Hello. I'm Empath. My given name is James. I've been retired for a year. I grew up in a family of eight kids, and of course always had dogs or cats around. It seemed my older brother always assumed "ownership" of the dogs, and my older sister alway assumed "ownership of the cats. In reality, no one "owned" anyone; but we all enjoyed the companionship of one another.
Before coming to Oregon from Oklahoma, we always had a couple of cats. When first moving here, My wife, son and I moved into a rented four-plex unit, and for awhile, no pets were allowed. We sure missed them. The units were sold to someone else, and the new owner permitted us to have cats. So, while my son was still young, we got a cat, and named him Rom. Eventually a stray, about a year old, showed up. He was desperate for a home, wormy, loosing his hair and in generally bad condition, but took a liking to us. So we took him in and gave him the vet attention he needed, and a whole lotta' love. We enjoyed his companionship until he was about twelve years old, when he contacted an infection that we couldn't bring under control. Rom of course grew older, and became closer all the time. Eventually our son headed off to college, and was then out making it on his own. Rom of course stayed, and remained an indoor cat and an essential member of the household. We eventually moved from the four-plex, and Rom of course welcomed the additional rooms. We didn't get a second cat, since Rom was gaining in years, and we preferred to give him the stability of being THE "Cat" of the family.
I found the Cat Forum just recently, when I felt that I wanted to make some tribute to a member of our family, our cat. Thinking perhaps it would alleviate some of the ache created by his departure, I joined the forum and posted this message.
We have now adopted a young kitten named Kiwi from our local shelter. She's a young female about five and a half months old. She's black and orange with a tortoise shell coat, short haired domestic variety. She's loving and playful. Unfortunately, she apparently acquired a URI from the shelter, and is under the vet's care in order to control it. It kind of creates a worry, not unlike a parent's worries for their child.
I'm presently quite active on another forum as an administrator. With about 5000 members, it gets quite busy, and takes a great deal of time. I may not have a lot of time to post here, but I've certainly become attached to reading the wealth of information and enjoyable comments contained here. I'm pleased to find you.
Before coming to Oregon from Oklahoma, we always had a couple of cats. When first moving here, My wife, son and I moved into a rented four-plex unit, and for awhile, no pets were allowed. We sure missed them. The units were sold to someone else, and the new owner permitted us to have cats. So, while my son was still young, we got a cat, and named him Rom. Eventually a stray, about a year old, showed up. He was desperate for a home, wormy, loosing his hair and in generally bad condition, but took a liking to us. So we took him in and gave him the vet attention he needed, and a whole lotta' love. We enjoyed his companionship until he was about twelve years old, when he contacted an infection that we couldn't bring under control. Rom of course grew older, and became closer all the time. Eventually our son headed off to college, and was then out making it on his own. Rom of course stayed, and remained an indoor cat and an essential member of the household. We eventually moved from the four-plex, and Rom of course welcomed the additional rooms. We didn't get a second cat, since Rom was gaining in years, and we preferred to give him the stability of being THE "Cat" of the family.
I found the Cat Forum just recently, when I felt that I wanted to make some tribute to a member of our family, our cat. Thinking perhaps it would alleviate some of the ache created by his departure, I joined the forum and posted this message.
We have now adopted a young kitten named Kiwi from our local shelter. She's a young female about five and a half months old. She's black and orange with a tortoise shell coat, short haired domestic variety. She's loving and playful. Unfortunately, she apparently acquired a URI from the shelter, and is under the vet's care in order to control it. It kind of creates a worry, not unlike a parent's worries for their child.
I'm presently quite active on another forum as an administrator. With about 5000 members, it gets quite busy, and takes a great deal of time. I may not have a lot of time to post here, but I've certainly become attached to reading the wealth of information and enjoyable comments contained here. I'm pleased to find you.
