A question for fellow cat owners and cat lovers on this iste........

Steven VanderMolen said:
What cuties, Frank! Thanks for their pics.
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Your Cooper reminds me of my beloved kitty, Pepe, who unfortunately had to be put to sleep at the age of just seven years because of being severely ill. This occurred over ten and half years ago, but it still saddens me greatly. I was there with him when he breathed his last breath. I mourned his passing for a good couple weeks. He was my buddy, my best friend for a little over four years. I'll never forget the little guy. RIP, my dear little Pepe.
 
Steven VanderMolen said:
Your Cooper reminds me of my beloved kitty, Pepe, who unfortunately had to be put to sleep at the age of just seven years because of being severely ill. This occurred over ten and half years ago, but it still saddens me greatly. I was there with him when he breathed his last breath. I mourned his passing for a good couple weeks. He was my buddy, my best friend for a little over four years. I'll never forget the little guy. RIP, my dear little Pepe.
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The ones we lose are always in our hearts, aren't they? https://thedogman.net/a-cats-last-will-and-testament/807
 
Steven VanderMolen said:
And I don't know if I've asked you this before, what grade level and subjects did you teach? Good teachers are EXTREMELY hard to find these days, especially among the college ranks.
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Junior High/Middle School and High School Special Ed the last 20 years.....so I taught quite the "variety" of subjects;) My college profs were great...but I was in a smallish specialized program that was part of a pretty big department at the time....I was incredibly lucky...
 
TOP said:
Junior High/Middle School and High School Special Ed the last 20 years.....so I taught quite the "variety" of subjects;) My college profs were great...but I was in a smallish specialized program that was part of a pretty big department at the time....I was incredibly lucky...
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Thanks for your reply, TOP. I have a special admiration for those who teach, or have taught Special Ed students. I befriended a Special Ed student in high school. He was a nice kid, but shunned by the "normal" kids because he was different. I worked six years in group homes for mentally and physically challenged adults. It was often hard work and didn't pay a whole lot, but these wonderful individuals taught ME things about life I'll never forget.
 
Steven VanderMolen said:
I read the link you provided. Powerful stuff, it brought tears to my eyes. But GOOD tears, of the nice memories I have of beloved pets that have passed.
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I love that link...there's the doggie version as well...we share it quite often in our rescue efforts....and hope people will take the words into consideration...and give another pet a much deserved chance...and a loving home.... You might not change the world when you foster, rescue, or adopt...but you'll definitely change a life;)
 
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:laugh:
 
Steven VanderMolen said:
Thanks for your reply, TOP. I have a special admiration for those who teach, or taught Special Ed students. I befriended a Special Ed student in high school. He was a nice kid, but shunned by the "normal" kids because he was different. I worked six years in group homes for mentally and physically challenged adults. It was often hard work and didn't pay a whole lot, but these wonderful individuals taught ME things about life I'll never forget.
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It's truly rewarding, isn't it? We worked very hard to make sure our classes weren't "shunned"...coaching (for one thing) helped out with that in a big way;) I loved my job and try to stay as connected as possible with the school/programs...and my "kids"...
 
Steven VanderMolen said:
Your Cooper reminds me of my beloved kitty, Pepe, who unfortunately had to be put to sleep at the age of just seven years because of being severely ill. This occurred over ten and half years ago, but it still saddens me greatly. I was there with him when he breathed his last breath. I mourned his passing for a good couple weeks. He was my buddy, my best friend for a little over four years. I'll never forget the little guy. RIP, my dear little Pepe.
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Truly sorry for your loss. We've had feline buddies for 40 years now, and when the end comes for one of them my heart breaks.

Cooper is an unusual story. He was a cat that just showed up in our backyard one day and made it obvious he had come to find a forever home. He spent most of his time on the deck or immediately alongside. So…I fed him, knowing full well that he probably was never going to leave after that. I noticed the notched ear, so he obviously had been a catch and release after neutering. But he almost certainly was not feral, because he had no problem coming right up close to either Nancy or me.

After several months, and as the cold weather started to move in we figured he really had to have some shelter. We were reluctant to move him into the house with our other two cats…so we built him a shelter (we called it a condo) and outfitted it with a cat warming pad.

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As the winter droned on…he was allowed inside in our back room to eat…and then he would go back outside to his condo’s warmth.

We decided to take him to the vet for shots…and did. Found out he has feline HIV…so we were not inclined to integrate him with our other two. But, he is the most wonderful cat imaginable, and at some point we decided to give it a shot. And things have worked out…okay. He and Cabot get along great, but not so great with Nappy. They don’t fight…which is the major thing. Don’t want bites spreading anything. He is now a happy member of the family, but envied by the other two who get no outside time…and wonder why he does.
 
Frank Apisa said:
Truly sorry for your loss. We've had feline buddies for 40 years now, and when the end comes for one of them my heart breaks.

