… Continuing (from yesterday morning) the Kat-Saga of commentor JustPeachyandYou:
This is the beautifully marked Daneel. His owners gave him up when they couldn’t afford the vet bills for a spider bite and subsequent abscess (which they unwisely treated with human steroid cream, causing it to swell like a balloon). He has a wide vocabulary of vocalizations – our vet asked if we might like to have him, and suckers that we are for a sweet meow, said yes. Daneel is unaccountably claustrophobic and has to be drugged so we can get him into a carrier for annual exams. He has taken up the noble duty of parading around the house with a rope. He loves to run. I wish we had a length-of-the-house hall for him to run in, so he could finally stretch his long body to the max.
This is Henry, the snuggliest cat we’ve ever known. His owners gave him up when they couldn’t afford the vet bill for a broken jaw and told our vet to put him down. As the jaw was fixable and the cat only 3 years old, our vet refused and talked them into signing him over to the hospital instead. (The story behind the injury changed several times, so we all suspect it was abuse, not the improbable accident they first described.) When Henry was finally free of the Frankenstein-like apparatus that held his jaw together and was ready for adoption, our vet asked if Mr. JustPeachy wanted to meet him. (If you see a pattern here with our vet, don’t think we haven’t noticed, but our vet is so good we overlook it.) Mr. JustPeachy was reluctant, as he still mourned the death of his BFF cat, Bigfoot, but agreed because our crafty vet said Henry was lonely. Mr. JustPeachy’s heart was completely lost when Henry jumped up on the lobby couch beside him, purring loudly, and rolled over to expose his belly for a good rub. Henry still snuggles with either of us whenever he can.
These are the Terrible Tonks, Niobe (top, smaller, with sea-green eyes) and Kazara Khan (bottom, lighter colored, crossed blue eyes). Niobe was rescued by a local group from a hoarder in Wyoming, where she was one of 21 cats in a single-wide mobile home (the smell alone should have been a clue to her neighbors). Mr. JustPeachy saw her in an “adopt a cat” cage at PetsMart, and, knowing that I love the Oriental breeds, called me while I was on my way home from a business trip. I went straight to the store, fell in love at first sight, and adopted her then and there. She is extraordinary. She’s a purebred Tonkinese (platinum mink, for you Tonk aficionados), less than 7 pounds, and is the Empress of the Entire Universe(TM). We thought we’d have to protect her from the other cats, especially the greys, but instead, we had to protect them from her. Poor Dr. Doom hid in the basement for a week. She *demands* love and admiration from all people (especially the furnace repair guy, for some reason) and all cats, and has a particular fondness for the affable Retief. She is now 17 years old (!), but no one told her — she still zips around the house like a mad cat, plays with toys, stands on her head, and plays with whoever she can strongarm into it. She only has 3 teeth left. Some idiot veterinarian who donates services to the rescue group diagnosed bad teeth, so said idiot simply broke the rotting teeth off at the gum line and sewed her up. It took our vet three rounds of increasingly wide-ranging blood tests and X-rays to discover and fix the source of her persistent low-lying infection.
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Kaz, the other Terrible Tonk, is my one indulgence, bought from a breeder and smuggled in carry-on luggage from Kansas to Colorado. She’s a platinum point and is “pet quality” because of her charmingly crossed eyes. She’s 1-1/2 years old, and still runs instead of walks, and demands grooming from time to time by the other cats. When Kaz and Niobe engage in Tonk Races (warp-speed chase) and Tonk Wars (mock epic battles), the wise human or feline just stays out of their way.
JGabriel
Open Thread! The New York Times calls the GOP shrill:
Is it accidentally funny, or did someone on the Times editorial page develop an actual and real sense of ironic humor?
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WereBear (itouch)
You have the most wonderful crew of kitties. As happens in rescue, every picture tells a story.
WereBear (itouch)
And, Kaz is not an indulgence, I’m sure Niobe appreciates it.
stuckinred
What a crew of gato’s!
JPL
JustPeachy, I can’t imagine what it is like when you arrive home. The chorus must be deafening. The kitties are lovely.
