Meowy Catmas , everyfurry ! We 've been having so much fun over here at the PDX pride ! Thank you to all our friends who have sent Catmas cards ! Mommy and Daddy read them to us and let us look at the wonderful piccies when we get them ! We 'll send out cards , too , but it will be a few days before we get them mailed . I 've been taking care of Mommy again . She got sick and had to go to the ER , but she 's doing better now . I try to take care of her tummy , but she says purring on it doesn 't help it heal . She lets me purr next to her tummy , though , and that helps a lot ! It 's a furry important job , and that 's why I got a special Christmas bandana this year ! I paraded all around the living room , showing it off to everyone . I got a new outfit , too ! I was so excited to get it ; I couldn 't even sit still for the picture ! It 's a black & plaid dress , and it matches Heimdall 's bandana perfectly ! Mommy and I couldn 't go to H . or C . this month because of Mommy 's tummy , but we 'll be able to go next month , and she says I can wear my new dress on those visits instead of a Christmas visit . That 's ok with me , I guess . I did go on a very important visit at the beginning of this month , though ! I went to Mommy 's church in Vancouver , WA , to entertain kids whose families participate in the Winter Hospitality Overflow ( WHO ) shelter program . WHO was putting on a health fair for the participating families , who are homeless and need assistance of various kinds ( housing , medical , monetary , nutrition , etc . ) . The health fair had information on free medical & dental clinics , food assistance , housing assistance , and hands - on stations with basic checkups from nurses , medicine checkups , manicures , massages , and foot - washing . For the kids , they also had gingerbread house decorating , coloring masks , and playing with toys . I was there to entertain the kids and take some stress off the parents , plus promote healthy interactions with animals . I was very important ! Mommy and I took a taxi to the church , because we had to be there pretty early in the morning . The driver was the same one who took us to the pet expo last April ! He was glad to see me again , and told us how his kitty was doing . He even let us sit up front and petted me while he was driving ! When we got to the church , the lady in charge told us what we would be doing and I got settled in . At first I wondered what I was supposed to do , because it was a totally new environment for me . Where were the people crowding around to see me and pet me ? Where were the beds , walkers , laps , and chairs ? Why weren 't people calling me over ? What was I supposed to do in this large , open space , with only two rows of mostly - empty chairs and some long tables scattered about ? It took me a while to realize that I was supposed to just be myself , like I do at home , and not like I do on a regular visit . I was supposed to walk around on my leash , say hi to people , ask them for pets , and hop onto chairs . Those parts of my duties and training didn 't change . But on this visit , I could also talk a little ( as long as I didn 't scream ) , play with the toys the kids put near me , and investigate things ! I 'm usually not allowed to do those things on a visit ! It was fun ; more like playing with JJ than being on a visit ! The kids naturally gravitated toward me . Two kids in particular wanted to be my assistant trainers , because Mommy told the kids I was learning how to interact with people in this new environment . The two boys shared me nicely . The older one pushed me in the stroller around the room and got me used to being there , then gave me a nice chair to curl up in . He sat in another chair next to me , petting me and talking to Mommy about me . A lady with a walker came up , and I immediately switched into my regular visiting mode . She has an emotional assistance cat , but she can 't have her with her at the hotel where they were staying . I visited with her , her husband , and their young daughter for a while , then the second boy came to see me . He and his sisters had met me when the first boy had , but his sisters had gotten bitten by a cat in the past so they were leery of petting me or being close to me much . The brother wanted to be sure I wouldn 't bite or scratch , but once he was convinced that I would be good , he was my very best friend for the rest of the time we were there ! The boy held onto my leash just like Mommy showed him , and we walked around the whole narthex of the church , investigating all the windowsills . It was so much fun , and everything smelled differently than my windows at home ! At one point , I walked under a rolling table and the organizer of the event had to get Mommy 's attention to have her " rescue " me . Mommy walked right over and called me to come out , and I came right back out . All I wanted to do was have a nice nap in a quiet space , and that looked about as inviting as anywhere else ! Mommy brought my stroller over and I got in , taking about a half - hour nap while she visited with some people who were at one of the tables . After my nap , the little boy found us again . He wanted to have me help him with his gingerbread house , but I couldn 't . I did play trains and cars with him and the girls , though ! I think I was a bridge at one point , but I 'm not quite sure , because sometimes the cars flew over me and sometimes they went around me . I politely sniffed them , and pushed a couple with my nose , but wasn 't really interested in batting at them right then . The boy wanted to push me around in my stroller some more , so he , Mommy , and I walked all around the church and back