Tracy Anne Warren :: Tidbits

Christofur

	Christofur is our big, flame point Siamese, a real lover boy. He’s a character too, burrowing under the covers to sleep at my feet. Pawing the water in his dish--and spilling it everywhere! And wondering, when he sees himself in the dining room wall mirror, just who that big, scary cat is who’s looking back. Here he is on the desk in my office doing his best to help me write!
Santa’s Helper Christofur LOVES boxes and bags. Whenever a package arrives, he's johnny-on-the-spot, ready to spring inside. Here he is as a kitten.	In the Sun Here is Christofur catching a few rays!
In the Tunnel Christofur's favorite new hidey-spot.	In the Shopping Bag Christofur "helps" unload groceries.
On My Books A box of author copies make a great bed!

Georgianna

Georgianna’s Story

When we adopted our cat, Georgianna, she had already lost an eye to a bad upper respiratory infection as a young kitten. Her disability seemed minor and gave us only a moment’s hesitation before we decided to adopt her. When she arrived, she was incredibly sweet, but unfortunately she was sick——exactly how sick we would soon learn.

Over the next few months, Georgianna battled pneumonia and a liver ailment that brought her literally to death’s door. She also developed a rare autoimmune disorder that affects the eyes. Despite immediately rushing her to our wonderful feline-only primary care veterinarian and having her subsequently treated by two veterinary ophthalmologists, in only one week’s time, Georgianna lost the use of her other eye. With sorrow we made the decision to have her second eye removed. Suddenly we found ourselves owning a blind cat.

To our great surprise and delight, blindness has not stopped Georgianna from being a wonderful animal companion or from leading a great life. Once she bounced back from her eye surgery and was pain-free again, she began learning her way around. In only a matter of days, she went from exploring my office, where we kept her initially, to exploring the entire house.

Now, over a year later, she is healthy and happy. I call her our “amazin’ raisin” since nothing stops her. She is fearless and outgoing, playing, running, jumping and doing pretty much everything our two other sighted cats do. She loves toy mice, fetches Mylar “crunchy” balls that I toss for her, and she has an amusing obsession with being there to “watch” the printer whenever I print pages. She adores being brushed, and has a habit of raising her head and looking up to the shelf where I keep the brush, then meowing to tell me to groom her——now! She races up and down the stairs at top speed, and even plays chase with the other cats on occasion. True, we have made a few small adjustments, such as not rearranging the furniture, padding the arms of a bench that allows her to jump onto my bed, and being careful not to move the desk chair so she can leap up safely, but otherwise, I sometimes find myself almost forgetting that she is blind.

A tremendous buddy, she is sweet and friendly, and forever following me around the house. She is a real inspiration. To her, being blind is not a disability, it’s just a part of her life. She isn’t sad, quite the contrary, refusing to let a lack of sight stop her from living as she chooses. I wish each of us could be so accepting and so happy with ourselves, exactly as we are. She may be considered a special needs cat, but to me, she is just special.

This is our beautiful black Balinese, Georgianna. She is such a sweetheart, incredibly smart and into everything. Yes, she is blind, but it doesn't stop her for an instant.

I've captured the Greenie!
Here is Georgianna playing with her favorite toy--The Greenie. She jumps and pounces and carries this, and other toys, all over the house.

Georgianna as a kitten
This is a kitten picture of Georgianna before she lost her sight. She's our gorgeous girl, with or without her eyes.

Georgianna on the book
Cats and books, a perfect combination.

Georgianna in the living room
Here's Georgianna hanging out on one of the dining room chairs. She's listening.

