K is for Kitties #AtoZChallenge

Let me tell you about my kitties!

Oh my, I have had so many cats. So many, many, many cats.

It all started out with Nigel. He was a feral manx that showed up at my childhood home one day. We kept him for a while, but... well, there's a long story. The short version is, I hugged the cat and he scratched me so badly that I almost lost my eye. Some day I'll tell the whole story, but not in this post.

Nigel

Chi-Chi

There was a second cat that came along and lived with us, at the same time as Nigel. Her name was Chi-Chi.

Chi-Chi was my first experience with pet loss and grief. Well, I guess Nigel was, but his departure was so confusing, I never really thought of it as loss and grief.

Those two cats would, I did not know until decades later, be the catalysts (yeah, I wrote CATalysts) that started this whole thing. THIS whole thing.

Chi-Chi had a few litters of kittens. We always managed to give them away, free, with no problems. This was the 1960s and people didn't really spay or neuter then.

Slippers

After Nigel and Chi-Chi, the order of who came next is hard for me to remember. I think the next cat was Sylvester (no pictures!), and after him Slippers (aka "Hendrix" don't ask!). 

Ratsky

Idgy

When I moved out of my parents' house, the saga continued. There was a gray feral cat that had no name. He was beautiful, but he wouldn't stay put. I never did find out what happened to him. He was gorgeous.

Then, I had Idgy and Ratsky when I lived in Princeton (Mass.)

Filkin and Charlie (and Timba the dog in the background!

After that, I got Love Kitty, Filkin and Charlie. Then, all the Long View Farm cats came along. There were 20+/- of those, and most of them didn't have names. We kept three when we left the Farm: Mr. Kitty, Maggie and Louise.  Love Kitty, Filkin and Charlie, of course were still with me at the time, too; and someone "dumped" an orange cat at our house that we also ended up keeping for many years. We named him Pointy, 'cause he had the pointiest nose we'd ever seen on a cat!

So, we lived in this little, tiny house with 7 cats, one dog, and two humans! It was pretty crazy.

Love Kitty

Filkin (daughter of Love Kitty)

Pointy. He was "dumped" at our house, and became one of our favorite cats.

Mr. Kitty! One of my all-time favorite cats. He was just an amazing creature

Maggie

Believe it or not, when the last of those cats died (Maggie), I went two years without any cats. For the first, and only, time in my life... I had NO cats!!  It was weird!














G started bugging me to get a cat. I've never been able to buy just one of anything, so, I adopted THREE kittens at the same time. "Hey, I'll take three, please!" Well, you know what they say: Cats are like potato chips, you can't have just one!

Cali and Tux on the day I adopted them

Cali, Tux and Newman are still with me today, and I love them so much, I can't even put it into words. They entertain me and make me smile every day.

Homely, scrawny Newman on the day I adopted him!

Newman and Tux go paw to paw!

Bonus! One of my cats (can't remember who!) had a litter of kittens. I thought it'd be a great idea to give one of them to my mother as a gift. Please, don't give people an animal as a gift. What a dumb idea! This cat ended up with someone else in the neighborhood. I had named her Patches. She looks remarkably like my current cat, Cali.

So, K is for Kitties. Give yours a hug today!  But don't get scratched!

J is for Jumping #AtoZChallenge

There are two different kinds of jumping for dogs.

There's the funny, or fun, kind. And there's the "stop jumping!" kind.

My new dog, Petey, does both. He is hilarious when he jumps WAY up off the ground, at least 5 feet. Like a circus act, or something. One of my previous dogs, Hobie, used to do that, too. Only he was a big dog! People used to say he did "little dog tricks".

This is where jumping is allowed! Play time!

When I was recuperating from a recent medical condition, a friend came to visit. I put the dogs outside so they wouldn't bug her, and so that I didn't have to deal with them in my condition. I wasn't allowed to lift anything bigger than a carton of milk, so to hold back three dogs was simply a no-no.

Anyway, Petey was outside on the back porch, and wanted to come in to be with us. He started jumping at the back door, repeatedly. He was jumping so high -- like I said, about 5 feet in the air! We were laughing so hard, and I had to be careful because I had had abdominal surgery so "busting a gut" might have been a real possibility!

But sometimes, Petey and Cooper (not Charlie, thank goodness -- he's such a GOOD BOY!), will jump on people who come to visit. They also jump on me when I come home after being out somewhere. It's not a good habit for a dog to be in, especially one like Cooper who has "the claw" (he only has one front leg, as you probably know).

There are a number of ways to use body blocking to avoid the jumper dog. The easiest one is to turn your back or turn to the side each time the dog jumps. Sometimes this doesn't really work, though. The dog just waits for you to face him again and jumps again.

But I LOVE to jump on YOU!

Another good way is to grab the dog's front paws, gently, and place them down on the ground while saying "No jumping". (People say not to use the command "down" because this is also used when you want the dog to lie down.)

