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Fitzgerald
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MEMBER SINCE: NOV 13, 2011
HOME: Manchester, England
KIND: Cat
BREED: Maine Coon
SEX: Male
AGE: 9 Years
PERSONAL SITE:
VET: Tameside Veterinary Clinic
ROOMMATES: Herbie, Simba, Tinkerbelle, Fluff
ABOUT Fitzgerald:
Ever felt things were meant to be? If our elderly friend's cat hadn't died, and if I hadn't decided to take him to a shelter to adopt one, and if I had gone to another shelter........I may never have been blessed with the love of these two wonderful cats. Herbie and Fitz, sad and lonely in their pen, frightened and uncertain, caught my eye and my heart that August day. Fitz was a mess. Terrified at the back of the pen, he attacked anyone or anything that approached. He lay on his shelf, eyes wide, fangs bared. At the mention of putting him to sleep, I made a decision....I wanted them both. I had a husband and 3 other rescued cats which should really have been consulted, but that was a small matter weighed against Fitz's fate. He depended on the placid Herbie for comfort and hid behind him when he ventured off his shelf. I sat with them for hours to assess them. Fitz wasn't vicious, just absolutely terrified of everything. I had to give him a chance. Four years on and he is the proudest cat ever. No-one can say he was easy. It took weeks to stroke him. He would run and hide on the sill in the conservatory, but gradually he came nearer out of curiosity. I never pushed him, just let him come to me. He was terrified of hands and we wondered whatever had happened to him before he was put into care....we shall never know.The first time he went in the garden I wondered if he would come in easily, but he had watched Herbie go out and in, and eventually I decided it was time. No worries! He knew where his home was! He now has his territory of about 40 gardens to roam, lots of cat friends, and he loves to boss us around. He is a perfect joy to care for and I am so proud of him. One day I may write the full story of how we got on in the beginning, the trials and tribulations. but all that matters now is that they are safe and I am proud to be loved by both of them.
HOME: Manchester, England
KIND: Cat
BREED: Maine Coon
SEX: Male
AGE: 9 Years
PERSONAL SITE:
VET: Tameside Veterinary Clinic
ROOMMATES: Herbie, Simba, Tinkerbelle, Fluff
ABOUT Fitzgerald:
Ever felt things were meant to be? If our elderly friend's cat hadn't died, and if I hadn't decided to take him to a shelter to adopt one, and if I had gone to another shelter........I may never have been blessed with the love of these two wonderful cats. Herbie and Fitz, sad and lonely in their pen, frightened and uncertain, caught my eye and my heart that August day. Fitz was a mess. Terrified at the back of the pen, he attacked anyone or anything that approached. He lay on his shelf, eyes wide, fangs bared. At the mention of putting him to sleep, I made a decision....I wanted them both. I had a husband and 3 other rescued cats which should really have been consulted, but that was a small matter weighed against Fitz's fate. He depended on the placid Herbie for comfort and hid behind him when he ventured off his shelf. I sat with them for hours to assess them. Fitz wasn't vicious, just absolutely terrified of everything. I had to give him a chance. Four years on and he is the proudest cat ever. No-one can say he was easy. It took weeks to stroke him. He would run and hide on the sill in the conservatory, but gradually he came nearer out of curiosity. I never pushed him, just let him come to me. He was terrified of hands and we wondered whatever had happened to him before he was put into care....we shall never know.The first time he went in the garden I wondered if he would come in easily, but he had watched Herbie go out and in, and eventually I decided it was time. No worries! He knew where his home was! He now has his territory of about 40 gardens to roam, lots of cat friends, and he loves to boss us around. He is a perfect joy to care for and I am so proud of him. One day I may write the full story of how we got on in the beginning, the trials and tribulations. but all that matters now is that they are safe and I am proud to be loved by both of them.
