This one's from ME. (Too many cut & pastes, huh?)

I'm almost out of library time, but I had to write this down before I forgot it. I wanted to post about Hoarding. This term hasn't always been, it seems to have leapt into conversations just in the last few years. I can see where many other diagnoses would apply to this one (What IS Hoarding, technically??), but several years ago I had a brush with my own undeniable Hoarding tendencies.
When I was a child, we had a cat, Kitty, and she was my best friend through a lot of craziness and tears. Then in high school, my Bff and I adopted a pair from the Humane Society, and things were GOOD. Baby & Bruno were awesome and they kept our family balanced for many years. Then, eventually I was the ADULT in the home, and the pet decisions fell on me. I had Twiggy (tabby cat), who'd joined up with me in Florida, and come back up north with the boys & I. Then I got a job at the local Animal Clinic-perfect for an animal lover, right?! Um, not so much. I learned WAY more of the behind-the-scenes goings-on than I really ever wanted to know. I understand that anyone who deals with health issues, in general, has to develop a thick skin in order to handle the potential emotions that result from such close proximity to their patients. I learned a great many things there, that I'm glad I know. I was able, for example, to give Twig a "Sub-Q" shot once, and I do NOT like shots. (No one was injured, fyi)
I also learned that one of the side-effects of working in an animal clinic is the addition to your critters at home. (Enter Lacey.) So there were 2 cats. Lacey, btw, became my absolutely bff-maybe even moreso than any humans, but can't say for sure.
Things were good with 2 cats, myself, and my 2 boys. We moved into a house (rent-to-own, supposedly), so we got another cat. (Hopi) You see where this is going, right?

Ok, so it became fairly obvious to me that I was entering the CRAZY CAT LADY zone. I decided that if I was going to continue collecting cats, they'd need to stop being the living kind.   

SO, I began collecting porcelain cats, wooden cats, and generally whatever kind I saw that warmed my heart and was not BREATHING. It worked for a while. Then we moved and I packed up most of the collection.

Long story short, The Big Guy and I achieved the 3 cat mark just a week ago today. SIGH. Yes, they're wonderful, YES, I adore them and all of thier little quirks...But fer cryin' out loud, we live in a TINY apartment!! So, without further adeu, I will show you the little beauty that schmoozed her way into our hearts last week. (She was dumped off, apparently. IDIOTS)

I named her Perty, because, well, you'll see. The eldest boy calls her Lollipop, because I referred to her being a munchkin at first, and, you get the connection (Lollipop Guild).  Just ignore the colored-on arm by her head. The Big Guy IS the one who brought her in, and she appears to be a seriously Man's cat. LoL

Floozy.



"come hither", right?!



How are things shaping up @ your place?