It has taken weeks, even months, to get this picture, and I didn't even get a good one. Had to snap it quickly, before the moment was lost.
I think Firestar gets nostalgic at times. I will hear him cry - almost whimper. Then, he will show up with his favorite toy in his mouth, as though wanting someone to throw it. Back when he was a kitten, he and Son would play catch for long periods. Son would toss the toy across the room and Firestar would chase it, sometimes catching it in the air. Then he would bring it back to repeat the process.
He will still chase the toy - sometimes. But never catches it and never, ever brings it back anymore. But every so often - particularly if someone has just left the house - he will carry his toy around the house and cry. I've tried several times to get a picture of it, but once he sees me he drops the toy, and it will be days before he picks it up again. Yesterday, right after Spouse left for work, he brought his toy downstairs. He got distracted by movement outside the dining room door and that gave me time to get the camera. Didn't have time to wait for it to focus. He was realizing I saw him and I had to snap the picture. This is what I got.
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Music to Make the Cats go Wild
Tara - Nick name 'ity-bit' because she's so tiny - just over 6 pounds. She's the most skittish of all my babies and even when being petted has the 'pet me, no don't pet me' look
Amelia - Nickname 'Bratelia' since she gets into every draw, cabinet that she can put her paws in.
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“She’s got tuna. I know she’s got tuna.”
“Shut up, Sethra. Stay on mission.”
“What’s the mission? I thought the mission was to get tuna.”
“No, you stupid fluffbrain—it’s to escape and become outdoor cats, walking by ourselves, on our wild lone, waving our tails.”
“Oh, yeah? And isn’t it you, my dear stripy sister Aliera, who keeps pushing the FEED button on the printer and waiting for tuna to come out?”
“That was when I was much younger. Anyway, she’s at the computer—yes, eating tuna casserole—so we can go into the bedroom and see if we can knock the window screen out.”
“You do it, Aliera. I’d rather mess with her stuff.”
“Will you GET OVER that fixation on her wristwatch?”
“I like the feel of the Velcro on my paws. Hey! That reminds me. We’ve been declawed. How are we going to survive as outdoor cats?”
“New plan coming up….”
“What’s the big deal about being outside cats? Even StalkerCat, who used to hang around and chat us up, is a house cat now and loving it. We’ve got it made—food, petting, toys, valet service for the litter box, and we get to sleep on her bed twenty hours a day. And we can stick our noses up to the window and smell anything interesting going on outside. Why ruin a perfect situation?”
“Sethra, have you no sense of adventure? No curiosity? No cattitude? We were meant to live wild and free, to stalk and slay our prey, to be mistresses of the night!”
“Look, we’re cats. We were meant to rule the world, but that doesn’t mean we have to WORK at it. You can if you want, but I don’t need to. After all, I’M beautiful!
“Did I mention she’s got tuna?”
At 8, you'd think Mikey would understand that he's a carnivore. But, no, he's rather fond of the shrubbery! At 20+ pounds, the veggie-enhanced diet is likely mitigated by a love for long naps on a warm comforter, wet cat food, begging at the table, and a nice lap to drape himself upon in the evening. And he drools when he's happy, which may or may not mean there's a Siamese ancestor lurking in the old dna.
What? Green teeth attract mice!
Who needs a wickerwork basket when you can hop on a cushion and bask?
Rufus is clearly a cat to be reckoned with.
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Firestar is a tough cat. He has to be, living in Minnesota. He takes care of his family: wife, husband and their son. This was recently proven by his daring capture of yet another mouse in the house. Foolish rodents. They never learn. When not engaged in derring do, Firestar naps, looks out the window and sleeps. Firestar was born in April of 2006.
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4 comments:
What a gorgeous picture and the story to go with it is touching.
Actually, the toy in this picture is a replacement for the original. That he chewed on so much the cloth tore away in places and the stuffing began to fall out.
He wasn't keen on the replacement, and even ignored Spouse for two days for hiding the original. Then we sprayed catnip on the new toy and he developed a fondness for it.
He seems so pitiful with it like this, but he won't play. Sometimes I pick him up and try to hold him, but he wants none of that. I'm not sure he knows what he wants. It's just a feeling he has.
what is this toy?
Did he soon drop the toy after you snapped the photo?
My Bruiser will play fetch and bring the toy back - he has favorite toys too - so if we throw one that isn't on the list, he'll sniff it and come back meowing for a 'real toy'.
It's actually a dog toy. It's cloth, with an odd face and yellow hair. He carries it until we see him. Then he drops it. I caught him the other day trying to make it squeak. He knows how it is done, but he isn't heavy enough to pull it off.
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