Nature Can Be SO Cruel



He was about this size




This was the action that totally broke my heart



I had the most distressing event on Sunday.  I opened the back door and heard some awful squawking so I went to investigate in the woods by our house.  I saw two robins were making all the noise and I saw Timmy, my little cat nearby but he didn’t have anything in his mouth.  I couldn’t really identify the source of the commotion so I started walking back to the house.  The birds and Timmy seemed to follow me.  Once inside I looked up in time to see Timmy nail a bird to the ground so I ran outside again.  When I got to him I saw it was a baby robin.  I picked him up and he appeared really hungry or at least he kept opening his mouth.  He did have a scratch on his wings but otherwise seemed strong and healthy.  I don’t know if he fell out of his nest or if he ever could fly but it took two hands around him to keep him in place.  I was freaking out and mom & dad robin were absolutely frantic.  Every time baby would peep they would start afresh.  I finally got both cats inside and then baby got away from me. He could do a hop/jump combination and was pretty quick.  He ran over to my neighbor’s porch area and I figured he would at least be safe from predators there but I doubt he lasted long.  Without getting him back to his nest he didn’t have much hope.  I begged God to watch over him or at least end his suffering quickly but it haunted me all day.  Helpless baby robin beseeching me for food and safety and I let him down.   It was not a good day.

Piper the Bear Stalker

Saturday night I was awakened to Chris’ frantic voice saying “there is a bear in the yard and Piper is trying to stalk him”.... so I got up and sure enough, Piper was probably 15 feet away crouched down in stalking mode while the bear lay under the peanut tree eating the layers of sunflower seeds under the mulch, completely oblivious to the danger lurking nearby.  This is a good time to insert this is a cat who is afraid of his own shadow.   I yelled for Piper to come in but he didn’t so much as look in my direction.  I turned on the back porch light hoping to scare the bear away but he didn’t even look up from his snacking.  I watched this ongoing saga for about 15 minutes and finally, in desperation or exasperation, not sure which, I grabbed a broom off the back patio and in my nightgown and bare feet (and hoping no neighbors were watching) I chased the bear off and grabbed my cat. The things a feline mother has to do....

P.S. It was too dark for a picture or I would have taken one but I leave you with the visual of angry woman defending her brood.

Hailey Mae July 13, 1993 - July 2, 2011

It was June 7, 1993, I had just returned from a trip south and had one more day left of vacation.  It was sunny and bright out and I relished spending the day in the sun.  Then I got a call from a friend of mine who lived in Washington and she was in town and wanted to go to lunch.  Perfect.  After getting ready I headed out the door and I noticed my cat, Gretchen, following me down the stairs. I thought it was funny that she seemingly didn’t want me out of her site after being gone a couple weeks.  I got in my car and spent 3-4 minutes with the engine running searching for the beginning of a song on the tape,  (remember those days?) then I put the car in gear and started to back out.  I immediately heard a sound I will never forget, a scream, and I instantly knew I had run over my cat. 

Eying the treats that are above her

Fast forward a month or so and my friend Caroline told me about some kittens a friend of hers had.  She took me to their house one night and I picked one out but the kitten wasn’t old enough to bring home.  Caroline seemed determined to get me a replacement cat but my heart wasn’t really in it.  I was worried I wasn’t ready yet and worried if I got one too soon I’d never bond with it.  Non-pet people usually assume when you lose a pet any old animal will do in its place.  I can tell you it doesn’t work like that with pets anymore than it does with humans.  They have such different little personalities and Gretchen I had definitely been in synch.  I loved that cat more than anything in my life and I was the only mama she knew. So I wasn’t really sure when the day came that I brought Hailey home. 

I shouldn’t have worried.  She had me from ‘meow’.  From the moment she arrived I was her mommy and she didn’t want me out of her sight.  She’d sit on the bathtub edge and cry when I was in the shower.  She’d sleep on my pillow.  I’d wake up in the middle of the night and just look at this cute little buddle of fur.  One of the cutest pictures I have of her was when she was a little bitty thing and I was sick.  One afternoon I fell asleep on the couch with my box of Kleenex next to me and when I woke there was Hailey inside the Kleenex box.  It was adorable. 

