Tera and Handsome

August 8, 2012

I have absolutely nothing of interest to write about today. I was home and nothing extraordinary happened. So since I have nothing to share regarding Hawaii or my internship I thought I'd share a few photos from home. At home I foster cats. I have 2 of my own and then foster several more for a local rescue group. My boyfriend also has a small dog. So here are some of the residents of my Kentucky home.

This is Tera. She is very small and delicate. Don't let that fool you. She is technically a calico because she has a few tiny spots of black under her chin and over her eye, you can barely see them and for a long while I thought they were just dirt. However, she is convinced she is a fiery redhead and tries mightily to live up to that thought. She came to me this past December with Handsome (who you will meet below). Her prior shelter name was "Apricot". Because she is a little terrorist her names her "Tera". Her mother and litter mates had all been taken into the rescue a year prior. Her mother and all siblings had been adopted but not her. So she had lived her entire life in a cage with short breaks about an hour a day to run around inside the clinic. For the first 24 hours she ran around constantly. She would come to the sofa and lick lick lick on my face till I would eventually put her on the floor, then she'd run to the bedroom to Scott and lick lick lick on his face till he put her on the floor. This continued till she literally just fell into an exhausted heap. It took several months for her hind leg muscles to strengthen. She would try to jump up and they'd just collapse under her. She is now strong and healthy and doing wonderfully. She plays fetch with the little stuffed mice. She will bring it to you and drop it in front of you to throw, then will go get it and bring it back. She will play for quite a while. After the loss of McGruder we were all very sad and the critters (including the dog) had lost their alpha. Tera is about 1.5 years now but stepped in to the alpha role and rules the house now. She has no fear of anything. She plays with and grooms every animal, including the dog. We just fell in love with her and how she brought all of the household animals back together and breathed new life into our household. So I officially adopted her and she is now a permanent resident.I have LOTS of photos of her because sh is so playful and adorable that I get lots of photos sent to me of her.

Tera looking innocent - don't be deceived.

 Tera in attack/play mode.

 Tera wanting to play play Play Play PLAY PLAY PLAY.

You can see her small black patches on her chin. No this is not dirt, they are little black spots that make her officially a calico. This is a rare moment of peace. She is so adorable.

 Tera watching the small snake that lives in the wall. She desperately wants to get to it.

 As Scott said..."Nothing on but commercials..."

 Tera giving licks and kisses.

 Tera and Scott have a routine. When he is dressing or undressing he throws clothes and socks on the bed and she plays with them. This is fun and funny until you don't want her playing with something and forget. She also doesn't quite distinguish between "I am sorting and folding laundry" and "I am undressing or dressing and you can play with these". Suffice to say, doing laundry is and trying to fold and put away clothes is never dull.

 Tera also loves to burrow under the covers. She is a ferocious participant in the blanket game. Watch your toes when you are sleeping. One little wiggle and you may be awoken to a playful pounce. She doesn't try to hurt you, but it is a shocking way to way up.

Tera grooming the dog. They are quite fond of each other. She has kicked him out of his dog kennel and sleeps in there a good portion of the time. She is happy to share it with him.

This is Hansdome. We don't know much of his history. His sprior shelter name was "Sam". He was returned by his adoptive family and we don't know why. It took a bit to get his records so when we started fostering him in December with Tera we didn't know his name. I said he was a handsome fella and he looked at me and came over. Any time you'd call him handsome he'd respond. It sounds like "Sam" so now we know why. However, at the time we decided to just call him Handsome and it has stuck. He is very quiet and non-destructive (unlike Tera, the terrorist kitten). He adopted Michael and pretty much thinks the rest of us can go disappear. When Michael broke his arms he would very carefully step over his splints and curl up behind them by Michael's chest. he'd rest his chin on top of the splint and smack and warn off any kitty (primarily Tera) who came over to Michael and tried to walk over him. He is VERY protective of Michael. He dislikes Silk but otherwise gets along fine with the other cats and dog, he just ignores them. When Michael is home he wants to be on him continually. When Michael is gone he curls up on the chair Michael sits in or the ottoman and does NOTHING until Michael comes home. He goes over to Michael to snuggle and curl in his lap. I'm not sure he even acknowledges that Scott and I are alive and breathing. We agreed to foster Handsome until a home for him could be found, since we were already a very full pet household. However, after Michael broke his arms and how wonderful Handsome was with watching over him and keeping other kitties from bothering him while Michael slept we decided to bow to the inevitable. Handsome had chosen Michael as his person. So Handsome is now officially adopted and part of the household.
Handsome sprawling on the kitchen table. As you can see he is NOT a small cat. 

Handsome and Tera.

I will share more of the kitties tomorrow. I don't have as many photos of the others as I do of Tera.

Aloha!
~Melissa