I Gotta Get Out Of This Slump!

Miss Priss and BB picture by Judy Harper

Miss Priss and BB (Black one) picture by Judy Harper

I love to watch cats.  Each one has their own personality.  Miss Priss is a long haired Tortoiseshell and BB is a long haired Manx. They're my youngest two and with two different personalities. I have an outside tomcat that has showed up for 9 years.  He's a yellow/orange cat, so I call him Yeller.  He has brought me 4 young cats.  I've watched him walk them across the yard and sit outside my deck door until I come out and check on the new cat.  He is very skiddish and won't let me get near him, so I'm confused as to why he feels the need to bring me his strays. Miss Priss and BB are two of the cats that he brought. First Miss Priss, then BB. I told him when he brought BB that if he brought me another one, I was going to take him to the humane society, of course he knew this was an empty threat.

Miss Priss was pregnant, of course, but I had her kittens taken and then had her fixed.  For some reason there was this gray cat that used to love to chase her up trees before I was able to take her to the vet and have her checked out.  I didn't want her coming inside and giving my current cats any diseases.  Her life was a hard life for such a young cat.  While she'll let me pick her up and pet her, she doesn't allow me to hold her for very long.  She needs constant petting and playing a game.  She resents any other cat who tries to join in during our game time.  She has this squeaky meow, which she will do until I stop what I'm doing and meet her demands. She's like some humans I know.  They need constant prompting and reassurance.  If you ask them to do something with you, they want you to beg them to do whatever you're asking. Miss Priss is also territorial. She has this spot in front of a window where she sits a large of the day, looking outside. She's about two years old. But the funny thing is, she is a mother to BB.  I don't mean BB is her kitten, but that she watches out for BB. BB is short for baby.  

BB is a Manx, always in constant motion.  She only has two speeds, race and rest.  At night when the rest of us are in bed trying to go to sleep, I hear her in my bottom kitchen cabinets.  Sometimes I hear a crash where she knocks something off the counter (I don't leave anything breakable out). She's my hunter.  I have all these stuffed toys for her to play with.  I can hear her coming from another room and know she has something in her mouth, by the meow she's emitting.  Sure enough, she usually has this white baby bear, about six inches long and four inches wide or a snaky looking toy or my favorite, a green frog with these buggy eyes, gently clamped between her teeth.  I know what she wants, I start clapping and praising her for how good she is.  She immediately drops the item onto the floor and stretches full length.  It's like she's spreading her wings and crowing. She on the other hand loves to be picked up and held. It's amazing how the other cats accept her as the baby.  She has no fear or insecurities.  Miss Priss loves to give her a bath and they sleep together.  I view her as a sanguine person, someone with a sunny disposition, always happy, constantly looking for adventure.

I have a feeling that I'm more like Miss Priss but wish I were like BB. Do you ever wonder what makes us this way.  I remember when I was younger, I was shy, but when it came to what I thought I wanted to do with my life, I really felt I knew. 

A slump is described as "To slide down suddenly or a sudden decline as in interest or activity". I think my first step in coming out of this slump is to start living like cats.  Focus on what is immediate and present. Start looking for adventure.  Maybe I'll end up like BB, making a lot of noise and finding out that I can make my own fun by prowling through life!

Tasha-MyTortoiseshell-04/15/98-11/03/10

Tasha-My Tortoiseshell


She raced, she climbed and she snooped.
She would talk and to make a point, blink those eyes.
She was so full of life and curious.
She played fetch like a puppy dog, what am I
going to do with all those toys.
She sat close and reached out to touch.
She was a friend that will be missed terribly.
She was my tortoiseshell.

Thursday-Cats

Tasha-my Tortoiseshell cat-Tortoiseshell are females, and their temperaments are that

of a 2 year toddler!

 

Tasha-She was born 04/15/98-if only I could use her as a tax exemption!Along with her sister China Doll, they're my second oldest cats.  They'll be twelve this year.

China Doll-Tasha's sister

Another shot of China Doll

You ever think about how you gain your pets?  The above two I acquired when I lived in Oklahoma.  I had sort of rescued their grandmother.  It was a cold winter in 1997.  I had noticed a cat in the parking lot of the apartments where I lived.  She wouldn't let me pet her, but she would eat the food I left out.  I placed a big box, after I cut a door in one end, with the open end toward the floor on top of a towel. It was windy, snowing and cold.  I looked out on the porch once and saw her with her head inside the box with her tail sticking out the makeshift door! (Go figure as to why she wouldn't go all the way into the box!).  She stayed with me until she had her babies, three of them, Mandy, Mindy and Sheba.  Once they were weaned, she left.  I brought her babies back with me to Alabama.  Mindy managed to slip out the door before I had her fixed, giving me Tasha and China Doll.  I moved into the country side, allowing the cats to run free.  Unfortunately something happened to Mindy and Sheba.  When I moved back to town, I stopped allowing the cats outside. They have enough room to roam around and don't seem to miss going out. My vet said it's better for them to stay inside.  That way, owls, hawks and dogs can't hurt them.

They have their own personality, just like children.  Tasha loves to fetch (yes, cats will fetch).  You know the small clear plastic caps on spray pump hairspray bottles?  I'll throw that and she'll fetch it and bring back for me to throw again.  One night I thought I'd see how long she would play that game, fifteen minutes! I stopped before she was ready to quit playing.  I also have toys for her, she loves to pretend she's hunted and caught one of them, I can hear her from another room, she will start meowing as she finds me and drops her prize catch where I can see it.  She has trained me so that I know when she drops the prize, she expects me to praise her and clap my hands, letting her know I appreciate what she's done.  She's also my watchcat! If she hears and unexpected noise or she sees something unusual out the window, she has this growl that comes up her throat.  Of course, once she lets me know there might be danger, she heads for the bedroom and races under the bed.  Hey after all, she's small and feels alerting me ends her job!

Now China Doll on the other hand loves to lay around and sleep.  She will occasionally show her presence and allow me to pet her.  She loves to be held!  She also likes to be praised for catching a prize.  But while Tasha makes the hunt into a game, pouncing and batting the object, China will see a toy, lazily smack it once, pick it up with her mouth and bring it to me, alerting me with her special meow, also.  It's so funny, sometimes she'll be walking along and pass by the object, and then as an afterthought, stop, look as though she thinks, "ahh, I might get attention here", picks it up and brings it to me.

What kind of pets do you have?

Monday-Wow

Colonel Mustard and Rascal

I almost forgot! I thought I had written something for Monday, and just now realized it was Sunday post.  I wrote my Tuesday Morning Writing story for tomorrow.  It's the continuation of Why there were two! Hope y'all jump over to read it Here