Me
Mouser during his first few days after leaving Gunderland to live with Bill and me ... and Sammy and Miss Kitty.
Mouser was my dad’s (Deane Gunderson) cat/companion for the last two or three years before my dad passed away on July 1st.
On September 27th, Mother’s (Marion Gunderson) birthday, Mouser left my dad’s farm in northwest Iowa to travel to Perry in central Iowa to live with Bill and me … and Sammy and Miss Kitty.
Following our veterinarian’s advice, I purchased a kennel in which Mouser lived for his first almost-week in our garage. The kennel was Mouser’s home until, as our vet put it, the cats stopped hissing at each other. Actually, Sammy still utters a hiss every once in awhile. Mouser never hissed. Miss Kitty still growls a little.
Update: In the above paragraph I should have also said that each day during that first week when our other two cats were outside (i.e., couldn’t hiss at Mouser), Mouser came out of the kennel for several hours. During those times he had free reign of the garage, and also, attended by me, went for a few explorations outside.
Also, in the second photo, you can see one of my dad’s undershirts in the kennel with Mouser … to help Mouser (or maybe it was more to help me?) with his transition.
Mouser used to live on a flat-terrain farm on a gravel road and had free reign. He occasionally was invited by my dad into the house. Jumping on the kitchen counter was frowned upon by my dad, but…oh, Mouser was so loved that he never really got in trouble for it. Instead, his redirecting “punishment” might have been an invitation into the living room.
Now Mouser lives in a rural setting once again, but in a hilly subdivision on a rural but busy (compared to a gravel road) highway. An invitation into the house likely won’t happen (shhhh…unless Bill is away and somehow Mouser gets invited in!).
Not big news…unless you are at our house being entertained with the dynamics of Mouser trying to win the acceptance of two established-territory cats. The verdict is still out as to whether or not that complete acceptance will take place. I’ll keep you posted.
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Tomorrow or Friday I’ll post information about the second annual November open house showcasing prints of Mother’s watercolors. It will be the same basic information as the “November Open House” at this blog’s home page. Profits from sales of watercolor prints will go to the Rolfe Public Library Trust. Those profits will help support the digitization/online availability of 101 years of Rolfe newspapers. If you’d like to contribute to this project, but aren’t really interested in the prints, you may do so. Information on how to do so is at this link. We are trying to have funds raised by the end of November.
(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)
Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter) 
November 3, 2010 at 9:51 pm |
Mouser is a handsome fella and what a good boy not to so much as hiss as your other two. Give him an extra scritch for me.
November 5, 2010 at 5:15 pm |
Mouser looks a lot like Sunshine. I hope he can adapt to his new home.
My 15-year-old cat, Sunshine, subject of my first three children’s books (The Cat and Mouse Trilogy) had the house and us to herself until two years ago when I brought kittens into the house. Sunshine was depressed for over a year and now tolerates Punkin’s passing presence…if she passes fast enough. The other kittens found homes, but they will have their own book soon…”Four Kittens”.
Punkin was one of 4 born to Miss Kitty (Mrs. Tom Cat) in 2008. In 2009 Miss Kitty had two other boys – one was named Sammy and he now lives in Pocahontas with Calista Hammes. All of Tom’s kittens had white underbellies and legs like him and the “boy’s” father was mostly white with orange patches.
One day recently Roger saw Tom head to the farmstead across the road and when he reached the road, stopped and looked both ways before he crossed. I hope all our outside cats can figure that out and live long lives.
I’m looking forward to other news of Mouser.