Growing, Growing . . . Missing, FOUND (December 10, 2010)

UPDATE - Friday, December 10, 2010, 11:50 a.m.

HERSHEY has been found, a few blocks from home, frightened but safe and healthy, stranded on top of a neighbor's roof. According to these neighbors, Hershey was there for all three of the nights he was missing. He cried but they could not coax him down. For warmth, he slept by the flue. Finally, these kind people called the Prince Edward Island Humane Society to ask for advice. 

Meanwhile, Pat and Henry had repeatedly walked within a few doors of the house where Hershey was stranded, putting flyers in mailboxes. It's more than likely that Hershey even heard them calling him.  

Fortunately, Henry and Pat had also reported to the Humane Society that Hershey was missing. So when the owners of the home where Hershey was stranded telephoned the Humane Society, they were told to call Pat and Henry immediately! 

Pat and Henry drove over to collect Hershey: what a beautiful sight it was, to look up and see him peering down! As for Hershey, as soon as he saw Pat and Henry, he wailed as long and as loudly as he could, over and over again, until he was safely in their arms! 

Now he is home again, hungry but otherwise well, trying not to seem too overjoyed, complaining that he doesn't understand why it took Pat and Henry so long to rescue him . . . .

(file photo)

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We kittens continue to grow so quickly, Pat is tempted to tell us, SLOW DOWN!  And our eyes have turned a lovely gray-green that goes very well indeed with the color of our fur:

Dandy in particular is growing SO fast, he is larger now than Dolly, and closing in on Mama Tess:

Our Mom continues to love us very much, of course.  Here she is with Dolly:

We were amazed this week to see lots of beautiful, white fluffy stuff falling from the skies:

But, not all is well here in the land of Pat's Cats.

For one thing, the forest that you can see in these pictures, across the street from our house, suddenly disappeared, just this week! Men came with big, noisy machines and within three days, every tree was gone. WHY?

And something even worse has happened.
 
Approximately 66 hours ago (yes, we are counting), Hershey Cat went out on what we all expected to be one of his routine inspections of the property. He has not yet returned.

Pat surprised us by telling us that Hershey, who seems so big to us, was smaller than we are now when he first came to live here. We had so much trouble believing that Hershey was once a tiny kitten, Pat showed us these baby pictures of Hershey and his mother and siblings.

As Hershey grew older, he and Summer Cat became best buddies:

Although Hershey has always been a bit imperious with his sisters, he is quite fond of Tootsie - and why not? They look so much alike:

Here is a picture Pat took of Hershey just a few days ago:

We wish Hershey would come back. Henry and Pat are both so sad, and so busy: they keep running outside to search further, or to put more flyers in the neighbors' mailboxes. They spend a lot of time on the phone.

We are not allowed out (and Pat says that after this, we never will be!), but we try to help by watching for Hershey from the front windows:

 

We wish we could comfort Pat more, so that she wouldn't cry all day long. 

We are hoping, hoping, hoping, that Hershey will soon appear at the upstairs study window, impatient as usual, demanding his dinner . . . .

Meanwhile, the snow is falling harder.

The Way We Live Now (November 2010)

November already. And those of us who are old enough to have lived through all four seasons, realize that one of the best things about autumn is, LEAVES!

Some of us blend in better than others:

Not all of us are allowed to go out into the yard. But even Dandy and Dolly are big enough now to enjoy the pen, at least during the day, and under the supervision of their mother, Tess (CLICK these pictures to enlarge them):

Inside we have lots of fun too.

Dandy and Dolly particularly enjoy relaxing on the towers in the family room:

Tootsie decides to join them:

Yes, Tess and the kittens are now full members of our Clowder. In fact, with the usual exception - Summer and Farah, who remain enemies even after living together for more than four years now - all of us are getting along well together:

 

 

We all enjoy playing on the stairs that lead up to Toy Corner and Bag Alley:

 

 

Taffy rides the rails!

 

Both downstairs and up, there are so many toys, and so little time:

 

 

 

 

In Toy Corner, Hershey calls for a brief Time Out:

But in Bag Alley, Dolly and Dandy play on, despite Farah's attempts to defend the bags from their predations:

 

 

Farah works SO hard at appearing to be SO ferocious, we call her our Cat-Bear!

But none of us take her seriously. In these next pictures, Taffy and Natasha enter Bag Alley, undeterred by Farah's yowling and growling:

 

Speaking of Natasha, she was diagnosed a few months ago as having food allergies. Since then, Pat has been making special food for her, based on recipes that Pat got at the vet clinic and online.

Nasha is not always happy with what she finds - or doesn't find - in her bowls:

But Pat makes a special mix of canned salmon + supplements + canned hypoallergenic cat food that is so good, we all enjoy it.

"Now That was Tasty!"

As a result of her new diet, Natasha is feeling much better, and her fur, as you can see, is super-shiny!

The rest of us are watching our diets more carefully, too. Dolly checks to make sure that Pat's coffee is decaffeinated:

Other news:

Dolly and Dandy are getting SO big, and Tess has enjoyed being their mom SO much, that she wants to do it all over again, by having another litter!

At least, that's what she has been telling us, very loudly, for the past few nights. And since she is such a beautiful girl, potential beaus have been lining up in the back yard, to the disgust of Summer, Hershey, and Boris, the resident males who are responsible for defending the property.

Fortunately, Tess has an appointment with the vet next week. Natasha, our only other resident Mom, has been assuring Tess that everything will work out well. Dolly will be going along to keep her Mom company, and Dandy will have his own appointment a few days later.

We are all determined to help them rest up!