Today I decided to introduce my fur family. I thought I would introduce my cats first. They are easier to photograph and well they are just too adorable not to share. Our house is a circus made up of two teens, two working parents, three onaray but adorable kitties, and our senior puppy. We have a theme for naming our cats. The all start with L’s. Next set (yes there will always be more cats) will all start with M’s and so on. Important note: All our cats are rescues. It is very important to me and my family that we rescue our beloved cats.
First up: Lennox is the oldest one at 6 years old. He had a hard first six months of his life. We got him for my husband’s birthday. Our cat K.C. (Stood for Kitty Cat named by my daughter) died on Father’s Day in 2012 at 11 yrs old. My mother got me K.C. for my 21st birthday but this cat ended up choosing my husband as his human. So when he died we, especially my husband, had a hard time. So I thought it would be a good idea to get another kitty for him and us to love on as much as we did K.C. Lennox had just been surrendered that morning by his first family who also rescued him from the Denton Animal Shelter a few months prior. They returned him because their daughter was going away for college. When I saw him I just knew he was meant to be ours. He ended up being free because the shelter was over capacity and they knew it was my husband’s birthday present. Once we got him home we discovered that he was covered in fleas. Now we know he was only at the shelter for a couple of hours before we adopted him so he had to have been brought in that way. I felt terrible. Then three days after we rescued him, he started to get really ill and not eat. We took him to the vet where they kept him overnight. Come to find out he had a long piece of weather stripping in his stomach causing an obstruction to his bowels. He threw up most of it but ended up having surgery to get out the rest. What we concluded is that his previous owners had left him outside most of the time where he got the weather stripping and likely not fed on a schedule. He is to this day terrified of thunderstorms and I believe it is because he was left outside all the time. It makes me sick to think of what he went through and how he was treated. It has taken years for him to come out of his shell and be a sweet loving cat. He was very aggressive and scared for the longest time. He didn’t know how to play and bites at the hands when he feel threaten. We’ve worked hard to get him to calm down and become the sweetest lap cat I know.
Next up: Lola is the middle cat at 5 yrs old. She is exactly a year younger than Lennox. She is a special breed of cat called a Turkish Van that we rescued. We got her because we felt like Lennox needed a friend. When we rescued Lennox, we had another cat named Ebony. She was my dad’s cat. He wanted me to have her because he and my stepmom were collecting too many animals (they love cats and dogs as much as our family does) and when I went back to visit them she was my cat. She was a sweet tiny all black cat with a feisty side. We had her for a couple of years but decided that she needed to go back to my dad because she wasn’t adjusting well. She was an outside cat and where I live she wouldn’t have lasted a week outside since we live where nature also lives. So Lennox was all alone. I found Lola on Pet Finder. She was at her foster parents house with her brother. Her and her brother were locked up in a room all day from what I could tell. The lady was very sweet but also elderly. You could tell she loved her pets and fosters. Once we took Lola home, we fell right in love with her. The very next day I got a phone call from the lady who fostered her. She wanted her back and offered to pay double. I politely declined and said that she is already apart of our family. I was a little shocked but felt bad for her at the same time. I ended up calling the Denton Animal Shelter to let them know what happened since that is who she was fostering for. I did not want to do that but there are rules in fostering and if not followed 100%, then fostering might be the best choice. Lola has grown up to be one of the best cats we’ve owned. She is super smart, acts like a dog at time and has essentially became my daughter’s therapy cat. They have a unique bond that only exist between them.
Lastly: Lilah, who is the youngest at two years, is short for Delilah. Since I loved the name so much, I compromised and decided we would call her Lilah for short to stick to the all L names tradition. Lilah was purely an impulse buy. We saw her at Pet Smart and the kids spent an hour convincing us to get her. She at the time was only 2 months old and the softest and sweetest kitten. She plays all of the time and has chosen my son as his human. She sleeps with him every night and hangs out with him in his room throughout the day. She licks noses, purrs constantly, and is my sweet princess. She out of the three is my baby and even though she chose my son, is my cat as well. She has fun, loves to be petted except when she does not want to be, and gets along with all the animals. Lola thought at first that was her kitten by cleaning her, playing with her and protecting her from Lennox. It has been a great experience watching all three adjust to each other and coexist. She is by far the most spoiled and she knows it. Since she is still young, she has yet to show her true personality. She is also very tiny but fluffy (she’s the black and white cat featured in the first blog). I am so glad we decided to rescue her.
Well that is all of the brats, I mean cats, back stories and how we got so lucky to love them. I will always support rescues and highly encourage everyone consider adopting. Next week will feature Cujo, our sheltie.
Till next time!
CatsnCoffee 