Cat Play
When
I adopted Beauty on 28 January 2005 from Phyllis Aw (Beauty's fosterer), I was told that Beauty should belong in a single cat household. Her inability to get along with the other pets resulted her being caged up all the time in Phyllis' place. At that time, I had zero cats, so I was an ideal candidate to take Beauty. Besides, she is really beautiful & it seemed wrong to cage her.
After a month or so, assuming that Beauty must be lonely at home by herself most of the day, I decided to take in another cat. Also a female calico by the name of Orange, from Phyllis. Orange is younger & smaller in size to Beauty. Beauty obviously didn't like her at all. She'd bully Orange all time & beat the crap out of the poor girl. After 2 weeks, I couldn't take the bloodshed any longer, I had to return Orange to Phyllis.
It she eventually dawned on her that I am NOT stopping at one, despite her objections - first came Alex, then Dim Sum & her brood but she had never accepted them. Since Dim Sum & brood came into our lives in October 2005, Beauty refused to leave her room. She would play, eat, poo in her room. Everything has to be sent to her royal highness.
It was only in the recent weeks, with Fudge's crisis, that Beauty started coming out again - to look at Fudge & 'mingle' with the rest. By mingle, I mean, snarling, hissing, nothing physical.
I was pleasantly surprised that she'd sit with Fudge & us in Fudge's last hours. So, this girl has some compassion after all.
Anyway, I came to a conclusion. Beauty's not anti-social, at least not anymore. The snarling, hissing is Beauty's way of interacting & playing with the cats. She'd snarl at them, they'd chase her, she runs & hide. Moments later, Dim Sum would seek her out, snarl at her & Beauty would chase her & Dim Sum would run & hide. This goes on & on for the entire day.
With baby steps, but Beauty is s-l-o-w-l-y opening up. Wonder if she's ready for a new addition? Hmmm...
I adopted Beauty on 28 January 2005 from Phyllis Aw (Beauty's fosterer), I was told that Beauty should belong in a single cat household. Her inability to get along with the other pets resulted her being caged up all the time in Phyllis' place. At that time, I had zero cats, so I was an ideal candidate to take Beauty. Besides, she is really beautiful & it seemed wrong to cage her.After a month or so, assuming that Beauty must be lonely at home by herself most of the day, I decided to take in another cat. Also a female calico by the name of Orange, from Phyllis. Orange is younger & smaller in size to Beauty. Beauty obviously didn't like her at all. She'd bully Orange all time & beat the crap out of the poor girl. After 2 weeks, I couldn't take the bloodshed any longer, I had to return Orange to Phyllis.
It she eventually dawned on her that I am NOT stopping at one, despite her objections - first came Alex, then Dim Sum & her brood but she had never accepted them. Since Dim Sum & brood came into our lives in October 2005, Beauty refused to leave her room. She would play, eat, poo in her room. Everything has to be sent to her royal highness.
It was only in the recent weeks, with Fudge's crisis, that Beauty started coming out again - to look at Fudge & 'mingle' with the rest. By mingle, I mean, snarling, hissing, nothing physical.
I was pleasantly surprised that she'd sit with Fudge & us in Fudge's last hours. So, this girl has some compassion after all.
Anyway, I came to a conclusion. Beauty's not anti-social, at least not anymore. The snarling, hissing is Beauty's way of interacting & playing with the cats. She'd snarl at them, they'd chase her, she runs & hide. Moments later, Dim Sum would seek her out, snarl at her & Beauty would chase her & Dim Sum would run & hide. This goes on & on for the entire day.
With baby steps, but Beauty is s-l-o-w-l-y opening up. Wonder if she's ready for a new addition? Hmmm...
posted by Cat at 11:34 AM
16 Comments:
i have a cat similar to beauty...her name is spike and she too is a beauty with the same attitude
gyn
maybe calicos are just like that :)
do you have pictures of spike that you share with me? would love to see her!
it's comforting to know that Fudge had touched Beauty, not just us humans alone :D and for her to sniff and sleep in Fudge's bed, huh?
like the way both Dim Sum and Beauty took turns to snarl and then run and hide. so cute.
True, who would have thought they have the same emotions as we have.
Beauty & Dim Sum is the odd couple. I bet one will miss the other if I separate them.
like my mum used to say, it's just that animals cannot speak. and i've always believed they are as, if not more, intelligent than us. it's past incidents that i heard and saw that led me to respect them.
if i were to tell you that my grandfather's pet dog (who passed away last June) got on so well with a stray cat (who took upon itself to look after my grandfather after the dog's passing) such that they both had to kiss each other when meet! all the neighbours couldn't believe their eyes 'cos she's naturally afraid of dogs. not only that, they even slept together, and the dog let the cat eat his food when she invited herself into the house.
the dog was a very chinchye type of dog just like my grandfather - what they said about dogs adopting their owners mannerisms :) and probably adopted the cat because she happened to save my grandfather from a snake that hid behind the broom - it was about to strike at my grandfather that the cat leapt at it. at that time it was only a kitten but still helped my grandfather killing it. and that's how it came by to adopt him - offering it food.
we do have alot to learn from animals, don't we :)
sorry, i meant to say: "came by to adopt my grandfather - and then he offered her food from then onwards somehow showing his appreciation"
Hi Cat and Letter B, what touching stories.
I'm truly amazed that a kitten managed to kill a snake. Did she get hurt?
~5-Cat Style
Letter B,
Your grandfather's kitten should be on one of those amazing pet show!
Awesome!
5-Cat Style - not that i know of, but duh! i should have asked right? but i was so in awe of the cat that everything all kerna jammed. what both my grandparents did say was she was clawing away at the snake. better than nothin right? :D still a very brave kitty. put a human there and i tell ya it would run for the hill.
Cat - yup i'd really love to bring her home BUT my mum is not only anti-cat but very a cleanliness obsessive compulsive. sigh.. she's one playful manja cat who gave me a kitty kiss on new year's eve! and i went completely gaga.
I lurve calico cats! Woot!! :D I don't have a calico per se, but a tortoiseshell with similar murderous tendencies. So I guess Evil Dwarf Polly does count?
Oh and I got Polly from Phyllis too... my only adopted cat :)
B, you sound like you really would like a cat one day... hope you get your wish soon. ;)
The potential adopters of my foster cats Lucie and Boonie are still trying to convince their mum. Sigh.
many thanks for your wishes, catdonna :) yes i've had always wanted a pet regardless cats or dogs but guess as long as i stay together with the mum, it'd be really hard. she's not an easy one to convince.
that aside, since both you and Cat got your cats from Phyllis, isn't it a good reason to meet up sometime :D
Hey B, I'm convinced. Anytime is a good time for me. Let me know.
yay! sure do, Cat. let's see the response at 5-Cat Style yes?
Dear Cat
I'm not a blogger and as such i'm not sure how i can share pics of spike wif u :(
no worries, you can send it to my email - hongtenglong88@yahoo.com.sg
:)
Hey Cat,
Just wanted to let you know, I made an entry about single-cats, and used Beauty's story as an illustration to show that mostly, cats do adapt to multi-cat families.
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