A Tale of Two Kitties

Happy New Year!  I have a good feeling about 2014 don't you?  I probably have most of the same resolutions I usually have but I have added a few more and this may be the year I push myself to actually conquer a few of them!

Meet Jiggs.  He was dropped off near our house right after Thanksgiving.  It has been a roller coaster ride with Jiggs, to say the least.  He was absolutely starving when we noticed him, rummaging through our garbage until he got at our turkey carcass.  He has the loudest, most obnoxious meow and the wildest front feet I have ever seen.  He looks like he has opposable thumbs.  We didn't know what to do with him.  We aren't really equipped to have an outdoor cat.  We only have a garage and it is closed up at night.  We live next door to the most animal-dangerous highway around.  I have a house cat Mickey who never goes outside and, at 6 years old, is very set in her ways and doesn't seem to care for other animals at all.   We started feeding Jiggs until we could set up alternate arrangements, looking for a home for him or, last resort, the ASPCA.  My 19 year old son, who volunteers at the local vet clinic and wants to be a groomer, took over the care of Jiggs in the garage.  My son was carrying the new bag of food we had just purchased at the grocery store and Jiggs bit him.  I have no idea where this cat has been and whether the lovely previous owners he had kept him up to date on his shots so I had to report it to my local vet clinic who had me call my local public health department.  I had two choices:  have him picked up by the dog warden where he would be quarantined for 10 days and then destroyed even if he was healthy or quarantine him myself for ten days.  A friend had a nice big cage we could borrow, so we quarantined him ourselves for 10 days.  At the end of the 10 days, we took him to our vet and had him get his shots and a check up.  We are thinking of getting him neutered, when we can save up the money, so hopefully he won't end up in the road by our house. So far he seems content to stay in the garage.  He took very well to the litter box when we had him in the cage, so we lock him in the garage at night.  He is very affectionate.  We realize that he bit Jake because he was starving and probably is used to fighting for whatever food he can get.  Jake made this observation right away and was devastated that we might decide to have Jiggs put down for his basic fear of starvation.
My husband named him Jiggs, by the way.  I have told him all the pets friends and family had when I was growing up by treating them like real people, giving the first and last names.  My godmother had a daschound when I was little named Jiggs.  He thought that was a riot so this stray cat was the first animal my husband was able to name in our family.  The ladies at the vet clinic had a few chuckles over it!

We are getting attached to Jiggs so I made him a collar.  I also hope you can see his front "mitten" foot in this picture.  Oh and I made my Mickey a couple of collars too!  So you can see I have a city cat and a country cat.

These collars are super easy to sew.  I got the idea from a wonderful animal lover who always seems to have room for one more- Susan at FlossieBlossoms  .

I have been on vacation these last 2 weeks.  We started the vacation with an ice storm and then we went right into Christmas so I haven't been as productive in my craft room as I would have liked but I got a few things done.  I made another watchband.

This is the fifth one I have made.  They are so easy and I love how much fun I can have with the fabrics.

I can also share the necklace I made for a good friend across the country from me.  

It matched the bracelet and earrings I sent her for her birthday.  I plan on winding down my vacation today by working on a few jewelry pieces.  It really relaxes me.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.  I have lots to do and I am excited to begin some different projects that will bring some new challenges with new skills to learn.  Stay warm and take care.  Nancy