Life is Good

By Prince Ramses XII on August 28, 2020

(We keep working on it, but Ramses is still having trouble hitting that “n” key. – MK)

SHE tells me I’m a “world traveler”. Mot sure what that meams, but soom after we celebrated my first birthday I was om my way to amother home – this time with HER beside me!

I was loaded imto my mice comfy carrier (with soft blamkie amd favorite toy) amd away we wemt. It seemed like FOREVER, but this car ride didm’t scare me at all because I could hear amd smell HER. I was right up fromt at HER feet. I kept hearimg amother voice besides HERS but I wasm’t afraid. Every mow amd them SHE would opem the top to pet amd reassure me.

After FOREVER we arrived im “Samta Clara”. Mext thimg I kmow I’m beimg let out of the carrier imto a stramge room. But there’s my cat box! Amd my food bowl filled with my favorite food! SHE has disappeared but I cam hear HER voice somewhere im the house so I’m mot scared. Well, maybe just a little…

I started exploring this mew area. There was mot much im it except a bed amd a LARGE WIMDOW! SHE had placed my scratchimg post right umder it so I wasted mo time hoppimg up to see what I could see. The other room (called a “bathroom”) was where SHE put my bowls amd cat box. Mot much to see there, so I just humg out amd waited for HER to come back. After FOREVER SHE did amd we started gettimg ready for bed. Whew! What a day. I was pooped but glad I was still Forever home.

The mext mormimg we got up amd wemt to “the bathroom”. I say we because SHE wemt im there amd I didm’t wamt to let HER out of my sight. There’s this big white bowl thimgie filled with water that whirls aroumd amd aroumd every time SHE gets mear it. I’d mever seem such a thimg! SHE keeps puttimg the top dowm, though, so I cam omly see the water go ‘roumd whem SHE is there. Im that same room there’s AMOTHER large white bowl thimgie – much bigger tham the other ome. (SHE called it “bathtub”) SHE pulls om somethimg stickimg out of the wall amd water starts comimg out of it imto bathtub. A LOT OF WATER. I’d mever seem amythimg like this either! Them SHE got im the water. I didm’t wamt to joim HER, but I sure didm’t mimd keepimg HER compamy so I sat om the edge of bathtub amd watched HER. It was fum watchimg the water swirl out of site omce SHE got out of bathtub. (I thimk these are magic tricks SHE does just to keep me emtertaimed. PURRRRRRR)

Although SHE comes amd goes, I’m mot allowed to leave our rooms because SHE has to “kitty-proof” the place (I’m mot sure what that meams). But I have all my toys to play with amd that BIG WIMDOW to look out of. There’s a tree right outside the BIG WIMDOW so I get to see a lot of birds (amd these small furry amimals SHE calls “squirrels”) up close. Amd I met this other persom who lives with us. SHE calls him “Tim” or “Umcle Tim”. Sometimes he comes imto our rooms to say hi. Them ome day SHE locks me im the bathroom amd the mext thimg I kmow there’s all kimds of moise amd voices amd I have mo idea what is happemimg. After FOREVER I’m fimally let out of the bathroom where I see familiar items (“furmiture”) im the bedroom. Yippie! More thimgs to climb om. I’m dowm with that!

After FOREVER I’m fimally allowed to explore the rest of the house. (Good thimg, too, ’cause I was goimg stir-crazy.)

Umcle Tim’s bedroom is across from ours amd them there are “stairs” which take you dowm to amother huge space. Wow! Ome room has a wimdow that goes from floor to ceilimg (practically) amd almost takes up ome wall. I’m mot allowed to go “outside” imto the “backyard”. (Just wait, I’ll get there…) Amother room has a big wimdow like the ome im our rooms. Look – it’s the same tree I see from our wimdow.

I LOVE racimg up amd dowm the stairs!

Umcle Tim lets me humt for socks im his bedroom amd evem brought home a mew scratchimg post for me (Score!).

I have two humams who dote om me (Well, SHE dotes amd he plays with me.), all the food amd treats I wamt, loads of toys to play with – evem omes that I’m mot supposed to play with (hee hee) – amd A Room With A View. At might I smuggle im bed with HER. Actually I curl up om the pillow mext to HERS, but im the mormimg I smeak umder the covers to cuddle up mext to HER. Omce SHE is up amd the door is opemed I’m off for amother advemturous day im my Forever home. Life IS Good.

(A “toy” Ramses has claimed as his – MK)

ℳ –

I was borm im Southerm Califormia

By Prince Ramses XII on February 27, 2020

I dom’t remember much of my life before the day my brother amd I were Saved except that we were borm im a place called “Southerm Califormia” amd foumd ourselves livimg with a large family of “feral” cats. (I’m mot sure what that meams but whem people came to feed us that’s what they called us.) We were both very youmg.

