Razzie’s partial tail cracks me up, especially when she jumps up like this. Tell me she doesn’t look like a furry little frog!
Razzie, smacking at the packing strap that I’m dangling out of her reach.
She REALLY wants that thing.
“Maybe if I get higher?”
And this would be the point where she lost her patience and spit at it.
“I SCARED it down!”
“This toy is neat, but I think that packing strap she’s got might be better. But she’s SKEERY, I’m not going to try to take it away from her!”
Darwin examines the wall basket.
::sniff::sniff::sniff::
“Nice view!”
Someone asked in the comments yesterday about the wall basket. It’s just a coated wire basket that we saw at Lowe’s – it’s a ClosetMaid Stack or Mount Basket, this one – and Fred said “It would be kind of neat to buy this and mount it on the wall in the foster room!” So we bought it, he screwed two pieces of wood together through the back of the basket and mounted them to the wall, then built “steps” going up to it. Here’s the whole setup with Emmy in the basket before she birthed those babies:
I put a piece of fleece on the bottom of the basket, and then a cat bed on top of that. Emmy liked it quite a bit before she had the babies, and in the past few days the babies have started sleeping there.
About Miz Poo.
Miz Poo’s our second oldest permanent resident; she’ll be 13 in September.
I first saw Miz Poo when she was, oh, maybe six weeks old? I saw her and fell in love with her, but at the time we had (um…. doing the math…) four cats and Fred was dead certain that adding another cat to the house would make us the looniest people in the state.
(I’m pausing so we can all laugh and roll our eyes.)
So Fred said “no” and I stomped and pouted and pouted and stomped, and when we got home I started with the begging and pleading (are we sensing a theme here?) and when I finally wore him down and he agreed that I could adopt her, I second-guessed myself. I worried that maybe we just didn’t need another cat, that the boy cats would pick on her, that I should just be happy with the cats we had. I decided that he was right, and put her out of my mind.
Then a few weeks later, it was the day before Thanksgiving. My daughter had the day off (or half a day off, maybe) from school, so we went out to lunch and we were going to go to the movies. Only, when we got to the movie theater the line was really long, and I said “Hey. Let’s go visit some kitties!”
I absolutely knew that the kitten I’d fallen in love with would have been long adopted and wouldn’t be there, but when we walked through the door, she saw me and started howling her head off. I carried her around and snuggled with her and she sneezed on my face (which was not the last time BY FAR that that would happen), and then I was going to put her back and asked Danielle if she was ready to leave, and Danielle said “Can’t we keep her?” and I said “Um… OKAY!”
For the first few weeks she wasn’t playful at all because she had an upper respiratory infection. But once she got over that, she was your usual playful girl. She was okay with the other cats (might have even snuggled with them), but her heart’s always been with her humans. She sleeps with me and has every night of her life (except for the times when I’m out of town); she’ll perch on the pillow next to me and put her paw on me, and purrs and purrs and purrs. If I got one of those baby carriers and strapped it to the front of me and carried her around in it 24/7, that would be absolute nirvana for her.
We were going with an “S” naming theme at the time, so we ultimately named her Scrappy. Which is a cute name and all, but no. She is just not a Scrappy. I called her “the kitten” until she was a year old. I’m sure she had a thousand nicknames, but eventually she became Pooh and Pooh-pie and Pooty McPooterson and that all morphed into Miz Poo at some point, and it’s stuck. Until a few years ago I still gave her name to the vet as “Scrappy” (and then had to stop and think when they called about her – I’d be “Who’s Scrappy? Oh, right…”), but we’ve pretty much given up and she’s Miz Poo to everyone.
She is not picky about humans. If you’re a person, she’s willing to love you with all of her heart. Anyone who’s been to our house knows that Miz Poo will greet them with hopeful eyes that say “My god, can I come home with you and be your best friend, can I, huh?” It doesn’t matter if she’s never seen you before – if you sit down, she’ll climb in your lap. She’s the one cat in this house who’s never met a stranger and wholeheartedly loves absolutely everyone.
