u/squeezeboxcryptid

It's love 🥹🥹🥹 I wondered if she might have been startled by a noise in the hallway at the end, but it seemed she just realized it was time to practice the cello. She's still mostly sticking to her safe corner, but now she's coming out for pets whenever we offer them (she even ignored a Churu so she could give us more headbutts), she explored the living room while we were asleep and used the litter box, and she continues to make biscuits even on hard surfaces. I'm convinced it's her idle animation.

this cat is something else. I'm so honored that she chose us to spring her from the shelter after a whole year, and so grateful for the rescue volunteers who gave extra TLC to this sweet tortie during that year at the shelter until she felt safe enough to stop hiding and introduce herself.

Going to a local rescue yesterday, we had planned to meet three other kitties that the volunteers thought might be good fits for us based on our application. Then I offered this tortie girl my hand for a sniff, and she responded with aggressive head butts and making biscuits on the cat tree. My fiance did the same and she also approved of him.

The volunteer on duty was floored. She told us this cat was two years old and had been at the shelter for over a year after being transported from Florida; she'd only started seeking out affection and playtime from the volunteers in the last few months and still tended to get sidelined by the more outgoing cats; and she had never shown this much interest in visitors before.

~21 hours later, she has decided the space on the second floor landing between my fiance's guitar case and the bookshelf is safe. She's not too sure about exploring yet, but she's purring while accepting pets, attempting to make biscuits on the hard floor, and starting to rub her little face on the bookshelf and briefly venture out to eat. 🥹

EDIT: her shelter name was ShellieMae, which sounded way too much like Sallie Mae for our comfort. She let us know via slow blink that her name shall now be Cinnamon.

I'm just beginning my dress search in earnest. If this dress that I recently spotted in a vintage store had actually fit me, it might just have been my dream dress, but my 42-inch bust was more than it could handle so I didn't dare try it on. The shop owner estimated it was from the 1940s.

Because it's vintage, I'm not looking for precise "dupes", but I know I want an off-white lace dress with this silhouette. I don't love the buttons down the front so I'm not looking to replicate that, and I'm a little flexible on the sleeves - flutter sleeves are also nice.

Budget: $1200
Country: USA
Wedding date: Sept 12 2027

Wanted to share some scenes from the life of my spicy-sweet calico girl Kaija, who made me a paw parent when she chose me at the shelter in 2015. We had almost 11 wonderful years together, during which she:

* Converted one of my cat-skeptical roommates into a cat person, so much so that when we moved out of that shitty apartment, that roommate intentionally looked for a cat-friendly studio and soon afterwards adopted a rescue of her own.

* Preferred to just hang out in the same room as people while ignoring them for a few years, then deciding she was a selective lap cat just a few months before the pandemic hit

* Comforted me through several heartbreaks, tense roommate situations, and historical events including but not limited to aforementioned pandemic

* Helped defuse a few of those tense roommate situations simply by being cute.

* Stole several slices of smoked salmon off my bagels when I turned my back.

* Bamboozled several people, including veterinary professionals, into thinking she was at least four years younger than she probably actually was.

* Gave my now-fiance her seal of approval by sitting on his lap shortly after they met, eventually growing to prefer his lap over mine. It was a significant and meaningful step in our relationship three years in when I added him to her file at the vet's office, saying that he could make any decision that I might make about her care.

* Got bored with any toy I tried to entertain her with, but caught several mice in the old houses we lived in, always protesting when I took their bodies away

* Developed a reputation as a terror at the vet's office in her later years, which was only bolstered by the fact that gabapentin and even trazodone barely had any effect on her.

* Refused any and all of the kidney-care foods we tried to phase her onto after she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. We tried phasing it with regular food; we tried putting FortiFlora on it, and sometimes she'd eat it for a few days, but as soon as I ordered enough of it to last a few weeks, she'd reject it entirely. My attitude towards that was welp, if Grandma wants her steak and red wine instead of what the doctor wants her to eat, it's most important that she eat at all...!

* Gave my fiance the best birthday present he'd never dare to ask for last weekend, jumping in his lap and snuggling with him for half of "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" after we'd thought she might be too uncomfortable to sit in laps.

Kaija passed peacefully at home this morning with the help of an in-home hospice vet, which was a godsend given her hatred of the cat carrier and the vet's office. She was surrounded by love, and everything smelled familiar, and she wasn't afraid. I miss her more than I can express. Every day with her was a gift. I wish we'd had more of them, but I'm grateful for those we got. Rest well, you brave, beautiful girl.

Scenes from the past year with my spicy-sweet, young at heart calico girl, who fooled the shelter workers into thinking she was "between 1 and 3" in 2015 when it was actually more like "between 6 and 8". How old is she really? She will never tell.

For 10 years and 8 months together, she was an adorable, chaotic force of nature -- jumping on any surface she could reach, terrorizing anyone over 6' that crossed her path (and some under it as well), and making a lap visit feel like the highest honor. She decided my fiance's lap was superior to mine several years ago, and has continued to give him her seal of a-purr-oval.

Two weeks ago she lost interest in most food, and her labs indicated her chronic kidney disease, which we'd been managing for over three years, has reached end-stage. We've been doing our best to keep her comfortable with meds (Mirtaz and Cerenia) and subcutaneous fluids, and giving her as much love as she can tolerate; her textbook calico cattitude has only diminished slightly with her advanced age and illness. We thought she was done with lap time, but she surprised us on Saturday, my fiance's birthday, jumping into his lap and snuggling for almost the whole second half of "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen."

The effectiveness of the appetite stimulant seems to be waning, and she's only picked at food and accepted a few Churu since Monday. Kaija despises the vet's office above all things, so we have a hospice vet coming over tomorrow morning to see if there's anything more we can or should do to improve her quality of life without hospitalizing her. If there isn't, we'll send her across the rainbow bridge at home with a lot of sadness but hopefully no regrets, knowing she spent her last moments surrounded by love in the place where she's most comfortable.

EDIT: The hospice vet advised us that her old body was really out of resources, and she made it so long thanks to a combination of the fact that she's a fighter and we've been proactive about caring for her. She passed peacefully at home this morning with the hospice vet's assistance, showing no signs of fear or stress. She was ready to go. I'll miss you, my beautiful and brave girl.