Cats And Dogs: Doggie and The Klutz

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Yesterday, I put up a tribute to our two pets who have gone. They were such good friends and family members. Some people think we’re nuts to call them family but they were. They were with us in times that required comfort. I firmly believe that God puts pets into our lives to add fun, comfort and love. Can you tell me that a dog is not your companion? Most of them are, at least. Our Jazmine was all I could want for a four footed friend. She practically knew what we were thinking. She never knew another family in her life. I got her when she was five weeks old from a litter. One time, for two weeks, she stayed with my sis and bro in Texas. Beyond that, she was never away from home more than a day or two when she had medical problems.

Kitty was the blessing that God intended when my husband had a horrifying car accident in May of 1998. One month after that, we found Kitty in a grooming place. They were holding her since the area did not have a humane society and no dog pound. She was about three months old at the time and was a stray. We agreed to spaying her and took her home. She was the joy of our lives and a joy for Jaz who had no one but us to play with. I have to tell this story. First, know that she was not harmed. Second, this is one of those “you had to be there” things but it is so funny that we cannot get out of telling it. In fact, we probably have more Kitty stories than Jaz stories. Jaz was a good doggie and loved this cat but Kitty was the klutz.

Where we lived, we had a really good fireplace that put out an enormous amount of heat so we used it abundantly in the winter. One winter, we simply had no money left to put into home heating so the propane tank went dry right in the middle of the coldest time of the year and when the prices for propane were at their highest at the time. So, to compensate for that, we had wood brought in for the fireplace. All well and good but you must have kindling and something to start the fire. We gathered leaves which were abundant in our yard. Worked perfectly for starting fires as long as they were dry. Oh they were dry and crackly.

Dry and crackly, which brings me to the reason for telling this. Since Kitty was a cat, as in “curiosity killed the”, she was always wanting to know what was causing the noise, what was in the bags. We had plastic bags, the kind you get at all the grocery stores and discount stores, full of leaves…dry, crackly leaves. She loved to paw them to get the noise. Worked great…until. One day, she just got so curious that she put her head into one of the bags. Unfortunately for her, she also put it into the handle of the bag. When she raised her head, the bag..crackling and all, came with her. SCARED!!! She ran around our house so fast we could not catch her. Now, we had one of those houses with a complete circle that you could go so she did, round and round and round, scattering leaves as she went. When it was all over, we found her in the bedroom under the bed staring daggers at the bag that was next to her. I don’t think we stopped laughing for an hour. After that, every time a plastic bag crackled, she bolted out of the room. It took her years to get over that.

The exterminator had come a few days before this time and put down some traps for the roaches. We actually didn’t have any but that was standard procedure along with the spraying. Normally, Kitty would not bother these things. She could care less. However, one day, she decided to explore we think. We were talking in the livingroom when we heard a hiss, shuffle, hiss. Around the corner came Kitty scooting her front feet that were stuck together on a roach trap with the sticky stuff on it. I really think that she learned to live with our laughter when she pulled some of these things and came back for more.

We miss you both so much.

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My Tribute To Kitty And Jaz

It has been quite some time since I last posted on this blog. No, I’m not Tramaine. I am the owner of the blog who was allowed to be in the lives of Jaz and Kitty, our two pets who have passed away. They were the joys of our lives. We have Gizmo who remains. He misses his pals. We know this because he is very clingy now.

Jaz–1994-2008

I adopted Jaz from a litter of little baby Shi Tzu/Poodle mixes. Her litter mates were mostly curly haired little things that were pretty loud. There was one little one who came over to me right away. She sat down and looked at me like she knew I was hers. She was mine too. We were all we had for a while. Then Ed came into our lives and we were three. She was a joy to our lives. She is very much missed. I was blessed to have this wonderful baby in my life for 13 and a half years.

Kitty–1998-2007

We found Kitty at a grooming place. She was in a cage. She looked so sad until we took her home with us. Kitty was about 3 months old at the time. Ed had just had a car accident that was pretty bad so we were just starting to recover from that. She came into ours lives and became an immediate blessing. She loved Jaz from the first moment she saw her. Jaz loved cats so it was a mutual love. They played and enjoyed each other for many years. We lost Kitty very unexpectedly in December right after Christmas. We believe she held on as long as she could. Kitty was with us for 9 years. She is sorely missed.

We miss you both tremendously.

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Gizmo And Misty

I have to put these pics on this blog for all to see. As I mentioned, we had our black and white cat named Gizmo who had been having a hard time dealing with the loss of his friends. But we brought a new face into the house. Now they are best buds who play all hours of the day and night. We were not as happy with that part since they sound like a herd of something coming through the forest when they play. Then there’s the inevitable barking, hissing and growling when Misty pins Gizmo to the floor. Gizmo then tackles Misty, putting her face inside his paws (with no claws) and bites her nose. Very funny but not at 3AM.

Here are the two culprits:

Gizmo

Misty

More pics will be coming soon. We have a totally crappy camera and are trying to get another one that’s better. For now, these are the babies.

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More Sad News For Us

Tramaine is not going to be talking here for a while. I must tell you that he is a mythical character something like Garfield. Now, back to why we have not been on this blog for a while. After our Kitty died in December, we thought that things would eventually smooth out. It was a difficult time but we knew that we could manage without crying every day…after a while. We had just gotten to that point in our grief when, unexpectedly, our beloved Jaz died in February. She was almost 14 years old, a Shi Tzu/Poodle combo, solid black and incredibly lovable.