She’s had a hard 12 1/2 years – there’s always something going on with her. Several years ago, she had a blockage (a large amount of hair being the cause of it) that almost killed her. After the operation for that, she had a huge incision on her tummy that then got infected and needed a drainage tube and took her forever to heal from. She’s got a rodent ulcer on her upper lip that comes on suddenly and unexpectedly and can only be treated with steroids (nothing else has helped). She’s an overgroomer and licks her belly bald. When she got sick a couple of months ago, she was so sick (the vet said it was an upper respiratory infection, but I’m not convinced that it was) that (he didn’t tell me this until later) Fred didn’t think she was going to make it. She did, though, she hung in there, and she is absolutely back to herself.
This is how you know Miz Poo is feeling fine: she picks up a toy and carries it through the house, keening at the top of her lungs until she finds a person, whereupon she puts the toy down and looks very smug about it. She’s doing that almost constantly these days.
She puts up with the fosters better than she used to, and if she wakes up and finds that one of them is snuggling with her, she doesn’t lose her mind too much – but she’s also willing to bring out the Paw o’ Doom when need be. Someone’s got to keep the little monsters in line, after all.
I don’t know how long she’ll be with us – don’t the cats who rack up the most in vet fees live the longest? (yes, she’s worth it!) – but I am trying to enjoy every moment with her. Even when she sneezes in my face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously
2011: No entry.
2010: No entry.
2009: “Hey! You! Guys! She’s got the camera out AGAIN!”
2008: Kara’s kittens, named.
2007: It’s very squirrelly in our back yard today.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Our cat called Meg mostly gets called Miss Pooh (and Tigger gets called Wig Wam Boo). No idea why! They both answer to either names.
Thank you for sharing the beautiful Miz Poo with me. She is gorgeous beyod description. And I love her personality (purrsonality) too. And when she carries a toy in her mouth, she looks like a panthera dragging her prey to feed her kids with it 🙂 Please, give her a kiss from me 🙂
Joasia from Szczecin, Poland (long-time lurker, first-time commenter)
Oh dear gracious… I completely missed the photo of Miz Poo with the kitten in a headlock until I had scrolled through cooing at her for a third time. I’m so glad to not be alone in giving cats nicknames. In my head, she is “Miz Pooter-Pie from the Pie Factory” (don’t ask me why, some things are inexplicable). Simba is “Beans” or “Buddha”; Norman is “Ninja” or “Noodles”; and Charlie the dog is usually “Chuck” and sometimes “Chuckie Doodle” (complete with song).
I may end up saying this on each of the permanent resident days, but I adore Miz Poo. I would be happy to let her sneeze on my face anytime she needed to. My old lady torbie Einstein left for the rainbow bridge after 18 years of sleeping in the crook of my knees, purring the night away. I didn’t sleep well for over a year afterwards… finally getting the okay to adopt old man Norman with the argument that I would sleep better with a kitty who snuggles at night. That traitor Norm has decided he prefers my husband’s legs at night. I may need to adopt an old lady next 😉
I didn’t see the hug/headlock at first either! Then I made it my computer background. Miz Poo and Beulah – makin my head explode with cuteness!
I absolutely ADORE Miz Poo! I have my own 13 year old torbie “Miz Poo”, her name is Pookie but I often call her Miz Poo, mol. This girl has attitude and doesn’t tolerate the others very well including her brother. They get the “paw o’doom” when they come within swiping distance. She too is a people kitty. Must be the Tortie genes, hah.
Oh my. Isn’t Beanie the greatest? After you, Robyn, of course!! I loved the fur frog and photos of the kittens exploring. It won’t be long now that they’ll be pestering the permanent residents, the poor devils.
And Miz Poo! Is there anyone cuter and more affectionate? I think not (just don’t tell my two!!).
I hope she continues to feel well and keen the house down. It’ll make you smile. Honest!
Awww Razzie and her fluffed up little tail!
Miz Poo – you are gorgeous! Take care
x
I’d never seen the itty bitty kitten pictures of Miz Poo! No wonder you fell in love with her, so sweet and adorable. I have a Tortie, Slinky, and she’s 12 now…my oldest cat. Also a people cat, loves me and snuggling, but only tolerates my other two cats.
Thanks for the recap on Miz Poo. Enjoying learning about each of your cats!
Wonderful Miz Poo! Thanks for sharing her with us. She’s precious.
Thanks for the link to someone new out there – love the idea of a bottle baby nursery.
