I know, I know, alliteration is a bit of a hack trick but I just couldn't resist.
I also figured that the best way to introduce my self is to introduce my masters, I mean cats. My cats...
I grew up with cats all around me at all times, my mother bred Persians and I remember at the peak of it we had 23 kittens and 6 adult cats in the house.
When I moved out I spent a few years cat-less as my room mates were less than thrilled with idea of a house cat. So I waited. I finally got rid of the cat disliking roommates and found one who didn't mind the idea so long as the litter box was kept clean. Enter Xerxes and Callista, I got them about a month apart as teeny tiny kittens, 8 weeks old. They both came from co-workers who didn't understand why they should get all their cats spayed and neutered as they had always been able to place all the kittens in homes.
In the 14 years that have passed they have been wonderful companions, with me through thick and thin and even a brief bout of homelessness. Xerxes passed away last October, just a few days short of his 14th birthday, but Callista is still healthy and strong, and just as weird as ever.
She has food allergies causing fur barbering, as well as mild hyperesthesia (that was really not fun when her allergies were out of control) which are controlled by diet and clomipramine, respectively. She is my snuggle buddy who has claimed 7/8 of which ever pillow I think I am going to rest my head on, and will often just sit on my desk and purr at me while giving me gentle head butts while I am at the computer.
Around 8 years ago I finally got my life sorted out, had decent apartment and a job working reception (and learning vet tech skills) at an animal hospital. Anyone who has worked in the animal medical field knows it is hard to not bring work home with you, especially when it is in the form of a bouncing fluffy kitten that has been abandoned with the rest of his litter at the age of 6 weeks. Enter Jasio.
Callista hated him from day one, and still does. It might be because the first thing he did upon meeting her was pounce on her head.
That tiny kitten has grown up into a 13.5 pound sleek, muscular and slightly insane mamma's boy.
While he hates being held longer than 5 seconds he loves to snuggle and can often be found on my lap or wedged between myself and my keyboard. He is also the world's best foster brother for kittens.
Two years ago, after successfully fostering several bottle babies and street kittens we finally failed a fostering. Personally I blame Jasio since it was his idea. He became so strongly bonded to this tiny little tuxedo kitten that on the day she went for her spay surgery he was beside himself with anxiety and worry, he actually lost his voice meowing for her.
The Niblet was my first foster kitten that didn't get adopted right away, she is a little shy, mostly black and not at all cuddly. She wants to PLAY NOW PLAY MORE! All the time.
The few people who did come to see her were not interested in a kitten that needed lots of interaction in order to be friendly, so after I realized she and Jasio were so strongly bonded I decided to keep her. After all, she is randomly snuggly with me and she plays fetch!
I've never had a cat quite like her but she is just so goofy and cheerful I could never let her go,
Most recently I decided that since I am a sucker for a sob story and hey, I've only got 3 cats again, I would take in another kitten. But not just any kitten. One of our clients is a feral cat colony caretaker, and she has that one female cat that is just too clever to trap but bring her kittens in every season to be TNR'ed. Every litter had a runt that died before they could be trapped, until this past summer.
Now we know why none of the runts survived. They were all seriously defective.
Hector is a walking medical disaster, he has a condition called pharyngeal dysphagia in which he often gags on and regurgitates his food. He has nerve deficits all through his face (resulting in the droopy right eye), has very poor GI motility, is physically stunted from malnutrition as a tiny kitten, and is likely mentally stunted as well from the same. When I got him at 4 months old he weighed all of 2 pounds, 2 ounces. Now that he is 9 months old he is all the way up to 5 pounds, 12 ounces. The vets and I didn't think he would ever live this long, or get this big and I am really happy that he has proved us all wrong. Who knows, he may even make it past a year old!
It wouldn't be fair for me to not mention my canine companion as well. This is Kiska.
She is a 15-ish year old hound and something mix who came to live with us around 5 years ago when her owners were going to euthanize her because they are <insert bad word here>. I had always loved her so I adopted her on the spot, they had already signed euthanasia paperwork and her IV catheter was already placed. I've never regretted it.
Kiska loves the younger cats, but Callista has always been mean to her and just recently Jasio has begun blaming her for everything he doesn't like. Poor girl just can't catch a break. But she is happy, loving and loved. That is all that matters.
So that is my foursome, and their sidekick. I look forward to getting to know all of you and your masters, cats! I mean cats!
