StrangeRanger

An Old Friend

It's time for a visit from an old friend.  We've always called her Matilda.

Matilda was a neighborhood stray until she got taken in by our neighbors.  We stopped by for a porch-chat and got to snap the following pics of Matilda (now called "Boots" or "Puddin"). 

She's all grown up now, and is *very* well treated.

It's always nice to see her.

No pics of the Ranger-Kitties today.  Some new, vile, version of the Snot-bonic Plague is going around.  Both cats are on the bed tending to LadyRanger as she tries to sleep.

Oh, Happy Day!

This is Ivy's second Gotchaversary!  On May 10, 2006, we brought her home from the vet.  She'd been there about a week after LadyRanger had found her shivering in the roses in the early May sunshine.  I first saw her in, yes, the ivy patch looking starved and miserable:

She wasn't much more than a rag and a bone, infested with fleas and with open, running sores.  We gave her food and water to last the night and, in the morning, took her to our vet, Dr G.  The initial outlook wasn't good.  Dr G has said many many times that she privately thought Ivy'd last two or three days, at most. 

Turns out that Ivy has no back-down in her at all, though, and she has thrived over the apst two years.  She's gone from under 7 pounds to a sleek and happy 10, and has forged a place in our home and our hearts (despite objections from Maddie).  The first few months were spent getting her back in good condition, going from this:

to this:

to a very comfortable this:

She's been with us for two Christmases now, and has, with Maddie, been the best of all presents.

She always enjoys her food, whether it's strawberries

or Ice Cream!

Though aged, she still possesses vigor and an enjoyment of the simple pleasures of life, like sun

and boxes!

Ivy is the soul of sweetness and patience.  We feel grateful that she's even put up with us through vet visits, car trips (much barfing) and the presence of the original Cat-zilla.  She has kept her sweet temper despite hyperthyroid and hypertension.  She takes her meds like a champ, though having them mashed into treats doesn't seem to hurt the process.  We're delighted she found us.  Sometimes she's snores and we just break out into fool-grins.  Sometimes Ivy looks at us and we imagine she's saying...

Thank You.  I think I"ll stay.

We hope you do, Ivy.  For many more years. 

That's it. I've had enough!

It seems like it's been a tough week for Maddie.  No, there have been no trips to the vet, no wonky knees or claws puncturing pads.  Maddie has had her share of the sunshine...

But... Ivy has really come into herself after her lion-cut.  She's been all over the house, checking everything out.  We think that, after two years (and next weekend is Ivy's second gotcha-versary) Ivy has finally adopted us as her family.  LadyRanger and I are pleased and quite touched, but Maddie is, well, unhappy.

She's on my bed...

She's on my papasan...

She's on my rug.  That's it!  I'm outta here!

You guys can just ship me far, far away to Fiona or Nick.  I bet they'd treat me right!

Hey...what's Ivy doing with the packing tape?!?  Cut that out!!

Don't worry folks.  I think we can convince her to stay.

A Sign?

Very odd occurance at Chez-Ranger yesterday.  It was a lovely day here.  Warm, light breeze, good smells off the garden.  We had the windows open and all inhabitants of the home were enjoying life.  Maddie settled down on her blanket stack on the cedar chest for a nap.  Then this happened:

HeHe... Mad Ninja Skillz...I have them!

Never have we seen the wee tuxedo cat display this much nerve.  For a senior, fixed, female cat she sure has a pair.  Don't know how aware Madie was, but she must have known *something* was up.  It didn't really seem to bother her though.  They both napped a bit:

LadyRanger and I kept an eye on things, to make sure it wasn't Maddie having a nap and Catzilla the Avenger waking up.   things did seem to go well, though:

To our great surprise, things even went well after Maddie turned around and discovered Ivy on Maddie's own blanket!

Crumbs!  there goes the neighborhood...

And at the end of the whole episode, as I was on the bed snapping this last of the photos, Ivy got up, walked over to me, pawed my stomach and settled down next to me.  First time that's happened in two years.  Wild.

So, is this a sign?  And if it is, what of?  That the girls are each resigned to having feline company?  Or just the approaching apocalypse?  Further bulletins as events warrant!

I was there last!

Wednesday was an interesting day here at Chez-Ranger.  I was home sick from school (enjoying myself immensely, aside from the sick part) and reclining on the couch.  The blinds were up and the sun was shining.  Thus the stage was set for a really impressive battle of passive-aggression:  Battle for the SunPuddle, Part Two.  Ivy came in, sniffed around and realized that she could take possession of one ofthe most treasured spots in the house:

Mine mine mine mine mine mine mine...

