Our Labor Day Weekend Surprise

Sunday we heard an imperative but not plaintive Mew Mew Mew outside our front door. I opened it and a little fur ball waltzed in like he knew where he was and where he was going! I picked him up and he immediately began purring! I put up signs both within our walled community and on lightpoles on the street, and left them up until late this afternoon... all the while we were bonding with this little guy. I also scouted the neighborhood for LOST signs, of which there were none.

We lost our 18.5 year-old cat in May and I still had litter/box, pet dishes, and even kitty toys. We weren't going to think about getting another cat until after November's trip to India, but these things happen! Today I got him a little bed just his size and made an appointment at the vet's for tomorrow. He is healthy, no runny nose or eyes, and just a few fleas he could have picked up on our sidewalk, the neighborhood cats use it as a thorofare. He is social and as sweet a kitty as I have ever seen! I think someone took good care of him but had to get rid of him due to ??? situations change.

His name is Rocket, Rocky for short. He likes the notebook computer on my lap, partly for the attention I am sure but he also naps on the palm rest which is pretty warm. This pic makes him look much bigger than he is. I'm guessing 3 or 4-mo but we'll see what the vet thinks.

He likes to read with DH.

More pics and story here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1036258/

Of course he's sweet...he's a tuxedo and they're known for their wonderful dispositions. He obviously knew just where to find you, so he's smart too. I'm pleased to tell you that I have his sister here....her name is Bella Boo...

Look at that, Sherry, her nose is even divided almost in half with white on the same side!

We had a tuxie, Ranger, named for the lone ranger because the black on his face made a mask. He doted on my husband, tolerated me, and was 'alpha' over his brother. He died 9 years ago of the same cancer that finally took his brother this May (familial predisposition). After he was gone, the black cat (Shadow, named for "The Shadow Knows") took over like he'd been taking lessons -- doting on Richard, treating me like the scullery maid. This is my first experience with a kitten who treats me as good as DH!

~'s!~

Be sure and sneak lots of treats to him.....lol....We have 7 cats..oh,dear....we hope no more show upon our property, but.....we've had tuxedo cats before. Gato and Ditto preceeded Bella.

Very sweet, ~'spin!~, I must have a close relation. Will have to sneak up on her and get her photo. Mine is named Peek a Boo, and she does.
She was a feral (and still is to some degree) kittencat, who somehow got her leg ripped open and lost a tooth. She showed up at the back door looking for help. What else could I do? I took her to the vet and they stitched her up. We called Tuxsweeto then. Changed her name when we got to know her better.
: - )
Your guess seems to be about right as to her age. I'd have to see him in person, ~'spin!~. I hope he gets a clean bill of health from the Dr. Rocky seems to fit him. : - )
wc, Bella is a beauty. I have been capturing the ferals and taking them in and getting them spayed/neutered. I no longer want to be known to everyone CatsRUs. Which is what my EB#2 calls us. I can't help it when they show up on their own. Or some idiot abandons them.
Seems to me ~'spin!~ that the best pets are the ones that choose you. : - )
Good, I was able to catch the Boo on her "Throne". Which is an upside down chair in a storage room in our house.
She won't allow anyone to touch her when she is outside, but she will let me sometimes. I respect her Highness, and it has to be her choice, to come back in. Sometimes, I have to sing to her to get her to come inside. She gets scared if left outside at night. She is terrified of everyone except for DH who ignores her. Boys say mean things, like, she only has half a Hitler mustache. Who spilled the ink on her? No wonder she doesn't like them!
Bless her heart, on those bad nights, she comes over and purrs to me while I give her, her nightly head scritching. She usually stays until I go to sleep.
She likes to burrow under the blankets and area rug too. I guess she feels safer under the blankets next to me, and she was being goofy when she burrowed under the rug.
I hope the new member of your family, brings you as much love and joy as my friend Peek A Boo brings me! : - )
WIB!
SW

Rocky doesn't have the full tuxedo look -- the white on his face connects to the blaze on his chest, then a separate small white area on his belly, and his socks are smaller than our previous tuxie. Also he has a really pointy nose and slightly slitty eyes that make me think a touch of Siamese...

He got a clean bill of health (waiting on the internal parasite report tomorrow), judged to be 16 weeks by his teeth, and weighed in at 3lb6. Everyone at the vet's was beaming at us, that we had filled the vacancy Shadow left, and with such a cutie.

He's all tuckered out from another big day -- he just jumped up on DH's chair, walked one way across his lap, then back, then made a real big deal about getting comfortable, and went to sleep with his little head in DH's elbow

~'s!~

Great score, Spin !

I'm convinced these cats scope out their future homes well in advance of their official arrival and entry. They know where the getiin's good !

Evidently, being a scullery maid has it's advantages !

