Thursday, January 1, 2009

Reese, the Thug

I guess every crowd has one - a troublemaker. At my house, it's Reese.

Reese came to me shortly after birth with his sisters Opal and Hayley, his brother China, and mom Crystal.

I had gone to the Washington Area Humane Society with the intent of fostering a mom and her kittens, specifically one with an orange kitten, as both my daughter and I wanted to adopt orange kittens. As it happened, Crystal had been dropped at the door the night before with her four babies - two of which were orange. Funny how things have a way of working out, isn't it.




I took the lot of them home that day, with full intent of returning most of them when they were ready to be adopted. Of course, I fell in love with all of them and it was even hard to let my daughter adopt China, who turned out to be a sweetheart.

I should have known Reese would be a bully, because he would shove all the other kittens off their nipples so he could have Crystal all to himself. He is the one in the forefront in this picture, always the aggressor.




I think he is bipolar - one minute he is purring in my lap, all loveable and sweet - and the next thing I know he has Holden down on the floor, fur flying everywhere and both of them screaming at the top of thier lungs.

He will beg to be petted, but when he's had enough he will attempt to remove your arm from your body with his teeth. I'm not kidding - he does not let go! And it hurts like hell when he bites. I always have to warn my guests not to pet him for fear of getting sued.

When Reese has his "episodes," he will attack anything and everyone in sight - except his sister Hayley and his little girlfriend Karuna.

Hayley and Reese were buddies when they were babies, so he never bothers her. And Karuna absolutely adores Reese. I've never seen anything like it. She latched on to him when she was a little kitten, and he taught her how to scratch on the dining room chairs. She follows him everywhere and head-butts him so he will give her kisses. You would think he would take a swing at her or bite her, but no - he licks her head and lets her snuggle right up against him on the couch. Karuna is like Maria from West Side Story - in love with the neighborhood hoodlum. All of the other cats hate Reese, to the point of hissing whenever he is just walking past them to get to the next room.

He has been in trouble so many times, he actually knows what "Time Out!" means and will go to the basement so I can close the door behind him for 20 minutes. After he calms down, he is fine for about another week.




Yes, he's gorgeous, but so many bad boys are...

3 comments:

Liz said...

Love your site and the work you do. I used to volunteer with an all-species rescue, but most of the time it was cats (which are my favorite). My PeeWee was supposed to be my foster and I kind of kept him. :D Liz

Pammy Murphy said...

Thank you Liz! Purrs to you and PeeWee!

Suburbia Steph said...

Oh, Reese....what a thug! LOL!