Pets

I was walking home from work today and noticed a cat walking down the sidewalk. It was in no hurry, finding a nice section of sidewalk filled with afternoon sun, it sat down. As if becoming jello, the cat rolled over (all four paws waving in the air, showing its silky white stomach). A silly expression crossed its face as it looked up at me, as if to say "Aren't I CUTE? Will you pet me?" It is awfully hard to ignore a cat in a sun beam...so I scratched its chin, patted its head and told it how cute it was. Then I continued down the sidewalk...the cat stared after me for a bit and then turned its attention to those coming down from Hackman and Hickman...

This cat reminded me of my cat, Copper. She would always follow me about when we took short walks down the driveway and would always roll over on her back in a patch of sun when she wanted attention. She was a very sweet tempered cat, unlike her sister Buffy.

Copper was an In and Out cat, she could never decide where she wanted to be more. In this picture she wants OUT, but she wasn't allowed to go outside...not until that cast on her tail was taken off (she had gotten her tail slammed in a door, when the wind shut the door during a big storm)...Oddly enough she liked the cast on her tail, when she would swish her tail, the cast would thump and bump around...perhaps she enjoyed the sound it made. She did not however like it when the cast came off.

Copper knew where to find the best places to sleep, she liked boxes, the hood of your car (if you just got home, Copper would come running and take up residence on your car), the living room rug in late afternoon, and on your bed (sleeping right next to you and trying to take up the entire bed).

I drew this picture of Copper in Drawing II. It actually turned out quite well. Copper was very sick in December of 2005, all she wanted to do was sleep in the basket by the fire. The little kitten that we had rescued that Christmas made her uneasy and she made it known that she didn't like that particular black ball of fluff. Copper died January 2006, she was 10 years old.

After Copper died, Buffy started to be a nice cat. No one really liked her all that much, because she was so mean and sour. But Suddenly she was a nice, pleasant, but demanding cat.

Buffy, also known as flower pot kitten, likes to eat. Maybe I should rephrase that, Buffy LOVES to eat...if we allowed her she would eat until she looked like a bowling ball with a head, 4 legs and a tail sticking out. She will follow you around the house meowing and insisting to be fed, even though you just fed her an hour ago.

Buffy has gotten rather playful over the last 2 years. She enjoys string, doesn't eat it anymore...which is a good thing. And also likes to take long naps under the Christmas tree. She is Queen.

Then we have Jake...I mean look at that face...who could resist throwing the tennis ball when he is looking at you with those great big eyes.











Whenever Jake is left outside for longer then five minutes, he will begin to cry or sing. I will let you be the judge of his singing skills, but when he howls and he is sleeping at the foot of your bed...you jump, rather high...with your heart beating a mile a minute...

Jake also likes to chew on things, socks or bones, but stuffed animals are his favorite...they are so squishy and soft...

Early this January, Jake was diagnosed with Bone Cancer, which did explain why he was limping around so much. Since his leg could easily break at any given moment, Jake isn't allowed to leap or jump around...he also isn't allowed to chase gravel or chase the tennis ball.

Here is a video of Jake this time last year...leaping about in the snow. Jake gets rather excited about walkies and tennis balls, but he finds water spraying from the hose and snow irresistible.