About My Pets

Over the years, I've had numerous pets; dogs, cats, birds, fish, turtles and hamsters.  Here I will tell you about the cats that have shared my life and home in recent years, as well as fond memories of the cats and dogs who have touched my life in the more distant past and who will never be forgotten.

I am mostly a cat-person, but I also love dogs, and all other furry creatures.

In 1995 I had 12 indoor/outdoor cats.  In 2001 and 2002 I lost 4 to "old age".  And sadly, in 2006 and 2007 I lost 5, presumably to the coyotes who have recently infiltrated Gales Ferry.  In April of 2009 I lost Kelly to cancer.

I now share my home with Hughey and Oprah.

 

 

  It all started with "Baby", a lovely Himalayan cat given to us by my brother.  Before we could get her spayed, she gave birth to two litters of kittens, 14 in all, born in January and June of 1995.  

After weaning her kittens, we found a home for "Baby" in Charleston, RI.  But not being able to find homes for 7of the remaining kittens, we kept them all, and later adopted 2 strays.

 

THE KITTENS

LARRY - If I had a "favorite" cat, it would be Larry.  He was the "runt" of the litter.  As a kitten, he had many medical problems and wasn't expected to live, but he had a strong spirit and blossomed into a gorgeous long-haired orange cat.  He was also the most photogenic of them all.  You could say he was a bit spoiled.  Unfortunately, he disappeared in September of 2006.  He was my "baby" and I miss him the most.

  

"Nothing here looks appealing to me!"

                                                   "Mmmmmm... Baby food - my Favorite!"

 

 

MO - She reminded me of the "Friskies" cat.  We suspect that she might have had a modeling job on the side.  She was lovable and friendly and loved her food! She started out as the skinniest and most athletic of our cats, but slowly gained a few extra pounds.  The weight gain was most likely due to stress - thanks to her brothers who liked to chase her.  She was always a sweetheart though and loved by everyone who saw her.  She was our first cat to go missing in August of 2006.  We never found what happened to her, but we suspect a coyote attack.  She is missed by all of us.

 

 

 

 

CURLY - A double pawed beauty.  She was one of the prettiest gray cats I'd ever seen, with a beautiful soft long gray coat (with touches of orange).  She was very shy, but lovable, and always seemed like a kitten to me.  Always photogenic (I have a million cute pictures of her!) - she would get into the most unusual and adorable poses, including this one where she settled down in a planter (so much for trying to grow plants!). She sadly went missing in the summer of 2007.  She always stayed in our backyard, but one day she went out and did not come back.  I miss her terribly.

 

HUGHEY & DEWEY - Otherwise known as the "terrible twins".  We gave Hughey and Dewey to a family in Gales Ferry when they were kittens......then the family returned them to us when they were adults!  They were loving brothers and were always together.

 

 

 

HUGHEY - Hughey is an unusual cat, in so much that he is extremely protective towards wildlife.  Once, when we were tending an injured baby bird, Hughey became our "helper" that day, and spent hours guarding the bird and keeping the other cats away.  He's the gentlest, kindest cat I've ever known. He misses his brother, Dewey, but we give him extra attention now.  He is obsessive about eating deli sliced turkey and gets that treat every day.  

 

 

DEWEY - Dewey, on the other hand, was by far the more mischievous of the two brothers.  He liked to chase and play with the other cats, and "bop" them with his double paws.  He was very friendly and always demanded attention.  He was very much a "people" cat - but his favorite friend was Hughey.  Hughey still misses his buddy.  Dewey went missing in our backyard during the summer of 2007.  I miss him too.

 

 

 

KELLY - Kelly was in Baby's first litter born in January of 1995.  She was the smallest of all the cats and spends most of her time in the kitchen.  She often liked to sit at a chair at the dinner table with us (as in photo) and just watch us eat.  It seemed to fascinate her.  She also loved to stare at people, and you feel as if she can look into your soul. Very intense!  Sadly, she died of cancer on April 13th, 2009.  She had a small lump on her neck.  I brought her to the vet March 13th, and one month later she died.  It happened so fast.  She is sorely missed.

 

 

 

OPRAH - Also in the same litter as Kelly in January of 1995. Yes, she was named after the one and only "talk show" giant.  Like her namesake, she is a proud and pretty girl.  She looks the most like her Himalayan mother, with her round face and big round eyes.  She is the most shy of all the cats, but can be very lovable when she's in the mood.

 

 

 

REGINALD BARTHOLOMEW MARMADUKE GRAY III (Reggie for short) - There never was a Reginald Gray I or II, but the name seemed appropriate for this regal lion-like feline.  He "moved in" with us in 1999.  It was a particularly cold winter and he just appeared in our garage, and stayed.  We couldn't let him stay out in the cold, and nobody claimed him so we "adopted" him.  He was known as "The gray cat" until Ron moved in and decided he needed a more dignified, "proper" name - thus his royal title was born.  He has since become the leader of the pack and is our watch cat.  He always kept other cats out of our yard, and had been known to make strange "talking" vocal sounds in the process.  Reggie was the 2nd cat to go missing in our backyard, in August of 2006.  

