Goodbye Jack The Cat

A few days ago our people said goodbye to our Cat Named Jack.

Jack was kind-of Old. He was fourteen or maybe just turning fifteen. He was older than me! And I must admit that I am getting Old too. This is our third Cat I have helped to say good-bye to.

Jack the Cat was already in our house when our people brought me home as a little puppy. Even recently, Jack and I played together like this: He would sit on a chair and I would stick my nose into his belly. Then he would whap my head with his paws. But he never used his claws! I would dance away, and then I would come back and we would do it again.

Jack the Cat was very chatty and very friendly. He loved all people, and he loved all Dogs except for Ojo. He was also very naughty and liked to eat things that should not be eaten.

Jack had a Bad Thing in his throat. Up to Wednesday morning of last week he was zooming around the house chasing kitty treats. But the Bad Thing took over. He could not meow. He could not swallow. And by Friday afternoon he could not drink and he was hiding under the lamp behind the couch and did not want to come out.

The people took Jack somewhere very safe and he became an angel.

Here is a picture of Jack the Kitten when both he and our littlest person were very little indeed.

Good bye, Jack the Cat. Our people miss you very much.

I Cat Named JACK survey my domain

It is I, the Cat Named JACK! I have stolen the Dog Blog.

I am very handsome, am I not? I perch up high, away from the annoying Dogs. Up high is MY domain! Mine! I am the Cat Named JACK!

That was too much writing. I, Cat Named JACK, am now sleepy. Good night.

Are you still here? Go away. I, Cat Named JACK, am trying to nap. Unless you have some CHEESE?

Why do I not have a BLOG? (by JACK)

It is ME, the Cat Named JACK!

I would like to know, WHY do I, the Cat Named JACK, not have a BLOG?

Am I not as BEAUTIFUL as the silly, stinky dogs? Am I not as INTERESTING? Why do I not get a BLOG too?

Cat Named Jack and the Winter Sun

We do not often share pictures of The Cat. This is because he is a Cat.

But here is The Cat Named Jack, sitting in the winter morning sunshine.

We think it is not fair that he has this high perch by the window that looks out on all the birds and squirrels. We think we should have a high perch like this too, to look out on all the birds and squirrels!

Hello Moo!

This is Moo!

Moo has also come to live with our Auntie. We didn't know he was there because last time all we could smell on our people was Comet-the-Cat. But today we learned that our Auntie brought home Moo-the-Cat too!

(Isn't he very handsome?)

We didn't smell him last time because Moo is very shy of people. He is scared and afraid and not-sure when people move towards him. He hides a lot. (But he wants to be friends with people! He is very interested. He is just afraid.)

Both Moo and Comet are Rescue-Cats. Our Auntie has given them a forever-home. Isn't this wonderful?

Moo and Comet are not brother and sister. They came from different places. But now they are best friends. Comet helps Moo feel less afraid.

Here is Comet playing. She is almost always playing! (Moo can only play when he feels safe. But Comet plays always.)

Meanwhile, Moo is learning that our Auntie is Very Nice. She gives good pets (we know this for a fact!), and good food (we know this too!), and she has given him a safe place to live.

He is slowly trying to be less afraid. To come out and play. To get pets, and brushed with his comb. And maybe, one day, he will try sitting in a lap.

Welcome Moo! We hope to smell you again soon!

Hello Comet

This is Comet!

She does not belong to our family. She belongs to our Auntie's family.

Our Auntie had two Cats who both walked over the Rainbow Bridge last year. This was very sad, and her house was very lonely.

But now Comet has come!

(We wanted to suggest to Auntie that she could take our Cat Named Jack to live at her house, but our person said that was Not Nice. Why not? That would mean more treats for us!)

But now she has Comet! We have not met Comet, we only smelled her. In fact, we had to wait in the truck while the people went inside to play with the kitten. This was not fair.

But still, we are pleased that Auntie is not lonely any more.

Welcome to our extended family, Comet! Perhaps one day we will meet you in person and give you many big doggy licks!

Walking the Rainbow Bridge

Last night the Cat Named Jericho walked over the Rainbow Bridge.

She was a very wise Cat. She didn't speak to us Dogs very much, but when she did it was always to impart some important wisdom such as "Do not wake a sleeping Cat" (who knew?), or "That bed is mine."

Our littlest person in particular misses her very much. They slept in the same bed at night, and cuddled all the time. The Cat Named Jericho listened to and protected all of our littlest person's secrets. Like I said, she was a very wise Cat.

Good-bye, friend Cat. You will be missed.

Caturday

It is I, JACK CAT, here to wish you a Happy Caturday!

I survey the Squirrels. What are they doing out there?

DIET woes

I, JACK the CAT, am oN a dIET. The people aRe hiding my fOOd. It is no longer in my BOWL. Now I must "hunt" for fOOd. They say this gives me "exercise". Bah.