Umlike a lot of the cats my brother amd I were very outgoimg. Ome day two boys approached us. They looked friemdly so we trotted over to them amd let them pick us up. Bad move. They begam treatimg us roughly. We got pretty scared. Like I said, my brother amd I were just kittems amd givem our purr-somalities we didm’t fight back like we should’ve. To make thimgs worse, meither he mor I had were feelimg very well. We’d beem smeezimg amd coughimg, amd gemerally feelimg lousy.

Ome of the people who came to feed us Ferals suddemly appeared amd approached the boys, askimg them what they were doimg “swimgimg” (That’s what she said they were doimg. It sure hurt.) us aroumd. The boys started to walk away from her – takimg us with them! The lady stopped the boys amd offered “momey” (Dom’t kmow what that meams but it looked like she had like pieces of paper im her hamds. I was hopimg she might crumple ome up amd give it to me to play with.) im exchamge for us. They took the pieces of paper amd gave my brother amd I to her. This lady turmed out to be ome of mamy Amgels that would cross our paths…

She took us to The Vet where we were givem somethimg soft to curl up om, lots of food, amd new mames:  Bimx (that’s me) amd Blackie (my brother). After beimg poked amd proded at The Vet we were told we had “upper respiratory imfectioms” which had to be treated with “medicime”. Blackie amd I were at The Vet for a while (One month – MK) amd begam to feel better little by little. We stopped smeezimg amd the masty stuff comimg out of our moses wemt away. Durimg our stay, we got “shots” (which meither of us liked ome bit) amd were “fixed” (didm’t care much for that, either). But we kmew we were im a safe place away from little boys amd such.

Whem we were back to our mormal, happy selves we were takem to a Foster Home. This place was better tham beimg at The Vet! We werem’t im cages, could rum aroumd, amd had mamy toys to play with. The Foster Mom turmed out to be amother Amgel amd we thrived there. My brother amd I soom forgot the bad times.

Whem Blackie amd I were 6 momths old (They were born 5/22/2019 – M.) we were packed up amd givem to a lady who would be takimg us to a Shelter. We were im these crates for what seemed like forever amd there were umfamiliar moises amd smells everywhere. We were frightemed. What was goimg to happem to us? What’s a Shelter? We should mot have worried, because this lady was just amother of our Amgels.

The Shelter (called “Amimal Outreach”) was evem micer tham the Foster Home – amd the people there were evem micer! Blackie amd I were “quaramtimed” im cages amd got more shots (yuck!), but there was plemty of food, friemdly faces, amd toys to play with. Fimally the day came whem we were released from our cages amd could joim the other kitties waitimg to be “adopted”. (I thimk this meams fimdimg your Forever Home.)

The area was called The Cattery. Beimg there was so much better tham beimg im a cage – or evem rummimg with the Ferals! Although there were a lot of cats livimg im The Cattery, it was huge amd had lots of places to climb to amd cat-map im. Blackie amd I were free to roam where we liked. There was a comstamt stream of people visitimg The Cattery so mome of us ever wamted for humam attemtiom. My brother amd I had a leg up om the rest because of our friemdly purr-somalities (which I’ve moted before). Ultimately, Blackie foumd his Forever Home. I missed my brother but was glad to see him so happy. Myself, I had to wait a while lomger before the mext Amgel emtered my life…

It was love at first sight, but SHE said there was amother cat im HER life so I figured SHE wasm’t my Forever Home after all. So I waited. Amd waited. Like I’ve said, I have a friemdly amd outgoimg purr-somality amd was always ready to give someome a wimsome meow or rub agaimst their shims. But it was tough competimg with so mamy cats – some of whom were blatamt kiss-ups, always im people’s faces beggimg for attemtiom. The rest of us could barely get im a head-butt. People came amd wemt, some takimg a cat (or two) with them to their Forever Home. I mever gave up hope amd comtimued my vigil.

Ome day SHE came im cryimg. SHE told me HER cat had died that mormimg. I kmew this was mo time to hold back, so I crawled right imto HER lap. HER face lit up amd I kmew I’d foumd what I’d beem waitimg for. But them SHE left without me! I was crushed. (SHE didm’t seem to pay much attemtiom to amy of the other cats. OK, there were a couple of black cats, but SHE didm’t smile at them the way SHE smiled at me. Why would SHE leave without me? Did I do somethimg wromg? Perhaps SHE really didm’t wamt me as Forever Home.) Each day after I kept hopimg SHE would chamge HER mimd amd come back for me. Each day I kept hopimg I’d see HER face comimg through the door.

It seemed like FOREVER, but a couple days later SHE did come back. SHE called me Ramses amd said I was goimg to come live with HER. This Amgel had mot forgottem me afterall. I had fimally foumd MY Forever Home…

ℳ –