A Day in the Life of Olivia

Cats have been a large part of my life ever since I can remember. It is not that my family didn’t like dogs, it just seems we were cat people from the start.

I do remember having a beagle, we named BeeGee, this was way before the Bee Gees rock group was popular. I was very little, maybe 4 or 5 years old. I could barely handle him as a puppy..he was very strong. As BeeGee got older, his strength increased and mannerisms changed. He began snapping at people and us and was so strong he could pull his stake out of the ground and get loose. He even was able to pull his doghouse behind him when on his chain! So we had to give him away since we didn't want him to bite someone.

My first cat was named Midnight. I think I was in 4^th grade or so. He was a stray my neighbors found and asked if we wanted him. He was very sweet and affectionate. He was injured sometime before I met him, because the tip of his tail was missing. It looked as if it had been cut off. When it healed, it formed a small hook. Midnight stayed with us for a few years, but my parents gave him away because he was always coming home with injuries from cat fights. We couldn’t keep him inside…his years of roaming free just made him nuts when cooped up in the house at night. Also, the neighbor boys kept teasing him constantly…the poor cat had no peace.

We had several cats after Midnight. First was Eowyn, who was a red tabby. She was a very sweet girl and stayed with us for 17 years. She loved to get vacuumed by the vacuum cleaner and loved getting swatted with the newspaper! She was a kook! She even had this wooden sewing tool, for darning socks that she played with....making an awful racket...we called it Eowyn's BoomBoom! She got cancer and had to euthanized since she was in so much pain and the cancer was everywhere in her body.

Next came my beloved, Specks! Specks was a brown tabby, but some called her a gray tiger. Some of you that have been to my hubs, know how close I was to Specks. Although I loved Eowyn, Specks was just one of those cats that got to you almost immediately. I left a tribute to her on the hub that you may like to see, detailing my extraordinary time with a very special feline! Losing Specks after 17 years to an inoperable tumor in her throat just about killed me! I still mourn her passing to this day. She has been gone for just over 6 years now. She was the most loving, affectionate, and sweetest cat I have ever known! I miss her so much!

My current cat is Olivia, a white and brown tabby colored cat. I just call her Livvy. She and I met right after I lost my sweet Specks. She was 5 years old when I first saw her and she has been with me for just over 5 years. She is a very lively, comical, and silly cat. As you will see, she has some very strange habits that are funny. There is never a dull moment with Livvy…she is such a clown and has the most expressive face!

Before I take you through a typical day with Livvy, here is a little background of her history, at least as much as I know.

I don’t know much about Livvy’s history, since she and her litter mates were abandoned when very young. When Specks died, I looked on the Internet just to see some cats. I really wasn’t ready to get another cat so soon after Specks went away. I always get my pets from the local shelters since they are in desperate need of a home and are very sweet animals who need a good home. A lot of shelters are ‘kill shelters’ meaning that after a certain time, they will euthanize dogs and cats. That just breaks my heart to see sweet, loving animals put down not because they are a problem, but just that nobody will take them in as pets. Anyway, the lady I got Livvy from went to shelters like these and rescued them from certain death…keeping them with her or other foster parents until they were adopted. Livvy was lucky that she was found by this kind-hearted woman. Livvy is a very sweet, good natured, and lovable cat.

But, Livvy’s problems weren’t over. Although saved from the kill shelter, she still didn’t have a home. I was told by the lady that Livvy had been adopted more than once, but she kept being returned for one lame excuse after another. The last family Livvy was with had her for a full year, but they ended up returning her too. My poor Livvy seemed to not be able to find her ‘forever home and family’.

This is when I found Livvy that ended her search for a permanent "forever" home to live in and be happy.

