My first helper was Pepper. She was our first unusual cat. She would chase LB, our 80 lb Akita through the house and he would chase her back. She would let him roll around on top of her. I'm surprised she did not end up as a furry spot from the way he would steam roll over her. She never complained. We had to find new homes for our pets when we got orders for Germany. We were advised not to bring them. Pepper ended up with a cat lover who had heard all about our cat's adventures. He had recently lost his 21 year old cat and was thrilled to take Pepper. LB also found a good home with many acres to run around on.
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| Pepper was my first helper until she got too big. |
Trouble and Grey were brothers born in Germany. Surprise! Having cats in Germany was all right after all.
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| Brothers Grey & Trouble |
Both brothers traveled with us to Izmir, Turkey where Trouble fell five floors onto a sidewalk. He survived the fall with no major injuries except for a broken K-9 tooth, but he was very stiff for about a month.
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| Trouble loved to lounge around |
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| and he preferred quilted pillows. (RIP 91-04) |
Grey was a floppy cat. He loved to cuddle in any available lap and if you tried to move him, he would become the most limp cat ever. He was the Alpha cat right up to his last day. He never let the young punk cats get the best of him.
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| Grey preferred the back of Dan's chair. |
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Once in a while he would test a quilt out for me.
This one got the "Cat's Approval". (RIP 91-10) |
Today, we have the following four cats: Squirrel, Mad Max, Dusty, and Hitch.
Squirrel ran away from his owner and adopted us while we were living in Texas. After talking to his owner, we found out she did not want him. We also discovered her son was not very nice to him which explained why he did not like men too much. After being with us for over 10 years, he has decided that Dan is okay. From the very beginning, Squirrel has appointed himself my quilt supervisor. He watches me sew, checks the stitches, and he lets me know if I quilt for too long by nudging my shoulder with his head.
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| Take a break! Time to hold the kitty! |
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| Always putting in his 2 cents. |
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Say I think I know that cat!
Handsome fellow.. |
Mad Max was discovered in my Student Intern's garage along with his mother and siblings. After the lost of Trouble, she mentioned the litter had short tails. Of course, Dan and I were curious. I said we would have a look at the short-tailed kitten, but we really did not want another kitten. Yea, famous last words. So, Mad Max joined us. If he does not want to be carried, he can be quite a whirlwind that reminds us of the Tasmanian Devil from the Warner Bros. cartoons. That's how he got his name.
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| Mad Max is a mixed Manx (short tail) |
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| I found the mouse! |
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| Max likes being under the quilt. |
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| Today, Max prefers sunning himself. |
Mad Max turned out to be too much for Squirrel. He wasn't mean, but he loved to jump on Squirrel as many times as he could before Squirrel would get mad at him. I thought a playmate was a good idea. I adopted Dusty from the Humane Society. He looked like a gray dust ball when he was sleeping and of course, Dusty was a perfect name for him. He is the Delta and he has the most mellow attitude towards the others. He became our gentle giant at 20+ pounds. He never starts a fight and always lets the others have their way.
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Once Dusty was small enough to fit on a window sill.
Now he doesn't fit in our laps! |
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Dusty did not like the grass so he would hop around
like a rabbit to a safe place. |
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| Dusty helps with the selection of fabrics. |
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| Oh yea, this feels very good! |
We started traveling in 2009 with four cats: Grey, Squirrel, Mad Max, and Dusty. It felt a little crowded, but not too bad. Cleaning up is a lot easier since there isn't a whole lot of space to mess up. We trained the cats to walk on a leash with a harness. This worked well with 3 of the 4 cats. Mad Max absolutely refused to wear a harness. We gave up on the harness when we realized Max would follow the leashed cat around the motorhome and would not go very far from the front door. One loud clap of my hands would send him running for the door. He spooks so easy that he rarely goes outdoors.
While staying near Rapid City at Hart's Ranch, we noticed a small gray kitten walking back and forth. He ended up under our rig one day and I made the mistake of talking to him. Dan made a bigger mistake by giving him food. He spent the night on our doorstep. The next day, he ran into our motorhome and would not stay outside. We tried very hard to find his owner. Then we tried to give him to our neighbor. No luck. We took him to the Vet and she said he was around 6 months old and neutered but had no micro chip. We were up to 5 cats now! We knew Grey did not have much longer. It was just a question of when. Dan name this one Hitch - short for Hitchhiker. Grey passed away the following spring. He was over 18 years old.
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| Hitch prefers walking to quilting. |
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| Stop taking my picture. I want to climb that tree! |
Maybe I am a Crazy Cat Lady, but I am a happy Crazy Cat Lady. My furry helpers are delightful company and they remind me once in a while that there are other interesting things to do besides quilting. Like pet me, feed me....Oh! Oh! Time for a walk!
