IndulgedFurries.com - Indulged Cats

Those of us who live a less than indulged life always know where the pet lovers live. She'd have a box of cat food on hand, pet me, and make sure I was ok, but she didn't consider me "hers". A little while later I noticed two cats were living in her house. She had adopted two cats of her own (Felix and Smokey). She was still nice to me, but didn't let me come in the house because she didn't want her Indulged Indoor Kitties exposed to any of my outdoor germs.

But then everything changed.

One day mom found me under her car looking very sick and with a large abscess on my ear. She scooped me up and took me to the vet. The vet treated and released me, but said I needed 10 days of medicine and care. Was this my chance at becoming an Indulged Furry? She took me home and brought me inside the Indulged Furry House. I was put in solitary confinement in a bedroom, but that was ok. I was in the Indulged Furry House! For two weeks I took medicine and had my ear tended to. Mom didn't intend to keep me. She was nervous about my outdoor germs and if I would get along with Felix and Smokey. Her plan was to get me feeling better and find me a new home of my very own. But I had other plans. After a few weeks of caring for me, I won her over. She promised me that I would always have a "mommy" and I would always be a member of the Indulged Furry Family. It was September, 1995. I was a lucky kitty, and I knew it.

Being an Indulged Furry meant living an indoor life. Mom's best guess is that I was 5 years old. 5 years of freedom and now I was cooped up. I was stir-crazy at first but I had lots of comfortable beds, ample food, and a new kitty brother and sister to get to know. Despite mom's worries, I got along fine with Felix and Smokey, but. I did have to learn how to play nicely with my new siblings. When living outside, a cat who is running towards you probably means trouble. Mom figures I was on the losing end of a fight when I got my ear injury. I had to get used to the idea that when Felix or Smokey stalked or chased me, it was just to play. Smokey doesn't play with me much, but Felix and I like to be rough and tumble boys. We chase each other through the house and occasionally leave tufts of fur behind. But it's all in good fun and we don't hurt each other. I also had to learn to trust dogs. During my outdoor life, dogs scared and chased me and I was terrified of them.

Occasionally a cat-friendly dog visited our house and I tried to be "invisible" slinking across the living room floor in super-slow motion to safety under the couch. Ed and Bentley sleeping But I soon learned that mom would only allow one or two dogs into our house, and they had impeccable "kitty manners". It would surprise most people to know that a short time after Bentley joined the family he became my best friend. I even let him lick my back.

I like having a doggy brother because he has beds, toys, and lots of other "indulgences" that I can take advantage of. Bentley doesn't mind sharing his bed with me, and he even lets me have the soft pillow part. We have an understanding that I'm the boss, and even though it's technically his bed, I get to use it. If push came to shove and I wasn't sharing nicely, mom would scoot my furry backside off his bed. After all, Bentley has to have something of his very own and we kitties get the couch and human bed!
Ed with Bentley's tennis ball
Bentley also shares some of his toys with me. Most of them are too big and heavy, but I like borrowing his tennis balls. They are perfectly sized for attacking, and the texture is great to exercise your claws. If you don't believe me, try this: bat a tennis ball around a bit like it's trying to escape from you. Then, pounce on the ball, roll onto your back and hold the ball steady in your front paws and give it a few good "killing whacks" with your back paws. It's good exercise and reminds me of what I would have done to the mouse I found had mom not stolen it from me! I'll tell you about that shameful incident later. You won't believe what my mom did to me!

In our second home the back yard was kitty escape proof, so we were allowed in the yard when mom was home. It was always nice to go out and enjoy nibbling on some fresh grass, hiding in the bushes, or on a hot summer day, taking a drink from Bentley's wading pool. I had to be careful to not fall in, and despite my lack of grace or agility, I managed. Since Bentley and I are such good friends he doesn't mind that I drink from his water bowl. It's a good stretch for me to reach the elevated platform, but for some reason I really enjoy drinking from it.

Remember, my life is one of indulgence, so if I'm in the mood for fresh water, I have mom fill me a glass and I drink from it. I often tip over glasses if I can't reach the water, so my owners have to be careful not to leave any tall glass glasses out where I can get into them. My glasses are short and plastic and mom fills them to the top so I can easily drink from them.

