Hopi's Story

I recommend y'all hop over to Shadow Walker and read the Story of Hopi.

Man's Best Friend Part 2

For Cowboy and other guys who appreciate the cat. Olof says a cat is a non-ego gratifying pet. For me, if a man comes into my house and sees one of my cats and pays kind attention to him, well I will feel kindly towards said man.

Last year we had two kerosene heaters installed by two men. One was a very large, homely fellow, a salt of the earth type we are lucky to have around here. Works hard, runs his own business, is honest, does a good job. When he was ready to come into the living room I asked him to be careful because I had two young kittens running around.

"Oh!" he said. " I do too, they are so cute!"

He said their names were Elvis and Gigi.

I have a soft spot for guys like that. Big working guys who love little kittens.

Games We Played

For Cowboy

This photo is from before Fergus got his "license" to run around the yard on his own without a harness. I was keeping the harness on him while I watched him because it was easier to grab this little bolt of lightning with it on then without.

Fergus was the most playful and inventive cat I have ever known. Though it is also possible that I have become more playful and inventive and more aware of my cat's playfulness. Fergus would get bored and look to me to find something to do so between the two of us and Silas, these are some of the things we came up with.

bath tub Ping Pong. Throw one or two ping pong balls in a tub with one or two small kittens and stand back. This was a riot and I have some shaky video of it I have not been up to looking at yet.

Ping Pong down the stairs and across the floor. Fergus could run full speed down our wooden floors passing a ping pong ball from paw to paw and never miss a pass. I wish I had this on tape.

The Bizzzy Kitty Box, you know, a cardboard box with holes cut in it for little paws. The description read "almost impossible to get toys out" Ferg just took a look at it, stuck his paw in and wapped all the toys out one after the other. You could hear them playing with this all night. Or at least, until it was emptied. I'd stuff it before going to bed.

The Ball in a Ring toy. This was a big hit too and we would hear the balls getting wapped in the middle of the night.

Bags and Tents and Tunnels. I would make tents out of chairs and footstools and tables downstairs and both kittens would run in and out and try to grab toys on a rope. We also have one of those bright fabric tunnels which Ferg loved to get in, we would pick it up with him in it and swing it back and forth. We would also tap a stick on the outside and he would grab it from inside.

My bathrobe tie. I wish I had video of this, I always meant to get some. I would whip the soft fabric (now shredded) bathrobe tie along the floor and Ferg would get a good hold of it and then I would swirl him in circles while he lay on the floor on his back clutching it. He loved this.

Tissue Paper Slide. This was great when he was very little. I would gather up a handful of tissue paper ( I let him shreadly deadly it first). He would hide behind a plant while I held the paper ball and whirled it around. Then the tiger would attack and at the last second I took my hand away. Ferg would hit the paper and slide across the floor. Then he would run back for another turn.

Crazy Eight, another very small kitten exercise. I would sit on the floor with my knees up and run a stick around my legs and Ferg would run in patterns under my knees and around my legs.

Paw Over Paw, even Brendan loves this. I collected some long thin fresh branches from out apple trees and whip them around the floor or outside in the yard. These can go over head too and up small trees. In the photo, Fergus is running for a branch. Brendan would watch the wild action and look longingly for a turn so I would whip it for him too, at a slower pace and nearer him. Fergus would run down the yard after it.

And of course, kitty climbing trees. Ferg taught Silas how to climb. One of the first times we were all out in the yard together last spring Silas got up a small hemlock tree and got scared. Fergus went up it and talked his buddy down. I doubt Silas would be much of a climber without those lessons. Though Ferg also scared himself a few times when he was little and he would peep for me to lift him down.

And he did all this with a heart condition. With joy and excitement every day. If cats have mottos, Fergus's would be "And what are we doing Now?"

A Rainy Happy Caturday

Fergus would get bored on rainy days when he couldn't go out. So sometimes I would make a tent out of anything and it would become a cave. These photos are from last spring.







