Clowdy with a Chance of Hairballs

Since I'm pinned to my recliner by one of the beasts, I might as well do something productive, such as blog!

I have it on good authority that I am sharing my life with a clowder, a new-to-me word which is apparently the collective noun for domestic cats. Hubby asked what would describe a group of non-domestic cats; I suggested "pride" (as in "... of lions"), but a pride of feral cats just doesn't sound right, does it?

Anyway... let me tell the story of our little clowder.

Wraith

I sent this email to the Magpies in June 2011 (I'm adding photos that weren't in the original mail):

Two months ago I got up and read the following note on the 'fridge: "Look what I found growing in the back yard".

I took a look out the back door, expecting to see a pumpkin or squash-like object, and discovered a plastic box with 2 newborn kittens in it!

Steve had startled the mother from her nest and made some wrong assumptions. Once I called him and got the whole story, I put the kitties back in their nest and watched the site from inside. Within 15 minutes, mother cat was back and grabbed one of the babies. Three hours later, she hadn't returned for the second one and I was beginning to worry.






While I was monitoring the nest, I was Googling "abandoned newborn kitten care" like crazy, so after the 3 hours had elapsed I went to the nearby Chain Pet Store and got some kitten replacement formula. The rest is history. After keeping that little thing alive (waking every 3 hours for bottle feeding) for 24 hours, we were well and truly adopted.














Wraith started out under 4 ounces--he's nearly 2 pounds now. Still has light blue eyes, and Siamese markings with a smattering of light tan tiger stripes. His mother was a calico; no idea what daddy's breed is. I thought that made him a "Ragamuffin", but it turns out that's a real breed, not the cat version of "mongrel".

It's magic the way they know how to use a litter box (when their muscles are ready) all by themselves! In the meantime, who knew you had to massage their little bottoms to make them poop?!?

Now I've learned that crumpled receipts and handled paper bags are the bestest toys on earth, and cats can defy gravity at will. We have a constant source of laughter in our lives.

Zoe

I knew, now that we were officially cat "owners", I'd want to get another cat as a playmate and role model for Wraith. That July I stopped by the local ASPCA Shelter on the way home from work and took a look at some of the cats available for adoption. I have a soft spot in my heart for calicoes, having had one as a youngster. I even took one of their calicoes into the visiting room for some bonding time, but I just didn't feel "it". Then, as I was heading for the door to leave, I spotted an area of newcomers, cats that didn't yet have their own adoption pen/cage and were still in crates. There sat a little girl, "Chaya", with the most unique markings: Ed Asner eyebrows and an exclamation mark on her forehead! I took her into the visiting room, where she promptly chased her tail like a crazy thing, then hopped up on the bench, onto my shoulder, and finally onto my head so she could look out the window behind me. I was kitten smitten!

She freaked out something awful on the trip home (she had been packaged up in a small cardboard box for the ride, poor thing) and arrived at her new forever home covered in her own shit. We went straight to the bathroom and gave her a good washing in the tub, then sequestered her in a bedroom with her own water, food, litter box, and plenty of attention and loving. She and Wraith could hear each other under the door, but I wanted to give her a week to get used to us (and for the lab results to get back from her vet visit). She wasn't shy about claiming the bed for her own!

I named her Zoe, because I found her as quirky and adorable as Zoe Deschanel.

The first thing Wraith did when they finally shared the entire house was to nibble off all of Zoe's whiskers! An attempt at showing her who the Top Cat was, I suppose, but she soon grew an attitude AND all her whiskers back.

The two bonded and are bestest of friends. There's still some periods of screaming when Wraith gets rambunctious and tries to pin her down, but they've both got claws and she can fend for herself with ease. (They're both neutered.)

She is also my most devoted Quilt Inspector, a role she was apparently born to fill.

Franklin

Franklin's life nearly ended before it had a chance to begin properly. From his 2nd human (first proper "owner"), Gayle:

"I keep looking at this picture. He is so pretty... or handsome I should say. I rescued him from a guy who was going to throw him in a dumpster. He was so covered with fleas that he was anemic. After his first bath and finally being relieved of all those flea bites...he gobbled down his food and just fell asleep. Poor baby. He looks so happy now. What a sweetie he is."

Gayle went on to adopt another cat, a sister for Jackson (which is what Gayle had named him). She also became the first director of Austin Harmony Chorus. When changes in her life meant a move to Washington DC in 2006, a member of the chorus, JoAnn, adopted both her cats. (JoAnn changed his name to Franklin.)

The sister cat died after many years, and in late 2014 JoAnn and her husband were facing a move across country. They were beginning to suspect that cats in general were exacerbating his health problems, so it was with a heavy heart that she asked the chorus if anyone was willing to adopt Franklin. My initial reaction was "No. No way. Two cats are plenty!" But I kept thinking about it; I could picture where a 4th litter box could go, and had a plan for socializing the three cats. So the next morning I broached the idea with hubby. He agreed, as long as this was our Last Cat! After 3 cats, we start to become Those Crazy Cat People.

JoAnn and I traded favorite cat blankets and rugs (so our respective cats could get used to the smell of the others) and even litter from the boxes. We decided that after Christmas would be the best time for me to take Franklin to his new home. When the time finally came to hand over the carrier, she wept. But she realized that of all the animals she's ever lost, this was the first time she lost a pet through regifting, and that made it so much easier.

Franklin hid most of the 1st day, rather than hang out and try to get to know us. I finally used pillows and foam chunks to block off all access to his hidey-holes. It was my intention to introduce everyone slowly, over the course of 5-7 days. Franklin was having none of that, and in the 3rd day he had slipped through the bedroom door and made himself at home.

The other two really didn't know what to make of this old man! For a while they had the upper perch,



but over the weeks Franklin figured out how to use the hanging cat condo and get up there too.









Franklin has his own little quirks that neither of the other cats ever do.

He's also an expert on Quick Books.

Today there's usually a guarded truce, but rarely can Wraith and Franklin pass each other without someone hissing his displeasure about the situation. The fact that they were this close one morning was certainly a cause for taking a picture!

Franklin is definitely a music-loving cat! He is also the only one of the three who can be considered Hubby's cat, much to his delight. Wraith and Zoe will usually hang out with me, but rarely with Hubby, and he was feeling decidedly left out. Not any longer!