A purr-fect way of life
By Tim Gallagher Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, December 30, 2007
Janice Ames of rural Sloan shares a moment with No Ears, one of her 22 cats. No Ears came to her 15 years ago having lost part of his ears due to frostbite. No Ears receives heart medication daily. (Photo by Tim Gallagher)
SLOAN, Iowa -- Janice Ames is crazy about cats. Crazy in a good way.
And the woman from rural Sloan has lots of help.
At least four times per year Gary Olsen of Hornick, Iowa, heads to Sam's Club in Sioux City and spends $900 on food for Ames' 22 cats.
Dr. Dianne Johnson of Westwood Animal Hospital makes a monthly house call to clip the nails and do checkups for these pets. For serious medical procedures, Ames calls on Dr. Dennis Sorensen of the Morningside Veterinary Hospital.
Rose Wells of nearby Whiting calls herself "The Cat Nanny." She travels to Ames' residence seven days per week to feed, medicate and offer her own tender-loving-care to these kitties, perhaps the best treated animals in all of Siouxland.
Each kitty has a place to snooze in the barn, an area covered with 27 bales of hay.
Yes, Ames is crazy about cats. She admits it.
"I traveled extensively while I worked as a singer," says Ames, a former cruise ship/casino singer who once worked 103 straight shows at The Mikado in Tokyo, then known as the world's largest nightclub.
"I couldn't have a pet, of course, on the road and missed them terribly," she says.
After moving home for good several years ago, Ames began making up for lost time with her kitty cats.
"I had 29 fixed cats here at one time," says Ames, a 1954 graduate of Sloan High. "We had to catch all of them, but we did so over three months. And we got them all fixed."
Gave them the royal treatment in the process. She fed and groomed them by day, gave medicine when it was needed and even tended to their burial needs when their nine lives (or one life, as the case may be) came to a close here on earth.
"Fifteen have died since I started doing this and we've buried them all here," she says. "We do a funeral and even have a headstone for each one."
These animals, she says, are her children. No doubt about it.
Growing up on the farm
Janice Ames, the daughter of Clara and Maurice Ames, grew up on this farm just north of Sloan in the 1940s and 50s. Her brother Vernon, who lives just a mile away, was always bringing an animal into the farmhouse, including a squirrel. He kept a raccoon and a white deer as pets.
"Our mom, who was a teacher, loved animals," Janice says. "We've had some crazy experiences with animals here."
Following her graduation from high school, Ames trotted off to Kansas State University to study music and architecture. She finished as a runner-up in the Miss Iowa Beauty Pageant in 1956, the same year she married John Osterheld, who was studying to become a veterinarian at Kansas State.
They had no children and divorced in 1960, but remain friends. He's now a practicing vet in New Jersey and has offered advice on the care of several kitties, the latest being Muffin.
"Dr. Sorensen discovered Muffin's colon doesn't work," Ames says. "My ex-husband told me to grind some flaxseed and give Muffin a teaspoon with each feeding of fish food. He said he's had 60 cases like this and the flaxseed has worked in 75 percent of them."
It has with Muffin, who is one of five cats living in the house right now with Ames. The other 17 are out in the barn, a place fit for a king, according to Wells.
"I took 27 bales of hay and made each cat a bed," says Wells, the cat nanny who contends her duty is the cat's meow --- the best job around. "We've got one cat named Spotty who we call 'Your Highness' because he won't come out of his penthouse in the haymow to eat with the others. We have to take his food up the ladder to him!"
She does this every day.
There are also cats like Half A Tail and No Ears.
"No Ears came to me 15 years ago," says Ames. "His ears were frozen off and we thought he might die."
Dr. Sorensen prescribed heart medication at that time and old No Ears has gotten it ever since.
"When a cat gets sick, I bring them into the house," Ames says with a sigh. "And they never leave because I've got a soft heart."
Another inside cat is Ter-Bear, named after Sioux City painter Terry Evans, a family friend. Ter-Bear once got into the paint Evans was using at the house.
"That cat had white paint all over himself," Ames said. "We just laughed and laughed and laughed about it."
There's another cat that sleeps in a vase upstairs and one that demands to be groomed daily.
Ames meets the demand with a broad smile, lively chatter and lots of giggles. "These animals are my children and I love every one of them," she says.
Does watching over her "family" ever become too much? Not for this self-described crazy cat lady. If it does, she'll simply sit back and relax with one of her cats. And she'll sip some wine her minister brought over.
"Look at the label," Ames says with a snicker. "It's called Fat Cat Wine!"
