End of an era and many sads

We lost Tabby in September, Rori in November, and Starla in December.  This scrapbook page was made by Mommy using scrapbooking supplies from The Cherry On Top.

Shadow:  Uncle Panther, I has a sads.  I has many sads.
Panther:  Me, too, Shadow.  It's not just a kitten feeling.  We big cats have it, too.  Anytime we have to say goodbye to a family member, it's hard, and especially this past year.  We had to say goodbye to the three oldest.
Shadow:  But why?  Why did they have to run off to the Bridge?  I only just got here, and only just met them, and now not only Auntie Tabby but Auntie Rori and Auntie Starla are gone, too!
Panther:  Because no one lives forever, little one.  Not even aunties and uncles, or mommies or daddies.  We all will someday run off to the Bridge, too, but hopefully not for a long time.
Shadow:  I know they didn't feel well.  Is that why?  Were they all sickies?
Panther:  Yes, Shadow, they were all sick.  Rori and her sister Little Bit, who went to the Bridge before you came to live with us, both had seizures and Rori's were getting a lot worse.  She was so weak that she could barely move around, yet somehow she kept going when we thought we would have had to say goodbye to her a while ago.  I don't know how she had the strength to keep on going, but that's part of what made her such a wonderful Big Kitty.  I miss her, too.  I wish she were still here so that I didn't have to be the Big Kitty now.  Even though I'm in charge, I don't want to be.
Shadow:  Really?  But you're a great kitty to have in charge!
Panther:  Thank you.  But yes, really.  Rori was the best Big Kitty, even better than when Auntie Tigress was the outside Big Kitty.  Tigress doesn't want to be the inside Big Kitty, though.  She's done with that job now that she's inside.
Shadow:  Oh.  Was it just the shakes that Rori had that made her sickies?
Panther:  We don't know.  Not even the vet knew for sure, although they think that she had pancreatitis, too.  She had that for a while.  All we know is that Rori was very, very sick and one day she just couldn't hold on any longer.  She stopped eating and drinking, and then got so weak that she couldn't barely pull herself to the litter box.  She was begging Mommy and Daddy to help her, so they helped her to the Bridge.  She was hurting a lot.
Shadow:  I'm glad she's not hurting any more.
Panther:  Me, too.
Shadow:  But what about Auntie Starla?  She smelled bad.  She peed on the floor.
Panther:  Yes, she did.  She never really learned how to use the litter box.  Her original people were bad.
Shadow:  You mean they returned her like my first people did?
Panther:  No, even worse than you can ever imagine.  They didn't ever take care of her.  They scared and hurt her and wouldn't let her inside their house.
Shadow:  That's super-bad!
Panther:  Yes, and there's more, but I'll wait until you're a little older to tell you that.  So she never was taught to use the litter box like most indoor kitties.  She used the floor instead, although Mommy and Daddy taught her to use the floors that were easier to clean up.
Shadow:  And the tub.
Panther:  Yes, and the tub.  That was easiest to clean up!  But then she got really sick and forgot to use the easy-to-clean-up spots.  She used the new wood floors, which was a big no-no.
Shadow:  Is that why she ran off to the Bridge?
Panther:  No, not really.  Mommy cleaned up after her, and so did Daddy sometimes.  They didn't like cleaning all that up, but they knew that Starla couldn't remember to use the other places.  The reason she had to run off to the Bridge just before Christmas was that she got cancer.
Shadow:  What's that?  Whatever it is, I know it isn't a nice thing!  Mean cancer.
Panther:  Yes, it is mean.  It means she was very sick, as sick as Tabby was, but in a different way.  That's why she was so skinny.  Then, when she was too tired and sick to notice that she was peeing when she was sleeping, Mommy and Daddy knew it was time to help her to the Bridge.
Shadow:  What does Mommy mean when she keeps saying that it's the end of an era?
Panther:  Well, none of the kitties who are here now were the ones who moved here with Mommy and Daddy ten years ago.  I wasn't even born then, and neither were any of the others who are here now.
Shadow:  Not even Freya & Heimdall?  They're old, but not as old as the others!
Panther:  Not even them.  The ones who moved here were Tabby, Carbon, Skylar, Rori, Starla, and Spooky.  He looked like you and like me, but he ran off to the Bridge when he was a kitten.  Everyone else, everyone who is here now, wasn't even born then.
Shadow:  Oh.  I don't want anyone else to go away!
Panther:  I don't, either.  *licks the top of Shadow's head*

Happy 8th Birthday to Little Bit!

