The new "kid", kitty, cat...oh well...he's news at our house.

Koko's (aka Miss Puss) Story

Sad news - Miss Puss was diagnosed with breast cancer this past January (2007) - and now it's July and the poor girl is starting to show signs that we're near the end. Her respirations are now about twice as fast as Sam's but she does not appear to be in any distress or pain. She relaxes on the huge footstool in the living room, sits on my lap when she's of a mind to do so and seems to be able to sleep comfortably. She's still eating and drinking and taking care of business at the litter box. I've discussed this with my vet and they say that "I'll know" when the time has come. You know, that terrible time when she and I are going to have to part company for the last time. I've made arrangements for the vet to make a house call on that sad day so that Miss Puss can spend her last hours with us, at home, peacefully and not have to endure a trip in the car (which she hates) - inside the kitty carrier (which she hates). I want her last hours, minutes to be as pleasant as possibly and do not want to subject her to any annoyances or disturbances. I am greatly saddened by losing my precious girl ... I will have fond memories of her always...and we're trying to make a few more now. See more photos at the bottom of this page.

This is a photo of my cat Koko(aka Miss Puss), when she was just a youngster - only about six weeks old when this photo was taken. She was new to the household. Miss Puss is a lovely cat, but has a temper that is vicious. She's friendly when she feels like being friendly, otherwise, she's a brat. She doesn't like strangers and will hiss and growl when anyone tries to pet her that she doesn't know.

I understand that most Siamese cats are friendly - friendly is a relative term here! Miss Puss used to be a serious "biter", and I tried different methods of teaching her to stop this fierce habit. It seems that with the addition of "Sam" in the household, biting by "her highness" is no longer an acceptable method of communicating with us...another plus to bringing Sam home, he's taught her how to be a little less neurotic.

Miss Puss is a real (bitchy)chatterbox. She loves to talk in her "high pitched" whiney voice! Mostly she wants to know where I've been all day! She likes for us to follow her to her food and water bowl administering some kind words, a few strokes at which time she purrs loudly...very strange, since she doesn't seem to want any more food or water - just some company while she goes to eat.

Koko and her paperwad
She enjoys chasing noisy paperwads (translation-8 x 11" sheet of paper waded into a ball) and will return them to the tosser upon "request", for another toss. (I'm not quite sure what she thinks this is...maybe a "bird".) She has a very sharp eye out for flying objects in the house - always "lurking" for something to go by to attack!

Here's Sam

Hey Sam! Here's a photo of the newest addition to our family. And here they are actually together, an unusual pose since they seem to require a great deal of space between them most of the time. Koko (aka, Miss Puss - she's adopted her own name, since she felt that "Koko" didn't do much for getting her attention...she does, however, respond to "Miss Puss" since it is more fitting for a cat of her regal "station" - Her Highness, etc, etc. etc.

Sam and Miss Puss actually get along okay, surprisingly, since Sam joined our family just before Christmas this year as an adult cat...he was terrified of the new surroundings for the first week or so, content to hide out in the utility room; but it wasn't long before he joined in the family activities purring loudly indicating that he was satisfied (and would adopt us) with his new sleeping arrangements (at the foot of our bed) and the abundant supply of food, and lack of other companions (he came from a home where there were 30 other cats)...

After a few visits to the vet and regular bath or two for the fleas, and treatment of those ear mites - he's a happy, healthy cat and he shows Miss Puss who's the "boss" since he doesn't put up with any crap from her. Occasionally when she's bored she attacks him, but it's not serious, and he's bigger than she is, so she usually ends up rolling around in the floor, indicating her change of mind regarding the cat-fight..seems it wasn't so important after all. They then saunter over to the window where they take up a diligent watch of the local birds, occasionally squabbling over who gets to sleep in the sunny spot... everyone comfy?

Ta ta ta da!!! (drumroll please) Let me introduce you to our newest addition - Mister Emily!Yes, I know this isn't the greatest picture -- but well, it's hard to get a good shot of Mr. "E". He always wants to "leave the building" if you know what I mean. As for his strange name, well, that's a long story. Mr. E. just appeared one day...thought he'd stick around, and we heard that he may belong to a little girl down the street,name (you guessed it) Emily. So while we waited for "Emily" to come and get her cat...or for her cat to go home to "Emily"; we decided we'd call him that so he wouldn't forget who he belonged to. Well, it turned out that "Emily" was a "he" and didn't belong to anyone in the neighborhood...so after awhile it appeared that Mr. Emily had adopted us..since he'd started sleeping in our garage...and of course the food was good...well, so the living at our house was easy...and now it's the end of summer, and he's still here...seems to like it pretty good, so he thinks he'll stay. Who knows where this loveable cat came from? But he's very affectionate and gentle. My grandson can "pet" him (well, you know how a small child - almost two years old, "pets" a cat - mostly he tries to lay on him...and good ole Mr. E. doesn't object in the least...just sits (or lays there) as the case may be and allows this small child to "maul"him ...I don't allow him to be alone with Mr. E. (Mr. E. has a full set of very sharp claws and should he decide that he didn't care much for Justin's affections, well, let's just say, I never leave the two of them unattended!

Mr. E. apparently has also cast his charms on our neighbors, Jim and Sandi, because I think they love him about as much as we do...well, almost; until last week when Mr. E. decided to leap up on Jim's truck hood, and well, he didn't anticipate the height of Jim's truck and sorta missed...and then in saving himself from a perilous fall, left about 8 claw marks down the side of Jim's shiny truck...oh sheesh...you just can't go around "attacking" trucks and expecting to get away with it...Hopefully the truck will soon be mended...I'm not sure what we'll do about those claws...Mr. E. uses them to "patrol" the grounds and garage for small unsuspecting creatures (mostly field mice, unfortunately a few chipmunks have fallen under those deadly hooks of his)...seems the nature of the beast...and he always presents his "trophies" at the backdoor for our oohs! and aahs! -- can't exactly see that look of revulsion and horror on my face...but he's very proud of himself as a hunter...and the neighbors seem to have forgiven him for the clawing incident...
Perhaps Mr. E. will take them a "present" soon...one from their backyard that I'm sure they will ooh and aah over..unlike yours truly.
Hopefully, I'll get some additional photos for this web page to keep you up to date on the "cat happenings" at our house!

Sam and Miss Puss taking a nap.

Here's Miss Puss lording it over the living room. These photos were taken in Feburary, 2007 - just after her diagnosis. She still looks pretty good here. Conveys that she's still feeling okay and is 'in charge'.

Here are some links to interesting "cat" pages - have fun!

The Cat Fancier's Homepage

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