Tag Archives: My New Cats

Nov3

Leaping Tall Cats With a Single Bound

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Sometimes I feel like my life is a full-time, 24/7/365 cat psychology lab, and the only thing missing is the closed-circuit TV cameras.

I had to take the cats to the vet for their six-month wellness check earlier in the week. I was able to drop them off and let the vet do his thing with them, which was easier for me, but apparently not so much for Solomon and Gracie. They called to let me know that they were ready to come home, and they told me that Gracie was cooperative, but Solomon wouldn’t let them near him. I guess I can understand. I don’t like it when doctors try and examine me either, though I don’t try and bite them like he did.

I have to take him back in a week so they can try again, only this time I’m going to stay with him. Plus they gave me an anti-anxiety medication to give him the night before, as well as 90 minutes before I bring him in. The vet tech told me it would probably make him a little drunk, which should be interesting, but it should also help to calm him down so they can treat him.

The last time I took them in for a wellness check I stayed with them, and there were no problems. So this time I think he probably got weirded out because he didn’t know any of the people who were trying to examine him, and I think if I’d been there to act as an intermediary they would have fared better with him.

Once I got them home he was fine. He acted like nothing had happened, he hadn’t just tried to bite the vet and the techs who were trying to treat him. For shame, Solomon! If you only knew, you didn’t get out of anything. Your time is coming. . .

My cats really are a lot of fun. They keep me constantly entertained. You’d never know that they’re brother-and-sister litter mates, because they’re a study in opposites. Solomon is an extrovert, while Gracie is an introvert. Solomon is Mr. Personality, where Gracie is shy and retiring. Solomon is a big, clumsy oaf, and Gracie is feminine and dainty. Solomon lets it all hang out with his tail flung out behind him like a flag, while Gracie has hers curled around her feet when she’s sitting, and close to her body when she’s moving around. Solomon is really good at that look of wide-eyed innocence, where Gracie always looks mysterious, which is why I call her Gracie the Inscrutable. Solomon talks all the time, but Gracie rarely, if ever, says a word.

There are times when they’re playing with each other that one of them, usually Solomon, will run towards Gracie, and to escape, Gracie will leap about six feet into the air, bounding over Solomon, and make it into the next room. It’s hilarious to watch, and invariably they make me giggle whenever they play.

You may be wondering why I’m focusing on my cats like this. I pondered the same thing myself, and I realized that I learn things about God by studying my cats. I understand more about the way I relate to God ~ and the way He relates to me ~ by watching them relate to each other, and to me, and I’m always interested in learning and understanding more about God. Anything that will further my understanding of God is of definite interest to me, and if studying my cats will help me gain an understanding of God, well then so be it!

1My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. 2Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. 3Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. 4Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. 5Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God. ~ Proverbs 2:1-5, NLT.

The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel. ~ Proverbs 12:10, NLT.

May12

I Go to the Bathroom With Cats

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Anyone who has cats has experienced this. When you go into the bathroom, your cats go with you, because, you know, there are SOOO many interesting things to play with in there! And privacy? As far as the cats are concerned, they’re the only ones who deserve any of that. You certainly don’t. So if you want to go into the bathroom to use the facilities, so to speak, you’ll just have to get used to doing it in the presence of your cats.

There are some people who’ve decided they don’t want their cats in the bathroom when they’re in there, so they close the door so the cats can’t follow them in. The only problem with that is that the cats don’t like being shut out, so they respond by sticking their paws under the door and moving them around. I don’t bother with that, because I live alone with my cats, so I just leave the door open.

My cats have discovered that they’re big enough to climb onto the bathroom counter, as well as my dining room table. Plus, I discovered that they found the three necklaces that I’d been keeping on the bathroom counter next to the sink. Silly me, it never occurred to me that I would need to find a different place to keep them before the cats found them.

Oh well! Too late! They found my necklaces and decided they were lovely to play with, since they were all shiny and sparkly, so they played with them until two of them went down the drain in the sink. The third one got shoved off onto the floor and played with down there, and then they got bored with it. I’m so glad that necklace didn’t end up down the drain like the other two. Otherwise I might not have noticed they were gone. Fortunately, once I realized they were gone, I was able to get my wonderful housekeeper to dredge the other two out of the drain while she was cleaning.

I have the BEST housekeeper!!

They also figured out how to pull out the drain plug and play with it. From now on the cats won’t be spending any time in the bathroom unless I’m in there too. The door will remain closed otherwise.

All of the above was written several months ago, after which I put this draft away for awhile. Solomon and Gracie have grown considerably since I last looked at this, so I thought I’d get it out again, and hopefully I’ll be able to finish it now.

Solomon and Gracie are now a little over a year old, thirteen months according to the vet, and I’ve come to the conclusion that if Solomon were human he would like bathroom jokes. I suppose that sounds a little strange, but the reason I think that is because one of his favorite pastimes is to stick his nose into Gracie’s butthole and take a sniff. Gracie almost never returns the favor, but that doesn’t seem to bother Solomon. He just sniffs on and on.

Another thing he likes to do is when I’m in the bathroom he likes to chase his tail behind the shower curtain. I haven’t seen him chase his tail anywhere else in my apartment, just behind the shower curtain. He also likes to play hide-and-seek behind the shower curtain. He likes to go back there and just sit. If I look at him back there he’ll look up at me and meow, otherwise he just sits there.

The two cats have very distinct personalities. Gracie is very dainty and ladylike, and Solomon is goofy, and all boy. His tail is thicker, and he lets it trail out behind him like a flag, while Gracie’s tail is thinner and kind of pointy, and she always has it curled tastefully and elegantly around her body. Plus, Solomon talks all the time, while Gracie is the silent type. Whenever Solomon moves he lets out a squeak. Every move is accompanied by some sort of vocalization. On the other hand, I call Gracie, Gracie the Inscrutable, because she’s quite mysterious most of the time.

