It’s been on my list for a while to introduce my feline “co-workers” and give them a corner of the blog to express themselves. They are a constant presence and have a lot of influence on the day-to-day happenings around here, so it’s only fitting that they have a say too. 😼
Spunky
No foray into my cat-ladyness would be complete without a mention of Spunky. Spunky was my baby, my spoiled only kid of 14 years and a true force of personality in this house (and really anywhere he went). Although we lost him at the end of last year, I like to think of him watching over the chaos that has since descended upon our house and adding his color commentary to the goings on.
The Chaos Crew
Life without a cat was horrible, so our solution was to adopt four new cats and bring everyone home on the same day. It has been and continues to be wild, to say the least. One would frequently think that a herd of wild elephants is loose in the house rather than four cats.
For some context, the cats’ ages at the time of adoption in January 2023:
- Axel – about 2 years old
- Nikita – just under 7 months old
- Harrison – just over 5 months old
- Henry – just over 5 months old
Without further ado, here’s a bit of a bio for each of them:
Axel
(also sometimes referred to as “Mr. Fluffy Tail”)
Axel had been at the shelter for about a year before we adopted him after having been rescued from the street, malnourished with an upper respiratory infection and some issues in his eye.
He recovered with great care from the shelter and was a fan favorite with the volunteers. Every morning one of the volunteers would take him out of his cage and walk him over to the toy box to pick out his toys for the day. When he first came home, we were actually a little concerned that we, as only 2 people, weren’t enough human friends for him. Fortunately, he now has the other 3 cats to make up the balance plus, of course, our dinner party guests.
Although the oldest of the four, Axel is no stodgy old man. He’s got a play drive a mile wide and regularly bounds up and down the stairs to attack the shadows on the wall, fluffy tail straight up at attention. He wrestles with the other 3 cats, plays “king of the mountain” on whichever box we have out with Nikita, carries his toy of the moment all around the house, and occasionally steals our shoes.
Nikita
(also referred to as “Cuddle Bunny”)
Nikita’s MO is “I’m awesome and gorgeous. You may worship me now.” This black and white patched beauty was born while her mom was in foster care before heading back to the shelter. It’s obvious that she’s been adored for her whole life and expects that to continue. It will. Even though she’s only about a month and half older than H&H (who we’ll get to in a minute), she definitely has her “Cat” card and pretty much has from the beginning.
I would say that her outgoing personality is really what helped everyone to adjust to their new house and each other when they got here. She’s definitely the most adaptable of the four and is usually the first to greet new people when they come to our house.
Harrison (Ford)
To explain Harrison and Henry’s names, I need to note that they were found at a local Ford manufacturing plant. The shelter gave everyone in their litter “Ford” names.
Harrison is a long, lean cutey who just wants to be loved. However, he has two kitten challenges to overcome. He is curious about everything and likes to explore by leaping onto things that he should not be leaping on to (like ductwork in the basement). The other is trying to eat whatever he wants to investigate. The latter behavior led to an emergency vet trip and surgery to remove a bell during his third week with us. Truly, as he looks around, you can just see the cartoon style lightbulb click on over his little kitty head when he sees something to get into.
Henry (Ford)
If Henry wasn’t a kitten, he would totally be a Regency Era English gentleman. His little orange tuxedo and high white stockings on his hind legs are just too much to resist.
Dear Henry is our most independent spirit of the bunch. While he romps and plays with the rest of the Crew, he’s also quite content to go off and do his own thing for hours at a time. Everyone else will be napping together and he’ll be the only one awake and having a one-sided conversation with the chipmunks on the other side of the door.
Henry and I are in an ongoing disagreement about what constitutes an appropriate number of hugs. His idea is zero. Mine is significantly more than that. Fortunately, he happens to be completely food obsessed. So, I may make him “pay” for everyone’s treats by letting me hug him. Every afternoon, he wakes up from his afternoon nap around 4:30 and comes over to meow at me that it’s “afternoon treat” time. Unfortunately, Henry only has one volume–loud. This means that he wakes everyone else up from nap time as well, and I end up surrounded by a horde of little piranhas. It’s only after Henry pays me with a hug that treats can happen.
Welcome to the Chaos
The Chaos Crew is a lively bunch to be sure. I know that Spunky spends a lot of time watching from on high, shaking his head, and providing some harsh coaching advice on what each of them should be doing to appropriately train me.
Stop by this section of the site to see what wild things the Crew has been getting into.
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