WHAT? You say tHIS is mY breakfast? Let ME sEE!!

One KIBBLE, twO KIBBLE, three KIBBLE, Four...

Let me tAste...

Gimme.

This SUCKS. PleaSe help!
Send fOOd to ME, JACK the CAT, my house. FaST!

JACK the CAT hAS been WronGED!

It iS I, JACK the CAT! I has stolen the bloG to tell yOU of sOmething TERRIBLE!

I hAS been WronGED!

ToDAY the pEople tOOk ME, JACK the CAT, to the hOrrible place called VET! And sOmething TERRIBLE happened.

I, JACK the CAT, is on...
...a...
....... DIET!!!!

Send your praYers, my friends. I mAy not survive...

Fierce hunter CAT!

It is I, JACK CAT!

I has stolen the blog from the stinky thing called dog.

Why? Because I, JACK, is stealthy. I, JACK, is fierce hunter. I, JACK, will pop out and I will catch your toes! Watch out humans! Watch out, stinky thing called dog!

Mwa hah hah!!

DeAR sANTA, fRom JACK CAT

DEaR SAnTA,

I is JACK-CAT.

SMelly dOG says yOU come soon. SmeLLY dOG says yOU bring TREATS!

Smelly dOg says I MuST be GooD.

I, JACK-CAT, is NOT good.

I eats Ribbons. I eats krismus tree. I steals Ornaments. Then I eats oRnaments.
I rips HOLES in WaLL. I Rips holes in couch.

But LooK - I is CuTE! I is swEEt. I PURRrrrr.

So you brings TrEATS pleaz - NOW!

fROM,
JACK-CAT

Pee Ess Do yOU not think I is very cUTE in my hat?

Cat named Keisha

Today we said good-bye to the cat named Keisha.

The cat named Keisha once told me that she had known my person forever and ever, a long time before I was even born. She and my person loved each other very much.

Here is the cat named Keisha when she was very little.

My person got her from a place called SPCA, which is where Dogs and Cats go when they don't have people to love them, and there they wait to find a forever home. When my person found her at SPCA, the cat named Keisha was too little to be away from her mom-cat yet, and the Vet said that's why there was white showing around her eyes.

But Momma B fed her and loved her and fed her some more, and she began to grow.

And grow.

And grow. Until she got very round.

She lived with Momma B even before Momma B found the rest of our people. Back then, they moved from place to place all the time. The cat named Keisha did not like moving, but she went wherever her person went. They took care of each other.

Then they met the rest of my family - Momma C, my littlest person, and the cats named Jericho and Jack. These new people loved her, and she loved them too. Especially when they would sit or lie still on the couch and she would snuggle on top of them.

The cat named Keisha was a happy kitty. She was not afraid of me, or of any Dog. She loved all people, and liked to sit on the laps of any person who came to visit.

Her favourite things were:
Eating
Cuddling on laps and getting petted
Chasing cat treats
Sitting on the back porch in the sunshine
Being wherever the people were

She was bold. She went where she wanted, and did what she wanted to. The people always said, "Keisha has attitude".

Then she got very sick. There was badness growing in her body. She became less-round. She made many trips to the horrible-no-good-very-bad place called Vet.

There was badness growing in her lungs. This badness spread to her paws.

She had something called "surgery", and when she healed, she was like a kitten again. She ran and she played. She sat in the sunshine. She cuddled with the people.

And then the badness started to spread again. The people said, "It's time."

They called the Vet.

This morning, while we all waited for Vet to come help the cat named Keisha, the cat named Jack stayed very close. He kept her company. He was very gentle.

Then Vet came. Keisha got very still and quiet, and her body stopped hurting. The people hugged her and petted her.

And then she went to sleep.

Jack went back to his cat-tree-sleep-hole.

The people cried.

They brought me to see Keisha, but by this time she was no longer in her body.

I don't think the people understand this as well as I do. We're alive, and then we're not anymore. We leave our bodies. This is called Dead. But dead isn't a bad word, it's just another state of being.

In this state, Keisha doesn't hurt anymore. She is free.

Good-bye, cat named Keisha. Your family loves you. Safe journeys.

Keisha ~ November 1999 - July 27, 2012

Le Sigh

Le Sigh.

What does a CAT need to do around here to get some petting?

How about a snack? Second dinner?

What about my brush? If I lounge here and look pretty will you get my brush?

I am NOT like that dog-thing down there. Yes, that thing. With the big ugly nose.

No! I am CAT! Beautiful and graceful.

A CAT never says "please", you know. We just deserve these things by virtue of our nature as CAT. Food, petting, treats.

Humans, it is time to feed the CAT now!

Crate-den for the cat named Keisha

The cat named Keisha likes her crate-den.

Even though her crate-den sometimes takes her to terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-place-called-vet, most of the time it is a safe, happy place. I even do Leave It without being asked when she is in her crate-den. I am a Good Dog.