One of her kitten hood misadventures happened when she and Hillary were playing with a ball of yarn.  I had gone to lunch with a friend and when I returned it took me a few minutes to realize she wasn’t around.  And then I saw her...she was so tangled up in that yarn she literally couldn’t move a muscle and it was wrapped tightly around her neck.  That was the last time yarn was used as a cat toy in my house.

Her claim to fame was her ability to get plastic lids off.  Treats always came in containers with plastics lids and she was a pro.  I had to hid treats where she couldn't get them lest she open it up and eat the whole can.  One day I came home and she had gotten a can of Slim Fast powder off the counter and the lid off. She must have thought anything with a plastic lid was cat treats so she must have been sorely disappointed to go through all that work only to discover a weight loss powder....which I was vacuuming up for months out of my lovely 70s orange shag carpet.

I always had 1-2 other cats throughout her whole life and she was always my favorite.  I really loved that cat, everything she did was just so cute to me.  Unlike Hillary who sought to win Chris over when he joined our household, Hailey wanted nothing to do with him.  She was always a one person cat.  Somewhere along the line I gave her a middle name and always called her “Hailey Mae”......she was really very special.    But cats in old age can be as cantankerous as humans in old age and she was grumpy in recent years, compounded by the fact she did not ever befriend the two new cats or the dog.  She became increasingly isolated in the dog kennel.  She also quit grooming herself and developed mats of hair all over and she stunk.  She quit eating proper cat food and would only eat cat treats.  And she had stomach problems which translates into massive amounts of vomit......everywhere.  Then she started wetting herself so last Saturday I finally made the decision to end her life.  She was 18 years old and she had seen me through a lot of life.  I was pretty confident I was doing the right thing as I drove to the clinic and did fine as I was explaining my decision to the vet.  But the moment I bent down to kiss her goodbye I was hit with a wave of emotion that just about knocked me to my knees.  It was such a visceral reaction that I did not expect.  Emotions are a funny thing, even when you think you have them all boxed up and put away they can knock you for a loop. 

So here’s to you my sweet feline friend, rest in peace.

All in a Day's Work

Yesterday I was reading Susan Stevenson’s blog and admiring her many wildlife and scenery photos.  If you haven’t yet checked out her blog (it’s on my sidebar – Living in Alaska, Life in the Last Frontier) you really should.  She is an AMAZING photographer who lives in Fairbanks and makes frequent trips to Denali park.  She appears to have an understanding with wildlife, they appear at her command and she in turn takes very flattering photos of them!  She also has some great stories too, such as the attack of the marmot.  Very funny stuff.  So it got me thinking of the wildlife we raised when I was a kid. 



This is Porky, another squirrel friend from recent years

 One of my favorite animals was the squirrel my dad brought in on Easter Sunday one year.  He had fallen out the birdhouse where his mother had nested.  We named him Peanuts and he was quite the character.  My dad had him in his classroom at school during the year but he spent a fair amount of time at home too.  The most infamous story about Peanuts (besides him biting the Superintendent) was the day he ran across our wood -heated cook stove.  Ouch.  And then my sister was washing dishes and he jumped in the water.  That was a rough day for poor little Peanuts.  We eventually let him go but he would still come to me.   The West Tours buses had a stop at our house and I would go out and bottle feed the moose and then I’d go to a tree and yell for Peanuts and he’d come running down to be held.  The tourists would all ply me with treats and take my picture.  I’m quite sure buried in attics across the U.S. are old pictures of the grandparent’s trip to Alaska in the 1960’s and I must surely be in a few of them.

We also raised quite a few baby moose.  There was Bruce the Moose, then Benny, then Bruce the Moose #2, Molly, Sally, Bernadette, Bernice, & Bullwinkle.  I think there were others but I can’t remember anymore names.   It was always my job to feed them from this over sized baby bottle and they always ran to me when they saw me.  We had goats too and the moose calves grew up thinking they were goats.  The goats would always get down on bended knee to eat their grain and the moose quickly learned to imitate that stance.  They were great fun to have.  They never lasted long in the wild though, F&G would come and tag them and release them at a new location out the road and they usually met their end by a bear or hunter.  One story has it that a lady was out petting one with a bright orange tag in their ear and her husband shot it.  Another was overdosed on tranquillizer by the F&G guy when they were fixing to release it.  Most of the neighbors were generally happy to see them relocated, and usually discovered they had eaten more than their vegetables and flowers, my dad included, when he discovered his apple and cherry trees had been devoured.




