CAUTION: Large learning curve ahead.
Many thanks to Peter C. of Laureate for his very helpful advice.
I feel all grown up or something! I'm excited to get started. Signed up for two courses.
Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?!
My man Sasha on the top level, Tiger below.
I was on my own for the first time today, and aren't there five new cats, for a total of 9. I didn't feel comfortable enough letting all of them out at the same time, so I did them in groups that I was sure could go together. Besides, FIVE of the nine cats are black like Sasha. It seems that, like dogs, the black ones can be more difficult to place. I'm getting really good at i.d. but don't want to push my luck. I do have to put them all back into the right spots.
I met a new love today, an XL black male cat (I'm sensing a pattern...) named Elmo. WHAT a doll. As outgoing as they come. He looks older but isn't that old according to his info. I loved him.
Elmo chillin' watching me clean his cage. What a love bug. Yes, Elmo likes to be tickled! Actually Elmo likes everyone and everything. This picture shows the little notch torn in his left ear. Little things to remember when you are meeting five solid black cats for the first time!
Endearingly funny looking, Elmo is easy to like. He's really not quite as stubby looking in real life, but yes, he's got a belly .... If this guy lasts there very long, something is really wrong.
Tiger. Another nice guy. Missing half an ear. It's okay, he doesn't need it.
Indigo. (Really? Must be after the bookstore, not the colour). One of the 4 kittens in the condo, new and shy, needs extra cuddling.
Rosalee, another new kitten, a little more forward. She's eyeing my swinging camera strap. Sweet and petite.
The cat condo from the outside after I cleaned it all out and let the occupants roam. Paige in the front, her brother Zizu (all black cat on top shelf), Rosalee and Indigo in the back. All of these guys are 6-8 months old. And act like it. Note to self: close all cupboards as you go, because if you leave them open even for a second you can lose a cat. I was all done and two of the kittens were missing... Man, I am going to get fired! Both were in cupboards whose doors I had closed. Lesson learned!
Since I'm the morning person, I get them when they've been alone the longest so the litter boxes are full and there is more cleaning than for the afternoon person. The very first time I looked at my watch two and a half hours had gone by! And very little cuddling... Maybe I will get faster and be able to spend more one on one time with the cats. The shy ones need work so their chances of adoption are improved (even though big, easygoing Elmo is calling my name..).
The other cages to the left of the condo. That big black blob on the top row, middle - a sleeping Elmo.
So we'll see how this goes. I wanted to do something out of the box and a little out of my comfort zone, just to mix things up a bit.
When I was fostering the various newborn kittens for my vet clinic, Terry was quite concerned about it, he was so sure I'd fall in love with one and just have to keep it. So I had to *promise* that I wouldn't do that. Under no circumstances would I keep one of those kittens.
So I asked him now, since he's the one that put me onto this cat cuddler job, isn't he worried I'll fall in love with one (Elmo) of these cats (Elmo) and (Elmo) want to (or Sasha) adopt it? Ummm?
Didn't think of that, did ya?
Tia dashing through the snow! Tia is by BIS/BISS Am./Can./Jap. Ch. Pop Star SS Of Northern Farm ex Laureate Nuance.
Amy playing with her "sister" Tia. Tia plays with everybody but having been an "only child" for so long, Amy is most comfortable really letting her hair down with her own sister. It's nice to have another black one around! Amy is by Am. Ch. Shamont Lasting Impression ex Ch. Shadypines Viennetta, from the only black-to-black breeding I ever did.
Roxy, Sizzle and Tia, the social butterfly.
Even the matriarch, Netta, came along for the entire walk. She will be 15 years old in 3 months.
Sizzle and Roxy. Sizzle seems to be in on all the action, she's the one that's game for anything at all!
Tia and Sizzle showing 'em that blues are rocket fast!
Mason keeping an eye on his expanded harem!
BIS/BISS Am./Can. Ch. Laureate Fifth Avenue on her couch.
While Tiffany is still our most energetic and bouncy senior, she has always enjoyed her comforts including her very own colour-coordinated leather couch. She is happiest with Terry at one end of it and her at the other.
May she grace her couch and our lives for MANY years to come!
Am./Can. Ch. Whitegates Tinsel Town - "Holly" finishing her American Championship at age 2 years, with a Best of Breed win.
Holly was from our first bi to bi breeding. I saw "Monroe" (Am./Can. Ch. Akirene's Aramis Bi Barkley ROM/ROMC) and his WB daughter at the Chicago ASSA National, and I knew I had to breed Netta to him. Terry wasn't overly keen on a bi to bi breeding... but agreed to it and later when he got to see Monroe, just fell in love with the dog.
Holly winning her second of three majors en route to her U.S. title. "Big hair" Holly could be shown all 12 months of the year, and actually looked better out of coat like in this photo.
The family this summer. Netta on the left, mother of Holly who is next to her, Holly's daughter Sizzle and Sugar on the end, the 4th generation.
The four generations again in the same order. Holly beside her bi-black mother Netta, then Sizzle (one of our best) and then her daughter and Holly's granddaughter, Sugar.
If I could stop time right now, I would. Happy 13th birthday to the Queen of this household!
I judged the Sweepstakes at the Canadian National, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Being the first event, when I was done I was able to relax and take in the rest of the show with my friends! Truly the definition of having my cake and eating it too....!!
I sat ringside at a U.S. Specialty at the end of the year, and did not see a single bitch in the Winners class that I thought was worthy of a Specialty major. And it was not because the judge made a mistake and left one that was deserving behind. That was a sad first for me. Luckily that was not true of the males, but still. It made me feel badly and I haven't been able to forget it. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but it isn't good.
So now on to a New Year. Today it's raining (a lot) and very mild, our snow is almost gone. As it is we've watched a lot of places that normally don't get a lot of snow get clobbered, and while we've had a couple of storms, we've mainly been spared. I know it will find us eventually, but at the moment, here in the Great White North, we're green.
So of course seeing the snow disappear down to the grass I have to run out to scoop in the pouring rain. That's when I do my best thinking/writing. Plus I get the smug satisfaction that only a fellow dog person can understand - of getting absolutely everything up that was missed, the poop that got covered in overnight or surprise snows, what we know is there but can't see. As always, surprised at how much I've missed when I thought I was much more on top of it.
But now it's all done, all gone, fresh again. And we can start new, start over. Square one. Let it snow, bring it on. Happy New Year!!
January 1, 2011. The green, green grass of home!