Farewell, Bow

Bow was the Alpha kitty at Forty Paws. He had the honor of being the first kitty there and could remember being the only kitty for a while. When the others started to arrive, Bow made sure that each one of them knew who was the boss. Even when he got very old and sick, he remained the boss. Bow was just two months short of his 19th birthday when he was helped to the Rainbow Bridge. He had a variety of ailments and just lately his kidneys had started to fail. Maw and Paw made the decision to help him go to the Bridge because he could barely walk and he just wasn't having any good times any more. One of Bow's very favorite things to do was lie in the sun in the enclosure and soak up all the lovely heat.

                                       Bow was a cat of great renown.
                                       He ruled Forty Paws when he put his paw down.
                                             To the Bridge he went
                                             'Cause his strength was spent.
                                       Now he's strutting his stuff and running around.

Jenny

Jenny has always  been the most feral of the Forty Paws.  She lived in a cat colony under the house of an old lady who fed them.  They also helped themselves to whatever they could find in the Taco Bell dumpster across the street.  When the old lady died, some kind people trapped the cats in the colony and tried to find them all forever homes.  Maw heard about this and went to see the cats.  She really liked Jenny, who was then three or four months old.  Maw brought Jenny home and she bonded with Bow, the only other cat in the house at that time, very quickly, but she remained skittish around Maw and Paw.  Even now, after almost fourteen years, she is still skittish around Maw and Paw.  She is so skittish and can hide so well that she has been to the vet only three or four times in her life.  She can never be found when it's time for clippy-claws and has never had her claws trimmed.  Her nickname is Velcro-Cat, because of the sound her claws make when she walks on the carpet.  If Maw or Paw walk into the room while she is eating, she will run away.  Once, a long time ago, when Bow and Jenny were inside/outside cats, Jenny was outside when Maw and Paw left for a week.  Jenny was so scared of the petsitter that she stayed outside for the entire week.  Besides Bow, Smokey is the only other cat that Jenny likes much.  They play a game in which Smokey will start to chase Jenny and Jenny runs away screaming.  Maw and Paw know it's a game, because Jenny will let Smokey see her, so they can play again.

                                   Jenny is a kitty who likes to hide.
                                   She has never been too comfortable inside.
                                           She doesn't trust beanies
                                           'Cause some were meanies.
                                   Jenny, come out!  You don't have to hide.

I am so forgetful.  Java gave the the E for Excellent Award.  Thank you so much, Java.

Sally

Sally's favorite place to nap is on newspaper on top of the trackball.  She is the smallest cat at Forty Paws, weighing in at only eight pounds, which is about half the size of the other cats.  She holds her own quite nicely, though.  She loves to wrestle with her brothers, Obi, Reno and Smokey.  If she feels that they are getting too rough, she screams at the top of her voice, poufs out her tail and runs away.  One of Sally's nicknames is Sergeant Sally, because she loves to patrol the house and the cat enclosure and give reports on what she finds by howling very loudly.  This doesn't make her too popular with Maw and Paw at 5:00 am, but it's her job and she takes it very seriously.  Sally is quite a hunter and she often brings in crickets or small lizards that she finds in the enclosure.  She often has trouble keeping her prey from the other cats, as everycat wants to see what she has caught.  Sally's right eye is slightly scarred from Feline Herpes 1, which she got from her feral mother.  She spent her first nine months in a cage in the crazy cat woman's garage, until Maw managed to rescue her, along with her brothers.  It doesn't bother her too much, but Maw has to clean the black gunk from her eye almost every day.  Sally tries to clean her eye herself, by rubbing it on all the furniture legs and the corners of the walls, leaving little black streaks everywhere for Maw to clean.  Sally likes to practice pouncing by leaping straight up in the air and coming down on nothing at all.  When Sally hears a car being driven into the garage, she cries at the garage door to be let into the garage, so she can take a nap on the warm hood of the car. Sally loves to go out into the enclosure through the cat flap, but instead of just letting the flap swing shut behind her, she lets it close gently on her tail, so it doesn't make any noise.  Maw is very grateful for this.

                             Sergeant Sally is on patrol.
                             Through the house and enclosure she will stroll.
                                             She lets out a howl
                                             And a very loud yowl
                             To let everyone know she is on patrol.