Both of them are very affectionate, however, which is wonderful.

Below you’ll see the most current photo of them. I just took it a few minutes ago. Oh, the wonders of smart phone photography!

Solomon is on the left, and Gracie, looking her usual inscrutable self, is on the right. Aren’t they beautiful? Biased as I am, I think they’re gorgeous! And they’re so much FUN!!

I’m so grateful to God for giving me these two amazing and rambunctious cats. At times they try my patience, but even then I’m blessed to have them.

The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel. ~ Proverbs 12:10, NLT.

Feb14

My Greatest Need

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4“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” ~ John 15:4-5, NKJV.

My greatest need has nothing to do with material goods, or having enough food to eat, or human relationships, or having a lot of friends on Facebook, or any earthly thing. It has solely to do with being pleasing to God, and having a relationship with Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit living in me to guide me. Nothing else matters to me. Nothing else holds any sway in my heart. There may be other things I enjoy doing, like counted cross stitch, or listening to great music and looking at great art, or playing with my cats, but those things pale in comparison to knowing God, and loving Him more and more deeply.

As Jesus said in the Scripture passage I quoted above, without Him I can do nothing (John 15:5). Any of you who’ve followed this blog for any length of time know that I’m only alive to tell my story because of God’s saving and rescuing power, pretty much from birth on, so as far as I’m concerned, what Jesus said is literally true. I really can’t do anything without Him.

7I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! ~ Philippians 3:7-11, NLT.

This passage from Philippians is my life in a nutshell. And I love what it says:

“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” ~ Philippians 3:10, NKJV.

This is going to be a short post. I’ve said what I needed to say, so I’m done! Yippee!! Thank you Jesus!!

Apr26

Solomon and Gracie

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I lost my Lily in December of 2020, and I’ve missed having a cat around since then. It’s been a very long time, and I’ve been pretty lonely, even with God to talk to. There’s nothing like a purring cat to make you feel content and peaceful, and since Lily’s death, the closest thing I’ve had to petting a cat or hearing one purr is watching cat videos on Facebook. A paltry substitute, I must say.

Well, all that is about to change, because I’ve applied to adopt a cat, and my application has been accepted, and I’ve found two kittens to adopt. They’re a brother and sister bonded pair, and they’re both Siamese with blue eyes. They’re five weeks old as of last Friday. I can’t bring them home yet, though. They have to weigh at least five pounds before that can happen, plus they have to be spayed and/or neutered, dewormed, and microchipped.

But the cool thing is, I got to meet them today, and it turns out that the boy is a flame-point Siamese! That might not mean much to anyone else, but my last cat, Lily, was a flame-point Siamese, and flame-points are gorgeous cats. They start out white as kittens, and then as they grow, they turn orange. Their ears are orange, and their tails are white white orange stripes. And they have the characteristic blue eyes of the Siamese.

I’ve had a thing for blue-eyed cats most of my life. When I was a child we had an orange tabby cat named Dennis the Menace, and he had bright blue eyes. And because of the constant chaos and abuse in my family, Dennis was my only friend, and constant companion. The only time I felt safe was when I was alone, or when I was with Dennis. He didn’t judge me, and he never questioned anything I said, or called me a liar, or told me I was stupid. He just listened and let me cuddle with him, and loved me. I really think God used Dennis to help keep me sane and alive. He was like an angel with fur on.

I’ve thought a lot about Dennis the Menace during the process of looking for my new kittens, probably more in the last couple of weeks than I have in many years. And I’m realizing just how wonderful he was to me back then. I wish I could meet him again so I could thank him, but maybe thanking God is enough.

The kindness and goodness of God is beyond all measure! That He would make one of the new kittens a flame-point just amazes me. I didn’t tell anyone that I wanted a flame-point. All I said was I wanted a Siamese with blue eyes. Thank you, God!! I love You so!!

So now I have to name them. Up until now the woman who’s fostering them has been calling the girl Dixie, and the boy Finn, but when I was playing with them today, she told me I could change their names if I wanted to, because they’re so young that they haven’t had time to learn those names yet. And they’re SOOO CUTE!! I just had to say that. They’re just SOOO darn CUTE!!

I’ve been thinking I might name the boy Abraham, and call him Abe for short. Or David ~ Dave for short. Or Isaac, or Isaiah, or Elijah ~ Eli for short. I really like Bible names. Or I could call him Solomon. That doesn’t really need a nickname, and I really like the way that name sounds.

And then I could call the girl Ruth, or Naomi, or Abby. I don’t want to name her Abigail because that’s my middle name. Or maybe I could name her Grace or Faith.

Okay. I have to start narrowing it down. I’m really leaning toward Solomon for the boy, and Gracie for the girl. And, as silly as it sounds, I’ve prayed about it, and Solomon and Grace feel right. Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, so maybe my Solomon will be a very wise cat. And Grace is God’s unmerited favor, and God has shone me sooo much undeserved kindness and favor, just in bringing me these wonderful kitties that naming her Grace, or Gracie, will remind me of how much God loves me every time I say her name.

I like the sound of that!

Now I get to show you all what they look like! On the right is Solomon, and on the left is Gracie.

Are they not the cutest, most adorable floofballs you’ve ever seen? I’m in LOVE!! When I was playing with them this afternoon, they were climbing all over me, and I felt the craving of my heart being satisfied. After all these months of no cat at all, to have God give me two, and they’re both Siamese with blue eyes!!

The goodness of God just overwhelms me, and my gratitude knows no bounds!!

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? ~ Numbers 23:19, NLT.

How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!…For the Mighty One is holy, and He has done great things for me. ~ Luke 1:47,49, NLT.