How my faith can be tested.

We’ve had Maxwell for a little over 8 months. He’s the craziest, most rambunctious cat that I’ve ever owned. He loves to charge at things without a real plan and attack whatever may be in his way.

His blue eyes tend to get him out of a lot of trouble.

I’ve become so accustomed to him screeching around the house at 90 m.p.h., that I no longer think there’s a boogie man in my house at 2 a.m. I know it’s just this guy blowing off steam.

He also rests at 90 m.p.h.. It’s either full-on tackle mode for him or full on sleepy-mode, complete with whisker twitches, weird lip movements and tiny noises as he dreams.

I am fully in love with him-which was hard to do after we lost my buddy of eight years, Cowboy.

I’ve opened my heart to him and can’t imagine my life without this little bugger.

Two days ago, he started laying around and wasn’t eating. He threw up three times and made horrible sounds before he did so. I decided to take him to the vet and we found out he had a 105 degree temperature (4 degrees above normal for a kitten). He then received an antibiotic and a anti-nausea shot, which is presently at work in his tiny little body.

Here’s the thing. I’m going to be real. I don’t know if I can handle doing all of this again. It broke my heart to give Cowboy almost daily IV’s and watch as his body wasted away. Losing him was extremely difficult for me. I didn’t understand why God didn’t heal him. I know God cares, I know he’s faithful, I know he’s good. I still ask “why” from time to time.

I know it’s just a cat to most of you and to the rest of the world, but he’s become my little sidekick. I hate to see him in pain and I miss his rambunctious ways. We need your prayers, blogosphere-him for healing and me for peace and understanding. Thank you!

Meet the New Kitties

We loved our eight years with Cowboy. He was the weirdest and awesomest (yep, that’s a word) cat ever.

He was my little buddy and followed me around the house doing strange things. He would sit on my lap for hours while I would write my articles or blog. And, he slept on top of me each night.

He would sneeze quite often, make a sound like an Ewok when he wanted something, and fought until the very end for his furry little life. We didn’t realize what a gaping hole was left when he passed away. After several days of crying and being pretty mopey, Biceps said a strange thing.
“What about getting a new kitty? And maybe not just one, but two?”
I had a feeling he was lonely without the furry dude, too.
But, I was pretty resistant at first. I mean, how could a new cat-or even two new cats-take the place of Cowboy? But, Biceps reminded me that we aren’t replacing Cowboy, no cat could ever do that. We are giving two new kitties a new home–a much needed home. And they in turn will bring us happiness and entertainment.

And so, after days of scouring rescue centers, talking with several “foster parents” and driving around, we found our forever kitties.
This is Maxwell.
Originally he was named “Flame” due to his orange markings on his nose, ears and tail. But that name we decided was weird. For several days, we confused the he k out of the little guy. I called him “Scout” and Biceps called him “Piglet”. Neither of us could agree, until the name “Maxwell” surfaced. It stuck and the name fit his personality all too well.

He does everything to the max. Whether he is eating, sleeping, being extremely cute or playing, he does it full force. There is no half-hearted efforts here from ol Maxwell.
And, he is all that is boy-stinky, haphazard and always attacking something.

And this is Bianca-the complete opposite of Maxwell. She smells like roses. Literally. We have a feeling she is stuffed with potpourri.

Bianca has taken it upon herself to clean Maxwell. It may seem sweet and motherly, but deep down, I think it’s mainly because she can’t stand the smell.

They became best buds right off the bat, doing everything together. They’ll even eat at the same time and switch to their water bowl at the same time. It’s bizarre. But pretty par for the course in our house. Nothing around here is ever normal….

Welcome home, you two crazy cats. We are so thankful that you are here. Even if you have jumped into the toilet on several occasions, knock things off the fireplace mantle and race through the house at 500 m.p.h..
They have definitely brought life back into the house. Lots of life….

Cowboy has gone “Home”.

My precious little furr-ball is home with his Maker and I believe he is warming the lap of the late Grandpa Kenny Greiman.

At the tender age of 8, Cowboy contracted a heart disease that led to a kidney failure and within two months, he was taken from us.

Cowboy Cat 2000 was laid to rest underneath the shed in our backyard-his favorite outdoor destination. From his hidden vantage point, he would slyly survey the going’s ons in our yard; irritating the squirrels, birds and any other creature simply trying to go about their daily life.

As you can see, this blanket was one of his favorites to snuggle underneath on cold winter days. We wrapped his little body in this blanket, tied it with the string he loved to chase around the house and gave him back to the earth.

Buddy, I’m going to miss you-Cowboy Cat Greiman, October 2003-August 2011.