Yep, we are cat owners. I think what put us over the edge was an incident the other week, when Q saw me petting Hobie and came to see if he could piggy-back on it and pet Hobie too. Hobie will put up with being petted by them if Janneke or myself has him pretty well smothered in adult attention. But this time, as Q's hand approached, Hobie gave him a snarl, and Q collapsed against me and cried. Janneke and I looked at each other and pretty well decided, "They need a nice animal."
But Janneke doesn't want two dogs yet. So we compromised.
We didn't let the kids in on the idea until we were actually in the pet store in Pittsfield where the municipal animal shelter does adoptions on Saturdays. We had sold them on the story that we needed to get more food for Hobie (which was true), and that this was the reason we were in the store. And we just happened to wander back to the cat area and start pulling them out of the cages and playing with them in the little fenced-in area.
This cat really had no competition. She was friendly, if not desperate for attention, and active and playful, while just about all the others were sullen and preferred to hide under the bench. Never got a purr out of any of them but this one. We weren't in love, exactly - she was a long-haired cat, which we weren't crazy about, and our friends Brad and Betsy had just gotten a cat that was such a love-sponge that even our animal-love-starved kids eventually gave up on cuddling him and wandered off to do other things. That's really what we were looking for, and this one wasn't it.
But there was something we liked a lot - she seemed so wholesome and confident, and absolutely beautiful. I loved her little black ear tufts. And so we filled out the forms and by the time we got home, we had a message saying we had been approved.
I went on line last night to do some investigating about what to do with long-haired cats, whether one can effectively trim them, etc. And knowing that this was a semi-long-haired cat, I did an image search for such a thing, and came up with this:
And, I mean, whoah. That's the same cat. Here's another picture of ours - her eyes look a little glazed in this one, so I didn't want it to be your first impression, but it is more detailed, and the resemblance gets harder and harder to deny:
And the image was from a website that sells Maine Coon cats.
So I read about them, and found out that they're huuuuuge. The longest cat ever measured, apparently, was a Maine coon. And they're above-average in intelligence, and they're affectionate, but not clingy (bingo). And they are rumored to have bobcat somewhere in their genes - hence the ear-tufts. (Not sure I buy that.) But, I thought, why would this cat have no other bidders on it, if it's obviously of some fancy breed? Why would a breed kitten wind up being given away at the animal shelter?
Some of these questions were answered today when I went in to pick up the little gal. For starters, she had only just had her fixing surgery on the 22nd, so this was her first foray into being adoptable. And she wasn't found on the street - she was brought to the shelter by someone who had received her as a gift, and had turned out to be allergic. I asked, "Is she a Maine Coon?"
The woman at the shelter said, "Well, maybe she has some in her."
And then she picked her up and remarked, "Well, for 3 months old, she is pretty darn big. And she's really long."
I nodded. "I heard last night that the longest cat every measured was a Maine coon."
So I have no papers, but I'm just about sure: That's what we have. Here's what they look like when they get big:
I can't wait. But of course I can - she's been perfect so far. We bought her a cat tower, to which she took immediately. She's had two naps there so far today. She's used her litterbox and eaten out of her cat dish, and gets on perfectly well with Hobie, who pretty much ignores her. And right now she's on the floor with Q, frolicking. She is just great.
OOPS! - I forgot to tell you her name! Janneke came up with it. She's sunny and happy, and has lots of different colors. So that can only lead to...
"Skittles."
Bienvenida!
3 comments:
Skittles is a beauty. If you have any questions or issues, let me know. As a bonafide old maid with cats, I have plenty of cat advice to dispense. 1. Use a large plastic storage box for a litter box because true "litter pans" are too small. 2. Scoopable litter is the only way to go. 3. Be prepared for some annoying late night/early morning carousing across your back. 4. Invest in many, many lint roller brushes (the tape kind are best). 5. Catnip is great fun. 6. Cats can be trained to fetch. Use celophane wrapped peppermints - they make a great crinkling noise which gets the cat's attention. 7. Invest in "fishing pole" cat toys.
Whoah - Thanks! The kitty litter box thing is turning out to be true. We have a box, and it's the biggest size they sold, but she can just barely turn around in there. And the wand toy is a huge hit - Q i particular is very fond of playing with her using it. They say this breed is trainable - I'd love to get her to do some actual tricks. I bought a couple of things at Petco before going to get the rest at the mom & pop shop where we adopted her - I wanted to give them the business. And I asked the woman at Petco what catnip was for. She was probably sixty, with long gray hair and thick glasses, British...A real character. And when I asked her, sighed and shrugged, and with her lovely accent, said, "It's marihuana for cats."
The storage boxes I use are the semi-clear kind and probably measure 18 inches by 36 inches. The key is to get one that has a completely flat bottom. The ridges and such that go around the bottom of Rubbermade storage boxes make scooping a pain. Cats also love cat beds (cloth covered foam, circular shape). A fun thing to do is to put a jingle bell on a piece of yarn or string and hang it from a doorway so that the ball is high enough that the cat can sit and bat it around. Elastic strings can be more fun because the cat can catch it and it will spring away from her like it's alive. Lucy Cat has taken to carrying around tennis balls that Whiz has popped. She leaves them in front of my bed like she would leave a mouse. Be prepared for her to chew house plants. I think that's about it for Auntie Jayne advice for today.
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