Dori's Birthday Featuring Entries From Her Adoption Diary

Hi evfurrybuddy, it’s me, Dori. *wavy paws* Guess what? Yesterday I celebrated my birthday! Nooo, I’m not wevealing how old I am cuz us wimmen need to keep some mystery as we age. 

I got lots of presents. My my favorite is a soft cushion snuggled between Momma and Daddy’s pillows where I sleep at night. I also got a small soft pink blanket with poky dots, and a little pink ball. And I got a sweater dwess with a plaid skirt. I will meowdel for yoo.

I also got Friskies Cheesy treats - a huge bag but I have to share with my fursibs. And I got a package of Churu's that I really love a lot. So I had a nice day celebrating me.

Recently my momma was purging an enormous box of papers in her office, and she came across my baby diary kept during the first months after I was rescued. I've given purrmission for her to publish the first month here for yoor viewing enjoyment.

In case yoo don’t know my story, I was born to a black feral momma named Annie who brought me to the house where I got adopted. She also brought my twin sisfur, Patsy, my two panther brofurs Kepurr and Kopea, and my daddy Nikolas who still lives with us. It was late December, and I was two months old. We were a huge handful for the hoomons who eventually adopted me. We were wild and hissy and scared. However, we all were vetted and put on PetFinders to find homes. Only my brofurs were adopted, and the man who took them kept their names.

My momma Annie, however, did not want to be adopted. She was half blind from herpes (which she passed onto the rest of us) and honestly didn’t even want to be a mother. She never played with us, but Daddy Nikolas did. He loved being a daddy. So, after she wasn’t adopted, Annie returned outside along with Patsy and Nikolas. One day she left the yard, never to return. Patsy made friends with a neighbor’s Siamese and moved in with them. And daddy Nikolas is now a member of the Wonderpurr Garage Band with Chevy.

So! About my diary. I have restrained myself from editing out the good parts, even if I am hoomilliated with embarrassment. We all know shocking details from our pasts make for social media excitement.

My diary begins on March 16^th when I’m four months old. This is the date where I ran free in the house for the first time. March 20^th was the date I wore my first collar. It was red.

From here I will let my momma take over to tell my story:

March 21: I heard Buddy (my 24-year-old-tabby) grumbling in the next room. When I went to check on him, I found Dori all comfy in his bed. Buddy has passed the age where he is willing to cuddle with someone, so I removed her to her own bed.

Later that day I saw Peaches playing with Dori, chasing her around the staircase and through the living room. Today is also the first time Dori jumped on top of the kitchen counter. “Yay.”

March 23: I again found Dori asleep in Buddy’s bed, this time with Buddy, curled around his arthritic backside. She looked so incredibly sweet, while he wore a definite sneer on his white-whiskered face.

Dori loves to visit her family in the upstairs guest room where they’re staying until I find them homes. They always greet her like she’s a celebrity.

March 24: Dori is getting rather “full” of herself. I saw her pounce onto her dad, Nikolas, and beat the dickens out of him. All four kittens are rather wild, and while Dori is the tamest, she reverts to her semi-feral roots when she rejoins her family. Nikolas is incredibly sweet with all of the kittens, and never disciplines them.

Dori also challenges Herman, who has such an expressive face. So often he’s looked at me as if to say, “We really don’t need a kitten.”

March 30: Dori plays chase and hunt with Peaches, using the circle of rooms around the staircase. I love watching Peaches crouch and peek around the sofa or corner, then chase Dori who then chases Peaches back.

(The photo to the right is of Dori and her dad Nikolas before they were pulled inside to be found homes on PetFinders. They lived on my porch in a couple of the dog houses I always provided for strays during winter.)

Ray is giddy in love with Dori to the point where he thinks it’s cute when she climbs his leg into his lap to eat off his plate. She’s jumping the gate to eat Buddy’s kibble, and as a result she’s getting a fat tummy.

Dori loves to ride on a carpet runner with her daddy Nikolas in the cat apartment upstairs. I drag the carpet around the room with Nik surfing with Dori hanging on by her baby claws with her tummy sliding on the wood floor.

April 2: Dori spent the day with her family upstairs playing hide and seek under a blanket tent. She’s turning into a cuddlebug, preferring to sleep in my lap while I watch television. Ray wanted her to snuggle with him and tried to get her to lay in his lap, but she got up and returned to mine. Awww.

April 3: Dori loves to ride the carpet runner with Nikolas. She is clearly advanced compared to her twin, Patsy, who doesn’t want to interact with me. I’ve been working with Annie the mom cat with the hope she will be adopted, but I’m losing hope. No interest at all on PetFinders as older cats in this area struggle to find homes. Annie now looks forward to my attention, and even rubbed against my leg the other day. Nikolas loves being brushed. When the weather turns nice they will be released outside where I’ll continue to care for them. At least Annie won’t be having any more kittens.