Last night I dreamed I saw Fergus and he was a blue spinning thing, like a plate only thicker, above my head. I caught it and it turned into Ferg and then I petted him. O saw him too, and said he didn't look like a cat but a whirling dervish.

He Trips the Light Fantastic

For Feline Friday at the Modulator


You haven't seen as much about this guy, he's shy and sometimes not as graceful as he might like to be when trying to climb a tree. But here he is dancing away, maybe to a reggae beat ( our favorite around here). Or it could be a bit of ballet, Mozart perhaps?

I picked up the book Dancing with Cats on a quick run through a large bookstore last year. I don't often get to the big bookstore in Portland and I don't get to spend as much time as I might on my own. So I was in a short period of time picking up what cat books I could afford before rushing over to the travel section to get a few on France. I saw this book on dancing with your cats and... you'll laugh but it's true. I thought it was real. I flipped through it and read a bit and said to myself "Hey, we can do that!" I figured I'd put on some music start dancing around and the boys, whose dancing instincts have been long repressed, would get the idea and jump right in.
Well it didn't work and then I realized the book was a hoax. I was pissed. Like my mother always says "gullible is my middle name."

However, maybe these clever people, in their rush to make a buck making fun of cats, didn't take the time to really take a look at whether cats would dance.
So here we have Silas, in an unretouched, non photoshopped photo, gracefully dancing away.

My cats do dance, after all.

I did get a very nice email from a medium about Fergus. I have been waiting to hear from her again before I post anything about it, and to get her permission. We were driving to the southern part of the state yesterday doing errands and it took my mind off things so I felt better than I have since losing Fergus. I still long for him every minute and he is constantly floating in my mind but I am feeling like I can cope anyway. I also have a lot of interesting work to do which I will write about on the personal blog on the links menu, Zuleme.com.

Silas is also the proud possessor of a new penthouse all his own and our official Caturday photographer has promised a sequence of him getting there.

Stay tuned and if you have a cat blog and want to trade links, let me know. I will also be doing a page of links to shelters recommended by readers. I have plans to expand Caturday and some funny ideas.

Calling All Cat Bloggers

HI there, if you drop by and have a blog about cats or by a cat let us know and we will post a link to you. We'd like you to link to Caturday too. Meow. We're working on our blog roll.

O Cat of my Heart

That there is Finnegan. Or, as we called him, Finnegan Innegan Outagan. He was my best buddy for 14 1/2 years until July of 2004 when he died of kidney failure. I didn't even know he was ill until the day before the last day which goes to show you how little experience I had with the ills cats are heir to. He was only my third cat in my life, not counting some that were around briefly in my family during my teenage years.

Finnegan was a rascal and sometimes a brat, but he loved me passionately. He would come into the kitchen and, to get my attention he would run his claws over the edge of my hand made spalted maple drawer fronts, looking at me as he did it. When he wanted to go out he would run his paws on the glass to make an awful sound. But his best trick was when he wanted to go out in the morning. We don't let anyone out until the sun is up and the night creatures are in their hideouts. But Finnegan would start pushing it, earlier and earlier in the summer. He would climb up by my head ( or Olof's) and at first he would pat you gently. If you didn't respond then you would get a claw in your scalp. (I would often put the pillow over my head and ignore him) But his best way of getting your attention was he would get up on the windowsill and find something like a glass of water. Then he would pat it very gently, nearer and nearer the edge of the sill. Either it would fall of or we would catch him. Olof once got a whole glass of water on his head.

But Finnegan also came running to get on my lap every night. And when it was time to go to sleep he would run into the bedroom, hop up on my side and sit there, waiting while I got ready. Not until I lay down would he lay down and I could pull him in close so I could rest my cheek on him. When he decided I was asleep he would move to my feet where he would stay. However, if I woke up, he would come back up and lie next to me again. He would give me long loving looks and I would tell him how beautiful and brave he was and he would curl his paws in happiness.

his death was a terrible experience but also in some ways the best it could be. He went down hill fast and he spent his last night away from me as the vet was trying to get enough fluids into him so he could have some quality time. But it didn't work so we knew we should end it for him. He was in pain and miserable. I held him and it was such an awful feeling to feel his living spirit leave his body. I guess I am lucky I don't have many experiences of death but that just makes it more shocking.