out into the narthex . Those two rows of chairs were still there ! I wanted to get out of the stroller and investigate them , because they intrigued me , so I hopped out and got pets from one of the other volunteers . I then walked over him to the next chair in line . Mommy told my friend that I like to walk from chair to chair , so he very nicely moved all the chairs in the line so they were touching each other , like a huge train ! I happily walked about three - quarters of the length , about 10 chairs , then got tired again . Back into my stroller I went , while the little boy and Mommy talked about the functions of my harness and leash , my stroller , and my walking jacket . After seeing me in action and walking around with me for that long , he had a lot of good questions ! He wanted to know why I ran out of energy so quickly , where my food and water were , did I sleep in the stroller , and did I have a home . Mommy answered that I ran out of energy faster because I am smaller , my food and water were in bowls in the closet area , I do sleep in the stroller , and I have a home in a house with Mommy , Daddy , and the other kitties . It was an exhausting day , but very fun ! Even the two little girls who were afraid of me were happy to see me and know now that not every cat will attack them . I 'm glad I made a difference for all those kids and people ! Hello , everyone . I 'm still inside ! At the moment , I 'm under the bed again , where I 've been for most of the time . I come out to eat , drink , and use the box , but the rest of the time I stay hidden . It 's a very different life from being outside ! A couple weeks ago , Auntie Shawnee came to clean the room I 'm hiding in . Boy , was that ever a traumatic day ! All those sounds , and wondering what was going on , and then a horrible thing happened ! They moved my bed ! They actually moved it clear across to the other side of the room ! I scooted out of there so quickly I was just a blur , bounced off the wall in the hallway , and ended up on the sink counter in the bathroom ! I 'm still not quite sure how I got up there ! Panther hit my seat while I was trying to see if the window would open . It wouldn 't , so I turned and hissed at my brother . He backed off when everyone told him to , so I hopped down and started for the living room . Panther started chasing me ! We ran into the living room at top speed , so I looked around for the highest safe spot . Seeing a bookcase , I climbed it , but it was full of computer parts that crashed down around me ! They and I were alright , but what a commotion ! Everyone in the household came out to see what in the world was going on , and I got out of there as fast as I could . I ran to the other side of the fireplace and hopped onto the small table next to the end of the couch . There was a nice pillow on it that I used as a bunker , as you can see from the picture ! This is where I stayed for the next hour and a half until everyone and everything calmed down . Mommy sat in the chair and worked on a project , Daddy fell asleep in his chair , and the other cats went about their routines . Dare checked on me and Tabby walked over to touch noses , make friends , and lie down almost touching me ! Both of them check on me under the bed now , as does Rori . When there are visitors in the house , Rori even comes under the bed to hide with me , and we talk ! I 'll come out when I 'm ready , but it may be a while . Hi , everyone ! I 'm Panther 's brother , and I normally live outside . I was unmercifully tricked into this metal box on Tuesday , kept inside for a day , then rode in a car somewhere . I was drugged then rode back home in another car . I had a big adventure , and it 's still continuing ! More on that later , though . . . . I never came inside when Panther did , because the humans didn 't know about me then . I started coming around after Tigress came back , once Panther was already inside . He gets so excited when he sees me , and we have the same eyes and facial structure , so we must be related somehow . That 's why the humans call us brothers . From the humans ' estimation , we 're the same age : 2 years old ( just barely ) . On Tuesday , the box appeared in my usual eating spot on the back porch . I saw the human lady put it out there . She talked softly to me , but I hid under the deck until she was done arranging the box . She put food in it , but I didn 't believe it was food for me . I waited a while , then decided to try to eat it . I went into the box , stepped over the trip plate with my front paws , and ate what I could of the dry food . The lady put more food out , then some tuna . I had to put my back feet on the trip plate to get at the yummy stuff , and that 's when it happened . I jumped so high I hit my head and back on the top of the trap and it jumped , too ! I didn 't like that , so I didn 't jump anymore . I froze , even when the lady brought the trap inside . I figured the others wouldn 't see me if I didn 't move , but they saw me anyway . Once I was inside , my silly brother walked right up to the trap and swatted my behind through the wires ! I guess he wanted to play , but it surprised me . I didn 't do anything , though , and he got in trouble for it . The others circled around me , walking in a line around the trap and sniffing me . Once they completed three or four circles each , they settled into the formation in the picture above . From left to right , it 's Freya , Panther , Carbon , Tabby , Autumn , and then Little Bit is on the tote box under the table . Heimdall also played , but had walked off into the living room before this picture was taken . They are all really nice kitties , and my friend