Category: Pets

When Boo met Emma

Our cat Emma pins her ears back as she greets newly arrived kitten Boo

As you can probably guess by her pinned back ears, Emma was not happy about the arrival of young Boo in July of 2013. As she stormed off he arched his back and his tail got awfully thick as the little fellow made himself look as big as possible. He instinctively understood that he was going to have to make nice with the queen and did his best to get on her good side.

Our kitten Boo arches his back and fluffs out his tail after Emma hissed at him when they met

The Return of My Porch Buddy

Our dog Ellie sleeps beside the patio in the backyard of our rental house in Scottsdale, Arizona

One difference between Oregon and Arizona is I spend a lot more time outside on the back porch. Our rental house has a covered patio and a large backyard where I see a variety of birds (23 species so far this month). My porch buddy has returned with the cooler weather, Ellie likes to sleep on the cool ground though we do keep a dog bed there for her.

It Rains in the Desert

Our cat Sam sleeps curled up in a cat bed as it rains outside our home in Scottsdale, Arizona

After a hot summer (even for Phoenix) October set records for rainfall halfway into the month. I didn’t do any hiking when it was raining, these were not the gentle rains of Oregon, these were Noah-build-the-ark deluges. These storms lacked the thunder and lightning of the summer monsoons so Sam was rather nonplussed.

Keep It Down, We’re Trying to Sleep!

Keep It Down We re Trying to Sleep

Harbor seals eke out as much rest as they can amidst the crashing waves as the Pacific rises to embrace them. I too was awakened recently by gentle but relentless sounds, once by the sound of Boo trying to get out of the bedroom closet he got trapped in, once by the sound of him trying to get into a different closet. The Pacific is mighty and mysterious, but not so much as Boo.

At the Top of the Stairs, There Was Em

Our black cat Emma sits at the top of the stairs between the kitchen and the basement, watching our new kitten Boo (not in the picture) as he climbs the stairs towards her

Emma was not happy about the arrival of little Boo in the summer of 2013. On his first foray into the house at large he had to climb the stairs first past Ellie, then Sam, and finally Emma at the top. I spent most of Boo’s first month with Emma, letting her know this was still, and always would be, her home. She was a sweetheart and in time not only came to accept the little fellow but let him snuggle up with her. It’s still hard for me at times to edit pictures of her, knowing that in a year and a half we’d be going through another introduction, this time getting Boo to accept young Trixie after Emma died far too young.

Both Sam and Emma followed Boo around as he explored but Sam watched Emma as much as he watched Boo, here looking up at Emma atop the stairs as she growls at the intrusion of the young kitten. Sam loved his life with his two older sisters and never wanted it to change, but when they both died young he accepted his new siblings pretty quickly.

Our cat Sam in the landing between the kitchen and the basement looks up towards the top of the stairs where our cat Emma (not in the picture) was sitting