Monday, February 14, 2011
Eleven years ago today, we adopted Cupid from a local shelter. But, Cupid wasn't the cat we were supposed to adopt.
We had put in an adoption application for a different cat, but for reason's I can't remember that cat had a 3 day hold on it. So, we made sure we went to visit our soon to be cat everyday until we could bring her home. The first day we visited our potential kitty, the cat did nothing but hiss at us. This was odd because the day before the cat was perfectly nice to us. We chalked it up as a fluke and told her we would come back to visit the next day, which just happened to be Valentine's Day.
We returned the next day as promised and again the "almost ours" kitty had no love for us. She hissed and wanted nothing to do with us. We were starting to take it personally now and having doubts about adopting a kitty that clearly did not like us.
Dejected, we took a quick trip around the cat room and that is when we saw a cat rubbing up against the door of her crate. We stopped to say hello and a shelter volunteer quickly came over and asked if we wanted to hold the cat. We said yes, and Vanilla, which was the cat's pound given name, was quickly in our arms. She wasted no time flipping herself on her back and showing us her white belly.
For about 20 minutes the cat laid flat on her back, purring and kneading and drooling. Yes, drooling. Needless to say we were smitten.
The volunteer explained to us that Vanilla came to the shelter earlier that morning. A young couple brought her and her much older sister to the shelter because they just had a baby and Vanilla would not stay out of the baby's crib. The older cat that Vanilla came in with was not doing so well adjusting to her new surroundings, so the shelter staff called the young family and they returned to pick her up and bring her back home. After all, the older cat was not causing trouble with their baby. They wanted to be able to bring Vanilla back home, but they had to put their baby first.
We explained to the shelter staff, that we had an adoption application pending on a different cat that had done nothing but hiss at us since we signed our intent to adopt papers. The volunteer asked which cat and took a quick look at her files. She explained that the cat we had an adoption application on also had two backup adoption applications. So, if we chose not to adopt her, two other families were waiting in the wings.
We looked at each other, and within minutes we were filling out an adoption application for Vanilla.
As lovable as she is and given the fact that we adopted her on Valentine's Day we thought it was only proper to rename Vanilla to Cupid. After all, she used her charms to get herself sprung from the pound in less than 10 hours.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Remember when Cupid claimed the new dog as her own? She really seemed to like the bed, but I thought to myself, this will never last. She has never really been a dog bed sleeper. Instead she prefers to cuddle up in baskets or pretty much anything with sides.
Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. It has been a few months since we bought the dog bed and Cupid sleeps in it every day. In fact, if she is sleeping you can pretty much bet that she is in the dog bed.
The pugs have used the bed a few times, but for the most part they stay out of it.
The poor pugs! Since we don't have very many dog beds around here, they don't have any place to sleep! 
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
We bought a new dog bed over the weekend (as a replacement, I promise) and shortly after bringing it home, Cupid claimed it. Each evening she has been snuggled in and sleeping soundly in the new bed.
So far, the pugs seem to have accepted Cupid's decision to claim the bed as her own.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Remember how Cupid was drinking out of the dog's water bowl? Well, the dog germs must have been too much for her because the other day, I caught her drinking out of my water cup.
And, yes, it is August and I am still drinking from a snowman mug 
Have a good weekend everyone!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
I offer you proof of how hot and dry it has been in FL the last few days. It has been so bad that the cat has succumbed to drinking out of the dogs' water bowl.
Cupid has her own water bowl that is out of the pugs' reach. However, she never drinks from it. I change it daily and everyday I shake my head and wonder why we even bother putting out a water bowl just for her because she never drinks from it.
But, even though Cupid ignores her bowl of water, she never drinks from the pugs' water bowl either. You know, she can't risk the dog germs and all that. Instead, she prefers to return to her roots and forage for her water supply. She will sneak a little water from the sink and from time to time I have caught her drinking out of the pool. Something I try to discourage, but let's face it, Cupid has a mind of her own and isn't one for following directions.
But, the other day, when we were sitting down to breakfast, the cat strolled right up to the dogs' water bowl and started lapping up the fresh water. It was such an unusual sight that everyone, including the pugs, stopped and stared. My first reaction was to get a picture, but I didn't have my camera handy. But, lucky for me, Cupid came back to her new watering hole the same time the next morning and I was able to snap a picture with my phone.
As you can seen from the look on Henry's face, everyone is surprised that Cupid now drinks DOG water.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Many of you asked to see a picture of Cupid in her harness going to the vet. I must confess that I did not get a picture of Cupid that day. However, we do have lots of other pictures of Cupid in her harness. She wears her harness when she goes to the vet, but she usually wears it when we are in the side yard pulling weeds or doing a little gardening. We put her harness on her and hook her to a really long tether and she "helps" us do the yard work. She absolutely loves it!
Monday, February 8, 2010
On Friday, we took the girls, Luna, Sol & Cupid, to the vet for their annual exams. Each one of the girls is due for the annuals within one month of each other, so rather than making three trips to the vet I combine them all into one really big appointment.
I left the vet's office pretty much on cloud 9 because each little lady got a stellar report. The vet, the vet techs & all the staff at the vet's office were amazed at how well Sol was doing. She coughed when she first arrived, but she settled nicely in the waiting room. No one could believe that she had been out in the waiting room because they didn't hear her coughing.
While Sol was getting her exam, the vet said that it looks like we have Sol in a very good place. She looked happy & pretty healthy for her. I couldn't agree more. While this may be as good as it gets for her, I think we were both surprised that we ever got back to things being this good. I think we have a good baseline from which to judge and we will know better now when Sol isn't feeling so great.
Luna's exam went super as well. Of course here eyes aren't great, but we are doing the best we can with them. The next biggest concern for her was her dirty ears. I guess I will have to have a talk to Henry about that. We could just afford to flush her ears a bit more often. But, if that is our next biggest problem I consider us very lucky!
And Cupid got an excellent report. Next week, Cupid turns 12 and the vet said that she looks fantastic for her age. Her teeth look great and overall she is in excellent shape.
Everyone was also amused at how Cupid likes to travel to the vet. She absolutely hates cat carriers. Instead she prefers to go by leash & harness. So she has a freedom harness and a leash that we use to take her to the vet. And when she arrives at the vet she prefers to have her own chair in the waiting room. From there she peers out at her lowly subjects. Lots of other dogs excitedly rush over to greet her, but she is disinterested and unfazed. On this visit, a husky & a samoyed wanted to say hello. Their owners were amazed at how well Cupid does with dogs. I explained that she lives with four pugs. But they still thought she did well, because pugs are small dogs. I was going to explain that one of those pugs was Benny, but I thought it was best to leave it as it was.
While leaving the vet, I took a moment to soak in all the good news. It had been a while since I left there with good report. Sure, things aren't perfect, but they sure have been a lot worse than this.
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