Hi everyone,
My name is Vicci and I have an approximately-12-year-old shorthair black cat named Spooky (yes, lots of black cats are named Spooky, but more later on why his name is very appropriate!).
I never had cats when growing up, it was only when I married my husband and we moved into an old farmhouse with a lot of acres that he said we should have a couple of cats. To catch mice. I was doubtful, but we found a stray at a local park and thus began a 26-year-long (so far) infatuation with those cute little felines.
At one point, we had 8 cats and 4 dogs (all but one dog were rescues of one sort or another) but now we have only one cat remaining. And I'm fine with that. He is king of our house.
One morning about 6-1/2 years ago our shorthair black cat, Bear, died suddenly. That evening, just before dark, I looked outside and saw a black, shorthair cat sitting on the windowsill of our garage. Needless to say, I freaked out a bit, but DH kept his cool and walked outside to see whose cat this was. We live in a rural area, our nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away, and rarely have strays wandering into our yard.
Long story short, although this cat ran away initially, I was able to coax him into being friendly and within a month he was taken to the vet, declared healthy, then integrated into our household (at the time, we had a 18-year-old cat named Dusty). Spooky's arrival was very spooky!
He is such a wonderful cat, loving and extremely adorable and as loyal as any of our dogs have been. Diagnosed with reduced kidney function a few years ago, we have been keeping him on a regimen of veterinary diet, and many coaxings to drink fresh water daily, and (fingers crossed) he is still very healthy.
I look forward to exchanging thoughts on cat ownership, health concerns, etc. on this forum!
My name is Vicci and I have an approximately-12-year-old shorthair black cat named Spooky (yes, lots of black cats are named Spooky, but more later on why his name is very appropriate!).
I never had cats when growing up, it was only when I married my husband and we moved into an old farmhouse with a lot of acres that he said we should have a couple of cats. To catch mice. I was doubtful, but we found a stray at a local park and thus began a 26-year-long (so far) infatuation with those cute little felines.
At one point, we had 8 cats and 4 dogs (all but one dog were rescues of one sort or another) but now we have only one cat remaining. And I'm fine with that. He is king of our house.
One morning about 6-1/2 years ago our shorthair black cat, Bear, died suddenly. That evening, just before dark, I looked outside and saw a black, shorthair cat sitting on the windowsill of our garage. Needless to say, I freaked out a bit, but DH kept his cool and walked outside to see whose cat this was. We live in a rural area, our nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away, and rarely have strays wandering into our yard.
Long story short, although this cat ran away initially, I was able to coax him into being friendly and within a month he was taken to the vet, declared healthy, then integrated into our household (at the time, we had a 18-year-old cat named Dusty). Spooky's arrival was very spooky!
He is such a wonderful cat, loving and extremely adorable and as loyal as any of our dogs have been. Diagnosed with reduced kidney function a few years ago, we have been keeping him on a regimen of veterinary diet, and many coaxings to drink fresh water daily, and (fingers crossed) he is still very healthy.
I look forward to exchanging thoughts on cat ownership, health concerns, etc. on this forum!
