Tuesday, March 19, 2024
black catscat photographsDaily Featuredaily photoFantastic FourFour Housecats of the Apocalypsegiuseppejelly beanmewsettemimimimi's childrenmr. sunshineSunday

Happy 14th and 18th Purrs Days!

five cats
Happy Purrs Day!!!

Happy Purrs Day to The Four Housecats of the Apocalypse and their mom! It’s hard to believe it’s been (almost) 14 years since this most amazing family came to me. Each of you is a unique, intelligent, compassionate and congenial being, dedicated companions to each other, a comfort and inspiration to me, a gentle paw of welcome to visitors, and mentors to many kittens who learned to be socialized cats and adult cats who needed reassurance and friendship. I hope we’ve done your daughter and half sister Lucy proud by carrying on her light and memory all these years; if it hadn’t been for her, I never would have known you.

I say “almost” 14 years because they actually came to live with me on July 29 when the kids were three days old. Back when I thought they’d all be adopted but Mimi, I set her birthday as the day she was rescued, as many of us do with adult rescued cats. But her life with them, at least outside her body, began that day, we all celebrate together anyway, and the majority prevails, so this year and from now on, all five birthdays are July 26.

Aside from the fact that they really want their breakfast, I think they’re a little miffed that they can’t get a good group shot without a photobomber somewhere in the photo, if you noticed the sixth, tortie, cat face in the background.

Scroll down to ready other birthday posts through the years.

Daily Photo: Happy 17th Birthday, Mimi!

black cat on steps
Mimi has something to say.

“So what’s this you’re telling everyone about me being a ‘senior cat’? I’m only 17 years old! I can take these steps faster than you!”

Happy official birthday, Mimi. You have always been as sweet as pie, but I love you when you’re sassy and tell me off. I hope you’ll still be correcting me for many years to come.

I don’t have actual pictures or records, but when I look back through the cats and kittens I worked with from the house where Mimi came from, and how many litters she had, she was four years old when she came here in 2007.

For the record, her birthday is July 29, but I couldn’t stay awake last night to post her photo. Bad human!

~~~

Happy 13th Birthday!

four black cats
Four teenagers.

Birthday, Shmirthday, just give us breakfast!

How you celebrate your 13th birthday when you’re finally a teenager. Giuseppe, official spokescat for The Four Housecats of the Apocalypse, Mr. Sunshine the enforcer, Jelly Bean letting his brothers do the work, and Mewsette paying no attention, pretty much the balance of power from day 3, when they arrived here. For a litter of kittens who would never have been born if I had had my way, you’ve only made my life better and I celebrate you every day.

Their birthday was, of course, yesterday—Sunday, July 26. Between the heat, my insistence on yard work, home repairs and car things, I can’t seem to be a good blogger lately. Even yesterday, I couldn’t sit down at the computer to post. Hopefully soon I’ll “land” and get back to all the article ideas I have on my list.

Below is the photo I wanted to use, but it was so blurry I couldn’t even touch it up! So, really, the “unhappy birthday” picture was my own fault. (Can you hear the chorus of felines meowing, “And you call yourself a cat photographer?!” Well, I have it so dark in here for the heat that photographing a clowder of black cats is more difficult than usual.

four black cats
The blurry version.

And you can’t forget the little mom cat!

So where was Mimi 13 years ago today? Laboring somewhere giving birth to four special little beans. It’s their birthday, but without their mom there would be no Four Housecats! I took this photo three days later, when Mimi and the kids joined us here. They were her 6th litter, and her last. She was four years old.

black cat
Mimi nursing on her first night.

Of course, Mimi’s actual birthday is July 29, the day all of them arrived here, so hopefully on Wednesday I’ll have the presence of mind to recognize her.

Below, birthdays past, and a little more about Mimi’s role.

~~~

Happy 12th and 16th Birthdays!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful family of felines! Mimi is 16 and the kids are 12.

To the ones who healed my heart after five big losses, and the four felines I had left as seniors began to frighten me with their imminent loss.

For listening to your elders and learning all they had to teach about creating one big family in the household, about fostering new kitties whatever age or condition they were, about greeting humans at the door so that all felt welcome and loved.

For loving each of them as they lived, for keeping watch as they faltered, for standing by them as they passed so they would never be alone.

