Early this spring when Will and I were looking for a friend for Tigger (who has since gone on to the rainbow bridge – I couldn’t bring myself to write a post about it), we found lots of really cute, really sweet cats on petfinder that would’ve fit the bill. But none of them really spoke to me until I found a pair of brothers that were marked as special needs. To be honest, I passed by their listing at least once, specifically because they were special needs. Radial agenesis, the posting said.

They’re missing bones in their front legs? I thought.  How it that even possible? How will they get around? Will Tigger hurt them? (the answer was a resounding no – they can both be pretty feisty)

So, what exactly is it? Well, it’s a genetic condition that causes a cat’s radius to be unusually short, sometimes so much so that it looks like it’s missing. Here is a diagram showing the skeleton of an RA cat from The Messybeast.

Radial agenesis most commonly occurs when two polydactyl cats are bred. Polydactyl cats are the ones that have an extra “thumb”, so it looks like they’re wearing mittens. Cute, right? Well, yeah, but the unfortunate occasional side effect of a pair of polydactyls having kittens is radial agenesis, in some cases so pronounced that the forelegs look more like flippers than feet.

That’s not to say that our cats aren’t cute. They are. They’re freakin’ adorable. Roo, for instance, has overdeveloped back legs, to compensate for his weak front legs. As a result, it is very common for him to sit up on his haunches like a tiny kangaroo. How can you not love a cat that looks like a tiny kangaroo??

As you can see, the difference is much more pronounced when looking at a live cat rather than a drawing. Roo has it in both of his front legs, while Thumper is only affected in one leg. The result is that it looks like Roo has broken his front legs and is walking on his elbows. I admit, it was a little unsettling to see him walking around at first. Doesn’t that hurt, I kept thinking. But the answer is no – it’s a non-degenerative condition that does not cause them any pain. Because he walks on the sides of his front legs rather than on the paw pads, navigating slippery surfaces is a bit difficult to him. He knows it, too. Even when he’s completely absorbed in chasing the laser pointer, he stops short at the edge of the carpet and waits for that bewitching red dot to float back onto the rug before resuming his frantic chase.

Because Thumper is only affected in one leg, it looks a bit like he’s hurt one paw and carrying it close to his body. His gait is very irregular because one leg is shorter than the other, but he’s just as mobile as a regular cat would be.

That’s not to say that we haven’t had to make any adjustments for them. Roo likes to sleep on the bed at night, so despite the fact that we would like the bed to be a little higher off the ground, we keep it low so he can jump up and down without difficulty. Since our apartment is not carpeted, we have runners and throw rugs everywhere to make getting around a little easier for them. When the time comes for us to buy a house, we will have to take Thumper and Roo into consideration – they would never be able to navigate stairs that were too steep, or didn’t have carpet on them, and even then that still might give them problems.

They certainly have their fair share of issues – Thumper has 3 or 4 more toes than he should have (at least…it seems like we find new toes and nails all the time), and he does not enjoy having his nails clipped. They wouldn’t last more than 10 minutes on their own outside, and will be indoor cats their whole lives (not that that’s a bad thing – the average lifespan of an outdoor cat is almost 10 years less than its indoor counterpart). Roo can’t keep his own nose clean, and I mean that in the literal sense; we have to do it for him. They can’t jump as high as a regular cat, which is something that Will and I are pretty thankful for – we never have to retrieve them from the top of the fridge or worry about them leaping onto the bookcase and knocking everything over.

Don’t mess with The Foot.

But I wouldn’t trade them for anything. They can be a royal pain sometimes, but come on – they’re cats. That’s what they do. God bless ‘em.

We’re brothers, and we kinda like each other.

I’m not even going to tell you how many blogs I have in google reader.

Ok, fine, you twisted my arm. 257. TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-SEVEN.

I’m not even sure how it got up so high. I guess I’m just a blog hopper. You know – you read something interesting on a blog, and there’s a link to another blog, and you follow it, and hey, wow, they link to three other blogs that are really quite interesting, and — what’s that you say? It’s midnight? Oh, dear.

I think reading blogs is great. I’m entertained, amused, informed, and inspired by the various posts that I read.

Except, sometimes I’m not. Sometimes I read so many humor blogs that I don’t find it funny anymore. Sometimes I find so many great craft ideas that I feel guilty about not following through with them. Sometimes I see fantastic shoots from other photographers, and then that ugly green monster rears it head and then all of a sudden I’m the WORST PHOTOGRAPHER IN THE WORLD AND WHY DID I EVER THINK I COULD DO THIS???

Whew.

I spend so much time reading and not enough time doing.

And so I’ve decided to take a break. Not permanently, mind you – just for two weeks. This was a suggestion from Kristen at Brand Camp Blog, who is wholly aware of the delicious irony of a blog telling you to take a break from reading blogs. If you’re not on a blog-reading hiatus, I highly suggest you go check out Brand Camp – Kristen is fabulous and insightful and will kick you in the butt (totally in a good way).

ANYway. Two weeks. I’m hoping that I can start to lay down some new behavior patterns during that time and break the vicious cycle of I’m-bored-oh-I’ll-just-cruise-the-internet.

Some other things that I’ll be doing instead of reading blogs:

• practicing off-camera lighting. I’m a little rusty and really want to work on this!
• blogging! You may or may not have noticed that this blog has been blowing up over the past week, especially compared with how little I’ve been posting the rest of the summer. I actually drew up an editorial calendar this weekend and have lots to post about in September!
• bookkeeping. blah. necessary, but blah. Enough said.
• volunteering. I have a project for a local rescue up my sleeve that hasn’t even really started yet, but I’m super excited about it and will share the results when it’s ready!
• spending time with my family. Nothing recharges the batteries like a weekend full of belly laughs and tasty, tasty food. Mmm.

