AYLA: We are thankful today because TBT has always loved cats. From the 1st (Kenani) when he was a child, to us here now.
We talk to him sometimes about The Cats Who Came Before.
Kenani was a female Siamese. The picture is lost. Hai Yu was another. That picture is also lost. Gramma loved female Siamese cats and it stuck with TBT.
The only time he didn't have a cat in his life was while in college. They weren't allowed in the dormitories...
When he escaped college and joined an apartment of other male Beins, he was offerred a stray. Of course he took it and a 2nd. Ralph and Sport-Sport. Both grey tabby females, but hey, we are all cats. He had trouble feeding hisself, but he always made sure the cat was fed first.
There were several grey tabby females. He got a house with Mischief and later, Tinkerbelle (Both grey tabby females). Mischief was a sweet little cat who died at 12. Tinkerbelle was wounded in the spine by a dog attack before he got her, so he stroked her very carefully and she appreciated that. Meanwhile, he found Skeeter and LC. Tinkerbelle vanished one day. He went around calling for her for a week.
Skeeter and LC stayed for 16 years each. TBT found each of them at a small local pet store a year apart. Skeeter adored him and LC adored Skeeter. It was deliberate. TBT was gone most of the day, so Skeeter needed a companion and TBT kept it that way. Skeeter was TBT's cat and LC was Skeeter's cat. It worked.
He retired in 2006. Skeeter was happy, but LC didn't quite know what to do around him all day. She just stayed by Skeeter. TBT found me (Ayla, unwanted as a Queen by a breeder because I was too small) early 2008. He finally had a Siamese female again!
Skeeter went over The Bridge in Dec 2008. I loved him as a good brofur, but LC felt abandoned. I was always a lapcat but LC didn't know what to do with herself after Skeeter left. She had allus had Skeeter. After a couple moons, she finally went up on TBT's lap and purred.
I didn't mind. I liked LC. She was kind. Sometimes we shared The Lap. But she missed Skeeter a lot and left us to join him 13 moons later.
So TBT went looking for a friend for me. He found another Siamese female cat. She had papers and everything (just as I did of course) but she wasn't. The kitties at "A Tonk's Tail" told us she was a Tonkie. Which TBT dint know of so he looked it up on the puter. And there was a picture of a female Tonkie looking just like Iza!
Sadly, we dint get along great, so TBT went looking for another orange/white male like Skeeter (such a calm peaceable cat) and was finally guided to The Right One. A lady had been given a cat but discovered she was allergic.
When TBT went to her house, she called Marley downstairs and he settled right into TBT's lap! That kind of decided things. And he liked the name so Marley stayed Marley. Marley settled right into the house. Orange/white male cats seem to be peace-keepers and he did that for Iza and me.
Iza and I even napped together afterwards, so long as Marley was between us. Iza and I got along mainly but we needed Marley when things got hissy. He was allus there to sit between us and remind us ta get along.
It was a shock when Iza went over The Bridge. It was sudden. She wasn't eating, an TBT had a vet visit scheduled one morning. But that morning, she was suddenly bleeding out her backside and we all knew it was Her Time.
She was only 12 so that made me worried about being 13, ya know? TBT assures me she lived her life fast and I have more years. Well, Skeeter and LC both reached 16+. So I guess that's OK.
He got Laz as a rescue from the place I came from. He was unwanted. Well, so was I and Iza too. And Marley (from elsewhere), come ta think about it. Wow, even Skeeter and LC too. Gee even Tinkerbelle was and the others. Maybe that's why we are here. TBT has a soft spot for cats like us.
He says we have a new kitten arriving in August. It will be the first he has ever asked for to wait and get. She will be a Tonkinese like Iza, but mebbe look a little different in furs. She better be nicer than Iza was to me. I'll be kind, Marley will (of course) be kind. Laz better be nice to her or I'll bite HIS ear!
I'll want to protect a young sisfur. 4 Big Moons from now I think. It will be innerestin...
Mischief on the left, Tinkerbelle on the right. The one in between was the Gramma's cat Jeremy who stayed with the TBT when the Granparents went to Florida each Winter.
We like it when TBT tells us about the Cats Who Came Before. It means we know we will stay here with him all our days...