After he was gone, Brendan took to sleeping in Finnegan's hiding spot. Then one night, I felt a cat hop up on the bed in Finnegan's place. I sat up and looked and there was no cat there. Soon after I had a very strange and amazing dream. I dreamed I was in a cave with bright little lights like fireflies on the walls and they were all spirits. One was Finnegan and he told me that he was coming back but not before November ( this was July). So I knew I should wait until November to try to find him. I did wait and when I went to the shelter, Fergus came running and claimed me.

Now the funny thing is, whether you believe in such things or not, Fergus had a few little things he did that were so like Finnegan it was striking. One was the way he would stand with his shoulders hunched up. He'd be running, come to a stop, and his shoulders would do this thing exactly like Finny. Also he would come up to me in the yard, stand next to me and lean in a little, just like Finny. It's like he was saying " I'm with Her." I also once caught Fergus doing the same paw move on the glass door, with the same annoying sound and there was the paw around the edge of the bathroom door trick too. In a way, Fergus was like a Finnegan who had learned a few things. But he still hated to ride in the car.

Do I believe in reincarnation? I believe that life is so mysterious I could believe anything. I was looking it up on the web today and one thing I found was this

"What factors decide where people are born in their next incarnation?

This is a common question for people to ask, and the answers can only be speculative at best. One common idea rules that a person in their next incarnation will be thrown together with the people they were most emotionally attached to - either by love (including friendship) or by hate. This would be a good incentive for people to never actually hate anyone they don't like, so that fate would hopefully not throw them together again. So a person may in some instances be reborn in a country where the people they are closest to have ended up. As to whether this is by their own choosing, who can say. Note that there is no reason to suppose that with such a theory, these emotional chains would not also work with favourite pets, physical locations, nations, etc."


The rest is at the address below.
http://www.geocities.com/richard_holmes/reincarnation/faq.htm#a2




I did see Fergus the night before last as I slept. He was lying on a table, it looked like in the hospital and I saw his beautiful eyes looking straight at me. Then they closed and it was like the image flew away. But I woke up feeling peaceful and it was the first beautiful morning we had had since his death. Then around 4AM this morning, Silas woke me up purring like crazy, then he was running around playing downstairs and he was very lively all morning. It's as if Fergus is here and Silas can see him.

And no one will sit in his chair.

So who knows? I think we can have extraordinary relationships with cats and I think our ability to do so grows as we grow older and wiser. Maybe once you find the Cat of Your Heart and you lose him, the next one is really the same one come around again, if you pay attention. Many of you have said your next cat was sent by the lost one. Well, maybe it just is the lost one. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

He is Hungry

Whatever is out there above our garage is very hungry. It polished off a bowl of Inova dry, a serving of wet and drank a bowl of water. There were no fresh prints going out this morning. Olof said " why should it go anywhere now, it's getting fed!" Our plan, if the food is eaten tomorrow, is to hook up our web cam over there and set it on motion detect and see what we get. Stay tuned.

Tiger Kittens

Hop over to My Animal Family and see the great little orange tigers!

Wild Cat?

This is what my studio looked like last night. After looking at the hole in the ceiling, the poop and then pawprints we found this morning, we think it is a feral cat. So Olof said I could feed it and let it live there, at least for now. I know my neighbor had two ferals she brought home to live in her barn ( beloved hunting spot of our guys too) and one disappeared. So it might be that.

Also, a while ago I was woken at midnight by Olof saying "what is that sound?" I woke right up from a deep sleep and heard a cat giving that low, don't mess me with me ( I am scared) sound. I flew downstairs and found Fergus and Silas at our glass door looking at a grey and white guy outside. He ran off and when I asked my neighbor she said her feral was a grey and white tiger.
This one didn't look quite tigery, a white face and grey body, was all I could see.

