KITTY CAT ALBUM

This page is a tribute to those kitties who have owned me. 

I've always loved cats.  My grandparents lived in the country and there were always cats around...so there were always kittens that just had to be tamed.  Needless to say I had more than my share of scratches in my lifetime.  Even though I'm quite a bit older now, I still love cats, especially kittens.  I hope you enjoy these pictures of my cats.  We have other kitties and one day I'll post pictures of them.  Murphy and Molly Mae live inside with us.  Pseudo, Sam, Holstein, Finkleheimer, Carlton, Orangelo, and others live outside.

This is Murphy and Molly Mae.  We also call Murphy the Fat Kat.  Can you tell why?

Here's Molly Mae doing what she does best....Resting.

This was his favorite resting place....my cutting table.  He's covered up with different fabrics.....Hoffman of course!  At least he had good taste!

This was Oreo.  When he was a kitten we thought he was a girl so we named him Cookie.  As he got older, it became apparent that he was definitely not a Cookie so we changed his name to Oreo.  We called him the "itty bitty kitty".  NOT!!!

Oreo decided to escape from the house one night and was found the next morning by the road.  He has been missed so much.

Here he is taking a much deserved rest.  This is also in my sewing room....in one of the fabric bins.

Oreo again.....helping sort and swap Perfume Bottle blocks.   You say you wondered where that funny black hair came from????  Now you know!

Poor Baby!  He worked so hard protecting the fabric and my sewing room.  Taking another much needed nap.

Oreo and Miss Precious resting in the stacked bins.   She tolerated his presence as long as he stayed in his own cubby.

This quilt that she is lying on is what got me started in quilting.  My grandmother was the inspiration for my love of quilts but I had not yet started making them myself.  The only quilts I had were either gifts from my grandmothers or purchased.  We were on vacation in Eureka Springs, Arkansas when I bought this quilt.  It is machine pieced and hand quilted.  Either an Amish or Mennonite group from neighboring Missouri made the quilt.  Donnie made the mistake of making this comment:   "Don't you think you could make one cheaper?"  What a goofy thing to say!

Miss Figidoodle .... She was a *real* challenge.  Ms. Figi was one of Miss Whisker's babies who we gave to a friend when she was a kitten.  My friend took real good care of her, but due to severe allergies and Ms. Figi's attitude problem, she asked me to take her back.  Yep, I know....I have severe allergies too but what can I say?  I love kitties! 

Doesn't she just look like an angel?  Well, keep in mind that looks can be deceiving.  :-)  When Susie brought Figaro  ( her real name)  back to me she was in a cat taxi.  I very carefully transferred her to my cat taxi which is larger, where she stayed for the first night.  I prepared the downstairs bathroom just for her.  The next day I took her into the bathroom (in the cat taxi...I'm not THAT crazy!)...growling and spitting all the way (Ms. Figi..not me)....took the taxi apart  (me, not MS. Figi)  and lifted the top off taking care to make sure she couldn't get to me.  I'm sure at this point you're wondering why I didn't just let the hussy go aren't you?  Stubborn!  Just plain stubborn!

Despite all my precautions, I was bitten on the hand twice the first night when I tried to put food and water in her taxi.  Thank Goodness she didn't have claws!  After she was moved into the bathroom, I visited her every few hours and talked to her just so she would have some contact with me .  I never offered to touch her until she made the first friendly gesture.  That ended with another bite on my left leg.  Gee Whiz!!!  She purred and rubbed my leg begging me to pet her and when I did....Boom!

A few days later, when I was able to actually pick her up, I moved her to our bedroom so she could have more space and get to know us a little better.  Until now she hadn't had any contact with Donnie (dear Hubby) or Chris (dear Son) at all.  She let Chris pet her while I held her but when Donnie came into the room for the first time....the old Ms. Figi was back.  She lived under our bed for 2 whole days only coming out to visit her litter box. 

I actually thought I would go a full 24 hours without being bitten but guess what?  She made a liar out of me.  She didn't like the Happy Cat I had put in her bowl so I gave her some Tender Vittles and made the mistake of offering her some in my hand.  Ha Ha!  Deep bite to the little finger.  I think all the germs from that bite washed away with the seemingly never-ending flow of nice, bright red stuff.  I guess it's a good thing I'm pretty healthy or I'd be dead of cat bite by now.  OK...call me a fool but I was going to make friends with this witch!  And she was going to love me....like it or not!

It had been 5 days since she came here so I had hope that she would get better as she got to know us.  She hopped up on his side of the bed one night and purred so he thought she wanted him to pet her.  NOT!!  Boom...he got his first bite.  After that she began to allow Donnie to pet her some but was still very unpredictable and growled at the slightest perceived threat. 

She hadn't met Oreo, Mokey, or Tippie yet. We were thinking that would be a month or so down the road.  

Here she is lying on top of one of my quilt racks.  The yellow and brown quilt is one my Granny Dorsey pieced for me.  It's a Bear's Paw, I think.  The Double Wedding Ring in the front is made primarily from feed sacks and has been dated around the 20's-30's.  I bought the top on my first trip to the  International Quilt Festival in Houston for $65.  It's a mix of  hand piecing and machine piecing.  I know there are some who frown on finishing antique quilts but it's mine now and I wanted it finished.  A friend hand quilted it for me.  It's quite beautiful and I love it. 

This is Miss Precious....you know...the one who loved Tea Parties.  Ms. Precious disappeared leaving six 3 week old babies.  I fed the babies every couple hours around the clock with medicine droppers, baby bottles and whatever I could get them to eat from.  We tried thin Nine Lives milkshakes, Nine Lives from the can (I call it paint because they wore more than they ate), Lactose Free infant formula and finally goats milk mixed with vanilla yogurt!  They loved the last one.  We weren't able to save but 4 of them.   I took 2 of the babies when they got to be about  6 1/2 weeks old to the local feed/seed store where they were delighted to get them.  They have people looking for kittens all the time and said they would make sure my babies got good homes.  I cried all the way from the feed store to the quilt shop.  I felt like I had given away my own children.   We kept 2 of the babies (Smokey and Tippie)...but we also don't have them anymore either. 

This picture shows  Miss Precious in her very favorite nap place.....my scrap tub.

We live in the country on about 16 acres and you would think we could have pets outside.  However.... Behind our property is a "Fox Pen".  For those of you who aren't familiar with them, they are very popular in our state.  In a Fox Pen (sometimes known as Puppy Pen), a fox or coyote is kept in a cage and released for a hunt by dogs.  The dogs owners run with the dogs or ride ATV's as the dogs chase their prey.  They chase that poor fox/coyote until it literally is exhausted and can no longer run.  Then they cage it again until the next hunt.  They call is a "sport".  We don't think there's anything sporting whatsoever in it.  You can hear the dogs barking all through the night as they run the hunts.  We believe our missing pets are victims of hungry dogs that escape from the fox pen.  You know....a hungry dog gives a better chase than a well-fed one.  In addition to Miss Precious, Cal-e-Ko,  and Vanessa's recent disappearances, a cat we called Miss Tux was found next to our van.  She had multiple bites on her body.  We don't think it's a coincidence that she was found dead the same morning that Vanessa failed to appear for breakfast.  We have also lost ducks and geese that made our pond their home.

Unfortunately Fox Pens are legal in our state.  If you find it hard to believe this "sport" is legal, you really won't believe this one.  Cock Fights are also legal in our state.  I guess Louisiana isn't called the  "Sportsman's Paradise" for nothing. Yeah, right.  It probably wouldn't do any good to complain to the authorities.  After all, we have the best government money can buy.