Louise

POEM FOR ANGEL MADISON

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

 

We are joining Sammy (onespoiledcat) again this week by writing another poem. Our challenge this week was to write a poem using the prompt letter “M.” With two angel cats and two current cats with names beginning with the letter “M,” I had several kitties I could choose to write about. I selected angel Madison. I recently wrote about him for Friendly Fill-Ins. If you missed that post, you can read it here.

Instead of sharing another photo of Madison, I have selected to share this portrait painted by Lou Belcher (Before You Write).

 

Madison

 

For Madison
A Poem from the Heart

 

Madison wandered the neighborhood for many months.
He would stop here often to have some lunch,
But he was shy and did not want to be touched.

We’d taken in stray cats through the years,
And the ones we couldn’t keep left me in tears
As they were all enchanting little dears.

Madison came back to our house day after day
And began living on our porch, no longer really a stray,
But he continued to shun my approaches and keep me at bay.

I swore I would not invite him to join the clan;
Though, I found myself becoming quite a fan
Of this most handsome, white-furred, blue-eyed man.

After six months I broke down and asked him inside,
As he was just such a sweet and well-mannered guy.
I realized I’d be stupid to let this opportunity pass by.

He and MacKenzie became the very best of friends,
And Louise he was always quick to snuggle and defend.
He was loved and cherished by all until his very end.

Madison became an angel at less than 12 years old.
It broke my heart as his frail body became cold,
And I realized he’d no longer be here for me to hold.

Madison returned once to the garden for a visit,
And I wished that I could have given him a kiss
To let him know just how much he was missed.

I knew he was there to let me know he was okay
And that the two of us would meet again some day
To love each other forever, snuggle and even play.

Madison truly was a special cat, and it did break my heart when he died 13 days after being diagnosed with lymphoma. Madison was not quite 12 years old, and he had been with us for just ten years.

One of the things we enjoyed was sitting together on a bench in the garden. So, I was not surprised when he visited me while I was working in one of the flowerbeds. I caught him approaching out of the corner of my left eye. The visit only lasted a few seconds, but it brought me such peace. I think of that day and my special Kitty, Madison, often.

RAINBOW BRIDGE REMEMBRANCE DAY WITH OUR ANGELS

RainbowBridge-Web

 

Zee & Zoey’s Cat Chronicles have created a very special day, Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, to honor and remember “those cherished pets we have lost but not forgotten.”

Whether your beloved pet had fur or fins, scales or feathers, they had a special place in your heart of hearts.

Today we are honoring and remembering the nine angel kitties in our family as well as our honorary kitty angel, Nylablue.

 

Angel Skooter

Skooter

Angel Steamer

Steamer

 

Angel Daphne

Daphne

Angel Thelma

Thelma

 

Angel Louise

Louise

Angel Chloe

Chloe

 

Angel Twinkle

Twinkle

Angel Madison

Madison

 

Angel MacKenzie

MacKenzie

Honorary Sisfur Angel Nylablue

Nylablue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about them, you can visit our The Felines page.

We’d also like to remember and honor the two woofies who came before any of us, Smack and Poppy.

Please consider taking part in this first annual event. The hope is it will be the first of many to come. You are encouraged to post on your blog, your Facebook page, or any other social media of your choice in memory of your angel anipals.

This event is hosted by Purr Prints of the Heart. Although this was a day originally created in honor of  Zee and Zoey’s Mr. Jazz, it will now honor all those who have crossed their Rainbow Bridge.

Today, we are sending purrs and prayers to all the families and friends with angels who have crossed that Bridge.

Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

CATURDAY ART WITH LOUISE

LouiseCaturday2

Continuing with the theme of introducing you to the kitties of the past for the Caturday Art Blog Hop, this is Louise as a very young cat. We recused her, her sister, Thelma, and other kittens from the engine compartment of my car. They were the second litter that had been deposited there by a neighborhood stray we simply called, “Mom.” Daphne from a previous, engine-deposited litter of Mom’s already was a member of our household when solid-black Thelma and solid-grey Louise became cats four and five in our home.

Louise was a very shy cat. During her 17 1/2-year lifetime very few people ever saw her, and she would dip her head whenever the camera came out making it difficult to get decent photos of her. Later in life, she mellowed (and I think was partially deaf), so didn’t run and hide the moment a human other than her dad or I entered the room or approached her. Louise was fortunate to enjoy such a long life as she underwent several surgeries in her lifetime to remove recurring fibrosarcoma tumors. She passed naturally at home in my arms in 2009.

