Re: Leila, was Re: test

Baird Stafford wrote:
In article <6jeoqcF2ujimU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Yowie <Yowie9644.DIESPAMDIE@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hope you enjoy the place, and please tell everyone about the furry tyrant of your heart...

Y'mean Her Wowship? She's mostly black with white bib, gloves and boots - and a tiny trickle of white down her lower jaw where she didn't *quite* get that last dribble of cream....

Leila went to live with the Dowager when Belle Starr (yes, she was named after *that* Belle Starr, and with good reason!) crossed the bridge: the Dowager had already been diagnosed with Alzheimer's but felt lonesome without feline companionship.

We went to the animal shelter looking for someone who was not a kitten, still, as Belle Starr had long since passed the age of getting up on things in order to knock little things off big things because they make such interesting noises when they hit the floor and the Dowager's condo was not, therefore, kitten-proof. We were told that Leila is a lap-cat (which she is) but has issues with being picked up (which she does: trips to the vet and evacuations from hurricanes involve leather gardening gloves and a heavy jacket, for me).

I promised the Dowager, the shelter, and Leila that she would never have to go back there. When the Dowager was no longer able to care for herself, much less for Leila, and moved into the Assisted Living Facility, Leila quite naturally came to live with me. She was pleased to discover that she had also acquired a Secondary Feeding Unit in the person of the SO; but I am still, she says, her primary twolegs.

She was also pleased to discover Bites, which apparently had never come her way before she went to live with the Dowager, and will demand a taste of anything I happen to be eating. She is disappointed with the SO, however, who has been vegetarian for more than twenty years and therefore doesn't prepare Real Food to share with deserving (and demanding) felines.

Leila had been declawed by whoever housed her before she went to the shelter. I would *never* do that to any cat, but saw (and see) no reason to hold it against the cat herself. She didn't ask for it, after all. And I have to admit that furniture in my house is much less ragged than my parents' furniture ever was!

On the whole, however, Leila seems to think I'm a satisfactory partner; when I go to bed, she comes to sing me a lullaby. She is of the opinion, however, that I spend entirely too many hours petting a silly machine (read, "computer") rather than The Cat, who obviously deserves it much more than any electronic gizmo.

I'm inclined to believe that Leila has some Siamese ancestry not too many generations removed: she has the distinctive Siamese voice, shape and attitude, and is perfectly happy to carry on long conversations which we both understand. We do have occasional disagreements, which I usually win on the ground that "I'm bigger than you are, and I say so!" She doesn't think that argument is particularly fair, but has to admit that it is compelling.

In other words, Leila is a perfectly normal Cat.

Welcome Leila! (and her twolegses).

Whilst we already know each other, I may as well introduce us again, 'just for the record'.

I'm Yowie, an 'old timer' around these parts. I'm in Australia.

My current three 'wards' are white, two year old, adoptees. Pickle, the short haired one, is the smartest of the three by far and the dominant one. He merely tolerates the adults of the household, but is not interested in being petted or picked up. If we try, he'll bite in protest (although not hard enough to draw blood), and will scrabble out of reach as soon as possible.

Pickle's twolegs is our 4 year old son, Cary (also known as "The Yowlet) and Pickle will allow himself to be loved on inthe unique and enthusiastic sort ow way that is unique to young children. Pickle has been seen being half held, half dragged around the house like a teddy bear, he has endured dress-ups and 'make up' (he sported green stripes for a week when Cary wanted Pickle to be a 'tiger' and marked him with his textas accordingly) and gets a smothering hug and kisses each morning. I would think this was somewhat cruel to Pickle, but Pickle actively seeks out Cary and puts up with such treatment without a word of complaint.

Suki is Pickle's brother but due to a general mix up at the time of adoption and his general appearance and demeanor, we've decided that Suki is a 'she'. Suki has long wait hair, but not a double coat, so her very fine, cool fur falls flatly at her sides, but gives her the most 'floompy' tail I've ever seen. He fur has a blueish tinge that matches her crystal blue eyes, and makes her a spectacular looking cat, but with the blue eyes came deafness. I don't know whether its the deafness or that she's just stupid, or its a bit of both, but she's the classic case of 'Good looks with no brains'. Suki has decided she's my husband's cat, and likes to drape herself decoratively across my husband's chest & shoulders. If she's not on Joel, she sleeps as 'flat' as possible. She absolutely doesn't meatloaf like a common moggy.

Suki & Pickle came to our family in November last year via Freecycle. A lady had bought the pair as kittens after her youngest son moved out of home and she felt lonely and 'broody'. Unfortunately life outside the nest didn't work out well for the son, and he was forced to move back home with Mum after a year and a half. Turns out he was very badly allergic to cats and poor Pickle & Suki had to be confined to the spare bathroom for the son to bear to live there. The lady was very sad to see them go, but had to put her son's welfare first.

Shadow was advertised on our work electronic bulletin board. She is also white and long haired (although has the persian 'double coat') and it just so happened that Shadow was found just a few streets away from where Pickle & Suki had come from, and she was estimated tobe 'about 2' the same age as Suki & Pickle. I thought it was far too much of a coincidence, and thought that Shadow must be a littermate. Perhaps a bit rashly (not having actually thought it out, or checked with husband), I replied to the ad with 'If no-one else wants her...". Thisofcourse means "I'll have her" and I found myself picking up our third cat.

However, Shadow's story is more complicated. Talking more to the people who were looking after her until she found a home, they had moved into a rental apartment only to find a very hungry and thirsty cat locked in there. Checking with the Real Estate Agent, the keys to the flat had been handed in a week before they moved in, so we can only surmise that Shadow had been locked in there with no food or water for at least a week.