And still another good way is to simply barge past the dogs so they don't have as much of a welcoming opportunity to jump on you.  Teach this to your guests. It really works. I tell people, "Come in! Come in! Just walk in. Barge right past them."  The dogs will naturally congregate at the front door and, rather than walking in, the humans plant themselves on the doormat and refuse to move. Wrong! Walk right on in.

I'm not a dog trainer (thought I am working on getting my certification one of these days), so if you really want help training your dog to stop jumping, please seek the help of a professional. I just write here about my own experiences. Disclaimer!

Until tomorrow!

I is for Including #AtoZChallenge

Well, I got busy and missed two days of the A to Z Challenge. So, I'll make it up with this post... I for INCLUDING (including G, H, and I!!)

Under the letter G, I would have posted about Grief Mentor. I am about to become a certified Pet Loss Grief Mentor. And I am already a Certified Widow Coach. So, I can walk the journey with people who have lost a spouse, and with folks who've lost a pet, and are grieving. I can't imagine anyone NOT grieving over the loss of anyone or anything. I am not prepared (yet) to start taking clients, but as soon as I am ready you'll hear about it here on the blog. So, stay tuned for that.

For the letter H, I suppose I would reminisce about my two dogs, Hobie and Hector (Team H!). How I loved them so. As much as I love my current dogs (and I DO!) no one will ever replace Hector and Hobie. They were with me through the very best years of my life (so far). I think about them every day, and feel their spirits with me, and they will live here in my heart forever.

Hector!

Hobie!

And "I" is for Include! I included all of this in one post! hah!

Until tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!!

F is for Friday Furbabies #AtoZChallenge

Some of my favorite photos of the pack from the past year! 

Have a great weekend!!

E is for Ears and Eyes #AtoZChallenge

All my pets have the most beautiful eyes and ears. I think I need a t-shirt with that slogan! Like the one I have that says "All my children have paws"; or the other one that says, "Dogs are the only relatives you choose."

But seriously, my dogs have the most incredible eyes. All of them look like they are wearing eyeliner! My mom said that about the late, great, Hobie, and it's true. It was those eyes that made me fall in love with him at first sight.

The beautiful Hobie. Those eyes!

And then there are the ears. Cali the cat has the coolest ears. They are this gorgeous amber color. She is just so pretty. Cali's nickname is Lady Kitty, and sometimes I sing to her "Lady Kitty! Lady Kitty! She's so pretty! My la-teeeee-kitty!"

Cali's amber ears!

Petey, the newest pack member has ears like The Flying Nun's headpiece. I'm showing my age making reference to this 1960s TV show, that for some peculiar reason is NOT shown in re-runs, ever, at all. Weird, right?

Flying NUN? Really, Mom?!

I digress. Cooper's ears are starting to get flecks of white fur throughout. It makes me sad. He is only six, but he seems to be showing age (graying) faster than his twin brother, Charlie.

Cooper, how'd you get your ear to do that?

Charlie's ears are so soft, and he's got those eyeliner eyes. He is just so handsome!

Newman and Tux both have eyes full of love, and ears full of mites (I am kidding!!).

HUH????!

Tux is all eyes and ears in this photo

Gorgeous Newman 

D is for D-O-G spelled backwards #AtoZChallenge

Yesterday, I got some weird looks at my AA meeting when I said "Dog spelled backwards is God. Or, God spelled backwards is dog.... however it goes!" I never can remember exactly how it goes. But the point it, my dogs have been there for me through thick and thin. I don't know how I would have survived these last three years, especially, and my recent medical problems, without my beloved dogs.

One time, I saw a comment that somebody had written online about their dog. It was on some website that asked a question "Tell us how you feel about your dog" or something like that. It might have been pointing out that dogs are family members. Whatever the topic was, the person wrote: "He's like Jesus in a fur coat!"  I'm not sure if I'd go that far, but I sort of understood what they were saying.

How can you look into a dog's eyes and not see a SOUL in there? They have emotions, they have feelings, they experience fear, pain, and love -- just like we do.


Dogs have heart and spirit and they're waiting for us in heaven during the afterlife.

If there are no dogs in heaven, I want to go wherever THEY are!

An oldie == Charlie, Cooper and the late, great Hobie

C is for Cats #AtoZChallenge

On day three of the April 2018 A to Z Challenge, the letter is C.

I wrote about Charlie and Cooper yesterday, and toyed with the idea of just doing that again (C is for Charlie Brown and Cooper), but no.... I'll write about my cats!!

My cats don't really get equal time anymore.

I was a crazy cat lady WAY before I became a crazy dog lady. At one time, we had 28 cats at our farm... 7 were mine, a few belonged at the farm, and about 18 were "rescued" from an old lady who had too many cats. Yes, there really was a woman I knew who had over 60 cats! In a house!!

