20 Cats

Cassie

This is Cassie. She has been, to say the least, one of the more interesting additions to our household.

We brought her home in July of 2007. There was a, er, situation here in northern Utah. An animal sanctuary was being run by a woman that turned out to be a hoarder. By the time her husband turned her in, she had about 120 cats and 40 dogs. My wife and I were asked by NMHPU (utahpets.org) to go help with the cleanup. The owner had taken a few cats and dogs and fled to another small town. What she left behind was appalling. Long story short, over 30 cats had to be put down due to disease. In the end, homes were found for all thanks to NMHPU.

During the cleanup operation, everytime I’d bend over to scoop a litter box, Cassie would jump on my back. I couldn’t help but be drawn to her. So I announced that I was saving one cat and brought her home. She was so loving! As it turned out she was in heat. We had her spayed and the cat that came home from the vet definitely was not the same cat we dropped off.

She hissed and spit at everything that moved. She’s mellowed out, but only slightly. You still don’t want to get on her bad side and she is not, repeat not a kid’s cat.

Oh, and she still jumps on my back when I scoop potties.

As of today, Cassie’s not feeling just right. She’s not her hissy self. We’ll take her to the vet tomorrow.

Update: She had some kind of respiratory infection. Some antibiotics and she’s her old hissy self. Whew!

Artemus

Meet Artie. He is the sweetest, most loving little boy you could ever meet. He came to us two years ago when the neighbor kids knocked on our door and said they found him running around the neighborhood. It turned out he was part of a litter in the next cul-de-sac. The “owners” didn’t much care what they did or where they went. So we just kept him.

When we took Artie to the vet for all the usual pre-ownership events (shots, spay/neuter, blood work), someone made an accidental stray mark on the paper “near” the box that indicated we wanted him declawed. So they proceeded to amputate his front claws before they realized the mistake. You can’t believe how mad we were. The vet said we weren’t going to be charged for the de-clawing. After we cooled down and got him home, we realized everyone makes mistakes. Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhh!!!

He is so naive about leaving the yard and venturing out around the neighborhood. All he wants to do is jump the fence and find the next fence to jump. We’re positive he wouldn’t have sense enough to come home, so he goes out when we’re around to watch him. You might have a differing view on that.

When I’m at the computer, he loves to jump up on my shoulders and crawl around and nestle in my arms for a nap. I don’t get much work done when that happens.