Tales of Love and Loss, and then More Love
by Dan B
Finally a missive about kittehs from me.
We’ve got two katz with character. They’re a balm for our souls and challenging – but we keep improving our relationship every day, mostly linearly.
Last year we lost three kitties. Mr. Furr Beast, cutest long haired black and white unit with huge white whiskers and a white holy grail on his chest. We had him for almost 20 years. Oscar, a striped cat was young and came down with a mysterious ailment the day after Christmas. It was a traumatic six hours at the emergency vet with a terrified cat. The $2,000 – $7,000 estimate for treatment was out of reach. And we had lost a tiny orange rescue named Miss Peach to traffic. We think our boy cats scared her off the property. Each one left a different hole in our hearts.
Enter two more. My partner Mike has a house on the other side of Beacon Hill that he leases. Across the street is a greenbelt that shelters some homeless and a feral cat colony. They’re neutered, mostly, and spend lots if their day at Mike’s house. A new addition was a 6 pound grey striped kitten who was probably destined to be coyote food since he was much smaller than any of the other cats. He also would rub against Mike’s leg on Mike’s daily feeding trip. So we brought Ba Boo, or Babu (or Doodlebug , Monkeyboy) to our house. After a month of being invisible then sheltering in the top of the cat tree he began to trust us and wants luxury-pets, food, napping on his sofa, food, and running around the garden like a nut.
Meet Babu:
Scary Kitty! (probably not)
Number two was the grand orange Wobbles. He has some issue with his hind legs. At the rental house he was terrorized by the other cats so he was moved into the house. He marked the tenants beds but was mostly lethargic and dreaded going outside. So in he moved for the obligatory two weeks under the bed. And there was the little, lovely but a terror, Babu. This little grey one would run into Wobbles and knock him off balance. There was hissing and growling that slowly became wrassling and chasing around then napping on the bed together.
And here’s Wobbles!
Sweet, Sleepy Boy
This summer we let them out for the day in the garden. When we sit outside in the evening they come around and then take turns venturing into our mostly housebound elderly neighbors yards like lions stalking prey on the savannah. The last few weeks they’ve proudly dashed into the house talking noisily. The grasshoppers they’re talking to have not fared well. They’ve also delivered larger furry prey but it’s only been once so far and luckily they didn’t seem to know to eat it,
Babu and Wobbles Having A Chat
Long Day
Babu is warn out from trying to identify all the birds.
.
And from playing. Playing is hard!
And from being a goofball, apparently.
Wobbles hind legs still wobble but he leaps around and over short fences. He’s gotten muscly in a well fed way and has become guard cat / temple lion / greeter in the drive, while is growing into the purring lovebug role. They’ve made isolation bearable. It’s four personalities in the house instead of just the two of us. Our every other week socially distanced garden visits don’t seem as far apart as they would without our two furry characters. And we have fond memories of our previous three instead of empty places in our hearts.
Wobbles: Can’t you see I’m trying to rest?
Sleepy kitty loves his dad.
Oops, I forgot: Babu has a “Scorpion Tail” There’s a picture of it. I’ve attached another where he’s using it as a prehensile / opposable to grasp my hand. Cute.
germy
That’s how cats hug you.
My cat does that when I pet her. Wraps her tail over me. My favorite thing is the head bumps, though. She turns her head slightly to one side and charges like a tiny bull. Bumps me with her head a few times and then flops over onto her side.
eddie blake
that’s a wonderful story.
so glad the two have bonded that way.
Origuy
If you are a Celtic music fan and you would like to help the people affected by the California wildfires, there will be a concert Tuesday, September 1 from 7-9 PM EDT. From the organizers:
CaseyL
Yes! One of my kitties does the tail-wrap gesture; the other is into head bumps (and sparingly, so I always feel a little thrill when she does deign to bump her head against me).
This is a wonderful glimpse into The Life of Two Rescued Cats, Dan B. Babu has *such* an expressive face, and Wobbles has a most poignant air about him.
MagdaInBlack
I really needed this. Thank you for the kitties ?
WereBear
Mmm, that scorpion tail has a name: American Ringtail.
It’s a breed “in process.” I adopted two of them from a feral colony!
American Ringtail: Bud & Lou
Mine curve their tails over their backs like handbag handles.
germy
@CaseyL:
I remember back in 1981 when I was adopting my first cat. I visited a bookstore for some “instruction” books to help me understand her mystery.. The clerk said “Good luck! They’re all different!”
germy
@WereBear: My cat curves her tail to weigh the bags of catnip I bring her. “It’s light!” she always yells, as if I’m skimming some off the top for my own use.
/
CaseyL
Dan B @WereBear: Two of the kitties-next-door have whip-slender tails they carry tilted straight over their backs, and I had no idea that trait was common enough to have its own name: scorpion tail.
So now I know.
Miss Bianca
@Origuy: Oh, wow. That’s in Half Moon Bay, right? I always wanted to go to that fiddle camp, but I hear it’s next to impossible to get into. I’ll have to see if I can tune in.
Dan B’s kitties and stories are lovely!
Dan B
@CaseyL: My partner claims that’s the name. He’s met hundreds of cats from volunteering with feral cat neutering aka. Crazy cat ladies. Babu is the first one he’s seen with a tail that lays perfectly flat. He also does head bumps and is figuring out purring.
