Eisenhower

As you all remember, our cat Roosevelt died in January. We really missed him, as did Figaro. Evan and I were talking about how since Figaro wasn't even 5 yet, maybe we should get another cat so that he wouldn't be lonely. Evan started looking at cat shelters online and became kind of smitten with one. The rescue shelter was going to be having an adoption day at a nearby PetSmart on January 18th, so we decided to go and see if the cat Evan liked was there and if it would be a fit with our family. We told the girls that we were not making any promises, we needed to find a cat that would be family friendly and good with Figaro.

When we got there, they had the cats in large pens. There was an all gray cat who was enthusiastically playing with a toy in its pen. It was hilarious, because it was just flinging the toy around like crazy. We saw other cats that were gorgeous--long, soft fur, sweet dispositions. The ladies running the adoption told us that the cat Evan had been interested in they had not brought because he is not really a people person and this atmosphere would have stressed him out. Evan was kind of bummed, but we looked around at other older male cats to bring home...except we kept going back to that gray cat. It looked to be a full grown female cat, but after we got closer and read the paper it turns out that the cat was a male cat who was only 5 months old! The ladies told us that he was very sweet, great with other cats (he was in a cat foster home with 3 other cats and got along with all of them), and was a Russian Blue breed. They also told us that, due to his size at 5 months old, he was going to be a HUGE cat. We brought him out of the cage, held him, let him interact with the girls. He was sweet, soft as silk, and we knew we'd be bringing him home. 

And that is how Eisenhower became a part of our family...

 Of course, less than a week after we got him, Eisenhower started acting funny. He wouldn't wake up in the mornings, wouldn't play, was barely eating. He also kept sneezing and sounded congested. We took him to the vet and he had a pretty bad respiratory infection. After giving him some meds, and iv to help with his dehydration, and special food to make sure he was getting nutrients, he pulled through. Seriously, we thought he was going to die for a day or so. How traumatic would that have been for the girls?!

 So, I totally forgot what having a kitten is like...it kind of sucks. He is CRAZY. He plays with everything--the girls' stuffed animals, wooden blocks, our toes, the rugs. He runs into walls, is terrible at jumping which means he is constantly knocking things over, and goes from calm to manic in less than 3 seconds. Yesterday, while trying to kill our beta fish, he knocked over one of my favorite vases and shattered it. I was less than happy.

 Figaro about lost his mind when he realized we brought a new cat home. He got all big and puffy and hissed a whole bunch. For the first two weeks, he hung out upstairs and would only come down to eat and beg to go outside. Slowly, though, he has adapted. He started staying in the same rooms as Eisenhower, would pass him without hissing, stopped trying to smack him every time Eisenhower sniffed him, and even will lay beside the kitten now. Actually, last night, Figaro tried to lay down and cuddle with Eisenhower (Figaro really, really misses cuddling with Roosevelt and it's so sad), but Eisenhower was so excited/confused that he just started trying to wrestle Figaro instead.

 Eisenhower is a total cuddle buddy, though. He loves to curl up next to or on us and has a huge purr. He's unbelievably soft and I love his eyes. He's also good with the girls. He'll sometimes play too rough (we all have scratches from him trying to wrestle us), but he lets the girls carry him around and loves to chase string that they dangle in front of him.

I'd say he's a perfect fit for us.

Roosevelt

When we bought Roosevelt and Figaro in June 2009, we had them checked out at a veterinary and we were told that Roosevelt had a heart murmur.  He was 1.5 yrs old and the vet said that the heart murmur may never bother him and he could live to be 20 or it could catch up with him one day unexpectedly.  On January 8th, his heart murmur caught up with him.  He was outside with Figaro, hanging out with the neighborhood cat gang, when Figaro started making weird noises. Elisabeth heard them from the house and went out to make sure they weren't being bothered and found Roosevelt lying in the grass with Figaro and the other cat staring at him trying to lick him awake. Roosevelt had had a stroke and we laid him on the floor in the house. We were all very upset and petting him as he was dying and, true to his nature, he started purring because he was getting so much attention.

I know that I have talked on here before about how I am not the pet person I thought I was. Having two cats was more than I'd bargained for and I have always said that when the cats die, I didn't want them replaced. Well, I was wrong about myself again. Turns out, I loved that cat much more than I had thought. He had many (many) annoying qualities, but he was sweet. He was so laid back with the kids and let them pick him up, dress him up, pull on his tail, love him just a bit too roughly. 

