I posted to this thread back on 09 July 2001, and I'm still a kitty-caregiver although I'm caring for different kitties now. Artie's health slowly declined after that 2001 post; he was diagnosed with cancer. I had wanted to adopt another cat but had put it off because of Artie's health and his radiation therapy. When his symptoms seemed to "level off" and even improve during the summer of '03, I asked my vet if he thought the stress of having another cat in the apartment would worsen his health, and I got the doc's OK to go ahead and get that second cat. I adopted 4-month-old Madison (a female) from a shelter, and kept the name they gave her, in early September.

There's no way to know whether Artie's health dive-bombed because of that adoption, or whether it was just a crisis waiting to happen, but about 5 weeks later, I had to have him put to sleep. Crisis followed crisis: my retina began to detach as I was having him buried at the local pet cemetery. Next thing I knew, I was going to Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia PA to get my retina re-attached.

Madison Mae -- as in "Madison may do what I tell her to do or Madison may not" -- is a brown torbie (tortoiseshell tabby). She was a problem child to begin with, having been raised on display in a shelter cage at PetSmart and continually exposed to gawking people and barking dogs. My preoccupation with Artie, my trip to the hospital and my recuperation (at the time I should have been bonding with Maddie and training her) didn't help any. I suspect that Maddie may have come from a litter of feral cats, and she is still something of a wild woman, distrustful of everyone else and sometimes not too sure about trusting me. She grows a little more pet-like every year, but often she chooses to hide under a blanket or inside a kitchen cabinet rather than hang out with me. The good news is that she prefers her scratching post to my furniture!

Hoping to find a cat that would be more affectionate and outgoing (and hoping to get Maddie to play/exercise and be less sedentary), I adopted a kitten from a different shelter this past June. The shelter named him Rex, and he's now Rupert Rex (as in "Rupert wrecks my home!" *grin* -- he raids wastebaskets, climbs the furniture, hides his toys behind chair cushions, pulls threads in my shower curtain, etc., etc.). He's a marmalade-orange tabby with more spots and dashes than stripes (and no white markings), and he's a joy to have around. Maddie doesn't agree -- she'd rather be an only cat -- but he chases her as much as she chases him so at least she's getting the exercise I'd hoped she would.

Little Roo came complete with ear mites and tapeworm; my struggles with his parasites and his digestion are recorded on my thread titled BS: Kitten healthy? Not? Advice, please -- and Joe Offer, bless his heart, offered a place on his website for my kitty-pictures (linked from the "Kitten healthy?" thread) since I don't have a site of my own yet. Thanks again, Joe!!