Little Bit writes:

Today's my 8th purrthday, and my sister Smokey's as well!  Smokey lives with Mommy Erin and is celebrating with her today.  We were born in SE Portland to a sweet black kitty named Boo-Boo.  She and our cousin Starla (Boo-Boo's sister's kitten) belonged to neighbors two doors down from the house that my purrents lived in then.  Boo-Boo and Starla used to go over to eat with the ferals in their yard, so they brought us over as soon as we were able.  We had another littermate sister, Baby Chiba, but she got eaten by our people's puppy when she was a kitten.

My dad-cat is Spongebob, who lived with a neighbor across the street.  He's a huge Maine Coon!  No one knows for sure who Smokey's dad-cat is, and Baby Chiba's dad-cat was Outdoor Fluffy Buddy.  She looked like his "mini-me"!

From left to right on the porch:  Starla, Little Bit, Smokey     From left to right on the steps:  Outdoor Fluffy Buddy, Boo-Boo Kitty     Summer 2008

Baby Chiba and Starla     Summer 2008

Little Bit     Summer 2008

Smokey     Summer 2008

What Starla Did on her Gotcha Day!

Starla writes:

Today was my Gotcha Day Annifursary!  I can't believe it's been seven years already since I was adopted by Uncle Skylar!  The piccy above was me on the first full day (the 4th) I was a member of this household, when Smokey and I both got spayed.  I came inside the afternoon before, so on the 3rd, which is why we celebrate the 3rd.

I was just shy of my 2nd birthday when I was adopted, at least that's why my purrents think.  I'm not telling for sure!  They didn't know me as a baby kitten, only after I moved in two houses from them in Portland.  My mom-cat and Little Bit's (and Smokey's) mom-cat were sisters from the same litter, making me cousins with Little Bit.  The same people had Little Bit's mom-cat who had me, because they took me from my feral mom-cat when they moved with Boo-Boo Kitty (who they had adopted).

I became a semi-feral, semi-socialized young cat, then I found the green house.  It had a nice, warm, dry basement that I could get into from the outside, a porch with a food bowl, and sometimes the humans would bring me inside.  They made plans to foster me when they were told by "my" humans that they could.  My spay was scheduled.

They brought me inside the day before, and told me I would be staying.  I didn't know what that meant, but it sounded nice.  The next day, Smokey and I went to the vet and got spayed, then came back.  We got chilled, even though we had a fleece blankie around us and one over the stroller, so Uncle Skylar hopped up on the couch to snuggle me warm.  He looked at the humans, curled around me, and that was that!  We were besties from then on.  I miss him a lot.

Slowly, I got used to the other cats in the household, and now I'm friends with everyone.  I still worry some about Carbon, because he likes to be threatening, but I don't hide.  I mainly spend time on the dishwasher in the kitchen, but I also like the sun puddles in the dining room, if Carbon's not easily seen.  I still have anxiety issues, and have to be "flown" in or herded in to the bathroom for potty time.  I use the tub still if I make it in there; otherwise, I use the kitchen floor and then Mommy cleans it up.

Mixx doggy and I are still besties!  I'm "his" kitty and he's "my" woofie.  We both get big smiles when we see each other, and happy ears!

Have a great day, friends!

What? Who? Woofie!

Starla writes:

This is my newest friend!  His name is Mixx, and he's Auntie Shawnee's woofie who came to live in our garage when she came to live with us.  We first met him when he was just a tiny puppy, smaller than I am.

Mixx was the little one in the box!  That picture was taken at Daddy's brother's house on June 2, 2013.  Now he's about as big as the bigger woofie, Timber, who lives with Daddy's brother's family.

So, that dishwasher where I spend a lot of my time lately?  It makes prime woofie-watching territory!  When Mixx is running around out in the garage, I can spy on him if the door opens.  I bob up and down, trying to look around whoever opened the door, until I see him.  Then I meow, sometimes out loud and sometimes silently, and he spies on me, too!  It's a pretty fun game that we've been playing for about a month now.