For nurturing bottle babies, welcoming former moms, teaching former feral kittens and cats that life with humans was the best thing ever, for giving your youthful energy to our hospice fosters and our senior fosters and making them, for however long they had, beloved members of our family forever.

I love you all.

Even though you wouldn’t pose for your birthday photo this morning!

~~~

Well, birthday, sort of…Giuseppe, Sunshine, Bean and Mewsette were actually born on July 26, I don’t know when Mimi was born, but the all came to join our household on July 29, 2007. I do give them all a special treat on their birthday—including Mimi, because they wouldn’t exist without her—the day most special to me and my girl Mimi is July 29, the day Mimi joined our family here, and stayed.

Mimi's first photo, on the drawing table with Lucy's rainbows.
Mimi’s first photo, on the drawing table with Lucy’s rainbows.

“I felt that other daughter around and looked for her and so did my new mom, but I knew then she was in the rainbows that flowed across the walls and floor from the crystal in the window, spinning slowly for no apparent reason.

“Life is truly magical.”

Happy Homecoming Day, Mimi, to you and your babies.

The rainbows did and still do swirl around the room from that crystal hanging in the window of my studio, but on that hot, still day there was only one reason for it to be moving from the moment I entered the room with Mimi and the kittens in the box, and closed the door, except that Lucy was in the room and joined her spirit with her mother and half siblings.

It’s also the only crystal I haven’t had to remove because it became a toy for four black kittens; this faceted solid crystal ball a little over 1″ in diameter, hangs where it always did, twirling and sometimes swinging in the breeze in my studio window, every day the rainbows spill across the room, yet I’ve never seen a curious and playful paw reach for it.

And for birthdays past…

~~~

Happy 11th Birthday!

Happy 11th Birthday!
Happy 11th Birthday!

This was the best photo I could get of them on their birthday morning, but they just wanted their breakfast. So I gave them a little more time to try again, but they just wanted their naps. So they are off the hook for this year, unless they do something particularly cute all together later today.

Below is a photo I took just last week of all four of them piled up on that cute little brass kitty day bed which is much prettier. It still never ceases to amaze me that they continue sleeping in a heap, all four of them, and are as close as they were when they were toddling around the bathroom trying to figure out what life was about and how to ambush each other. Mimi can’t even find a place in there.

Piled up on the kitty day bed.
Piled up on the kitty day bed.

Thanks for 11 years of unconditional love and inspiration. I hope I’ve done as well by you. July 26 is their actual birthday, while July 29 is the day they came here. Mimi celebrates her birthday on that day, the day she changed her status, and she will turn 15. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed.

Below are birthday celebrations from previous years.

~~~

Happy 10th Birthday!

Happy 10th Birthday
Happy 10th Birthday

They were having none of photo opps this morning for their 10th birthday breakfast photo, so I fed them breakfast and then made up a little something special.

Happy 10th birthday to the four best cats in the whole world!
Happy 10th birthday to the four best cats in the whole world!

I can’t believe they are ten years old. Not so far underneath everyday life I’ve expected some catastrophe with one or all of them. But they’ve gone on each day to be healthy as rocks, their own sweet selves, loving each other and their mom and all the fosters and everyone who visits here, and inspiring me to new and better creative things.

Let’s hear it for ten more years! We’ll celebrate more on July 29, the day Mimi came here with them.

Plus, you get to see greetings from all the other birthdays for the previous nine years.

~~~

Happy 9th Birthday!

 

Breakfast on the big day!
Breakfast on the big day!

Happy 9th Birthday! It’s very hot here so we did not get together for a birthday photo today. I did photograph everyone in groups, but I love the group photos for birthdays. I’m sharing my favorite birthday photo, from their fifth birthday, above. Mimi is, of course, the princess! You have to go and see the rest of the photos from that day, and read about the Fifth Birthday Party!

. . . . . . .

Happy 8th Birthday!

Happy eighth birthday everyone!
Happy eighth birthday everyone!

It’s a big day in our house! Guess whose birthday it is? I can’t believe it’s been 8 years. They didn’t actually arrive at my house with their mama Mimi until July 29, which is an even bigger day for us, but today we celebrate their arrival in the world and the birth of Mimi’s last litter! But everyone just wanted their breakfast this morning so no big smiles, and now they are really tired of me playing with my phone. We are going to have treats because why not? Happy birthday Mr. Sunshine, Giuseppe, Jelly Bean and Mewsette, Mimi your children are as sweet as you, and thank you Lucy in memory for guiding them all to me.