Dorf

This is a nice closeup of Dorf's sweet face.  Dorf of Forty Paws has been through a lot in his seven years.  He is G.T.'s littermate and their birthday is August 3.  Dorf had FORLS for a long time before anyone realized it.  This is Feline Orthodontic Resorptive Lesions and it is extremely painful.  Just imagine going around with huge cavities and no treatment and you may get some idea of what Dorf was going through.  At first, it was thought that Dorf was acting mean to the other cats because he was stressed by being in a house with so many other cats, so he was put on kitty tranquilizers.  However, the vet finally realized that his teeth were bad and sent him to a cat dentist who removed 11 teeth.  Unfortunately, some of the medications Dorf was given for this procedure caused an allergic reaction which gave him eruptive vasculitis on his stomach, causing a huge lesion which took months to heal, so he had to wear a onesie to keep him from licking his wound and the cream which was rubbed on to help him heal.  It wasn't too long after he was all healed up from that mess that he had to go in and have 9 more teeth removed.  Six month later, he lost all his remaining teeth.  The good news is that now that Dorf isn't in so much pain, he has stopped being mean to the other cats.  He used to corner Reno and Obi and literally scare the pee out of Obi.  He still does this once in a while, but Obi isn't as afraid of Dorf as he once was.  Part of the reason for this is that Dorf is now going blind.  He has a condition which is rare in cats, but fairly common in dogs.  The Baytril that he was on during his vasculitis eruption may have contributed to his condition.  Obi is taking a bit of advantage of the situation by whapping Dorf on the head once in a while. Dorf may remain as he is with poor vision, or he may go completely blind.  Maw is taking good care of him and has been taping the edges of stairs and counters with colored tape, so Dorf can see them more easily.  Dorf still gets around pretty easily during the daytime, but tends to stick close to Maw after dark.  In spite of all this, Dorf still play wrestles with G.T. and still loves to hop onto one of the cat hammocks to snooze in the sun.  He still goes up the cat stairs to the big bed to sleep with Maw and Paw at night.  He enjoys his food and will do just about anything for yoghurt or shredded sharp cheddar cheese.  Dorf is one brave poodin and I am sure that he will do just fine, whether he loses his sight completely or not.

                                      Dorfie's a cat who has been through Hell.
                                      He's lost all his teeth and has bad eyes as well.
                                              He used to be mean,
                                              'Cause his teeth hurt so keen,
                                     But now he's turned gentle and friendly, as well.

Obi

This is Obi of Forty Paws on his very favorite cat tree.  Obi was another victim of the Crazy Cat Lady, born with Feline Herpes1, which means that he gets huge eye goobers in his right eye, which have to be wiped away frequently, and his nose runs quite a bit.  He was kept in a cage in the Crazy Cat Lady's garage for the first nine months of his life, along with Reno, Sally and Smokey.  When Obi, Sally and Smokey got horrible diarrhea, they were adopted out to another lady, who didn't keep up with their medication, and they finally ended up with Maw and Paw, who did keep up the medication and finally got the diarrhea under control.  Then Obi developed a horrible bladder infection which resulted in his getting a penile urethrostomy.  He had to wear the biggest, most uncomfortable-looking e-collar I have ever seen until he had healed up, so he wouldn't lick his privates and get scar tissue which would have made peeing very uncomforable for him.  After all that, you would expect him to be a slightly grumpy cat, but Obi is a very happy cat.  He doesn't like having his eye goobers removed, or his ears cleaned or being brushed frequently to prevent matts from developing in his armpits, but he puts up with it in good grace.  He bounces when he walks and loves to be loved.  When he first arrived at Forty Paws, he couldn't jump or climb, from being confined for so long, but you should see him now.  When he wakes up each morning, he races around the house, then climbs every cat tree, just because he can.  He is a bit afraid of things and believes in pre-emptive whapping.  If he doesn't like the way another cat is looking at him, he whaps them.  He also whaps other cats when he wants in the food bowl they are already eating from, or if they are in Maw's lap and he wants to be in Maw's lap.  Obi loves to wrestle with Sally, Reno and Smokey, but not with the other cats.  He is the only floofy cat at Forty Paws and leaves fur everywhere.  This gives him a bit of a hairball problem, but Maw is really good at keeping it under control.