In the nice sunlight, you can really see her arm-dreads, left intact by our vet 'cause little old Ivy turned into a Fierce Creature (tm) when the vet tried to shave 'em:

Anyways...Ivy stayed for a bit then wandered off and Maddie came in:

Mine mine mine mine mine mine mine...

Maddie wandered off...

I am *so* loving this...

Ivy wandered off...

Ahhh...the sun *loves* me...

And so on.  The really interesting thing was that Ivy eventually won this little contest hands-down.  Not by intimidation or violence, but by changing the arena:

Hah!  In your face!

Ahhh!  Must activate Laser-Vision!!!

I win!  Go me!  I win!  Go me!  <insert little happy humming noises>

Maddie fans, never fear.  Your girl eventually reclaimed the bed and settled in for a long, happy, well-deserved snooze, undisturbed by paparazzi.

Oops, we did it again!

As I'm sure you've noticed, Ivy is a sweet little long-haired cat.  Turns out it's very matted long hair.  Ivy has tummy-dreads, leg-dreads, back-dreads, tail-dreads and even (ick) butt-dreads.  You can get an idea of the tangles from this pic:

She's pretty much given up grooming, and only copes with combing for so long.  We finally had to resort to the most drastic measure, the Lion-Trim!

Go ahead.  Laugh.  I know where you sleep, primate.

As you can see, we made sure Ivy's favorite treat, vanilla ice cream (Hagen Daz) was waiting for her at home.  You'll also notice that the trimmers didn't touch her front legs.  Seems the wee tuxedo cat has some absolute no-go zones.  The vet said Ivy got positively fierce defending her arm-dreads.  We also had some blood work done on the old girl.  Her hyperthyroid is a bit more hyper than last time, so we're upping her meds for that.  Ivy is also hypertensive, so she's now on blood pressure meds.  The good news is that her kidneys are holding their own and we're delighted about that.

Ivy seems to be adapting well to her new, more streamlined condition.  At least fur is a renewable resource.  When we get some more cute pics of the little velvet Elvis, we'll be sure to post them!

Walkabout

We have had some absolutely beautiful spring weather here at Chez-Ranger.  The garden is coming on with a passion, the breezes have been gentle and the windows have been open.  After a brief shift of yard work Lady Ranger and I decided to see if the girls wanted to go out for a walk.  Maddie's response:

What!?  Go out in more awful snow like last time?  I think not.

Ivy, though, was most eager to adventure.  In fact, she was out the door before we coud stop her.  We finally nabbed her and put on her harness.  She immediately wandered over to her spot in the ivy, the spot we found her ill and shivering almost two years ago.

Hmmm...this place looks familiar...

Ivy was quite the intrepid explorer.  At one point she headed across the neighbors yard.  She eventually found her way back to the front of our house and had a little salad:

Nom nom nom...

You can hear the noises of the very busy street in front of the house, which,  I hope, explains the harness and leash.  Anyway, Ivy seems to have had a lovely time out, exploring the lovely spring garden:

 

Another Hungry Cat

Well, here's another hungry cat with a baseball bat.  Who knew that it was such a common tool?

Ivy wonders what all the fuss is about...

hmmmph!  All I have to do is meow and they bring food right to my throne.  Isn't that how it's supposed to work?

And a grateful hat-tip to Dark Roasted Blend for the link!

Time to go feed the cats!

Reminders of Sun

It is *not* a sunny day here at Chez-Ranger.  It's even a bit cool to be the best of proper rainy spring days.  As the cats nap in their warm fleecy spots, we look back at spring pictures past and remind ourselves of what sun is meant to be...

And, of course, a pic that foretells (I hope) some of the flowers that will be enjoying the sun later on...

Striped Sunlight

For some strange reason, striped sunlight really does it for me.  And when it shines in on the Brown Tabby Center of the Universe, I get unreasonably happy and have to start taking pictures:

What a lovely cat!

okay...I'm biased....

If only I were a better photographer... I think Kimberly would have done a better job.

Maddie and Ivy have been getting along better as time has gone by, but there are still hiccups in the relationship.  We may have found the proper counselor, though:  the Cat Whisperer.  Not that our girls need *counseling* or anything...they are perfectly, umm..., Perfect!  Yeah!