The Roof Cat

It's time to introduce the rest of our family, the pets who keep us humble and remind us who's in charge!
*

This is Tabitha, who lives on the roof. She is our senior pet at age 14. She was an ordinary housecat until we adopted Astro in 2004. Their first unhappy meeting was enough to convince her she wanted a dog-free life, so she took up residence on the roof, and there she has remained for 4 years. The kids keep a ladder handy to feed her and pet her twice a day.

*

Astro no longer lives with us, but he's still part of the family. He was a bit too high strung, so he went with Mark in the divorce 2 years ago. He now lives with Mark's grandma Helen in Mesa, where he's starting to look like a fluffy white marshmallow from eating too many Happy Meals!

This is Astro after a run-in with a skunk that wandered into our yard one night. We all ran for the house, but Astro lingered long enough for the skunk to empty his scent glands on him--TWICE! Needless to say, he spent the night outdoors. The next morning Sarah gave him several tomato juice baths, rendering him this lovely shade of pinkish orange.
*

You may notice Astro has a "Popeye" look. He had a bad eye infection and lost use of his left eye despite repeated treatments by the vet.

After Tabitha retired to the roof, we decided to get a kitten to grow up with Astro. We ended up with two: brothers Gandalf (dark gray) and Gimli (brown stripes). They all bonded and became buddies.

*

Now at age 3 Gandalf and Gimli are more like teenage boys fighting over a girl, passing each other with snarls and pouncing when the other's back is turned. What happened to my sweet babies?

Gimli is the quiet, cautious boy (maybe due to falling 60 feet from the top of a pine tree onto his face when he was 6 weeks old).

Gandalf is spoiled and demanding. He'd do anything for a slice of ham (he's sharing one with Dylan at right). He drinks from the toilet and cries loudly if anyone leaves the lid down. (I doubt Dylan was considering the whole toilet water thing when we took the picture!)

And what do we say about Diego? We got Diego from my sister Karla last summer and he is now 15 months old. Judging by his ears, his color and markings, and his instincts, his father was clearly an Australian cattle dog of some kind, probably a blue heeler.

Even as a puppy he would try to herd our two cats by hovering over them and trying to control where they went. Gandalf and Gimli were not amused. (But we were!)

Since then, Diego and the cats have worked out a deal. If he gently scratches and rubs their itchy spots, they don't rip his face off.

*

*

Diego now weighs in at over 50 pounds, but he still thinks he's a little pup, perching on the kids' laps like a tiny chihuahua.
*

He also has a strange idea of what's fun. If you toss him a rock--a large rock--he will joyfully push and roll it around the yard as if you'd thrown him a beach ball. And he is obsessed with flashlights. He would rather chase the beam of a flashlight for hours than eat or sleep. If he finds that someone left a flashlight sitting on the table, he will sit and stare at it for ages, as if it will suddently spring to life and play with him. We suspect there may be some brain damage involved . . .

The rest of our furry family includes 3 bunnies, remnants of the years Sarah and Jacob spent in 4-H Club. Here you see all 3 of them in a lovely hutch Jacob made in his woods technology class last year, that his grandpa Myron helped him complete.

On the far left you can barely see black-furred Likki Nikki (short for her pedigree name, Licorice Nicole).

On the right is sable-furred Cocoa Puff, Sarah's best rabbit for show. She's calm and sweet-tempered, and she patiently endures all the showing positions.

*

In the center and with Sarah at right is Rosebud ("Rosie"), a purebred, red mini-rex who won best of breed at her first competition. Her fur is incredibly soft, like the original velveteen rabbit! After her initial showing, she never worked out as a good show rabbit, but she is a great pet.

*

Finally, in memory of our most recent hamster, Sox: When an older woman from church had to move out of her home, she asked for someone to give her beloved hamster a good home. My Sarah, the animal lover and budding vet tech, immediately volunteered (of course).

Sox was already at the end of the normal hamster lifespan, but the balding little guy was a friendly, curious sweetheart who went on to spend a year with us before he passed away in May.

*

Now our family tail is complete! Children help make our house a home, but pets definitely keep it real!