Kitty Love

For those of you who haven't heard the news yet, Austin & I adopted two ADORABLE kittens last week!  We went to the Humane Society with the intent of adopting one playmate for Smudge who has been terribly lonely since we moved her into the apartment with us (she's used to sharing a home with four adults another cat and a golden retriever!)  When we arrived we were instantly drawn to this playful stripey kitten named Jude (we kept his name), but he was in a kennel with another little kitten... a black fluffy thing who is now named Simon (the name they gave him was dumb so we changed it)  Austin didn't like the idea of separating brothers, so when I suggested we look at some of the other kitties there, he asked "why don't we just get them both?"  First I felt his forehead for a fever, then I asked him to repeat himself, then I asked if he was serious.  For a man who has resisted and resisted me on getting another cat, he was now suggesting we adopt two!  Needless to say, we are now a 3 cat home... and I'm thrilled :o)  Simon & Jude are so much fun to watch and snuggle with, and Smudge is actually almost getting along with them already!  It's been one of the smoothest critter transitions I've ever witnessed, I'm so excited by it!  The boys go to the vet this afternoon for their first post-adoption check up, and I'm glad for it as they've been sneezing a LOT and I think they may have picked up upper respiratory infections at the Humane Society (very common in kennel situations) I just want to get it under control before Smudge picks it up too!

 Momma Catz - Smudge!

the babies... Jude (bottom) and Simon (top)

Photo of the Day: Catnap

I've really been missing my kitties lately.  For the really dedicated readers, you may recall that two of my cats ran away last spring (Herman & Fowler).  The last couple of weeks I've been thinking about them A LOT and wishing we just knew for sure if someone had taken them in and ignored the fact that they had homes, or if something awful happened or they lost their collars and got picked up by a shelter or WHAT... anyway, I thought I'd post this photo today of Herman taking a snooze on our rocking chair, one of his favourite places to relax... I remember searching for my camera to take this praying he wouldn't move because I was cracking up at the way he had his face smashed into the cushion and really wanted to capture it!  So glad I did... miss you boys, hope you find your way home again someday!

Photo of the day - An Introduction

Meet Smudge! She is the newest addition to our family, since after 4 months of searching, it doesn't appear Fowler and Herman are coming back to us... :o(

I used some of my birthday money this year to adopt Smudge (10 weeks in this photo, day I brought her home). Jared and I went to the Michigan Humane Society, "just to look" and inevitably I fell in love and couldn't leave without her. She is the most precious kitten in the world and has a huge personality (as do most van Rossum kitties...!) She is so soft and full of life. When I brought her home she had piercing blue eyes, but they are starting to turn green so we'll see what happens there. She had been dropped off at the home of one of the MHS staffers and was not doing so well... she had fleas, earmites and an upper respiratory infection. Now she's doing very very well, and has almost kicked the upper respiratory entirely (fleas and earmites are all gone too!) She has doubled in size in the 3 weeks that we've had her and loves dogs. She and Micah have great fun chasing each other around, and she and Chloe (my fiance's very high-maintenance Weimeriner) actually get along great too! Zieltje (the matron of the house) has adapted very well to her, and tolerates her most of the time, though she doesn't hesitate to beat the crap out of Smudge when she's had enough of the kitten energy, which is kinda funny to watch. Anyhow she's so freaking cute I just had to post this pic and introduce y'all to her! (I can't take credit for her name, her foster mom named her, but it was so perfect I had to keep it this time!)

For more Smudge photos, click here!

Week One

So Fowler and Herman are still MIA... and each day gets more frustrating for me. In the last several days we've probably had a dozen people call to let us know they've seen cats that may or may not be ours, but every search we've then gone out and conducted has turned up zero kitties... ours or otherwise. We've been checking in at shelters regularly, have posted hundreds of fliers and passed them out door to door in at least a half mile radius of the house, and have even posted fliers in all of the businesses we live near, just in case.

I know a few people who have had cats gone missing only for the worst to happen, but many many many people I've come in contact with over the past week have shared stories of their own cats (or cats of people they know) who went missing for up to a month and then one day showed up back at home, just fine.

I keep holding on to the hope that they are in fact fine and healthy and will be home soon, but my sleep is really suffering in the mean time... which is really unusual for me. Stress doesn't normally effect my sleep, but I haven't had a single good night's rest since they left. Last night my brother took me to Meijer where we bought some lavender bath foam and a lavender candle. He ran a hot bath for me while I dug out some comfy pjs and I soaked for awhile in lavender bliss... then I had the candle on my warmer next to my bed, and I slept *better* last night than I have all week... so at least it helped (still not an amazing night's sleep, but way better than it has been!)

I just miss my kitties... so do Zieltje and Micah, both of them are still very restless... they know something isn't right.

So here's to hoping Fowler and Herman are safe and sound, and that they will both come home very very very soon!!! :o(

missing kitties :o(

So Herman and Fowler have been missing since Sunday... that in and of itself worries me enough, but the act that we've been having snowstorms since Sunday night makes me even more worried... we have been out every single day shaking the treats, calling them, looking, passing out fliers to neighbours, posting fliers on lamp posts etc and there's still been no sign of them. At first I thought maybe they had been trapped in someone's garage over night which made me feel a little better thinking they'd at least been sheltered from the rain and snow... now it's been 3 nights and they're still missing and I'm worried that maybe they're trapped somewhere without any food or water...

the house is so quiet without them... micah keeps pacing by the doors and whimpering, and Zieltje keeps snuggling up to us and curling up in front of the patio doors...

my poor kitties... I just hope they are safe and that they find their way home soon... :o(