Daily Photo: A Little Bromance?
This is Hamlet and Basil, just quietly settled together near the open basement door, spattered with morning sun. The two long-haired boy cats, the two formerly feral foster cats literally mirroring each other in a sweet quiet moment of brotherly togetherness. Hamlet has been openly friendly with all the other cats, greeting them and sitting near them, but he and Basil have a special fondness for each other. Perhaps they see more than a little of themselves in each other.
It totally warms my heart to see one foster teaching another that living with humans is a good thing.
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What other photos have I posted on or around this date?
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Daily Photo Reprise: The Wanderer, 2014
It’s hard to believe it’s been this long, but Kennedy has been here a little over a month. He hasn’t shown signs of carrying in any contagious viral illnesses and passed his FeLV/FIV test when he was rescued; if he’d encountered these in the days before he came here his health is compromised enough that we might be seeing the effects in new symptoms. He recovered surprisingly quickly from the seizures, rehydrating and regaining his appetite. He’ll be going to the vet again this coming week for a check up, and I’ve been a little concerned about his appetite, not quite as robust as it had been, but he is otherwise stable. Dr. Michelle stopped by to help that with a little acupuncture.
But today I had the bathroom door open with the baby gate in place, and Kennedy actually meowed for me to come upstairs, and then he looked so forlorn that I decided it was time he got a little exercise. I blocked off my bedroom, which is a maze of boxes around and under the bed, and the landing so he couldn’t get to the stairs, but he was free to come into my studio.
Which he immediately did. He had absolutely no hesitation at walking out the door of his room, trying to get into my bedroom, then turning to walk into the studio and giving it a thorough inspection.
He is very stiff and Dr. Michelle and I had discussed some possible levels of badly-healed injuries. His spine is pretty inflexible, which is why he walks in so many circles in the bathroom—he really can’t even turn his head very easily, let alone bend his spine in any direction. Along with the cataracted eye, which can be the result of an injury, his front legs are pretty stiff and oddly placed. His left leg is clearly bent a bit, and sometimes it looks as if he is walking on just his toes and his claws stick out at odd angles. His hips have the most stiffness and his hind legs don’t seem to have much muscle. He really can’t do more than walk forward, though he can step into the litterbox. He can’t jump over a baby gate, though (except he did later in his stay here).
But he can poke into every corner of my studio and walk around behind everything. And he can face off with his fur brothers. He’s been dying to meet them face to face!
It’s hard enough to balance on all four legs, but he can balance on three for a few seconds so he can poke Giuseppe, as poking seems to be his favorite activity whether it’s through the baby gate or face to face. No matter that he’s blind in one eye, stiff, underweight and with an end-of-life condition, he was glad to accept my studio as part of his territory and defend it against all intruders. He even followed them around the room.
At the top, he sits near the door as Jelly Bean wants to come in and Giuseppe wants to go out. Neither of them had any interest until Kenendy was in there. They are transfixed by his stare. More pokes ensued.
Mr. Sunshine isn’t so easily intimidated, and he can be a little aggressive. I was concerned he might give Kennedy more of a shove than he was ready for, especially after a poke, which no one does to Mr. Sunshine unless they are ready to rumble, but he kept his cool. As he tried to walk around Kennedy to leave the two got into a little spiral, but everything turned out well, Kennedy poked everyone, but there wasn’t even a growl, and only one hiss, from Bean of all cats because the whole thing made him nervous.
“What are you doing in my room?!”
Though this photo is really bad, everyone’s reactions when Kennedy discovered the three boys had invaded his inner sanctum was too funny! Giuseppe is actually in the corner in Kennedy’s bed while Mr. Sunshine is trying to just get past him—he ended up leaping over him. Bean got out just in time and hopped over the baby gate and that’s who Kennedy is staring at. Three brave boys just trying to get out of trouble!
Kennedy sits in the studio doorway daring any cat to walk by. Kennedy doesn’t sit still, so I didn’t get as many clear photos as I wanted, and even when he had the studio all to himself he kept finding new places to sit, like behind my chair, not letting anyone near me. Cats!
He lasted about 15 minutes. He’d wandered in and out of the bathroom too, and at one point he wandered in and didn’t come back out. I peeked in to see him standing in his bed. I guess he was pretty exhausted after all that. He had a great nap, and probably great dreams too, where he was totally brave and totally a hero. I’m glad I had the chance to let him mingle a little.
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item. Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter. © 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski Weekly schedule of features: Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters Tuesday: Rescue Stories Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork Thursday: New Merchandise Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
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© 2016 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
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Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
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PORTRAITS OF ANIMALS WEBSITE
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | GOOGLE+ | EMAIL
Those two look pretty comfy together 🙂
We like all the pics today.
Purrs Georgia and Julie,
Treasure and JJ