Introducing...

I've posted pictures of my dogs, and since I haven't cooked anything out of the ordinary, that deserved to be shared, I thought I would introduce a few more family members.  My cats.  I will be starting a new job in a few hours and, of course, can't sleep, so here I am.

First, allow me to introduce the old man, Pumba, who is seven and a half years old.  We took him and his brother, Timon in when a lady posted online that she had taken in a pregnant stray until it had had it's litter and weaned them, but now needed to rehome them as she had a houseful of her own.  We picked Pumba out because he was a little fluffball.  That left one male kitten and momma cat unclaimed, but the kittens weren't quite ready to go yet, so that was ok.  The day before we were to pick Pumba up, the lady emailed me, asking if we would be able to take the other male kitten because he was the only one that hadn't found a new home and she needed them all gone, which meant the shelter for him.  Well, of course we took him.  Couldn't let him go to the pound. 

Fast forward from 2005 to 2011.  The brothers had grown HUGE.  Sometime in November, Timon became ill, the Pumba followed.  The vet gave us meds for them, but getting it down Timon was almost impossible.  He was HUGE...25 pounds and very strong, even when he was sick.  We were in and out of the vet's office, but Timon simply wasn't responding to the meds.  Not even when the vet gave us an injectable  antibiotic.  We tried everything, but he just never got any better, and on December 30, he passed away...over a year ago and it still hurts to type that.

This was Timon...

I couldn't handle losing both of them.  The vet hadn't attached much importance to the cats not eating as long as they were drinking, but that hadn't worked so well with Timon, so I said to hell with what he said, got some kitten milk and force fed it to Pumba with an eye dropper.  Finally, he started to respond, and is still with us.  He's a big momma's boy, and I know that, sooner or later, I will lose him, but until then, I'll spoil him.

Next is Shanzi.  She's four and a half and a teeny tiny thing.  We found her online, too.  Another case of finding her a home of taking her to the shelter.  She is very stand offish and doesn't care much for people, but Timon was her buddy.  She claimed him as hers from day one and she hasn't been the same since he passed. 

Then there's Sheena.  I have always loved calicoes, and when I found her on Craigslist, I had to have her.  The guy who owned her had neighbors with mean dogs that were terrifying his cats, so he was rehoming most of them.  She'll be two in April and is the sweetest, most loving little girl EVER.