Well, the game escalated last night, in a great way!  See, I'm the scaredy-kitty of the household, even to the point of having been on kitty Prozac a couple times.  But I like the Mixx-woofie!  When Auntie Shawnee came in from the garage last night, I was on the dishwasher, bobbing to see the woof as usual.  Auntie Shawnee was talking to us both, and then I jumped down to get a closer look.  I didn't puff up or anything; far from it!  I got as close as I could while still staying on my side of the open door, and Mixx got as close as he could while staying on his side.  We sniffed towards each other and got as close to touching noses as either of us dared!  Auntie Shawnee was so proud of us!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, he doesn't come inside with us and he's got a doghouse in the yard to play around, too.  And he gets walkies!

Under!

Carbon under the blinds at our house in Portland

Squishy (one of Little Bit's kids) under the blinds, trying to imitate Uncle Carbon

Kai (one of Little Bit's kids) under a scarf at his new mommy's house just after adoption

Rori under ponies just after we moved to our current house

Starla under the big chair (with Spooky 2 up top and Skylar in the middle)

Carbon under chart paper just after we moved

Rori being a bed lump

Rori and her brother Knut as kittens at our old house, in the basket under the stroller

Rori under the table but on the chair

Miss Marble under the chair (and one of the twins on it)

Tabby:  Get off of me, Little Bit!

Heimdall checking out Tigress

Freya under the covers

Panther thinking he's hiding under the table

Tigress under a chair

Knut under a blanket at his new mommy's house

Missy under wrapping paper

Sherbet under Daddy's dresser

Love

Rori and her brother Knut as kittens

Tabby with baby Rori

Baby Rori and Lydia

Skylar and Starla

Skylar and Lydia

Tabby and Spooky 1

Skylar and Cloud (one of Little Bit's kittens)

Rori and Little Guy (one of Little Bit's kittens)

Carbon, Rori, and Smokey (Little Bit's sister)

Spooky 2

Freya and Heimdall

Heimdall and Hemming (Tigress' brother)

Monday Movie: Easter Egg Roll 2015

Caring for Daddy

Daddy has the flu!  He's been sick for a week and a half now, so we've all been taking turns caring for him.  In this picture, Autumn is on the footrest and Panther is behind Daddy's back.  Autumn, Missy, and Starla have been Daddy's main nurses, with Freya and Panther also taking turns sometimes.  At one point, all three of his main nurses were snuggling at one time!  Daddy's getting a little better, but scared us all last night when he started to not breathe like normal.  He had to go to the emergency room, so Grandpa took him.  He's back home now with us and getting some more of our healing snuggles and purrs, and breathing better again.

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary, Starla! Also PhotoHunt: Brush

Starla writes:

It's my Gotcha Day Anniversary today!  I remember when I was gotcha'd.  It was such a nice feeling to be wanted, instead of being abandoned!  My original people took me from my mama cat when they left their apartment complex and moved to a rental house.  They took my auntie cat, Boo-Boo, as well.  I thought life was going to be better, since I'd learned to snuggle with them and sleep on a human bed inside.  Things didn't turn out that way, though.  Soon, they were letting us fend for ourselves out in the new yard.  My auntie got pregnant and had three kittens.  I, thankfully, never got pregnant, although I had the boy cats chasing me as soon as I got my first heat cycle.  Spongebob showed me where to go for food and shelter, so I started staying in my new purrents' basement/laundry room.  Washer and Dryer were my friends, and so was Water Heater, because they kept me warm.  During the ice storm, there were a bunch of us holed up in there, even one of the ferals and an opossum!  My purrents brought Smokey, Little Bit, Boo-Boo, and me up in turns to their house and let us warm up inside.  It was sooo cozy!  I made friends with the inside kitties, although I was still scared of them if they ganged up on me or if they sniffed me too closely.

After the ice storm, my purrents talked with the other people about all of us.  The other people agreed to adopt Smokey and me to my purrents!  My purrents originally thought they'd foster both of us, but they only ended up fostering Smokey (then adopted her to Mommy Erin).  That's because, the day that we came home from being spayed, Uncle Skylar decided he wanted to adopt me!  That's right:  I was adopted by another kitty!  I was snuggled up on the futon, and Skylar jumped up beside me.  He'd lost his sister, Lydia, a few months earlier (October) and was severely depressed.  He absolutely fell in love with me, though, and I immediately played tails with him.  He curled around me, helping me regulate my body heat as the anesthetic wore off totally.  When our purrents asked him if he liked me, he looked at them with such hopeful eyes and started purring his motorboat purr!  They asked him if he'd like to keep me, and his purr got louder!

