Woman in the Middle

Eighteen is a magical age. That is when you go from being a kid to being an adult, legally able to sign contracts, buy cigarettes, vote, and get tattoos.  Well, today Blackie turns 18!

While he has mentioned being bummed he missed out on being able to vote in the historic November election, he is otherwise keeping his adult bucket list to himself.  I am thinking he may be planning on getting a tattoo, but wants to surprise us.

Blackie seems content living at home, so I don’t think we have to worry about him renting his own place or anything like that. He also enjoys us driving him around and,  like so many kids his age, he isn’t in any rush to get his own driver’s license, so I don’t think we have to worry about him signing a loan for a car.

I have made it very clear to him that I will not tolerate any cigarette smoking around my house.  So, unless he just wants to rebel and SHOW ME, I don’t think that is in the works, either. He always has seemed to be pretty frugal with his money, so I don’t think he would be interested in an expensive habit like cigarettes anyway.

It just so happens that Blackie shares a birthday with Kurt Cobain. Blackie has always thought that was pretty cool. If you believe in reincarnation,  perhaps it would be fitting if Kurt came back as a black cat, especially one that had a pretty mellow life, to make up for Kurt’s oh so crazy life.  They both share a history of gastrointestinal issues, which is purely coincidental, I am sure.

To celebrate, Blackie had some roast beef and a little gravy on his dinner. We also bought ice cream and ate some, just so he could lick the bowls when we were done, because that is one of his favorite things in all the world to do. Happy Birthday, old man! So glad you are an adult now!

In case I haven’t mentioned this recently, Blackie is a big cat. When he topped out at 22 pounds his girth is what hit you directly in the eyeball. Now that he is a skinny old man cat, what really sticks out is how tall he is and how long his legs are. Recently, in preparation for the summer Olympic games I am sure, Blackie showed us some sweet diving positions, taking advantage of those looong legs of his. Too bad they don’t have cat diving in the summer games. I am sure Blackie would have been a gold medal contender!

(Looking over his shoulder to spot the pool before going into a triple flip death spiral)

(I thought the toe pointing on this one was particularly medal worthy!)

(Reaching for perfect form!)

(I think some points are going to be taken away on this one because his feet are not together perfectly.)

I am happy to report that Blackie the cat is doing better. Why is a mystery, but, to some extent, we don’t question his renewed vigor, we just accept it for what it is.

First off, Blackie is eating much better. He has gained a little weight, just how much we don’t know, but enough that he finally has a little heft to him again when we pick him up.  We haven’t had to give him the infamous eating pills at all for a few weeks. Of course, it means I am constantly having to give him food, as he still doesn’t like dry food left out and wants the wet food flavors to be changed up on a regular basis, but, such is life.

Last night and this morning he really showed he was feeling good. First, in the middle of the night, he burst through the cat door from the garage, ran from one side of the house to the other at breakneck speed, and let loose with a nice loud yowl.  This morning, he was feeling a little more controlled and just bust through the cat door and ran the length of the hall. But still, two runs just a few hours apart. Now that is a cat who feels good!

Another mystery – why is Blackie sleeping on the new vacuum cleaner?

We are doing something right because Blackie felt like a million bucks yesterday, his 16th birthday. He did his famous mad dash down the hall, he groomed himself like he was going to the Oscars, and he slept, but then he does that last one every day under any circumstances.

Blackie in his prime, as a big fat black cat – July 2006

After his birth with his three brothers in our front planter to a stray cat that adopted us, Blackie has added a lot of cat magic to our lives. But his birthday brings up that  age old question, “Where has all the time gone?” Just think, I was just 37 when he was born. How can that be? I should still be 39 and Blackie just two….but we are not, are we Blackie?

Happy Birthday you silly old thing. Glad we got to spend another one with you!

Blackie the Cat loves anything to do with cheese, especially string cheese. We blame Eldest Daughter, because she slipped him a few bites at one time and Blackie has never forgotten its cheesy deliciousness. He knows the special noise the wrapper makes when a new stick of cheese is being unwrapped, he knows the smell…Unfortunately, due to the special diet he is on for his high thyroid problem, he can not have even one little taste of the magical food known as string cheese. That doesn’t mean he can’t try, now does it?

Last night Youngest Daughter needed a little after dinner snack. She decided, innocently enough, that a stick of string cheese would be just the thing. She may not make that mistake again!

She had no more sat down with her snack when a big black cat jumped up in her lap to remind her he LOVED string cheese!

After dealing with Youngest Daughter keeping the cheese away from him,  while at the same time having the nerve to actually eat the cheese in front of him,  Blackie finally gave up the chase, but he wasn’t happy about it. He returned to his perch on the back of our other couch, but his tail showed his displeasure.

Note how blurry the end of his tail is in this photo. That is because it was flicking away, letting us all know he was mad because he didn’t get any cheese. Sorry Blackie.

The funny thing was we were watching the Animal Planet show, “Cat from Hell” while this was going on. We had a cat show in real life and a cat show on TV, all at the same time. How funny is that?

This is my spot.It is my favorite spot. Sometimes the smelly dog lies here and the people we live with do not tell it to move.

I will show them. I will lay in  my spot and if they wish to go outside to the sparkling pond or the shop of loud noises they can just step over me.

I will stretch my humongous length to make it as inconvenient as possible for them to come and go. Maybe then they will understand that this is my spot and no one, including the smelly dog, can ever lay here. This is my spot…in the warm sun…snore…

A pregnant cat adopted us in 1999. She gave birth to four kittens in our front planter. Three were black and one was orange stripped.  They were all so small and adorably cute! We managed to give away two and we kept two. Cheeks was long haired and looked big, primarily because of his fluffy hair. Blackie had short hair so everything you saw was him. He grew and grew and grew into a monster, all 22 pounds of him.

Cheeks has since gone on to meet his maker due to a congenital heart problem. We were deeply concerned that Blackie had the same problem so, when Cheeks died, we took Blackie to the vet to be checked out. In order to get a good look at his heart they had to take two x-rays. The first wasn’t strong enough to get through all the fat.

Before anyone explains to me how cats shouldn’t be overweight or how I shouldn’t over feed him, or how I should help him lose weight, let me explain. He gets one cup of weight control formula a day. We do not give him treats or snacks. He doesn’t free feed and hasn’t since he was one. He doesn’t have a thyroid problem. The problem seems to be that he has the metabolism of a basset hound and he doesn’t move. We can usually get him to play with a string for about 30 seconds, once a day. After that it is a bore to him. Three times a week or so he bursts through the cat door from the garage and runs full speed down the hall to the front door. We have no idea why he does this but it seems to exhaust him for all the other hours in the week.

I have mentioned that Blackie has weight issues, but, even without the fat, he would still be a tall, long, large animal.  To give you some perspective in the photo I have included, the floor boards are 3 inches wide and the hallway is 33 inches wide.

In another place and time if an animal this big with sharp claws and teeth walked into the room you were in it would be cause for concern! I am happy to report that many thousands of years of selective breeding has worked and he is actually quite nice. I have even given him baths with no blood to show for it. But, he sure costs a lot in food….