My name is Olivia, but most call me Livvy for short. I don't remember much from when I was a kitten. All I remember is that my brothers, sisters and me were abandoned when we were very little. Those first years were very foggy. The first strong memory I had was being in a huge place in a cage with a lot of other cats and kittens. I was really scared. Some of my friends in that large room left and never came back. I don't know what happened to them, but I could sense a lot of sadness in the humans. They took pretty good care of us, but I didn't like it there. Nobody ever had time to pet and play with me. Then one day, this nice lady came and took my brother Oliver and me home with her. I don't know what happened to my other brothers and sisters since we were separated when we first came to that awful place called a shelter. So, I lived with my brother Oliver, and several other cat friends that this nice lady had living with her.. We got along well and things were fine until Oliver, my brother left with a man. I never saw him again, but heard he was in a place called Minnesota. I missed Oliver since we had been together since we were kittens. When Oliver left, I made friends with a younger cat, called Zerrin. We were like 2 peas in a pod. We played together, slept together and I just loved to groom him. Zerrin loved to be groomed and I was glad to oblige. It helped a lot because I missed my brother so much. Off and on when I was with Debbie, that nice lady, people would talk to her and sometimes come by to see me, or Debbie would take me to see them. Every time I thought I would be lucky like my brother, Oliver, but for some reason, they kept bringing me back to Debbie. Of course Zerrin was happy to see me and I him, but I just didn’t understand why nobody wanted me! This happened so many times. I finally went with this one family. Things were starting to look good. There was another cat in the house and we got along okay, except he was a pest. So I put him in his place a few times to get some peace. I was with them for a year! I thought finally I have a home to call my home. But alas, this family too didn’t want me, so they took me back to Debbie and told her I was a bully to her other cat. Me, a bully? Ridiculous! All I wanted was some peace once in awhile! I really don't know why that family said that about me! At least they just didn’t throw me out to fend for myself like someone did to me before. I don't know why humans do that...it is very scary and upsetting! I am grateful I at least got to come back to my old place with Debbie, Zerrin, and my other friends.

Then, one day Debbie got a call. She told me that someone really wanted to see me and that she agreed that I could visit him for a few days. She told me his other cat had gone to the Rainbow Bridge and that he was very sad and miserable. Debbie said that his best friend was gone and he missed her terribly. Debbie told me that maybe I could help. So, she packed me up and took me to meet this man.

When I arrived, I wasn’t feeling so well, You see, I don’t do well riding in cars. I was sick to my stomach and just felt horrible. When we got to this man’s house, she carried me to the door. I looked awful. I had drool hanging from my mouth and my fur was all messed up. Not a great way to meet someone new. I finally met the man…his name was Dave. I ended up staying for 3 days, and by then, I didn’t want to leave. David and I got along great and he wanted me to stay too! I remember David calling Debbie and saying that he would like me to live here with him all the time. Yippee!!! Maybe this is my lucky day! Debbie agreed and David adopted me and we have been together ever since.

I pretty much sleep through the night since all my human family is sleeping as well.  But sometimes, one of them is up during the night working, and I will come in to have some company.   I will sit on the bed, sit on the window sill looking outside, or be on the computer table overseeing what my human is doing.  I spend a lot of time in David’s bedroom.  He has a comfy bed, a nice warm machine called a DVD player that I love to sleep on.  When David goes to bed, I usually snuggle up on his left side and bury my head in his hand or leg, or I will sleep between his legs on top of the afghan…a nice, warm and safe place to catch some Z’s.  Usually during the night, at some point, I get restless, wake up and do some exploring.  Depending on how I feel, I will find a place to sleep in the living room.  I love to sleep in one of the two recliners, on the sofa, or on TOP of the sofa.  Sometimes I will sleep there the whole night, but other times, I will go to the back window, hop on my bench and look into the backyard.  I get to see lots of interesting things out there in the dark!  I have seen raccoons, possums, other cat friends and even a deer or two.  I just love watching them…well, most of the time.  Sometimes they will stay around and explore my backyard, which I don’t like too much.  They always seem to mess up my carefully cared for grass.  I like to eat grass.  I even tell them from inside the house, but they never hear me or listen.  I will go downstairs and up on a shelf David put up for me and look out that window.  It is ground level and some of my cat friends will come to the window and we chat.  We get loud sometimes because it wakes up the other humans in the house, so I keep it as soft as possible, but those guy cats outside sure can be noisy! 