My dad and I feeding Bruce #2  & Benny

 

We also had two deer, Shy & Bold.  They used to follow me to school, I’d be halfway there when I’d noticed them behind me and I’d have to return them.  One day I didn’t and they showed up on the playground at school and my dad (who was a teacher at the high school) was informed and that night at dinner I got in trouble.  That story made it in the local paper too I remember correctly.

We had a baby mountain goat for a while, an owl named Aristotle, a beaver, a baby bear and several chickadees I rescued.  Anytime anyone found a wild animal they brought it to our house.   They all kind of blended in with the donkey, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigs, peacocks, guineas, horses  and numerous dogs we already had.  Is it any wonder I’m such an animal person???

RIP NEWT

BABY NEWT

I was really sad to hear that Berlin's little polar bear died recently.  I used to enjoy footage of him as a baby and he was that zoo's star attraction.  Apparently he was playing in a pond in front of dozens of onlookers and just died suddenly.  I remember when Binky died in the Anchorage zoo and that was sad too. 

The Recovery

Piper is recovering nicely from his surgery.  He limped around for the first couple days but now he is completely back to normal, getting into mischief with his partner in crime, Timmy.  The good news is after several tests, (blood work, ultra sound & Xray) they determined the tumor had not spread to any internal organs and he should be as good as new.  If he was precious to me before, now he REALLY is....$1300 later we will be watching him closely! I was also glad the spot was were it was, therefore he (and us!) was spared the agony of wearing a cone.   Thanks for all the good wishes!

Moose

A lady in Anchorage got kicked by this moose when she tried to pet him.  Can you imagine??? The other people in the picture don't seem too concerned by him either.  Crazy people.

Moose in Anchorage

There is a Bump on My Boy...

My beautiful boy Piper and Little Timmers

A couple weeks ago Chris pointed out a hard bump on the back of my cat, Piper.  He has thick fur and it took some burrowing to find it, which he does not enjoy, so I’m not sure if the bump hurts when touched or he just prefers not to be messed with.   If he were a human, I’d think it was a mole.  Chris thinks it has gotten larger but  I can’t tell.  Today I called the vet and he has an appointment on Thursday where he’ll check it out and take a biopsy of it.  The whole thing terrifies me.  NOTHING can go wrong with my little Meazer boy.  I love him so much it hurts.  Seriously, how is it possible to love 15 pounds of fluff and fur so much?  The whole thing is stressing me out, just  thinking about this doctor appointment he will have to endure.  It takes him a long time to come out when people are over, even if it’s Carole and Ralph who he has known all his life.  To have some random stranger handle him and hold him in place and then, God forbid, have to cut on him is almost more than I can bear.  

Homer the Blind Wonder Cat

I have just finished this book and I'm here to tell you I have never been so in love with an animal I've only read about before.  This is an incredible tale of a cat that had his eyes removed when he was just a couple weeks old due to an infection.  He was adopted by Gwen Cooper and the lessons he taught her about life, and taking chances and fearlessness and love are simply amazing.  I did not want this book to end and I want a Homer of my own!! He was a cat that loved everyone.....except for one night when there was an intruder in Gwen's bedroom and she woke to the sound of Homer growling.  Homer chased the intruder out of the house and Gwen was afraid he was going to seriously injure the man.  He only weighed 3 pounds.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who believes in the miracles of animals and their ability to affect our lives.

CLEO

I just finished this book and wanted to give a shout out to all animal lovers, particularly cat lovers.  This was a delightful book and really exemplifies how animals have the capacity to lessen a depression or get you through a hard time.   And how they can teach you life lessons. I mean seriously.......just look at this little guy...what's not to love???

