The Mews of the House (Warning: Image heavy post ahead!)
Actually, this is a full pets post. The House of Mews has had many, different pets over time. Right now we are at two fish tanks and five cats.
My fishtanks, let me show you them:
First, the tank that used to hold Mangia. It's now the office home of the 18-cent feeder goldfish that runs a corporation: Rufus.
He looks like he's just flipped back his top fin here. We call him Rufus for a reason.
It's because after the black spots faded, we couldn't call him Reno any more.
This is the bigger tank; a 26-gallon bowfront. It has... (*sings*) nine neon tetras, three emerald corys, two otocinclus and a female betta named Cloud.
The fish are a source of calm and wonder and cusswords (when the water spills) and fascination for the other pets in the house... the cats.
Most of our cats have done the Stray Cat Strut at some point in their life.
Caitlin is indeed twenty-two years old, which is ninety-nine in people years*. When we moved into this house in 1999, Caitlin was twelve. She was the oldest cat I'd ever lived with, and I mentioned that we wouldn't have her too much longer... maybe a couple more years at the most? Well, that's the last time I estimate a kitty's longevity. On the other hand, I'm perfectly happy to have her spite me for as long as she wants to. She still comes to the side of the stairs by the kitchen and demands cheese, and I deliver when I can. She deserves it.
The next oldest cat is the only one who was never a stray. Kiri No Odori is the full name of our Egyptian Mau.
The fates balanced out his noble heritage by making him asthmatic and allergic to chicken. Or anything that ever grew feathers. At twelve years of age, having taken prednisone for asthma since he was one, arthritis is hitting him pretty hard. That's why his fur isn't so smooth now. He is still a beautiful silver tabby.
My vet makes the only cat beds I've ever seen that our cats will fight over.
Which brings us to our next cat. This boy was found thrown into some bushes with his brother at about 4 weeks of age. He was named Ricky and his brother Martin, which had to change. For a gradual change, we started with "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" and ended up just calling him Tavi. Which he has adapted to quite well. He's the Guest Cat, the friendly one, the cat who will look you in the eye because that's how it's supposed to be done with people and he knows it. After all, he's a people too, just smaller and with fur.
I love it when I can find our kitties in gentle poses with good atmosphere.
Tavi learned the fine art of kittyhawking from his 'adoptive mom', Neutron. He'll walk across my arms and back, from one elbow to the other, then flop down across my arm with one hind leg on my shoulder and the other dangling down my back. I love it. Yes, that is me in the picture. Just consider it a picture of two of Rissi's pets, okay? :D
The last of the indoor cats made herself at home one warm May day. Our garage is set into a hillside. It gets cold and damp during the winter, so the first really warm day, I left the garage door open. Hanabi walked in when I wasn't looking and made herself at home on an old couch we still had in there. When I closed the garage door later in the day, she got trapped inside. Three hours later, I got a feeling. "Check the garage," my intuition (and the fact that we'd had another stray and two raccoons in there before) said to me. I checked it. The rest -- well, history is still in the making with Hanabi.
She's charming but shy from being a stray at a year of age. When she got here, she was just coming out of heat and just done weaning a litter of kittens. I was sure the kittens were okay because she never tried to leave or get out of the studio/garage.
She's a bit small, and it took her two years to learn that it was okay to look at our faces (which indicates aggression in cats). When we finally introduced her into the house a few months later, she took and held her territory with the ferocity of one who has had to scrape for each bit of space she ever had. For all that she's now the smallest cat, she has a big attitude....
Hanabi is also the only cat who occasionally walks around with a puffed-out tail for no discernable reason. Heh. Attitude indeed.
Our last cat is something I thought I'd never have... an outdoor cat. Greygrey (a.k.a Lady Grey) used to visit our back porch now & again. One day in the fall I realized she'd been hanging out everyday for two weeks straight. Someone had moved out and abandoned their pet. I had just adapted Hanabi to the household (and vice versa) and could not deal with bringing another female cat in, especially when the newest one was so territorial. So I made Greygrey an insulated box. She slept in it that night, and the next morning, we found four voles lined up on the driveway. She paid her rent plus a deposit!
She seems happy to live outdoors. She only tries to come into the house on the coldest days, and I feel a bit guilty for not letting her....
...so I put a heating pad -- an old sock filled with uncooked rice and heated in the microwave for a couple minutes -- into her kitty house, which also has a double-flap door and lots of warm bedding. In the summer... she sheds. A lot.
Greygrey still pays her rent regularly, and the house and yard are better off for it. I do wish she wouldn't try to pay the rent with baby birds in late spring. I did find this year that feeding her a bit more seemed to slow down the predatory instincts while the chicks were fledging. *whew*
So that's our pets, both fishies and kittehs... it doesn't include the pets from before, and I'm sure there will be ones to follow. With no children, pets and friends are very, very important in my life. (((Huggs))) to you all!
