn't escape out the front door whenever we come in or leave. Hubby was outside working in the yard when he looked up and saw this plaintive little face looking wistfully out of the kitchen window. He quickly whipped out the little camera he keeps handy for impromptu shots..and caught this one just in time for posting on the blog!

Busy day...long post

It has been a busy day today. Up early for breakfast at McD's and then over to the Humane Society...picked up a great little reusable shopping bag, a kitty magnet and a new Wubba for Spike. He really loves the ones that have the long legs with the soft fuzzy material. You can see in the photo above that Spike is enjoying his new treat!

Then down to the Forks to see the Rescue Inc guys who were in the city this weekend to help out in a fund raising event for the local rescue groups. (Above is a quick shot of them, along with their two favorite dogs.) It was great to see so many people out and many of them had their dogs with them as well. Many of the rescue groups had set up booths to sell products so we had to go check everything out. My favorite stopping point was one of the cat rescue booths where I saw several cute cat mats and matching catnip squares. Of course, I just had to buy a mat and a catnip square for Sadie. While waiting in line, I looked through the cat prints (pictures...not paws!) that were sitting in a display holder. One print was titled "Sebastian the Cat" so I had to add that to my purchases as well. Even though the cat in the print was black, I thought the title was a hint so we will now have two Sebastians (although one will be behaving better than the other!) In the other photo above you'll see how Sadie is enjoying her new treat.

Last stop was a local rescue we regularly visit to purchase salmon treats for the woofie. Yes, another place where we get a chance to pat some free roaming kitties! The other item we picked up was a holder with two large stainless steel water/food dishes. One would think this was for the woofie...well, yes and no. Spike and Angel often stop by the woofie's water dish to help themselves so we decided it would be a good idea to have a couple of dishes at floor level for whichever furry decides he/she needs a drink!

P.S. An additional comment for Angel's photo yesterday. Angel often sits beside me on the couch late in the evening when I am working late. A laptop on my lap....and a sweet little cat cuddled up to my right. When it is time for bed, most often Angel will follow me upstairs and sleep by my legs. I do feel guilty when the alarm rings and I try to move my legs away from Angel without disturbing him. I am never successful since he is a light sleeper..and he will quickly try to walk up onto my chest, where he promptly sits down facing me and tries to lick my face. So every once in awhile I do have to let him sit undisturbed on one of his favorite places (i.e. the chair...not me!)

Angel on my chair

After a long week at work, it is always nice to come home and stretch out. Not so today....Angel has called dibs on my chair and I don't have the heart to move him!

Monday is a day for sleeping

Hubby went looking for some photo ops today of the exciting cat antics we expected to see - but not so! All he found were four sleepy cats. Angel in the chair by hubby's computer. Spike in his cat bed in a high safe space in the main hallway. Sebastian in the baby bassinet in the guest bedroom upstairs. Sadie on her new cat bed by the dining room window.

Meeting part 2

The suggestion of treats to be shared when meeting was a great idea..unfortunately my hubby has interpreted Cat's suggestion in a slightly different manner than it was intended! We brought a new Wubba today and placed it in front of Sadie, looking to entice Spike over. (I should mention here that I cheated a wee bit last night and opened the door for Spike. He was stretched out in front of Sadie's door when I was headed up to bed last night so I opened the door and let him. He walked right up to Sadie, they sniffed noses and then Spike walked past Sadie to check out the rest of the room. Of course - no camera since hubby was fast asleep in bed already.)

Spike's reaction to the Wubba was typical..grab, bite, chew..and ignore any other cat in sight. Sadie just sat and watched in interest. The smell of catnip must have wafted downstairs since Angel was quick to come up and as soon as Spike lost interest, Angel went over to smell the Wubba. As you can see in the background, Sadie is getting ready to walk out of her room, willing to leave the Wubba treat to the boys. And out of the room is the operative word...she is now free to walk among the rest of the furries. So far, she has walked around both floors, looked out the front window and the back window (both of which are level to the floor which provides a great sightline for a cat) and has learned how to take the cat tunnel shortcut through the hall.

In Memory

In memory of those friends and family we've lost..and thinking of those who are still fighting.

The first meeting takes place

Sadie, on left, at the entrance to her "quarantine" room and Angel, on right, sitting just outside the room. We opened the door, knowing that Angel was patiently sitting in the hallway. Sadie came out tentatively and quickly backed up when she saw Angel. Hubby decided to use the laser pointer to catch their attention and brought them within a few inches of each other. When he turned off the pointer both cats stayed in their positions, watching each other. As you can see, Angel looks a bit wary and is pulling back as he watches Sadie. Within a couple of minutes Angel disappeared down the hallway and we thought the introduction was over. But after a few more minutes passed Angel returned and went straight into the spare room to check out Sadie's digs. We let him walk around the room with Sadie following at a safe distance. Angel was curious but obviously was still being careful since we saw him slowly putting one foot in front of the other, barely putting any weight on each foot. Once he was done the circuit of the room, he decided he was done and hot footed it out the door.