THIS IS CLEO

Reindeer Kitty



NOT IMPRESSED!!



I don't think it takes much imagination to figure out what Piper was thinking here and I'm pretty sure it involved my name being taken in vain!

Only In Juneau

(Michael Penn/Juneau Empire photo)

There is a "memorial service" for Romeo today.  People are gathering at the entrance of  the West Glacier Trail where he was most often seen coming from.  This is a a testament to the impact this lone wolf had on the people of Juneau.  It's a chance for people to gather and compare stories and bask in the wonderment of sharing their lives with such a magnificent creature. 

"Juneau has a history of being kinder to its local animals than a lot of places," according to Joel Bennett, a local filmmaker. 

It's one of the many reasons I love living here.

The Lucky Little Oscar



Daddy & Boys



About three years ago, just when everything was all calm and merry at our house, I saw a cute little dachshund in the pages of the Gastineau Humane Society.  After we got married in Arizona we drove up to Skagway and got on the ferry to Juneau.  While we were waiting in the ferry terminal in Skagway there was a man out walking his little dachshund and I thought he was so cute (the dog, not the man)!  It must have planted a seed because as soon as I saw Lucky (who became Oscar) looking for a home I knew he had to be ours.  We had been talking about getting a dog for years and he seemed to be a perfect fit.  We had just gotten Piper, our beautiful little Siamese cat, just months before and peace reigned at 4121 Birch Lane.  Now that I look back on it, I’m not sure what we were thinking!

I should insert here that the cute little dachshund came with the disclaimer he exhibited a “submissive urination” problem.  He was about a year old and lived with a family that were caretakers for several elderly patients who lived in the home.  It was easy to surmise that they must have health department guidelines to adhere to, hence a tinkling canine would not be a good fit.  We were sure with the proper amount of training and love we’d fix him right up.




"Tag, You're it!!"

 From the moment he arrived our lives were turned upside down.  The first few weeks were filled with regret.  He has submissive urination, and excitable urination and he hates to get wet so on wet days it is not unusual to find other, shall we say more solid deposits laying about.  He does try - occasionally  he will run to a door and wait but if you are in a different room or just plain not watching him all bets are off.  On wet days he will do anything to avoid going, even though he carefully remains under the eaves of the house.  Sometimes I can get him excited about feeding the squirrels and he’ll run out to the squirrel tree to investigate and then do his business as a side note.  Other days we’re not so lucky. We have learned to manage many of his bad habits just by altering OUR behavior such as greeting him outside so he can pee and wiggle about at the same time with no dire consequences.  We have to be diligent about inviting him to go outside and can’t  rely on him to tell us.  And some days we have to squeeze it out of him...we have our tricks too.

All the kids playing



When Oscar arrived he weighed 13 lbs.  Everyone warned us not to overfeed him because dachshunds typically develop back problems when they are overweight.  We vowed to keep him fit.  I walked him every day and he had tons of energy.  He would run the whole time.  We took him to doggy daycare twice a week and he would go on 2-3 walks a day there.  Then he started not wanting to go to daycare so we stopped taking him. Then he started not wanting to go on walks, if he saw me grab the leash he would hide under the bed where I couldn’t get him.  By his 1-year follow up appointment he weighed 22#.  Since then he’s added a couple more.  I still take him on walks and every time I stop for anything he turns around the opposite direction, clearly indicating his preference to return to the car.  He will dawdle that entire way out and then run once we turn around. 

Oscar & Timmy



On the flip side he is one lovable little puppy.  He loves his daddy more than anything...every evening he waits on the back of the couch looking through the blinds until he sees his car pull up and then he dashes full speed down the hall to greet him.  He loves his toy bone and spends hours burying it in his blanket.  He loves Timmy and Piper and they wrestle and play all the time.  When Chris is throwing his toy down the hall for him to chase the cats both wait in rooms off the hallway and ambush him as he runs by.  He loves going for car rides and frequently comes to work with me.  The car is one place he is very well behaved.  Most of all he LOVES giving puppy kisses.  Even though there isn’t one square inch of floor that hasn’t been assailed by his bodily functions we still love the Oscar. 

