Raven’s scheduled to be spayed on Tuesday. I know it’s what has to be done, I know that it’s the best thing to do. And I hate it!

I’ve had far more female dogs and cats than male, I’ve been through this half a dozen times – you’d think it would be easy for me by now, but it isn’t. Actually Bryce (the only male dog I’ve had as an adult) was the only one of mine ever to have any post-neutering “complications” of any sort, and that was just because he pulled his e-collar off on day #2 while I was at work and ate ALL the plastic tabs off of it (it took him a couple of weeks to expel them all from his stomach!)

It’s going to be tough to see “Little Miss Happy” hurting after the operation and sad when I can’t let her play with Jayda or have her usual freedom to jump on the bed and the sofa for a couple of weeks, but wish us well and we’ll get through it.

Here’s a not-very-high-quality but cute video of her with Hat. Hat LOVES the dogs, especially Raven – they’re almost the same size! She usually doesn’t mind being on the receiving end of his kitty-love displays, but by the time I’d gotten the camera she was starting to get a little tired of it.

Speaking of works in progress, his contacts still need a LOT of work, but I see a glimmer of potential, don’t you ?

A rare glimpse of the 3 outside kitties enjoying dinner together on my steps. (From top to bottom: Kit, Cassie, Hat)

After dinner, the handsome Hat catches a few late afternoon rays in his favorite spot.

My dogs have all become acquainted with Hat and they’ve really hit it off. The dogs like him. How could they not? He’s such a sweet boy! They’re fascinated by his funny ears (“Dude! How’d they get your ears to do THAT???!!!). Only problem with the dogs making friends with Hat is that now they want to go “say hi” to the other 2 outside kitties – I can guarantee them that feeling is NOT mutual!

13 years ago on Memorial Day weekend, a friend’s son stepped outside on a break from his job in an office park hotel and heard little mewing sounds. Following the sound, he looked underneath the dumpster and found a tiny kitten, all alone! Being an animal lover from a family of animal lovers, he scooped her up and brought her to his Mom when he finished his shift.

The next day was Memorial day and that’s when I met her. The poor baby was maybe 5 weeks old, half-starved and runny eyes and a runny nose She hadn’t a clue about solid food and also turned out to have diarrhea and fleas.

I didn’t think her chances for survival were very good, but she was a tough little fighter. That day I saw her take first few licks of canned cat food and once she had something in her tummy she revived enough to play a little.

Long story short, she pulled through and ended up with me! Happy Anniversary, K!

Now here’s the test: Can you find the cat in this picture?

March (?) 1993 – April 7, 2009

Almost 15 years ago, I went to the pet food store on some long-forgotten errand and came home with a cat.

It was shelter adoption day at the store, but that wasn’t on my agenda. She wasn’t the first one that caught my eye, but she was the one that held it. When I first saw her, she was in a cage by herself – this beautiful little orange-eyed orange kitty. They had her stacked on top of a cage full of young kittens and she was wistfully watching them play with some toys through the bottom of her cage. She was barely more than a kitten herself but nobody’d thought to give her a toy. She wanted one so badly …

The next thing I knew I was signing the papers and questioning my sanity.

The shelter people didn’t know how she was with dogs – or if she’d ever even seen a dog before. Just after I handed over my $20 and finalized the transaction, in walked a customer with … a sheltie! Sheltie innocently put his nose near the cardboard carrier containing my brand new kitty … kitty went hissy-ballistic and nearly clawed her way of the carrier! Oooo-kay – answered THAT question!

But a promise is a promise so nevertheless moments later I found myself putting her in my car, all the way home berating myself for being such an impulsive idiot, certain I was introducing a major source of strife into my household and consigning us all to 13-odd years of Hell …

Within an hour of letting her out in my house, I knew she was where she belonged. Rescuing Jasmine was the most wonderful, demented-impulsive thing I’ve ever done in my life.

She gave us all so much joy over the years, making friends with everyone (even Kacey!). I loved watching her sleep with and play with the dogs – first Tiffy and Sally:

… and later with Bryce, Jayda and Raven.

As you can see, once she got used to the idea she really LIKED dogs!

And how Jasmine loved to snuggle! Like a hot water bottle like feet, she was always in my lap or curled up beside me – or if I wasn’t available, she’d snuggle with Kacey or one of the dogs (if they’d have her!) I always loved sleeping in with her curled up under my chin – lulled to sleep by her mesmerizing purr.

There was also her fun-loving sense of humor. The girl just LOVED to play, and she remained playful right up until her last few months (when that awful tumor started taking over her mouth) – chasing toys (the dogs’ tennis balls were a favorite), wrestling with my shoes and my head, making “crazy cat” runs through the house or up the scratch post, playing “beast in a blanket”, doing death-defying leaps across several feet of open space from one piece of furniture to another …and knocking all my pens on the floor. How she loved to play with pens! She’d eyeball them with this mischievious little “look” on her face and send them flying.

Now I’ll always be able to find a pen… but I’ll miss her very, very much.

Note: The best pictures I have of Jasmine are of her sleeping – not because she was a lazy cat by any means, but because she LOATHED having her picture taken! At the first hint of any camera noises she would very sweetly swear at me in Cat and leave.

One of my favorite (and worst) time wasters is fussing over my 3 outdoor kitties – Kit (male – very feral), Cassie (spayed female – feral or hard-stray) and Hat. Lately all 3 have been coming around together – it’s like a cattery out there! Feeding them is a challenge – Kit is much more timid than the other two and rarely gets his fair share when they’re around. Both boys seem to be very good friends with Cassie. They’re not as cozy with each other, but they seem to get along allright.

Here’s a recent picture of the handsome Kit-Man:

And another …

I’m not too sure Hat doesn’t have an owner. He’s friendly – VERY friendly – purrs like a fool and works his big paws if you pet him – he can’t seem to get enough of it! (Neither of the other cats are “touchable”.) When I eventually go indoors, he sits on the porch and stares longingly at my front door.

He’s also tried to follow me inside the house a couple of times (little does he know there’d be hell to pay from my girls!) And while he’s not FAT (he looks “fluffy” in photos, but he’s just a big-boned male with a very thick coat) he doesn’t seem as thin as the other two either.

OTOH, he’s out at all hours of the day and night in all kinds of weather, including rain, snowstorms and zero degree temperatures. I certainly wouldn’t let MY cats out in that kind of weather, then again, I don’t let my cats outside at all.

Early this winter I broke down and bought a little insulated kitty hut for them. After a few weeks of viewing it with suspicion, all 3 of them are using it now and then. It’s big enough for 2 cats to sleep in, if they’re good friends. Here’s Hat proving that it’s big enough for even a big boy like him…

Writing this post made me realize I need more pictures of Cassie, but she’s always hiding behind the trash cans or under the car, neither of which are very picturesque!