This was Toby when we first got him, 9 years ago last month. He was about 2, and he's much leaner than he was--at that time he had spent most of his days huddled in a shelter, not moving, terrified. As they told me then, without details, 'he'd been brought back" which I think is careful Shelter Speak for two former homes, and they obviously didn't hold out much hope for him, OR his bonded friend Sammy. I took them both. They spent a LOT of time huddled together, protecting each other from the dreaded humans.
Sammy, I think, like a lot of foster kids, ran away from the good (but unfamiliar) home to find to the one he knew. He came back after three days, wet and hungry and slightly chastened...but a few months later he disappeared for good.
But now Toby is lean and fast, he gallops everywhere and has learned to get our attention by sitting just like this, but staring hard at us. I get that look in the morning and reach for the catfood. My husband gets that look at 10 PM every night, and he realizes it's time for bed, and Toby Wants His Chair. And finally he's beginning to let me pat him. Having a new buddy helps. He and Charlie are now best buds, Charlie grooms him, and in return Toby lets him.
He also has a finely honed skill as mouser. Two winters ago he managed to track down and finish off at least 2 dozen mice, no mean feat, but this was his forte.
This was his first mouse, 9 years ago. He ran out, caught a mouse, and that was that. No fuss, no bother. We haven't had even a glimmer of mouse in here for two winters. In an old house, that's pretty good. And like a good cat, what he doesn't eat he leaves on my husband's side of the bed. Goood kitty.
It's always nice to have a friend to share quiet time...
That's familiar -- one cat grooming, the other letting. Marigold took grooming seriously, tackling long haired Duncan, twice her size, frequently. He let her work . Bit of a Tom Sawyer and the fence scenario, I used to think. The drawback was that she was a shorthair and groomed in shirt strokes which created knots throughout his coat when she started each stroke with the fur turned back on itself. Her grooming resulted in a lot of deknotting and slicker brushing for me. Which Duncan also allowed. No dope, Duncan.
ReplyDeleteI cannot tell you how relieved I am that Toby the short hair is grooming charlie the long hair. You remember that batch of totally wadded together Charlie Fur I sent you? Even the birds won't touch it, and I don't blame them.
DeleteI shudder to imagine that long fine fur roiling around in Toby's digestive tract. It works out very well, they have what the other needs, and Im cool with that.
I spent all winter ferociously combing Charlie, to keep the knots out. He now likes to be combed. and just out of curiosity I started saving his fur, to see how much there was. From the first of March until now, I've managed to save most of a plastic store bag's worth which weighs about two ounces total. I think it might make a nice pillow. =)
That's a wonderful image, little cat grooming big cat...sounds like Marigold was a frustrated mother-cat type.
FYI - When I had a long-haired cat, I would dab a little vaseline on her paws every now and then to smooth things along down the digestive tract.
Deleteyou know, Charlie, with all that fur, has never had a hairball. It may be because it's such light stuff it just dissolves quickly in stomach acid, I don't know, but I've never heard that hack hack hack...
DeleteI do know that I have been combing him steadily and endlessly since the first of march and right now (I saved the fur) I think I have the equivalent of a full cat in that bag.
And now that summer is upon us, he has stopped his winter molt and gone straight into his summer one. sigh.
Toby is a real cutie. Yes, I grew used to every single bitty bit of the mouse gone except the liver (?I think?). Or some particular innard they would never eat. At least it was never on the bed, although there was the time I woke up to a soccer match between one mouse and one cat on the end of the bed.
ReplyDeleteToby has nights when he consumes everything but the whiskers, and others when he leaves just the head (oh, ick) and I think usually what they do leave is possibly a gall bladder, way too bitter to deal with.
DeleteLove the image of that soccer match...at least you were at the far end of it.
He passed me on the stairs one night, the light of battle on his face, and growling over the mouse he had in his mouth. He takes no prisoners, that one. I just hope he never finds one of our very occasional snakes...
Ahh, Toby is a cutie. Cats need a buddy and are happiest when they have another furry animal to cuddle. However, we had two sisters, and one of them was very aggressive and tormented the other. After the nasty one died, the other sister came into her own and became one of the most loving cats we have ever had.
ReplyDeleteit's always a sad mystery why two related cats turn that way--jealousy, maybe, or one is alpha and she sees the other as the punching bag. My alphas either learn good behavior or we haul out the screen doors that separate the cranky from the not-cranky.
DeleteYour non alpha cat was probably so relieved to be rid of that wicked stepsister of a cat...
I love seeing the pairings that happen when we have batches. I've had a boy/girl pairing (both fixed, so...) and they'd go hunting together. He'd hunt and she'd direct the proceedings, a classic southern belle...he also had a playbuddy, and they spent huge amounts of time playing paperbag king-of-the-hill stuff. Those are the things I regret not having a video of; two huge cats fighting over who gets to hide in the bag...
The only cat I ever returned was a half grown female that literally took over the house in an hour. Six grown cats, hovering upstairs, while she sat in the middle of the kitchen floor and staked her claim. If I had been younger, i'd probably have worked through it, but at that stage, it wasn't worth it, so I took her back.
Welcome back. Missed you.
ReplyDeletethank you. It's nice to be missed. (Even nicer to be found...=) )
Deletemy first experience at life-with-cats came about twelve years ago when my favorite animator decided to bring his kitty Diesel to keep me company where i was lecturing in Massachusetts at the time. i was nervous about letting him out during the day, but he was a bit of a scaredy-cat who never ventured more than a few feet from the back door.
ReplyDeletei was racing off to an early lecture one morning, when i shoved my foot into my favorite brown leather loafers... only to be met by a furry, squishy surprise that had been left there for my benefit. boy, was he ever proud of himself after that one.
that cat was my best friend during the next two very lonely years there, and he and i spent many hours driving back and forth to Montreal whenever there was a break or even just a long weekend.
i was so saddened to say goodbye to him back in 2012. however, for the entire rest of my life, i will think of him every time i put on a pair of shoes, because i STILL turn them over and give them a light tap first.
yep, that stuff stays with you, real or anticipated. But that was sweet of the animator to bring you company that way, lot of thought went into that one, I'd say.
DeleteAnd as long as you have cats, it's always wise to glance at the floor AND the shoes, especially in the morning. In a way it's like having kids with legos. You never walk barefoot again in the dark.