Violetta--Miss Blue Eyes

	A lynx point Siamese, Violetta is a sweet, gorgeous kitty. She is very dainty and polite, loves chasing toy mice and racing after Da Bird feather toy (she and Christofur’s favorite). Her only bad habit is chewing--on cords, on the sides of cardboard scratchers, and yes, on paper, including manuscript pages! Here she is on the family room sofa, enjoying an after dinner nap.
Look, Twins! Violetta caught admiring her own beauty.	Hanging Out Violetta has a wild streak and will bolt up the stairs at the oddest times. Here she is, taking a few moments to catch her breath.
Dreaming Violetta is a very girly girl, with the fluffiest tail of any cat I’ve ever known.	On top of the condo Violetta on top of her cat condo.
Christmas Presents Here’s the gang on their very first Christmas Day (2005), the kittens having a blast chasing the ball inside their new Blitz Turbo Scratcher.	Having fun Christofur and Georgianna playing with the track ball.

In Loving Memory

From my youngest days, there have been animal companions in my life. Growing up we had, at various times and in various combinations, dogs, cats, birds, gerbils, hamsters, turtles, fish, and the occasional rescued wild bird or rabbit that we tried our best to nurse back to health, then set free. Animals give us so much love and ask only for our care and kindness in return. I have been privileged to know many wonderful animals who have all touched my heart. I would like to share with you a little about three very special cats who added so much love and laughter to my life. They may have passed from this earth, but they will never fade from my memory or my heart.

Mitten

Found as a young kitten living inside a tire, she brought joy to my life for twenty-two years.

Her nicknames were Miss Mitten, Princess Mitten and Sweet Pea.

A Mama’s girl, she was shy of strangers and other animals, especially dogs. She did learn to get along with our black cat, Sally, who occasionally tried to rough her up. Eventually they came to co-exist and even like each other as siblings, with only the occasional spat.

Dainty and slender, Mitten was an elegant cat with soft, silky fur, long feet and extra toes on her front paws. She had a meow that always made me laugh since it wasn’t what anyone would expect. Instead of a high soprano, her meow was low and gravely, sort of like Marge’s chain smoking sister on the Simpsons. Bullet quick, she could run like the wind when she wanted, sprinting through the house at a full gallop, paws pounding as if a herd of elephants were storming through. Always a picky eater, she grew more and more finicky as the years passed. Often, I would open can after can of cat food, hoping to hit upon the one she would decide to eat that day. To tempt her in her golden years, I sometimes offered her tiny bits of people food. She liked grilled salmon, chicken and steak. Her favorite junk foods were ham and very infrequently, a few broken pieces of potato chip.

She died peacefully on August 29, 2005 surrounded by people who loved her.

Sally

Sally came into my life one stormy Halloween night when I arrived home after work (I still had a 9-5 day job then) to discover the garage door mysteriously half open. She popped up out of some stored furniture and greeted me with an exuberant meow, running over and rubbing my legs as if we were already best friends. From that moment on, she was our kitty. A true people person, Sally was the kind of cat who never met anyone she didn’t like—human that is. Around other cats, she was most definitely the Queen.

Her nicknames were Boo, The Salinator, Vomita (due to her hairball problems)
and the Sleep Nazi since she kept to a strict bedtime routine. She would
only sleep upstairs and if one dared to break curfew by watching movies
late, she would start meowing and hopping around, demanding that you stop
all the crazy frivolity and go upstairs to bed—Now!

Soft, black and plump, she was an absolute sweetheart who loved to eat, purr and get ear scratches. Ruptured disks in her spine (a rare condition in cats) took her from us at only fourteen years of age.

She died, as she arrived, only a few days before Halloween 2004.

Marshmallow

Just before Thanksgiving 2005, we adopted four new kitties. Among them was a sweet, three year old Seal point Siamese. With a pair of pure blue eyes and downy soft caramel-colored fur, he was a shy, sweet boy. He loved having his tummy rubbed and would roll over and purr while you stroked his fur.

Only a week after his arrival though, tragedy struck when he became ill. At first we thought he just had a cold, but his condition proved to be far more serious. To our horror and sadness, we found out that he had FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis), a fatal disease that afflicts a few unlucky cats. Only three weeks after coming into our lives, he passed away. The receptionist at our vet’s office said he came to us for a reason, so we could give him a truly loving home in his final days. I know she must be right.

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