Tuesday, March 31, 2015

A to Z Starts Tomorrow!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin
I've decided for the first time to add two blogs to the A to Z blogging challenge! In preparation, I'm adding widgets to my blog, and Bloglovin' is just one of them. Here is the schedule for the next month:

Friday, March 27, 2015

An Introduction to the "Kids!"

I haven't had time lately, but I wanted to introduce my "kids." I have one main kitty that I officially adopted, and then the six kittens she had right before I had decided to adopt her. Here I was trying to save her life, unable to feed her enough. Then I realized that she was feeding and nursing six kittens, which she had moved into my side yard!

My original plan had been to tame them enough that they would be adoptable, but instead I fell in love with them. Luckily, I have a very large yard, and we live in the high desert. This means that there are no fleas, and very few parasites. We have coyotes, but our fence keeps them out.
We also have the benefit of having neighbors behind us who love the cats, and they also have a huge yard with a very good fence. So, when we had our fence improved even more, we had them build a kitty door so they could get into the other yard.

Now, they have a very large area where they can fully be cats, but be relatively safe as well. I say relatively because one of the cats has a knack for climbing into precarious spots and injuring himself. Luckily, he has never injured himself severely, and I have found that he is better at nursing himself back to health than the vet is.

All the kitties have been fixed, and I always get a full exam, fecal analysis and blood panel at least once a year. They are always clean and clear of all problems. In future posts, I'll list all the awesome tips and tricks I've learned, as well as the best products I've found (I've tested quite a few).

Anyway, here they are!


Miss Kitty, the queen, and mama of the house
Miss Kitty is the mama, and she owns me, the house, the yard, and the neighborhood. She often climbs up on the lookout and surveys her domain. Even if she can't go out and travel her entire domain, she knows it's hers.

Mama's boy Booty
Booty (he has knee-high white "boots" on his back legs, and little white "shoes" on his front feet) is truly a mama's boy. He's most happy when he can spend all his sleep-time cuddling with his mama. He also loves to be petted, cuddled and scratched by humans, but he's not a big fan of being held. Surprisingly, he is also the boy who gets himself in the most trouble.

Tippy, the handsome boy

Tippy (he has a little white tip at the end of his tail) is quite a striking and handsome young boy. He's also the most laid-back of all the kitties. He has a slinky way of walking, and loves to be held... for a few minutes. Then he goes back to slinking around.

Bob

Bob is a weird one. He really gets on the nerves of his family members, but he loves humans. In fact, he seems to love humans more than he loves other cats. He would be happy just sitting in someone's lap all day.

Cheetah, the exotic cutie
Cheetah is the fastest long-distance runner. She takes long tall leaps as she runs, appearing to fly through the air. She's amazing. She's also so adorable that I just want to give her kisses and cuddles, but, as with the other females, she's not a big fan of being held. She prefers petting and scratching without being held.

Gracie, the iridescent sweety
Gracie has these amazing highlights around her feet that make her appear to be haloed. When she walks in the sunlight, her fur is iridescent and almost sparkly. She's extremely sweet when she likes you. She'll look up at you with the sweetest appreciative face when you pet her. But if she doesn't like you, she'll probably gouge your eyes out.

She's also the most clever of all the kitties. She just looks at something for two seconds and has it all figured out. She's always the first to know how to use a new toy, but, unfortunately, she's also clever at finding ways to hide really well. I still haven't figured out some of her hiding places, but she usually only hides when Bob is annoying her.

Teensy, the formerly feral
Teensy is the only kitty I've never been able to fully tame. I can only pet her and get my hands on her when she's sitting in certain places. When she's out in the open, forget it. She loves her family members, however, and is the only other kitty besides Tippy who gets along well with Bob. She's also the only kitty who can chase Bob off!