                                 Obi is a cat who is happy.
                                 He loves to sit in his Maw's lappy.
                                       He runs through the room
                                       With a bounce in his zoom
                                 And climbs all the cat trees to show he is happy.

Smokey

This is Smokey, sleeping in his favorite position.  Smokey is the largest cat at Forty Paws, but he doesn't really throw his weight around.  He is pretty much fearless and loves to rassle with his siblings, Reno, Sally and Obi.  He will even rassle with Dorf, the only cat brave enough to try that.  He is a little naughty, in that he loves to chase Jenny, just to hear her scream.  Smokey
thinks that Jenny really likes the game and the screams are just playing.   Like Reno, Sally and Obi, Smokey was born to a mother with Feline Herpes Virus 1 and it has affected his right eye.  His right eye looks a little cross-eyed and leaks brown protein constantly.  He will wipe his eye on anything around him, including the other cats.  The brown stuff will fly from his eye whenever he shakes his head, decorating the floor and walls.  He keeps Maw busy cleaning up after him.  He hates it when she tries to wipe his eye, though he will rub the stuff off on her clothing.  He loves to be brushed, but the brown guard hairs never come off in the brush, just the white and fawn fur.  To look at the brush after his brushing, you would never guess that the fur came from him.  He loves tuna.

                                    Smokey is a Mancat, big and tough.
                                    He rassles his siblings, but doesn't get rough.
                                          He chases Jenny,
                                          Who screams like a banshee.
                                    She secretly likes it, but soon has enough.

G.T.

This is G.T. up on top of one of the cat trees at Forty Paws, showing off his splint after he broke his leg about a year ago.  G.T. is  probably the most active cat at Forty Paws.  He loves to tear around the house like his butt was on fire, racing across the floor, leaping up on furniture, jumping from the top of the cat tree to the top of the china cabinet and back again.  One day he missed his jump from the top of the cat tree to the top of the china cabinet and broke his leg in three places.  He had to wear a splint for 12 weeks, but that didn't stop him from climbing up to the top of the cat trees.

G.T. is seven years old.  He loves people food, especially aerosol whipped cream, grated sharp cheddar cheese, salmon patties and Maw's homemade chicken pot pie.  He does not like tuna.  G.T. is the cat most likely to start a game of Thundering Herd of Elephants.  He has also picked up Dorf's habit of picking on Reno, Obi and Bow, but he gets into trouble for that.  He will often wait crouched at the cat flap to the cat enclosure, hoping some bird will mistakenly blunder in there.  If one does, he is on it in a flash.

                                  G.T. runs through the house like his tail is on fire.
                                  He leaps from the cat tree to get even higher.
                                                  He once broke his leg
                                                  And walked with a peg,
                                 But he still climbed the cat tree, 'cause he likes it up higher.

Gatsbi

Here is Gatsbi of Forty Paws showing off her awesome widebody.  Gatsbi was named as a little kitten and Maw and Paw thought she was a boy.  That's why her name ends in an "i" now.  She was born to a feral mother, but all the kittens were brought in as fosters at Forty Paws when they were very young, so none of them were really ever feral.  Their Mom was fixed and released in a barn to live, because she was so very feral.  The other kittens in the litter were all found forever homes with other people, but Maw and Paw kept Gatsbi because she has neurological issues.  The vet thinks that she suffered a minor spinal cord or brain injury when she was born.  She walks keeping one front paw straight, like a peg leg, and her head bobs when she eats or grooms.  Due to her leg problem, she can't jump very high.  Gatsbi really loves to eat and she got fat when all the catfood was on the floor and she could constantly help herself.  Now she gets diet cat food on the floor and all the other cats get their food on the counter, where she can't go.  This does not make her very happy, but she has lost two pounds on her diet so far.  This has helped her walk more easily and she can now fit through the cat flap into the backyard cat enclosure again.  These two things make her happy, so the diet is worth it.  Gatsbi doesn't like other cats for some reason.  She will growl at any cat who gets closer than three feet to her, even Bow, the Alpha cat.

