Beans!

April 22, 2024

As much as I might love/hate one cat, I love/love/love the other.  Beans is a star. She has seen shit, been places she didn’t want to go and has gone from timid and subservient to the bad ass Beans she is today. 

She was once a cat that seemed a bit out of touch, easily spooked and always submissive to her brother. Beans has these big owl like eyes and we would often poke fun at the way she seemed to look at you as if she had no idea who you were. Over the years and through some rough times, Beans has emerged as an amazing and actually pretty smart cat. She is very loving, talkative and just easy to have around. She still has her “duh” moments but for the most part she is purr joy.

I do regret not bestowing her with a better name. When we found the two cats she was sitting in an empty kidney bean box.  Autumn on the other hand was rolling around in the grass. We mistakenly thought Autumn was the female and Beans the male and by the time we got them to their first vet appointment, Beans was stuck with Beans. 

As a rule we don’t take our cats to the vet. Other than their initial kitten visits and getting fixed, we don’t do annual wellness checks or updated shots.  Not even RABIES!!  Cue the pearl clutching. I know its not how the average pet owner thinks, and apologies to the Veterinarian society, but I just dont believe we need to. 

And so far, almost 16 wonderfullllll cat years later, here we are with two pretty frigin healthy indoor/outdoor cats.  There was the worm infestation of 2022 (Autumn of course), who single handedly eliminated the chipmunk population at our cottage, hense the worm problem. One visit for Beans who had a cut that would not heal and one very serious consultation regarding Autumn’s  “issues” quite a few years back with a fantastic old school vet. This guy was great. After listening to my woes and sensing my complete frustration he left the examine room and returned a few minutes later with this massive ancient looking book. This book looked like something straight out of Harry Potter.  Well I assume so anyway because I have never actually watched a Harry Potter movie. Weird, I know. Anyway, this book was huge, and very very old. Without giving me any indication of what he was looking for, he spent several minutes flipping through the old yellowed pages while I waited, wondering if this mystical book held the answers I was looking for. Some magic potion perhaps? After several long minutes he closed the book, looked me straight in the eye and said “well, if it was my cat I know what I would do!”  I just couldn’t.  So, he sent me home with a bottle of cat valium pills and a pill cutter. “Start with a half dose” he suggested and see how it goes.  Autumn slept for 15 hours straight that night. And we never gave him another pill after that. 

St, Augustine is indeed the old town in Florida. Really old, founded in 1565. Just checking to see if you are paying attention.  

Until I write again,  Cheers from Memphis Tennessee.

Hanging out in the coach in Mississippi a few days ago. Happy to be out of the Pet Taxi.

Beans circa 2023, her first airplane experience, heading to Halifax for a prolonged stay with our daughter Alex.