Sunday, February 22, 2009

Watch Out for the Quiet Ones

Hayley is a beautiful long-haired tortie. She has black spots in one eye and gorgeous long ear tufts. She is the sister of Opal and Reese, and the daughter of Crystal. Crystal and her kittens were dropped off on the doorstep of the Washington Area Humane Society the night before I decided to foster a litter of kittens and their mom. Of course, I ended up keeping them, all except for China Cat Sunflower, who now lives with my daughter and her husband.

Hayley is extremely shy, totally unlike her gregarious sister and bully brother. She spends most of her time on the rocking chair in my library, or cuddled up on my bed with my teddy bear. She is huge and walks like a raccoon, with her back arched and kind of waddling from side to side. She doesn't purr (neither does Opal). All four of them - Crystal, Opal, Hayley and Reese - will carry toys around in their mouths and caterwaul at night in the dark. None of my other cats do this, so it must be genetic.

She doesn't mind being petted or brushed, but try to pick her up and she totally freaks out - legs flying in all directions. She won't bite or scratch, but you sure aren't going to get a hold on her.

Hayley has very long hair, and for a couple weeks now I've seen large mats hanging off of her "britches" on her back legs. They had to be painful for her, but every time I would try to get near her to work on them, she freaked. Then I realized the the mats were actually large globs of poop - yes, poop - that had gotten stuck in her britches. Ugh. So last Sunday I said, "We're going to do this or you're going to have to go to a groomer and get your butt shaved." Hayley just looked at me sullenly from her rocking chair.

I got my hair scissors and closed the library door behind me. It' a small room, so she didn't have many places to go. When she jumped up on the table, I pounced on her, turned her around so her head was butted into my stomach, held her down with one hand, and lifted her huge tail with the other. Oh crap - now I need a third hand to hold the glob and a fourth to work the scissors. FAIL.

Determined not to have to spend fifty precious dollars on a groomer, I went upstairs and got the biggest bath towel I could find. I have one of those nifty kitty straitjackets, but it's the small size and only fits Peek-A-Boo, who weighs only five pounds. I guess I need to get a large one.

Back with the bath towel, I locked us in the library again. When Hayley jumped up on the table, I threw the towel on top of her and wrapped her up like a giant burrito, turned her around and laid my upper body on top of her. Now I was able to lift the tail with one hand and work on the globs with the other. With her screaming the whole time, I managed to get the dang things out. What a mess!

As soon as I let her go, she waddled away like nothing happened.



Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A Wink From Olivia

This is my girl Olivia, or Libby-Lu. I used to be on the Board of Director for the Washington Area Humane Society in Eighty Four, PA, which is a no-kill shelter. Olivia had been at the shelter for so long that she had become their unofficial mascot and was allowed to roam freely throughout the Cat Castle. Whenever we would have board meetings, Olivia would come into the room and sit next to my chair, and I would pick her up and hold her. I think she is at least part Angora because I have never felt a coat so soft. Olivia would purr so loud when I petted her, I just couldn't believe nobody wanted her. Her sister Sophia had already been adopted.

Olivia was born with one eye deformed - or, the eye had not developed fully - so a vet had removed the eye and sewed her lid shut. I grew to love her so much that I promised her that if she was still at the shelter when I moved into my new house, I would come and get her. As it happened, I adopted her the day after I moved, in September 2003. She was 2 years old at that time and just had her 8th birthday.

Olivia is very shy around my other cats. I've found having a lot of cats is like having a kindergarten class - some are bullies, some are shy, some are outgoing and friendly, etc. Olivia is terrified of my more aggressive cats, so she stays in the spare bedroom most of the time. When my beloved tuxedo cat, Boots, was sick, I had to quarantine him for the last couple years of his life (not because of contagious disease but because he had chronic diarrhea), and Libby became his companion cat. She kept him company and hung out with him on the day bed, and she never seemed to mind being cooped up in the spare bedroom. After Boots passed away, I opened the door to the room but she seemed to prefer to stay in there by herself. I know she misses Boots.

Olivia likes the little igloo bed, and sometimes will venture out to sleep with me under the covers. When she does this she purrs literally all night long. She is a very sweet girl and just incredibly soft. She absoluely LOVES belly rubs, which is pretty unusual for a cat. All I have to say is "Does Libby want a belly rub?" and she will roll over on her back and stretch her legs out in both directions so I can give her a good, brisk belly rub all the way from front legs to back legs.

Having one eye didn't deter Libby from exploring her new house - here she is walking along the top of my library door, which is about 2 inches wide.




Sunday, February 1, 2009

My Little Steelers Fans!

Woo hoo! Here's all my guys watching the Steelers kick some Cardinal butt!! Domino, Reese, Crystal, Pyewacket, Timmy and Holden - the rest don't like all my screaming and stayed upstairs. STEELERS ROCK!!!!!!!