Reintroducing myself and my cats with pictures of Molly and Tortle or a trip down memory lane

I've been promising to introduce myself more officially so here goes! My
best friend and husband David and I share our lives with 5 lovely
masters--Clover, Hailey, Gollum, Linden, and Sophie. We live in a
beautiful, semi-rural area of Northern California near the redwoods--about 2
hours north of San Francisco. We both work in Health care--David is the
night supervisor in the local hospital lab and I work in Public Heath as a
Microbiologist.

Enough about us--on to the cats! To properly understand my cat "collection"
you have to realize I never intended to have more than a couple, maybe three
cats at a time--anything more kind of put you in the category of "crazy cat
lady", a title I now wear with great pride. Unbeknowst to us, our oh so
lovely neighbors decided to stop feeding their cats--most of whom were feral
to semi-feral. We ended up taking in several cats/kittens at that time,
including Tortle, Hailey and Molly. Tortle and Hailey were itty bitty
kittens--maybe 5 to 6 weeks old. Molly was probably about 10 at the time.
And although several others have gone on to the rainbow bridge, we took in
several other cats from this neighbor incident--Samson, Schwartz, Ruby,
Sméagol, Zorro--I don't remember them all. We also didn't realize that some
city folk like to dispose of unwanted cats in the country, thinking that
some kind-hearted person will take them in or that, miraculously these naive
kitties can fend for themselves. Over the years we have also taken in
several of these poor bewildered cats: Clover and Sophie are two that came
into our lives as disposable kitties. We have had as many as 7 in the house
and 3 or 4 ferals that we trapped, neutered and then fed--Zorro now holds
that honor.

I thought I'd introduce two kitties that have both made the journey to the
Rainbow Bridge, Molly and Tortle. Someone on one of the newsgroups was
talking about "heart cats". Both of these sweet girls were my heart cats.
Tortle was a remarkable little person--loving, playful, all the best things
you expect from a cat. I posted her tribute when I introduced myself in
February. She was best friends with Molly, the most unflappable cat I have
ever had the pleasure of knowing. Momma Cat (now Molly)--the neighbors were
going to stop feeding her, too and she was definitely not a feral. She
lived up to her name--when we got Tortle and the other kittens she hissed at
them once and then took over mothering duties (except for nursing and she'd
let them try to nurse on her!) She was about 10 when we got her in 1998 and
we didn't know she was deaf--it didn't seem to slow her down at all. She
and Tortle have always been best buddies. We would take her with us on
trips--she didn't mind the car ride at all. She liked going on walks,
although she wasn't very guidable! She was really an incredible cat. She
ended up with CRF but was always a very good patient--we would have to give
her fluids and she would purr throughout the entire process (unlike Tortle,
who had acute kidney failure and would fight like a demon when we'd try
fluids on her!) We finally had to send her off to the RB last April--she
was at least 17 years old, possibly older.

Here are some pictures, mostly of Tortle and Molly. The first few are of
Gollum and Linden--more about them later (and more photos!).

http://pets.webshots.com/album/56273...hFL?vhost=pets

Sorry to ramble on so--my cats so much a part of my life I tend to run on a
bit.

Bonnie

"22brix" wrote in message
...

Here are some pictures, mostly of Tortle and Molly. The first
few are of Gollum and Linden--more about them later (and more
photos!).

http://pets.webshots.com/album/56273...hFL?vhost=pets


They look inseparable! lovely pics - thanks.

--
MatSav

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:23:50 -0700, 22brix wrote:

I've been promising to introduce myself more officially so here goes! My
best friend and husband David and I share our lives with 5 lovely
masters--Clover, Hailey, Gollum, Linden, and Sophie. We live in a
beautiful, semi-rural area of Northern California near the redwoods--about 2
hours north of San Francisco. We both work in Health care--David is the
night supervisor in the local hospital lab and I work in Public Heath as a
Microbiologist.

Enough about us--on to the cats! To properly understand my cat "collection"
you have to realize I never intended to have more than a couple, maybe three
cats at a time--anything more kind of put you in the category of "crazy cat
lady", a title I now wear with great pride. Unbeknowst to us, our oh so
lovely neighbors decided to stop feeding their cats--most of whom were feral
to semi-feral. We ended up taking in several cats/kittens at that time,
including Tortle, Hailey and Molly. Tortle and Hailey were itty bitty
kittens--maybe 5 to 6 weeks old. Molly was probably about 10 at the time.
And although several others have gone on to the rainbow bridge, we took in
several other cats from this neighbor incident--Samson, Schwartz, Ruby,
Sméagol, Zorro--I don't remember them all. We also didn't realize that some
city folk like to dispose of unwanted cats in the country, thinking that
some kind-hearted person will take them in or that, miraculously these naive
kitties can fend for themselves. Over the years we have also taken in
several of these poor bewildered cats: Clover and Sophie are two that came
into our lives as disposable kitties. We have had as many as 7 in the house
and 3 or 4 ferals that we trapped, neutered and then fed--Zorro now holds
that honor.