That was six years ago.  Skylar passed away a few years back, and now my best friends are Dare, Autumn, and Tigress.  My favorite person started out as being Daddy, but now it's Mommy.  I love everyone, though!  I still am leery of getting boxed in, don't like or trust unfixed male cats, and all the important things (food, box, water) are in the bathroom.  However, since my illness a little while ago, I have become even more social with the other kitties and with humans!  My favorite toy is the string/ribbon on mylar balloons, and my favorite snuggle spot is on the couch in the living room.  I love being petted and scritched, especially on my back.

I'm soooo grateful for my forever home and family!

Did I mention I love being brushed?  We all do!

Are you a photohunter?

Tabby's Therapy Cat Tales and Starla's Vet Visit Report

Tabby:  How are you doing today, Starla? I'm glad that you're out here on the couch with me! That's a huge improvement!

 Starla:  I'm doing a lot better, thank you! I've been eating and drinking more normally on my own, and I've used my pee pad and the tub, and even used the box a few times! Mommy and Daddy don't seem so worried, either.

Tabby:  Let me do a cursory exam. *checks ears by sniffing in both of them, checks fur and skin color and smell, and checks butt for "output" issues*

Starla:  *licks the top of Tabby's head once, quickly, in thanks*

Tabby:  You smell more normal and aren't as yellow. You don't smell as sick anymore!

Starla:  When I had my week checkup last Monday, the doctor said my blood sugar levels were normal again, my bilirubin was still high but high-normal this time, and the rest of my levels were within normal range.

Tabby:  That's such good news! How was the vet visit, in general? Any more out-of-control woofies?

Starla:  No, thankfully!  There was a woofie, but he was behaving himself in the waiting room.  The same nurse that took me back for bloodwork was there again, just ending her shift, and she saw my name on the board.  She immediately asked if she could be the one to bring me back for my bloodwork again!  She wanted to see how I was doing!  *smiles*

Tabby:  Sounds like a nice lady!  I'll let you rest now, but I wanted to see how things were going.

Starla:  Thanks, Auntie Tabby!  *curls up for another nap on the couch*

Tabby:  Now on to my therapy cat report from a week ago Wednesday:

I was so excited when Mommy said we were actually going visiting again!  I'd missed a lot of visits because she wasn't feeling well, but she's feeling better now so I get to see my friends again!  I didn't even pretend to hide or cry when leaving the house, so she knew I was super-excited to be going to H. again!  I did, however, check over my carrier bag, because it smelled of Starla, even though it had been washed since her vet visit.  I knew I wasn't going to the vet, but the wash doesn't get all the smell out for our sensitive kitty noses!

When we were going down the sidewalk toward the bus stop, we saw a blue heron in the marsh!  That's Mommy's favorite bird, and they always appear to her when she needs a little cheering up.  It was huge!  I'd never seen a bird that big before, so I perked up to watch it better!  It was so cool!

There was a little girl on the bus who didn't really want to be there.  Mommy offered to let her pet me through the carrier, and that cheered her right up.  I like humans of all ages, so that was just fine with me, too!  The little girl was just learning how to talk, but she could say "kitty".  She kept on saying it, pointing at me, and smiling to everyone.  After we got off the bus, Mommy told me how good I had been about letting the little girl pet me.

At H., we went around by ourselves, although I got to see R. when she handed us our list.  We visited seven people, plus a couple nurses and a therapist, but that was just fine.  It's never about how many people we visit; it's about the quality of visits and getting to the people who need to see me at that time.  A few of my regulars were somewhere else, so I didn't get to see them, but I probably will next time.  I wondered where they were, but Mommy told me when I stopped in front of their doors and looked at her questioningly.  One of my friends was sitting in a chair in the hallway, so I got to visit with her three times!  That's how many times we passed her, so we stopped each time because she had forgotten in the minutes inbetween that she'd already seen me that day.  That's what happens with some of my friends, actually with a lot of them.  I guess when you're as old as they are, that happens a lot.  Auntie Sara Kitty had kitty Alzheimers, so I remember how it was being around her.  Same thing with the humans.

