Fogbow

We got AnnieBear in 2001, from what was then King County Animal Control. I had gone in, not really looking hard, but saw this beautiful tortoiseshell and said 'What a lovely cat'. Annie had a really badly kinked tail, and apparently this, plus her age (she was listed as being 4 years old, picked up as a stray surviving by hanging out at the warehouses in Tukwila) had scared off potential adopters. Back in the bad old days, animals were euthanized if they had not been adopted after 30 days of being offered to the public. Annie was on day 28, a Friday, and would have been euthanized on Monday, but I didn't know that when I saw her.

I went home and got my husband to come back with me on Saturday and adopted her. The adoption counselor was in tears because she was so happy that Annie was getting adopted, and that's when we found out that she would have been euthanized on Monday.

Annie didn't like getting picked up, probably because her kinked tail affected her spine. That was fine with us, as we didn't need to pick her up except on rare occasions. We used to love hearing Annie meow, because she didn't really meow, she said 'Rahr'. The King County locals may remember that Sue Rahr was KC Sheriff from 2005-2012, and we learned that if we petted Annie in just the right spot, we could ask her 'What's the name of our Sheriff?', she would answer 'RAHR!', and we would happily tell her that she was so smart, she knew the name of our sheriff .

Every evening I would go to bed and do some light reading, but first Annie had to climb on my chest and sit there, purring away, for about half an hour, then she would move to her spot between pillows, and stay there all night.

We lost Annie in 2018. We couldn't control her hyperthyroidism any longer, and her kidneys were failing.

RAHR! Yes, that is a spot of extra pigment in the iris of her left eye.

❤ I obviously have a soft spot for torties. Her Infernal Majesty, She Who Must Be Obeyed, Trouble Bubble Booperella McSchmartypants (but we just call her Trouble) demands it.

We adopted Evie on April 27th, 2012. She was very shy, living in a foster home which was partnered with South County Cats. The foster mom didn't even think Evie would come out from hiding, but Evie went straight to my husband. As it turned out, Evie eventually became my 'elbow' cat. Whenever I read in bed, Evie would slowly and cautiously move in and I would suddenly realize that I had a cat nestled in the crook of my arm, helping me to read.

She developed hyperthyroidism in 2019, and we took her to the Feline Hyperthyroid Treatment Center in Shoreline (north of Seattle). Her treatment was successful, and she spent the next year and a half symptom free.

But about a week into January of 2021, I noticed that Evie was getting ribby and her spine was much more prominent than it should be. I made an appointment for her to be seen February 1st, but on January 31st, she was doing poorly enough that I took her to the emergency vet a few miles away, where the doctor told me that he had palpated a large mass in her abdomen, and had visualized it with an ultrasound.

I took Evie home on Sunday, and she spent all day with me and my husband, and that night she was my elbow cat the entire night.
I knew that no matter what I did, Evie didn't have much time left with us, and so Monday, February 1st, after having a good last night, we allowed her to slip away before pain overtook her.

Estiveo wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 12:56 pm ❤ I obviously have a soft spot for torties. Her Infernal Majesty, She Who Must Be Obeyed, Trouble Bubble Booperella McSchmartypants

Wow....just....wow. She's stunning, to say the least!

She is my tubby little lummox & a fierce slayer of catnip mousies.

Another one of my kitties who is no longer with us, Alice was a patched torbie, adopted from what used to be King County Animal Control, now known as Regional Animal Services of King County. I don't know exactly when they changed, but RASKC is a no-kill shelter (exceptions for animals which are clearly close to dying, which are humanely euthanized if they are suffering).

We'd gotten Alice in 2008. She was very shy in the shelter, but blossomed when we adopted her. She always slept at the foot of the bed when AnnieBear was alive, but took over Annie's spot after Annie passed away. Sadly, Alice developed hyperthyroidism, and because of her advanced age, was not considered a good candidate for radiation treatment. We lost her on Valentine's Day of 2018 .

So now that everyone knows that this household LUVS their tortoiseshell and torbie kitties, it will probably come as no surprise that we have two current kitties who are either a tortoiseshell or a patched torbie!

We adopted Luna from Regional Animal Services of King County November 15, 2017. My husband and I had actually gone in to look into adopting another tortoiseshell we'd seen on their website, but it turned out that she was on a kidney diet and also didn't like other cats, so since we were there anyway, we had a look around. They didn't have many cats at the time, but we turned a corner and just swooned at the lovely girl we spotted. Apparently she'd only just been released from the stray hold and had not been listed on the website. We adopted her immediately.

This is Luna. Luna thinks my husband is the BEST.HUMAN.EVAAAAAARRRRRR. She absolutely adores my husband. RASKC's kennel card said they thought she was 3 years old, but since she grew a bit after we got her, we think she was actually only about a year old at the time.

