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- May 1, 2016
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Good afternoon!
I have always loved cats, but I have only owned them for the past 4 years or so. I have two cats: Kitty and Mango. So as not to exclude anyone on account of race, I shall also name Rex, my German Shepherd dog.
Kitty is a gray, female tabby. She started off as a pseudo-stray cat in an apartment complex I used to live in. In truth, she was the neighbor's cat, but they left her outside in 115 temperatures 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, confined to a fenced in patio. I spent a lot of time in our own fenced in patio, and once she figured out how to get over the wall, she refused to spend any time in her own yard. Whenever I went out back, she'd eventually find me and stay until I eventually went inside, and she spent the rest of her time wandering the complex like an ordinary member of the apartments' resident feral cat colony. I did not feed her and simply called her "kitty", not wanting to grow attached to someone else's cat by giving them a nickname. But I did become attached, because she would spend hours at a time sitting in my lap while I read, played games, etc. As all kittens do, she eventually started growing up, and then the male cats started to take interest. Within a week, we found her bloody and limping in our back patio, barely able to walk. At that point, I finally did bring her inside as she clearly could not defend herself. After trying repeatedly to contact the neighbor, who would ignore my knocks while he watched TV, I eventually had no choice but to take her for emergency treatment. She wound up having surgery for her wounds, plus getting spayed, and they kept her for an extended duration to give the proper owners a chance to claim her. That never happened, so after an interview and paying an obscene amount of money to cover her medical costs, the humane society declared that she was now *my* cat. She had to wear a cone for two weeks, and right after that, it was time to move into a house. Needless to say, it was a lot of trauma in a very short time... getting harassed by cats, getting attacked by whatever attacked her, vets & surgeries, getting locked in a cage for 2 weeks, the cone for 2 weeks + being forced to take nasty medications, the move, and no longer being allowed outside... all back to back. Sadly, she has never been the same. The sweet cat that used to sit in my lap for hours on end and elicit complements from visitors has become aggressive and skittish. But "Kitty" is still with me, spending most of her time in the window sil soaking up the sun and watching the birds in my back yard, attacking Mango at random, and avoiding the dog. Every now and then I'll catch a brief glimpse of the old Kitty... usually right around feeding time.
Mango is a male, orange tabby. His personality is amazing, unlike any other cat I have ever known. Originally, I went in to look at the cats up for adoption just for the pleasure of meeting more cats, but actually seeing them made me miss the happy times I'd had with Kitty before her whole life was flipped upside-down. Mango was on the bottom of my list because he was the oldest cat there at 5 years old, but when it was his turn to come out of the cages, that changed almost immediately. Where the other cats were cautious or even fearful, Mango knew no such thing as fear. He confidently approached us, even investigating the other cats in their cages without hesitation. He was friendly and snuggly to boot! I figured if I was going to get another cat with a big ol' GSD in the house, there would be no better cat than fearless Mango. And so it has been for 3-4 years! With the exception of the bedroom and the great outdoors, Mango follows me wherever I go. If I am home, he is either in my lap, laying within 2 feet of me, waiting outside of a door he's not allowed through, or hot on my tail. If you talk to him, he will talk back, and he enthusiastically involves himself in any petting session--especially the ones that he himself initiates. And if he initiates, you had better participate, or he starts petting you affectionately with his claws. He and the dog get along well enough, though there was a rough patch there where Mango would chase the large German Shepherd away from his own food bowl for a quick snack. It was quite a sight, but Rex eventually figured out he was much larger and more intimidating, and they settled into a more appropriate relationship along the lines of, "If you don't chase or slobber on me, I will not make you bleed." So now, because Rex also follows me everywhere, Rex and Mango are usually in close proximity to one another. Once in a great while, Mango will even slide from his perch on my lap to be laying equally on me and the dog. Best cat ever.
I have always loved cats, but I have only owned them for the past 4 years or so. I have two cats: Kitty and Mango. So as not to exclude anyone on account of race, I shall also name Rex, my German Shepherd dog.
Kitty is a gray, female tabby. She started off as a pseudo-stray cat in an apartment complex I used to live in. In truth, she was the neighbor's cat, but they left her outside in 115 temperatures 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, confined to a fenced in patio. I spent a lot of time in our own fenced in patio, and once she figured out how to get over the wall, she refused to spend any time in her own yard. Whenever I went out back, she'd eventually find me and stay until I eventually went inside, and she spent the rest of her time wandering the complex like an ordinary member of the apartments' resident feral cat colony. I did not feed her and simply called her "kitty", not wanting to grow attached to someone else's cat by giving them a nickname. But I did become attached, because she would spend hours at a time sitting in my lap while I read, played games, etc. As all kittens do, she eventually started growing up, and then the male cats started to take interest. Within a week, we found her bloody and limping in our back patio, barely able to walk. At that point, I finally did bring her inside as she clearly could not defend herself. After trying repeatedly to contact the neighbor, who would ignore my knocks while he watched TV, I eventually had no choice but to take her for emergency treatment. She wound up having surgery for her wounds, plus getting spayed, and they kept her for an extended duration to give the proper owners a chance to claim her. That never happened, so after an interview and paying an obscene amount of money to cover her medical costs, the humane society declared that she was now *my* cat. She had to wear a cone for two weeks, and right after that, it was time to move into a house. Needless to say, it was a lot of trauma in a very short time... getting harassed by cats, getting attacked by whatever attacked her, vets & surgeries, getting locked in a cage for 2 weeks, the cone for 2 weeks + being forced to take nasty medications, the move, and no longer being allowed outside... all back to back. Sadly, she has never been the same. The sweet cat that used to sit in my lap for hours on end and elicit complements from visitors has become aggressive and skittish. But "Kitty" is still with me, spending most of her time in the window sil soaking up the sun and watching the birds in my back yard, attacking Mango at random, and avoiding the dog. Every now and then I'll catch a brief glimpse of the old Kitty... usually right around feeding time.
Mango is a male, orange tabby. His personality is amazing, unlike any other cat I have ever known. Originally, I went in to look at the cats up for adoption just for the pleasure of meeting more cats, but actually seeing them made me miss the happy times I'd had with Kitty before her whole life was flipped upside-down. Mango was on the bottom of my list because he was the oldest cat there at 5 years old, but when it was his turn to come out of the cages, that changed almost immediately. Where the other cats were cautious or even fearful, Mango knew no such thing as fear. He confidently approached us, even investigating the other cats in their cages without hesitation. He was friendly and snuggly to boot! I figured if I was going to get another cat with a big ol' GSD in the house, there would be no better cat than fearless Mango. And so it has been for 3-4 years! With the exception of the bedroom and the great outdoors, Mango follows me wherever I go. If I am home, he is either in my lap, laying within 2 feet of me, waiting outside of a door he's not allowed through, or hot on my tail. If you talk to him, he will talk back, and he enthusiastically involves himself in any petting session--especially the ones that he himself initiates. And if he initiates, you had better participate, or he starts petting you affectionately with his claws. He and the dog get along well enough, though there was a rough patch there where Mango would chase the large German Shepherd away from his own food bowl for a quick snack. It was quite a sight, but Rex eventually figured out he was much larger and more intimidating, and they settled into a more appropriate relationship along the lines of, "If you don't chase or slobber on me, I will not make you bleed." So now, because Rex also follows me everywhere, Rex and Mango are usually in close proximity to one another. Once in a great while, Mango will even slide from his perch on my lap to be laying equally on me and the dog. Best cat ever.