The Porkster





My little friend Porky

   I had a very special friend once that merits being memorialized on my blog.  We bought our house in September of 2002.  I can’t remember exactly when I started feeding the birds in our back yard but it was sometime that winter.  What I discovered was a little red squirrel that seemed to enjoy the food as much as the birds.  That summer I began the task of clearing out the strip of garden space in front of the greenbelt area that had been neglected for several years and was overgrown with weeds and other foliage.  I spent a lot of time out there and this certain little squirrel got used to me immediately and would let me get really close to her.  I then began enticing her further with peanuts.  I don’t know who was more nervous to begin with, the squirrel or me.  I started using peanuts in the shell because there was some distance between my finger and where she’d grab.  It took a few days but I was elated when she grabbed the first nut from me.  It wasn’t long before I was feeding her shelled peanuts or burying them in my fist so she would poke her little nose in my hand trying to find it.  There is just nothing that says love like little squirrely fingers wrapped around mine while she chewed through her peanut.  Sometimes I would put the peanut on my shoulder and she would run up my legs to reach her prize.  I would turn to look at her and my face being so close to hers kind of startled both of us!! She was always hanging out in our backyard; I had only to call her and she’d come running.  One day my friend Angie was visiting and I called for Porky and within a few minutes there she was.  Angie was quite flabbergasted, she hadn’t really believed me!  I can’t tell you how much time I spent at the squirrel tree that first summer, I was totally enthralled with my little friend. 

Naked baby

That year, for Christmas Chris gave me a squirrel hut which we placed high in a spruce tree. I envisioned Porky making that her home but instead she stashed nuts there.  Squirrels usually have several stashes placed strategically around where they nest.  They don’t hibernate but if it gets very cold out they stay put until it warms up a little.  She was a busy little squirrel in the summer, running nuts from the squirrel stand to her stashes all day long. And of course, keeping vigil over her territory.  No one was allowed in.  Every year in June or July she would bring her babies to the stand to eat, and then they would proceed to keep us entertained for weeks. Squirrels are not inherently agile, they definitely have to learn a few things in their young squirrely lives.  Baby squirrels (technically they are called kittens) are a funny bunch....they chase their siblings relentlessly going around in circles up and down the trees.  When they first venture out of the nest they are about 4 weeks old.  The difference between a baby and an adult is very slight but babies have heads that are disproportionate to their bodies.  One time a bunch of babies showed up who had fur around their heads and back ends but their little bodies were bare!! I worried endlessly about them because it was a particularly cold June that year. 

Baby squirrel just out of the nest

One fall I had the bright idea to empty the squirrel hut because it was completely stuffed full and the stellar jays were robbing it. I thought Porky might make other arrangements if her stash was full and I didn’t want her to move on.  So Chris humored me and climbed up there on a ladder and emptied it.  WRONG!!  My poor little squirrel was traumatized when she realized what we had done and she didn’t show up for days after that.  I felt awful.   I spent an obscene amount of time throughout those years worrying about her but she always showed up eventually.

One of my favorite things to feed her was peanut butter.  She’d lick it off my fingers and her tongue would get stuck on the thick, unrelenting goo.  It was funny to watch and she loved it.  I never did actually pick her up although I’m sure I could have.  I didn’t want to cross any boundaries with her.  After all, she was a wild squirrel and she had her dignity!

Porky would let anyone feed her.  We had houseguests and friends and even neighborhood kids who I would lift up to her perch to feed. She never bit anyone.  After a couple years of being around full time she would disappear all winter only to reappear in the spring.  She never missed a beat with me and sometimes she would recognize me before I recognized her.

In the wild squirrels usually have a life span of 7-8 years.  Porky was around for six.  One spring she just didn’t show up.  I still miss my special little friend. 

Romeo, Romeo, Where Art Thou...