Before I was married, she was my friend and my companion. I told her everything. She was so sympathetic….as long as I gave her the treats in my hand. When I got married, she adopted my husband as if he had been here all the time. In fact, she started going to him for her meals. It was great.

But she had heart trouble. We did know that she was having problems for some time. She had started getting blind, she had arthritis too. However, she was doing fine even with those problems. Then one day toward the end of Feb. she started having more problems, not eating right, going to the bathroom much more, then not able to. When we took her to the doctor, she said that Jaz was going into heart failure. It was affecting many things. She died on Feb. 27th, almost two months to the day from when Kitty died. Our sorrow has been great.

And yet, God in His wisdom, saw fit to present us with a new bundle of joy. See, our Gizmo, black and white cat I usually use for an icon picture, was not taking the loss of both of his friends very well. He walked around the house like he was lost. And he was so clingy. We could tell that this was not going to go away anytime soon. In March, a dog at my Mom’s farm gave birth to five adorable puppies, a german shepherd/lab mix with a sprinkle of other things too. We adopted Misty, who is adapting to our home very well. She and Gizmo are best pals and play a lot now. Gizmo is definitely feeling better about things. And he gets to be king of the house so that makes him happy too!!!

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Yes, Tramaine is Back

I, Tramaine, Spokescat for the real world, am back. It has been a tough time around here for a while but things are getting back to normal. My nemesis, the black and white strange feline, has been acting in typical cat fashion. However, that is MY job, not his. He has taken over the bugging at night job. I relished doing that work but, no, he has to get up on the hu-man and do a dance, kneed and basically drive the hu-man to distraction, all part of the catly duties.

Now, I realize that things have changed. And I am now the senior cat as well as the Spokescat in this establishment but I am having a good deal of trouble convincing the black and white that I have that honor. You would think that he could get the idea but, noooooooooooo. He thinks he is the only cat around, ignores my authority completely and does what he pleases.

I have found myself off in a corner purring excessively from time to time. There is a headache in there somewhere. He even has the gall to tell about the litter box. Is there nothing I can do to this vile creature??? He has usurped my authority, taken over all of my jobs in this house, even gotten up in the laps to settle down. And now, he is also doing the nighttime harassing. I cannot live with this. I cannot work under these conditions. Perhaps I will paw in my resignation today. Okay, I’m THINKING about it.

Wait, are those my favorite treats over there in my dish? Am I in meow heaven now? (sounds of slurping and crunching) Maybe I was being a bit hasty about quitting. I could think about it more and see what comes up tomorrow. After all, there still needs to be a Spokescat and I am NOT handing that honor over to that vile little black and white furball!!!!!

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A Sad Day For Our Family

I am the human that allows Tramaine to be Spokescat here. However, today, he is not up to talking about this so I must do so. On the 28th of December, our lovely Kitty died unexpectedly. And because of that, neither Tramaine nor I wanted to post anything right away. So, if you were expecting something from him, I am sorry. He is simply unable to talk about this yet.

Thank you for reading. We will be back soon.

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The Life Of A Cat Is An Awesome Responsibility

Hi! Tramaine here again. I have been thinking about cats and the responsibilities we have to those hu-mans that we own. For one thing, they need to know when to get up, when to prepare breakfast and lunch and supper, of course. It is our responsibility to let them know that they are derelict in their duties to me…er, us when they do not give us our daily meals on time and in the fashion we are used to getting them.

In addition to meal notification, we also must let them know when there is an intruder in the house. You know, those little gray, furry things that squeak. They are tasty but I do not need those things and they are a bit tough to catch. I do not feel that it is my responsibility to keep watch on them or herd the things into a place where the hu-mans can pick them up. They only throw them outside. Useless!! They never watch what happens. The furry thing gets back inside and laughs at the hu-man. See, they got a carnival ride out of it and the hu-man thinks that they got rid of the things. Hu-mans have no clue.

We also are expected to tell when others are doing things wrong. Of course, I do not need anyone to tell on me. I do nothing wrong. However, Kitty and Gizmo are terrible. They get into the cat treats…no wait. That was me. They get into fights. No, that was me too. Hmmm.

Well, it was nice talking to you. Have a meowful day!! Bye now from the one and only Spokescat!

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Hi, This Is Tramaine Speaking

My name is Tramaine and I am a cat. Sort of a DUH moment, right? My picture is on the top of this blog so you have an idea of what I look like. And of course, I am Spokescat for the rest of the house. That includes that black and white thing that invaded our happy home and made life miserable for about a month. It wanted my litter box. MINE!!! The nerve.

Okay, the black and white CHILD is Gizmo. What a name for a cat. Well, he does not actually think of himself as a cat which only goes to prove how trailer park he really is. Then there is this furball that was here before I was. She wants to show you that she is the queen cat of the house. Hard to do with me around. Uh, wait a minute. I ain’t a queen. I’m a guy…..sigh. I got off track again. She is the oldest of us all and she goes by the truly imaginative name of….Kitty. Oh brother. These hu-mans can’t even get it together enough to name the cat something reasonable? Come on.

Anyway, that’s it for the real people. Then there’s this animal they call Jaz who is apparently a canine. Hard to tell. She sleeps ALL DAY, for crying out loud. No one sleeps ALL day. Sometimes, you have to get up to lick yourself, stretch and make life miserable for the rest of the crowd. There are jobs to attend to! You cannot be that lazy. Of course, she’s supposed to be really, REALLY old so maybe that’s it.

So, that’s the group you will be hearing from but I get to talk first because I am the Spokescat. Don’t you think that’s an important job? I do. And I intend for the rest of them to know that.

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