The loves of my life...

"You can't help that. We're all mad here." -
Cheshire Cat quote by The Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland


This is Gus...the $10,000 cat.




Gus and I met each other at the Humane Society shelter in Bridgewater, New Jersey in 1999. For about a year, it was just the two of us. We moved from NJ to Portland, Oregon together - 1o hour days in the car, stopping at hotels at night. He was the best company - he was quiet most of the time and agreed with everything I had to say. About a year after I moved to Portland, Gus' medical bills started to add up - this cat has every health issue you can imagine...he has had a blood disease that almost killed him, a heart problem (he takes medicine every day for that), an auto-immune issue on his nose (he takes medicine once a week), a nose bleed problem solved by pulling teeth and most recently - a cancerous tumor on his tail...resulting in the removal of his tail. See the big fluffy tail in the picture...its gone...now he just has a stub and he doesn't seem to mind at all.
I love him. I love him more than anything or anyone ever. Trevor knows this and understands, which is why I love him so much. Gus sleeps on Trevor's head every night and he has for 8 years now. Another reason why I love Trevor so much. I could tell you a million things about this cat...but I won't....I have to move on....



To Wookie.....

Wookie was Trevor's dog when we met. Wookie is smart. Really smart. He never had any training and he knows all the basic commands. He knows what we are talking about and we often talk to him like he is a person. The best thing about Wookie is that he'll let you do just about anything to him...see above...he's wearing a safety vest...not happy about it...but wearing it because it made us happy.
Wookie's weakness is food. He turns into a real jackass around food. As I said, he totally speaks English...until there is a hamburger on the counter and as he is grabbing it off the counter and gobbling it down. We yell at him and he says, "no habla inglés".
I love Wookie too - I hug him often. And when I say "I love you" - he understands.

Opal....Girl Dog...

here she is with her best friend - GT (Green Toy) - GT goes everywhere with her, except when she wants to have RB (Red Ball). She is obsessed with GT and RB. Opal and Wookie are best friends - they were both with Trevor when we met. The only thing Opal loves more than GT and RB is Trevor. She is a total daddy's girl. She follows him everywhere. I think I come in 4th (Trevor is first, Wookie is second, GT and RB are third, then me). She'll follow me when he isn't home. She likes to sit on the couch with me - mostly because she thinks its her seat and I am sitting in it - so I guess I sit on the couch with her. Opal is a cattle dog and will herd us any chance she gets, which makes walking her tough - she keeps circling us and we end up tied up in the leash. Opal is slowing down in her old age. She used to be our head of security. She's retired now and spends most of her time in the house, on the couch or on the floor in Trevor's office. Probably dreaming about.....

DAISY!!!

Daisy joined our family in Jan of 2006. She was a shelter cat that we saw at PetCo. She was 9 years old and on sale. We felt sad because we didn't think anyone would take her home. She is the sweetest cat ever. The first night at our house, she slept in bed with us. She loves Wookie and this green chair. She spends 90% of her time in the green chair. Wookie is her best friend because he loves to eat as much as she does. Since we've had Daisy, she's gone from 9 pounds to 14 pounds. She's on the sumo diet - she eats and then she sleeps. She is beautiful. She screams when you touch her - we aren't sure why. She loves to be petted, she just meows loudly. She is our alarm clock - she gets up before us and sits in the hallway waiting for food - if we take too long getting up - she sounds the call with a timid little "meow" - Opal hears hear and starts barking like crazy - which makes Wookie cry - which upsets Gus....and so our day begins...

I never thought I would meet a man who loved animals the way that I did. Then I met Trevor. Sometimes I hear him talking to one or more of the pets when I am in the other room and I'll just stop and listen. This is my family.