And the woman from rural Sloan has lots of help.
At least four times per year Gary Olsen of Hornick, Iowa, heads to Sam's Club in Sioux City and spends $900 on food for Ames' 22 cats.
Dr. Dianne Johnson of Westwood Animal Hospital makes a monthly house call to clip the nails and do checkups for these pets. For serious medical procedures, Ames calls on Dr. Dennis Sorensen of the Morningside Veterinary Hospital.
Rose Wells of nearby Whiting calls herself "The Cat Nanny." She travels to Ames' residence seven days per week to feed, medicate and offer her own tender-loving-care to these kitties, perhaps the best treated animals in all of Siouxland.
Each kitty has a place to snooze in the barn, an area covered with 27 bales of hay.
Yes, Ames is crazy about cats. She admits it.
"I traveled extensively while I worked as a singer," says Ames, a former cruise ship/casino singer who once worked 103 straight shows at The Mikado in Tokyo, then known as the world's largest nightclub.
"I couldn't have a pet, of course, on the road and missed them terribly," she says.
After moving home for good several years ago, Ames began making up for lost time with her kitty cats.
"I had 29 fixed cats here at one time," says Ames, a 1954 graduate of Sloan High. "We had to catch all of them, but we did so over three months. And we got them all fixed."
Gave them the royal treatment in the process. She fed and groomed them by day, gave medicine when it was needed and even tended to their burial needs when their nine lives (or one life, as the case may be) came to a close here on earth.
"Fifteen have died since I started doing this and we've buried them all here," she says. "We do a funeral and even have a headstone for each one."
These animals, she says, are her children. No doubt about it.
Growing up on the farm
Janice Ames, the daughter of Clara and Maurice Ames, grew up on this farm just north of Sloan in the 1940s and 50s. Her brother Vernon, who lives just a mile away, was always bringing an animal into the farmhouse, including a squirrel. He kept a raccoon and a white deer as pets.
"Our mom, who was a teacher, loved animals," Janice says. "We've had some crazy experiences with animals here."
Following her graduation from high school, Ames trotted off to Kansas State University to study music and architecture. She finished as a runner-up in the Miss Iowa Beauty Pageant in 1956, the same year she married John Osterheld, who was studying to become a veterinarian at Kansas State.
They had no children and divorced in 1960, but remain friends. He's now a practicing vet in New Jersey and has offered advice on the care of several kitties, the latest being Muffin.
"Dr. Sorensen discovered Muffin's colon doesn't work," Ames says. "My ex-husband told me to grind some flaxseed and give Muffin a teaspoon with each feeding of fish food. He said he's had 60 cases like this and the flaxseed has worked in 75 percent of them."
It has with Muffin, who is one of five cats living in the house right now with Ames. The other 17 are out in the barn, a place fit for a king, according to Wells.
"I took 27 bales of hay and made each cat a bed," says Wells, the cat nanny who contends her duty is the cat's meow --- the best job around. "We've got one cat named Spotty who we call 'Your Highness' because he won't come out of his penthouse in the haymow to eat with the others. We have to take his food up the ladder to him!"
She does this every day.
There are also cats like Half A Tail and No Ears.
"No Ears came to me 15 years ago," says Ames. "His ears were frozen off and we thought he might die."
Dr. Sorensen prescribed heart medication at that time and old No Ears has gotten it ever since.
"When a cat gets sick, I bring them into the house," Ames says with a sigh. "And they never leave because I've got a soft heart."
Another inside cat is Ter-Bear, named after Sioux City painter Terry Evans, a family friend. Ter-Bear once got into the paint Evans was using at the house.
"That cat had white paint all over himself," Ames said. "We just laughed and laughed and laughed about it."
There's another cat that sleeps in a vase upstairs and one that demands to be groomed daily.
Ames meets the demand with a broad smile, lively chatter and lots of giggles. "These animals are my children and I love every one of them," she says.
Does watching over her "family" ever become too much? Not for this self-described crazy cat lady. If it does, she'll simply sit back and relax with one of her cats. And she'll sip some wine her minister brought over.
"Look at the label," Ames says with a snicker. "It's called Fat Cat Wine!"
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Dick wrote on Jan 2, 2008 4:31 AM:
Linda wrote on Jan 1, 2008 1:58 PM:
Alma wrote on Dec 31, 2007 7:23 PM:
animal lover wrote on Dec 30, 2007 10:05 PM:
Hording cats is cool? wrote on Dec 30, 2007 9:36 PM: