"I am . . . Ziggy"

In July I was off work because of my surgery.

One day I was in the kitchen and at the sink. I happened to look out the window and there were 6 (SIX) kittens playing in the back yard by the tree! So I called Anita and she called Eric and they both came right over! We couldn't really get close to them because they were a little wild. We put out food and water and they ate and drank and then went to sleep on the deck with a watchful Mama nearby. She never let them out of her site.

Over the next couple of weeks, Eric took many really good photos of the brood. They are posted here: Eric's flikr photos

So I kept putting out food and they would go away for a while but they would always show up again, usually in the evening. They would eat and drink and then play by the tree until it got dark. We tried to get them used to us, mostly Eric, and he picked one of them up one day. The one I called "Lucy"." There were 3 orange tabbys and this one was the smallest of the whole bunch - the runt of the litter I guess.

Here is a photo in the back yard.

It was hot in July - in the 90's the next week. One morning I got up and went out to get the dishes. The little orange one was laying on the deck - not moving and barely breathing! Anita was over so she went out and grabbed the kitten. We put her in the carrier and took her to the vet. Later that day, the vet told us that the kitten had a severe respiratory infection. AND it was a boy and not a girl (I guess the name "Lucy" was out at that point). He was nothing but skin and bones. The vet gave us some medicine to give with am eye dropper, and told me to feed him canned food because it took more energy to chew and digest the dry food than he was getting calories!

So I brought him home and Anita helped me set up a laundry basket with a little litter box and food and water dish and a little towel for him to lay on. He slept all the time for the first couple of days I had him in the house, but he did eat the Fancy Feast food ("Break me off a piece of that ... Fancy Feast - sorry, private joke). After about a week, he was getting out of the basket and so I let him stay out and showed him where the big kitty litter box was. He was a very good kitty that way. The other three were indifferent toward him except Totoro. She seemed somewhat interested. When he started to run around more and wanted to play, she was very gentle with him and played with him. He eventually got over the coughing and got a little belly on him.

So I thought about putting him up for adoption through the vet's office, but then he was getting along so well with the other kitties, I had to keep him. So I guess he's my kitty now.

He is about 5 months old now (teenage years for kitties) and is sometimes a real pistol. His tail is longer than his whole body and he sometimes looks like a little squirrel. His name is Ziggy, but he is not named after the beloved comic strip like you might think.

I have been trying to get a copy of a movie that was out in the 80's called "Vibes" starring Jeff Goldblum and Cyndi Lauper. I know it sounds silly, and it was. They played 2 psychics who are hired by Peter Falk to find the famed Incan "Room of Gold" in Ecuador. Cyndi's character, always trying to get a rich guy, makes Jeff pretend to be her brother at the hotel bar. When the rich fellow approaches her she says, "and this is my brother... Ziggy." Jeff responds, "I am... Ziggy." and I know it sounds dumb, but I just loved that line! So he is... Ziggy. Although he also goes by "Snookums," "Little Boy," "Squirrelly." "Larry," and "Slap Happy." (I know - it's a wonder these cats don't have multiple personality disorder)

Anyway, he lives with us now, and I may have officially turned into the crazy cat lady on the block. But I don't care. As Gregory said the other night when m y nephew Jeff complained I had too many cats, "But Annette is famous for her cats." I'd like to think that's true. I'm a pretty good cat mommy, so we will take that as a compliment.

Welcome to the family Ziggy!


Ziggy at about 8 weeks


Ziggy today - about 5 months (with Miss Wiskers in background)