I thought I'd introduce two kitties that have both made the journey to the
Rainbow Bridge, Molly and Tortle. Someone on one of the newsgroups was
talking about "heart cats". Both of these sweet girls were my heart cats.
Tortle was a remarkable little person--loving, playful, all the best things
you expect from a cat. I posted her tribute when I introduced myself in
February. She was best friends with Molly, the most unflappable cat I have
ever had the pleasure of knowing. Momma Cat (now Molly)--the neighbors were
going to stop feeding her, too and she was definitely not a feral. She
lived up to her name--when we got Tortle and the other kittens she hissed at
them once and then took over mothering duties (except for nursing and she'd
let them try to nurse on her!) She was about 10 when we got her in 1998 and
we didn't know she was deaf--it didn't seem to slow her down at all. She
and Tortle have always been best buddies. We would take her with us on
trips--she didn't mind the car ride at all. She liked going on walks,
although she wasn't very guidable! She was really an incredible cat. She
ended up with CRF but was always a very good patient--we would have to give
her fluids and she would purr throughout the entire process (unlike Tortle,
who had acute kidney failure and would fight like a demon when we'd try
fluids on her!) We finally had to send her off to the RB last April--she
was at least 17 years old, possibly older.

Here are some pictures, mostly of Tortle and Molly. The first few are of
Gollum and Linden--more about them later (and more photos!).

http://pets.webshots.com/album/56273...hFL?vhost=pets

Sorry to ramble on so--my cats so much a part of my life I tend to run on a
bit.

Bonnie


Thanks for the most interesting post. Your catkids are beautiful. Best
wishes. MLB

22brix wrote:

Sorry to ramble on so--my cats so much a part of my life I tend to run on a
bit.

I think most of us here understand the rambling-on part. Beautiful
pictures. Tortle and Molly were really good friends, weren't they.
Looking forward to hearing more about your clowder.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

22brix wrote:
snip
http://pets.webshots.com/album/56273...hFL?vhost=pets

Sorry to ramble on so--my cats so much a part of my life I tend to
run on a bit.

Bonnie

You have a beautiful clowder, nice d-things too. I'm curious about your
screen name, it obviously means something but not to me. :-)
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

"22brix" wrote in message
...
I've been promising to introduce myself more officially so here goes! My
best friend and husband David and I share our lives with 5 lovely
masters--Clover, Hailey, Gollum, Linden, and Sophie. We live in a
beautiful, semi-rural area of Northern California near the redwoods--about
2 hours north of San Francisco. We both work in Health care--David is the
night supervisor in the local hospital lab and I work in Public Heath as a
Microbiologist.

Enough about us--on to the cats! To properly understand my cat
"collection" you have to realize I never intended to have more than a
couple, maybe three cats at a time--anything more kind of put you in the
category of "crazy cat lady", a title I now wear with great pride.
Unbeknowst to us, our oh so lovely neighbors decided to stop feeding their
cats--most of whom were feral to semi-feral. We ended up taking in
several cats/kittens at that time, including Tortle, Hailey and Molly.
Tortle and Hailey were itty bitty kittens--maybe 5 to 6 weeks old. Molly
was probably about 10 at the time. And although several others have gone
on to the rainbow bridge, we took in several other cats from this neighbor
incident--Samson, Schwartz, Ruby, Sméagol, Zorro--I don't remember them
all. We also didn't realize that some city folk like to dispose of
unwanted cats in the country, thinking that some kind-hearted person will
take them in or that, miraculously these naive kitties can fend for
themselves. Over the years we have also taken in several of these poor
bewildered cats: Clover and Sophie are two that came into our lives as
disposable kitties. We have had as many as 7 in the house and 3 or 4
ferals that we trapped, neutered and then fed--Zorro now holds that honor.

