...the heart and soul of Dennis the Menace.
In a moment of what could only have been temporary insanity, I added a kitten to the menagerie a couple of months ago. I'd been toying with the idea for months, never too seriously, but since Pancho arrived, Felix (the incumbent cat) had been mostly ignored. Timmy and Felix got along from the very beginning. Felix loves dogs; I think he's secretly harboring the fantasy of actually becoming one (can you get a "species change" operation yet?). The two of them used to wrestle all the time. At first I worred that Felix would get hurt, but after watching a few of the matches, I realized that Timmy never played TOO hard, and Felix wasn't backing down, either.
Then Pancho came along and Timmy discovered he had a REAL playmate. A dog he could kick some serious butt with. Suddenly Felix became the redheaded stepchild. No longer the playmate of choice, reduced to "cat" status again. So I started thinking about a kitten again, this time a little more seriously, imagining myself perusing the kittens at the SPCA for just the right one. A buddy for Felix. The one that would stick his paw out of the cage and whack me on the shoulder; that would be THE one.
I belong to a local Freecycle Group (a Yahoo e-mail group), and there are occasionally pets up for grabs. I began noticing the cat offerings, and even responded to a couple of them. It occurred to me that it would be more noble to adopt a kitten BEFORE it ended up in the shelter. I always dragged my feet a little, hoping that maybe they had already found good homes before I wrote in. After all, I was really looking forward to that SPCA shopping spree. This strategy worked briefly. Then one day I saw this post for a six month old kitten:
"This girl is funny. She is very frisky and dear. I cannot keep due to allergies. Has carpeted stand, box, food and all shots up to date."
So I waited until much later, thinking that she would surely have a home already, then responded:
"Let me know if you have no takers...I'm looking for another cat, would have to have spunk and personality and not be a 'fraidy cat' as I have another cat and two small dogs. They all get along great, and I keep them all indoors except for when I'm home, then they can go outside into the back yard which is fenced (6 ft. stockade), so nobody escapes! If you have others interested, it's ok, consider them first...I'm not in any big hurry!"
A short while later I received this response:
"hi patty- i liked your email the best. she is a super spunky girl and makes me laugh. she is also very alpha and does bite a little. call me up- i'd like you to have her."
Aaaaaack! What happened to first come, first served? I thought that was the way this thing was supposed to work! What if she was afraid of her own shadow and would hide all day? What was I thinking, giving up my chance to choose the next kid myself?
Arrangements were made, directions given, and a few hours later I was heading home with a car full of cat stuff, and one very unhappy kitten named KC, who cried all the way home. When I looked at the paperwork, I discovered that the woman was actually the second owner. The first was some guy, the Einstein wannabe who named her "KC" (as in Kitty Cat). I desperately wanted to name her myself, but since she seemed to know her name already, I compromised by spelling it "KayCee."
After a couple of days of adjustment, her personality began to emerge. She was less afraid of the dogs than pissed off by them. I could tell she was thinking about what a sweet gig this would be if she could just off those dogs. She has the loudest motor I've ever heard, and an extremely outgoing personality. She set about trying to make nice with Felix right away. Felix wanted nothing to do with KayCee, but immediately claimed her scratching post as his own. He still sleeps on the top platform at night. They do play and get along pretty well most of the time.
She loves to tease the dogs, poking out of her "safe place" then ducking back into it when they come tearing after her. I try to keep her indoors, but occasionally she gets out. She's good at climbing trees, but not so good at getting back down. Pancho caught her off guard one morning and she ended up in the mango tree again. Once the dogs were penned up in the kitchen, she slid down a branch far enough so I could reach her and pluck her out of the tree.
Sometimes I wonder if KayCee is going to make it to adulthood! She had a near death experience last week, in that I almost killed her! She was in my bedroom, just hanging out, looking out the windows, being all cute and kitteny. I opened up my laptop and turned it on and left the room to go get a glass of iced tea. In the two minutes (max) that I was out of the room, she had picked 2 keys off of the keypad. I picked her up and yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" AS IF it would help, fix it, or do anything but make her mad, which it did, so now I'm sporting a couple more scratches on my arm. With a pair of tweezers and a whole lot of patience (not my strong suit), I was able to reattach the kkkkkeys; I thiiiiiink they work ok now.