Katy Kitty has been with us now for about a year. Katy is a patched torbie, was thought to be about 9 years old when I adopted her from Regional Animal Services of King County.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I must have been one of the last people to adopt who didn't need to make an appointment to look at the cats. There were only a couple of them there, and Katy caught my eye.

She's had a hard life, apparently. She had been listed on RASKC's website briefly, and was at a local feed store's adoption area (Reber Ranch) for a few days, then developed an upper respiratory infection. She went into a foster home, got her URI cleared up, and had just come back into RASKC when I wandered in.

RASKC has a fully equipped veterinary clinic attached, and they did a COMPLETE and I mean several thousands of dollar's worth of testing on Katy, because the foster home reported that she was having bouts of diarrhea. RASKC did x-rays and ultrasounds, blood testing, the works. It turned out that poor Katy had suffered a broken pelvis at some point, but either had not received medical attention, or it just healed crooked. She can't jump more than a couple of feet up, but it does not stop her from being active. RASKC also thought she might have had Irritable Bowel Syndrome, so they had her on a special diet. I thought hard about this, but their veterinarian was there and I had a long talk with her about it. I decided I could handle it, so she came home with me.

It turned out that she doesn't have IBS at all. I suspect she was really stressed at the foster home, because she was quite reactive the first week she was here, but has calmed down and is now a lovely kitty, although we do have to be careful not to make a move which she interprets as someone trying to hit her. Katy Kitty, the day we adopted her.

I hope everyone will add photos of their kitties!

Here we have the KittyBear:



The KittyMonster:



And Leon:

This thread is making me sad.

Couple of weeks before the Baltimore meetup we brought home a mom and 6 4-week old kittens from Mr520’s old truck farm . I swooned over them, debated not going to Baltimore because I couldn’t bear to leave them, went anyway, found homes for 3 kittens, kept 3 - Sabbath, a 21lb magnificent beast in a shiny tuxedo; Arthur the CowKitty, 21 lbs of white fluff with two grey patches; and Cocokitty, an odd-eyed calico.
Arthur: Coci: Sabbath On July 4 Sabbath, who’d been really bothered by the booms of constant fireworks leading up to fireworks day, took off. We haven’t seen him since. He was my Prince Charming, a loving, snuggly guy with an outsized personality whom I waited my entire life to find. I was crushed. We started keeping all cats inside.

Then in October Arthur disappeared. He may have slipped out during a moment of human inattention, I dunno, but we never saw him again either.

Now it’s just Coco and Grace, our teeny tuxie who’s 15 and more playful than a kitten. The girls don’t wander like the boys did so they can come out with me to do yard work. They’re back in by noon.

Sigh. I miss my magnificent beast and wish I’d gotten better pictures of them both.

Haven’t had any cats for a while now but I’m thinking of adopting.

Kate520 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 12:16 pm This thread is making me sad.


Now it’s just Coco and Grace, our teeny tuxie who’s 15 and more playful than a kitten. The girls don’t wander like the boys did so they can come out with me to do yard work. They’re back in by noon.

Sigh. I miss my magnificent beast and wish I’d gotten better pictures of them both.

The only male cat we've had in over 25 years (who I haven't posted yet) is George. And you have pinpointed the exact reason why we don't have more male cats. George is the only cat allowed outside, because we literally can't keep him inside all the time. I watch him like a hawk, but my husband forgets and out goes the cat!

Peanut.

duck dodgers wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 4:26 pmPeanut.

Quite the regal pose!

Estiveo wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:49 am

“London Euston cat-astrophe averted for train-surfing puss”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56271478

I have a hobokitty...

He's gotten fat over the last few years, he's Siamese on top, and white on the bottom. I've invited him in, and as soon as the door closes he whines for me to open. But hell, outside he gets affectionate as hell most days.

More cats! More stories! More pictures!

I'm allergic and my building doesn't allow cats (despite a periodic mouse problem).

So thanks for letting me live with your cats, even vicariously.

More! More! More!

Frater I*I wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:20 pm I have a hobokitty...

He's gotten fat over the last few years, he's Siamese on top, and white on the bottom. I've invited him in, and as soon as the door closes he whines for me to open. But hell, outside he gets affectionate as hell most days.

Dude, where's the photo?

cassandra wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:59 pm More cats! More stories! More pictures!

I'm allergic and my building doesn't allow cats (despite a periodic mouse problem).

So thanks for letting me live with your cats, even vicariously.

More! More! More!

You see, cassandra wants MOAR KITTYS!

Azastan wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 11:35 pm

Dude, where's the photo?

I'm working on it, I don't have a digital camera, and the tablet causes him to want to hide.

Frater I*I wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 10:23 am

Azastan wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 11:35 pm

Dude, where's the photo?

I'm working on it, I don't have a digital camera, and the tablet causes him to want to hide.