That night I returned home to find Rainbow and Jasper "thick as thieves" and romping around, playing, chasing each other, and having a grand ol' time. Rainbow had also found the food, the litter-box, and apparently, my heart.
Jasper was handi-capped. I had built "ramps" for him to climb up to the kitchen counter and my bed. Rainbow (of course) used them. Every night she'd come up the ramp to the table by my bed, find my napkin-covered water glass, push the napkin aside and drink-away... Then, she'd hop onto the bed and curl-up to me.
On April 7th (I guess at the exact date) she will be 20 real-time years old. She's still curling up with me. Jasper is, of course, long gone but Rainbow seems to keep going on. While she's lost her fangs, she is still relatively healthy, likes to play, eat, grooms herself, and hisses at the younger cats.
So, as I did last year, I'm throwing her a Birthday Party. No, she probably won't understand why but it will be fun for her. Her favorite foods (ice cream and meatballs (not in the same dish!) and games and new toys and all of that.
I don't think it's so silly. I'll bet a lot of dog and cat owners throw Birthday Parties for their friends. You? What do you do for your pets on these special occasions? Do they understand why? (Granted, probably not, and my younger cats get very jeolous...)
Posted by Jeff at March 26, 2004 09:13 PMI've never really celbrated a cat's birthday, but have given plenty of cat Christmas presents. Like Rainbow, my cats have been very long lived. The first made it to 19. With his attitude and fearless behavior, I am surprised he made it that long. He used to defend his territory against raccoons, which I thought would do him in. Old age got to him first.
The second cat lived to be 22.
Happy Bithday Rainbow!
Posted by: Robert Douglas at March 27, 2004 11:01 AMRobert -- You must be doing something very right to have raised two such long-lived cats.
Posted by: Jeff at March 27, 2004 12:17 PMI don't really celebrate the birthdays of my cats (October 4, 1996 for Merlin and October 8 of 1996 for Sydney), but I do do take the time to recognize the day they came home to live with me from the pet store. November 30 of 1996. I'd just gotten out of the Air Force and had moved back in with my folks while waiting to get back into college. I was doing some Christmas shopping for my parents and I stopped by the pet store at the mall. I saw the two most adorable kittens playing with each other amongst the gaggle in the store window. So, I called my mother over to look at them. One looked like my older cat Bullet, who died while I was in Basic Training in 1992. The other was an adorable tuxedo with a tiny spot of black on his nose. We got them out of their display area and took them to an observation room. My allergies cranked up, but I did everything I could to hide them. I may be allergic to animal hair, but that doesn't mean I want to live without pets. The kittens just looked up me and I picked Merlin up. He immediately perched on my shoulder with his tiny little claws and yowled. Mom picked up Sydney who just opened and shut his mouth without meowing. He's never meowed much. Mom knew how much of a Slyvester the Cat fan my Dad is, and we both decided that these two would be part of our lives for a long time. Unfortunately, I moved to a much smaller place when I moved out of my parents' place so taking them with me would be confining them. They're indoor cats, but I want them to have some room to lounge and play. So I try to go visit as much as possible. I miss my cats. But every November 30th, I do something to celebrate those two little boogers showing up in my life. I never thought of having a party for them, though.
Posted by: Jason Hinds at March 27, 2004 01:05 PM