Cooper is an unusual story. He was a cat that just showed up in our backyard one day and made it obvious he had come to find a forever home. He spent most of his time on the deck or immediately alongside. So…I fed him, knowing full well that he probably was never going to leave after that. I noticed the notched ear, so he obviously had been a catch and release after neutering. But he almost certainly was not feral, because he had no problem coming right up close to either Nancy or me.

After several months, and as the cold weather started to move in we figured he really had to have some shelter. We were reluctant to move him into the house with our other two cats…so we built him a shelter (we called it a condo) and outfitted it with a cat warming pad.

View attachment 15618

As the winter droned on…he was allowed inside in our back room to eat…and then he would go back outside to his condo’s warmth.

We decided to take him to the vet for shots…and did. Found out he has feline HIV…so we were not inclined to integrate him with our other two. But, he is the most wonderful cat imaginable, and at some point we decided to give it a shot. And things have worked out…okay. He and Cabot get along great, but not so great with Nappy. They don’t fight…which is the major thing. Don’t want bites spreading anything. He is now a happy member of the family, but envied by the other two who get no outside time…and wonder why he does.
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Thanks for your kind words and your wonderfully detailed info on Cooper. My beloved Pepe was also a stray. He showed up at my dad's girlfriend's place one day. She could tell immediately he wasn't feral. She couldn't take him in because she already had two cats. So my dad (Whom I was living with at the time.) and I took him in. He was incredibly affectionate from the start. I sure do miss the little guy. But we have two cats in our household now that my sister and I absolutely adore. Yes, we DO spoil them, but we don't mind because they give us so much love and affection in return.
 
I've adopted 5 homeless cats since I moved into my house in 1999.

The first one was about one week old and abandoned by her feral mother. I was just barely able to snatch her up from the other side of the fence that separated my backyard from the (then) undeveloped lot next door. She had been meowing for her mother for a couple of days but I couldn't see where she was. I wasn't even sure what she was because her little squawk sounded like a bird. But finally, I managed to reach over and just in the last second before she would've gotten too far away for me to reach, I snatched her up and immediately knew that I was now the owner of a cat. She barely filled up one hand. I named her Shmoopy because she was so cute, it was the cutest word I could think of, and was inspired by the Seinfeld episode where JS and his girlfriend kept calling each other a "schmoopie". I think it was part of the Soup Nazi episode.

Then I found Buddy Fuddster outside a job I was working at right off a busy 4 lane commercial street in the middle of town. Very dangerous place for a kitty. I gave him some milk back by the dumpster then a couple of guys from a house up the side street we were located on the corner of came up with a bowl of food looking for him. They said he wasn't theirs but they'd been feeding him and if I'd take him home, they'd be grateful. I had my truck with a topper parked in a church parking lot across the street under a shady tree, so I took him over and put him in the back with the now empty food bowl full of water and backed my truck all the way up to the fence so the topper couldn't be opened then went back to work. Later on, fearing he might be making a fuss I went to check on him. He was curled up, sound asleep and happy as a clam. He and Shmoopy became fast friends and wrestling partners.

Next came Squirly Gurl, a calico stray who started hanging around my backyard once she realized that food was available three times per day. She lived in my backyard for two years. I made a nice warm shelter with straw in the bottom for her to sleep in on cold nights. I got her to respond to a two tone (high/low) whistle by associating it with feeding time. Every time I'd bring food out, I'd do the whistle several times. Eventually, if she was in the backyard across the street, I could go out, do the whistle a few times and within a minute or so, she'd come bounding across the street for din-din. Eventually one day she decided it was time to move inside, so she walked in like she owned the place and lived here the rest of her life.

Next came Fidget. I just happened to be sitting in front of a window in the front bedroom of my house one day, hanging out with Squirly when I looked up and saw a little grey cat I'd never seen before, chasing a bug in my front yard underneath my Magnolia tree. I jumped up, grabbed an aluminum pan and put some dry food in it. Went outside without getting too close to the obviously wary cat, then set the pan of food down and went back inside. Checked later and the pan was empty, but the cat was still nearby, so later I put out some more which he finished off too. Now he knew he had a meal ticket and wasn't leaving. I kept on setting the dish farther and farther back down the side of my house until I had him coming in the back yard to eat and that's where he began to stay. Soon he was letting me pet him while he ate and then he even let me pick him up and hold him. Eventually I decided he needed to come inside, so I brought him in which he did not initially take to so I let him back out. Over the next couple of weeks I kept bringing him in then letting him back out so he'd know he wasn't trapped. Eventually he stopped wanting to go out and was just happy living inside with Squirly and me all comfy, warm and dry. He got his name because that was the first word I thought of when he was still kind of skittish about me getting too close to him. I started addressing him as "ya little fidget" and it stuck.

