Nearly Two Years With Ivy

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It’s hard to believe that Ivy has been living with Charlie and me for nearly two years now. She both drives us nuts, and we love her to pieces.

First Few Months With Ivy:

Since I got the cat tower for Ivy and play fetch with her most days, Ivy has been losing a bit of weight. She jumps up to the top of that cat tower with the ease of a leopard in the jungle leaping into a tree.

And just for old times’ sake, I looked up photos of Ivy when she first came to live with us. Please indulge me for a little trip down memory lane. I take lots and lots of photos of my babies.

Being the proud mama that I am, of course, I have taken lots of photos to share with you.

Ivy & Her Swirly Toys & Playing Fetch:

And when she brings me a swirly toy to play fetch, she runs after it with all she’s got. Often, she runs fast and slides right into the furniture. But this does not deter her.

I came across photos of Ivy the very first month she lived here, in October 2018. She looks much smaller. But just as mischievous.

It’s funny. When she strolls back to me with the swirly toy in her mouth, she looks like the cat that ate the canary. She looks really proud of herself.

Ivy strides toward me with finesse. Like she’s practiced for this moment all of her life. And she taught me to play fetch, instead of the other way around.

This is Charlie this morning, greeting you with his tongue hanging out as usual.

While I was out yesterday, I picked up a scratching pole, which she loves. I’m trying to teach her not to scratch things I don’t want scratched.

Watching Out The French Doors:

Ivy loves to sit at the French doors and stare out at the bird bath just a few feet away. She gets really excited when the sparrows all swoop in at once.

I suppose that equates to Ivy TV. Plus, the water fountain is just on the other side of the glass, so she can watch and hear that. Ivy loves water.

Because she gets so much exercise now, she really values her naps.

Ivy is sneaky and mischievous. She likes to steal things and hide them from me. Sometimes I look all over the apartment and still can’t figure out where she hid it.

Ivy and Charlie became buddies quickly. He still snaps at her if she bothers him. He’s an old guy, and she’s a youngster, so it makes sense.

Yesterday I dropped Charlie off at the vet’s office to have a cyst removed from his ear. If you look closely at the right-hand photo below of him, you can see where they shaved part of his ear.

This was October 2018, right after she became part of our family. Charlie looks like he’s caught up in a hostage situation.

“Whatever have you gotten us into?” he seems to be saying as he stares at me, practically bug-eyed with alarm.

Charlie is a good sport as we watched Ivy and her endless shenanigans. As long as she doesn’t dare to touch him. Which she still attempts to do now and then. He snaps at her, and she rears back and stares at him as if he’s gone off his rocker.

Ivy likes to get up on the table and watch the birds pecking around on the patio on the other side of the glass. Her regular daily episodes of bird TV.

Ivy Deals With Unknown Callers:

I don’t answer the phone unless it’s someone I know. Most of the phone calls I get are from businesses I don’t wish to talk to.

Yesterday I got one of those calls, and after seeing it was another one, I sat right where I am now and ignored it.

When the lady began to leave a message, Ivy hopped over from her spot on the table and swiped the phone off its base.

I put it back. The lady was still talking, and Ivy swiped it off again. She did this until they hung up.

That’s a good way of dealing with annoying calls, I guess. Just like Ivy takes care of the flying insects, now she can deal with phone calls. She’s a good little assistant when she isn’t getting into things.

I wadded up a piece of notebook paper and threw it down for her to play with. Charlie is shredding it with his jaws. (His two teeth are in the back, so I don’t know if they came into play.)

I am becoming accustomed to reading my book in bed and having a cat’s butt swish in front of my face.

I find she likes to put things in the bathtub.

She regularly dismembers crickets. I find legs and legless bodies on the floor. Hopefully, she will also take care of the gnats that terrify Charlie.

Ivy likes to run across the keyboard of this laptop, messing up the settings. Then I have to try to figure out how to fix them.

Ivy is Redecorating:

I was sitting here typing, and Charlie tattled…“Mom, Ivy’s in trouble again!”

He seems to be saying: “Well, aren’t you going to do something? Ivy’s knocking things over and dragging things off.”

Please calm down, Charlie. The vet told me not to let you get excited because it makes you cough more.

Ivy’s just a nosy Nellie. And it’s entertaining to watch her. So I’ll let her redecorate for a bit.

She loved those swirly toys from day one. And she plays with them more than with any of her many toys.

These are what she brings to me to play fetch.

She is into everything. And she will pick something up and drag it off if she can. And she’ll hide it and one day I’ll stumble across it again.

For the first months Charlie still had that “deer caught in the headlights” look.

I have not been able to create one single vignette without Ivy deciding to rearrange things more to her liking.

The below photo was when I began to notice that Ivy was obsessed with watching tree leaves scuttle about.

Ivy became Charlie’s heroine when he saw her catch the flies that so terrified him.

Ivy Brings My Joy & Laughter:

Ivy immediately infused this home with humor and joy.

From the very first night when I woke up to go to the bathroom and found that she’d crammed a dead cricket into the toe of one of my slippers, I knew we were in for quite a ride.

And let me tell you, there’s still never a dull moment with Ivy around.