I am participating in Athena, Cat Goddess’s Caturday Art Blog Hop. You can enter your art or view the other submissions by clicking on the badge.

The art here was created using PicMonkey by applying dark edges in green and two textures (burst and water) to the original photo and then a frame. I selected the green color in honor of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day.

FRIGHTENED FIONA

Mom tries to protect me from the intruder.

Mom tries to protect me from the intruder.

Can you see how frightened I look? The humans had a houseguest this weekend. She stayed for two nights. I don’t like strangers in my house. They said she wasn’t a stranger and that she had stayed here before in 1995. But I’d never met her as that was way before I was born. It wasn’t even in this century!

I’m particularly miffed at my humans. They didn’t have the courtesy to tell us she was coming. I guess we should have expected something unusual was going to occur. Mom had been spending bunches of time in the guest room with the door closed. The only other time she was in there that much was after she broke her leg. And then she let us come in with her.

Anyway, they said her name was Kathy. Mom and Dad seemed to enjoy her being here, but her visit was way too long for me. I wouldn’t have come in the house if I could have gotten my meals on the deck.

Of course, some of my housemates were all over her trying to get some extra attention and affection. Even Lily Olivia was being friendly. And Astrid sat outside her door after she went to bed. I don’t understand them acting so needy. It’s not as if we don’t get lots of lovies from our very own humans.

I don’t even like it when Chris, who cleans up after us, comes to the house every other week. If I’m not already outside when she gets here, I will hide under the bed or in Dad’s closet until she’s gone. I know she is our local catnip pusher distributor, but I am still afraid of her. She brings out that big growly machine, moves our things around and touches our toys.

Mom says I am just like their previous short-haired, grey cat, Louise. She was afraid of everything. She even hid in a neighbor’s basement for two whole weeks after she went there to avoid some workmen who had disturbed her bird watching.

At least everything is back to normal now. But I know Chris comes again on Wednesday. The weather better be nice enough for me to spend the day on the deck.

Purrs and hugs, Fiona

 

MAN-CAT MONDAY: MADISON

As you can seen, Madison wasn't too keen on getting head kisses. But I just couldn't resist planting one on him.

As you can see, Madison wasn’t too keen on getting head kisses. But I just couldn’t resist planting one on him.

This is a photo of our beautiful, blue-eyed* boy, Madison, from 2002, the year after he adopted us. He showed up on our back deck, and though he wouldn’t let us touch him, he decided he was staying. As the months went by, we finally broke down his defenses, and he let us pet him. So after six months, we invited him to move in, and he graciously accepted. Our vet estimated that he was about two years old.

Madison was one of “The Best Ever” cats who has been a part of our household. He had wonderful manners until our other kitties corrupted him. And he loved, nurtured and bathed most of the other kitties, especially MacKenzie and Louise.

He had one crazy food fetish: the juice from green olives. When he smelled it, he lost all control of himself and misbehaved badly in an attempt to get this treat.

Sadly, we lost Madison in January 2011. He was diagnosed with lymphoma and died in my arms 13 days later. I have cried for every one of our kitties when they’ve left us, but Madison’s loss was particularly heartbreaking due to its abruptness and to the belief that he had been brought to us for a special purpose.

Madison's Angel vSquillion

Madison’s Angel vSquillion

I will share more about Madison as well as additional photos in the future.

I recently adopted this Madison Angel vSquillion in his memory. The kitties and I plan to send all our love to our sweet boy by way of this darling angel.

* Unlike many white, blue-eyed cats, Madison was not deaf. When he came to us, his left eye had what appeared to be an old injury. Our vet could not tell if he possibly was blind in that eye.

If you are interested in adopting one or more vSquillions you can do so at www.virtualsquillionshelter.blogspot.com.

CATS = LOVE

Madison loved Louise: Here he gives her a bath as she naps curled up next to him.

Madison loved Louise: Here he gives her a bath as she naps curled up next to him.

Siblings, Mauricio and Misty May, were great snugglers when they were babies. Not so much anymore!

Siblings, Mauricio and Misty May, were great snugglers when they were babies.

