I held off as long as I could, but this post has to be about the cats who let us live with them. Aren't they nice?
Greta
Greta is a senior who tries to ignore the kids' antics. Greta showed up on our deck when we lived in rural Wisconsin during an ice storm of all things!
When I took her to the vet to be spayed, we found it had already been done. Someone lost their baby, but she's lived a happy life with us.
What does Greta like to do?
"When Mom doesn't get up to feed me fast enough, I smack her in the face. She usually gets right up then!
I also like to drink water from a running faucet. Mom bought me a fountain 'cause I like running water, but the faucet is still my preferred method."
Chevy
Chevy is our adopted polydactyl. Chevy has a couple of extra toes on each of his front paws. He looks black, but guess what? He has ghost stripes!
Chevy is a Mama's Boy. He loves to cuddle and even asks me to pick him up. He weighs over 12 pounds, so he's a load.
What does Chevy enjoy?
"I guess toes are my thing, with extra toes myself and all. One of my favorite things is to bite Mom's toes. I also like to read Mom's books and use her Kindle. You can't say I'm not a scholar."
Rudy
This is the picture that got Rudy on TV with local meteorologist David Wolter.
Rudy is an all-around character, into everything, making his mom and dad laugh every day. You can see the "imp" in his eyes.
What does Rudy do?
"I am always hungry, so in the mornings, I eat my food real fast and run around to everyone else's bowls and eat theirs, too! Sometimes I eat so much and so fast I throw it back up. Mom doesn't mind." - Um, yes I do, Rudy.
Trudy
What a time we've had with Trudy. We decided to adopt a playmate for Rudy because Chevy isn't into playing as much and Rudy is full of energy.
Trudy had been on her own for a bit, or maybe with a stray or feral mom when she was hit by a car. The theory is she bounced off a wheel. Amazingly, she had no broken bones. But, she had a bunch of other things.
After we adopted her, she spent a lot of time at the vet. We found she had giardia, which is rare in cats, but at least treatable. We also found she has feline coronavirus. This is a lot more frightening. In cats, the virus never leaves the system and can mutate into FIP. FIP is fatal.
I did a lot of reading about feline coronavirus. So far Trudy has exhibited no symptoms of FIP. If we get her past the 2-year-old mark, it's unlikely FIP will develop until she becomes a senior, if then. We have another six months to go. We may have a rocky road ahead, but we're "loving her up" while we can. She's quite the character.
What does Trudy like to do?
"I like to give my older brother, Rudy, a run for his money. I'm bigger than he is and can take him down.
I also like to chew shoestrings. None of Dad's shoes had shoestrings when I was done with them. I swallowed one once. Mom didn't know until she cleaned the litter box out one day."
Fun fact from Mom & Dad - We call Rudy and Trudy the Two Patooties.