Love the markings on Miz Poo – her face is adorable. 🙂
Is there anything less threatening than a kitten spit? I think they do that because they know we’ll be overcome by the cuteness of it.
I’m all too familiar with how cats’ names can morph into all sorts of seemingly unrelated nicknames. My Maggie (who sometimes has a touch of the loonies to her and looks like she could be Jake and Elwood’s little sister) became Magpie, which somehow became Maggot Pie, which sounds disgusting, but she gives me the squeezy eyes when I say it because of my tone of voice. She’s also my Pie Girl.
Miz Poo is absolutely gorgeous. I love her coloration. And the picture of her with Beulah in the bed is threatening to give me a blood sugar spike.
Aww I adore razzie!!!Love that tail!
Miz Poo is gorgeous, i keep thinking she’s a ginger tabby who swam through some black ink!! LOL
I got verclempt and thought this was going to end badly. Be well Miz Poo.
I laughed at the last paragraph. Yep,her name was Tabitha. She was the sweetest Himmie. She lived 20 years and was my most expensive cat.
I have a Tortie, Rootie, who’s 10 and I love her to pieces. (I love my Charlie and Taco as well, but you know what I mean. 🙂 She sleeps with me also and, like Miz Poo, will sneeze so loud she’ll wake me up!
You know I love all your cats and kittehs, but Miz Poo will probably always be my favorite…
I had to chuckle at your mention of carrying Miz Poo around in a baby sling. At our local pet expo, volunteers from our cat shelter actually do carry certain cats around in baby slings. We have some who are just so laid back and friendly that they relax and fall asleep!
I just love the picture of Miz Poo with the kitten “in her arms”. My Gus is my money pit and also my favorite. It’s not his fault – no one treated an URI before I got him and he’s a sneeze factory with lots of snot. He has to go onto antibiotics once or twice a year. I try not to overdo them so I live with lots of snot flying through the air. I just wish I could teach him to “Blow” and he blow his nose into a tissue. He also keens like a loon. I can tell when he is “bringing” me his kill from another room by his meow.
Kisses to Miz Poo! You can bring me a toy and sneeze on me any time you want! You are worth every penny, too. One of the reasons I still gladly drive a 15 year old car is because of the many visits to specialists and surgeons that kept my Baal and Boo with me 16 and 21 years respectively!! Yep, worth every penny! 🙂
After Philo had to have exploratory surgery for unexplained chronic vomiting (it cleared up on its own, naturally), my husband took to calling him “5K.” Philo made up for it by being a complete lovebug at sometimes…and a complete snot at others. 🙂 Still, wouldn’t trade him for anything and hope he lives forever. ♥
I have a tortie who carries things around the house singing too, and when she gets her brother going with her it’s like an opera duet.
Has anyone ever told you that Miz Poo looks a lot like Sue/PitterPats’ Rosie?
Aw, every time I see Miz Poo I’m reminded of our old tortie girl who passed away due to mammary cancer and diabetes last year. Snack would have been about the same age as Miz Poo and she adored humans as well, especially my husband. She would sit on his chest and purr and drool while we lay in bed every night and, when she had had enough of the petting, she’d hop down to a pillow that he placed next to the bed and sleep there, snoring away.
Snack also had no use for other cats, as was clear from her interactions with her surviving “roommates” (she’d be offended if I were to call them her “brother and sister”). They are sweet and friendly and we absolutely ADORE them, but Snack never got along with them. She was such a lovable old crank, and we miss her a lot. Those torties are something special.
I love and enjoy the kittens but I am really enjoying the older residents’ backstories, too!!
Miz Pooh looks so much like my Harley Girl! Harley’s not such a people person — I’m the only person she really likes, and although she’ll curl up next to me, she’s not a lap sitter. I sure wish I had a lap cat right now!
Oh, how I adore Miz Poo! And if I ever visited Crooked Acres I would wile away many a happy hour petting her and letting her sneeze in my face. Miz Poo is my desktop background at work, so I look at her every single day and smile.
And if she ever wants to travel, I have a “Room with a View” for her!
Isn’t this Emmy and a Nom?
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2012/04/29/funny-pictures-my-mama-is-my-blanket/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ICanHasCheezburger+%28I+CAN+HAS+CHEEZBURGER%29