I'm still digging up photos to post about my dubious acting, but GAH it takes me FOREVER to edit and post pictures! I have to learn how to edit faster... ha.
My fishtanks, let me show you them:
First, the tank that used to hold Mangia. It's now the office home of the 18-cent feeder goldfish that runs a corporation: Rufus.
He looks like he's just flipped back his top fin here. We call him Rufus for a reason.
It's because after the black spots faded, we couldn't call him Reno any more.
This is the bigger tank; a 26-gallon bowfront. It has... (*sings*) nine neon tetras, three emerald corys, two otocinclus and a female betta named Cloud.
The fish are a source of calm and wonder and cusswords (when the water spills) and fascination for the other pets in the house... the cats.
Most of our cats have done the Stray Cat Strut at some point in their life.
Caitlin is indeed twenty-two years old, which is ninety-nine in people years*. When we moved into this house in 1999, Caitlin was twelve. She was the oldest cat I'd ever lived with, and I mentioned that we wouldn't have her too much longer... maybe a couple more years at the most? Well, that's the last time I estimate a kitty's longevity. On the other hand, I'm perfectly happy to have her spite me for as long as she wants to. She still comes to the side of the stairs by the kitchen and demands cheese, and I deliver when I can. She deserves it.
The next oldest cat is the only one who was never a stray. Kiri No Odori is the full name of our Egyptian Mau.
The fates balanced out his noble heritage by making him asthmatic and allergic to chicken. Or anything that ever grew feathers. At twelve years of age, having taken prednisone for asthma since he was one, arthritis is hitting him pretty hard. That's why his fur isn't so smooth now. He is still a beautiful silver tabby.
My vet makes the only cat beds I've ever seen that our cats will fight over.
Which brings us to our next cat. This boy was found thrown into some bushes with his brother at about 4 weeks of age. He was named Ricky and his brother Martin, which had to change. For a gradual change, we started with "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" and ended up just calling him Tavi. Which he has adapted to quite well. He's the Guest Cat, the friendly one, the cat who will look you in the eye because that's how it's supposed to be done with people and he knows it. After all, he's a people too, just smaller and with fur.
I love it when I can find our kitties in gentle poses with good atmosphere.
Tavi learned the fine art of kittyhawking from his 'adoptive mom', Neutron. He'll walk across my arms and back, from one elbow to the other, then flop down across my arm with one hind leg on my shoulder and the other dangling down my back. I love it. Yes, that is me in the picture. Just consider it a picture of two of Rissi's pets, okay? :D
The last of the indoor cats made herself at home one warm May day. Our garage is set into a hillside. It gets cold and damp during the winter, so the first really warm day, I left the garage door open. Hanabi walked in when I wasn't looking and made herself at home on an old couch we still had in there. When I closed the garage door later in the day, she got trapped inside. Three hours later, I got a feeling. "Check the garage," my intuition (and the fact that we'd had another stray and two raccoons in there before) said to me. I checked it. The rest -- well, history is still in the making with Hanabi.
She's charming but shy from being a stray at a year of age. When she got here, she was just coming out of heat and just done weaning a litter of kittens. I was sure the kittens were okay because she never tried to leave or get out of the studio/garage.
She's a bit small, and it took her two years to learn that it was okay to look at our faces (which indicates aggression in cats). When we finally introduced her into the house a few months later, she took and held her territory with the ferocity of one who has had to scrape for each bit of space she ever had. For all that she's now the smallest cat, she has a big attitude....
Hanabi is also the only cat who occasionally walks around with a puffed-out tail for no discernable reason. Heh. Attitude indeed.
Our last cat is something I thought I'd never have... an outdoor cat. Greygrey (a.k.a Lady Grey) used to visit our back porch now & again. One day in the fall I realized she'd been hanging out everyday for two weeks straight. Someone had moved out and abandoned their pet. I had just adapted Hanabi to the household (and vice versa) and could not deal with bringing another female cat in, especially when the newest one was so territorial. So I made Greygrey an insulated box. She slept in it that night, and the next morning, we found four voles lined up on the driveway. She paid her rent plus a deposit!
She seems happy to live outdoors. She only tries to come into the house on the coldest days, and I feel a bit guilty for not letting her....
...so I put a heating pad -- an old sock filled with uncooked rice and heated in the microwave for a couple minutes -- into her kitty house, which also has a double-flap door and lots of warm bedding. In the summer... she sheds. A lot.
Greygrey still pays her rent regularly, and the house and yard are better off for it. I do wish she wouldn't try to pay the rent with baby birds in late spring. I did find this year that feeding her a bit more seemed to slow down the predatory instincts while the chicks were fledging. *whew*
So that's our pets, both fishies and kittehs... it doesn't include the pets from before, and I'm sure there will be ones to follow. With no children, pets and friends are very, very important in my life. (((Huggs))) to you all!
I'm still digging up photos to post about my dubious acting, but GAH it takes me FOREVER to edit and post pictures! I have to learn how to edit faster... ha.