So that’s the plan. Expect to see me around here a lot more often and much less so in the comments section on other people’s blogs.

Anyone else ever gone cold turkey from the blogosphere? Did you find that it made you more productive?

PS – I hope no one minds that there are no images in this post. It seems like if you are a photographer you are required to say, “and since every post is better with a picture…” but sometimes, I just want to write.

PPS – It’s September??? How did that happen??

Unfortunately it happens to be the same angel that jumps onto my head in the middle of the night and tries to eat my hair.

Hope everyone has a great holiday!

This video is brought to you by the letter H. H is for husband, aka my new videographer, and for hollaaaaa, which is what I did when we received this awesome flip video camera as a wedding present.

PS – Even though it looks like Roo’s legs are broken, he’s fine. It’s a genetic condition that he and his brother were both born with, the one I referenced in my last post but have not yet discussed. I’m getting there, I swear….but a little busy with silly little things like getting married

PPS – That is totally not product placement for Fresh Step kitty litter. We accidentally bought the non-clumping stuff, and we hate it. The pieces are huge and it doesn’t exactly smell, ahem, fresh. Not to mention that any time the cats step in there or you scoop it, it sends up a huge cloud of kitty litter dust that totally grosses me out. What do you use for litter? Any suggestions?

We’ve had a few setbacks – one of my new employees hid under the bed for half of his first day, and the other threw up on my floor this weekend – but overall we are thrilled to welcome them to the Alexis Hall Photo family!

I’d like to introduce you to Thumper and Roo.

THUMPER

Age: 14 months

Position: VP of Fluffitude

Strengths: shedding, consuming Greenies at an unprecedented rate, purring, cute feet

Weaknesses: plastic bags and vacuum cleaners

Thumper’s last position was terminated as a result of conflict with another employee. Although he was a highly valued member of the team, he also happened to be an asthma trigger and had to be let go. He’s ready for a fresh start and has thrown himself whole-heartedly into the task of covering every single piece of clothing and furniture in our apartment with his luxurious gray hair.

ROO

Age: 14 months

Position: Intern, Department of Napping

Strengths: killing with cuteness, displacing cats twice his size on his quest to reach the food bowl first, and spraying litter within a 3 foot radius outside of the box

Weaknesses: hardwood floors and cleaning his own nose

Like his brother Thumper, Roo was also an asthma trigger at his previous position. A little shy at first, he has now blossomed and is full of confidence (maybe a little too much). I have no doubt that he’ll take over my job if I’m not careful. Roo is a young go-getter who thrives on praise and attention, and has no problem putting himself in front of you if he doesn’t think he’s getting enough face time.

Welcome to the team, guys. Glad to have you on board.

If you’re looking for any new additions, I highly, highly recommend going through the same rescue that we did – Guardian Angels Cat Rescue. Clicking on their name will bring you to a listing of their adoptable cats on Petfinder. Guardian Angels is a 100% volunteer-run organization, and it’s clear that everyone involved has a deep love for the cats and a passion for helping them find homes. Their cats are all in foster homes, so they have a much better idea of each cat’s personality and whether or not he or she would be a good match for your home. If you’d like to see several cats at once, Guardian Angels holds weekly adoption events on Saturdays at Especially for Pets in Wayland and in Sudbury – just call the store ahead of time to make sure that you’re headed to the right location.

Watch for another post on these guys later this week – they have a very special condition that I’d never heard of before, and I’ll be writing a post about it.

I received this rug as a birthday present from Jodi and Kevin, friends of the family, this weekend, and I was tickled pink when I opened it up. I love the colors, I love how it’s just a little bit soft and squishy under my toes, and I love how it reminds me so much of my baby Jake (that’s a sad link in an otherwise happy post. Consider yourself warned).

All of the other rugs in our apartment hail from Tar-jay, so it’s really great to have something a little bit fancier and of higher quality in our lives. We’ve been keeping a close eye on Tigger to make sure that he doesn’t use it as a scratching pad. “This is why we can’t have nice things,” I tell him, but he just waves his tail in the air and saunters over to knock things off the bookshelf.

ANYway.

Jodi and her husband Kevin have a brick-and-mortar store in Andover, NH, as well as an online shop that can be found here. I didn’t see this particular rug in the shop, but there are tons of other really beautiful ones, so I highly suggest checking them out.

I love mine. It makes me happy.

Please note: this is not a sponsored post. I was not asked to write a review; I just really like my birthday present!

Will and I had the following conversation in the grocery store last week regarding what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday (which, amazingly enough, happens to be today. Quelle coincidence!):

Will: [Reaches for the funfetti cake] I’m assuming you want this one?
Me: Umm…hold on. [Studies cake selection for about two minutes. Tentatively reaches for the funfetti. Hesitates.]
Will: Pick one.
Me: Umm…ok…[Picks up box of funfetti cake. Puts it back on the shelf and takes a box of rainbow chip cake]. This one.
Will: You sure about that?
Me: I think so? Let me look again. Hold on. [Studies cake selection again] Yeah ok, that one.
Will: Ok, now the frosting. White frosting?
Me: No, I want something PINK!
Will: [shakes head]
Me: PINK! [Picks up can of strawberry frosting]
Will: You don’t want this one? It’s pink but it tastes like vanilla.
Me: What’s the point of buying pink frosting if it doesn’t taste like strawberries?
Will: More people like vanilla.
Me: IT’S MY CAKE. I want strawberry. [smiles sweetly]
Will: [Sighs. Puts strawberry frosting in the cart.] I feel like I’m going to a birthday party for a five-year-old.