I thought I'd introduce two kitties that have both made the journey to the
Rainbow Bridge, Molly and Tortle. Someone on one of the newsgroups was
talking about "heart cats". Both of these sweet girls were my heart cats.
Tortle was a remarkable little person--loving, playful, all the best
things you expect from a cat. I posted her tribute when I introduced
myself in February. She was best friends with Molly, the most unflappable
cat I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Momma Cat (now Molly)--the
neighbors were going to stop feeding her, too and she was definitely not a
feral. She lived up to her name--when we got Tortle and the other kittens
she hissed at them once and then took over mothering duties (except for
nursing and she'd let them try to nurse on her!) She was about 10 when we
got her in 1998 and we didn't know she was deaf--it didn't seem to slow
her down at all. She and Tortle have always been best buddies. We would
take her with us on trips--she didn't mind the car ride at all. She liked
going on walks, although she wasn't very guidable! She was really an
incredible cat. She ended up with CRF but was always a very good
patient--we would have to give her fluids and she would purr throughout
the entire process (unlike Tortle, who had acute kidney failure and would
fight like a demon when we'd try fluids on her!) We finally had to send
her off to the RB last April--she was at least 17 years old, possibly
older.

Here are some pictures, mostly of Tortle and Molly. The first few are of
Gollum and Linden--more about them later (and more photos!).

http://pets.webshots.com/album/56273...hFL?vhost=pets

Sorry to ramble on so--my cats so much a part of my life I tend to run on
a bit.


Hey, have you noticed the traffic on this NG? We ALL ramble "a bit" about
the kitties!

Fantastic kitties and doggie. Looking forward to hearing more.

--
Theresa, Stinky and Dante
drtmuirATearthlink.net

My husband started posting on newsgroups before I did and I stole his screen
name. Brix is a measurement used in wine-making. he went through a phase
where he was making wine--but not, of course from grapes. Being something
of a mad scientist he made wine from plums, various other fruits and the
strangest one, beets. An interesting wine to be sure!

Bonnie


"Adrian" wrote in message
...
22brix wrote:
snip
http://pets.webshots.com/album/56273...hFL?vhost=pets

Sorry to ramble on so--my cats so much a part of my life I tend to
run on a bit.

Bonnie

You have a beautiful clowder, nice d-things too. I'm curious about your
screen name, it obviously means something but not to me. :-)
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

"22brix" wrote in message
...
I've been promising to introduce myself more officially so here goes! My
best friend and husband David and I share our lives with 5 lovely
masters--Clover, Hailey, Gollum, Linden, and Sophie. We live in a
beautiful, semi-rural area of Northern California near the redwoods--about
2 hours north of San Francisco. We both work in Health care--David is the
night supervisor in the local hospital lab and I work in Public Heath as a
Microbiologist.


Welcome to the group. . . again. ;-D I grew up on a farm and for some
reason some people think that farms can always use another farm cat. Not
only are most house cats unsuited to barn work but most farms have as many
cats as they need. There are days when I hate people.

Anyway, your cats are beautiful and very obviously loved. I really enjoy
looking at the pictures that come from the owned in here

Pam S

My husband started posting on newsgroups before I did and I stole
his screen
name. Brix is a measurement used in wine-making. he went through a
phase
where he was making wine--but not, of course from grapes. Being
something
of a mad scientist he made wine from plums, various other fruits and
the
strangest one, beets. An interesting wine to be sure!


Your kitties are just stunning ;-) Real cuties ;-)

We used to make wine here, too... Not very often anymore. Homemade
beer was what my husband used to make and I made the wine.

I had some plum wine once... plum wine is delicious! But this
particular wine was nuclear prune juice, and it was the most potent
wine I had ever tried! I think one small (half of the dixie cup,
actually, maybe less...) dixie cup had me feeling a bit... well...
light headed! LOL! And this was at work!!! YIKES!!!

A friend had brought it in for another friend!

Beet wine, haven't tried that :-) Interesting ;-)

"mc" wrote in message
...
My husband started posting on newsgroups before I did and I stole
his screen
name. Brix is a measurement used in wine-making. he went through a
phase
where he was making wine--but not, of course from grapes. Being
something
of a mad scientist he made wine from plums, various other fruits and
the
strangest one, beets. An interesting wine to be sure!


Your kitties are just stunning ;-) Real cuties ;-

Thanks! I think they're pretty cute, myself.


We used to make wine here, too... Not very often anymore. Homemade
beer was what my husband used to make and I made the wine.

I had some plum wine once... plum wine is delicious! But this
particular wine was nuclear prune juice, and it was the most potent
wine I had ever tried! I think one small (half of the dixie cup,
actually, maybe less...) dixie cup had me feeling a bit... well...
light headed! LOL! And this was at work!!! YIKES!!!

A friend had brought it in for another friend!

Beet wine, haven't tried that :-) Interesting ;-)


Yeah, Some of the fruit wine was very potent. The ironic thing, we live in
the middle of wine country but David really didn't want to "do" grape wine.
Once or twice when David was gone, I remember having to move buckets of plum
wine in progress, frothing, foaming, bubbling over the sides of the bucket,
making a huge mess on the bottom of the shower. But it did make for some
wild times!

Beet wine is...um... an acquired taste!

Bonnie