What you can't see in the photo is the mess all over the floor. The ceiling is dropped, that light weight white stuff, and it was in little pieces everywhere. A wood molding was torn off and my bamboo wainscoting was torn. Yes, my studio is often a mess, but not that messy!

So I left some food and water in the garage for the poor cat and we'll see what happens.

Last night I saw Fergus. I'll write about it later. But he made me feel better.

Our Zen Master

There's a quote somewhere that goes " I have met three zen masters in my life and they were all cats." The photo is of Brendan, AKA The Perfect One. Brendan is 16 now and has outlived his brother, Finnegan by a year and a half. His motto is "Everything in Moderation." He picked Olof out at the shelter with just one little tilt to the head and his big tiger kitten eyes. He and Silas get along perfectly, they are both easy going peaceable guys. He has been Olof's best buddy all his life.

It is snowing here today, much desired. I woke up and realized once again, that Fergus was not curled up next to me. It seems like morning is the hardest part of the day. If I work on something that is a good distraction, then I can get through ok. Evening is hard too, as soon as I went upstairs, Ferg would be hopping up on my lap to be sure Brendan wouldn't get it. Then he could stretch out full length and do his best to ignore Brendan's longing look. Somehow Olof, became the less desired lap for a short period there. Don't know why. Silas is not much of a lap cat so some nights I am cat less now.

I remember when I lost Finnegan (a story I will write someday here) someone writing on the cat loss group said that grief is like waves of the ocean. At first they come one right after the other and then, as time passes, you keep riding up and down but the waves are further apart.

I know we still mourn for Seamus, the little guy we lost on the road ages ago. And my mother says she misses all of her cats. We don't forget them.

My mother told me once she had a dream she died and woke up in her bed in heaven and all the animals she had ever loved were coming to meet her. I love that image. If that is heaven, it is ok by me. More than ok, if Ferg is there.

I did dream about Fergus the night before last. I dreamed I was in a meadow by a river and a man wearing white was there and he had Fergus in his arms. He said to me " I'm sorry, I did the best I could."
Then he said, "you did the best you could."
Fergus was afraid of me, which hurt me. He remembered I had left him at the vet's. Then he remembered how I loved him and the two of us went for a walk along the river. Then we lay down and took a nap together, Fergus on my stomach, like he liked to do.

I have also felt his lightweight touch landing on the bed sometimes. It's like losing an arm, you get phantom limb syndrome, this is phantom cat syndrome. I felt it with Finnegan too. But it wouldn't surprise me at all if Fergus is here, Silas has been running around at night playing, so maybe he's got company. I have a small batch of soft Ferg fur left on his chair. I help it out to Silas and he thouroughly smelled it and then he purred and purred.

Day by day.

I was finishing up this somewhat scattered post when Olof called from the studio and told me to come out there, some wild animal had broken in. My room was a mess, something had come in from the garage, climbed up on the dropped ceiling ( seeking heat) and then fell through into the room and couldn't get out. It tore everything apart and finally managed to get out the way it came in. Maybe I will post a photo later. We don't get a lot of feral cats out here but that's what it looks like. I collected some poop and maybe Fish and Game can id it for me.

Fergus in his Basket

I was looking through my archives and realized I never posted this photo, probably our most amazing shot of the little guy. This was taken when he was maybe nine weeks old. He was afraid to be away from us so I used to put him in this and put it on the kitchen counter or take him to the studio to be with Olof if I needed to shop.
I dreamed abou him tonight. It is very very hard to think that I will never see him again. I will write about the dream later. I don't feel up to it right now.

Fergus Goes to Heaven

A story for everyone who has lost a well loved cat. A little wishful thinking for how the world should work.


Fergus trotted eagerly up to the Pearly Gates. It was a glorious day in heaven, blue sky, fluffy white clouds soft beneath his little cat feet. For Fergus, this felt like another Great Adventure. His tail was up and he walked lightly, then bounded forward as the great golden gates opened to admit him.

