Who are you?

This morning I looked out to see Kirby and Mrs. Deer playing a game of peek-a-boo in the back yard. 

Mrs. Deer:  "Scuse me, hunny, but do I know you?  I mean, you sort of look like a deer, but you are so short and fuzzy."

Kirby:  "'Scuse you, but I live here.  And just so you know, for a cat, you are really weird looking.  First of all, no tail to speak of.  And those long skinny legs.  (Thinking to self:  maybe this is the new look for cats?)  You don't look like any of MY relatives."

Both muttering:  "Really, the whole world seems odd these days."  Wanders off...

Hello, Kitteh!

As promised, here is the remaining J.D. in the household:  Hello Kitty, himself.  What, you say?  He is supposed to be white and probably female, to boot?  Well, here's the lowdown...when we moved into our home he was roaming the neighborhood.  He isn't very big, but he stood his ground when our big boy Kirby challenged him in the driveway one day.  I had to admire his determination.

For at least a year, he frequented our home and our neighbors in search of a scrap of something to eat.  We tried to convince the neighbor to adopt him.  Frankly, they had only one cat and we already had two.  And Hello Kitty was brazen enough to go into their home through the cat door and actually steal their cat's food! 

In the frigid winter months I tried to entice him to come inside, but he was really pretty wild and very skittish.  It was bitter out.  He was too skeert to come in. It was killing me.

Finally, I convinced my husband to let me tame him and get him to a vet for neutering so that he would be adoptable.  This done, (with the help of a lot of patience, eye level discussions, and catnip)  Hello Kitty actually tamed me, because I just didn't want to let him go. 

Unfortunately, he has developed a bad relationship with Webster, the Dysfunctional, and cannot be left alone with him.  It's just not good.  Oh, and for some reason, he gets extremely upset if he is on the bed and I try to make it--he has hacked me across the face several times for this infraction.   The final piece of information is that he appears to be a cat that was just left behind when his owner moved.  Nice.  Oh, and the name?  Every day when I came home he would be sitting on the deck and I would say, "Hello, Kitty!"  and that's how he ended up with the name.

He is a good example of how animals can seem to be more forgiving that people.  He has learned to trust us and settled in nicely (as you can see.)  After being ditched, starving and freezing outside for a couple of years, he is the perfect house cat.  Well, except for the one problem with Webster, the Dysfunctional, that is.

Kittehs

Meet the fam...that's Kirby on the left and Webster on the right.  They are about 10 years old now and from different Mothers, but raised together.  First we got Kirby at the pet shelter.  He and his brother were in one cage; the brother had double paws on the front AND the back feet.  Many, many more claws to wreck the furniture.  So we took Kirby home and skipped the brother.  He is at least the biggest cat in our neighborhood.  His feet are the size of a small dog, his tail where it joins his body is about 4" in circumference.  He weighs something like 19 pounds.  He's just a big 'ol schlub. 

On the right is Webster who came from, shall we say, a dysfunctional home.  He has been freaked out ever since we got him.  He started out as a thumb sucker, until my husband told him to "man up" and knock it off.  He probably should have had mental health counseling just for this alone.  (Webster, that is. Actually both of them, now that I think of it.)  He used to sit on our bed and not move a muscle, but just move his eyes back and forth like one of those old fashioned cat clocks, watching and thinking.  Watching and thinking....hmmm...these people are really weird, but they feed me so I guess I'll stay. (As you can see from this picture, he never takes his eyes off of us for a minute!)

The two of them are like Laurel and Hardy.  Adds a little personality to our home, which is always a treat! 

Next post, I will introduce you to our newest troublemaker, "Hello Kitty."  That's a whole 'nother story.  Have a meow day, everyone!

Webster: "If you think I'm weird, check out her husband."

Kirby: "I know, I know...but they just bought new cat treats, so let's stick around a little longer, bro."