"Fur Children"

That picture of Casper is one of my all time favorites because one of our girls saw it and said "Look!! Casper has the Christmas Spirit!!" LOL

Ooh...crazy old cat lady in the house!  It all started about 21 years ago when cat had 3 kittens in my friend's back yard.  One kitten, a calico, was spoken for immediately.  The other two, identical black cats, not so much.  I had never had a cat before (always thought of myself as a dog person), but my friend talked me into taking one of the black ones.  And then she guilted me into taking both of them, since "they were twins, and shouldn't be separated".  

Sydney (named after the city), and Maalea (named after a beach on Mauii) came to live with me and we became inseparable.  At 8 years of age, Maalea lost a lot of weight and vomited all the time.  Tests revealed that she had a large cancerous tumor, and it was only a matter of time.  I took her home and asked her to tell me when it was time.

About 3 weeks before she died, a neighborhood stray I'd been feeding brought her litter to get in on the free food.  These were feral cats, so I was only able to watch them from a distance.  One day, I put out the bowl of food as normal, and mama and her brood came up my porch step to eat.  As I walked in my door, the little black kitten followed me in.  Thinking it was a fluke, I kept the door open, and she soon went back out again.  Next night, she followed me in again, and this time jumped up on my couch and sat on my chest.  Being a great fan of black cats by this time, I decided that she had adopted me, or Maalea had asked her to come ease the pain of her passing (I did have to put her to sleep when she stopped eating).

I set up an appointment to have Grace fixed (I figured she was grace from above), and had to cancel it to go on an out of town business trip (El Salvador as it happens).  In the meantime, I let her adjust by living outdoors, only having her come in at night.  I got back from my business trip and she became 100% indoors, which she was happy to do.  Before I could set up a new appointment for getting her fixed...

Sometime middle of the night, May 1, 1998.  Grace is curled up in my arms sleeping as normal when her body tenses enough to wake me up.  Thinking she was having a nightmare, I pet her and talk to her.  Not getting any better, I thought she was having a seizure, so I got out of bed and turned on the lights.  Not a seizure, not a nightmare - she had just given birth to the first of 4 kittens!  

I retired to the couch and let mother nature do the rest.  The next morning I discovered 4 completely different kittens, obviously from 4 different fathers.  One was all gray, one was obviously Siamese, one a long haired tuxedo cat (black and white), and the fourth a tabby.  I knew from that moment that couldn't give them up and that I was truly mad.

Sydney lived to be 19 1/2 years old, and died of natural causes.  The 4 kittens?  They're all gone now too, from kidney disease, cancer, and assorted illnesses.  Grace is still around at 16, is still as tiny as a kitten (5 pounds), and suffers from chronic kidney disease and liver disease (we have that under control).  She's the last of my brood, and I love her to pieces.  When she goes, I fully intend on adopting two kittens and loving them forever, just like I will forever love their predecessors.  

Grace:

Blue, her kitten:

Scottie, her kitten:

Sam, her kitten:

Oh my gosh! Your cat Scottie looks like my cat Spike! As soon as I post pics of my fur babies you'll see what I mean :)

Love it!

Sandy, what a beautiful story! It made me tear up. Grace is beautiful, and her boys were very handsome. I'm not sure I'm strong enough to adopt anymore after Westley, but I sure admire you for giving a couple more kitties good homes in the future.

Thanks Pam!  Silly or not, I believe that our pets have been with us forever, and will come back to us, albeit in different forms.  I still feel cats jumping on my bed at night, and sometimes Grace acts so out of character for her that it feels like one of the other cats has temporarily taken her over!

Losing them is the most painful thing ever, but having years and years of unconditional love and kitty kisses is worth it!

Grace has gorgeous eyes ;) I love hearing stories like this!

Grace thanks you for the compliment!

Radar

Spike 

Zero

Lovers

Cuties! Radar looks really similar to a boy I used to have named Henry ;)