Shakesville: Tilsy

Showing posts with label Tilsy. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Tilsy. Show all posts

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Olivia the White Farm Cat, Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat, and Sophie the Torbie Cat all laying in the sunshine on the dining room floor

L-R: Olivia, Matilda, and Sophie. Gone but never forgotten. ♥
A little Flashback Friday stroll down memory lane. I'm at the point where it's not quite so painful to think about them. I miss them fondly. Such good girls!

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat and Olivia the White Farm Cat lying on the sofa next to each other

Ode to Matilda and Olivia. Two of the greatest! ♥
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Dudley the Greyhound curled up beside me on the sofa, with his head in my lap

Dudley is getting even more snuggly in his old age. The other night, he just hopped up on the sofa beside me, let me know how to arrange my leg with some strategic nose nudging, then curled up with his head in my lap. I'm no Matilda, but I'll do. ♥

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Olivia the White Farm Cat lying beside Iain on the couch, with a plastic bottle cap on her head

Ode to Rags. Gone but never forgotten!
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

In celebration of Matilda's life of undiluted sweetness — and the love she had for her furry siblings, and that they had for her — here are pix of Tils with all the other furry residents of Shakes Manor. ♥

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat and Olivia the White Farm Cat lying on the couch together with their feet toward one another

Matilda and Olivia

image of Matilda and Sophie the Torbie Cat lying curled up in a chair together

Matilda and Sophie

image of Matilda and Dudley the Greyhound lying on the couch together

Matilda and Dudley, the most frequent cuddling companions at Shakes Manor

image of Matilda and Zelda the Black and Tan Mutt lying on the couch, facing one another

Matilda and Zelda
It looks like Tils and Zelly might be facing off in that last picture, but they weren't. They were snuggled up, just gazing at one another.

Zelda doesn't like anyone — not people nor beast — encroaching on her space while she's curled up. She'll happily curl up next to you, but if anyone sits too close while she's resting, she grumbles and moves. The exception was Matilda. Not only would Zelda tolerate Tilsy snuggling up in her space, but she let Matilda walk on top of her. Special dispensation for Tilsy, who deserved nothing less.

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Goodbye, Matilda

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat, sitting on the arm of the couch, looking up at something out of frame

Matilda
This weekend, we had to say goodbye to Matilda. It was not entirely unexpected, but it was sooner than we'd hoped.

The short version is that the meds to treat her hyperthyroidism put too much strain on her kidneys. The resultant nausea made her stop eating, and, when none of the many efforts to entreat her to start eating again were successful, she faded very quickly.

The vet was wonderful with her. Iain and I held her and pet her, and she went peacefully, still purring.

image of Matilda on the arm of the couch with her little pink tongue hanging out

We brought Tils home as a kitten, and she was a perfect companion for 15 years. Contrary to her imperious appearance, she was extraordinarily sweet and goofy — just a bundle of loving fuzz, one of whose favorite places was tucked in between my back and the back of my office chair while I worked.

I can't even imagine how many of the words I've published in this space were composed with the comforting rattle of Tils' purr against me, or her wee furry paws kneading my spine.

image of Matilda sitting on the couch, in close-up, her eyes a stunning blue

Matilda got along splendidly with every person, cat, and dog she ever met, and she never caused a fuss or misbehaved. She was just undiluted sweetness, her whole darn life.

She was unusually talkative and playful; she was unfathomably graceless and ferociously beautiful; she purred like a lawnmower.

image of Matilda lying on her back on the carpet, looking entirely goofy

I loved her mightily, and I will miss her so, so much. I feel very sad, and I feel very fortunate to have known her for as long as I did.

My life is better because she was in it. I hope I returned the favor.

[Note: I will be taking the rest of the day off, and I will return tomorrow.]

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat playing with a brown ribbon that I am dangling in front of her

Matilda prepares to launch an attack on her ribbon.
Previously in Matilda + Ribbons: One, Two, Three, Four, Five.

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

Daytime cuddling with Dudley the Greyhound and Matilda the Cat. pic.twitter.com/oyvMkarYWq
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) January 15, 2018

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat lying on a white blanket on the couch, looking at me

Look at this sassy old rag, taking up a whole blanket for herself! LOL.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Sealpoint Cat, curled up on the floor in a fuzzy little ball

Little old lady Tils, curled up for a nap on a cold winter's day.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

Zelda, our half-husky dog, is blowing her coat. During a grooming session, Olivia the Cat decided to be "helpful" by lying in the massive amount of fur I was discarding beside Zelly and me. pic.twitter.com/p6c8WlpFLO
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) January 7, 2018

