2.26.2010

The Introductions

Hello folks (if anyone is reading this) and welcome to my blog. I’m very new to the medium; in fact this is my inaugural posting.

I have four cats and that is the reason I have started this little project. They are the joy of my heart and the children I never had. Nothing makes me happier than talking about them, writing about them and taking pictures of them. I have bored my family and friends for so long that I thought it was time to branch out!

I live with a wonderful, handsome man who thinks that if cats make me happy then I should have as many as I want! WTF? However, I think that four might be my personal maximum regardless of the legal maximum (six in the City of Toronto in case you were wondering). I have been an animal lover and a cat person in particular ever since I can remember. To this day, the single-most fantastic present I ever received was a kitten for my eighth birthday…can you imagine! My parents are amazing non? It seems to be no coincidence that the first three letters of my name spell the word “cat” which has been my nickname from childhood.

My babies, in order of adoption are:

Molly, the Dowager Queen, she’ll be 19 this year
Prince Casper, almost 3
Sir Benjamin, 1 ½
Young Master Archie, 6 months

There was also Sweet Max, my little grey pearl who came after Casper and before Ben, but he developed the dreaded FIP and died before his first birthday.

All of my kitties were rescued. I got Molly (shelter name Shelby) from the OSPCA when she was about a year old. She had already birthed a litter of kittens (why don’t people spay and neuter?) and was found with them in a box; someone had just thrown her away. Adopting Molly was my first defiant act against a husband who did not want to have pets or children. My friend Pauline told me about Casper (previously named Yeti), a deaf darling who needed a home. He was born under the porch of her neighbour. Pauline had already found homes for the snow white boy and his identical sister Fluffy, however the people who had taken him when he was a kitten decided he was too rambunctious at nine months old so they gave him back. I fell in love with his blue eyes the moment I saw him and we took him home immediately. We adopted nine month old Max (foster name Mystic) from the Toronto Cat Rescue as a companion for Casper. They were such immediate and inseparable friends it was simply tragic when he died. I will write his story one day on this blog. After Max, I did not want to get another cat but Casper was so upset and lonely, and Robert convinced me a new buddy for him was essential…enter Benjamin (shelter name Kennedy) five months old from Toronto Animal Services. I was firmly against adopting a youngster, since the disease that killed Max usually hits kittens less than one year or older cats more than ten years. But Ben was insistent that we notice him, working hard at the front of his cage, standing on his hind legs and sticking his paws through the bars trying to grab at us. When we picked him up he purred and did swimmy paws in the air. Who could resist, I certainly couldn’t! The last to join our family just a matter of weeks ago is a cheeky little ginger snap called Archie (shelter name Marshall), six months old also from TAS. He is the bravest and skinniest kitten I have ever seen. No slinking on his tummy or cowering under a bed for this little guy he is so bold it seems somewhat unnatural. Still stiff pawed and gangly he has made himself right at home.

Well there they are, my brood…three young boys and one old dame. Please watch this space for their bios, pictures and stories of them doing their clever cat things.