It’s time for a cat birthday party. Silly, I know. Bear with me. There won’t be any party hats, balloons, cake or guests. It’s just for the cats. All the cats will enjoy some tuna and new toys. They also have to put up with a little singing. It’s not a birthday without the birthday song.

Two of my cats are a year old today (I think.) I don’t actually know their birthday. They showed up at my door about two weeks from now last year. At first there was one. The next day there were three. None weighed a pound. None could eat by themselves. They wre covered with fleas. I’ve never seen so many fleas on a cat, and these were tiny cats.

After their baths, here is what they looked like.

I had to buy formula and bottles to feed them. A couple of days later one died. So now there were three cats. At the time, there was one male and what looked to be two females. Soon they ate mushy baby cat food. It only took them a week to learn to use a litterbox. Smart little kitties.

Of course they grew, and I had no plans to keep them all. I was planning on keeping one—what looked like a little tabby male. As he grew, the “stripes” became spots. I realized that I had a kitten that was part Egyptian Mau. Cool. Like the cat in “Catwoman.”

It was nearly the end of the year before I noticed that the other two cats were male. Even the vet had decided they were female. It took that long for their balls to drop. Weird. All three had “temporary” names. I had to change two names to male names. So we had Zach (spots), Max (marbled) and Ari (black and white). Max was formerly Moxie, which the cat had plenty of. Ari was formerly Annabell.

They had grown enough that they were terrorizing the house. The older cats were grumpy. It was time to find homes for two cats. I would have three of my own. One was pretty sick at the time, so I wasn’t sure if I’d have that many cats. He’s still alive with an immune disorder that acts up every now and then. Poor kitty. I found a home for the black and white kitten easily. A lady from work took him. So he was named Oscar and went to a home with another cat and a small dog.

I tried to find a home for the other cat. He’s marbled. My son was in love with this one. My mother thought he was the best looking. I thought I had found a home for him several times. But I finally gave up when someone wanted him but didn’t have the $40 to cover the shots I had gotten him. The people who were calling were crazy like that. “Yes, I want to see the cat.” “No, I can’t make it.” The guy who wanted the cat but couldn’t afford the measly amount I was asking made me stop looking for awhile. I wanted to scream. If you can’t afford $40, you can’t afford to feed a cat. Abut a week later, he sneezed blood. Sprayed it all over my computer, window and desk. After a $100 trip to the vet, I decided I better just keep him. So now I have 4 cats and one Great Dane.

Here’s a picture of them all grown up. By the way, they loved their “party.”

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