Past the gates he saw a rainbow and a summer meadow with trees and ponds here and there. And kittens, other kittens like himself, playing and tumbling and climbing the trees and hunting frogs and napping in cozy piles. "What fun!" Fergus thought and he ran to join them.

All day long he played with the other kittens. When he was tired he curled up for a nap. When he was hungry he took a nibble from bowls filled with delicious food. He felt wonderful and nothing hurt. The sun was warm and the air smelled lovely, of leaves and mice running through the grass. He was happy. Weeks passed,

One evening all the kittens gathered under a full moon. There were older cats there too, all in the prime of life, healthy and strong. One, a magnificent ginger tom stood up to speak.

"You kittens need to always remember that here in Heaven is the place for cats to be happy. We are healthy, we are free of misery. On Earth, I had a home when I was a kitten and when I was no longer cute and sharpened my claws on the furniture and the new baby came, the people threw me out. I was hungry and cold. Children chased me and threw things at me. I had fleas and I was sick and no one helped me. I went from door to door and no one would take me in. I had to fight other cats for food and I lost an eye. Then I lay down to sleep in the snow, a big hurt came and I was free. Earth is only misery for cats."

Fergus listened with the others and then a wonderful memory came to him. He stood up.


"That'’s not true," he said. "Earth is a wonderful place. Herself lives there in a big den with many cozy places to sleep. There are fields to run in and mice to chase. In summer there is warm sunlight and in the winter the snow comes down and Herself makes a warm fire for us to sleep by and we look out the windows. She loved me and she gave me good food and treats and caressed me every day and said how wonderful I was. I had a door I could open myself and toys to play with and every night I sat with Herself and watched things move and make sounds on the wall and every night I was safe and cuddled up close to her. She loved me. We were happy. And I loved her. Earth is a beautiful happy place."

The other cats and kittens looked at Fergus with big eyes.

" I never saw Earth," said a very tiny white kitten. " Me and my brothers were drownded."

"”But I remember now, said a gray kitten. " I had a family of people. I grew old and sick but they took care of me. They were kind. When I died, they were sad and water came out of their eyes. They love me too and I loved them."

"Me too", said a black cat with a white face and paws. " I lived with an old woman who was always gentle and warm. We sat in a chair together and I would purr for her and she would stroke my fur. It was wonderful."

"They do love us," Fergus said. He turned his ears to a distant sound. "I can hear Herself. She is calling me, there is water in her eyes, she is sad. I must go to her. I am going back."

"But what if you can'’t find her?" asked the tom. Earth is a big place. You could end up alone and starving.People can be cruel too."

"I will find Her," answered Fergus. "I am going."

And he got up and on his little cat feet he walked back through the perfect meadow and back through the great golden gates, back along the soft white clouds under the beautiful blue sky and just as he was leaving Heaven he looked back one more time at that place with no sorrow and no pain.

And behind him were all the kittens. White ones, black ones, tigers and grays. Calicos and Tuxedos, ginger and tortishell, sleek Siamese and silky Persians. Tails waving, eyes bright with dreams and hope.

On the long road back to Earth.

Gratefulness

I am grateful that he came to us and for his short life he knew nothing but kindness and love.
I am grateful that I spoiled him rotten with every kitty toy made and he played with them all.
I am grateful that I let him go outside on his own even though I was terrified something would happen to him and he got to have a secret wild cat life and the security of a loving home.
I am grateful that I let him eat Fancy Feast sometimes even though I thought it was junk food, because he loved it.
I am grateful for the little snacks he loved.
I am grateful that we adopted Silas who is gentle and kind, because Fergus needed a friend.
I am grateful for the tears of our vet when she told me he had heart failure.
I am grateful that his death was not worse.
I am grateful that he did not die on the road or in the woods alone.
I am grateful that it was not my fault.
I am grateful for the gift of his spirit and his love for me.