Read the rest about what they did on their 8th Birthday!

. . . . . . .

Happy 7th Birthday!

five black cats on table
Happy 7th Birthday to the Four, and purrs for their mama, Mimi!

HAPPY SEVENTH BIRTHDAY to Giuseppe, Mr. Sunshine, Mewsette and Jelly Bean!

They are enjoying a scattering of treats on the table—before breakfast! I have plenty of group photos of them on other days, but I always like to get a group photo on THE day, something different each year, and though all my attempts were a little blurry I thought I’d play around with this one and I think it’s pretty festive. I had wanted something colorful and actually looked for multi-colored treats and considered dying some with food coloring for this, but a little Photoshop magic did the trick. Counterclockwise from the left it’s Mr. Sunshine, Giuseppe, Mimi, Mewsette and Jelly Bean. Read more about their 7th Birthday!

. . . . . . .

Happy 6th Birthday!

four black cats
The Fantastic Four waiting for breakfast on their sixth birthday.

I am so excited to wish a Happy Sixth Birthday to four of the biggest inspirations in my life—and a real “Happy Mother’s Day” to their Mama Mimi—although this morning they were over that and were ready for their breakfast. Today we remember those times years ago and all the cats we’ve known and all the things we’ve learned and done, and get ready for another year. Happy Sixth Birthday to The Fantastic Four!

. . . . . . .

Happy 5th Birthday!

Breakfast on the big day!
Breakfast on the big day!

We had a little party on their 5th birthday. You have to go and see the rest of the photos from that day, and read about the Fifth Birthday Party!

. . . . . . .

Happy 4th Birthday!

The Big Four at Four.
The Big Four at Four.

The Fantastic Four started out the day with a Fantastic Breakfast—here it’s just their favorite dry food in bowls because I knew I could get them to pose for a photo like this. This was just for starters, followed by fresh salmon, wherein they were not nearly as organized, nor could I take photos!

This was kind of staged—they don’t normally eat up there, and they don’t normally eat dry food, but just to get a shot of them all lined up I used bowls of their favorite grain-free dry that I know they all like and, heavens, forced them to eat it! Right. They were lined up as soon as the bowls came out, and if I could only have recorded the purring along with the image…Read The Big Four at Four and The Big Day.

. . . . . . .

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Third Birthday Nap
Third Birthday Nap

Happy Birthday to us!
Mom is making a fuss
With salmon and catnip!
Happy Birthday to us!

Woo-whee, We’re Three!

. . . . . . .

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Two years old!
Two years old!

On the day of their second birthday, July 26, 2009, I was just beginning to blog, but we were still grieving Namir and I forgot all about it, but here’s a photo from right around that date that you may recognize from a number of posts—and probably something they did on their birthday for real!

. . . . . . .

Happy 1st Birthday!

five black cats
The Four at one year old with mama Mimi!

This was 2008, before blogging, but when I had at least started documenting birthdays. Look how small they are!


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14 thoughts on “Happy 14th and 18th Purrs Days!

    • Today we are very hot, but the human has been in over her head with vendor events and other work and totally misses blogging. She likes to show us off on Instagram and sometimes FB too.

      Reply
    • They had a great time, and friends even brought them more treats during my open house!

      Reply
  • Happy Birthday Mimi, Giuseppe, Mr. Sunshine, Mewsette, and Jelly Bean!
    Hope you all score some tuna treats in honor of your human being honored to have you living with her, while being her muses, foster cat carers, and visitor welcome committee.

    Reply
    • I had good sales at the Farmer’s Market on Sunday, so they had a real celebration dinner on Sunday night!

      Reply
  • Happy Birthday to the coolest black cat family I now!!!!
    They are all sooooooo sweet!!
    Purrs, Julie and the mum

    Reply
    • We had a great day, and the human has to agree with you!

      Reply
  • 15andmeowing

    Happy Birthday to all these cuties! XO

    Reply
  • Happiest Birthday most beautiful ones!

    Reply
  • guyz !!!!! de best oh fishez and pizza piez and friez and cakez two each oh ewe; may yur day bee total lee awesum lee soooper grate, N joy, cauz trubull, have fun and heerz two a yeer a head filled with happeez and healtheez ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ & ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 😉

    Reply

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