Sweet Kitties

Originally in my life I was a cat fanatic. I was terrified of dogs ... though I don't really know why since I only had a few 'incidents' with scary dogs. But they freaked me out.

My first cat was apparently brought in the house against my father's wishes. My mom says that he came home one night and tossed a little kitten on the table. Ha! Sounds like something hubby would do now. But of course it made us kids happy.

I remember when my kitty was under the deck and she wouldn't move. We think she got hit by a car but I was just a little girl (6 or 7) and kept trying to get her to eat. I'd bring her cat food and take it to her mouth. I even tried to feed her slugs! (What is it with me and slugs?!) She went to kitty heaven but I'm sure we got another one...unfortunately I don't remember much from that time in my life because it was right when my dad was really sick and dying.

After his death we moved from Port Angeles to Tumwater. One night when I was around 12 my mom came home from the grocery store and had a surprise for us. A kitten! I named him Izzy and he was my cat. He is still alive today! Which makes him nearly 18 years old. But he is going strong. My mom doesn't really keep him as a pet anymore - he's more like the neighborhood Tom Cat. He's been in lots of scraps as evidenced by his nose scars, but he has obviously won! lol And every time I come home he knows and recognizes me.

We had other cats (two others actually) when I lived at home but both of them died early. One in our driveway and my mom told us that she thought the other one must have gone somewhere to die because we never found him.

When I moved out on my own at the age of 18 I went to the pound and fell in love with a tiny little black kitten. They *said* that she was at least 8 weeks old...yeah not so much. I took her home and named her Jazmyn. She still needed to be bottle fed! Even today when she's really happy she will suckle on soft blankets while kneading her paws. It's so cute.


She doesn't get to come in the house very much anymore, but the other day the doggies were at the groomers and I let the kitties in to visit and lounge. They were in heaven. I miss having them in the house but their lives really do depend on staying in the garage.

Jazmyn was an only kitty for at least a year when I brought home the invader - Mischief. Another pound kitty. I have a hard time going to the pound and not wanting to bring home all the animals. Mischief was such a cute kitten and is still a gorgeous young man. Of course Jazmyn hates him...and anytime I'm actually in the room they fight like crazy. They seem to do okay together in the garage though...I rarely hearing hissing. :)

Michief is SUCH a cuddler. He's like a little blanket. I miss taking a nap on the couch with him on my stomach or cuddled in the crook of my knees. And I know that he craves more human attention. When he came in the house the other Saturday he jumped up on my lap just like old times and watched me on the laptop.

And of course guarded my laptop when I got up.


While both kitties are currently stuck in the garage, their story does have a happy ending! My mother in law is moving down to be closer to us and is getting her own little apartment. And as soon as she's all moved in and put together the kitties will be moving in with her!

I will miss them but the reality is that we are now a dog house and the cats ARE in danger whenever Trooper sees them. He goes into full predator mode and will not listen to me nearly as well as he needs to listen to the alpha. I can get his attention but never fully. And we already had one near eaten incident with Trooper and Jazmyn. It takes less than 5 seconds for him to kill - trust me, I've seen him grab a bird out of the air and snap it's neck in that time. For such a big guy he sure can move fast.

We try to keep them comfortable in the garage. It's a two car garage and we put a heater out there. Hubby put a bunch of blankets and pillows to make them a large bed and they have several 'real' kitty beds. As well as a cat tree, which will go to the dump after they move because it is trashed. We'll get MIL a new one for the kitties.

I am going to miss them but at least they'll only be 5 minutes away. And my MIL is really looking forward to having them. She is staying with us right now and has been going out to the garage to visit and pet them. They love the attention! And I know they will be so happy to be the king and queen of a new castle.