M. was very glad to see me, because she'd missed visiting with us the last few months.  She's the one resident there who genuinely wants to know how Mommy's doing and how everyone at home is doing as well as visiting with me.  She's the one who used to be afraid of kitties until she met me!  She still second-guesses when I ask her for pets and when I rub up against her fingers with my mouth, but she only pulls back a little when I do those things instead of flinches totally away from me.  I'm so proud of the way she's gotten over her fear over the years!

A.M. held me and petted me, telling me how nice a kitty I am.  She got to feel me purr this time!  I don't always purr when I'm on a visit, but when I do it's a rumbly-purr that my friends can feel as well as hear (if their hearing is good).  A.M. can't hear me purr, but she could feel it!  I also kneaded away, because she was wearing a blankie.  She called it a lap-blanket, and it was crocheted.  It felt so good under my paws!  I never scratch when I knead, and there are blankies that Mommy can ask for if someone needs to have one on their lap for me.  I'm very careful with my claws, though!  A.M. thought it was so neat that I kneaded for her!  She was as happy about that as she was that I came to visit her!

One of the residents isn't my friend, and doesn't even like cats.  Normally we stay away from her, but she called out to us as we passed her door.  She thought maybe I was the dog, but then she asked about me when she found out I was the kitty.  We didn't go in, but Mommy talked with her through the doorway.

When we got back home, Daddy played a rousing game of red dot with us and we got canned food!  Fun and yummy!  It was a great day!

Newsflash: Starla's eating again!

Starla writes:

All of a sudden, yesterday evening, I felt my tummy rumbling in a good way!  I was hungry!  I went over to my food plate to see if there were any crunchies there, and licked up two tiny pieces.  I wasn't sure they would taste good, but I figured it was worth a try.  Then I lay back down on my beloved heat vent to rest some more.

Daddy brought out the red dot and I heard the sound of the keychain it's on, so I walked down the hallway to the dining room to watch the others play.  I tracked the dot around for a while.  When Tabby and Mommy came back from visiting (she's doing a report on that tomorrow or the next day), we all got canned food.  I came out again for that, but Mommy force-fed me my two baby spoons of it.  I had some water, then everyone played red dot some more.  I put my paw out for it a couple times!  Heimdall didn't want me so close to it, so he smacked me in the face, but I knew he didn't really mean it so I didn't react.  He jumped over Dare at one point, running after the dot!

I got fluids again last night and this morning, then I ate some more crunchies twice on my own.  Five pieces at once the last time!

Thank you so much for all your good thoughts, well-wishes, purrs, grrs, prayers and rumbles!  I can feel everyone's love and caring, and it's really helping me!  I go in for a recheck and more bloodwork tomorrow morning.

Purrs Requested for Starla!

Starla writes:

Could I please have some purrs?  I don't feel very well at all.  Mommy, Daddy, and the other kitties are very worried, and so am I.  I had to go to the vet place on Monday, and almost had to go back yesterday.  My pee is very yellow because of something called bilirubin.  My body's not producing red blood cells right now, and those I do have are bursting.  I don't want them to!  I'm very sleepy, anemic, and turning somewhat yellow.  The doctor thought maybe I have an infection and/or fatty liver disease.  She really wants to have me stay at the clinic for intubation (for feeding and fluids) and meds, but that costs too much (unfortunately).  Daddy went and got a bag of sub-q fluids for me, and now I understand why Uncle Skylar liked getting them so much!  I actually felt like walking out to the big water bowl (in the dining room) to have more water and walking back to my room (the bathroom) after I had the fluids!  I am being force-fed canned a/d food by syringe every few hours, because I'm not eating on my own and haven't been eating on my own for a couple days.

Please understand that our family is doing what we think is best for everyone.  Thank you all for your love and understanding!  We'll keep you posted.

P.S.  Mommy's been lying on our bloggie about my age and Rori's for the past few years, and only tonight realized it!  I'm 8 years old and Rori (my cousin's half-sister and the alpha of our household) is also 8 years old.  Sorry about that!