Then she decided to groom herself in the middle of the fur pile. pic.twitter.com/I1zt8QlEPQ
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) January 7, 2018

And then she figured it would make a nice bed. pic.twitter.com/yJaD8tGNGC
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) January 7, 2018

Did I say Olivia was lying in the fur pile? Whooooops of course I meant she was rolling around and luxuriating in it! pic.twitter.com/1kQspSQUpN
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) January 7, 2018

Meanwhile, Dudley and Matilda are all, "Whatever." pic.twitter.com/8kH7JhcObC
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) January 7, 2018

And Sophie is quietly plotting against all of us. pic.twitter.com/bCqp5qX102
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) January 7, 2018

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat lying on the couch, looking at me with an unthrilled expression

Matilda is not amused.
Actually, she was perfectly happy in that moment, lol. It's just that she gives such great Zero Fucks Face!

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat, in close-up, lying on the couch looking dreamy

Tils just can't stop thinking about Tony. Wondering where he could be, who he is with, what is he thinking, is he thinking of her, and whether he'll ever return someday.

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat sitting on the dining room floor

There is no filter on this photo. Her eyes are really that blue.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat asleep beside me on the sofa, with her paw resting on my big toe

Matilda, asleep beside me with her paw on my big toe. ♥
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat lying on the sofa with her fur a raggedy mess

Matilda again offering a solid demonstration of why we call her "Rags."
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Update from Shakes Manor

As promised, here's a quick update for those who want one on Olivia and Matilda...

Livs continues to recover nicely from her surgery to remove a mammary tumor. She has had surgery two other times in her life, when she was much younger, and both times she came out of anaesthesia roaring and ready to go and immediately resumed her normal schedule of high-velocity naughtiness. This time has been no different, even though she's now 13 years old. She is a tank!

And our adventures with the cone continued to delight last night and this morning, lol.

I mean. 😃❤ pic.twitter.com/7z6JFbPO4d
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 29, 2017

Which somehow makes it even funnier to me. She doesn't even fight me when I put it back on. She literally stuck her head through. "No big whoop, Two-Legs. I can take it off whenevs, but if it makes you happy..."
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 29, 2017

Guess who just hopped up next to me to demand cuddles, sans cone? 😂😂😂

She left it on the dining room table omggggg. THIS CAT. pic.twitter.com/pNDNjNdGKE
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 29, 2017

Livs was investigating the incision, so to be safe I put on the shirt I made for her out of a sleeve from one of my husband's old shirts, lol. (That red spot is paint from an '04 home improvement project!) pic.twitter.com/1RkxcKns3f
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 29, 2017

Good morning! pic.twitter.com/DT4V8X2ZHJ
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 29, 2017

Meanwhile, the vet called me about this sassy old rag late yesterday.

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat stretched out on the carpet

Her blood work shows she does indeed have hyperthyroidism, which was the best possible outcome of the likely issues. Yay! So we just have to pick up her meds and get her started on them, and she should be feeling better in no time.

Iain and I are, as you can imagine, very relieved to have both of our girls on the mend. ♥

Update from Shakes Manor

As I mentioned last week, Olivia had to have surgery yesterday. The surgery went well, and she's now home, beginning her recovery with some headgear about which she's really not pleased.

image of Olivia the White Farm Cat in a plastic collar tied on with a purple ribbon

By 3am last night, she'd wriggled out of it. So I'm guessing that keeping it on is going to be a struggle. Ms. Olivia Twist doesn't like anything that impedes her ability to eat even slightly.

It's going to become increasingly important to win that battle, though, because as her sutures start getting itchy as the incision heals, she'll definitely want to mess with it. And it needs a full two weeks to heal before we take her back to get the stitches out.

In other news, when we picked up Olivia from surgery, we had to take in Matilda for tests, because she's been feeling poorly, too.

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat in her crate at the vet's office

Like her sister, Matilda is so, so good at the vet. And she was being so tremendously silly (as usual) that the vet tech could not stop laughing at her antics.

We haven't gotten the results of Tilsy's tests yet, but we're hoping it's just hyperthyroidism, which is treatable, and should help with a significant heart murmur that the vet discovered yesterday.

It's been a rough few days for the old lady cats of Shakes Manor — and Iain and I are feeling a bit ragged, too. It's tough to see our girls in distress.

My deepest thanks to everyone who has sent good wishes. I'll keep y'all posted. ♥

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat lying on the sofa, looking like a limp bag of fuzz

This is a pretty excellent exhibit of why Matilda's nickname is "Rags."
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Matilda the Fuzzy Sealpoint Cat standing in the kitchen, looking up at me and licking her lips

"Give me treats! NOM NOM NOM."
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.