About

Just a girl who loves cats

I was always that girl. You know… the one playing in the dirt, trying to catch some animal and make him the perfect home! My mom used to call me Elmyra after the Tiny Toons character. No! I didn’t squish them all to death like she did (ok… maybe just a little bit).

Currently, I have 4 incredibly spoiled, raw fed, constantly smothered in smooches, furbabies: Stinky, Mini Friends, Nugget, and Koda (yes, I know I shouldn’t be in charge of naming anyone). If you can believe it, I’ve never officially adopted a cat or sought one out as a companion!

Stinky

I found Stinky at the restaurant where I worked in college. I spotted her under the deck one evening. She was tiny and scared with no other cats or kittens in sight. At the time, I knew nothing about rescue, TNR, or fostering. I just knew I had to help her! I spent several hours one night earning her trust with fish treats that I may or may not have swiped from the restaurant kitchen and toys (well, sticks). In those few short hours, she was close enough that I quickly snatched her up and held her tightly to my chest (I don’t recommend this as a method for trapping cats, especially if you’d like to keep your skin.). She was so scared. There was a lot of hissing and growling, but after a few minutes of gentle squishes, she started to purr! Now, Stinky is a sassy lady who likes what she likes and wants what she wants, but only when she wants it (how cat-like of her)!

Mini Friends

Mini Friends started off as Riley (story for another time). Just a year or two after I rescued Stinky, a friend’s cat had babies (I know. I know. Nothing I would support now, but I was a clueless co-ed at the time.). She had adopted all of the babies out but one: Mini Friends! He was her favorite and she couldn’t find juuuuuuust the right match for him. So, of course, she decided to scoop him up and drop by my non-pet friendly apartment, which was already harboring one illegal cat. It was probably because I have “SUCKER” stamped across my forehead, but she left with no cats and I was left with two! Today, Mr. Minis loves all of the head scratches and will be just about anyone’s best friend, as long as they give him love!

Nugget

Several years later, after I had graduated college and grad school, I was working as a defense contractor (definitely wasn’t a secret agent... or was I?). One morning, I arrived at work to find a box of 3 small kittens on my desk. Obviously, overjoyed because someone left me such a thoughtful gift, I reached in to squish some babies only to be met with hisses and growls from 3 pint sized little nuggets! Luckily, they turned into mush balls within the hour and 2 of the 3 were quickly adopted. I tried and tried, but I just couldn’t find a home for the last little monster (apparently everyone but me could see into his future and they knew he was a tiny terrorist). So, this weird little bean became mine. Nugget is a stage 5 clinger. He wants nothing more than for me to carry him around on my shoulder 24/7 and because he’s so damn cute, he usually gets his way.

Koda

My only foster fail. This little bean came to me at a very malnourished and underweight 4-ish weeks (size of a 3 weeker, teeth of a 5 weeker, so we’ll split the difference, but probably closer to 5 weeks). He was a difficult little man! He wasn’t great with his bottle, had stupid silly diarrhea for seemingly ever, and fluctuated in weight for weeks! When he was finally healthy and ready for adoption, this little jerk would hide up inside my couch where I couldn’t reach him and stay there for hours! He refused to meet any potential new parents! If I could coax him out, he would go limp in my arms and hide his face, which didn’t earn him many points with adopters - they always opted to adopt someone else. I think he had basically decided to adopt me, so again, because I have “SUCKER” stamped on my forehead, he cuted me into keeping him! Now, Mr. Koda Bear is all grown up, he’s still terrified of almost anyone that’s not me, but he adores the foster kittens, getting into as much trouble as possible, and he’s a super intense, borderline painful biscuit maker!