California Family

My cozy kingdom.

"Am I finally away from her?"

Kitchen help, or, the hazards of leaving a cupboard open...

Resting on her words... (after a morning of a little too much energy)

Bear's proud statement of political responsibility.

Scout, with Bear's favorite rope....Bear's companion for most of his life was Betsy, a mature version of Scout, and its probably better in the long run that he has a new companion -- though it could take some time. (I could blame the dirty rug on the time for cat adjustment, but people who know me would know better...) Update, December: When this photo was taken she was under weight by quite a bit, she filled out fairly quickly: Scout (0608)

Scout emptying the water bowls. The shelter thought she was 3, my vet guessed not quite that old. She's very thin (roughly 5.5 lbs), and the shelter thought that was due to competing with other cats for food. She's eaten well since coming home and has gained a little. My vet checked her out and said she appeared to be okay.

"What have you done? Why did you bring that cat in?" Almost a week and he now at least lets her roam the house, but isn't too sure about sharing space.

Sunday (10/2/2011), he showed up at my back door early in the morning. I put food out for him and he was fairly active off and on during the day. This photo was taken in the late afternoon, through a screen door. He seems better now and comfortable hanging around near my back door during the day, but he also won't let me get near him. When I go outside to feed him, he runs back into the cactus -- but then comes back to eat once I've gone inside. Update: On Monday, 10/3, he was romping around the back yard in the morning acting like a healthy dog, even the eye infection had apparently cleared. When I went to put out some food he ran away (which is what he had done in the past), but when I went back inside he only came and sniffed the food, he didn't eat it. We didn't see him again, by noon it was clear he had somehow crawled under the back fence and left. We left food out for a couple of days, but he didn't come back. Hopefully he is okay and can find his way back if he ever again needs a safe haven for a few days.

Though he seemed to be doing very poorly, I put some food nearby and then left and the food was eaten when I returned.

On Saturday (10/1) he disappeared and I eventually discovered that he had crawled into some cactus to a location where I could not reach him. He seemed to be doing very poorly, responding only a little when I tapped him with a stick to see how he would respond. He stayed that way most of the day on Saturday

On Thursday, 9/29, we discovered a dog leaning against the gate to our back yard. When we first discovered him, he was cowering and shaking, but after just sitting with him for some time he stopped shaking. He clearly hadn't been cared for in some time, and would not let anyone get close. Eventually, though, with food we enticed him into the back yard where he would be safer.

Our sometimes friendly, sometimes distant, neighborhood cat that makes our yard his daytime home. He does have a home, so "Ernesto" is not really his name -- I've yet to meet his actual owner.

Our sometimes friendly, sometimes distant, neighborhood cat that makes our yard his daytime home.

Our sometimes friendly, sometimes distant, neighborhood cat that makes our yard his daytime home.

brothers on a cool and rainy afternoon

brothers on a cool and rainy afternoon