Always the gentleman, Madison shared his breakfast with kitten Giulietta. Always the gentleman, Madison shared his breakfast with kitten Giulietta.

Lisbeth and Astrid snuggle in their bed. Now only one at a time can fit in this bed.

Lisbeth and Astrid, as kittens, cuddle in their bed.

Caring  =  Sharing

and

 Sharing  =  Love

Sending all our love and good wishes to our furry friends and their human housemates.

Purrs, hugs and special head-butts for Valentines Day, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette

FIONA GETS SPECIAL TREATMENT

A Digression: After Christmas Bowl Games

After Christmas has passed I have more free time to relax. I spend lots of it sitting in the living room enjoying the tree while Dad Tom is watching Bowl game after Bowl game. When I was a teenager, four Bowl games (Rose, Orange, Cotton and Sugar) were contested. That was it…the end! This year when they continued to go on and on, I asked Tom how many bowls there are now. He said that he thought about 20.

Not wanting to be called out if this figure happened to be wrong, I decided to check Google to find the correct answer. So here it is: 35! (See note at the conclusion of this post with regard to the 2023-24 season.) I honestly can’t believe it. That’s a total of 70 teams, many of them unranked. The only reason I can think of for so many of these games is to line the sponsors’ pockets. Although, I am certain, participating in one of these games is quite a badge of honor for the players and their parents. I hope I have not offended anyone with my mini-rant. And anyway, I obviously am not writing a post about football.

Tree Watching

So back on topic: I watch the tree. Its lights and shining ornaments can be mesmerizing. When in the living room I am usually catless. Giulietta, however, and her sis, Fiona, sit on the other side of the door. Giulietta scratches on the door while Fiona whines. Unlike the other siblings, Mauricio and Misty May, they are nearly always together. I do sometimes separate them, as I am known for granting Fiona special privileges. She is such a good kitty and minds me quite well most of the time, so I will sneak her into the living room with me. Last night she hung out under the tree, but normally she is curled up next to or on top of me. And we nap!

Yesterday morning she joined me in bed, as I got up a little later than Dad Tom. After he fed the kitties, Fiona came back upstairs. She always sneaks up on me stealthily, and we have some alone time. Only occasionally, she sleeps on the bed so this is always a treat for both of us. She gets lots of one-on-one petting and rubbing without any of the other Kitties Blue butting in, and I get the warm fuzzies since she specifically sought me out.

In the spring and summer I occasionally let her off the screened porch and into the yard with me. You can read more about this in my post, “Cats in the Garden.”

Fiona & Thelma/Louise 

special treatment: grey cat on couch back

Fiona

Fiona resembles our previous cat, Louise. But, for some reason, I often call her by Louise’s sister’s name, Thelma. I can think of two possible reasons. Both names end in “a,” or because Thelma and Fiona share similar personalities and mannerisms. Fiona is only slightly more vocal than Thelma, who only talked at night after we went to bed. We would hear her downstairs in the foyer having conversations with toys or shadows or dust bunnies.We never really knew or discovered to whom she was speaking or what she was talking about!

And Thelma also was a stealth cat, having learned to approach without her bell making any sound. I miss both Thelma and Louise bunches and am glad Fiona often makes me think of them.

grey cat and black cat - special treatment

Louise and Thelma

In Conclusion

Last night was the Cotton Bowl. I spent the duration of the game in the living room alone, admiring the tree and doing a computer-generated puzzle of Mauricio. Fiona chose to nap on the dining room table with Giulietta.

But, as I finally finish this post (more server problems), Fiona is sitting on my lap purring and not even trying to touch the computer. Good kitty!

Note: For the 2023-24 Bowl Season, there were 60 bowl games: 43 in Division I, 4 in Division II and 13 in Division III. Yikes!

 

KITTIES BLUE HIDING

Inventive & Sneaky

grey cat inside a dishwasher

Fiona almost disappears against the stainless steel interior of the dishwasher.

Every cat needs a good hiding place or two or three, especially when one of the humans is trying to take it to the vet or another kitty is hot on its tail. Over the years our kids have been inventive and sneaky; though, sometimes they have not completely hidden but merely gotten themselves into a space unreachable by human hands. Both Thelma and Louise liked to flatten themselves against the wall under the very center of the king-sized waterbed.