~'spin!~
I'm so glad Rocky has found you and has a clean bill of health. He looks quite happy in your DH's lap. Like he belongs there and it is his safe haven. So sweet!
Here is one of the feral kittens, that spent last winter inside my jacuzzi room. My eldest son decided he wanted her. Her name is Merry.
Merry was racing around the house this morning bugging Boo kitty. I was escorting her highness, Boo, to the door so she could go outside for the day, when Merry came charging up, stood up on her hind paws, and took 4 or 5 steps towards Boo, with her front paws in a pugilistic pose.
I about died laughing. I wish I'd gotten it on the camera, but it happened too fast. At least my ES saw it too! : - )
Never a dull moment with kids and cats!
WIB,
SW

Now THAT is an interesting feline face!
~'s!~

I think she has an interesting face, and a loving heart, but she is afraid of just about everything. I'm working with her more and she spends more time with me than my son. All four of her paws are white too followed by an orange band, working back to black. I guess she is a sort of calico, with the black the white and the orange, but oh no, she can't be a normal looking cat! She has to be different. : - )
Give Rocky a good scritch for me.
WIB,
SW

What an unusual tortoise shell you have there SW.

My adoptee just had a litter of kittens. I waited a few weeks to have her spayed and by the time I got her to the vet, she was pregnant.

Daisy is a true calico, gray, white and orange, mostly white. She had five babies, two girls, three boys. Two tan and white boys, one orange and white boy, one black and white girl and one tortoise shell girl. They're four weeks tomorrow (Friday).

This is "mom" with three of them

The one in the middle is actually a tortoise shell although you can't see the orange. She only has a few spots of orange. This picture was taken just a few minutes ago.

Mama and babies are gorgeous! Okay, I should have known you are another cat lover. : - )
DP, mama cats will breed as soon as they can, even before the kittens are weaned. Essential to keep her away from tom cats until she has weaned the kittens. Then you can get her spayed. Hard to do, but unless you want to be known as "KittensRUs", you have to break the cycle. : - (
Gosh darn it, I'm tempted, but know I really don't need any more cats, but was thinking about my son, since his cat has claimed me. He is a red head too. Hmmm.
Are any of them spoken for yet?
WIB!
SW

Parasite tests were negative so no need to put Rocky (or us) through worming.

I bought a little pet carrying pouch in lieu of a cage, as we will be taking him with us to visit Blooms at the end of the month. Last cat had one, but it was the larger size and became quite torn by the end of all his travels; I looked at mending it but it's nylon and quite a bit of it is frayed. Shadow never traveled with us until he became ill enough he needed hand-feeding & medication, but Rocket is going to get started right away!

Those are some adorable kittens DP! I think we'll stick with just one this time around.

~'s!~

Are you sure spin?? They are cuties!!! And yes SW there are some available. They're four weeks old today. I'm thinking they should be 7 or 8 weeks before they go to new homes.

That means they'll be ready to go by the end of your Oceanside vacation Jules. I do want to keep one of them myself. Our brown tabby just passed last week. She was 20 years old. Since we already have one female, I may want to keep one of the boys. Haven't decided yet.

Also, any of you going to the RU later this month, if you want a kitten......

This is a picture of Penny a couple of years ago when she was a mere kitten of 18 years.

If I didn't already have 2 cats, I'd take one of those orange and white ones in a heart beat. Every time I'm in the market for a replacement cat, there's never an orange and white one to be found.

At 20 years old, Penny obviously had a very good life !!!

The animal shelter we have here is amazing. There are 2 huge rooms for the cats...with bonding areas, etc. They have ramps, baskets, cubby-holes, and all sorts of cool things for the cats. There's even a completely fenced in area where they can go outside...like a giant cat garden. (It has a chain link fence roof ) I've gone there numerous times and I always hear the prospective owners say the same thing: "My house would be too BORING for any cat I took from here.

When I got home with the last cat I adopted from there, I opened the carrier, he walked out, sat on the floor, looked around, and then looked at me as if to say, "And you expect me to live HERE ??? This place is so boring. Take me back."

Randy,
My deepest sympathy for your loss of your friend and companion, Penny. She was a beautiful cat. I don't know what they call that kind of coloration, but since I think it's beautiful, I am curious.
I've never had a cat live to be 20, the mortality rate on the farm is much higher than you'd think. Once, I had a cat disappear for years, just to come home and die. I think he had a harem across the road.
Out here, so much of the time, your friend just goes missing and you never know what happened to them. Currently, my oldest cat is about 10 years old, and spends most of her time inside the house, preferably on top of someone. During the day, when it is warm enough, she likes to bask in the sunshine outside in the yard.
Cats do act like royalty don't they. I am going to be showing my son the photos of the kittens, he said he was interested, and he has always been good with animals.
Will let you know soon.
WIB,
SW

My cats all live to around that age, but they're inside cats. Sadly, outside cats usually don't get a very long life.

I have heard that coloration called Torbie (combination TORtoise with tabBY) but that cat also appears to have the muted or diluted gene so that the black and "red" (orange) are there as gray and tan/brown. A beauty.
~'s!~

Okay...this is Priss who is a long haired brown tabby and Charlie,who is, obviously, calico.