                                                                    

In 2002, a new stray cat entered our lives.  He literally walked into our lives and into our hearts.  By far the friendliest cat I had ever known!  He was this skinny orange cat who flew through our cat door, ran into our kitchen and announced "Here I am!  I like your house!  I'm your cat now!".... and indeed he was!  Presumably a lost or dumped kitty who knew a good home when he saw it.  He had several names during his stay with us.  His first name was "Stinky", for obvious reasons (he sprayed a lot, before we got him fixed), then Ron thought it would be funny to call him "Bollocks", which is okay in America, but a rude thing to say in England, so we changed it to "MiniMe", because he looked like a "Mini" version of Hughey. 

We got him vaccinated, but sadly, he tested positive for Feline Leukemia.  Over the next couple of years he developed a constant sniffle, lost an eye to an eye infection (having a compromised immune system due to Leukemia), and finally succumbed to his leukemia.  He's the cat that everyone remembers as the "friendly" cat.  He would run across the room and leap on to your lap (even if you weren't a "cat person"!).  He was almost human.  He never let his ailments get him down - always a happy cat, so full of love.  Though it's been a few years, we still miss him so much.

 

 

 

 

Well, that was our motley crew - along with the countless birds, squirrels, possums, skunks and raccoons who frequent our back yard in Gales Ferry.

 

 

MY PET ANGELS

Doggies: My best friends

When I was about 10 months old, my family adopted a puppy they named "Caesar".  He and I literally grew up together, and being the youngest of my family, I considered Caesar my "best friend", as my brothers and sister were a few years older and were not "playmates".  Caesar and I had a strong bond.

 

We lived on a busy road in Billerica, Massachusetts when I was about 4 or 5 years old. One day I wandered off along the roadway, and my mother was frantically searching for me!  My brothers soon came home on the school bus and reassured my mother "Don't worry about Margaret, she's okay - she's walking down the road - Caesar is watching her and keeping her away from the traffic."  My brothers weren't even worried about me - Caesar was on the job!  He literally saved my life.  He had many other traits, too numerous to list here, that makes me believe that he was truly more than a dog.  He was our Angel, and he looked after all of us Cafarelli kids, until the day he died, at 14 years old.  Believe it or not, Caesar died on the "Ides of March".  Be careful what you name your dog!

After Caesar died, there was a hole left in my heart that no other animal could fill.  My brother, Johnnie and his wife, Lesley, felt I needed a new "best friend" though, and they gave me the gift of "Ralph" for my next birthday.  Ralph was a beautiful yellow lab puppy.  He came from a pet shop and was unfortunately a sickly doggie, as we discovered over the next few years.  We lost him after only 3 years of life.  I still don't know what illness took his life.  He had a simple wound on his leg that proved to be fatal.  This was 1975 and animals were getting sick with undiagnosed illnesses that are treatable today.  I believe that with the vet care we have today in 2009, he could have been saved.  But this was 1975.

 

Once again there was a hole in my heart.  I didn't want to go thru that heartbreak again, so I did not go looking for another dog.  Instead, a puppy found us.  My brother, Michael, was working as a security guard on a construction site, and this small black puppy ran up to him.  Michael carried him home inside his jacket (he was riding a motorcycle to work!).  Of course we all fell in love with him and named the puppy Leroy. 

We had Leroy for the next 10 years, from 1976 until 1986.  He was literally my best friend all those years, and it broke my heart to lose him.  I was living in Pottstown, Pennsylvania at the time, and Leroy was visiting me (I shared custody with my parents at the time!).  One day he ran off with other neighborhood dogs, and was "missing" for a couple days.  After searching high and low, looking in the paper and visiting the shelters, I came to find out that Leroy was one of a few neighborhood dogs who were hit by traffic on the main road near my house.   I could never replace Leroy in my life or in my heart, and I have never had a dog in my life since then.  Most people see me as a "cat person", which I indeed am!  But my love for doggies runs even deeper.  Dogs are more needy and dependent, more like a child, and having a dog means that in only 10 or 15 years you'll lose him or her, and I decided that my heart couldn't handle that loss any more.  

Being a pet sitter though, I feel that I have many beautiful doggies in my life.  I can love them and care for them when their owners are away, but I'm careful to not get too attached (but I always do!!).  

 

More Cat Angels

 

Now you're probably wondering about the cat I'm holding on my profile picture and logo.  That kitty is Bambi, one of 4 kittens that were born in 1985.  Bambi, Betsy, Sammy and Cloudy were our 4 cats for over 15 years.  They were the daughters of a Maine Coon mix that we adopted from an animal shelter in Maryland.

 

Bambi was a big, long haired tabby mix.  She was gorgeous, as you can see.  She loved the outdoors and lying in the grass.  in 1999, Bambi developed a mysterious illness in which she got "old" before her time and was very frail, she eventually lost her mobility and sight.  Dr. Monteiro kept her going and tirelessly researched Bambi's symptoms for treatments.  Sadly, in March 2001, while I was in England, getting married and helping my husband with his immigration process, Bambi passed away while my sister was caring for her.  I'll always regret missing her last few months of life.  

Then there was Betsy, Bambi's "twin".  She had the same pretty markings, but was a bit smaller.  Betsy was the friendly kittenish cat who always rolled on her back for you to pet her tummy and loved her catnip toys.  She loved the outdoors too.  She had a thyroid condition and died one day after Bambi died.  I still miss her.

 

 

 

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