Linda Featheringill
Lovely family. You and Mr. JustPeachy are lucky ducks, indeed.
jurassicpork
My cat Popeye runs my life. I was conceived simply to be his butler and personal scratching post. He lets me live where I do at his caprice. In his mind, he rescued me.
Anyway, on the homefront: I didn’t ask for this to happen to me. I don’t blow what little money I have on coke, hookers and Tea Bagger candidates. But my car yesterday was deader than Ronald Reagan’s political career and I had to make a choice between the lesser of two evils. I need help more desperately than I’ve ever needed it. And, come what may, this is my very last appeal. Plus I’m offering something to anyone who can help.
stuckinred
@jurassicpork: I’m sure you priced an alternator from a junk yard? They are easy to put in.
Tim F.
Sounds like what you need in that house is a Jack Russell Terrier.
harlana
Beautiful creatures, beautiful stories! You and Mr Peachy have hearts of gold! As a cat lover, bless you especially for taking in abused pets.
Comrade Javamanphil
Advisers said the president would describe five “pillars” for ensuring America’s competitiveness and economic growth: innovation, education, infrastructure, deficit reduction and reforming government.
This is not the first time he has used the 5 pillar metaphor in terms of policy. Are they are doing this on purpose to keep tweaking the crazies on the right? If so, hysterical and actually worthy of an 11th dimensional chess reference.
Southern Beale
Ah loves me some happy orange felines!
Ija
I hate to pollute this thread with this garbage, but just want to let people know that abortion concern troll William-I’m-the-master-of-all-uterus-Saletan is back. This time admonishing feminist bloggers for not sufficiently answering his questions about the Gosnell case to his satisfaction. Choice words:
Yes Will, because you are the master of all things abortion, and feminist writers are answerable to you, and god help them if they don’t answer your questions to your satisfaction. Why don’t you lecture them some more about how they are falling short of your expectations and how they are not really serious about reducing baby killing.
Ab_Normal
Beautiful kitties! I’m feeling less nerdy this morning, as I’ve only named one cat after an SF character, a crazy little white kitten we called Feyd Rautha.
nancydarling
Peachy, Try putting your cat in a pillow case for trips to the vet. I had a cat like that once. I was in SoCal at the time and learned this trick from my vet. He was from Scotland (the vet, not the cat) and he always called me “Lass”—I adored him for that and because he was a wonderful vet. After I moved out of his area, I continued to drive quite a distance to see him before finally getting a new vet who was closer.
Paul in KY
Peachy, another method is you wrap the cat up securely in a towel & then put cat/towel in cat carrier. By time cat has extricated themselves from towel, voila! the cat carrier door is closed.
Or you could try a pillowcase :-)
Paul in KY
@Ab_Normal: That is a good name for a crazy cat!
Catsy
That is an absolutely precious collection of cats. I’m a sucker for breeds with point markings, and those two Tonks are just beautiful.
JustPeachyAndYou
@Everyone: Thanks for admiring the feline crew. Niobe would like to meet all of you and make you her loyal subjects.
@nancydarling & Paul in KY: Daneel is so claustrophobic that he won’t go into closets, and panics if something covers his head. The drugs are to slow him down enough that we can catch him and wrap him in a towel, then get him in the carrier. He’d claw his way out of any pillowcase not made of Kevlar.
@jurassicpork: We have a sign in our entryway that reads “The cats and their household staff welcome you.” We also have another one next to a frame full of cat photos that reads “We got rid of the kids – the cats are allergic.”
Paul in KY
@JustPeachyAndYou: Sounds like you have it under control! Good on ya for taking care of these beutiful animals.
asiangrrlMN
@JustPeachyAndYou: Your cats are all just so impossible adorable and loving and…happy sigh. I love a good animal rescue story! A house is not a home without our animal companions.
@Ija: Here’s my response (and it contains a snippet of your response), When you get a uterus, Will, call me. And address me as Ms. (insert last name here). And don’t be a condescending dick. And then maybe, just maybe I’ll listen to/read the drivel that drips from your mouth/pen.
trixie larue
I hate thinking about the cat whose teeth were broken off! How brutal! The poor thing. I’m glad you took the cat.
Right now, it’s suppa suppa time in our house.
maody
now that is a superb cat conclave of epic proportions. right on JustPeachy (and the Mr., too)