New Woofie Names

Look at those innocent faces. Do they look like hulking, skulking toe attack dogs to you? We're innocent, innocent ... uh, innocent until proven guilty by photographic evidence. And then we'd have to contend the evidence was undoubtedly photoshopped. Even if Jan is a dud in the photoshop department.

We'd like to introduce ourselves. According to Jan, we are now Watch Where You're Going, Stop Yanking & Don't Step On My Toe. We're not sure which of us is which and obviously neither is Jan. She keeps getting confused. Maybe she should buy us name tags.

Actually, we're not sure we like these new names. We were kind of attached to Sam, Merci & Buddy. At least we knew who we were. And so did Jan. Usually.

It's tough living with a forgetful human.

And to illustrate how forgetful humans can become, we'd like to share this story with you about a group of aging male friends --

A group of 40 year old buddies discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed upon that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the waitresses there had low cut blouses and were very young..

10 years later at 50 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the food there was better than most places and the wine selection was extensive.

10 years later at 60 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because they could eat there in peace and quiet and the restaurant had a beautiful view of the ocean.

10 years later, at 70 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the restaurant was wheel chair accessible and they even had an elevator.

10 years later, at 80 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because they had never been there before.

Thank you all for your kind messages regarding the loss of Crystal. We appreciate every one of them. We forgot to include the CB in our last post. Gracie sent the graphic she made for Crystal to the Cat Blogosphere where it was posted. Some of you came by from there. The CB also posted it on the Purrs & Prayers January purrs list.

There are a number of sick furries at this time and we wish each one of them a swift recovery.

Cotton, Merci, Cyndi, Percy, Cameron, Buddy, Rusty & Sam

Crystal's Friends

We would like to thank all of Crystal's friends -- old and new -- who have come by to leave a message since Crystal passed away Sunday morning. Since we post as the Funny Farm and not as individuals most of the time, we realize you barely know Crystal as an individual. But you do understand the loss of a furry friend. So we value each act of kindness, whether as a comment on the blog, an email, or a phone call. Yes, even the midnight phone call. One caring friend picked up the phone as soon as she read the email and called, despite the hour. She knew Jan would be upset. And then Jan went to bed and one of us -- (don't worry, Sam, we won't tell on you) -- leaped onto the bed, landing on Jan's painful toe again.

Gracie made this beautiful Rainbow Bridge graphic for Crystal.

Gracie also commissioned Olive (Opus' sister) to do a Vportrait of Crystal for his family. These portraits are currently being made to raise funds for Fiona's medical bills. (Link is on Gracie's blog.)

Ann the Zoolatry Human posted a tribute to Crystal on Collectibles by Zoolatry.

We were also touched by the way Perfectly Parker's family reached out. "We are so sorry for your loss, we have made a donation to Wayside Waifs in memory of Crystal so some little kitty might have a loving forever home." We're glad something good came out of our loss. Some little kitty is being helped.

Tristan & Crikey, Sammy (Samson), Karen Jo of Kitty Limericks, and Socks, Scylla, Artemisia & Fenris posted on or mentioned Crystal. (We don't expect you to visit all our links. We are trying to put all this information together so we don't lose it.)

It's hard to write about Crystal now, so we're just going to raid some older posts to tell you a little about him.

From our post Crystal is 10.
Crystal, you were so tiny when someone threw you and your twin out. You two went up and down the street trying to get someone to take you home. Somewhere along the way, you lost your twin.

Jan heard you crying outside her bedroom window. When she saw you, she stopped on a step and you raced over and leaped high into the air to reach her. Only you were too small and you crashed into the steps. So, of course, there was no way Jan was going to leave you there on the ground. She picked you up, brought you inside and broke her commitment that Jenny and Grayce would be the last animals she rescued.

She has never regretted taking you in. You immediately bonded with Grayce (it was not a mutual bond at first!) and were her closest companion until she died. To this day, your favorite sleeping spot is on Jan's pillow, occasionally reaching out to pat her face as you purr. Percy has taken your place as the alpha kitty, but you will always be Jan's number 1 greeter when company comes.

From the Meezers' Hams of the World Tour in September 2009

Crystal is on bottom left of the photo. We made the decision to send him on the tour because he was the oldest and we wanted him to have a big adventure.

A couple of months after Crystal's 11th birthday, we entered him in Boris' birthday contest.

My human, Jan, named me Crystal even though I'm a boy kitty because she said I am as handsome as crystal glassware is beautiful. My furry siblings think I should enter your contest. You see, I turned 11 years old on June 1st and I don't know how many days ... I mean years ... I have left, and I've never had a birthday party. That never bothered me before. I have an endless supply of crunchies, a roof over my old head, a warm bed in winter, a big family to keep me company, and a human who scoops my poop. What more could a kitty want?

