The Cat Of Cats

Our magnificent Honey Bunny, aka "Pooter" (1978-1997). A red point Applehead Siamese, she was the cat of cats! Not an ounce overweight, she weighed 17 pounds and was, in the words of our vet, "robust and the biggest female I've ever seen." She even stalked deer!  Totally bonded with us, Honey Bunny enjoyed road trips and spending the night in a motel or at my father's house.

Sitting on the well cover outside our then front door.

Minxy Has Grown Up Now

(For politics, please scroll down)

Somewhat grown up, that is!

For Caturday and — the next day, too...

Minxy (b. September 8, 2017) often sits with paws crossed:

Photo date: May 29, 2018

Minxy sits like a human:

Photo date: June 5, 2018

Despite Minxy's her bellicose attitude, that of an alpha, Amber (2012-present) — aka "Long Tall Sally" — wins each scuffle and remains our sweet Amber, wishing not to hurt Minxy:

Photo date: December 2015

CATS RULE!

Minxy!

(For politics, please scroll down)

Our beloved Minxy on March 15, 2018:

Minxy Queen of the Recliner

Like our beloved Cameo (2001-2017), Minxy (born September 8, 2017) is an alpha and sits wherever she desires.

Our beloved Cameo in December 2015:

Cameo Queen of the Recliner

More Photos Of Minxy

We have a kitten in the household! For the first time in over sixteen years.

Minxy is about two months old in the photos below:

Just like Cameo, Minxy owns the recliner!

After playing, Minxy falls asleep in my arms.

"Look at me!  I'm gorgeous!"

Minxy is so happy here that she's laughing (yawning)!  Photo taken at Mr. AOW's side as he's napping.

What of Amber? She's already accepted Minxy as a member of the family. Maybe because we lost Cameo and Mysti within the last seven months.  The obvious fact that Amber has accepted Minxy: last night Amber deliberately left two pieces of kibble for Minxy. Cameo used to do the same for Amber.

When Minxy sleeps with me, like Mysti she grooms my hair.

More photos to come as Mr. AOW and I enjoy Minxy's kittenhood. I'm taking photos like a madwoman, and last night, I upgraded my iCloud storage for my iPhone!

Note: all links in this blog post go to posts at AOWS Photos and feature the kitty whose name is hyperlinked in this blog post.

The Glory Of Minxy

Eight-week-old Minxy, who has arrived to her forever home!

Minxy on Mr. AOW's iPad.

Notice how Minxy spreads her toes.

Relaxing on the $1800 lift-recliner.

Amber has moved from overtly hostile to curious with a tinge of hostility.

Minxy!

Minxy will soon arrive here, her forever home:

At one-week old.

At one-month old.

Need-to-know information....I paid my first visit to the kitten we're planning to adopt.

She is the biggest female in the litter and obviously the alpha. In fact, she hissed at me and arched her back! None of the other kittens did so.  In fact, they did the opposite and crawled all over me.  She sat back and observed — and finally warmed up to me.  On her terms.

Reminder: the definition of minx, of course.   Mr. AOW and I welcome the challenge of sharing space with another alpha cat. 

Our beloved Cameo was an alpha cat from day one until her last moment.

Goodbye, Mysti (June 20, 1999-October 9, 2017)

Mysti in her prime

Mr. AOW and I will miss our beloved Mysti, whose mother disappeared when the litter was one day old. All the kittens in the litter were found by an animal rescue group and had to be bottle fed.

But Mysti's rough start didn't end there.  A few days after she arrived here as a young kitten in September 1997, she had a terrible case of coccidiosis, which stunted her growh and left her with digestive difficulties.  Several veterinarians didn't expect her to live past the age of ten.  Mysti had other plans and fooled us all!

Until aging interfered, Mysti, a dilute tortie, was our mighty huntress. She was probably proudest of one particular accomplishment: catching and killing a juvenile black rat snake in our basement back in November 2011.  Of course, she brought her catch upstairs to display what she had snagged.

Mysti had been coping with chronic renal failure for over two years and, although frail, was holding her own until the last few days, when she started refusing food.  She even refused tuna!  It wasn't the kidney disease that sealed Mysti's fate, however — it was oral cancer, the same affliction that stole our beloved Cameo from us on Easter Sunday 2017, less than six months ago.

Mr. AOW and I consulted the veterinarian today and decided to do the kind thing — the last thing that we could do for Mysti.

Mysti as a senior citizen (March 17, 2016)

Mysti on my teacup pillowcase, January 27, 2016

Two photos from 1997, when Mysti was a kitten...

Click directly on the photos to enlarge them:

Goodbye, Cameo

Cameo (July 30, 2001-April 16, 2017):

Cameo on our front porch with the azalea bush in the background.  She is gazing up at the birdhouse.

Heartbreak here. We have lost our beloved Siamese/Russian Blue to cancer.