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Hi ho! Lucky me, Daddy is ALSO away from the keyboard for a rare minute and I can jump on! Great to hear everything is going well... same here really. Daddy got to go out to dinner last night, something he loves but doesn't get to do anymore as often as he'd like, since he can't drive. So he has to rely on friends to come get him and wheel him to their car and then back upstairs afterwards, well not everybody cares enough to do all that but his good friend Patrick doesn't mind and takes Daddy out once every month. They went to Dady's favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Did you know that the Twin Cities where we live (Minneapolis and St. Paul, well we live in St. Paul, but it's really all just one big metro area) has an ENORMOUS population of people from Southeast Asia, because during the Vietnam War etc. we were the #1 city in America welcoming refugees from those wars in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Daddy was even a volunteer English teacher to Asian refugees in the 1970s! So there is a huge Asian community here and COUNTLESS great Asian restaurants: Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian, all of it! So when you say it's your FAVORITE Vietnamese restaurant here, it's REALLY got to be good!! Sparrow tea, eh? I don't know... Well of course I know you kitties are a bit odd, but that is part of your charm!!! OH HERE HE COMES, bye now... x x x x Hugoletto
Hi Fitz! So nice... our weather is 'better than normal' for this time of year, usually we are below freezing by now, but we are still abov it! People are walking around in a daze of disbelief... forget to put their coats on... Well Global Warming may be a disaster for some folks but for us it is a piece of Paradise! I'm not on the computer as much as I'd like either, Daddy HOGS it all the time! He claims he is doing 'work' ahahaha!!! Soon again, à bientôt, Victor Hugo La France
Good evening Fitz! Thanks for a very informative letter... well we are doing fine today. YES we can order groceries over the phone, in fact we have THREE grocery delivery services, but mostly we use Coborns they have the best service hehe... Also our pharmacy delivers, our dry cleaner picks up and delivers, and everything else we can order online so no problem really. Daddy's barber comes to our place to cut his hair, and my groomer picks me up and brings me back also! And my vet even comes to see me at our apt. if it 's not emergency or anything! But if I have to go to the vet, then we have friends who will take me, we have a regular rotation of people to call! Daddy's friend Kathy loves me so much, and she is available just about any time to come get me and run me to the vet! But I never need to go really 'cuz I am never sick!! KNOCK ON WOOD heheh... I will be 7 in January and never been sick yet!!! HOORAY! Well see you soon, x x x
Thanks Fitzgerald, but I'm still scared! 'Cuz you see, Daddy is 70 and he has been in a wheelchair the last few months, he can't walk anymore let alone drive, so he has everything delivered as much as possible, his groceries, prescriptions, etc. His dry cleaning is picked up and delivered, he even has a barber who comes to our apt and cuts his hair, and also he has a handyman who does cleaning etc but he only works 4 hours a week, so Daddy is trying to find somebody to work 40 hours a week, he is working on it. Even when he orders groceries delivered, we would still run out of a few things, and Tiffany would bring those to us anytime. There are two big stores right near where we live, and TIffany was a 'day shopper,' i.e. she went to the store EVERY DAY to get fresh produce etc. so she was always happy to pick up a loaf or bread etc. for us. but now we have to wait sometimes one or two weeks until Jimmy works! That's why we're trying to find a daily helper. On August 30, Daddy fell in the bathtub and couldn't get out for NINE HOURS, he was yelling for help and I couldn't help him, I was running around so upset... FINALLY somebody heard him and called 911 (emergency) and the Fire Department came and broke our door down and took Daddy to the hospital, leaving me alone in the apartment!!! This was 6 a.m. but when the Resident Manager came to work at 8, she saw the notice from the Fire Dept that they broke the door down, so she immediately caled TIFFANY who came up and got me, and kept me in her apt. until Daddy came home from the hospital (10 days later!). I loved Tiffany and knew if she had me, everything would be OK. But then it was just two weeks later that she died, so now if Daddy has to go to the hospital, maybe some stranger will tke me, or they will send me to the Dog Pound, that is why I am so scared! I cry every day worrying about it. But Daddy says he is working on a plan for me... I hope... The doctor wanted Daddy to move to Assisted Living, but they don't allow dogs there, so Daddy refused!!! He says he is staying here and just hire a servant! (Don't worry, he can afford it... he might be old and crippled but he is not poor HAHAHAHA). We live in a large 6-room apartment with a big balcony and a beautiful view and we have two full bathrooms and ONE IS MINE!!! I am one of the rare doggies who is POTTY TRAINED!!! I have my own bathroom which is inside Daddy's private bedroom so guests don't see it, there is a doggie box in there for me and Daddy just scoops it up and flushes it in the toilet and then Jimmy changes the cedar chips when he works hee hee... so at least Daddy doesn't have to take me outside, especially in winter!!! And winter in Minnesota is like Antarctica HAHAHA We use the extra shower stall in 'my' bathroom for storing Christmas lights etc. x x x Hugo
We're sorry to hear about your catsitter who passed away. We had a similar thing happen here, we are still in shock and devastated about it. We live in an apartment bldg. it's very nice and we love it here... a beautiful area with lots of woods and a lake, and big birds like the Great White Heron that fly over us all summer long... anyway we have lived here many years and a lady Tiffany lived right beneath us, she was a teacher and very kind person, she took care of me, and Louis before me, when Daddy was sick or gone away, she also helped Daddy with little things like milk and bread if we ran out, etc. then last month Daddy was trying to call her and no answer etc., well after about three days he called the building manager and said "Have you seen Tiffany?" and she said "Oh, didn't you hear? She died and the funeral was this morning." Daddy said that was one of the worst things in his life! She had felt sick and went to the hospital, and she died there, and nobody thought to tell us! We didn't know her family that well. Now I don't have anybody to help me if Daddy is too sick, I'm so scared... x x x x