My Pretty Kitties

Life has been a bit different without Beren.  I noticed that the cats quickly started playing more and more, especially out in the living room.  Beren used to stop them if they were running around too much so without him policing them, they've been going nuts.  Arien has been bugging Kira more than she used too.  She intentionally chases and attacks Kira more.  Kira has been way more cuddly, even to the extend of getting aggressive about it if I don't stop what I'm doing to show her love.  Both are seeking more attention that they used to be able to get from or direct towards Beren.  Obviously we all miss him.  All in all, I think we are all handling this new stage in our lives about as well as can be expected.  We bought a bunch of puff balls, and Kira has been so so so happy!

Goodbye Beren

 After years of waiting for a dog, I didn’t think when I finally got one, it would be for less than 5 years.  But after getting Beren and hearing the diagnosis of Ventricular Septal Defect when he was only a couple months old, I didn’t know what to expect anymore.  Truth is, in a lot of ways, it’s been a rough road for Beren and for us.  Last week we said goodbye, and I held him close as he was put to sleep.  Beren’s life never was very normal, especially for a Border Collie.  He was a great dog, forever studying me to learn my routines and patterns.  I’ve never seen a dog think the way Beren did.  I talked to him a lot, and I could reason with him.  He understood me so well.  Since he was blind in one eye, he liked to lean on me and stay close to me while I worked.  He pretended to be bold, but he was more of a scaredy cat.  Even though he wasn’t loud, the house seems so much quieter now.  I really miss him.

Expressive Arien

Arien is a very expressive cat.  It's really not that difficult to tell how she is feeling.  Normally her expression is a bit annoyed.  Hahahaha!  She's definitely the spoiled baby of the house.  😁

 

New Pics

I'm back!  Haha!  I am not sure why it took me months to get new pictures of Beren, Kira, and Arien or why I ended up waiting another month to actually post the pictures, but here we are.  😅  I think these are worth the wait.  I mean just look at how fluffy and crazy and cute they all are!  😍  I love these dumb dumbs even if they sometimes drive me insane and keep me from sleeping.  😂

Kira

I know Kira loved the recliner chair that we were borrowing, but she seems happy that she got her grey chair back.  😊

 

One Year Later

Caring for Arien as a tiny neonatal kitten was very difficult.  The sleep deprivation from waking up every 2 hours to use a syringe to feed her and baby wipes to help her pee hit me hard.  And for those that know me, I don't handle lack of sleep all that well.  😁  The first two months are a bit of a blur to me (thankfully I have just about a gazillion videos and pictures of her).  Caring for her got both progressively easier and harder at the same time.  On the one hand, as she transitioned to a bottle, then to wet food, and finally to kibble, she was easier to feed (although she took a surprisingly long time to learn how to drink water from a bowl).  But on the other hand, that transition also meant she needed help pooping as well as peeing, then she got constipated a couple times, and then eventually I had to be teach how to use a litter box, which was all tricky and at times very messy (she ended up having so many baths because that often seemed simpler than wipes).  As she grew, she was also harder to contain and she needed toys.  Since she didn't have siblings and Kira was avoiding her, I had to intentionally spend time playing with her between feedings, so I still didn't have much time to work.  I'm really not sure how I managed to get anything else done those first couple months, but I apparently did because many of my friends and family met her as a tiny kitten.  

Raising Arien was also a huge reward.  Hearing her purr for the first time, seeing her reaction to me waking her up to care for her, watching her figure out how to walk, run, climb and jump, and having her follow me around the house so she could sleep in my lap while I worked were all experiences I cherish.  And ultimately, I know that I saved her life and that made it all worth it.  So here's to getting through 1 year with my little kitten and her precious mittens.  😊

 

I LOVE the look on Arien's face in the first one and the look on Kira's face in the second one.  I think they were upset that I was making them share the chair.  😂