Little Rexie Kitten and his sisters plus Sugar Mouse October 2010/ Oct. 7, 2023

Written in Sept. 2023,  published Oct. 7, 2023.

Little Kitten Rexie while he/she was getting kitten formula supplemental feedings. You see how much smaller he/she was than the others. That is she-who-will-be-Grey-Mouse cuddling next to the little kitten while Spot and Lassie eat.

 Sugar Mouse was their father, but Patches wouldn't let him near her kittens. She was very protective of them.

 

Sugar Mouse out on the screen porch early in the morning. 9am Oct 25, 2010

Spot and Little Kitten Rex (maybe) bouncing and pouncing Oct 26, 2010
Notice Mama Patches' nose and toes at the far left where she sits on the arm of the green chair watching.

Spot and Grey Mouse (or maybe Lassie) notice their father watching.

Sugar Mouse watching his kittens Spot (and Lassie?) playing Oct 26, 2010

3 kittens looking at Mama up on the back of the chair. Small Rexie is sleepy. Noon Oct 26, 2010

These kitten photos were not published in a timely fashion because the external hard drive they were saved on stopped mounting, and the contents had to be retrieved. Technical difficulties.

Technical difficulties strike again now. As I was editing this post, my computer died without warning. Mostly seems to have been the power cable - but I am finishing this and scheduling it, in case that happens again.

And now I am remembering Rex/Rexie and my other darling kittens while I sort and publish these photos. And being very glad that sweet Grey Mouse is still here.

When Rexie was a small kitten, he/she had two potentially fatal problems. I thought he/she might not survive very long, but I resolved she would have a good life, however long. We had 12 years together.

Happy Kitten Day Sept. 7, 2023

Patches with her kittens, 2010. Sugar Mouse was the father.

 Well... For some meanings of happy... Happy memories...

And Grey Mouse still here with me, purring. Sitting on my lap, mornings and evenings. And on the cool rainy days, Sept 1-3, cuddling up under my chin and on my shoulder. Purring. She is a very sweet cat. 

The kittens were born on Sept 7, 2010. Squeaking in the cupboard.
This is after their Mama moved them into the other (cleaned out) cupboard. Here they are out on the floor being fed. And he/she-who-will-be-named-Rexie is not eating.

Four little kittens. (Spot is between Mama's front legs, getting a bath.) Rexie is resting while Lassie and Grey Mouse nurse. Before she had to get supplemental feedings.

Kitten (probably Grey Mouse) in flowerpot. When I have Photoshop again I need to clean up this image. But notice the interesting light pattern on the floor just in front of the flowerpot, from a reflection off the glaze on the pot.

Grey Mouse, now that Rexie is not chasing her away from the food and bed, is healthier. Now only a slender cat, not a skinny one. No more backbone showing. Her fur is thicker. She tells me when the food dish is empty. And she is very sweet.
Although on the recent hot (high 90s) days, she did not want to come in from the balcony, even when the sun was starting to shine on her in the afternoon. I had to go fetch her in.

I Have Seen Her Ghost a Couple of Times

Rexie is Wild - playing with a toy on the bed - a year old

Written Friday, Aug.18, 2023. Backdated

Well, not that kind of ghost. But something that has never happened to me before.

I have very poor visualization ability, except in dreams, and half asleep. 

You would think that that is a difficulty for a visual artist/designer. But since the days when my designs were colored pencil on graph paper, cross-stitch or quilt or jewelry designs, or costume drawings, the finished project, (however imperfect it was), always looked MUCH better than my imagination could picture.

And now, designs on the computer already look much better than my imagination.

That is different from what I have seen from writers, who say that their finished projects don't match their imaginations.

Another advantage to not having clear visual imagination, is that potentially traumatic events which are processed as stories rather than pictures, are much less likely to produce PTSD. (Temple Grandin)

But, Rexie's ghost?

Well, lying-sitting-up on the bed, half asleep, maybe with my eyes closed, I have seen a Rexie-shape walking up the bed beside me, just like she used to do...

A Word Has Gone Out of the World - Goodby Rexie my darling - Dec. 2022

Tiny Little Kitten, when he was being fed. Soon to be Rex.

After they knocked down their kitten-gate, and escaped. When I came in, early morning, the others were still close by, exploring. But this Little Kitten had crossed 2 rooms, climbed up into the feeding chair, and burrowed into this warm blanket.

Little Lion Rex, fully recovered from not getting enough to eat as a tiny kitten. Before they got sick.

One page in a school assignment. I thought Rexie looked like he was dreaming of being out in the grass, like Bob in the illustration.

Rexie stops to smell the roses, the year she decided the balcony was hers, and wouldn't let the others out there, where I was for hours every morning, taking rose pictures. She kept bumping me, insisting I
Pay Attention To The Cat.

Her hiding place, behind the door, on top of the cabinet. Scary noises.

In the chair with Grey Mouse, originally her friend. Now my only cat.

Is that a bird out there? Feb.2011 - 6months old. Rexie's first time in the bedroom in the daytime with curtains and the windows open to the screens. Warm sunny days in Feb, chilly nights.

First appearance. Looking at me.

Looking up at Mama. She had hidden her kittens in the drawer.

Rexie is the darker one in back. He/she has caught up in size.

Kitten soccer. Rexie is the smaller darker kitten, just peering out in the back left corner.

When Rexie invented a word to tell me when she/he wanted his/her forehead rubbed.

 First written Aug 15, 2023. Backdated.

As usual I didn't notice her symptoms early. Of course, they were different than anyone else's had been. 

I did notice when she became chubby enough to wobble. Only a few days later she was enormous.

Vets have become much more expensive since the last time I had much to do with them, and my old vet has closed.

By the time I could get her in somewhere, the week before christmas, it was a drop-off appointment. No money for more tests, or palliative care. They wanted to put her down.

But she was not dehydrated. and not in pain.

We had almost a week, sitting together on the bed, at first on my lap or chest as usual, then beside me on her pillow. Once she took a flying leap off my stomach on top of the tall bed, and belly-flopped on the floor, to go to the catbox.

At the end, she had a few moments of panic, climbing the pillows, trying to breathe. Then she became unconscious, nestling down into her pillow.

That's a lot better than the usual way...

I have seen her ghost a couple of times.