Thursday, September 17, 2009

Friday "My Town" Shoot Out - Domestic Animals

"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals." ~ Winston Churchill


Since I have been on vacation for the past two weeks, if you could call it a vacation (time to go through files), and since we don't have any cows or sheep or pigs in our area, and since we have five cats that are very upset about never being including on my blog, because this is a blog to show off my city and county, I thought I would redeem myself with my cats by posting their lovely and handsome faces. Oh, and this for Elaine, Geoff and Gray, too. And of course, all you animal lovers out there.

So without further ado, meet the the cats who own us...

This is Czarina relaxing on one of the cat posts on the back porch. We found her two years ago trying to eat some clams shells that my husband had thrown in the driveway earlier that day. She was skin and bones and had a variety of aliments. She was around 7 months old when we found her, and she went into heat a week later. After many trips to the vet and a laser spay surgery, because she was still sick, we now call her our $1,600 cat - and that does not include the expensive cat food she eats. No more clam shells for her.

We have no idea where Czarina came from, but she had been abused. If she had not been starving, I would have never caught her. She woofed down 4 cans of Fancy Feast before I grabbed her. She was fearful of people, especially men. She also had a broken tooth, indicating someone may have kicked her. After a lot of loving, she settled in and now rules the roost. My husband caters to her, and she loves to boss him around. Payback!

This is Marie, a Maine Coon cat. Someone bought her from a breeder and decided they could not keep her and gave her to a friend of ours who gave her to us. We placed her in our home March 2, 2001. Marine was born on January 1, of the same year.

Princess loves boxes of all kinds. Every time we come home with a box she claims it, and we have to let it sit in the floor for a few days. Here she is stalking another cat, not at all interested in being a beauty queen for the day.

I saw Princess at my vet's office back in Georgia, as I passed a caged while taking a cat in for a checkup. She was about three weeks old. Someone had brought her in to have her put to sleep. That was in April 1997.

And here is her front side. Everyone loves this pillow on our futon in the studio.

Another Siamese? Yes. This is Nikko, born in 1996, another rescue who ended up with us when he was about eight weeks old. A friend working at a humane society called me when this baby came in. Nikko may look a little ragged for age, but he has always been, and still is, the boss of the house. He can still beat everyone up, and does so at least once a day. He also enjoys puffing up his tail and running up three levels of stairs just to prove he can. He has a mouth on him, too.

See that scar under his eye? When he was about six weeks old, we went camping on our river property about 300 feet from our home. Nikko met his first snake. It was around 10:00 PM on a holiday weekend. That was back in the days when your vet was always on call (at least mine was). The snake chomped down on Nikko's face - it was a big snake but we let it leave in peace. We rushed Nikko to the vet where he gave him a shot. It was touch and go all night because the vet said his throat could swell up, making it impossible for him to breathe. We kid about those long front teeth he has. They look like fangs to us.

Don't tell Nikko, but right before Czarina found our clam shells I was telling my husband that I sure would miss those baby blue eyes and loud mouth when Nikko passed on to the Great Beyond. It is almost like he cloned himself. As a matter of fact, he was out on the back porch bugged-eyed looking at something on the day we found Czarina; I peeked around the corner and saw what was a female version of Nikko. So I guess you could say that he found her. He has certainly trained her well because she is second in charge.

This is Skipper, found abandoned and brought to our house by a member of the local human society. He came to us at the age of three weeks in August of 2006.



Skipper has always had a thing about helping around the house. I think because, when we got him, we were undergoing a lot of remodeling. There were always people coming and going, and a flurry of construction activity going on at all hours. I grabbed this photo from my files of Skipper helping my husband caulk a tub last year (why is he wearing all that winter garb in the house? He looks like an old man - a really old man, but a "domesticated" old man -will that do GingerV?). This is a common site around our house. If you bend over to do something, Skipper wants to help. We let him ride along as long as we can. And, folks, he loves to be vacuumed. Seriously. Whenever you get out the vac, he is right under your feet demanding a back massage with either the hand vac or the monster vac that sends our other cats scurrying to some dark corner of the house.

Skipper enjoys watching birds from this old baby bed I converted into a two-seater for the porch. He is becoming a "Wide Load" these days.

I have a rule that I never put anyone's photos on this site but my own. However, this is the photo that was emailed to me when the humane society was looking for a home for Skipper.

To this. My he does need to go on a diet.

And to be fair to all you dog lovers (we love dogs, but when our last dog died we decided to stick with cats for awhile), here are some photos I took while on assignments:

Slipping and sliding on the Crisfield dock.

Running the dog.

Walking the dog.

Kissing the dog.

Working dogs.

Companion dogs.

“The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.” ~ Samuel Butler

Please spay and neuter. And if you must have a companion animal, adopt one from a reputable humane society. Pets are a huge responsibility. Know what you are getting into before you become a pet owner. And if you love pets, and aren't ready for the plunge, give to your local humane society.



I almost forgot our domesticated crabs, "John John" Crabby Crab and Sookie.

31 comments:

A Scattering said...

Your cats are ALL so beautiful! Gray couldn't pick a favorite. Your stunning Maine Coon looks a lot like our dear departed J.R. who left us 5 years ago at the ripe old age of 17. Our pets complete us, don't they? Gray is missing the mourning doves these days - before we know it, it will be April and they'll be back. Cheers Patty, hubby and kitties!

aurbie said...

Thanks Elaine. I would suspect Gray has eyes for Marie or Czarina. Tell him it is a long way from Canada to Crisfield. Of course, the Maine Coon cat has pads for that kind of traveling. Perhaps that could meet in the middle.

