CARROLL'S CRITTERS:
OUR CATS - CANDY & BRANDY

    Gene & I have no living children so our animals are our babies.  We have two adorable cats named Candy & Brandy (pictured above - when they were kittens). We adopted Candy & Brandy from the Humane Society of the Ozarks in Farmington 3 August 1992. They are sisters that were abandoned in a cardboard box on the doorstep of the shelter. They were very tiny, undernourished kittens.  I remember that day at the shelter - Gene was holding one kitten & I was holding the other kitten while we were trying to decide which one we wanted to take.  The kitten Gene was holding nibbled his right ear lobe & the kitten I was holding licked me on the end of my nose.  Gene & I looked helplessly at each other & agreed - we would take them both!
    A couple of days after bringing them home they became ill with Coccidia & a viral infection cantracted from another infected cat at the shelter.  The veterinarian we took them to did not hold out much hope that they would survive. But with lots of round-the-clock TLC (tender loving care) they recovered, began gaining weight & growing rapidly.
    They share their own luxureous room & know that it is their very own special place.  The first few years that we had them they would streak from one end of the house to the other & were into everything!  I couldn't even open the dishwasher without them trying to climb in & investigate!  They had to learn all the "no-no's" &  when we scolded them they would look as though their little hearts were broken but quickly regained their dignity & went romping off on another adventure.
    Candy adored her big "sister" Sandy (our dog) & would rub against her & kiss her.  Brandy was always a bit uncertain as to how affectionate she wanted to become with such a big dog.  Sometimes she would hiss at Sandy & sometimes she would kiss her.  Sandy made attempts to play with the kittens but usually ended up frightening them, so she patiently waited for them to become accustomed to her.
    One time Sandy was snoozing in the floor when Candy & Brandy were chasing each other.  They scrambled right over Sandy's back!   By the time Sandy jerked her head up to see what was going on the kittens were clear off in the other room!  And other times Sandy would almost gives herself  whiplash jerking her head from side to side trying
to keep track of both kittens as they scampered about!

The Christmas Carrolls
Santa, Gene, Esther
Brandy, Sandy, Candy
1994

Candy's favorite toys are little furry toy mice.  She loves tossing them around & putting them under the furniture & closet doors then comes helplessly crying to us to retrieve them for her!  Brandy likes to play with the plastic milk tabs that you peel off of milk jugs when you open them.  She loves to play "fetch" with them.  She will bring you a tab for you to toss then she will run & fetch it back, dropping it in your lap & begging for you to toss it again & again & again & again & again...........  Candy sometimes does the same thing only with her toy mice.  It is very unusual for cats to play "fetch" - perhaps it comes from growing up with a dog & watching us play fetch with her.

 

"Aaaaah - A job well done!!  It took me all day but I finally got that entire roll of paper towels shredded!!" Candy Carroll

"Is it time to wake up already?" - Brandy & Candy

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MOMMY'S LITTLE HELPERS

Candy and Brandy frequently "help" me with my genealogical research. They "help" by sorting the papers on my desk for me (by throwing them in the floor!) They also "help" me write my ancestral stories by tramping across the keyboard while I'm typing! So I'll blame all of my typos on them!

Candy & Brandy are very jealous of  our computer & utilize many different tactics in an effort to distract us from it! Generally, though, it is Brandy that gets into the most trouble.  Sometimes we call them "Candy Cat" & "Brandy Brat".

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Brandy & Candy are playing in the livingroom.	They also have their very own room in which they are pictured here.

 

Candy learned how to wave at us out the window of their room.  Sometimes when we return home & she is in the window we can wave at her & she will raise one of her front legs & flex her paw up & down in a return wave.

 

Candy & Brandy in their new garden window in the kitchen - summer 1998 Candy likes to help her mommie clean the kitchen - she licks grease off the stove, licks the dirty dishes & she loves to get into the garbage. Sometimes I call her my "Little Alley Cat"

 

Candy likes to crawl underneath the dresser in our bedroom & take a nap in the lower dresser drawer.  If we leave any drawers open Candy or Brandy will find them, get in them & rearrange the contents of the drawer.

 

Gene Carroll & Candy & Brandy (in cages under Gene's arm) At Key West, Florida at the southernmost Christmas tree at the southernmost point in the U.S.A.  Christmas, 1997 We also took Candy & Brandy to the beach but they didn't like it much.  They really became "scaredy-cats" when a flock of pigeons wandered up close to their cages & peered in at them!  We do not like to board Candy & Brandy if we can possibly avoid it.  A previous cat that we had, Missey, became seriously ill while being boarded & two days after our return she died.  And twice while Candy & Brandy were boarded Candy came home sick.  So we just decided to take them with us when we travel.  They have stayed at a Bed & Breakfast but we usually travel in our 31 ft. 5th wheel camper.  We all even got a Missouri Camper Award in 1993 & the kids' names were put on it too!  So far our "Camper Kitties" have been in 10 states: Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, & in Florida to the southernmost point in the USA - 90 miles from Cuba!  They have quite a collection of travel stickers on their carrying cages.

 

Candy & Brandy in the bedroom bay window. 3May1999

 

CANDIED PIZZA - When we have pizza delivered Candy just loves to sit or lay on the warm pizza box. And she won't budge either so when you want a slice of pizza you have to lift the lid with her on it!!!!  Notice her toy mouse to the right of picture in front of the bottle of Parmesan cheese. FROM DOMINO'S PIZZA: Customer Care Center - January, 2000 - Dear Mrs. Carroll,  Thank you for taking the time to contact the Domino's Pizza Web Site.  We were really humored to hear how much your cat, Candy, enjoys lying on the warm pizza box.  We hope to continue to bring you & Candy the quality products & superior service you have come to expect.  Enclosed please find $15.00 in gift certificates to be used for Candy's next Domino's pizza.  Again, thank you for sharing you comical pictures with us.  It is always a pleasure to hear from our customers. Sincerely, Cheryl A. Bachelder Vice President Customer Satisfaction

 

Brandy & Candy Napping Together - June 2001		Candy & Brandy have become a basket case!

 

Candy & Brandy playing with the catnip Christmas prestents that their Grandma Patti gave them. Dec. 2001

 

Brandy departed for the Rainbow Bridge 22 May 2003. Please visit her farewell page at: http://carrollscorner.net/CrittersBrandy.htm

This is Candy with her head in a cat food bag.   Aug. 2006

 

 

Candy after her surgery for abscessed anal glands.  Dec. 2008

 

Gene & I firmly believe in spaying & neutering pets.  We do not believe in having cats declawed (our shredded furniture attests to that!)  Even though Candy & Brandy are house cats & never go outside there is the occasional time when they do manage to dart out the door on us.  We have always been able to immediately get them back in but if for some reason they got away they would still have their claws for survival.

A PRAYER FOR ANIMALS                                        Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals, especialy for animals who are suffering, for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry; for all that must be put to death.  We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity, and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion and gentle hands and kindly words.  Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals and so to share the blessings of the merciful.                 Albert Schweitzer

                                      

Counting From: April 2001

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