𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘋𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 🇳🇱🧀🌷 🐻🚺Ꮮꮖꮮ. Ᏼꭼꭺꭱ 27/4/19 tabby 🦋🚺Ꮖɴdy 24/3/20 golden 🐻❄️🚹Ꮻꮲꮖꭼ 4/4/21 silver 🐈⬛🚹Ꮐꭼꮻꭱꮐꮖꭼ 14/8/22 black
Four Cats, How It All Started
Purr purr, hi cat lovers around the world! We are Little Bear (four years old), Indy (three years old), Opie (two years old) and Georgie (almost one-year-old). We live with our meowmy Day and pawpaw Jeroen in Berkel en Rodenrijs, the Netherlands. All four of us are British Shorthair cats.
Pawpaw and meowmy previously had dogs but fell in love with the British Shorthair breed after they adopted their first cat Teddy, a British Shorthair, from the shelter. After the dogs died, Teddy was feeling lonely. Therefore, Day and Jeroen took in another cat, Little Bear.
Unfortunately, Teddy died suddenly after a short period. Thus, Little Bear, who was not yet six months old, was alone.
The Super Cute Cat: Little Bear (LB)
Day and Jeroen's decision upon Litte Bear’s (LB for short) name was influenced by her appearance. As soon as they saw her adorable face they thought that the kitten looked like a super cute little bear.
LB is a very affectionate, sweet and somewhat silly kitten. Hence, LB sometimes needs a bit of guidance so, it became clear to cat pawrents Day and Jeroen that LB was missing a buddy. That was when they decided to welcome Indy into their family.
Indy, the Scary Cat
Day and Jeroen had some pretty nasty feelings regarding the breeder's way of parenting and communicating. Indy's breeder did not respond to Day and Jeroen’s questions.
Worse, the breeder breeds cats in large numbers and does not familiarise cats with social interactions. On top of that, the breeder refused to give any statements regarding Indy’s troubles hearing.
Despite all of these misfortunes, the kitten proved herself to be an independent and brave girl, so Day and Jeroen decided to name her Indy from independent.
Despite her independent nature, Indy loves some company so she was immediately drawn to her new sister, LB. After all, they say opposites attract and this was no truer than in the case of LB and Indy. In no time, they have become close friends.
Cat pawrents Day and Jeroen sometimes call her Miss Scaredy, Shy Girl or Pewpew because Indy makes such strange noises especially around humans whom she still does not like that much. In fact, Indy is not very sociable with people outside her family.
Since LB is a gentle cat and Indy is a bit antisocial, Day and Jeroen started looking for a male cat that can bring some harmony to the household. That is how Opie came into the lives of LB, Indy, Day and Jeroen.
Opie, The Thought Cat
Opie is named after a tough guy in the Netflix series Sons of Anarchy, which depicts the adventures of a biker gang. Unlike Indy, Opie came from a small-scale breeder, who raised him super well.
Opie is social, incredibly sweet, super playful and a born leader! Oh there is a lot of laughter in Berkel en Rodenrijs about this little guy and his special way of sitting and standing. When the cat sits, his pawrents joke that it is reminiscent of Al Bundy’s mannerisms in the TV series Married with Children.
On the other hand, when Opie stands up he does it like a meerkat. Finally, Opie is also known for his crazy POWPOW.
Opie is truly an asset to everything and everyone in the house. Nevertheless, his energy and playfulness sometimes do not match the slow LB or the anxious Indy. That is why Day and Jeroen started looking for a brother who could accompany Opie in his adventures.
Georgie, The Aristocrat Cat
This is how Georgie joined the family.. Georgie is a jet-black British Shorthair with an aristocratic air. He is named after Prince George of England because of his distinct facial expressions.
Unfortunately, Georgie is the least popular of the four cats. When they documented Georgie’s arrival in their family on Instagram, some of their followers were not very thrilled at the sight of a black British Shorthair.
Day and Jeroen received even more hatred because of the intense love between Georgie and Opie.
At first, Day and Jeroen found this rather annoying, but with time they learnt to ignore unwarranted negativity. They find all cats beautiful, no matter what colour shape or disability.
The Harmonious Furriendship between Two Male Cats
Opie and Georgie turned out to be a purrfect match. They play and cuddle all day long. Day and Jeroen even say that the two are inseparable like Yin and Yang.
Georgie copies Opie’s behaviour and he MUST always be around him. Day and Jeroen have never experienced such an intense friendship between cats!
Indy's Back
With the arrival of Georgie, the atmosphere in the house became really fun and relaxed. However, not everything is rosy as Indy turned out to be sick. After a rudimentary check-up, the vet concludedthat Indy suffers from a hernia. Further investigations revealed that Indy’s initial diagnosis was wrong. Indy suffers from a condition called triaditis.
According to researcher Jacqueline Brister, DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine), triaditis is a condition in cats in which they are simultaneously affected with three separate diseases: pancreatitis, cholangitis, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) [ see: Triaditis in Cats, Jacqueline Brister, 08/03/2020 on the website of Veterinary Partner].
Brister underlines that veterinary scientists are not sure why this happens to cats, especially because cats can have one disease, such as pancreatitis, without having the other diseases.
This malformation was most likely congenital, so Day and Jeroen blame the breeder for carelessness. When Day and Jeroen confronted the breeder about that they simply told them to give Indy back as long as she was not spayed yet. Naturally, Day and Jeroen refused as they realised that the breeder was a greedy saleswoman.
Determined to offer Indy a comfortable life, Day and Jeroen agreed to have her on painkillers as her back is inoperable. Although all four cats are insured, the medication Indy now receives is not reimbursed.
Next to triaditis, they discovered Indy is also suffering from pica. According to Michael Kearley, DVM, Pica is defined as the consistent chewing, sucking, or consumption of inappropriate and inedible materials, most commonly seen with cardboard, fabric, paper, plants, plastic, rubber, soil, and wood [see: Pica in Cats, Michael Kearley, 03/04/2023 on the website of PetMD].
Because of pica, Indy had undergone a surgery. The costs for treatment are now at 8875 euros (of which 3000 euros was covered by insurance) and there are two more ultrasound echos for her treatment to come.
As the bills are piling up they started a gofundme campaign. If you want to help Day and Jeroen you can access the gofundme and donate money for Indy’s medication.
To help raise money, Cat meowmy Day makes funny images on the Instagram account teddybearsterrible_edits. Day hates receiving money for free, so she tries to offer something in return for every donation made.
Cat Wishes
Day and Jeroen wish that all cats, of any colour and with any disability would have as nice a home as LB, Indy, Opie and Georgie do. In an ideal universe, all cats would have access to medication for free.
They also hope that the breeding of cats for profit will be abolished. Finally, they also hope that there will be more control and regulation over the breeding of cat breeds from umbrella organizations.
Till dreams become reality, Day works hard to turn her social media activities into her full-time job and use these earnings to help other kitties. If you want to follow Day’s journey to success or Little Bear, Indy, Opie and Georgie’s daily adventures you can do so on Instagram here.
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