Besides Figaro, who is still kind of lost without his cuddle buddy, it has been hardest on Julia. Roosevelt was her first buddy, her first best friend. She has drawn pictures of him and we are working on a shutterfly book about him so we'll always remember him. When Evan took Roosevelt the next morning to the vet to have him cremated, Julia, who we had talked to about what would happen, still cried when Evan came home without Roosevelt. She thought that maybe the animal doctors could make him come back alive. Those sobs were the saddest. 

So, here are a few pictures of our Roosevelt. We are so glad that we walked into that PetSmart and saw that big cat in the top of the tower of cat cages, so excited to see people that he was shaking the whole tower trying to get petted. We knew he'd be the one for us and are so thankful for the 4 short years he was apart of our family.

 Seriously, they were so bizarre together.

 I can not even tell you how many pictures I have from my phone and camera of these two cuddling like they don't know where one starts and one ends.

 This is the last picture I took of him, snuggling up with Figaro.

We miss you, Roosevelt.

What? You want to see more cat pictures?

Here you go!!!





Here's Julia playing Peek-A-Boo with me...






More cats...

Ebeth took control of the camera for the next few...





The cats love each other...
Julia loves them too!


Julia in her fancy sandals.




This past weekend our good friend Nancy was in Colorado for a wedding. We met her in a town called Golden, Colorado. We toured the Coors Brewery, at lunch at a fabulous pizza place called Woody's (where I may or may not have eaten half a pizza...), and then walked around the downtown area. It was a great spot where we'll definitely be back since we didn't get to see everything (like an awesome place called Dinosaur Ridge, where they discovered dinosaur bones while digging up Interstate 70!). It was nice to see Nancy (and her college pals Ramona and Rich!).
Ebeth was not impressed with the smells of brewing beer.




We found an awesome park in town where they had a play area in the creek. It was absolutely freezing since the creek is melted snow from the mountains.

See, I am cold.



This girl is quite the ham.
This is the crazy guy kayaking the creek. Seriously, it was FREEZING!


Table Mountain.

Please help us welcome Roosevelt and Figaro!!!

Allow me to introduce Roosevelt

and Figaro
our new cats! Saturday we went to PetSmart to look at the cats to appease Elisabeth. We've been talking about getting cats since we lived in DeKalb. Because we lived in an apartment, we couldn't have furry pets, so we've always told Ebeth that when we get a house we'd get two cats. Honestly, I kind of wanted to back out of the deal because not having pets was kind of nice. But, a promise is a promise, and we started looking at local pet adoption agencies. I had set up some meetings with a few foster cat owners to meet some cats, but Ebeth was desperate to hold cats, so we went to PetSmart just to look.

Well, obviously, we did a little more than just look. :)

I was the first one to see Roosevelt (Elisabeth picked out his name). He was in a kitty carrier on top of two other kitty carriers and he was shaking the whole tower! He was very sweet when I took him out to hold him and was purring, rubbing against my hands for more pettings, and let me hold him upside down (a good sign of a laid back cat). He's around 1 years old an had a family before but they were unable to have pets anymore. Evan and I were pretty sure from the get-go that we'd be taking him home with us.



Evan's always wanted to adopt an older male cat since they always seem to be the ones no one else wants because everyone else always wants kittens. I totally agree, and we were looking at some of the other older male cats when...

I saw this guy.
Figaro (named after the can in Pinocchio since that's who he looks like!) was in a big cage all by himself. He is absolutely beautiful and was playing with his toys and running around. When I pulled him out he instantly cuddled against me and started purring and licking my hand. I told Evan that I had to have him too. When we asked the adoption representative what she thought about the two being together even with the age difference, she said that if were any other older male cat she'd say no, but Roosevelt was such a sweetie, she said they'd do great together. And she was absolutely right! Roosevelt plays with Figaro and cleans him and waits while Figaro climbs the stairs. They are so good together!

Both cats are great with the girls! And they've definitely made themselves at home!


Look how tiny Figaro looks!




Both cats do have claws and Evan and I are trying alternatives to declawing. The adoption agency was pretty hard core about not declawing, and especially with Roosevelt, we'd like to not traumatize him. But, even when Julia tries pulling thier fur out, they've never shown their claws at all. Ugh! I totally love them both!