                                     Gatsbi is the one who eats on the floor.
                                     That's so she gets her food and not any more.
                                                 Keep it quiet,
                                                 But she's on a diet,
                                     Which is something that she does not adore.

Reno

This is Reno of Forty Paws.  He is about three years old and is a perfectly symmetrical tuxie.  He was born to a feral mother with Feline Herpes1 and has a very badly scarred cornea on his right eye.  He was kept in a cage in a garage, along with his littermates, by a crazy lady, whose idea of taking care of these kitties was to deny them medical treatment.  His littermates developed very bad diarrhea and the crazy lady gave them to Maw, but she kept Reno for another month.  This means that the damage to his eye is much worse than that of his littermates.  Maw thinks that he is mostly blind in his right eye, which may explain why he is the most skittish of the Forty Paws.  Reno runs when he sees anyone coming toward him and he hates having his claws clipped.  This means that Maw has to find him deeply asleep before she can grab him and clip his claws.  He protests each clip.  If he sees Maw coming with the clippers, he hides for three weeks.  Reno likes to watch the rain and found out that he could push the cat flap open with his head and use it for an umbrella to watch the rain coming down.  Unfortunately, there has been so much rain at Forty Paws recently that he has become bored with this and doesn't do it any more.  I thought it was worth a limerick anyway.  The (whap) is the noise the cat flap makes whenever it is opened or closes.

                                         There is a perfect tuxie named Reno
                                         Who watches the rain in a way that is keen-o.
                                                   He pushes the flap
                                                   Up with his head (whap)
                                         And watches the rain with the flap on his bean-o.

Forty Paws Fur

Here's a bit of silliness to get us through until the regular limericks start coming easily again.  This is Maw's vacuum cleaner after a light going over of two bedrooms.  Of course, it is early summer and winter coats are hitting the floor at an astounding rate, but I get the feeling that this goes on all year.  Lando had a good suggestion and I am off to research bunnies after I finish up here.   I am also going to take Saturday nights off from cat blogging, just to give myself a little break and hoping that I don't run down my limerick batteries again.

                                Mighty is the fur at Forty Paws!
                                It tries to escape the sucky-machine's jaws.
                                    Just two little rooms
                                    Of zoom-zoom-a-zooms
                               Nearly choked this vacuum of Maw's.

Annie

Blogger is at it again and I can't put up a picture.  I tried tricking Blogger by writing my own html for the picture, but it didn't work.  Click on the link in the limerick to see the picture that goes with it.

About 8 years ago, Annie was orphaned at one week old.  Someone found her and took her to the police station.  A very kind policeman took her to a vet, who supplied him with a bottle and formula, but he was on duty and couldn't look after a kitten.  The policeman took her to a big box store with a pet center.  As luck would have it, Maw was at the same store buying cat food and saw the tiny kitten and took her home, thinking that maybe her nursing cat would take care of the little orphan.  Unfortunately, the other kittens were much bigger and didn't want to share and neither did the nursing momcat.  Maw learned a whole lot about hand-raising a tiny kitten in a very short time.  Li'l Orphan Annie thrived under Maw's loving care and the time came when she was big enough to go back to the pet center to be adopted.  Maw cried and cried and Paw went to the pet center and brought Annie back home.  Annie has certainly thrived at Forty Paws.  She loves to hide and be found by Maw and Paw, especially under newspapers.

                                  There is a Forty Paws cat called Annie.
                                   She finds places to hide most uncanny,
                                           In the magazine holder,
                                           Or some place bolder.
                                   Everyone loves to play "Where's Annie?"

Bow

Bow is the Top Cat at Forty Paws and he just turned 17 in March. He came to his forever home as a little kitty and the only kitty, to boot. Things have really changed since then. Bow has a digestive problem and has to take medicine every day to keep from barfing. He doesn't like his medicine very much and tries to hide from Maw, but she always finds him. Bow likes things warm and had his very own heated cat cup all to himself for quite a while. Then Gatsbi discovered it. Maw got another one for Bow and Jenny discovered that one. Now poor Bow seldom gets to sleep in his heated bed.

                           Bow is the Top Cat at Forty Paws.
                           He rules the house and lays down the laws.
                                    He has a heated bed
                                    In which to lay his head.
                          When pill time comes he hides from Maw.