Wobbles would love to be outside all the time. Ar his previous home he was terrified of being outside because the other cats bullied him because of his hip problem. He was inside, not moving, and anxious. Now he has assumed guard cat / greeter / temple lion. There’s a strut in his stride.
Emma
Sleepy kitties are the cutest :3 My own cat has recently started resting her paw or leg on me while lazing on the bed or table, gets the oxytocin going every time.
This thread seems like an apt place to drop the best Twitter thread on cat poetry I’ve ever read: https://twitter.com/XiranJayZhao/status/1299148337774354432
For those that need more convincing, Lu You titled his second poem “Rats Kept Ruining My Books So I Got a Cat and Within Days the Rats were Vanquished” XD
zhena gogolia
Lovely cats. Wobbles reminds me of my Willy (formal name William of Orange, found on Orange St. in New Haven).
Benw
Rad cats
Origuy
@Miss Bianca: The fiddle camp is at Camp Campbell, near Boulder Creek. That’s right in the middle of the CZU Complex fire that devastated Big Basin. It looks like the camp had some damage but was mostly spared, as was downtown Boulder Creek.
Tokyokie
You named a cat Wobbles? Does he not trust his own pants?
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Origuy: Thanks for the tip! Cullen Luper is a former violin classmate of my son – nice to see that he’s still fiddling.
And lovely kitties and kitty tale/tails.
Dan B
@Tokyokie: Mike picked the name. Everyone who’s met him has no argument about the name. And we’re pretty sure he doesn’t like pants, except on us.
J R in WV
Great photo story, love the cats. So sad you lost three so quickly, always very hard, that sudden ending to an otherwise happy catty life.
We have a torty cat who is really affectionate. Once she’s out of the carrier at the vets, she becomes a purr monster if they scritch her just the least bit. Lately she has started creeping into bed with us in the dawn time and lying between us on the pillows purring. This morning she crept in there even though one of the puppies (45 lbs, so pretty well grown up pups) was between us lower on the bed. So restful to hear the purr, which is really a mega purr that close to your ears.
Your current kitties are really cute. The photos are great too. Mine see a camera and run away, run away!
Scritch some kitty for me, too!!
Mary G
My two follow me wherever I go in the house, even the bathroom, and they are so entertaining and loving. Babu and Wobbles sound wonderful; thank you for sharing them with us, Dan and Mike.
Dan B
@J R in WV: Your wish is my command! Babu has to be luxury petted every time he comes in – presents back, tail grabs my hand, walks away, turns to head butt me, gets back massage, falls over, more luxury pets.
Now, where did they go?
MazeDancer
Wonderful writing. Fabulous kitties.
beckya57
Aww. Your 2 kitties are almost as cute and sweet as my 4 (previously featured in this same space). ALMOST. Our ginger, Scribbles, also is weak and wobbly in his hindquarters. Odd. He compensates by putting his back legs together and bounding around like a rabbit.
PS If you want a T shirt commemorating your cats keeping you company in quarantine, check out TrendingCustom.com.
beckya57
@germy: My vet has told me that head bumps are definitely a cat way of showing affection. I’ve had several that do that.
beckya57
@germy: ???
ruemara
Awww, welcome fuzzy kittens. Enjoy your new humans, take good care of them.
Beatrice
@WereBear: Wow, I never knew about this! My black cat Rafi carried his tail up over his back, but not curled; if he was standing with his head tilted back I could touch the tip of the tail to his head, which I used to call “teapot tail.” When he lowered his tail it still had a curve in it, which reminded me of a leopard. He’s the only cat I ever knew of with a tail like that and I had no idea there was an actual breed.
Dan B
@beckya57: Duel!
Wobbles acts like he is the embodiment of perfection these days but he didn’t around the other kitties at Mike’s house. Babu treats him like a normal cat, suitable for chasing and roughhousing and it seems to have awakened the ego in Wobbles.
How did your kitty get along with three other cats? Seems like a lot.
Dan B
@Beatrice: I think scorpion is just a description esp since Babu is the “purebred Heinz” feral colony.
zhena gogolia
@ruemara:
Thank you again for your beautiful post about Chadwick Boseman last night.
Dan B
@Dan B: -Especially since Babu is from the feral cat colony.
BTW Purebread Heinz is a reference to Heinz slogan “57 Varieties”.
Dan B
@zhena gogolia: Agreed about Chadwick Boseman. I’m surprised at how broken up I feel. It’s probably because he radiated goodness of spirit and great integrity. And he was beautiful on the outside in a way that only is so dazzling because of the inside. He seemed like someone who would be a wonderful friend and a joy to be with.
WaterGirl
Here’s the link to ruemara’s post on Chadwick Boseman. If you haven’t already read it, you’ll want to read it now.
https://balloon-juice.com/2020/08/29/baba-tell-me-a-story/
WaterGirl
Thank you so much, Dan B, for the lovely stories and pictures, and for the time it took you to write it!
And to anyone else who might be interested in sharing your friends with us, please send me an email message.
Dan B
@WaterGirl: You’re welcome. It’s been a year that was tough and then uncertain with new cats that were suspicious or terrified of us. It felt good to memorialize the events. And it was an antidote to nightmares of this week.