Just before dawn, I am hungry. I usually eat whatever is left in my Tup bowl. Just after dawn, one of the humans gets up and gets ready to leave for the day. I sit in his lap and get some petting done, and when he leaves, I know it is time to jump into action. I go into David’s room and jump on his bed, waking him up. I will cuddle with him some, even take a nap if I feel like it, but I make sure David doesn’t fall back asleep totally. At 8 AM sharp, I really turn on the charm. I meow, jump all over the furniture in the room, making a lot of racket until David finally gets up. Occasionally, I will stick my face in his and let out a squeak. He says my breath smells like a tuna can, but it works. Occasionally, I miss the 8 AM wakeup time. David usually gets up anyway and if he doesn't see me, he whistles. When I hear that I come running to the kitchen and he meets me there. I have heard him say to his brother that when he whistles, he can hear cat footsies hot-footing it to the kitchen. I don't know what he is talking about...I am quiet as a mouse! Well, almost! He always asks me if I want my 'Tup'. I know that word means food, so I tell him, “Yes”, in a loud voice. If not in the kitchen, I run there ahead of him, get up on my little step stool and meow the entire time he is opening my can of food. He takes long sometimes, so I try to convince him to hurry by standing on my hind legs and butting his leg with my head, or if that doesn't work, will jump up on the counter to help him get the food out of the can. After feeding me, he usually eats breakfast too, so we eat together. I take my time when I eat, to savor every bite, but David goes and gets cleaned up, etc. after he finishes his 'Tup'. I will get up on the table and sit on the newspaper waiting for him eat. The lady human hates when I do this, so when she comes around, I make a hasty exit…but that doesn’t happen often. When David is done, I always sniff his bowl and always put my head up to his mouth to sniff! By then, I am really thirsty. I only drink water from one bowl, and that bowl happens to be in the bathtub. I just don’t like it anyplace else and the only time I will drink is if my bowl is in the tub. I wait outside the bathroom door, patiently. When it opens, my bowl is always in the bathtub with fresh water. I don’t like wet feet, so he wipes the bottom of the tub with a towel for me to get the water up. Sometimes, he will turn the faucet on and I will take a long drink from the tap. It really depends on my mood. Nothing like cold, clear water right from the faucet!!!! The sink has a nice faucet too, but I can’t get my head under there easily.

Now my day really begins.  Now that I have a full belly, it is playtime.  My litter box is in the basement, so David will go down and clean it out for me.  I always follow him to make sure he does it right.  I like a clean toilet!  I play in the basement a lot and sometimes I leave my toys down there.  If David finds one, he will usually throw it someplace and I get to go after it.  I just LOVE sliding on the smooth concrete floor after my toy ball.  I bring it back to do over and over and we just play for a bit.  When David heads upstairs, I just love for him to throw my ball up the stairs to the first floor.  I race after it and wait for him to come up.  Sometimes he will throw it back down the steps and I will race back down to find it….other times he throws my ball into the living room or down the hall and I go chasing after it too.  I just enjoy playing with my toys and someone always is around to throw them for me.  I will even play by myself in nobody wants to play.  I bat the balls all around the living room, some going under the furniture, where I will squeeze under to retrieve them.  But my favorite game is carrying my ball to the top of the basement steps and pushing it down.  I like to watch it bounce down…then go after it and do it over and over.  It is great fun! 

After this play time, I usually go to my bench and look out the window. I will go to the front windows in the daytime because there are a bunch of chipmunks living under the porch and they come right out where I can scold them. They never get scared, but I tell them anyway. When it is really nice out, I get to go outside and play in my yard. First though, I need some grass, so chomp on some of that. I have some favorite spots to graze, unless some animal at night messed it up. I wear my collar with my name, address, and that on it and get tied to a stake in the yard with a ton of rope. I can walk all over the backyard, but can’t leave my yard. That is okay…I get scared because there are a lot of dogs that sometimes are running loose. David stays out with me to keep me safe and then I usually lay on the concrete wall in the sun and snooze

It is nearing noon and it’s almost lunchtime.  I just sit in the sun relaxing, sometimes dozing off on the bench by my window.  Afternoons are quiet.  David is usually working at his computer, so I sit on the bed or the computer desk watching him, and then fall asleep.  David joins me much of the time, and we take a nice, long nap together!  I get up sometimes to wander around and maybe get a snack or see what is going on in the house.

My family goes to sleep around 10 PM, but David works late, almost to midnight. I usually fall asleep on his bed and the next thing I know, he is in the bed with me sound asleep. We sleep all night until the next morning when that other person gets up at dawn. My days are pretty much the same, but I am happy, well fed, and have a nice, warm, safe place to live. Most of all, I have people that really love me! I finally am in my 'Forever Home' That is the best of all!

Thank you for reading my story...good-bye!