A couple days ago a Juneau man was sentenced for killing the most iconic living symbol of Juneau since Patsy Ann graced the streets in the early 1940's.   (http://www.patsyann.com/story)  Romeo was a black wolf whose mother had died when he was about a year old, their pack had all perished at the hands of trappers.  His mother was hit by a car on the Back Loop Road.  Romeo subsquently spent six winters around the Dredge Lake and Mendenhall Glacier area hunting for beavers, voles, deer and the occasional mountain goat and scavaging whatever he could find.  For companionship and a "pack" he adopted the dogs that frequented that recreational area with their owners.  He loved to play...he would spot a dog and no matter how aggressive the dog was initially, he could almost always engage it in play.  There was one story of some little yapping dog that approached Romeo and bit him on the nose, hanging on.  Romeo simply threw the little pooch on his back and put his foot on him as if to say "enough."  He would often whine and cry when the dogs and their owners departed for their cars.  He simply enjoyed the interaction with the dogs and playing with them. 

There was another story that made the headlines of our local paper when it was reported he grabbed a pug and started to make off with him and then let him go.  According to John Hyde, local photographer and author of a new book on Romeo, who actually witnessed the incident, it was all part of play as well. (I don't know who to credit these pictures to, I just found them online.)  Romeo could have killed that pug with one bite had he wanted but you can see how it may have given the pug's owners a scare.  No matter how many signs and warnings were posted asking pet owners to keep their dogs on a leash people still allowed the interaction.

The hours of enjoyment Romeo provided to Juneau residents and resident dogs are endless. He was our ambassador to wildness and he enriched the lives of many.  He was able to galvanize this town in a way not many things can. He bridged our differences. Every fall people waited to see their first siting.  In the book it described F&G's efforts to discourage Romeo from mingling with people by shooting him with pellets.  After that happened a couple times Romeo simply recognized and avoided the F&G people.  Mr. Hyde describes one day watching Romeo spot an approaching officer and hide until the man passed.  It makes his death at the hands of a hunter even more tragic.  Actually "hunter" is giving him way too much credit, it wasn't in season and the wolf was an easy kill because it simply approached their dogs.  The man and his codefendent were charged with several other misdemeanor F&G offenses as well.  There just are not words in the English language to describe the contempt I have for them and people that desire to kill just because they can. RIP Romeo.

And then there was Timmy........

Back in April of 2008, a coworker/friend/neighbor adapted a kitten from the Humane Society.  She wanted it for an Easter present for her three year old.  You gotta love people who treat animals like a children’s toy for they know not what they do.  Shortly afterwards she and her husband had to leave town for medical and we ended up babysitting for a couple months.  When they did take him back they soon discovered small kids and small animals are rarely good companions so back he came to our house. 

Sierra & Baby Timmy

I’m not sure if it was the days he spent at their house fearing for his life and dodging an over-exuberant 3-year old or getting yelled out for attacking baby hands and feet as they wiggled about but our Timmy is a scrappy little thing.  I’m sure he has some feral genes not too far back in the family history as well because he can be a little spitfire. When he first arrived he was only 6 weeks old and teeny tiny.  Oscar & Piper wanted nothing more than to be his new best friend.  They wouldn’t give him a moment’s peace so he had to quickly learn to set his boundaries.  It didn’t take long before they were all playing and roughhousing and wresting non-stop.  Even now Oscar plays a little rough and poor little Timmers sounds like he’s being tortured but he is usually in the instigator. 

Outside he is a holy terror.  He can race up a tree in seconds – we have a feeding platform he likes to frequent but sometimes he heads up a good 20 feet or so.  Coming down is a little harder and I’ve seen him fall more than once but it doesn’t phase him in the least.  He sticks out like a sore thumb outside because of his coloring but he takes cover in the brush pile out in the greenbelt behind our house.  For being such a balsy little guy he’s also very much a scardy-cat.  If he hears people talking he hides and between the kids next door and people walking on the foot path along Duck Creek he spends a fair amount of time under the brush.

Inside he is also a holy terror.  He loves to snag bare toes.  One morning recently I was stepping out of the shower as he laid in wait behind the shower curtain.  He saw my toes and knew it was time to strike.  He had the element of surprise on me as my face was covered by the towel.  I knew he had gotten me but it wasn’t until I saw blood streaks on my new lightly-colored rug that I realized he incurred real damage.  His other favorite attack spot is under the bed as you are making it...for the same reason.

Who could resist this???

