Li'l Scoopia

Jeff and I have two cats in our little apartment. One is a giant named Professor Marvel (bonus points if you know what that's from!) who goes by Marv, the other is a normal sized cat named Livia.

                                                          Marv is the black one

I got Marv when I was teaching on the Pine Ridge reservation. I picked him out from the Humane Society, but really, he chose me. While I was trying to decide which cat to look at first in the cat room, Marv stuck out his paw to tap my arm. When I got him out he immediately nuzzled into my neck - how could I say no! Since I've gotten him, the poor guy has suffered through tapeworm, round worm (maybe? I don't remember), and now asthma. I've just started giving him an inhaler twice daily...probably a post on that to follow.

Livia we got after we moved to Lincoln. The first year I had Marv my roommate also had a cat, and I figured he was lonely now. A month or so after moving, I finally convinced Jeff to just go look at some cats at the Humane Society here...just so we could think about getting one! Of course we ended up with Livia that same day. Little did we know she has a slight heart problem, but nothing major.

Needless to say, they provide us with endless amusement. They love to run, jump, cuddle, and burrow under the blankets. In fact I'm typing this now with Marv on my lap and his head covering the keyboard. We of course have many many nicknames for them - Marvy, Marvejandro, Marvecito, Barfy, Poopies, Poopia, Biteya. Livia got her nickname Li'l Scoopia after an interesting morning a few weeks ago...

I have a fountain for our cats and Livia LOVES that thing. Every time I fill it up, no matter where she is in the house, she will come running up to sit and watch. Afterward she'll sit there, watching the fountain, occasionally batting at it, sticking her paws in the bowl. She does this a lot.

One morning I was sort of half awake, but the alarm hadn't gone off yet so I was still in bed. I could hear Livia enthusiastically splashing in the fountain, but I didn't think much of it. My alarm goes off and there's Livia, in my face, paws soaking wet. I get up to feed the poopies and follow Livia into the kitchen. Now, I know she's just a cat, but I swear she looked so proud, prancing around, looking back at me...but why? I walk into the kitchen to find the floor covered in water. It seemed like it was flooded. My first thought was the kitchen sink, since we'd had an issue with that before, but it wasn't that. I look over to the cat fountain to see it's completely empty. Practically dry. And there was Li'l Scoopia was just standing there, looking up at me, so proud. "Meow??" She had spent the morning scooping every last drop of water out of that fountain.

Thankfully it hasn't happened since.