Well, I hate to admit it, but before I go, I dream of having a birthday party where we all wear a silly hat, agile mice deliver my cake, balloons float freely, a huge table bends under the weight of food and beverages, and all the furries attending get a present -- not just me. So I think I'm going to start checking the couch for loose change so next year I can afford to invite all my friends and family to a big birthday party.

Crystal was one of 5 runner ups in Boris' birthday contest. We had no idea Crystal wouldn't be here for his next birthday. We would have liked to see his dream come true.

Crystal, It's hard to look at your freshly dug grave. It's so close to the new dog pen, but Jan wanted you buried next to Jenny and Grayce. We're sad you had to leave us but you will always be a part of the Funny Farm, as you will live on in our hearts and memories. You were a terrific brother and we all miss you.

We love you. Farewell, sweet Crystal!

Cotton, Merci, Cyndi, Percy, Cameron, Buddy, Rusty & Sam
& Jan

Farewell, Crystal

My sweet and handsome Crystal passed away early this morning, sometime between 1:30 and 4:00 am. He's been failing for a while now, but I didn't want to post about it. Yesterday, I could see he was tired and I told him repeatedly I didn't mind taking care of him but it was okay to leave now. So I wasn't surprised to find he was gone when I got up to check on him.

I went back to bed but couldn't sleep, just lay still until the phone rang. My brother is working today. There was no one to help bury Crystal.

As soon as I got off the phone, Buddy had a seizure.

After taking the dogs on a very short walk while wearing a pair of bedroom slippers, I put on the extra large white sneakers I just bought to accommodate my swollen toe in an emergency and dug a grave in the red Georgia clay. The ground is soaked with rainwater, so I was able to manage. Crystal lies beside his old friends Jenny and Grayce.

To make the day even more painful, I walked onto the wet front porch in my socks to knock mud off the shoes. And then I accidentally bumped a large spray bottle off a table. It landed squarely on the infected part of the unprotected toe. I have lost count of the number of traumas to that toe since a week ago Friday. The others have been courtesy of Buddy and Sam. I don't know how I am going to walk the dogs at all now since it is cold and raining and I can only get my foot into a sock.

Between the toe pain and Crystal, losing Crystal hurts the worst How appropriate the day should be cold, wet and dreary. Crystal was a bright spot in my life for 11 years and it's going to take some time to get used to losing him. So if I don't post for a while or answer questions .... Maybe I'll post in a day or two on Crystal, but perhaps not. We'll see.

Although we already did a post earlier today, Crystal's passing rates a special post.

Wanted Alive

We have an update to yesterday's post on the Temptations thief. We were just about to reveal the identity, when we suddenly and inexplicably lost the internet connection.

Shaggy, Scooby & Scout wrote: Does Dr. Buddy do counseling? He needs to get Percy on the couch to find the source of this behavior.

S, S & S, we're not sure. We assume Dr. Buddy needs counseling, but we're not sure if his medical degree includes giving counseling.Unfortunately, as of now he's on the scent of another feather for his stethoscope.

But this post is about busting the thief. We don't have to reveal the name to Jan. Not only did she figure it out on her own but last night she busted him right smack in the act. Yesterday Jan moved the treats to where they couldn't be reached by any of us. She heard the rustling, otherwise he would have gone undetected, as he was precariously perched high in the shelves where no cat should have been able to teeter. And barely reached by Jan. Only somehow our most daring and sure-footed gynmast managed to reach them.

Did you guess? No, it wasn't mice. And claiming a burglar would be as ludicrous as Buddy's claim a burglar stole Jan's nine warm yeast rolls at Thanksgiving time.

Yep, Percy is the culprit. Caught red-pawed with another empty bag of treats last night. This time a bag of Whisker Lickins Tartar Control. Guess he wants to be a fat boy with good teeth.

As you know, Percy is our best typist. And he is the reason our internet connection suddenly died yesterday, just as we were about to reveal the truth. Today he claims to be contrite, but we heard him searching the house this morning and crying outside the closet where the treats are now hidden. We'll probably never get another treat again. Jan will forget they're there. So Percy will be indebted to us forever.

This evening (Saturday) Jan heard something falling into the litter pan and arrived just in time to see how Percy reached those treats yesterday. And even worse, he was returning for a pack of DOG treats he'd snitched and stashed there.

Keep typing, Percy. The Funny Farm detectives are watching your every move. And so is Jan, although we wouldn't worry about her. She'll forget. Worry about us. We outnumber you.