Tigress from outside is also in here . I 'm glad I have someone familiar ! The human man is nice , too , as well as the lady . The human man told me that I was safe inside this house and that no one would hurt me or fight with me . Autumn , the kitten , guarded me and hissed at anyone who dared to come right up to the trap to try to touch noses with me ! I was offered some wet food , but I didn 't eat any of it . Carbon got mad that I got wet food and he didn 't , so he lay down on top of the trap ! The humans said that 's a regular thing for him to do . It didn 't bother me , except it was confusing . I kept looking up at him , but didn 't move out from under where he was . I peed in the trap after scrambling to get out , but the lady cleaned it up because there was a towel and a garbage sack under the trap . Auntie Cai took the lady and me over to the clinic that the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon did and left me there ! I was such a good boy for both my car rides , and didn 't make any sounds or anything ! I played teeter - totter with the trap while I was carried , though , walking from one end of it to the other . Well , what did they expect ? I 'm used to solid ground under my paws ! The people at FCCO neutered me , cleaned my ears , gave me ear mite medicine , flea medicine , and my vaccinations . They thought I was a senior cat ! I don 't know where they got that idea , but that 's definitely not what I look like . Maybe they thought my teeth were that old ? Auntie Shawnee came with the lady to pick me up again , and I played teeter - totter a little . I was still very groggy from the anesthesia , though , so I didn 't move around as much . I spent a while longer at home in the trap , then I peed again . The people at FCCO had put a piece of newspaper as a lining in the trap , so the lady opened the door a little to take the newspaper out . I didn 't want to let it go ! I rode the newspaper from the end of the trap almost to the door of it , then I bit the lady 's finger and ran out of the trap ! To be fair , she had been holding her finger out for me to sniff , so I took that as an indication that it was something to bite . I didn 't bite hard , though , just a warning chomp . I found this roll - top desk in the dining room and climbed it . I stayed up there for about an hour , just watching everyone and taking in everything , trying to acclimatize to my new environment . The man walked right up to the other end of the desk and talked softly to me , telling me no one would hurt me here , and then blinked really slowly at me to tell me he loves me . I blinked back at him , so he blinked again . I like it in here , so I stayed inside even when the lady offered me the open door ! After a while , I moved to the door but still didn 't want to go out . The lady started watching tv , so I cruised around the dining room and even the living room before being spooked by the magic picture box and flying down the hallway . I found another desk in the far bedroom and hid there , hissing at a couple of the others when they came to find me . After a while , I wandered into the next room and found a quiet spot under the big bed . I stayed under the bed most of yesterday and will probably stay under here for today , too . The lady put food and water in this room , but I don 't trust anyone enough to go out to eat it or drink it yet . The man and the lady have both been coming in to talk to me , and the lady looked at me from the middle of the room . The others have been looking at me , too , but haven 't really bothered me . I 'm glad that everyone 's giving me space and time to get used to everyone and everything . The lady put this odd thing called a Feliway diffuser on the wall , and that 's helping to calm me down and make me feel more secure here . I don 't know whether I want to stay inside all the time , but it 's a nice place to be right now , at least under this bed . Long time , no meow ! I 've been back at my foster home since Sunday , and it 's been a confusing transition . I growled and hissed at Mommy Cai , Foster Daddy , and Foster Mommy the first day , because I 'd been on my best behavior at my home the previous few days . I didn 't want to be brought back to my foster home ! Mommy Cai explained that she wanted to give Haley some time to readjust to being with her , because Haley used to be Mommy Cai 's kitty a few years ago . Haley 's a grumpy old lady ! She growled at me and hissed , and sometimes swatted , so I lay down when I saw her . I really wanted to snuggle with Mommy Cai , though , so sometimes I would be on one side and Haley would be on the other . Haley didn 't like that at all . I also would do things that annoyed Haley after she would growl at me . I got along with Beastie great , though ! We 'd run up and down the hallway , around through the rooms , up into the windows and down , then around again . Mommy Cai called it " Nascar time " ! Beastie bit Mommy Cai when she came back without me . He 's since almost forgiven her . It took me a few days to adjust , but by the second day here I was watching the other kitties from a safe distance . I remember everyone , except there 's a new kitten named Autumn . She and I aren 't sure about each other , but we 've said hi . Now I eat from the food plates at the same time as everyone else and even have reclaimed my recliner ! Last night , I sat with Foster Mommy for the first time since I 've been back . I get lonely in the middle of the night , the time I used to run around with Beastie , so I call down the hallway and Foster Mommy talks to me . I come out to get some pets from her and usually end up on my recliner . I like watching my brother , Sherbet , out the back window . He looks like he 's doing well , too ! He 's getting neutered in a couple weeks , and then he 'll be doing really well . I wish he 'd come inside so we could play , but he won 't . He 's now eating while the humans watch through the windows and coming when they call him , so that 's a big improvement in the time I 've been away ! I want to go back to Mommy Cai 's . Everyone says that I 'll get to visit there in a few weeks , for a short visit . I 'll do that a few times , then do an overnight and see how it goes . I 'll try to transition back there and see how Haley and I do with the slow reintroductions . I hope it goes well ! I aced my spay ! Wait , what ? That 's not how it 's supposed to go ? Well , what do I know ? I 'm just a 7 - month - old kitten ! Foster Daddy picked me up yesterday afternoon and brought me back home . I had just woken up and eaten a little , so I was still pretty groggy at first and barely talked at all in the car . Foster Daddy watched me closely the first few hours , and the first thing I did was climb up the ladder to the loft bed ! He watched me really closely for that , and plucked me off there pretty quickly . Foster Daddy wondered why I didn 't snuggle with him right away , but then he realized that maybe I didn 't feel good enough yet to hop up into the chair with him . Foster Mommy picked me up and lifted me into the chair , so I ended up snuggling on Foster Daddy and getting pets from both of them ! I purred through the whole thing and tried to head - butt Foster Daddy 's glasses like usual , so they knew I was feeling more like myself . Aunties Dare , Rori , and Freya keep checking on me , and sometimes Aunties Tabby and Missy do , too . I was playing with the mesh on the carrier , because I think it 's funny to be able to see through it , and Auntie Freya came over to play . She scared me , so I hissed at her . She got a funny look and backed off , like she couldn 't quite believe I was hissing this soon ! I 'm in ! I 'm choosing to be inside more often , and for almost all the day and the night now ! A couple weeks ago , I surprised Mommy while she was working on the computer . She felt me ask her and thought I wanted foot pets . Nope ! I hopped up onto the computer desk like I 've seen Uncle Heimdall and Auntie Rori do , and I wanted hand pets ! C ' mon , Mommy ! You take too many pictures . I 'll just take a nap while you photograph me , then maybe I 'll get some hand pets . ( I eventually did get my pets . ) I 'm learning a lot about " in " this week ! First , we had a fire in the fireplace , which was exciting ! And , no , I did not want to be " in " there with it . I liked watching it , though . I stuck my head in the cupholder on Tabby 's stroller , then bounced onto the bed and climbed in the pocket that hangs from the bed to hold books and a cell phone . Foster Mommy pulled me out , but I was very cozy in there ! Next , I found some bags of treats that were hidden in a bag on a chair . Everyone loved those , especially Uncle Carbon ! Yum ! I 'm at the vet waiting for my spay today . What 's a " spay " , and will I like it ? I rode in a car in a carrier today . Auntie Cai came over and picked Foster Mommy and me up to take us there , then took Foster Mommy to work . Foster Daddy had a doctor 's appointment ( not a vet one ) today , so that 's why just Foster Mommy went with me . I was good in the car , but talked a lot and really wanted out so I could watch everything through the window . I like riding in someone 's arms better , but I couldn 't do that this time . Foster Mommy said I 'll come back home this afternoon sometime . The vet gave me a snuggly gingerbread stuffed toy , and I promptly lay down with it under my belly . I 'm not sure I like this " vet " place , but I was content to be carried back to the waiting area and get in my cage to wait for my turn to be spayed . I 'll get my vaccinations today , too . I 'm 7 months old now ! I 'm adoptable to a good home in the Portland , OR , / Vancouver , WA , area . Skylar and Lydia came into our lives in the summer of 2005 , even before Tabby and Carbon did . Skylar actually came into Mommy 's life two years before that , while she was gardening . He wandered over and started eating a cherry tomato that was on the ground ! Mommy laughed and called him over , petted him , and found out his name from his collar tag . He lived with the Rich family , who had just moved in across the street from Mommy . For a while after that , Skylar would garden with Mommy and walk her to and from the bus stop , greeting her as she came home from work as well . She met the Rich family and became a kid - sitter for their daughter . She also met Lydia , Skylar 's littermate sister , who at that time was much shyer around people than Skylar was . When their family had to move across the country and leave the kitties behind , it was decided with a lot of tearful farewells to have Mommy adopt Skylar and Lydia because , as Mrs . Rich said , " Skylar has already adopted you . " It was totally true ! Later on , Lydia adopted Daddy as her person and Skylar adopted a second person , Mommy Erin . Lydia became the Big Kitty ( alpha cat ) of the household , and reigned supreme until her death , at which point she appointed Rori as the next Big Kitty . Skylar was everyone 's favorite uncle , teaching the kittens , playing tails , wrestling , and generally enjoying life . Even as he aged and got sick , he still loved begging for food with his Siamese yowl and playing with straw wrappers and strings . Your furry investigative repurrter Carbon here , with the news about the household . First of all , there has been an unexpected lull in our