9/18/01

I turned 19 weeks old yesterday. I'm really getting to be a big boy. Some days my mama says to me "Rory, you look like a big cat to me today!". Other days she says "Rory, you look like a little kitten to me today!". Sometimes she even calls me "the babiest baby". I'm not quite sure what that means! But I like being able to be both a big cat and a little cat. I'm a big brave cat when I stare down the vacuum cleaner, and when I take gigantic leaps from the floor up into my mom's arms to wrestle her. But I'm a little baby sometimes, like on mornings when my mama surprises me by letting me have a little milk from the bottle of my babyhood - I get so happy those mornings. I purr and kneed and get a fuzzy, bilssful look in my eyes. I'm glad she lets me be the babiest baby sometimes! Today I got a little scared. I was out in the yard with my mama and daddy on my new harness and leash! It's very exciting being introduced to the outside world, but there's so much to be cautious about too. During today's outing I was sniffing around the stairs when my landlord, whom I like a lot, came outside with his big Rottweiler dog. Yikes, was I scared! My mama tells me all the time "Don't you ever go near those doggies down there in the backyard! That's not a good place for kittens!" So I knew right away that I was in mortal danger! I'd never been so close to a dog before, I'm used to watching those Rotties from the safety of my balcony porch above their yard. Anyway, I was so scared that I arched my back and the Abysinnian stripe down my back stood up! Plus my tail got all fat like a bottlebrush. My dad scooped me up but even when the landlord and the doggie had left the yard to go on their outing, I still didn't want to play outside anymore. When my dad put me back down I zipped to the door, and ran inside and up the stairs. I never go UP the stairs... I'm always running down them! So this was very unusual for me! But I wasn't too scared... I was ready to escape out of into the hall again within an hour!

10/6/01

I really love my daddy the best lately! Whenever I have the choice I plop right down on my dad's lap. I especially like to gnaw gently on his neck, which he lets me do until I get too feisty with it. My mom, on the other hand, says "ouch!" right away and pushes me away. My dad likes being a cat's favorite - he's never had a cat who loved him best before. My mom has another cat, named Gabbie, who will be coming to live with us soon. She's Gabbie's favorite. I wonder how Gabbie and I are going to get along. I'm told she's a very anxious cat, and she's old too, ten years old! I'm not so sure she's going to like my rambunctiousness and I'm also not sure I'm going to like having another cat around! I haven't known other cats since my littermates when I was very tiny. All we did then was snuggle and squirm on top of each other while we nursed, we weren't even old enough to play! Well, one day when I was about 8 weeks or so I played with my brother and cousin at mom's work, but I didn't really have much fun. I was aloof with them. I ignored them. I ran off to the corner to play by myself.
I'm very nervous - on Thursday I'm getting neutered! That means I have to go to the vet's office early in the morning and my mom is going to LEAVE me there! I'm not going to like that one bit. And I can't eat the night before! I'm going to be so hungry. It's not going to be much fun at all.

10/14/01

Well, it's done now! I went to the vet Thursday morning to get neutered. I was very hungry and tried to tell my mama, but she wouldn't feed me! I couldn't understand this at all. Then she put me in the carrier (which she'd labelled in a million places with our names and phone number) and drove me off to the vet. A woman I didn't know carried me off into the back and my mom left for work. I missed her. Later they gave me some sleepy medicine and the next thing I knew was that my mama was there and ready to take me home. I was VERY groggy. I just couldn't stay awake. When my mama put me in the car, I protested being in the carrier until finally she let me out. I stumbled out and took a nap. I couldn't seem to keep my tongue inside my mouth until hours later. My dad was pretty alarmed when he saw me - my mama carried me in draped over her arms with my pupils dilated and my tongue hanging out. I walked around the apartment and took naps in different places the whole evening. But the next morning I was as peppy as ever, and I don't really notice anything different about myself now!