There will never be another Cameo, our Rottweiler of a kitty. Such a spirited, domineering girl and ever relentless in her boldness! But also so very loving, on her terms, of course.

We will miss Cameo forever.

From day one, Cameo decided that the recliner was hers!

And Cameo loved to pose for the camera.

Pensive, on the back porch, June 20, 2016

Cameo on the new cat rug, March 9, 2017

Mr. AOW and I count it as a privilege to have shared space with such an intelligent and loving alpha cat with an adorable Rottweiler personality.  If only we could have had more time together!

Christmas 2012

(With thanks to Stogie, who created the above graphic)

Top Cat

This portrait of Cameo was taken on September 16, 2012. Click directly on the image to enlarge it:

Cameo was the youngest cat in the household until Amber arrived on September 13, 2012. Nonetheless, Cameo, true to her Siamese heritage, has been our alpha cat since her arrival in 2001!

Halloween Greetings From AOW's Cat Family

(With much gratitude to Stogie of Saberpoint for the graphic below)

Back row, from left to right: Cameo, alpha cat of the household and surrogate mother to the new arrival in the basket; and Mysti, still pouting a bit about the new arrival.

In the front: Amber, the sweetest of all torties, born on March 13, 2012, and still in her kittenhood.  She  tears around the house night and day as if possessed.

Best Friends

(Click directly on the photos to enlarge them)

Cameo, true to her Siamese heritage, is certainly the alpha cat in this household. Nevertheless, after several days of hissing and establishing the pecking order, Cameo has fully accepted Amber.


Cameo and Amber first began to bond by playing with the new toy. They stayed on opposite sides of the Turbo Scratcher:

A few days later, the two bonded.  I managed to take a few photos of the two best friends sleeping on the cushion behind the recliner before Cameo got sick on September 30:

Mysti, also a tortie, is very jealous of Amber. I doubt that the two of them will ever bond. In the photo below, Mysti is furious that an interloper lives here now:

Fortunately, there is not an ounce of aggression in Mysti's body!


Amber is very contented here in the AOW household and disregards Mysti's jealousy:

Amber Joins The Family

(I took the photos in this post from September 14-September 22)

Obviously, Amber is happy here:

Amber, showing off her spay scar the day after surgery:

What is Cameo thinking about?

Without any hissing or growling, Amber and Cameo interact with the latest toy, the Turbo Scratcher:

New Addition To The Family

Amber!
The pictures below were taken at Amber's foster home, where she was living in a luxury van in the cool shade of the mountains of West Virginia.

Goodbye, Dusti

Dusti, named Cinderella by the rescue group who found her in a litter of kittens in an alley in D.C., turned 15 years old on May 5. The photo, which I call "Dusti Greets the December sunrise," was taken when she was quite young.

Today, the vet found a tumor in Dusti's left kidney.  This mass (not present two weeks ago), in combination with my beloved Dusti's recent dramatic weight loss (over 2.5 pounds since March to the point of emaciation) and a decline in general health over this summer, are almost always indicative cancer.

She is the first pet that we've ever lost to cancer.

Rather than subject Dusti to torturous procedures and the inevitable metastasis that rapidly follows no matter what, Mr. AOW and I opted for euthanasia, which the home-care vet did here in our living room.

Dusti will be cremated today, and the ashes returned to us.

I will miss Dusti so much!  I will miss her trademark chirps and trademark tuck-and-rolls. Also, she was the only cat I ever had to talk with her tail.  And I do mean talk!  That tail of hers was so expressive.

Goodbye, Sheba

[Click on each photo for a larger image]
July 15, 1988 - December 1, 2008

We had our Christmas 2007 miracle and many more months of good quality of life, thanks to our home-care vet, truly an animal talker. But advanced age took its inevitable toll, and yesterday came the dreaded time for all pet lovers — the time to say goodbye.



Recent pictures of Sheba....
In June 2008:


In August 2008:

Our Cats

Cameo, so named because of the white spot at her neckline, will turn 6 at the end of July and is our youngest cat. She's 3/4 Russian Blue and 1/4 Siamese. As the dominant kitty, she's the boss around here! The following picture was taken on our front porch:



Dusti, named Cinderella by the rescue group who found her in a litter of kittens in an alley in D.C., turned 10 years old on May 5. The following picture, which I call "Dusti Greets the December sunrise," was taken when she was quite young:



Mysti, nicknamed "The Mystery Triller" because of the sounds she makes, was born in a Maryland barn of a feral mother who disappeared after one day, thus leading to Mysti's having to be bottle fed until she was 8 weeks old. She had a rough start because right after we adopted her, she suffered from a nearly fatal attack of coccidiosis and to this day has a very delicate stomach and a slight build. She turned 8 years old on June 18 :



My husband found Sheba in an alley when she was kitten. We thought she'd become a shed cat, but she turned out never to want to be on her own again. Today, she is quite senile and spends most of her time on her mat by my husband's recliner. She'll turn 19 years old on July 15. Click directly on the image to enlarge it: