lspencer534
11-15-2012, 6:26pm
Some of you...well, a few of you...okay, one of you...has asked that I update everyone on my cat, Annie. Annie is four years old now. I got Annie through a phone call from a friend who asked if I could take a kitten that someone had left in her car that was parked in her driveway with the windows down (Who knows...).
I asked how old the kitty was and was told, "About 3-4 months." To my surprise she was much younger than that; kittie's eyes change from blue to their permanent color at 3-9 weeks, and hers were still blue. I took her straight to the vet, where she checked out okay. She weighed 3 ounces. I bought a kitty bottle and kitten formula to feed her:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annie002.jpg
I named her Annie, as in "Little Orphan Annie". Here she is at at home, all skinny and scared:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annie005.jpg
Here, she's filled out a little:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annie008.jpg
I took her to work one day, and she was an instant hit. Peeps at work bought her toys and food, and she often slept on their shoulder while they worked. Other times she slept on a table on the reception area, which made people on the sidewalk stop to admire her through the window. I learned that she was a Bombay breed, an American Black Shorthair bred with a Himalayan. Bombays have very thick hair as soft as mink fur. She developed a very playful nature, and she was smart. When it was time to go to work, I'd tell Annie, "Let's go to work," and she'd get into her carrier by herself. Same thing with, "Time to go home, Annie."
Raising a kitty is never without its problems, of course. I caught Annie drinking from my gin and tonic:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annie001.jpg
She developed a real taste for gin and tonic. Naturally it made her tipsy, and she had to find a place to sleep it off. Unfortunately she chose my head:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annie003.jpg
That pic is infamous, but consider this: Annie's claws are sharp as razors, and she's trying to balance on my head, which isn't easy in her condition. All I could picture was Annie sliding off and digging those claws into my forehead or scalp on the way down.
Here's Annie today:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annietoday.jpg
She's 15 pounds, eating everything in sight to store it up for Winter, and she still likes only me...and that includes other cats. She sleeps with me every night; she wants under the covers so she can sleep facing my chest with her arms wrapped around my neck in a bear hug. When I wake up I have to have my mandatory bath: She licks my chin, and I better let her! Then she wants outside until I get home in the evening.
Peeps, you know my love for animals, so I'm not going to get on a soap box about rescuing them. But...if you can find it in your heart to give a home and love to a homeless pet, please do so. Stray cats and dogs--which are likely feral--are the healthiest, most loving, and intelligent animals there are. They are almost always disease free; in 25 years I've lost only one pet prematurely to disease (and he was 10-years-old when I had to put him down for cancer). :seasix:
I asked how old the kitty was and was told, "About 3-4 months." To my surprise she was much younger than that; kittie's eyes change from blue to their permanent color at 3-9 weeks, and hers were still blue. I took her straight to the vet, where she checked out okay. She weighed 3 ounces. I bought a kitty bottle and kitten formula to feed her:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annie002.jpg
I named her Annie, as in "Little Orphan Annie". Here she is at at home, all skinny and scared:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annie005.jpg
Here, she's filled out a little:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annie008.jpg
I took her to work one day, and she was an instant hit. Peeps at work bought her toys and food, and she often slept on their shoulder while they worked. Other times she slept on a table on the reception area, which made people on the sidewalk stop to admire her through the window. I learned that she was a Bombay breed, an American Black Shorthair bred with a Himalayan. Bombays have very thick hair as soft as mink fur. She developed a very playful nature, and she was smart. When it was time to go to work, I'd tell Annie, "Let's go to work," and she'd get into her carrier by herself. Same thing with, "Time to go home, Annie."
Raising a kitty is never without its problems, of course. I caught Annie drinking from my gin and tonic:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annie001.jpg
She developed a real taste for gin and tonic. Naturally it made her tipsy, and she had to find a place to sleep it off. Unfortunately she chose my head:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annie003.jpg
That pic is infamous, but consider this: Annie's claws are sharp as razors, and she's trying to balance on my head, which isn't easy in her condition. All I could picture was Annie sliding off and digging those claws into my forehead or scalp on the way down.
Here's Annie today:
http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww22/lspencer534/annietoday.jpg
She's 15 pounds, eating everything in sight to store it up for Winter, and she still likes only me...and that includes other cats. She sleeps with me every night; she wants under the covers so she can sleep facing my chest with her arms wrapped around my neck in a bear hug. When I wake up I have to have my mandatory bath: She licks my chin, and I better let her! Then she wants outside until I get home in the evening.
Peeps, you know my love for animals, so I'm not going to get on a soap box about rescuing them. But...if you can find it in your heart to give a home and love to a homeless pet, please do so. Stray cats and dogs--which are likely feral--are the healthiest, most loving, and intelligent animals there are. They are almost always disease free; in 25 years I've lost only one pet prematurely to disease (and he was 10-years-old when I had to put him down for cancer). :seasix: