Czeltic Girl

This was supposed to be happy fun week.

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 | Kitty! | 9 Comments

But the excitement of closing on my house was far overshadowed by the sadness of losing Norm.

She was 19 and not in the best of health. Wednesday and Thursday, she ate very little. Friday she ate almost nothing. By Saturday, she’d stopped eating at all. I wasn’t sure she’d make it through Sunday night. But she did. She made it through Monday, too. I kept hoping she’d go in her sleep, but for all her systems that were failing, her heart was still going strong. This morning, it was clear that even though she was so weak, it might be a while yet. I had little choice but to call my vet.

In two more years, Stormy would have been with me half my life. It was really hard when we lost Cliffy a year and a half ago. Norm and I spent a lot of time pretty much attached to each other after that. Coming home tonight to no cats at all was really hard. The house feels empty (and not just because I’ve moved a bunch of stuff over to the new place already).

It’ll be a little strange to not wake up during the night tonight and not find a paw in my face or someone licking my hair. I’ll miss Norm’s little meow (and her not-so-little demanding meow) and the hassle of trying to use the computer while a cat sleeps across one arm. I’ll even kind of miss her annoying habit of letting herself into the bathroom while I’m in the shower, leaving the door open and letting out all my nice steamy air.

She’s reunited with her sister now, up in Mom’s little pet cemetery (seriously — whomever owns that property next is going to think odd things of our family if they start digging. Cats, dogs, horses… there’s a lot buried up there). I miss them both dearly.

R.I.P., Normie. I miss you, little girl.
July 1990 – September 2009

A post not about swine flu

Thursday, April 30th, 2009 | Kitty! | 1 Comment

No, really. This entry is pandemic-free.

But it is about kitties. There — doesn’t that make you feel better already?

First up is a video from the best weather forecast ever. I think I’d be far more likely to believe a weatherman holding a cat than I would one who isn’t. Or maybe it’s just that I’m far less likely to actually be listening to the weatherman holding the cat, and therefore won’t know that what’s he’s forecast is incorrect. (And I’m not just saying that because this particular weather forecast is in German.)

And second, a BBC story on what must be the best library ever. Man, I wish my library had a cat who’d come to visit. I’d be there even more often than I am now. Ooh, better yet — a cat for the downtown library. How awesome would it be to climb into the lighthouse in the children’s library and find a cat curled up inside? (Gonna need to keep a close eye on the door to the rare books room, though. That’s probably not the best place for a cat.)

Attention cat owners

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | Kitty! | 1 Comment

Want to be your cat’s hero? Get a pack of these Wildside Salmon cat treats.

I got one as a gift. I have since renamed it “kitty crack.”

Norm’s always been a fan of treats, but I’ve never seen her go as insane for any treat as she does for these. I had to put the package in a cupboard the first night I opened them. She saw where I put them atop the bookcase and I was awakened during the night to the sound of Norm trying to liberate the rest of the package from its hiding spot. My elderly cat. Climbing. This was serious treat love, especially since she normally couldn’t care less about salmon.

So give ‘em a try. If your cat likes them even half as much as Norm does, it’ll be a total win.

(The gift pack these were in also contained chocolate espresso cookies for me. Norm & I spent much of the delivery day saying “Nom!”)

Bracing myself

Monday, November 17th, 2008 | Kitty! | 6 Comments

My least favorite part of any vacation is taking the cat to Mom’s. Neither cat was ever good at riding in the car, but Norm’s specialty is crying the entire length of the drive. It’s a combination of irritating and heartbreaking and it lasts the full half hour of the drive.

Special bonus for the cat: Once we get to her grammy’s house, there will also be a 2-year-old running amok. Elderly cats are wildly fond of toddlers.

So I look over at her now, snoozing in the cat condo her Uncle Mike built for her, and I think, “you’re gonna hate me in about an hour.” I don’t think it’s any comfort to her that I’m not thrilled about it either.

She’ll be fine, of course. She likes going to Grandma’s. (There are stairs! And a solarium where she can sleep in the sun! And new things to sniff!) She just doesn’t like getting there.

Quite accurate in the pillow region

Sunday, August 26th, 2007 | Bloggity goodness, Kitty! | 1 Comment

A cat’s map of the bed

(Do spend time prowling around Strange Maps. It’s a wonderful site.)

They’re still not getting a car

Saturday, July 14th, 2007 | Kitty! | 10 Comments

The girls turned 17 this week.

In true 17-year-old cat form, they slept through most of it.

I need a ruling here

Friday, June 8th, 2007 | Kitty!, Life in Czeltistan | 3 Comments

I keep a stash of newspapers around the house and use them as a kind of mat under the cat boxes. So I get home tonight and realize one of the cats has missed (or likely, ignored) one of the boxes and just gone on the paper instead. She’s gone right on a picture of Milosevic.

Can I actually be angry about this? I’m thinking not so much.

Creepy, but adorable

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007 | Kitty! | 2 Comments

Tiki, The Mayor of Nakedville (completely SFW, though your coworkers may wonder what the hell you’re laughing at)

He’s also got a food blog and a second blog with his roomie!

(Special thanks to coworker Kristel for derailing any attempts at me getting work done this afternoon.)