His new favorite resting place is on top of the DVR.  It gets nice and warm and he curls up to snooze.  He’s a little cat and even though he is full grown he looks like a kitten.  He squirms around and rolls into a ball and looks very cute....when he sees us walking by he beckons us to come scratch his chin.  He loves that but goes from ecstasy to fighting mode in half a second.  He has his daddy wrapped around his little paw and he knows it.  “Poor little Timmers,” I hear constantly as daddy seeks to make something else right with his world.  



Timmy and his best friend

His favorite food is pork and beans.  Not the beans themselves but the sauce they swim in.  You open anything with the can opener and you can be sure  our wiry little warrior will be there in a second, making his presence known.  He is very loud.  He is also very fond of ice cubes in his bowl of water.  And Oscar’s food.  Since the days of his Purina kitten food I haven’t actually even seen him eat cat food.

He absolutely adores Oscar...sometimes to his detriment.  Anytime Oscar is laying with me in the chair Timmy wants to join us and love on him.  He purrs like a chain saw and wants to lick and nudge and pretty soon Oscar puts an end to that.  Our family just wouldn’t be complete without the little Timmers.

Growing Up Piper

I knew I wouldn’t get very far in this blogging business before I had to do an entry on my kitties, Piper & Tim. (OK Barb, you can quit reading here!)  To love me is to love my kitties.  Back in December of 2008 we had just lost my 15 year old cat Hillary after she had a stroke.  We were bummed.  Hillary had kind of been the forgotten child throughout her life with me, she was very good natured but she took a back seat to Hailey (my special favorite) and Higgins, who was obnoxious beyond belief.  She seemed content enough but she just didn’t get the kind of attention the other two required.  That all changed when Chris came on board.  Hillary had had enough; she was going to stake her claim! Chris was never a cat person and he was very detached from all three....that is until Hillary won him over.  She started by waiting at the door when he came home from work.  Then she started coming in the bedroom when he was getting ready for work.  She was a talker and they had some great conversations.  She never wanted to be held or sit on your lap or any of the usual cat behaviors non-cat people object to.  She just wanted to be talked to and petted.  I knew Chris was a goner the day I heard him singing to her “I’m a little teapot” and using her paws to do the motions. 

After her death we were down to one cat and things were way too quiet so talk of adopting commenced.  One trip to the Humane Society revealed 7 or 8 lively kittens........I always hear people talking of their cats picking them so I was waiting for some kind of sign.  They were all cute and I would be happy with any of them but one little Siamese got my attention.  He was beautiful with his blue eyes and creamy fur and so soft.  He didn’t seem particularly smitten with me however, and I had decided I didn’t want any more males and I have never had any affinity towards Siamese but after a second visit I decided he was it.  Once at the house he just made himself at home.  He slept with us that first night and after I got up he and Chris spent the morning bonding.  He was all over the place and launched himself off the armoire on top of Chris’ head as an initiation.  Chris won with flying colors and they’ve been best buds ever since.

Piper loves games........hide and seek is his favorite.  He follows Chris around like a little puppy.  We have a long hallway and we can hide in different entry ways and Piper will come side-hopping down the hall to “find” us.  He still does that particular little game and it still makes us laugh. 

When he got a little older his canine teeth started growing.  Apparently it is inherent to that breed  (Seal Point) but his two teeth are longer than his mouth and they show!! We are always telling him to keep his big old teeth in his mouth.  He has also turned a dark brown.  Now he looks like a rich cup of coffee with only a few little creamy parts.  He really is beautiful and I love that color combination, especially with the blue eyes.  He is also the sweetest, most congenial feline I have ever owned.  We were worried about the typical Siamese howl that you always attribute to them but Piper is very quiet.  When he does meow for attention it is very mellow. 

All this is not to say he doesn’t get into mischief though.  He is all little boy when it comes to trouble.  He loves to run and chase Timmy and Oscar and rip through the house at 100 mph.  He’ll knock anything on any surface that isn’t nailed down.   Just to see what happens.  He broke my favorite plate doing that once.  But who can stay mad at my Petey Piper.  I really am madly in love with him. 

Tomorrow:  All about Timmy!!