Tagged!

Our dear friend Puddles from Texas has tagged all of us, even me! So I get to have a diary of my very own and tell 5 things about me.

1. I'm not related to the other four cats in the house.
2. I am the most timid of all of us, but surprisingly the most playful and vocal (expecially at 3 am).
3. Mummy looked at every single adult cat at the RSPCA before she saw me hiding in my cardboard box. My previous owners had been evicted from their house and had to surrender me.
4. My fur is black at the tip and arctic white underneath.
5. No-one can pick me up without being shredded, not even Mummy.

Now I am passing on to Orkney to tag 5 more kitties for us.

A Hollow Victory?

After having the Funky Hollow in our home for over 2 years, I have finally been brave enough to climb on it! It's great because I can see the other cats coming and get ready to make a dash for it. I love it! Hooray for me! Mummy has posted a couple of pics of me on it. Like most pics of me, they're pretty average. Mummy says this is because I am so dark and I only come out when the light is dim. Whenever I can I tend to lie on dark things so I'm camouflaged, which really doesn't help. Of course, one day she may actually work out how to use her new digital camera and put some DECENT photos on. MOL!

Clash of the Titans

As you may know, Orkney and Zephyr like to pick on me. I was minding my own business last night when they both decided to give me some stick simultaneously. Naturally I hissed my head off and dashed into the nearest hiding place. Thwarted of their fun, the two bullies decided to assault one another. Boy, you should have heard the screaming (teeheehee). Mummy chucked them both outside to cool off (double teehehee!). I lost a bit of fur at the start of the melee but it was worth it to see them get each other into trouble. MOL, MOL, snicker snicker.

Coming out of hiding

I asked Mummy if I could write in my diary, because everybody gets to write in their diaries except me, and it's not fair! Although I must admit not much happens to me except constantly getting chased by the Alphacat Orkney and the 2IC bully Zephyr. Zephyr scared me so badly the other day I hissed myself into an attack of wheezing, but most of the time she leaves me alone now and I am free to roll around the bed next to Mummy's head. I love to lie on my back with my hind legs up and dare Mummy to pat my tummy for longer than two seconds. And she loves to push down on my legs and I push back to see who can push the hardest before it all degenerates into kangaroo kicks. In fact, I am the most playful of all of us, and the most talkative. Zephyr says I make stupid noises, but it's better than the feeble little squeaks she utters, and only if she sees food does she say anything, which figures.

The Vet Says

The vet says that I have intestinal lymphoma, which is not a good thing. Mummy is giving me pills twice a day and they are making me feel a lot better and bringing back my appetite, which had all but disappeared entirely. I've always been a healthy cat and this is the first time Mummy has ever had to pill me, but I am taking it like a champ, suprisingly so as I have always been very timid and a stress-head. Normally I would sulk for 24 hours just because I got that flea stuff put on me, but I have not been sulky at all about my pills.
I have to go back and see the vet on Friday, and we will see if the pills are helping the lymphoma as well as boosting my appetite. In the meantime I am staying comfy on Mummy's bed.

The News is Not Bad

My morning started out pretty badly, excepting the Purina raid on the cupboard (see Orkney's diary for details of this daring robbery). Mummy put me in the Portajail, which she then placed on a chair while she fetched her shoes from the front door. I was
scrabbling around in the Portajail and I rocked it right off the chair. Mummy was horrified to see the cage hit the ground with me inside it. She tried soothing me but I can't be soothed when I know I'm going on a car ride to the v-e-t! Luckily I was not hurt, just a bit stunned and upset.
The v-e-t was pleased to find that the medication has resulted in a marked reduction in the size of the mass in my abdomen. I have not lost any weight and my appetite is still keen. So it looks as though I will have to continue on this medication unless there is any change in my condition, at which time I will be re-assessed.
I am so grateful to everyfur who has sent me their kind wishes, purrayers and rosettes and will thank mew all purrsonally.
One odd thing though - I have also undergone a radical purrsonality change! From being a total coward with other cats and people, I am now marching around demanding attention! Mummy is not sure why this would be so...but she loves me however I am!

Belated Update

Well, last week it was a toss-up as to which was sicker, me or Mummy's computer, and speaking of toss-ups I did so every morning at 5 am about six inches away from Mummy's head, not to mention all over the carpet. I didn't feel much like eating either. I went back to the v-e-t who said I had an infection and also the mass in my abdomen had grown again, so I am on antibiotics, and increased cortisone. I am doing much better than last week, although I am by no means looking robust. After more than a week with no computer access at all, Mummy is touched to see I have many more get well wishes and rosettes, and I will thank efurryone pursonally for these ASAP. I'm sorry I have not been able to do so earlier.

A Pet Peeve

I wasn't well last night, and Mummy booked an appointment at the v-e-t for first thing this morning. My nose is all stuffed up so I spent the night quietly resting with my paw on Mummy's arm while she stroked my head.
When we got to the surgery there were already patients there, one a kitty being loosely held in a towel on his human brother's lap. The kitty got a fright and made a dash for freedom, running head-first into the closed glass door and nearly knocking himself senseless.
Then a man came in with a red kelpie. While he was at the counter the dog ran over to my carrier and started yapping and looking in at me. As if I wasn't stressed enough! Mummy told the owner rather sharply to keep a hold of his dog, but of course he couldn't because he came in without a lead for it. Probably thought it was too sissy.
The cat could have been contained in a sturdy cardboard box, and the dog controlled by a piece of twine attached to its collar. Surely commonsense would tell you that if you are going to a place with other animals, you should restrain yours. But I guess that presupposes all humans have common sense.
Anyway, I have more yucky pills to take for the URTI I have developed. I'm still eating though, which is a good thing.

Gone but never forgotten

This morning Mummy made the decision to let me go to the Rainbow Bridge. The masses in my abdomen had increased in size, I could not shake off the URTI even with the antibiotics, I had stopped eating and I had not drunk much in the last 24 hours. She believed it would be the kindest thing to let me go free of my ailing body. I have been a good cat and much loved for the nine years I have been with Mummy; she is devastated to say goodbye but glad that I am not suffering any more. She stroked me and talked to me as the vet helped me make the final journey. Thank you to all my friends for their support.

Life without Tara

I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I will not see Tara's beloved little face again in this lifetime. My four remaining cats were very subdued the day I returned home with the empty cat carrier...they knew it was all wrong. Orkney sat on my lap and purred quietly for me. Zephyr sat with me for hours that first evening. Bunty, missing her best friend, refused to sleep on the bed, which is almost unheard of. Only Arrow seemed unmoved, although she too was quiet. And yet when I fed them in the morning, Arrow raced into Tara's "boudoir", looked at Tara's empty corner, then looked up at me and uttered several short sharp distressed meows.
I have read, appreciated and hope to respond to every message and rosette, and feel humbled that the timid little smoky black cat I rescued from the RSPCA nine years ago could inspire such love. I am so lucky to have had her presence brightening my life. And I am grateful that I still have four little furry buddies to love me and be loved.

- Tara's Mum, Belinda