This morning I awoke around 4 to find her lying on my chest, purring. Things are settling down nicely. I thinkkkkk.
Then Pancho came along and Timmy discovered he had a REAL playmate. A dog he could kick some serious butt with. Suddenly Felix became the redheaded stepchild. No longer the playmate of choice, reduced to "cat" status again. So I started thinking about a kitten again, this time a little more seriously, imagining myself perusing the kittens at the SPCA for just the right one. A buddy for Felix. The one that would stick his paw out of the cage and whack me on the shoulder; that would be THE one.
I belong to a local Freecycle Group (a Yahoo e-mail group), and there are occasionally pets up for grabs. I began noticing the cat offerings, and even responded to a couple of them. It occurred to me that it would be more noble to adopt a kitten BEFORE it ended up in the shelter. I always dragged my feet a little, hoping that maybe they had already found good homes before I wrote in. After all, I was really looking forward to that SPCA shopping spree. This strategy worked briefly. Then one day I saw this post for a six month old kitten:
"This girl is funny. She is very frisky and dear. I cannot keep due to allergies. Has carpeted stand, box, food and all shots up to date."
So I waited until much later, thinking that she would surely have a home already, then responded:
"Let me know if you have no takers...I'm looking for another cat, would have to have spunk and personality and not be a 'fraidy cat' as I have another cat and two small dogs. They all get along great, and I keep them all indoors except for when I'm home, then they can go outside into the back yard which is fenced (6 ft. stockade), so nobody escapes! If you have others interested, it's ok, consider them first...I'm not in any big hurry!"
A short while later I received this response:
"hi patty- i liked your email the best. she is a super spunky girl and makes me laugh. she is also very alpha and does bite a little. call me up- i'd like you to have her."
Aaaaaack! What happened to first come, first served? I thought that was the way this thing was supposed to work! What if she was afraid of her own shadow and would hide all day? What was I thinking, giving up my chance to choose the next kid myself?
Arrangements were made, directions given, and a few hours later I was heading home with a car full of cat stuff, and one very unhappy kitten named KC, who cried all the way home. When I looked at the paperwork, I discovered that the woman was actually the second owner. The first was some guy, the Einstein wannabe who named her "KC" (as in Kitty Cat). I desperately wanted to name her myself, but since she seemed to know her name already, I compromised by spelling it "KayCee."
After a couple of days of adjustment, her personality began to emerge. She was less afraid of the dogs than pissed off by them. I could tell she was thinking about what a sweet gig this would be if she could just off those dogs. She has the loudest motor I've ever heard, and an extremely outgoing personality. She set about trying to make nice with Felix right away. Felix wanted nothing to do with KayCee, but immediately claimed her scratching post as his own. He still sleeps on the top platform at night. They do play and get along pretty well most of the time.
She loves to tease the dogs, poking out of her "safe place" then ducking back into it when they come tearing after her. I try to keep her indoors, but occasionally she gets out. She's good at climbing trees, but not so good at getting back down. Pancho caught her off guard one morning and she ended up in the mango tree again. Once the dogs were penned up in the kitchen, she slid down a branch far enough so I could reach her and pluck her out of the tree.
Sometimes I wonder if KayCee is going to make it to adulthood! She had a near death experience last week, in that I almost killed her! She was in my bedroom, just hanging out, looking out the windows, being all cute and kitteny. I opened up my laptop and turned it on and left the room to go get a glass of iced tea. In the two minutes (max) that I was out of the room, she had picked 2 keys off of the keypad. I picked her up and yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" AS IF it would help, fix it, or do anything but make her mad, which it did, so now I'm sporting a couple more scratches on my arm. With a pair of tweezers and a whole lot of patience (not my strong suit), I was able to reattach the kkkkkeys; I thiiiiiink they work ok now.
This morning I awoke around 4 to find her lying on my chest, purring. Things are settling down nicely. I thinkkkkk.
1 comment:
Cute!!!!! :)
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