Just another day

I miss Fergus so much today I can't even find the energy to write about him. Olof made a dvd of all the photos we had, about 450 and we watched it and it just made us terribly sad. In every picture of me and him I look so happy. And it's true, that little cat made me happy all the time, every time I saw him. Every time he saw me he'd come running. He was so full of life, in every photo he is moving, or looking at something, or sound asleep. I still can't believe we have lost him.

Rain and a cold

I have been in bed all day with a miserable cold that came on quickly with a sore throat. I meant to post some photos and thoughts but just couldn't handle it. Brendan is keeping me company and Silas has a cool new sleepy spot on top of a high bookshelf with a fleece blanket. He gets there by going up a cat tree and across a beam. We planned it that way, since he needs a secure spot to hideaway in. Usually it's a drawer in the sunroom.
Thank you for all your emails.

For Me?

I wanted to post a happy memory today. I woke up this morning to five lovely emails from readers wanting to hear more about Fergus. There is a lot more to tell. I am going to write the entire story in our voices and post all the wonderful photos Olof took during our short happy time together. I also have a wistful story I will post as a link later today. We are going to help our local shelter with their web problems, I think that doing something to help other cats will help us too.

Fergus was always waiting when I came home from shopping. He would hear the garage door open and be standing at the glass door, which is low enough for kitty size visibility. Usually I came in with a bag from our local "Four Your Paws Only" and sometimes there was a toy or a fresh smelling bag of Evo. He knew those things were for him ( and of course for Brendan and Silas too)




You've been out hunting again! I can tell.



What did you catch?




For me! I like this flavor!

Attachment and Loss

I have to admit I am feeling pretty raw this morning. I woke up at 3:30, put more logs on the stove and couldn't get back to sleep. The wind was howling around the house and the moon was bright. The weather is sharp and bitter right now and I am planning on throwing myself into getting my writing organized for a workshop in March. We have also decided to volunteer to help the local humane society with their TV show and web site. For both of us, keeping busy helps. We are also involved in building a children's museum.

Friday and Saturday the rain poured down as if the heavens were crying and then the cold wind came and began to roar. We became a skating rink. The weather matched my mood. I am heartbroken to see the last traces of Ferg's little paws being blown away in the yard.

I want to say thank you for every email I have been getting and for the understanding I have received from my family, cat lovers all. When your heart has been captured by a very special feline soul it is blasted to pieces at their loss. Every note I gets helps. Just knowing that others understand.

The most extraordinary thing about Fergus is that he was a joyful being. He greeted the day with joy and excitement. He loved banging in and out the cat door for the allotted hours. He loved going out the window and down the cat stairs. He loved cuddling in the drawer with Silas, he loved to race up the stairs and fling himself at the second tier of the cat tree, catch it and do his "do not feed after midnight" pose. He loved sitting on my lap at night and when he snuggled up to my legs to sleep he pushed himself in as close as he could get. He loved the back yard, he loved the ponds, he loved the woods. The world was a wonderful place for him, full of love and interesting things to do. As our vet said, on seeing him the next to last time , "he is full of himself." Yes of course he was, he was a beautiful boy and he knew it. Our special name for him, "petite garcon."

I will be writing more about him. I have one story which is just a wishful feel better story for all of us and I am going to do a complete Fergus story with more of the great photos I have. My sister wants me to post a complete photo page so I will be working on that too. Thank you for all your support.

Going Home

When your beloved is 16 months old you have no idea that this day, this day when he does not hop up with excitement on the windowsill, does not fly onto your bed but must be fetched, lies quietly while you decide to call the vet just in case, protests as usual as you stuff him into his plush, luxury kitty carrier, moans as you drive down the road, then lies quietly, cowers at the dogs barking at the vet, the cats meowing, then begins to breathe more rapidly, does not want to get up from the weighing scale, is carried by the distressed vet to the back room where you go to see him, frantic now, wanting only to go home with you.
You do not know as you drive home in tears, in shock, as you want to turn around, go back, sit by his side, as you go home anyway, as you get stopped for forgetting to register the car and the young policeman, hearing your words and seeing your face, says " I lost two last year" and lets you go, still you do not know when you come home, wait by the phone, hear that he is sleeping, is resting, may make it through, may survive on medication for years, ten maybe, you wait by the phone, you wait for the time you may return, hold him again, feel his wet kiss, his soft fur, his tiny body, still you wait until the final call and you never realized it would be the last day.