repurrting . Please pardon the interruption of the news . It couldn 't have come at a worse time , when Auntie Lydia 's Bridge Day Annifursary and National Feral Cat Day were upon us ! However , our paws just aren 't the best for typing on the human keyboards , and our typist was out of commission . She 's ok , though , and we put her back to work pronto ! I watched out the window for any strange goings - on , like big dogs or sewer - sucky machines while she slept on the couch for a few days straight . Doctors Tabby and Heimdall revved their purr motors up and alternated sleeping on the couch back or behind her knees . Nurse Dare and Aide Autumn put their purring skills and super snuggling skills to good use on her legs . All of us made sure to supervise her walking around the house and we all were extra - good to not get underfoot . Daddy took good care of us while Mommy was resting and recuperating . Daddy still will need to be the one in charge of us ( and our food , water , and boxes ) for about 6 weeks , because Mommy had gall bladder surgery . Mommy showed us the owies so that we would know what to avoid . Daddy made sure to tell us exactly how he expected us to behave . We mostly followed his expectations so far , with some kitten antics and some hairballs , but that 's to be expected as well . Mommy will sleep on the couch for at least another week , maybe longer , which is just fine with us . More room to snuggle ! Today 's Daddy 's birthday ! We 're not saying how old he is , but it has a 4 in it somewhere . We 're going to make sure he has LOTS of snuggles and purrs today , especially because he 's got a cold so he needs our snuggles to warm him up . That little Autumn has been hogging Daddy lately , but today she 's allowed to if she wants , I guess . Normally , his lap is my territory . At least she let me use the box first this morning , hmph . Oh , hi ! I didn 't realize there were other humans and big cats here , reading what we write ! I 'm Autumn , and I 've been at this place for a week now . I 'm a foster kitten . I 'm about 4 1 / 2 months old , and I 'm a double - fanged monster ! Rawr ! No , actually I 'm a sweet baby who is teething right now , because I just got my adult teeth but still have my baby teeth . That means I like to chomp on arms and legs , but I 'm always careful not to break the skin . I have very good manners ! I even use soft paws on my foster purrents , instead of clawing ( at least most of the time ) . I 'm also very smart ! In a week , I 've learned to ask for petting and for up , just like Tabby and Heimdall do ! I also know how to hop into the stroller for a nap , and I know the best sleep spots in the house . I also do funny kitten stuff , like try to climb onto the desk by standing in the garbage can , spilling it over in the process . After I did that , I walked around the house with a used tissue on my back for a few minutes before I shook it off ! Foster Mommy didn 't have the camera handy at the moment , though ! My other people had to give me up . My other mommy loves me very much , but she split up with my other daddy and couldn 't take me to college with her . I couldn 't stay with my other daddy , either . My other mommy is a student of Foster Mommy 's , so she called Foster Mommy and arranged to bring me to this home . At the time , my name was Doug and my other people thought I was a little boykit . I guess they never checked to see once I got old enough ! My foster purrents quickly changed my name once they saw I was a little girlkit . This is why I 'm now named Autumn . My orange spot looks just like a leaf landed on my little head ! Everyone loves my colors . There is another kitty here who looks like me and her name is Missy . She doesn 't really like me much , because she thinks I 'm taking Foster Daddy away from her . No , I 'm not ! I just like sitting with him and snuggling because I spent most of my first day here in his lap being petted . At first , I was overwhelmed by all the big kitties here . At my other home , I was an only kitten , so this was a complete change ! I hissed at everyone , but then I realized that they were only curious . I was curious , too ! I saw something waving around , so I crouched low in the chair and tracked it . Suddenly , I made up my mind to grab it , so I pounced ! One of the big cats turned to look at me and jerked the waving thing away . It was Heimdall 's tail ! Now , every time I see that tail , I go play with it . It 's the best toy in the world , and the big cat attached to it , Heimdall , doesn 't even mind unless I try to bite ! I also like playing with Dare , who is my size even though she 's older than I am . I like playing chase up and down the hallway with her , even though I can 't leap as high as she does . She hops to the top of the roll - top desk , and I can 't get that far even with an in - between jump . I try to get Rori to play sometimes , and she played a little with me yesterday around a box , but then she swatted at me and I got scared . She was confused because I ran off , so she apologized to me by touching noses with me later on to tell me she was sorry . All these big cats are two to five times my size , except for Dare and Missy . That 's big ! I like my foster home , but I would really love a home of my own . I 'm very social , smart , and friendly to humans and other cats . I 'm up - to - date on all my shots , but still need to be spayed . My foster purrents are going to make an appointment for that next week , probably . like I 'm eating in this picture today , because it 's my Gotcha Day Anniversary ! Cool ! The last time I got some wet - food nummies was when Grandma gave us some of her TOONA . Mommy and