Turning 10 isn’t easy for a cat!
I can remember the day at the SPCA when we found Phoebe sitting alone in a cage! She was the size of my palm of my hand and such a loveable little kitten! I mostly remember her large eyes and very fluffy hair. Of course, coming from the SPCA she had the repertory pneumonia and very sick. The Vets said that if she had been brought to the veterinary clinic a day or two later that she probably would not have survived (she was that sick). I remember sitting in her “sick cat room” and watching the first reports about Princess Dianna crashing in the tunnel. From that point we have always consider Phoebe as a princess in the honor of Princess Dianna!!
A few years later my mother found Lazy (the white one my mother calls Lacy) at the SPCA and fell in love with her. Phoebe took Lazy under her paw and the two became best of friends. They lived with my mother for most of their life and once my mother had remarried, she adopted a dog into the house. These cats that had run the house for too long just wouldn’t put up with this new intruder. Since they have always lived inside, they had never experienced a life with a dog and so they went into hiding for over two months! It broke my mother’s heart but she asked if they could come live with me!! To this day I still tell everyone “These are my mother’s cats . . . . that I take care of . . . . feed them . . . . clean their litter box . . . . . .and comb them . . .”!
We don’t know her exactly what day Phoebe was born on but we do know that it was sometime in the month of June 1997. I would like to wish this purring machine a happy 10 years old birthday (no idea how old she is in cat years).
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 
What beautiful kitties your Mom has! It’s good of you to care for them so well.
Love that last profile- lovely.
12 June 2007 at 1:57 pm
Since cats have 9 lives, 10 would be 1.1 years old in cat years 🙂
Wonderful story and pics.
12 June 2007 at 3:37 pm
Sneezing just looking at her but what gorgeous pictures! That last one of her eye! Wow!
Happy Birthday, Princess Phoebe!
12 June 2007 at 3:50 pm
Happy Birthday Dear Princess Phoebe – she’s such a nice, furry kitty Tom (as is Lazy)! And she (they) poses sooo well for you (unlike my Mom’s cat)!
12 June 2007 at 4:59 pm
I love her expression in the picture with Lazy. Those wide, bright eyes and big smile are wonderful.
12 June 2007 at 5:07 pm
They are beautiful cats! We share our house with 3 humane- society-adopted cats. We just love them. They are so much a part of our lives.
12 June 2007 at 6:23 pm
Oh what lovely cats–whose ever they are.
I love the supreme satisfaction look on their faces.
You may have heard this expression: dogs have masters; cats have staff.
That is certainly true in our house!
12 June 2007 at 7:45 pm
Happy Birthday Phoebe! What lovely photos, especially that last one! How do you do it?
12 June 2007 at 9:00 pm
Oh, my goodness. YOUR cats are beauties. I was just at Nature Woman’s site and expressed my desire to have a cat again… Ten is not old. I wish you many more years of purring, playing, and head bumps. Your cat photos are incredibly good! Makes me want another…
12 June 2007 at 9:43 pm
Happy Birthday Phoebe! They’re beautiful cats! I love long hair cats, but, though I’m normally allergic to short hair cats, I’m horribly allergic to ones with long hair.
12 June 2007 at 10:15 pm
What pretty kitties! They look like perfect angels! Isn’t amazing how fast the time goes by? It seems like a few months ago they were just little kittens and all of a sudden they’re 10 years old.
My kitty turned 11 this year, and she still brings a smile to my face every day with her kitty antics. She was raised with our dogs, so she thinks she’s a dog.
12 June 2007 at 10:54 pm
My oldest cat is 11 this year, too. A stray with worms and no body fat.
Phoebe is a sweetie! Give her a nose rub for me.
12 June 2007 at 11:52 pm
Mon@rch – you’ve done it again. How do you capture such beauty? But of course, these cats are beautiful already. Great shots of your mom’s cats. My daughter and I have 4 cats, 3 of them are siblings and look nothing alike, and they just celebrated their 11th birthdays back in May. And thank goodness – they are all healthy indoor cats. (My other kitty is my 8-yr old “baby” adopted from the humane society.)
13 June 2007 at 1:52 am
Happy birthday to Phoebe! What a lovely thing to take in your mom’s kitties. They are both very regal and sat beautifully for their portraits!
13 June 2007 at 7:17 am
Beautiful cat – and a great story. Always good to hear about rescued animals. Bob Barker would be proud (assuming you spayed them).
13 June 2007 at 2:00 pm
Happy Birthday, Princess Phoebe! From Henry (he’s smitten), Finn, Skanky and Janie.
13 June 2007 at 4:52 pm
Thanks everyone for your kind words about Phoebe and her birthday! I will be sure to pass along your kind words (and a few pets for you)!! Well except for those allergic! You all ROCK!
13 June 2007 at 9:36 pm
Smokey came from the shelter also. He was probably born in June or July of 2005. I didn’t know that about the pneumonia but he did have a cold when we brought him home. He has become so much a part of our family that I couldn’t imagine living without him, especially for a dog. He has been declawed and never wants to go back out into the world. It is wonderful that your Mama’s cats became yours. Happy Birthday to Phebe!
16 June 2007 at 6:17 pm
I’m just catching up with my blogging and dropped in to find your wonderful pictures from frogs to macro pictures of bird eyes and then this beautiful post about Phoebe. What a beautiful lucky cat.
25 June 2007 at 9:12 pm