Happier Days

Three photos from happier days. Fergus loved to go outside anywhere, anytime. At home he had his "license" to go out. In Portland I took him for walks on a harness. He loved to see the harness come out and he would get very happy ( he was usually happy so he went into happy overdrive) and he would play with the harness and wave his paws around. I would roll him around and play with him and then we'd get up and he would head for the door, tail way up as you can see in the pictures.

A Candle for Fergus

Here is the lovely candle sent to me by Jo and family. It will burn down in 48 hours, at gratefulness.org. However, my love for Fergus will never die down.


I just realized that if I had known how short his life would be, I would still would have taken him and loved him and cared for him. That's something, anyway.

Loss

Fergus died suddenly today of heart failure. I am desolate.

The Love Cats

We're inviting some guest cat bloggers to join us here at Caturday. Here from Rurality comes this lovely photo of a couple of love cats.

Recovering nicely from their operations.

Ginger (L) is the boy and George is the girl. Clearly, sexing kittens is not among our talents. They laugh at us at the vet's office.

"Ginger Baker!" I want to yell. "George Sand! Rebel cats who'll never conform to your archaic provincial notions of gender roles!"

Anyway, now they are both "fixed".

Alfred is in the Television

I was in the small library I like and the librarian told me this story.

She had two cats, Bob and Alfred. They were best buddies in the way cats can be, from kittenhood. Then Alfred died.

Bob went into mourning. He howled relentlessly, he was depressed, he wouldn't eat. The joy of life had, for him, disappeared with the loss of his beloved friend.

The librarian began to comfort him by watching, on our local community channel, the shelter's show on pets available for adoption. Together they would sit, huge Bob on her lap, and see the cats on TV.

One day, a cat exactly like Alfred came up on the screen.

Bob was instantly alert. He got up, went up to the TV. Looked at the picture. There was his buddy. But where was he?

Bob stared at the screen. He purred. Alfred? Can you hear me?

Finally he walked around to the back of the TV. The question was solved.

Alfred was in the TV.

Bob hopped back on the librarian's lap and let out a big sigh. He began to purr.

And he hasn't howled since.

Fergus is a Star

A fun Flick Toy from Flagrant Disregard

The Gerfus Among Us

Who needs cable when you live with this?

The Carnival of the Cats makes a visit to Pages Turned so let's see what all the other cats are up to this week.

Friends A photo essay on Cat friends

I needed a friend so the people brought Silas home. I squealed with a joy. You brought me a toy!



We shared a meal together.



We kept an eye on Herself together.



We learned to climb our tree together.



Sometimes we'd have a good wrestle.



And then a good wash.



We opened our Christmas present together.



We learned to climb out the window together.



We take plenty of naps together.



It is a good thing to have a friend.

A Big Silas Purr to....

The Woonsocket Cat Sancturary Saving nine lives for the past thirteen years.

A Tigerocity of much Velocity

That photo shows you what we are living with. A joyful, full speed ahead spirit. He's a needy spirit, lots of attention required, but as O says, he gives a lot too.
We had an interesting day with meetings and there were people at the house in the afternoon, all of us talking full speed. Fergus got very overexcited about it all and followed us out to the studio to keep an eye on our visitors. Later, when I carried him back home, kicking and squirming, he hit his favorite chair and is still there, totally exhausted.

Upstairs, Downstairs

Whenever we go to visit the in laws Brendan heads right for this round foot stool which fits him perfectly. So of course, mini-me fits himself in underneath. And they never change places.

The Carnival of the Cats goes up today at Elms in the Yard. Let's go see what all the other cats are doing.