Daddy don 't eat that stuff , but they promised to give me some of a can of wet cat food . That 's just fine with me ! Yummy ! not having her around , but things are getting better around here . Grandpa came by last night and I actually let him see me ! Not only let him , but wanted him to follow me down the hall and into the room where my cave is ! I didn 't want him to pet me , but I did want him to see where my cave is . My purrents were so happy ! That 's a big step for me , met her ? Mama Lydia was Uncle Skylar 's sister , and she was Big Kitty before me . She taught me everything about being Big Kitty in the year that I knew her . She even let me snuggle with her ! I can 't believe I 'm as old as she was then ! Of course , she was sick at that point and I 'm relatively healthy , so that makes a lot of difference . The only major health problems I have are my weight and the cataract taking over my left eyeball . Those don 't stop me when I really want to do something , though , even climbing up the ladder to the bunk bed to snuggle with Mommy while she naps like I did last week , playing with my little sister Little Bit , or keeping tabs on the household . I just keep My brother was gotcha 'd to be a foster kitten here at the same time I was gotcha 'd , but then he was adopted out . I got to stay ! My first human mommy was Mommy Erin , who lived with us at that time . This is the first picture of me , right after Mommy picked me out of the middle of a spare tire in the neighbor 's yard and handed me to Mommy Erin . Mommy Erin had seen my brother and me crossing the street and ran in to tell Mommy and Daddy . Of course , there was no question what was going to happen ! This is one of our favorite pictures of Grandma . That 's who the little girl was in our Wordless Wednesday post this week ! Grandma was Mommy 's mommy , and she was living with us for the last 7 months . She died of cancer on August 8th , so we 're very sad about that . There have been a lot of changes around here lately , things moving around , people coming in and out , meeting new people who are relatives whom we 've never seen before , and different schedules . Our purrents say we 're a houseful of therapy cats , which is a good thing ! Having Tabby in our family has taught us all to be mindful of our purrents ' emotions and behaviors , so when they first heard the news , we all offered ourselves to be petted and to purr for them . Grandpa ( Mommy 's dad , who was divorced from Grandma ages ago ) came over and immediately got three lap - sitters ! We 've all been extremely snuggly and attentive to Mommy and Daddy and social with other people who have come by to offer help and condolences . Heimdall was the closest to Grandma , and became her " furry doctor " . He would sneak into her room to do his rounds , walking under the desk , then around to check out underneath the hospital bed , then walk to the far wall and look up at her when she was lying in bed . Then , most of the time , he 'd go under the rocking chair and have to be caught to be taken out of the room . If Grandma was in the rocking chair , he 'd go over to her for pets . None of us could be on Grandma 's lap , because she had cancer and so her immune system was compromised by the chemo and radiation . After she died , Heimdall went in to do his rounds and was very concerned when he didn 't see her on the bed . He hopped up onto the bed and immediately shrunk because he could tell she hadn 't been there for a week . She had been in the hospital for a few days before she died , so by the time Heimdall went into her room it had been almost two weeks since she 'd last slept in her bed . Heimdall immediately let Mommy pick him up and snuggle him , then Freya came over to lick him on the head when he was set in the hallway . He still pulls on Grandma 's door at least twice a day , hoping that she 'll reappear . Tabby is the only one of us who knew that humans could die . She 'd encountered death smells and " not there " smells , as well as ministered to dying friends on her visits , so she 's been trying to help the rest of us through this . However , without direct experience , it 's hard for us to visualize one of our people being " not there " . It 's a different " not there " than when fosters have been adopted . This " not there " leaves an empty place that 's sad , instead of a happy - sad one , and we don 't like it . Mommy let us smell the death smells on Grandma 's things when they were retrieved from the hospital , but that only helped a little . Human death smells , while similar , are still different enough from kitty death smells that we don 't know if what we smelled really was a death smell . Our purrents say it was , but we can 't be sure . All we know is that our third purrson is missing from our lives . We love you , Grandma ! We miss you very much , and wish you were here to give us leg pets and hand pets , knit blankets for us , and tell us how much you love us , too . If you were here , Heimdall would purr his best motorboat purr for you ! We know you are at the Bridge , so we will see you again . We hope your spirit will come visit us like the spirits of our furry family members Skylar and Spooky . Tabby : I 'm going to miss you , Panther ! Panther : What 's a forever home , Tabby ? Tabby : You 'll find out very soon ! That lady who was just here wants you to come live with her and her other cat . New mommy Cai came over and Missy wanted to horn in on the attention ! After she realized Cai was focused on me , Missy decided to leap up to the table tray . This is her getting ready to launch herself off to the table tray . Panther : Nope , it 's for me ! I 'm the one leaving ! If you go , then who will snuggle with Daddy when he sleeps ? Panther : * cries * Why did you have to put me in there like that ? I do want to go to my new home , but the car ride is a little scary and I don 't like being cooped up in this carrier . * scrabbles at the sides and door , trying to get out * I have a new brofur ! His name is Beastie , and he 's a fluffy white kitty . He swatted me once to tell me that he 's the alpha cat in the household , and otherwise hisses or ignores me . Within two hours , I was snuggled at Mommy Cai 's feet while she and Beastie took naps . I actually took a nap , too , because all this excitement wore me out ! I like my new home , but it 's weird not having the others here . I looked for them and called to them , but they didn 't come out of hiding so I guess it 's just the three of us here at this new place called a forever home . I like my forever home ! I 've been sticking to Mommy Cai like velcro , following her from room to room and talking non - stop . This bothers Beastie , so he 's been pouting , but Mommy Cai gives him a lot of attention , too , so he feels included . She says this is the best transition she 's ever had for a new kitty ! Mommy Cai is friends with Foster Mommy on Facebook , so Foster Mommy can share updates on how I 'm doing . Everyone 's sure that it won 't be long until Beastie and I are great friends ! I love you all , and thank you for being friends with me ! Mommy Cai and Foster Mommy told me that I 'm a very special kitty who was sent to Mommy Cai for a reason . Mommy Cai had a black kitty " visit " her , walk down a hallway , and disappear . That was a couple months after I got over my pneumonia and became available for adoption , so Foster Mommy told Mommy Cai about me . Mommy Cai had another kitty , Spot , but Spottie was really sick so he needed round - the - clock care . Mommy Cai couldn 't bring a new kitty into her life ( and the household ) while she was providing hospice to Spot . After Spot died , Beastie cried for him for hours on end . While Mommy Cai and Beastie are still grieving for Spot , I hope I can help ease their grief and lonlieness . I can also provide playtime for Beastie ! Yay , it 's my birthday ! Happy 7th birthday to me , and to my brother , Knut , also ! He lives with a friend of Mommy 's , but it 's his birthday , too , because we were from the same litter . We were born in a backyard in SE Portland , Oregon . Our mom - cat was a feral named Rachel , and my dad - cat is a pet cat named Spongebob . He 's also Little Bit 's dad - cat , but her mom - cat was named Boo - Boo Kitty and Little Bit 's younger than I am . Here 's a picture of Auntie Tabby helping me learn about footstools , down , and up . Wasn 't I a cute kitten ? This was taken soon after I was caught and learned about inside and humans . I was about 5 weeks old in this picture . Here 's a picture of Auntie Tabby snuggling with my brother , Knut . He was named Neo at the time , because he 's got color points on his ears and tail . He 's also got a spot on his face , and a pink spot on one ear . It was one year ago today that I left my earthly family and gained my angel wings . I know that they still miss me terribly . I don 't know what made me not notice the car coming , or what made me try right then to cross the street , which I normally never did . You might say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time . Or was I ? Because I left for the Bridge , my sister decided that she could start to come inside . She thought it was my territory before , so she didn 't want to intrude on a place she considered to be only mine . We shared most territory , but she didn 't want to try to come inside while I was alive . When she came back from her walkabout a couple months after I flew to the Bridge , she immediately decided inside was a good place ! Now she 's almost as comfortable inside as I was ! Hey , Sis ! Did you hear that ? It 's our 4th Gotcha Day Annifursary ! Remember when we were just kittens and Mommy and Daddy came to Salem Friends of Felines to get us ? They said we looked just like Uncle Skylar and Auntie Lydia and they wanted us to be their very own kittens ! I remember being excited and scared at the same time and hiding in the back of the carrier . What was that , Brother ? Oh , yeah . I remember being at Salem Friends of Felines in the kitten room . We were the oldest kittens in there , and I took over as the foster " mom " to the littlest ones who needed someone to mentor them . You were the only one I let pretend nurse on me , though , and that was only because you 're my brother . I remember that ride to our new home . I didn 't want to leave the kitten room at all , but once we got in the car I wanted out of the carrier and kept reaching my paws through to hold onto Mommy and Daddy . When we got home , I remember that we explored everything , with our new family trailing along behind watching what we were doing and trying to get to know us . That was an adventure , and a fun one at that ! I 'm so glad that Mommy saw your picture and Daddy saw mine , so that we found a home together , since we 're littermates . I 'm glad we found this home to call our own ! Skylar , it 's now four years since you left us , and in many ways I still can 't believe it . I know you visit us from time to time , along with our other angels , but it seems surreal to think that it 's been this long already . Your daddy and I still smile and laugh at how similar Heimdall , the one you found for me , behaves to how you used to behave . Just yesterday , he was trying to mooch cinnamon rolls from your grandma and me after sneaking in somewhere he wasn 't supposed to be . Is it any wonder we gave him your name as his middle name ? Skylar , you came into my life chowing down on a tomato in my garden , and the night before you went to the Bridge you yowled one last time for your yummy food . Thanks for letting me be part of your life and for embracing all of us . No matter how many years it becomes , we never will forget you ! Posted by Nine years ago , two little kittens were waiting in a wire cage on the porch of the feed store in Clatskanie , Oregon . One was striped and swirled , and one was all black and long - haired . The tortoiseshell was a little , 4 - week - old girl and the black one was a little , 5 - week - old boy . They were from two litters that had been dropped off to be given away , and were the last ones left . It was a hot , summer day . The kittens had a litter box , a water bowl , and a bowl of dry food in the cage . A man and lady drove past . The people were going on a date to Long Beach , Washington . The lady saw the sign on the feed store that said " Free Kittens " . All the way down to the beach and all the way back , the man kept on telling the lady , " I want a puddy . Remind me to stop on the way back so we can look at the kittens ! " The lady was going to adopt two adult cats of her own , but the man wanted a cat or cats , too , because he loved kitties and had always had them in his life . When the people stopped , the feed store was about to close for the day . The lady smiled as she saw the cages for a bunny and for the kittens , because she 'd had a dream years before that had that exact scene in it ! The man rushed right over to the kitten cage and scooped up the little black kitten . The kitten crawled up his chest and curled around his neck . The lady took the little tabby kitten out , and she snuggled right into the lady 's elbow . After a few minutes , the people traded kittens and went inside . The clerk brought out a cardboard box with holes in it and put the kittens inside . Once in the truck , the people opened the box to pet the kittens . " What are you going to name them ? " asked the lady . " Tabby and Carbon , " answered the man , smiling . " A friend has two that look like these , and I helped pick them out , so these two are going to be named after them . " Tabby spent the trip looking out the window , trying to climb the man , and trying to explore . Carbon got sick in the box and the lady cleaned it up for him . The people stopped at a pet store to get supplies for the little ones , since the man had not planned on coming home with any furry friends ! When the box was opened at the man 's house , the people lifted the kittens out and showed them where their new litter box , food , and water all were . Carbon hopped into a smelly work boot and fell asleep ! Tabby wanted to investigate and was especially interested in the strawberry cake the lady was eating . The lady put her on the couch , where she promptly took a nosedive into the cake ! Carbon woke up and helped the people clean Tabby up . The people settled on the couch to watch a movie and watch the kittens play . Some time later , they realized the house was too quiet . Where had those kittens got to ? Not under the bed ! Not in the spare room ! Not under the couch ! How about in the dresser ? There , in the top two drawers , were the kittens , fast asleep ! They yawned and blinked at the people when the drawers were pulled out . They had used the backs of the drawers as stair steps ! Today 's photo hunt theme is " rest " . We all , being cats , love to rest ! Here 's a picture of Carbon resting on Mommy . I almost made a break for it three times yesterday ! * shudders * Grandma was not closing the door in decent time and not realizing she wasn 't closing the door all the way . Daddy and Mommy both yelled at her for it , but she understood why . Daddy held me in his arms while Grandma and Mommy did fireworks in the driveway . They couldn 't go any further away ( like to a parking lot or some such place ) due to health issues , but they could be outside the house . They felt really bad that it scared me , though . None of the others reacted badly . Most liked the lights in the sky ! Wow ! Happy Independence Day , America ! We 're thankful that we live in this great country , where our people have so many freedoms ! That means they also have the freedom to be our purrents , and we have the freedom to live and be chosen as their fur family . Today is very special for Mommy and her parents ( our grandpurrents ) every year , because before Mommy was born , she jumped around in Grandma 's tummy when the big booms went off during the firework show ! She wasn 't supposed to be born until September , but she was just too excited to come out to see what all that racket was about ! Her birthday 's not for a little over a week , though . So she waited a little while . Growing up , Mommy 's parents told her that story as part of the 4th of July celebration each year , and everyone still smiles about it now . So for her , it 's part and parcel of what the 4th is all about . Enjoy the food , festivities , and fun ! Don 't get too scared of the fireworks , make sure your purrents give you a safe place to be during the big booms , and keep your collar on ( and keep inside ) with all the excitement ! Posted by One of our internet friends on HubPages gave us our nickname of " PDX pride " . Mommy 's " name " on there is KT pdx ( her initials plus the airport code for Portland , Oregon , the closest airport to where we live ) . So , when we started hijacking her account to write hubs sometimes , someone there dubbed us the PDX pride , as in a pride of lions , because there 's so many of us . The name stuck , and we think it definitely fits !