Phone: 616-217-9489 | eMail: jude@midlifetoolsforliving.com
JD's Midlife Tools For Living Practices, LLC
I’d like to introduce you to all of my adorable kitty babies!
It all started in 1986 with:
Filmore the fabulous flying feline broke me is as a kitty mommy!
A few fun stories:
I went home for lunch in those early days of her living with us. She had been with us for only a short time when I opened a can of tuna and had this little kitten crawling up my nylons to get some. Not having been around kitties before I called my husband and asked him if I could give her some! He laughed and suggested putting some of the tuna water on her food. She was a happy little kitty!
The first time she sneezed we swept her off to the vet…I had just read that cats can die from getting colds…and $14 later learned she was perfectly healthy. That was a very long time ago given the price of vet visits now!
Because she was our first we threw her a Happy 1st Birthday party complete with invites and a special cake that was decorated to look like her. People kindly brought presents for her too! You know what happens after you have more than one…suffice it to say…no one else has had a birthday party since!
We moved from an apartment to the house we live in when she was about 3. Filmore “pissed” in my husband’s slipper appropriately letting us know what she thought of her new home and spent a week under the covers on our bed!
Filmore, Filmore, Filmore only one like you and we do miss you!
When we brought her home from the Humane Society, Sidney and I sat in a small bathroom for several days while Filmore hissed on the other side of the door. Sid and I bonded well. She was younger by 2 years and we thought she’d be a good playmate for her sister. She had us for 3 years after her sister died all to herself and was even more spoiled than she had been. And, I think those were her happiest years. Sid was a very sweet little kitty.
Oh sweet Sid we love and miss you!
The fab 3, Dunkin, Gurney and McAllister—were together in the same cage at the Humane Society when we adopted them in 2004.
Our little Dunkin pumpkin was born with one small kidney and one mis-shaped one. We learned this early on and that it meant she likely would not live long. She let our vet clean her teeth without the benefit of anesthesia—too dangerous for her kidneys to give her any. We fed her special food and spoiled her of course. She was a charmer, very petite, smart and scientific too—she often experimented with gravity knocking things on the floor and watching them land ever so carefully!
Our little pumpkin Dunkin we do love and miss you!
My little Gurney girl sure was a sweetie pie. She and I were really very close. I loved to bury my nose in her fur and snuggle with her. She had an adorability about her, an innocence and was as cute as a button I’d tell her! She often slept with me under my arm. I really suspect a part of me died with her when she left us. I do still miss her so.
Oh sweet Gurney girl we do love and miss you!
I love this picture of my sweet little Gurney helper!
McAllister and I became close after I acquired COVID and long haul kept me home and not working for over 18 months. Sadly, she died in August of 2021 after a full 17 years of life…leaving us cat-less.
I had fun coming up with the following ditty that captures the essence of our dear little McAllister:
In addition:
-Mac the Mouth will teach you how to assert yourself, get your point across, get what you want when you want it, and be adorable while you do it too!
-A grateful heart has McAllister who knows that being thankful is a key to continued rewards in life! She will help you find gratitude even in times of change, stress and just plain of daily life events. You can hear her say thank you and heal your heart connecting to hers!
-Through McAllister’s mindful focus you can learn to be present for the simple things in life—a warm bed to snore in, a pile of toys to lay in, food to eat, watching the birds outside your window, kneading your paws, a belly rub, a favorite chew toy in your mouth, head and chin scratches…one thing… one moment at a time!
-And you can get all the hugs and kisses you need from McAllister the snuggle buddy too…that is IF you learn to paws…and smell the kitty fur when you need it the most…if she is willing of course! Tis important to remember we can ask for what we need but remember the other one has the right to say yes or no—or, you will get your finger bit off!
-Don’t forget to set your clock with the McAllister Alarm Clock Kitty who will wake you and remind you when it’s time to get up and fill her belly with food…sleeping in will never be the same!
An added bonus:
Introducing Chef McAllister who is cooking and baking up some special treats! She is a learner and always eager to help in the kitchen. She will show you how to savor your favorite foods including avocado’s with is her personal favorite. What she can do with just about ANY kind of cheese is absolutely to die for AMAZING!
On 10/8/21 we went to ‘look’ at kittens at the Humane Society and came home with Samantha and our first boy cats 3 of them—Hamish, Teddy and Stanley…yes, 4 kittens all at one time!
So much for a quiet organized house! It’s been kitten mania ever since! They all get along quite well…thank goodness!
The only good-ish picture I could get of the four of them together as young ones…ever try to capture four on the move kittens at one time when you want to?
Handsome Hamish I called him…I say called because he lived a very short life just 2 weeks over the age of one. He likely died of a brain/neurological problem. All the tests completed the week of his decline and death came back normal. The vet doesn’t know what was wrong with him. Hamish was a looker…hence the handsome description…dashing and sweet. The hardest part of being a pet parent is that they don’t live forever…except in your heart… I sure do miss him! Just glad we were able to give him a good life even thought a short one here with us!
Oh dear little handsome Hamish we do love and miss you!
Teddy was put in my arms at the Humane Society and promptly took a nap while we walked around looking at the kittens so teddy bear came to mind as I held him and the name Teddy stuck. He still likes to be held and cuddled…sometimes he will even ask for a hug! He is a smarty cat, full of the devil too and gets into trouble a lot! He likes to play with fresh green beans…so we indulge him and find rather decomposed beans around the house. My husband is actually growing a couple plants in a makeshift hot house he has going alongside a few tomatoes…just for Mr. Ted! He has the sweetest brown eyes….
Stan my little man I call him. Manly Stanley with a butt that wiggles and a tummy that likes to be rubbed! That sums him up well. He walks like he just got off a horse! He will flop over and demand a belly rub too. And take a look at those eyes…great big and oh such a cute face…I melt looking at him sometimes! Hard to get enough of my man the Stan!
And he is my alarm clock…he’s lucky to be so cute on days he wants me up at 6 and I want to sleep in! He paws at the blankets till I get up and go do their morning routine: give hairball treats with “sprinkles” on top—a probiotic, brush kitty teeth, feed them more food, put fresh water in their bowls…tis not enough for him if I simply give him food and go back to bed…oh no he comes right back in bed demanding the whole routine!
Samantha otherwise known as Missy, Sammy, Sam, Missy ‘Wissy’ is the princess of the house. She likes to cuddle, talks a lot actually most all the time in a cute squeaky little voice, is very sweet, petite and is an acrobatic cat who fearlessly climbs onto the porch rafters. She is a mother hen who likes to give us all baths including my husband and I. She will come over to me and bug me for food by licking my hair…tis a good thing she is so cute! In this house us girls gotta stick together too as we are outnumbered!
And just so it’s clear if you’ve not guessed it all ready, I consider myself a humble kitty servant
who knows her place and enjoys spoiling our felines rotten!
We aim’s to please!
Jude
😻