Shadow didn't settle well into our house - after de-fleaing her (she was covered) and cutting out the matts & burrs inher fur,s he was very affectionate toward me but terrified of everyone and anything else. For the first 4 nights she just howled what I thought were 'cat on heat' howls, so I took her off to TED (The Evil Doctor) to be spayed. When I rant that afternoon to see how it went they said there'd been 'complications'. My heart skipped a beat, and then they explained that the 'complication' was that the uterus was missing - she had already been spayed. But she didn't have a microchip.

Its been the law here for ages that all dogs & cats have to be chipped, and they're cheap. To buy one from a vet, a reputable breeder, a pet store or even a shelter, they will be chipped. But Shadow was chipless. Why someone would spay a cat but not chip them is a mystery.

Shadow is our fraidycat. She lives in the kitchen, and retreats into the kitchem cupboards when threatened. She assumes that every approach from either of the other two cats is a threat and hisses and growls at them, even though they are not being agressive or threatening to her. She's also deathly afraid of hands above her head and is very skittish with sudden movement. She's calming down now, after 3 or 4 months, but would go from that blissful hypnotic state of a cat being scratched around the chin to biting howling clawing hell beast i a split second, and there is little or no warning when she's about to turn.

Like Leila, she will not tolerate being picked up. She goes potty in the kitchen sink and cannot be dissuaded to go anywhere else. And yet she is happy to have her nails trimmed and she doesn't object to having a bath. She prefers dog food to cat food, and garbage to dog food. She wolfs food down like its going out of fashion, and will guard it with great passion if either of the other two cats approach at dinner time. Yet she's absolutely perfectly fine with our 10 yo dog, a half border collie, half Aussie cattledog, total lovebug, Fluffy. (A more gentle and patient dog does not exist.,but she doesn't excel in the brains department either)

We *thought* Shadow had a back injury as she wouldn't allow anyone to touch her anywhere on the rear half of her back, but that has 'cleared up' since we took her to TED ad she was good as gold and didn't do *anything* when he poked and prodded her all over. He diagnosed that we have a bit of a neurtoic cat, probably due to improper handling (read: abuse) when she was younger and possibly some life on the mean streets. She clearly knows that humans can supply Good Things but is also very wary of humans as sources of Bad Things. Shadow seems to trust me most out of the three humans her andshe can be inredibly affectionate (but can still turn into a whirlwhind of sharp bits when she's had enough), and I"m working on building that relationship. I get Joel to give her the kitty prozac (Clomicalm) she's been prescribed just so that developing bond isn't stressed. If Ihad to describe Shadow's intellect, I would think of her as not necessarily *stupid* but as having brain damage. I wouldn't be surprised if she does, actually. Shadow has adopted me as her special twolegs.

Other current pets are a 2-foot tank of tropical fish, consisting of about 16 neon tetras, about 10 darting yellow fish which I was told were 'golden tetras' but don't look like Golden Tetras when I do a web search, and a few 'left over' fish from the tank's previous owner. Cary also has a red Betta fish in a separate bowl, and he's named the fish 'Ratchet'. I have no idea why, but he's the one who named Pickle 'Pickle' so I shouldn't be surprised. (Suki was named because she's so Sooky, and Shadow because she's always in the shadows).

Shmoggleberry J. Cat, esq., was assisted to Rainbow Bridge in October last year after he succumbed to CRF after 17 or so years. Shmogg had incredible chutzpah, and it was his continual practical jokes inflicted on his human (and chronicled on this here NG) that the term "b*st*rd c*t trick" was coined. He was always his own cat, there was no idea of "ownership", and he'd let me know in a thousand little ways just which species was the superior. But he was also my heart cat, and we had a very very strong strong almost telepathic bond - a partnership - that transcended the differences in species. The wound in my heart is superficially healed in that I don't just randomly burst into tears about him any more, but still raw enough that if I get caught off guard I can't hold back the flood yet (I was going through old baby videos, and in the background of one was Shmogg just casually walking through the shot. I was a mess for half an hour after seeing it, as I didn't realise I had taken a video of him). I joke that it took three cats to even come close to replacing him (Pickle has his brains, Suki has his looks and lap-catness, Shadow has his fire and passion).

Oh, and if you didnt know already, I can waffle on for *hours* about cats. And Cary. it may be better if you didn't get me started.... :-)

Yowie
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Signs and portents
    ... Pickle has taken Shadow's spot on my bed. ... Suki is less, well, *needy* would be a good description, even though she ... And for the first time since Shadow came here, ... grateful that he no longer is stepping in puddles of cat diarrhea. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: Pickle is mean
    ... that Pickle was a mean cat. ... Suki I guess tolerates it - she's never known life without ... Shadow, who isn't used to being picked on by another cat. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Pickle is mean
    ... Shadow has a potty mouth, and Suki isn't the brightest, but I had no idea ... that Pickle was a mean cat. ... Shadow, who isn't used to being picked on by another cat. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: Pickle is mean
    ... idea that Pickle was a mean cat. ... known life without Pickle and thats just 'how it is', ... He just randomly beats her up (He randomly beats up Suki ... Pcikle doens't let Shadow into the laundry, ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: Shadow escaped again
    ... & Pickle are not aggressive toward her. ... Suki is not so much of a problem ... weighs about twice as much as Shadow does). ... cat' household, and I think thats the next thing she really needs. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)