Daily Photo: Family Portrait After the Vet Visit, and Halloween Night
Mimi’s veterinary exam. It’s a family affair.
Mimi is well. She has no symptoms of her urinary condition now and for the past two days has been back to herself, though it took nine days of treating symptoms to get her comfortable and it’s been two weeks since I first saw the symptoms. A physical exam of her bladder shows no signs of lumps, bumps, thickening or stones, so I will watch for another recurrence and try to get an ultrasound right away. Otherwise Mimi is in perfect health at 15 years old and has actually gained 2/10 pound since her last exam—she weighs 6.4 pounds.
I am happy to have a house call veterinarian so kitties don’t have the stress of transport and the issues that can arise on return. Plus, she gives them an incredible hands-on physical and is the best diagnostician I’ve ever met, handling I-don’t-know-how-many-cats over 25 years of rescuing and fostering. And she and her tech (seen in the background packing up the bag) find it highly ironic that they have to remove cats from the exam area rather than having them all disappear when the vet comes in the door.
A bunch of regretful faces as my vet and her tech leave. No more extra pets! The boys miss it especially.
Halloween Night
All of the cats came to peek out the door at our visitors but black cats are difficult to photograph against a dark indoors at night. I don’t open and close the door, but stand outdoors on the porch and they watch me while the neighbors and the kids say hello to the kitties. The basket of candy is my spare basket for when the one I have runs out.
Mimi and Giuseppe greet guests for Halloween. Lots of kids and parents remember them!
Giuseppe would really like them to come inside and pet him.
Mimi says it looks like we’re about done and we can eat dinner now.
And a bonus, my neighbor’s “kitty”! A big inflatable pouncing black cat whose head moves back and forth. If my neighbors start disappearing we’ll know where they went.
~~~
Other Photos I’ve Shared around This Date
Wordless Wednesday: Don’t Diss Your Sis
Other Photos I’ve Shared around This Date
Daily Photo: The Screen Door
Just before I changed the screens for the windows in the storm doors the weather was mild enough to have the doors open as I swept up leaves and moved some of the furniture off the porch, and Smokie and Bella had the chance to see me right outside the door for the first time. They’ve sat at this door for the past month, but usually I am on the inside, and at first they couldn’t understand why I was out there, and why they couldn’t get to me, especially when I was making all those neat swishing noises with the broom!
Bean apparently told Smokie all about these things, then left him alone to get Bella.
Mimi has been mentoring little Bella in the art of being a proper little black cat.
Sorry for the poor photos. Photographing black cats through a screen against a dark interior is kind of pointless!
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Soupervisors, 2012
They were certain the potion to which I was paying so much attention was a delectable treat for them, even though I was adding…carrots, peppers, little beans?
But they patiently lined up and waited, and were sadly disappointed when it was finally done, and we all enjoyed a nice warm noontime in the kitchen. From the front, Mimi, Mr. Sunshine, Giuseppe and Mewsette.
. . . . . . .
Kelly Has Plans, 2011
I know Kelly’s never been thrilled with having to accept four young and active black cats all at the same time, but this really surprised me—was she planning to hit the road? I guess she really wore herself out trying to move my mother’s old train case. I asked her what she had in mind but she just purred and rubbed her little face all over my hand. She didn’t seem to have any recollection of how she ended up on the train case on the steps. Hmmm, perhaps I’m reading too much into this and she just did her usual napping on anything new in the house.
Kelly has always been one who sleeps in a tight ball, but as she’s grown older she’s added a deeper level of sleep to her regimen and I often see her sleeping draped off of something, and she’ll even slide off if I don’t catch her in time. Here are a few other images of Kelly precariously balanced or her long legs and tail dangling off something:
Wordless Wednesday: Totally Relaxed
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The Perfect Container, 2011
Actually, it took some effort to stuff his butt into the basket, sit down and look natural. I had been sorting greeting cards and envelopes for an order using the basket, but in the end it’s all about Giuseppe.
I think he’s been vigilant when I start packing things because, soon, he knows we’ll send a package to Mlle Daisy Marguerite with a special letter and a few trinkets which he has chosen, and he’s afraid he’ll miss the action. As if I’d pack it up and send it off without him!
In fact, as my operatically melodramatic Giuseppe tends to wring his little paws and wander around talking about things, he occasionally develops one white whisker, usually on the right side of his face. When he was young he developed two, one on each side, but most of the time through the years he has been a clean, youthful black. I think despite all of Mlle’s protestations, he’s been concerned about their long-distance relationship, the move to the city, and that little twit named Cream Cheese or Butter or—was it Yogurt? Who ever heard of a cat named Yogurt? Something must be done.
. . . . . . .
Tuxedo Kitty, 2010
“Don’t come any closer,” he warns.
Some time in early summer as I’d been driving around my neighborhood at night I encountered a tuxedo cat who was persistently chasing a mouse down the middle of the street. If I hadn’t gotten a glimpse of movement at an angle as I turned the corner, I might have run them both over, though the mouse was more concerned with the cat and the cat was apparently accustomed to dodging traffic.
I’ve been seeing this cat through the summer, and while he’s too clean to be a cat who lives exclusively outdoors, I’m convinced he spends a good bit of time under this porch. The porch is outfitted with a skirt made of outdoor carpeting, easy for him to push aside and disappear underneath. Perhaps we have another corollary to “basement cat”, which would be “under-porch-dwelling cat”. I remember a few cats growing up who dwelled under neighbor’s porches, and they were as fierce as lions though I wanted them to be nice sweet kitties I could pick up and hug.
I hope everyone else keeps an eye out for him!
PS: I think this kitty has finally moved inside. I’m pretty sure he was a stray who someone started feeding under the porch and finally won him over.
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