Cats on Tuesday

A few of my favorites things

On top of the couch is Sebastian. He is my 19 year old sweetie. He is starting to gain a bit of weight again. He is finally eating a whole can of cat food at a time without it going straight through him. He sleeps most of the time now.

Buddy, my sweet buddy, is a mess. If you are on the couch that means he gets to sleep on you.

Brook is my other sweetie. Sebastian has been sleeping with her since she was 5 weeks old. When she was a tiny baby he would sleep on her feet. As she got older and bigger he would stretch himself out along side of her. When he was a baby he used to sleep with HER mama.

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Sebastian, part 4, Cats on Tuesday

Sebastian has always been my baby. When I worked 12 hours shifts he would sleep with me all day long in a hot room. I did not have A/C so it was hot! When my husband was home,( which was happening less and less) he would lay between us. Once a claw went where it really hurts(on him not me) and he was banned from the bedroom when he was there. After that I slept on the couch. Yep, you got it, I picked my cat over that person! The marriage was over long before that, he had his girlfriends and I had me. Anyway, we split up and I met Pat and Sebastian was happy. Sebastian was a shy cat and did not allow people to handle him for some reason he decided that Pat was worth it! He took right up with him.
One fall day we moved lock, stock and barrel down to Georgia on Pat's farm. On this farm was a cat named Puss. Puss was a Tortoise shell calico Manx. She was a tiny little thing. She just loved Pat. She would go running up to him and jump up on his shoulder. That cat had springs for legs!. Well she walked in the home and , you would have thought that a vicious dog was there or something. She spotted Sebastian and World War 3 broke out! Sebastian was totally cowed by this cat. Puss weighed all of 5 pounds to Sebastian's 15 pounds. Sebastian would get away from the cat from hell everyday. He never did fight with her, just ran as fast as he could. One day Puss chased Sebastian down the hall and it was a dead end, no where to go,all the doors were closed. I follow calling to Puss. Puss is slinking towards Sebastian with every hair up on her back, a low growl coming from her throat. She was dead serious, damage was to be done. I am not stupid and I know I cannot catch Puss, I valued my blood far to much to do that! Sebastian is cowering up against the wall, no where to go. The demon from hell takes after him and he turns. All at once Sebastian figures out he can fight! Orange fur and black mottled fur flies, the sounds emitting from the cats were horrifying! I knew that Puss was going to kill Sebastian( I had already seen her kill one tom cat). I hear an ear piercing scream and Puss goes running away! Sebastian is standing, his sides heaving, his fur puffed out, alive with no signs of blood. Puss goes outside,never to enter the house again. Pat follows her outside and calls to her as she walks down the driveway.She stops and looks back at him and then looked away and kept walking. For the first time ever that cat did not come to him when he called. She never again asked to come in the house. Eventually she left the farm all together.
After the big fight, Sebastian started going outside for short periods of time.

You can view more posts about "Cats on Tuesdays" over at Gattina's blog

Sebastian, part 2

Comet was another pound rescue. He was a long haired white cat with a black spot on his back. He was a bit of a stuck up cat. LOL He was a smart one. Actually a bit too smart for his own good. He took up with little Sebastian and gave him the baths he needed. They would run and romp thru the house until it was time for me to go to bed and then Sebastian would come and crawl in bed with me. Kittenhood was a good time for Sebastian. He got all the loving he wanted, good food and fun too. I lived in a trailer park at that time and I kept my cats inside. Comet would go outside sometimes and sit on the porch or use the bathroom in the yard. Sebastian would run away and hide under the bed anytime the door opened. I did not have air conditioning so I kept the windows open all the time whenever it was warm out. Sometimes Comet would push a screen out and jump out the window. He did this one day while I was at work and a dog killed him on our porch. I found out that day just how bad a temper I really have. I exploded! I knew whose dog it was and confronted them, to no avail of course. Later on I found out that he was shot by another neighbor when he attacked their little girl. Anyway after that Sebastian became a calm kitty. I believe that he saw it happen. He never attempted to go outside. He grew from a tiny kitten to a big 15 pound cat with zero fat on him.

I started working 12 hour night shifts at a hospital 50 miles away. I had to sleep during the day. Sebastian would sleep with me even though he probably could have found a cooler place to sleep. It was comforting to have him snuggle up to me. I never could hear him cry because of my hearing loss so he would put his paw on me to let me know he was talking to me. I always knew when someone would come to the door because he would run for the bedroom. He was a very shy cat that did not tolerate strangers. Heck, he did not tolerate people he knew! He would not allow my then husband to touch him. That alone should have alerted me to something about that person. Another story there, another time.

Until Sebastian was about 3 years old, he had never been outside except when I would take him to the vet. He would have anxiety attacks then! His favorite place to sleep was in the window when he was not sleeping with me. By now he was a big cat and filled up the window when he was laying in it. I came home from work one morning and found my screen out of the window. This window was about 15 feet off the ground. I looked around to see if any of my pitiful possessions were taken. As far as I could see nothing was gone except for Sebastian! I called and called but I did not see h im. My daughter went outside looking for him and heard him crying. Looking up, he was in the huge oak tree that was in our front yard! He had climbed so far up that he was in the little branches at the top! I was at a loss as what to do. In the house I went to call for help. Electric company, nope. They said call fire department. I called the fire department, they said nope, don't do that, try Animal Control. I called them, nope, they would set a trap out to catch him. I was at a loss. My sweetie was outside, in a tree and it was hot!

Sebastian, the beginning

Sebastian is my big yellow cat that is not so big anymore. I have had Sebastian for a very long time. He is an old man now, 19 years old. His muzzle has gray on it and his teeth are coming out. His eyes are huge now. He talks to me. He understands English. I love him and he loves me.

Sebastian was a pound rescue. One day I decided I needed another cat. The cat I had liked my daughter and had little to do with me. I went ti the pound to see what they had there. This was a place where at the end of the week they killed all the animals. It was a Saturday morning when I arrived. I asked if they had any cats available. I was looking for one about 6 months old. There weren't any cats there except for 1 kitten. I really did not want a little kitten but I looked anyway. There in a big cage all by itself was a tiny yellow fur ball shivering. I picked him up and he just fit in the palm of my hand. The lady told me that the rest of his family and his mother had just been put down but there was not any room for him in there. He was going in the next group. My heart melted and I had to take him home. She said that he was not up for adoption because he was too small. Well, I knew the dog catcher and called him at home. He told her to let me have the kitten and to waive all fees! So off we went. Poor thing was scared to death. He was not weaned so a new adventure started for him. I tried giving him a baby doll bottle but that did not work. So out came the saucer. In it I poured some warm milk and push his nose in it. He backed away shaking his head, milk going everywhere. Then he sat crying. I knew he was hungry, his little belly was sunk in. So back to the saucer. This time I held his nose there long enough for him to blow bubbles. I know it sounds mean but that was how we always taught the little ones to drink. They were usually older than that though. Soon he realized that it tasted good and started drinking. Soon his little belly was full and he was ready for a nap. I fixed him a little box with a ticking clock in it and he curled up and went to sleep. After a bit my other cat Comet came over and sniffed him. Sebastian did not wake up. In a short while Comet was in the box with Sebastian and curled up with him. I was worried about he 2 cats getting along. I know how older cats usually react to new cats!