Felix, Smokey and I often snuggle up on the couch together. I don't mind snoozing with them, but I also enjoy stretching out on the couch after a hard day of walking all the way to my kibble bowl. There's nothing like having the whole couch to yourself! The couch is nice, but my favorite place to lay is on my mom's tummy or up against her head. So what if she has to turn her head sideways so she doesn't suffocate in my dense fur! I'm 15 years old now and I still try to nuzzle up and get her hair like I did when I was a young kitty, but she doesn't like that. When I get happy I drool, and her hair makes me very happy. She understands that she's my surrogate kitty mom and I'm just nuzzling in for comfort, but drool in her hair is a bit of a turn off. I guess I can understand that. I'm not terribly fond of the wet streak that Bentley leaves after he licks my back. Sometimes she indulges me in a good hair nuzzling if she's getting ready to take a shower. Then the drool doesn't matter because her hair will get really wet anyway!

Smokey, Felix, Ed

Ed lounging on the couch

Dad Toys, Toys, Toys calls me lots of goofy names, teases me and says he doesn't like me, but he's just joking. I think he doesn't like that I sit on the sports section when he's trying to read the newspaper! But seriously, since he's allergic to me and the other kitties, he can't play with us as much as he plays with the dog. But we still have lots of fun together. One day he was making fun of how lazy and furry I was. He called me a "beached whale" and he piled some of my toys on me. I can't help it that I have so much fur that I can't feel when something is laying on me. Granted, I could show a little interest or energy and roll over to get the toys off, but why? I'm indulged, and if I want to lay around doing absolutely nothing, I'm entitled to that! I get my exercise walking to the food bowl or following you trying to get a bit of my favorite treats... a piece of graham cracker, the breading part of a Fig Newton cookie...I Love those things, Beef Jefky....YUMMY!!!!! And if you don't watch your glass, I might try to wash it down with a lick of your beer.

Remember how I said playing with a tennis ball is kind-of like killing a prey item and once mom stole a mouse from me? Well, here's the story. Since I spent my younger years outdoors, I'm a fairly skilled hunter. But once I was adopted into the Indulged Furry House I decided hunting for kibble in my bowl was about as energetic as I wanted to be.Sure, I entertain myself with an occasional "tennis ball kill" or romp with Felix, but only when it suits me. So one day I'm feeling energetic and lo and behold, there's a mouse in the house. I don't know how it got in the house, but it was hiding under the vacuum cleaner and I was sitting patiently waiting for the little critter to dare come out. Since I'm terrified of the vacuum and the noise it makes, Mom couldn't figure out why I was sitting next to it. She tipped it back to wheel it away and out ran the mouse. I Pounced! I didn't pounce on the mouse....that would be too easy. I pounced my big furry paws on both sides of the little vermin and scared him into a "freeze". I kept him there while mom ran and grabbed a small trash can. I thought mom and I were working as a team and she motioned me to back up...so I did. Before I knew it she had scooped the mouse into the trash can and let him go outside! Hamsters are scary I couldn't believe she stole my prey. Still in disbelief, I looked in the corners and under the couch, but he was nowhere to be found. I can't believe she snatched the little intruder from my clutches and let him live! Oh, I would have liked to have felt his warm little body in my furry grasp! Next time I'm not letting her know I've trapped something and she can go hunt her own prey and then let it go.

You may have seen that we have Indulged Hamsters in our house. Hamsters scare me. These are not mouse-like prey items that you can hunt. Apparently they are part of the Indulged Furry family and are Indulged like the rest of us. They live safely inside a cage, and when they're let out in the house, they're inside a protective plastic ball. Those things are scary... big balls rolling at you and they don't stop until they crash into you. At least I have one cat perch that serves as a protective barrier from these little monsters. I would be happier in my Indulged Furry Home without hamsters, or at least hamsters that don't roll around in balls!

I think it's obvious that I've taken the indulgence of lazing around and turned it into an art form. My family and friends know me for doing "The Ed", laying across the back of the couch, or on one of my logs, and letting my body relax and flatten so I look like a big Bear-skin rug. That's how I got the nickname "Eddie Bear". One of my human friends even wrote a poem about me.