Finally I acquired Brownie. He showed up at a duplex in a neighborhood right next to the end of the street I live on. No pets were allowed in the complex so the woman whose place he showed up at, put an ad on Nextdoor,. I made arrangements to pick him up and he's been here for going on two years now.

Sadly, Fidget died unexpectedly this past January, so now it's just ol Brownie (aka "Ol Sack") and me. Brownie got his name because of his fur color and as an homage to Inspector Luger on Barney Miller.

.
 
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Nomad said:
I've adopted 5 homeless cats since I moved into my house in 1999.

The first one was about one week old and abandoned by her feral mother. I was just barely able to snatch her up from the other side of the fence that separated my backyard from the (then) undeveloped lot next door. She had been meowing for her mother for a couple of days but I couldn't see where she was. I wasn't even sure what she was because her little squawk sounded like a bird. But finally, I managed to reach over and just in the last second before she would've gotten too far away for me to reach, I snatched her up and immediately knew that I was now the owner of a cat. She barely filled up one hand. I named her Shmoopy because she was so cute, it was the cutest word I could think of, and was inspired by the Seinfeld episode where JS and his girlfriend kept calling each other a "schmoopie". I think it was part of the Soup Nazi episode.

Then I found Buddy Fuddster outside a job I was working at right off a busy 4 lane commercial street in the middle of town. Very dangerous place for a kitty. I gave him some milk back by the dumpster then a couple of guys from a house up the side street we were located on the corner of came up with a bowl of food looking for him. They said he wasn't theirs but they'd been feeding him and if I'd take him home, they'd be grateful. I had my truck with a topper parked in a church parking lot across the street under a shady tree, so I took him over and put him in the back with the now empty food bowl full of water and backed my truck all the way up to the fence so the topper couldn't be opened then went back to work. Later on, fearing he might be making a fuss I went to check on him. He was curled up, sound asleep and happy as a clam. He and Shmoopy became fast friends and wrestling partners.

Next came Squirly Gurl, a calico stray who started hanging around my backyard once she realized that food was available three times per day. She lived in my backyard for two years. I made a nice warm shelter with straw in the bottom for her to sleep in on cold nights. Eventually one day she decided it was time to move inside, so she walked in like she owned the place and lived here the rest of her life.

Next came Fidget. I just happened to be sitting in front of a window in the front bedroom of my house one day, hanging out with Squirly when I looked up and saw a little grey cat I'd never seen before, chasing a bug in my front yard underneath my Magnolia tree. I jumped up, grabbed an aluminum pan and put some dry food in it. Went outside without getting too close to the obviously suspicious cat, then set the pan of food down and went back inside. Checked later and the pan was empty, but the cat was still nearby, so later I put out some more which he finished off too. Now he knew he had a meal ticket and wasn't leaving. I kept on setting the dish farther and farther back down the side of my house until I had him coming in the back yard to eat and that's where he began to stay. Soon he was letting me pet him while he ate and then he even let me pick him up and hold him. Eventually I decided he needed to come inside, so I brought him in which he did not initially take to so I let him back out. Over the next couple of weeks I kept bringing him in then letting him back out so he'd know he wasn't trapped. Eventually he stopped wanting to go out and was just happy living inside with Squirly and me all comfy, warm and dry. He got his name because that was the first word I thought of when he was still kind of skittish about me getting too close to him. I started addressing him as "ya little fidget" and it stuck.

Finally I acquired Brownie. He showed up at a duplex in a neighborhood right next to the end of the street I live on. No pets were allowed in the complex so the woman whose place he showed up at, put an ad on Nextdoor,. I made arrangements to pick him up and he's been here for going on two years now.

Sadly, Fidget died unexpectedly this past January, so now it's just ol Brownie (aka "Ol sack") and me. Brownie got his name because of his fur color and as an homage to Inspector Luger on Barney Miller.
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Thanks VERY much for your wonderful post. And thank you for taking in these kitties. My mom also owned a cat she called "Brown Man" or "Brownie" because of HIS coloring and markings. He was a wonderfully affectionate cat, a striking Burmese. He's also the only cat I've met yet that would fetch crumpled or rolled into a ball paper napkins! He would get delirious with anticipation if he saw that you were using a napkin. He was a funny cat. Cats truly ARE a blessing, aren't they?
 
We have six. Simon, Smudge, Howie (short for Hungry Howie), Mosaic, Smix, and Unique. Far too many nicknames to list here, LOL. They consist of, adopted, rescue, and feral.
 
countryboy said:
We have six. Simon, Smudge, Howie (short for Hungry Howie), Mosaic, Smix, and Unique. Far too many nicknames to list here, LOL. They consist of, adopted, rescue, and feral.
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Wow, SIX! Very impressive, and thanks for bringing them into your household and into your lives.
 
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