Out of that batch of cats came our favorite cat: Mister Kitty. Renowned for his acting more like a dog than a cat, and being my dog, Timba's, most faithful companion. How we loved him. I still think about Mr. Kitty every single day. No exaggeration!

These days, we share our lives with Cali, Tux and Newman. Newman is the one who behaves most like Mr. Kitty -- he comes when I whistle, just like he's a dog. He leaps on the window screen in the middle of the night when he wants to come in, just like Mr. Kitty did. I often wonder if he's Mr. Kitty, reincarnated!

I love my cats so much. I don't talk about them as often as my dogs, but I don't know what I would do if I did not have the cats OR the dogs in my life. They are such a comfort. I love seeing my cats every morning as they perform their antics in an attempt to be fed "breakfast". And every night, I do a head count to make sure they're here and safe.

My cats are beautiful! They all have very unique markings, and I think that makes them so special. They are one-of-a-kind cats. All three of them!

The beautiful Cali-co!

Blurry, but cute! Newman.

Talk about whiskers! Tux. 

B is for Brothers #AtoZChallenge

Today's post for the April 2018 A to Z Challenge  is the lazy woman's way to write a blog post!

Photo!!!!

Seriously, my boys, Charlie Brown and Cooper (Brown ha ha yes I call him that sometimes) are the absolute loves of my life right now. I do not know what I would do without them. I adore them so much. They are my everything.

People say litter mates should not be adopted together, but I disagree. While these last six years have not exactly been easy, I wouldn't change a thing. I love looking over at them when they are snuggling or playing together, and you can't tell where one dog ends and the other begins. Sometimes, if they are in a particular position, I don't know which dog I'm looking at (even though Cooper only has three legs -- a dead giveaway!). Sometimes I have to double-check. And sometimes, I'm seeing double! We have had a very fun, yet challenging, six years together. And I hope for at LEAST that many more, plus plus plus.

Ok, without further ado, here is the brotherly love photo....

Tricked ya! It's not just Cooper and Charlie, it's their brother, Simon, and their mama dog, Katie!!!!

A is for April #AtoZChallenge

Good morning! April Fools! Happy Easter! Happy Passover!

I'm tired just thinking about it.

My first post for the blogging from A to Z April Challenge #AtoZChallenge, led by the folks at www.a-to-zchallenge.com , is "A is for April".  'cause, what ELSE would A be for?

April is my second favorite month of the year. July is my favorite. April SHOULD be my favorite, since my birthday is this month (the 21st, if you want to, you know, tell me "happy birthday" or anything like that).

My father and I had the same birthday, as many of you already know. He was born in 1918, and therefore, this April 21 he would be.... 100 years old!! In honor of his 100th birthday, I am finally releasing volume three of his World War II letters. Stay tuned for the big announcement the week of April 15th.

Don't forget to file your taxes ha ha.

The days following my birthday are difficult. My father died on April 27th (1987) at a young 69 years old. This makes our birthday week bittersweet. And, my dog, Hobie, died on April 25th, three years ago. So, not an easy week for me because of all the memories.

Grief has no timeline, and anniversaries always tend to bring the grief up to the surface. It's not raw anymore, but it is melancholic.

And that's a great segue to announce my new avocation. By the end of April, I will be a certified Pet Loss Grief Mentor! What does that mean? A mentor walks the journey with a person who has lost a pet and is grieving. A mentor is not a counselor, therapist, psychiatrist, psychologist or leader of a support group. A mentor is a good listener, and will support you and work with you to experience the grief process. So, stay tuned for more about that in the coming weeks.

Until then, stay safe and none of this was an April Fool's joke!

Thanks for reading!!

Cooper and Petey have formed quite the bond!

Charlie Brown and Petey -- I'm not sure if this is a bond, but they tolerate each other!

Brothers Cooper and Charlie Brown 

Meet our newest pack member!

*This post contains affiliate links. The pack and I receive a teeny tiny commission if you buy something. And we thank you in advance for doing so, if you feel like it!


Happy 2018! We are starting off the new year introducing our newest pack member, Petey, the chihuahua-Italian Greyhound mix (we think). And that's actually a designer dog "breed" called "Italian Greyhuahua". I'm not kidding. Look it up!

We're also participating in the #AppreciateTheMoments monthly themed photo challenge for dog and cat moms. Because, well, I'm a dog and cat mom.

So, I'm back to a six pack! hah and I do not mean my abs, let me assure you.

January's topic for #AppreciateTheMoments is "winter".

Here's Petey, wearing one of his sweaters. He is an odd-sized dog, so small is too small, but medium is too big. He manages to wiggle his way out of most clothing I put on him.

Owning a small dog is very different from owning large ones. I've never had a small dog before. It sure is a learning experience.  I'll write more about that, as time goes on.

For now, welcome to the pack, Petey, and happy winter everybody!

Petey has a unique trait of being able to walk with both hind legs off the ground! LOL!
For Pete's sake, let me in! It's cold out here!