Ziggy:

Pippa:

Hmmm. lost the pic of Priss & Charlie.....try again:

Penny's 'orange' was more like copper-colored, thus Penny. I always referred to her as a brown tabby. She was mostly an outside cat in Arizona. She had indoor privileges of course, but she preferred to be outside in pleasant weather. She was obviously quite wiley as she survived the coyotes in rural AZ for all that time. She'd have been 21 in January. She's 8 months younger than our youngest son.

ok then not the muted gene (maybe not even tortoise? was the copper mottled?)... really pretty coloration, anyway. I'm glad you have Daisy (even with her surprise), and I think you should definitely keep the kitten that finds it's way into your heart!

I always thought I'd have a calico, but never had one show up at the right time... and no I am not hinting at your little female! We got two littermates last time (19 years ago) and were a 2-cat family for 9+ years, but then a one cat household for the next 9. With our travelling plans, a single cat just makes more sense.

At supper tonight, my DH said, I can't think of any cat I've ever known with a better personality than this little kitty (and that's after just 6 days)!

~'spin!~

This might be appropriate for the Thought for the Day thread, but I'll put it here:

"To dogs, people are family; to cats they're staff."

Janet, you should definitely put that one on "Thoughts". LOL How true.

And spin, how wonderful is it when you realize you've found the "right" cat. My Leopold, whom I enjoyed for fourteen years, was just that kind of cat. As soon as we met, we both realized it. He was from a girl that was joining the Marines. Her mom had adopted him, but her other cats didn't approve. He'd been terrorized for a month there before "mom" advertised him as up for adoption. He was 14 months old at the time. He became my mainstay for the next 14 years. I lost him to a tumor last summer. This is Leo.

This message was edited Sep 13, 2009 5:03 AM

What a beauty Leo was...wish they could stay with us forever, but..."All Things Must Pass'

Just remember, people: Cats adopt US. WE don't adopt THEM. The ultimate decision is THEIRS. That's just the way it is. lol

Leo was certainly a fine figure of a man !

Sherry, I didn't know you were a cat person.

I'm going to ask Zuzu to post a photo from her annual cat/garden calendar of her brood feasting on the carcass of her Thanksgiving Turkey. It's hilarious.

We had what looks like Leo's twin for 10 years; she was Pixel, who was definitely my DH's baby. She was a feral cat from the nursery where I worked---people would just dump kittens off in the night to fend for themselves, and she was born there. Her momma would hunt rabbits for her babies. Pixel was a tabby-striped, blue-point Siamese mix. She was totally berserk for the first few weeks we had her. Not only had she been born wild, but the people who said they were going to adopt her took her to the vet's to be spayed, and then left her there for 6 weeks in the little cage---they were afraid to take her home. They finally decided she was just "too vicious". By that time she was somewhat deranged.

We kept her inside in our big dog kennel for a few days when we brought her home because she was terrified of open spaces. Then we let her roam around the house, and she hid behind the stereo gear, or inside our holey old couch, or other places we never knew about. We didn't see her for days, but she used her box and ate her food. Finally she started coming out and sucking up to my husband, and the rest is history.

Please keep your beautiful, lovely kitties with their wonderful personalities indoors.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/529844/

Love this thread and oh my, the cute kittens! And welcome to the new kitty crystalspin!

I just lost my 13 year old calico Ferris due to cancer, she was the second calico I had, sweetest kitties! I had a cat all our married life, almost 33 years and DH said that's the last one, he's not a cat person at all and just tolerated them all those years. The 2 dogs now are a handful.

JD, I've always had cats...One of my favorite lines from some story, can't remember which describing the old lady's house:
"and a fine layer of cat hair lay over all......."

Last week there was an article on aol about a fluke male calico cat that was borne in a litter somewhere...I think I fwd'd it to Zuzu...

By popular request (or JD's request anyway), here's Thanksgiving chez Zuzu:

A male calico must have an extra X chromosome (XXY) because the "red" (orange) and the black genes occupy the same site on the X chromosome. But they are not unheard of, just rare.
~'s!~

Liked the turkey photo. Doesn't everyone with cats share the feast with their feline friends? Looks just like my house. : - )
Good one, wc!
My cats are rodent control inspectors, remember I live on a farm. They usually stay close to the house at night. Our pet cats come inside at night. The ferals tend to hang out in the yard. It is their choice to live outside, and it is their nature. The dogs have been really good at keeping the coyotes away from both cats and chickens this year. Spirit is a real coyote chaser!
ima, I thought I was the only one with a cat named Pixel. Mine is gone now, but when I find another improbable cat that really finds me, it'll be a Pixel.
~'spin!~ glad to hear your Rocky, is fitting right in. : - )
DH is ambivalent about my cats, but I don't recall ever being catless since I was 4 or 5. They do choose you, and they can choose to leave you. It's up to them.
So sorry about Leo. He looks like the tom cat with the harem across the road, whose name was Max. I don't have a photo on the computer of him, need to scan them all in this year.
It's always sad when we loose our friends and companions.
And fun when we find a mutual love affair! Enjoy Rocky ~'spin!~, he's definitely a keeper.
WIB,
SW

Not really a sharing thing. I don't eat turkey. The feast is all theirs, although the raccoons and possums do get whatever the cats don't want.