11/20/01

There's a new baby at my house! My mama brought home another kitten from my feral colony. She told me we're going to "foster" this kitten - that means we'll take care of her until she gets adopted by someone! The kitten's name is Anya. It's very interesting having her here. For a few days my mama and daddy kept her in my bathroom, with the door closed. I wasn't too happy about this, since the bathroom is one of my favorite places to play. And I could hear her making noises from behind the door but I didn't know what she was! Then we both went to the vet and since the vet told my mama she was healthy, we got to play together a little bit! I got a shot at the vet, and it made me sick. I didn't have too much fun playing with her until the next week, when I was done being sick. Now we have lots of fun... she follows me around and pesters me all the time. Mama says it's because she likes to learn a lot from big cats. And I play with her all the time, but sometimes I get a little rough. I pin her down and she says "Mew, mew, meeewww!". Then my mama comes running and takes Anya away from me for a few minutes. My silly mama doesn't know it's just a game! I'll miss her when she gets adopted. My mama and daddy said they'll miss her too. I've been extra sweet with them lately, since I can do all my roughhousing now with the new kitten - I don't feel like I have to attack their feet as often! My mama tells me she wishes I'd been raised alongside another kitten, so I'd always have had a playmate. She advises anyone getting a kitten to get two instead! We keep each other occupied, and if we're the same size you don't have to worry as much about supervising our play! You can see pictures of my new sister here!

2/24/02

It's been a long time since I've writetn in my diary! That's because I've been busy with my new sister. That's right, she's still here, and she's staying! We decided to adopt her ourselves... we all would have missed her too much! We play hard together, but sometimes she gets to be a bit much for me... after all, I'm becoming a very mature cat. In fact, I'm 10 months old today. Mama says I'm not a kitten anymore, I'm a kit. That's almost a cat! Now that I'm a kit I spend a lot more of my time independently. I often sleep under the bed or up on top of the bookcase, where no one can disturb me. I still enjoy a good, babyfaced cuddle with my mama or daddy everyday though! And I love to purr and kneed on my blue afghan... it reminds me of being a baby. Whenever I try to do this, Anya runs over and kneeds on my tummy! Then we end up grooming each other.
It's been exciting around here as spring approaches. There are some squirrels who have been visiting our porch, and they bury their nuts in mama's plants. Mama got mad when they uprooted her new seedlings. So I have a new job. I sit in the window and let mama know with my tail when our visitors are here. Then she carries me out onto the porch and I give those squirrels a good scare! I love my new job.

10/24/03

Wow, I've taken a long break from writing in my diary. I'm now 2 and a half years old, and I have grown up so much. I'm a big mellow yellow now. A lot has happened in my life since I last wrote. My mama has taken in about 30 foster kittens and cats over the past year and a half. She says she's happy that I'm pretty tolerant of them. I think they're quite interesting, but I get pretty annoyed when the babies chase my tail. After all, I like to spend most of my life in quiet slumber nowadays. Sometimes it's not so quiet since I'm known to snore or suckle in my sleep. But still, a big lazy boy needs a break from crazy kittens. It's confusing how they all "get adopted" and disappear. My mama says not to worry though, that Anya and I are here to stay.

I had a worrisome scare last February when I had symptoms of a urinary tract infection. It turned out to be a bit of a mystery, since there was no bacteria in my urine sample, just blood, but it was a good thing we got it checked out so soon since urinary tract problems are somewhat common in male cats, and can be fatal. And now we know to be on the alert in the future. I hated the vet visit and was very mean to the vet, but I liked the vet techs and charmed them all.

I live in a new apartment now, and sometimes I get to go explore the enclosed courtyard with Anya. Only under my mom's close supervision though, and only because it's very safe and would be hard for me to escape out onto the street. Plus I always wear my tag and that microchip my mom made me get.

My mom tells me that my whole feral family has been spayed and neutered now. There's one boy cat who's orange like me and has been showing up recently, and she says she's going to trap him, have him neutered and vaccinated, and release him back to the colony like she did with the others. I think it's great to be neutered. Who wants to spend their life fighting? Most of my relatives are still alive and are now very fat and healthy. They have a much nicer life now that they don't have to feed themselves and their kittens. My mom likes that she doesn't see anymore dead kittens, she thinks that's the saddest thing in the world.

12/10/03

Oh no! Yesterday I got a new sister! My mom says we have officially adopted Desiree. I don't really notice much of a difference though... she's been here for 6 months already. She was a foster kitten who wasn't doing well anywhere else she went, so she's here to stay now. Hrm. I don't really like Desi the way I like Anya. I ignore her. She's not as much of a pain as she was a few months ago though, she's growing up. Plus she plays with the foster kittens and leaves me alone usually. Maybe someday she'll be as mellow as me and Anya.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws