Here’s my baby doing some awesome jumps!

When I get back, I will receive and post an award I received (THANK YOU!) But for now.. I have to go pack my ski poles and cat food. I may be able to go to a library in town/city for a few scattered days, though.

JUNO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Juno is about 12 weeks old now. She came home with us on Wednesday, September 7, 2011. She has adjusted very well to living here, and loves Luna and Leroy very much! Luna has also taken a liking to Juno, but Leroy seems a little frightened by her constant jumping and playing. Juno does these very funny jumps where she runs in one direction, does a leap, and in the air, twists to the other direction. I swear she can jump four feet! It’s crazy! She’s also very sweet – a fast and LOUD purrer. She doesn’t sleep much at night though – only when I’m just about to wake up does she settle down with me in bed. She will always roll on her back with her paws folded, wanting you to rub her tummy. Her fur has grown back much more from her spaying than in the pictures above – those were taken the day or a few days after we brought her home. Juno also has a large vocabulary. At first she just stuck to silent meows – she has plenty of those. Now she has some real meows, very high pitched of course, and some of the meows are in threes or fours. Like, “me-me-me-mew!”. She also has this funny trill she does. It’s sort of like a pigeon coo, actually. When she goes down the stairs like a little rabbit, she makes little “hmph!” noises with each step. If she goes down fast, she does a fast, high trill, and ends with a few little meows. She also sometimes, but rarley, does this little quack. It’s also a little bit like a little puppy bark. “Arck! Ack! Arck! Ack!” She also goes, “Me-OOWWWWWWWWWWWWW” like a dying coyote. It’s a little frightening. In a cute way, though.

Juno will now be part of the family here, so keep checking back for more about this tiny kitty! But she’s growing fast!

Luna and Leroy have been waiting and waiting for a sibling to come.. So have I! And we’ve found the perfect two. They both have to be spayed/neutered and will be this week. We put down a deposit on the little cream colored girl, but we were unable to on the black fuzz ball boy, so hopefully he’ll still be there!

The little apricot classic tabby girl with bright green eyes is a sweet heart. She’s playful in a sort of shy way, but is very people friendly and will snuggle up on your shoulder and purr instantly. I am thinking of naming her either Whimzy, Kiwi, or Juno!

The black fuzz ball is crazy! He entertains himself with anything, running and jumping and doing cute little flips, and running so fast he goes into a handstand. He has beautiful eyes, too. He is absolutely hilarious! He entertained me immediately, and the cream kitten finds him funny, too. If I get to keep him (hopefully!) I’m naming him Billie Joe. I have a freak obsession with Green Day. I also thought Billie Joe would be a cute name for a really silly black fuzz!!

There were lots of other cute kittens with their cute mother, but they were already getting forever homes. I got to play with them anyways, though.

I’m so excited to bring Whimzy/Kiwi/Juno home, and also hopefully Billie Joe. Luna and Leroy are also excited. I’m very glad that they’re the kind of cats who except more!

Hello, it’s J M and P Mums here, posting in remembrance of our cat Valencia who passed away on this day three years ago. Luna never knew her, but Leroy did. He would cry at the windows, and search everywhere for her.

Valencia wasn’t like most kitties. She loved to play, sleep, snuggle, watch birds, chew on cardboard, and and lick the yogurt off my spoon. But unlike most cats, she had Cerebellar Hypoplasia. It’s a neurological disorder that affects the cerebellum, part of the brain that controls coordination and balance, and can’t be cured. It occurs when an unvaccinated female cat contracts distemper while her kittens are still in her uterus. Distemper damages the cerebellum and the kittens are born with Cerebellar Hypoplasia. Cats with Cerebellar Hypoplasia have trouble with their motor skills. Some have it so severely they can’t walk at all, just scoot and flop,
and they can’t even stand. Some only have it mildly. Valencia walked very oddly, like her back legs were going faster than her front legs, and she’d often just fall to the floor. Then she’d try to get up, and fall again, her tail always going wildly and not in a way you’d think a tail could. When Valencia got excited, she’d continue to fall over, her legs flailing, and do somersaults. When guests came over it startled them. I loved Valencia just the same, she was my pride and joy. She lived quite a happy, healthy life and lived to be a spectacular age of 18.

I named Valencia because in Spanish (though I’m not the least bit Spanish) it means brave and strong, like my little Valencia was and always will be. She’s also got some caramel coffe colors in her, and Cafe Valencia is a coffee drink around here with whipped cream and caramel. She had a very unique tortoiseshell with white or calico coat. There was black, and a kind of cinnamony orange, but also a fawn color, too. I adopted her from a shelter when she was only 9 weeks old. I spotted her when she was in the pet carrier being brought to the back room to be euthanized. I said to the woman carrying the pet carrier with the cat inside, “I want to adopt her.” She said, “Oh, no you don’t. Her brain is really messed up.”

I told her to go get me some adoption papers because I’ll love the cat for who she is. Cats with Cerebellar Hypoplasia get needlessly put to sleep all the time because people don’t understand the disorder. The kitties can live a pain-free, healthy, happy life. Valencia had been abandoned outside because the owners whose cat had the kitten (yes, only one as far as we know), didn’t like this one because it walked funny and fell over. The kitten was inside a cardboard box on a sweltering 100 degree day. Someone brought the kitten to the shelter and had only been there two weeks before the plan was to put her to sleep (“no one would wan’t a messed up kitten”).

I had to make a lot of room in my heart and have a lot of patience for Valencia. It was so worth it. I hope that all the cats who are affected with Cerebellar Hypoplasia can get happy homes, too.

Valencia’s favorite poem was Pied Beauty. I’d say it her every night and she’d fall asleep on me.

GLORY God for dappled things—

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise Him

RIP, Valencia. We love you.

P.S. I’m 23 now! My birthday was August 30! Luna and Leroy and my two legged friends gave me a very special day. I’m now back to work *ugh*, so I probably won’t be posting every day, but I will try!

Julia Mum, Maddie Mum, Piper Mum, Leroy, I, and all Maddie and Piper’s kitties are OKAY. Though we came back to our home to find flooded streets and our hallway flooded – not to mention waves still crashing even though it’s now sunny. We had evacuated inland, where the power was out after some transistors exploding, telephone poles crashing to the ground, and trees snapping right and left. I hid under the bed.

We’re all fine.. but, before the hurricane Leroy and I kind of freaked out..

We’re alright, though. We have the scary water suckers in the hall and our neighborhood is on the mend. We purred that all our furriends on the east coast are okay!

*Also please note that on Sunday and Monday Hurricane Irene will hit us causing monumental waves, downed trees, ‘structural damage’, super high winds, heavy rain, flash floods, a possible tornado, and beach erosion! D: The power will be out causing the internet to not work, so we won’t be able to blog for those few days unless a miracle happens. Julia Mum is containing Leroy and I inside this week. She said we can’t even go on the porch during the weekend! There’s actually a few guys in overalls going around the neighborhood boarding up the windows with wooden planks!!! :O My biggest concern is that goldfish pond overflowing and all the goldfish floating down the street!* Alright, here’s the main candidates!

Kitten A: Male.

Kitten B: Female.

Kitten C: Female.

Kitten D: Female.

Kitten E: Male.

Now you can give us some name suggestions if you want. You could say something like, “I think Kitten E should be Thunder or Teal and Kitten B should be Scarlett, Sokoke, or Loki. And Kitten A should be Griffin.” That also gives you an idea od what kind of names we’re looking for. Thank you!

Purr!

I woke Julia Mum up with happy paws at 4 in the morning this morning, because I just couldn’t BEAR another moment of the bird that only flies when Julia Mum waves a stick around just lying there SCREAMING my name. And guess what I got? A snore and blankets tossed on my head. Lovley. I tried again at five am but all she did was get up, brush her teeth, and make a cup of coffee. Not what I was hoping for. At six am, she started super speedy finish setting up our house to finish the rooms and make it all pretty.

Kitchen and Living Room

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Bedroom

Another Bedroom

This is a sea kitty Julia Mum made on the beach!

Down the street

But fellow felines and two leggers, I have some bad news. Julia Mum is going to Pennsylvania to see her older sister on Monday. She is getting back Wednesday. Mean Julia Mum.

And now for the GOOD NEWS kitten update: I’m getting a sibling or SIBLINGS THIS WEEK!!!! Julia Mum said she needs name ideas. We have some, but others are always welcome! Boy names, and girl names. Any ideas?

Purr. Meow. Grr.

I will try to find it but I can’t guarantee I can figure out how to get to “New Post”.. So I will meow to you in a week!!!!! See you kitties and mancats!!…

But before I go I must show you what I saw today..

Baby tree frogs! Gracie found them in the blackberry bush. What cute little snacks!

Oh and I can’t forget: I will get a new sister! Soon! I think! It will be a little kitten. I hope she doesn’t steal Leroy..

Leroy won’t be happy about it anyways. He doesn’t like intruders in The Territory (where his food bowl is). Otherwise he becomes evil om nom nom cat again! Plus, the attention will just be split once more. Ahh, but a mother’s love in infinite. Keep checking back for wittle sissy updates!

MEOW see ya later tater tots!