“Time spent with a cat is never wasted.” - Unknown
This quote is attributed to several hi-profile names... so let's just say, it's a good quote and google for today's most likely author.
Cleaning house
Thank you for stopping by.
It took longer than I had hoped, but this is a quick refresh with an interview link. Please note the Empower Radio interviews were active for a decade. Those links are expired. That site has been sold.
I've had several life changes and redirects since starting this blog (and the one it replaced). Several wonderful animal companions have also transitioned.
But there are always new developments and progress. Our evolving understanding of animal cognition and behavior keeps the interest flowing.
I saved some interviews. Others were duplicated via my podcast - Wendy's Coffeehouse. I have been focused on that content - and blogging metaphysics, and UFO, paranormal content.
Transition
Bob and Belle. Tussle in the tree stand.
Stormy was the neighborhood explorer. Bob's best buddy. Emboldened when Stormy was around, Bob leveraged his extra pounds to maintain his (presumed) alpha status. Stormy humored him.
True to his name, Stormy went out shortly before a storm and didn't come back. May 2023. Relentless near the end, I couldn't keep him in. The rain started and it was different - he didn't come in.
From the beginning, I had a sense he was on a shorter time clock. We knew him (and Bob) from the day of arrival next door because they showed up at our house. Two tiny kittens wandered in the yard. Assuming they were strays, we set up a kennel with litter and toys. A day later, the neighbor and her two little boys showed up asking if we had seen them.
The boys saw what we had done and asked if they could also get toys for their cats... The kittens, designated 'barn cats' (in the suburbs) returned to live in their garage with the door open ... Wandering the neighborhood... and spending lots of time in our yard.
I tried to block the sense I had that something would happen to Stormy. It was unusual. I couldn't shake it. I haven't had that sense with my other pets - the apprehension that his time would be short. Nothing to explain - just an odd, unshakable sadness that he was on a shorter clock.
He was a beautiful and very photogenic tuxedo cat. Curious. Playful. Taught to be an outdoor cat by the neighbors who, eventually - before they were a year old - offered to leave Bob and Stormy with us when they relocated. Because they always ended up at our house and we wanted them.
Stormy adopted a favorite position, half on/half off of the bed, the couch, the chair - upside down - balanced perfectly on the edge. Defying gravity was his special talent.
Other behaviors might have factored in but his actions with our dog Cassie - suggested he had said his goodbyes the day he went missing. I prayed for a miracle and asked that he please let me find him - that he please make it back to the yard. The guides responded and said he would return the following afternoon - with the understanding - it might not be on my terms.
We had company that day - totally out of character for our schedule. Without notice, he made it to the yard and laid down under our special tree. I was distracted. I didn't find the body that afternoon. I found it later that night when I ran outside to patrol the yard with a flashlight - because it came to me where I needed to look - and it was time for him to be found. I might have tried to save him if I had found him sooner.
I picked him up and carried him inside to let Bob and the dogs know he was gone. In the following days, Bob spent most of his time on the blanket where I put Stormy that last time. To see him like that, it was clear he was grieving. He had never been alone. He lost his rock.
We put our name in for adoption, hoping to find a young pair of kittens that could adapt to Bob and help him through his grief. I wanted siblings because they do so much better in the company of their companions. My only stipulation was a bonded pair. There were several possibilities but, as it turns out, we were not approved until two black cats, Hans and Belle became available.
The timing for their arrival was seamless. Stormy might have had a hand. The day we picked them up - an intense storm rolled through and opened up as we sat in the waiting room at the adoption center. Paperwork completed, kittens in tow, we dodged the aftermath of flooded streets, downed trees and blocked roads on the way home.
It took 10 days for the kittens to recover from surgeries, to acclimate (along with the dogs), and for Bob to realized they were staying. But the biggest clue we made the right call was when Bob picked up a mouse and started playing - entertaining himself - for the first time since we said goodbye to Stormy.
Kittens were born in April, very sick, 2 survivors out of 5. Stormy departed in May. The kittens came home with us in August. There are correlations here. And somewhere there is a chart - ensuring arrivals and departures are on schedule. Amazing.
The three cats now cuddle up in a pile. Bob tolerates Belle. However, with Hans, it's two peas in a pod. Hans has a special bond with Bob. He tracks him down and the two will snuggle.
Bob will occasionally dart out the door and stay a short time outdoors. As of yet - not counting rides to the vet - the kittens do not go outside.
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Wendy's podcast: https://audioboom.com/channel/wendy-s-coffeehouse
Wendy's other blog: https://talkingtonightlights.wordpress.com/
Equine Empath - When Horses Whisper, you can listen!
Wendy's Coffeehouse Interview with Rosalyn Berne
What would you do if you fell off a horse and a door opened to a world you never even fathomed? That's what happened to Rosalyn Berne.
On vacation in Costa Rica, she fell off a horse and when she got up, she realized she could hear what the horse was thinking. He was quite rattled that she had fallen off and worried because that had never happened to him before. And so it began, a new journey filled with amazing insights and revelations.