Yes. The doves are gone. How soon they will return. The summer has flown by.

Cynthia L. H. said...

Beautiful beautiful fur-people!!!!
LOVE your post!
;^)

aurbie said...

Cyhthia: "Fur people." I like that

Anonymous said...

LOL - Patty, your descriptions of your fur babies are just perfect! What adventures they all have had, and what a loving home they all have found.

You touched my heart, both with this post, and your wonderful comment on my blog.

Thank you.

aurbie said...

Jen: Thanks. Our "fur babies" certainly have a good life. Between cleaning up cat hair, furballs, feeding them 4 times a day, sleeping on one side of the bed because it is always full of "fur babies", breaking up fights, cleaning out litter boxes, trying to stop them from shredding our furniture into a million pieces, gluing back broken objects, opening and closing front and back doors to the porches - a dozen times a day - and trying to work on the computer or watch TV with a cat in your face, they are such a joy to us.

Excuse me, I was going to continue but I have two cats who are trying to swing from the curtains at the moment. Seriously.

Gordon said...

I'm smittened with your kittens and agog over your dogs.
Scruffy wants to invite the crabs over for dinner.
Patty, you should reopen your link. Everyone needs the shortcut.
I think we have finally reached our goal number.

Lew said...

Love the blue eyes! we have two rescued siamese. Delightful set of images of cats and dogs.

Suburban Girl said...

Wow, those eyes in the first photo are amazing.

What a great idea with all the photos of the dogs. I love the working dog photo also.

~JarieLyn~ said...

This is such a delightful post. I can see why you couldn't resist getting another cat after seeing the photo of little skipper. He sounds like he has quite the personality. All of your cats are just beautiful and it appears they are living the good life.

You have some great shots of dogs. I like the kissing dog. That is cute.

Heidi Renée said...

They are darling--every one of them! I can't imagine my life without my cats. Working at home, my day revolves around their whims. Today, Jasper opened the bathroom cupboard and spread Q-Tips and ponytail holders all over the place.

Heidi Renée said...

Oh, and: thank you for the wonderful spay/neuter message. It can't be repeated enough. Two of our three were from an unplanned, unwanted litter, and I shudder to think of what might have happened to them if not for the wonderful shelter that took them in and matched them up with us.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Hi Patty,

You are so sweet and funny. I have told the whole family to read the post, except for Kallang and Elizabeth who are up the Bario highlands and don't have access to internet.

Czarina, her majesty is very regal. Are you feeding her cavier or crab roe? ( Crab roe is a delicacy among the Chinese)

You have your own cat cafe.

http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2008/11/cat-cafe.html

Cheers,

Ann :)

enjoy the rest of your vacation and weekend.

Anonymous said...

As you know my heart will always belong to the feline society!! I swear, my Hubs thinks I have a kinship with cats... I love your cats & the fact that you rescued them gives you a huge thumbs-up in my book!!
You are sure a sweet soul with a huge heart!!
Have a wonderful weekend!
TGIF!!
Marilyn

Unknown said...

you have a very beautiful family there Patty. those are very lucky cats. love all of your photos. have a great weekend!!

RedLan said...

You have beautiful cats Patty. I love Czarina's eyes. And I love Skipper's photo watching birds. Thanks for sharing.

Sarah Sullivan said...

Oh what a beautiful shoot out!! What sweet kits you have!! All of our critters are ones folks gave away or were strays. I adore them, every one! Clearly you do too! I grew up with Saimese and adore them - how fun to have two!!
I think...I love the "Loaf" picture the best!! Giggle!! Wonderful, Sarah

Kerry said...

Lucky cats! You have taken such gorgeous pictures of them and captured both their beauty and personality. But I'm a sucker for dog pics: very funny walking and running dogs you have there in Crisfield!

Heather said...

Oh Patty...look at all of these wonderful shots!! At first I thought I was in kitty kingdom :)

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

I love EVERY one of these pictures!
<><

Bagman and Butler said...

Wow! Lots of cats. We've got three and two dogs now that Roxie is gone. But I really wasn't in the mood to do pets. The tub caulking picture made me cringe because I am the worst tub caulker in the world. Some people do it so neatly. My caulking jobs look like I just tried to stuff spaghetti in cracks.

gigi said...

LOVE, love getting to see all your kitty babies. You had told me you had a lot of them. Those eyes are so beautiful, all of them. We need another kitty, Our Gracybell never has come back and I think Mo misses her so much. He needs a friend.

Carrie said...

Marie is absolutely gorgeous. I could stare at her picture for a long time!

I like the shot of the guy running with the tiny dog.

Jama said...

You have gorgeous cats!

Chef E said...

Awww what a menagerie of animals you have posted...which one is the one that will be hanging out with me...

aurbie said...

ChefE: All of them! They love company. I told you would have competition for bed space.

aurbie said...

Jama: You have quite a collection of critters yourself.

aurbie said...

Mark (I want Butler and Bagman back!): I almost did not include the tub photo. My husband looks like a homeless person in that photo. But Skipper really does jump up on our backs to help with projects. He also jumps up on my back whenever I decide to wash my hair in the sink.

aurbie said...

Noe Noe Girl: Thanks. I enjoy your blog.

spiritsoflena said...

Your cats are adorable and it is always wonderful to hear about animals being rescued--there are just so many in need.

The WriggleButts said...

Loads of nice pix - pets sure do bring enjoyment!

Ane