April 6: Dori thinks the kid pool we use for a litter box in the cat apartment is fun to play in. She loves to help me find poop, and tonight she did a cartwheel while I was cleaning.

April 7: I used the squirt bottle on Dori when she mimicked Opie by swatting Herman’s tail. Herm has absolutely no sense of humor, and he’s been rather crabby lately. Tonight, Ray and I were in my office doing taxes, and Dori was being a brat to Herm. So, I squirted her a couple of times. She looked surprised. And Herm “got it.” He immediately moved to sit beside me, knowing Dori was not going to approach the mean lady with the squirt bottle.

April 9: Dori experienced her first real pain. She has been staying in my office to give the rest of the Wonderpurr Gang a break from her sassy kitten routine. At lunchtime I went to leave to feed the cats and as I closed the French doors, I heard an awful growl. I had accidentally closed the door on Dori’s tail. When I released it, she ran, afraid of me, like I had deliberately hurt her. Opie and Peaches came rushing, ready to defend their little sweetheart. Herm was there but, clearly, he doesn’t give a rat’s patootie about her. She does pester him like a typical little sister. I finally caught her and rubbed her tail and gave her treats so I’ve been forgiven.

April 11: I guess it’s the Kitten Stage she’s in, but Dori is clumsy. She flings herself at surfaces, but misses – often. Tonight, she threw herself at my desk, missed, caught the corner on her chin. I rubbed it and she seemed okay.

She loves the kiddie pool litter box. Today I saw her lying on her back like a kid at the beach.

While hanging out in the cat apartment Dori caught her bottom jaw under her red collar. When I found her, she had her mouth hanging open. I had a hard time getting the collar off her, as it wasn’t the safety type I usually use. So no more collars until I’m able to find her a safety collar small enough for her tiny neck.

Tonight, Herman and Dori slept with us. Herm was mad at Opie for pestering him, so I brought Herm to bed and Dori joined us. There were no events throughout the night. Herm slept beside my pillow with Dori sprawled between Ray and I. Around 4 am I awoke to see her lying next to me, beside Herm. Awww, she loves her big brother, Herman.

April 12: As the time nears to release Annie, Nikolas and Patsy, I make sure she spends quality time with them. She’s been teaching Patsy to play and not be so shy.

April 15: Today I released Dori’s family. Before I did I fed them a hearty breakfast. I caged them and put them in the kitchen while I dragged their cat trees, blankets and the carpet runner outside onto the backyard porch. They spent awhile outside sniffing the fresh air. Finally, I opened the cages. Anticlimatic. They casually wandered out.

Nik and Annie were thrilled to be free, especially Nik who rolled around on the patio in a sun puddle. Then he ran around the yard, literally skipping with joy. Later I returned to see how they were doing, and they all came running out of the woods when I called.

I also noticed Feral Charlie, a brawny black tom cat, was greeted by Annie and Patsy. He’s a mess, but they were so happy to be reunited with him. I went to bed feeling better than I have in weeks. Sad because they weren’t adopted, worried for their safety, but happy because their joy was huge at returning to the life they’d always known.

Sometimes colony cats are not meant to be kept inside homes. Annie seemed depressed the longer she was kept in that bedroom. And Nik seemed bored.

April 16: Today I saw Dori standing in the doorway to the empty cat apartment where she family used to live. Since Ray has started calling her his Little Peanut, there’s no question we are officially adopting her. I have hopes for her twin Patsy to simmer down as she ages, but as it stands now, she’s too wild to remain indoors.

April 18: Today I saw Peaches’ son Jesse, another one of my outside cats, bump heads with Nikolas. I guess they are now officially brothers. And, to my honest surprise, I pet Patsy. She had hissed at me the entire time she was living in the cat apartment, but today she seems happy and secure. She came to me while I was filled a plate with kibble and rubbed against me. Yay!

Also, my semi-feral Siamese, YumYum, is making friends with Nik, Annie, and Patsy. Yum is Jesse’s girl. As I made a porch tent for the cats, they gathered to eat dinner together.

April 30: Tonight, Dori and Patsy saw each other through the living room window. They pawed at the window. Heartbreaking! I opened it to allow them to smell each other through the screen and Patsy hissed. Apparently, Dori now smells like us, and is no longer her family.

I'm so glad Dori and her family found my home when they did. Ray and I have provided food, medical and found homes to over 100 cats who were adoptable during our adult lifetime. Not all were adoptable, but after they met me, they were not longer out there overpopulating, or sick from whatever milady they had picked up from colony life.

So, Dori had a nice birthday, and while she's not overly crazy about wearing clothes, she will indulge me. The sweater dress was just too cute to pass up. Here's the video of her meowdeling for you.