wee3beasties' photostream  

While my profession involves caring for humans, I have had a lifelong passion for critters, big and small. Growing up we had dogs, chameleons, skinks, hamsters, rabbits, fish, a boa, a tarantula, a guinea pig, a mouse. . . no cats. Mom had a severe allergy to cats.

My first cat was a Christmas gift from my husband: Ariel. My second and third cats were also gifts from my husband: Cumin for my birthday and Gumbo for our anniversary. He gave me "certificates" to redeem. The shelter caretaker chose Cumin for me because I requested a cat that could do pet therapy. I chose Gumbo because I fell in love with a large, lovable doofus with an enormous belly (he is much more slender now than when he came to live with us). My fourth cat chose me. Raven will always be special for that reason alone. Incidentally, I named her Raven from Edgar Allen Poe's poem. . . "Quoth the raven, 'nevermore.'" Ha!

Artemas [RIP 10/21/10], my adorable now ancient mouse, joined after Raven. His favorite food without a doubt is organic pine nuts. Yes, he is spoiled rotten in this house.

MoMo was a gift from the nurses that I gladly accepted when I moved to Minnesota. . . love that boy. Louie had been dumped at the vet and needed a forever home (alas, mine was not it).

Here in Minnesota I accompanied my husband when he went shopping for golf shoes. . . and met and fell in love with a three-legged catahoula leopard dog we came upon in a rescue adoption setting. Bogart's name came from Kevin's golf game (Bogey). Incidentally, Kevin didn't come home with any shoes that day. . .

Then I first caught a glimpse of Winston. Started feeding him on the back deck. Winston somehow broke his right back leg, and it hurt me to see it shift with every step. Time to catch him and fix him x2. The trouble? Winston was far too smart for traps. . .

Instead of Winston I caught a scared, precious pregnant kitty: Vidalia. She warmed up after 24 hours and has been a phenomenal addition to the family. What an incredibly even-tempered critter who dotes on everyone, the dog included. Her brood: Godiva, Zamboni, Guinness, Gizmo, Finch, and Kiwi.

Moonshine, the second pregnant stray, was caught shortly thereafter at 4am. Her fur glistened in the moonlight, and I felt as though I had contraband in the basement when I brought her inside our home. Hence the name. She found a forever home as did her four kittens (Otis, Frito, Basil, and Bijou).

FINALLY! I caught Winston. Sadly, months had passed and the leg healed in an incorrect way. At least it doesn't seem to be painful, but it hinders his jumping ability. Winston was a true feral. Little chance of truly adjusting to the indoor life. So once he recovered from having his manliness removed, he returned to the outside world to rule his domain (our yard). Food is readily available to him on our back deck.

Now some may feel my hundreds of photos of kittens is excessive, but my initial intent was to compile a coffee table book to remember them long after they went to their forever homes. . .

Coffeetable book, coasters, and a poster behind me, I continue to take photographs of my gorgeous critters. Bit by bit I feel I am learning and improving. It's been less than two years that I've been keeping myself entertained with photography, but it is amazing to see the improvements from my first kitten photographs to now. Hopefully I'll continue to enjoy and improve!

My current brood:

Ariel (14yo):


Cumin (12yo):


Gumbo (~18yo):


Raven (16yo):


MoMo (~5yo):


Bogart (~5yo):


Vidalia (~3yo):


Curiosity (~3yo):


Magnus (1yo):


Grigsby (~2yo):








I thought I would add one more thing to my profile. Often the photos I love are of my critters, but occasionally ones stand out that don't fit into the "brood" photos. As a result, I am adding a featured photo section.

Featured Photo:






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