This was the perfect tactic since even with the bedroom door closed and a kitty caregiver on each side of the bed, they could jump to the window sill and escape across the top of the bed. It didn’t matter if they were unable to escape the room. They knew that when caught we’d never keep our grip on a squirming, flailing, claw-extended cat. When the door was opened the gyrations would begin. Soon we would be racing after a feline flying down and up and up and down the stairs and throughout the house.

Before the New Kitchen

calico cat in a basket

Lily secrets herself from the other felines in a basket.

Prior to our kitchen redo, another of Louise’s favorite hiding places, which she usually saved for what Dad Tom calls, “The Round-Up,” (when the vet comes to the house for annual check-ups and shots) was on top of an enclosed kitchen radiator camouflaged by a curtain. And Daphne used that as a point of entry to a corner cabinet where she wedged herself behind a lazy susan. It took a contortionist (me) to drag her from this niche.

Long-haired tuxedo cat in a green pot.

Daphne tucks herself into a pot in the previous breakfast room.

Also before the make-over, all of our felines, as kittens, would crawl through a tiny space between a base cabinet and the stove if we didn’t keep it covered with cardboard and duct tape. Once there, they could scamper around under the peninsula and behind the cabinets. Every once in a while we needed to pull out the stove to retrieve the toys, pencils, corks, coins, bag ties and other bright, shiny objects that had been batted into or taken through the hole.

And again while we were in the old-kitchen era, every kitten found the built-in wine rack at the end of the peninsula. Its compartments perfectly fit their little bodies. This hiding place gave them the opportunity to attack the ankles of unsuspecting passersby!

 

Long-haired, grey, tabby kitten hiding in a wine rack.

Alex, another kitten from one of Mom’s* litters, tucks himself into the wine rack. (The wine rack is now enclosed inside an upper cabinet.)

 

Tuxedo kitten hiding in a bookcase and being watched by a tortoise shell kitten sitting on kitchen counter.

In the new kitchen, Astrid discovers Lisbeth’s hiding place during a rousing game of Hide ‘n Seek.

Hiding Place Elimination

The kitchen remodel eliminated the previous four hiding places. A variety of others remain. We still have plenty of radiators for a flexible cat to secret itself under or behind. And, of course, shelves, drawers, closets, laundry hampers and suitcases work well, often hiding and trapping a feline whose only intention was to take a quick look around.

Update to this post: Lisbeth has found a place to hide that we have never discovered! She scared us terribly when we thought she had escaped the house during a delivery. We spent hours searching outside and inside. I had convinced myself she had jumped in the delivery truck and only escaped it after it arrived at its next destination. Dad Tom and I went to bed, and I cried myself to sleep. When I got up at 3 a.m. to use the bathroom, Lisbeth showed up in the hall. I have never discovered where she was hiding during those 12-plus hours!

Hiding Assistance

But the sneakiest cats of all are the ones who help hide other cats. If you look closely, you can see Giulietta’s face peeking out from behind Fiona.

Long-haired grey kitten hiding behind short-haired grey kitten in a cat tree cubby hole.

 

Once, much to our dismay, Louise hid herself in our neighbor’s basement for two weeks. But that is a long story for a another post.

 

Misty May hiding in Christmas wrappings.

Mauricio discovers Misty May hiding in a bag of used Christmas wrappings.

 

These photos of cats in baskets, cabinets, pots and a variety of other creative places are a small representation of those we have snapped of cats in hiding. In the future I definitely plan to share others as some are hysterical.

 

Black and white (tuxedo cat) hiding inside desk.

Mauricio wiggled his way onto a shelf of tablets to spy on Tom while he worked at his desk.

 

And, if you would like to see photos of cats in hiding already posted, please visit, “Cat in a Box” and “Cats in High Places.”

Speaking of “Cat in a Box”: With the holidays coming, carefully check all shipping boxes prior to sealing and mailing. This morning, Astrid, Giulietta and Mauricio were all in danger of being sent out-of-state to Meredith. (Her Comments you often can read here.) As the box was already heavy with books, I might not have noticed the extra weight!

Where do your cats like to hide? You can tell me about their favorite hiding places by leaving a Comment below. Maybe it will help us the next time one of our pusses pulls a disappearing act.

* Mom was a stray cat and the mother of our cats, Daphne, Thelma, Louise and Twinkle as well as many others for which we found homes.