I also figured that the best way to introduce my self is to introduce my masters, I mean cats. My cats...
I grew up with cats all around me at all times, my mother bred Persians and I remember at the peak of it we had 23 kittens and 6 adult cats in the house.
When I moved out I spent a few years cat-less as my room mates were less than thrilled with idea of a house cat. So I waited. I finally got rid of the cat disliking roommates and found one who didn't mind the idea so long as the litter box was kept clean. Enter Xerxes and Callista, I got them about a month apart as teeny tiny kittens, 8 weeks old. They both came from co-workers who didn't understand why they should get all their cats spayed and neutered as they had always been able to place all the kittens in homes.
In the 14 years that have passed they have been wonderful companions, with me through thick and thin and even a brief bout of homelessness. Xerxes passed away last October, just a few days short of his 14th birthday, but Callista is still healthy and strong, and just as weird as ever.
She has food allergies causing fur barbering, as well as mild hyperesthesia (that was really not fun when her allergies were out of control) which are controlled by diet and clomipramine, respectively. She is my snuggle buddy who has claimed 7/8 of which ever pillow I think I am going to rest my head on, and will often just sit on my desk and purr at me while giving me gentle head butts while I am at the computer.
Around 8 years ago I finally got my life sorted out, had decent apartment and a job working reception (and learning vet tech skills) at an animal hospital. Anyone who has worked in the animal medical field knows it is hard to not bring work home with you, especially when it is in the form of a bouncing fluffy kitten that has been abandoned with the rest of his litter at the age of 6 weeks. Enter Jasio.
Callista hated him from day one, and still does. It might be because the first thing he did upon meeting her was pounce on her head.
That tiny kitten has grown up into a 13.5 pound sleek, muscular and slightly insane mamma's boy.
While he hates being held longer than 5 seconds he loves to snuggle and can often be found on my lap or wedged between myself and my keyboard. He is also the world's best foster brother for kittens.
Two years ago, after successfully fostering several bottle babies and street kittens we finally failed a fostering. Personally I blame Jasio since it was his idea. He became so strongly bonded to this tiny little tuxedo kitten that on the day she went for her spay surgery he was beside himself with anxiety and worry, he actually lost his voice meowing for her.
The Niblet was my first foster kitten that didn't get adopted right away, she is a little shy, mostly black and not at all cuddly. She wants to PLAY NOW PLAY MORE! All the time.
The few people who did come to see her were not interested in a kitten that needed lots of interaction in order to be friendly, so after I realized she and Jasio were so strongly bonded I decided to keep her. After all, she is randomly snuggly with me and she plays fetch!
I've never had a cat quite like her but she is just so goofy and cheerful I could never let her go,
Most recently I decided that since I am a sucker for a sob story and hey, I've only got 3 cats again, I would take in another kitten. But not just any kitten. One of our clients is a feral cat colony caretaker, and she has that one female cat that is just too clever to trap but bring her kittens in every season to be TNR'ed. Every litter had a runt that died before they could be trapped, until this past summer.
Now we know why none of the runts survived. They were all seriously defective.
Hector is a walking medical disaster, he has a condition called pharyngeal dysphagia in which he often gags on and regurgitates his food. He has nerve deficits all through his face (resulting in the droopy right eye), has very poor GI motility, is physically stunted from malnutrition as a tiny kitten, and is likely mentally stunted as well from the same. When I got him at 4 months old he weighed all of 2 pounds, 2 ounces. Now that he is 9 months old he is all the way up to 5 pounds, 12 ounces. The vets and I didn't think he would ever live this long, or get this big and I am really happy that he has proved us all wrong. Who knows, he may even make it past a year old!
It wouldn't be fair for me to not mention my canine companion as well. This is Kiska.
She is a 15-ish year old hound and something mix who came to live with us around 5 years ago when her owners were going to euthanize her because they are <insert bad word here>. I had always loved her so I adopted her on the spot, they had already signed euthanasia paperwork and her IV catheter was already placed. I've never regretted it.
Kiska loves the younger cats, but Callista has always been mean to her and just recently Jasio has begun blaming her for everything he doesn't like. Poor girl just can't catch a break. But she is happy, loving and loved. That is all that matters.
So that is my foursome, and their sidekick. I look forward to getting to know all of you and your masters, cats! I mean cats!
