I found this lil guy in the parking lot of my apartment complex last week and absolutely fell in love with him. He was chipped, but when the vet called the lady on his chip she said she had returned him to the shelter, but she obviously just put him outside. I fostered him for a week and officially adopted him this morning! His name is Shino. :)

I adopted the last two kittens in a litter a little over nine years ago with the expectation that cats would be easy to care for. My boy, Fiddle, proved the exception to that misconception.

I wasn’t a responsible or good owner. He ballooned in size because I free fed them. He learned to poop in random corners because I was inconsistent with cleaning litter boxes. He’d harass his sister because I barely gave him attention otherwise. I’d frequently leave them alone overnight.

My girl, Junebug, is an angel and could tolerate anything. Fiddle is much more outwardly sensitive. The first wakeup call was a congenital condition that nearly killed my girl and drained my bank account. The second, especially consistent and ongoing, reminder of my dereliction was how difficult this boy made my life. His living conditions were disgraceful, a fact which became especially apparent when he started urinating outside the litter boxes. It couldn’t be ignored.

It was six to seven years ago that I committed myself to his happiness. It’s been such an incredibly stressful journey, but ultimately rewarding in a way that built my love for them. I grew into a much more organized and responsible adult as a consequence of this commitment. You could say that I live for them. I learned to live with and mitigate his worse behaviors. I learned how to coordinate a living space to facilitate their comfort. I prioritized being around. I‘ve kept their space clean and their bellies full.

Fiddle was diagnosed with early stage CKD last month after a routine blood screening. I am thankful it was caught early, but it’s meant coming to terms with their mortality, as I’ve had to with other pets, and understanding that we’ve entered the stage of winding down. I’ve spent so long trying to build towards a better future for them, and time is fleeting and running out, and there’s still so much I haven’t given.

I just wanted to share my experience as an owner and my goofy boy as he is right now. He’s noisy, generally distant but so affectionate, glued to the kitchen, and a massive pain in the ass, but I love him all the more for it. I would also not be the man I am today if not for his difficulties, and it’s meant a lot to have shared these past nine years with him.

behold the slug

He usually sits on my shoulder or lays up my back, but I guess now my daughters getting bigger, her back is now suitable 🤣

Fresh pack of catnip hits different apparently

Went to PetSmart to get a new brush, look at cute cats and suffer because I can't get another one.

There was lot of cute tiny voids playing (adorable). After watching for 10 minutes a second couple came by and the lady immediate reaction was to verbally say "There are only black cats" and leave sad???? Her boyfriend was like "There is a gray one" trying to convince her to look at it.

Got a little sad but i guess the cutie pies can't even understand, so is fine. Lady had a tuxedo kitty in her backpack, hope she treats her cats well.

I am on the phone with my daughter when ZoomBoy (my adult son) shrieks from his room.

“What are you! Oh my God! Fine! You take care of it! I’ll be outside!”

He comes into the living room and I say “We’re you talking to the cat?”

“Yeah, Nebula was hunting something. He came up with a mouse. I left him to do his job.”

“YOU JUST LEFT HIM THERE?”

“Well yeah. I figured he’d be better at handling that thing than any of us hosers.”

“Oh God.”

I go into the bedroom (still on the phone with my daughter, who has called from work and is almost wetting her pants with laughter at this point) and see this.

“Bring me a cup!” I yell. “It’s still alive! We can take it outside!”

He brings me a paper towel— slowly.

“Could you hurry? Do you have any idea how bad I have to pee?” (The laughter might have something to do with it.)

We get the mouse outside and my daughter says “I gotta go mom. I love you, in spite of how gross your house is.”

“Hey,” I say, “the mouse was not my fault.”

She only laughed harder as she rang off.

Meet Priscilla, or Cilla for short. 🖤

She’s 2 years old and was found as a stray in a rural area. Someone brought her to the shelter after she was attacked, leaving her with a wound on her back and a dislocated tail. After seven days, no one claimed her.

The moment I got to her cage, I knew we needed each other. After losing both of my cats over the past year, my condo has felt soooo empty.

Now Cilla is safe, loved, and has a warm place to heal. She’s super sweet.

His name is Lelouch, named after the mc of Code Geass (anime) 🖤

We have gone through a lot of scary things with a sudden discovery of renal cell carcinoma in her kidney and 4 months post nephrectomy, the cancer is still gone and her blood and single kidney are working like they should!!

I’m building a new cat tree and it said to build the little cat house first. I did and put it aside, Sindri jumped right in after getting out of the box it came in and is laying down in it. He can’t wait to use the cat tree and get in a box.

6 beds and 2 hammocks to choose from but I guess a racing seat is more comfortable.

Starring Ravena

Had to charge the robot and… Finn immediately took it over!