This Old Blog

The Florida Gingersnaps are a reaction to the loss of my Lucy (whose photo still adorns the header of my blog) and Max back in June 2015 combined with coming across John Scalzi's Ohio Scamperbeasts on his blog Whatever. John Scalzi had also lost two pets, both cats, and his new kittens, named Sugar and Spice, were replacements. A reasonable one-to-one replacement I might add. But why Gingersnaps? Because they're both gingers, and because gingersnaps were my daughter's favorite cookies back when they were little little characters themselves. When I first lost Lucy (the cat) I never intended to replace her with any other animal, especially not another cat. And that's the way it stayed until October, when my oldest daughter's newest cat (which she'd rescued) delivered a litter of five kittens; three female calicos and two ginger males. Mom, going by the name of Sunshine, is an all-ginger female. It's funny how genetics works, and how the two males cam...

The Florida Gingersnaps, Greebo and Ponder, have not only managed to survive their transplant from Gainesville to Orlando, but are thriving, having put on at least a pound since coming to live at Casa Beebe. I've kept them in a single large bedroom with their own three-level cat tree, plenty of soft towels, toys, food and fresh water. I spend as much time with them as possible, sleeping with them every night. Or, I spend the night in the same room with them. The sleeping part is optional. At night they love to go zooming around the room, using me as a trampoline as they bounce from the floor to the bed, onto me, to the bedside table, the dresser, then over to the cat tree, then down to the floor and under the furniture, then back up onto the bed. When they get tired they snuggle up next to me to get their second and third wind, then start it all up again. Starting this weekend we begin to introduce the Gingersnaps to the rest of the four-footed household. I have a ver...

Twenty-four hours after the Gingersnaps officially arrived, they're both coming out together. Greebo in particular is no longer moving around the room underneath the furniture. When I went to bed last night both he (looking) and Ponder (sound asleep) were up, together, cuddled together in a corner of the bed. For the curious that's Lucy's old blanket in the background... When I finally, carefully, sacked out then Greebo went to sleep as well. It would have been a sound sleep except that sometime around 3am I was awakened to small scampering feet across the top of the blankets and me. Then at 5am Ponder started his burrowing under the blankets trick again while Geebo stayed on top to pounce him, in their version of the bed mice game.

Ponder discovers a pillow The first night has passed and the two have managed to survive, in spite of what their tiny hearts might have thought when first arriving. Greebo, the larger of the two, has been in hiding the entire time so far. Ponder has spent the time zipping in and out of hiding spots, checking things out, and learning just how comfortable pillows are for resting your head. During the night I felt the tiny body of Ponder hitting the bed as he leaped up on the side, and then climbed to the top to run around on top of me. At least once he play-attacked my fingers. He might be small but his claws are still quite sharp. When I got up in the morning the bowl of cat kitten food was fairly well depleted. It's been refilled and fresh water put in the big dish on the floor. I'm assuming that both Greebo and Ponder are feeding and drinking. I have seen Greebo under the furniture peeking out at me when I went looking for him. I'm leaving him alone while he conti...

Greebo Ogg Ponder Stibbons The kittens have arrived. Their visage is a bit formal in these photos, having just entered their new forever house and being gently deposited onto their cat tree. I can tell them apart because Greebo is the darker of the two while Ponder is the smaller. I can also tell them apart by their distinctive behaviors; Greebo wants to hide while Ponder walks right up to me, nuzzles playfully into my side, and purrs like a motorboat. Ponder's behavior is just like Lucy's. Greebo is shy, so I'm going to give him his space while he and I get to know one another a bit better. Both are as sweet and gentle as any two cats I've ever known.