“Yes, we are looking for a blue eyed Himalayan
sort of kitty. OK where can we come and see him?” I was on a pay phone at the
library and this lady didn’t live too far away. The plan was to get a kitten so
the “old lady kitty” could stay young.
“Honey,
she said we could come and see him but they aren’t even showing him yet because
he isn’t “socialized”, my voice was showing the excitement of finding a blue
eyed “baby”.
We
got in the truck and drove over to Lois’s home. “Have a seat in here and I’ll
bring him out”
We
both looked around. There were cats and kittens everywhere, in chairs, on
sofas, on bookshelves and there was one older dog looking like a misfit. “But I
was here FIRST,” his expression seemed to say.
“Here
he is, can you just smell the fear on him, I had to get him out from under the
bed with a vacuum cleaner wand.”
The
only “fear” I smelled was, for lack of a better word, Tom cat pee. He was a
five month old cream short haired Siamese type kitty with seal point markings
and startling blue eyes. As Lois handed him to me, he grabbed my knee with both
his claw-paws and clung tightly.
He
really was not what I had in mind, being a short haired cat, but we stayed and
listened to his story.
“You
know the blizzard we had several weeks ago? Well, someone dropped him and his
two sisters off at the vet’s on Friday, outside in a kitty carrier. By Monday
morning they were nearly frozen. The vet couldn’t even get their temperatures
to register on a thermometer.” Lois began to tell Elisha Blue’s story to us.
We
were there about 45 minutes and the kitty finally calmed down and fell asleep
clutching my knee in his claws. He might have settled but I was still sitting
at attention and very alert. Even asleep his claws didn’t relax. Oh, my knee.
We
told her we’d call her either way in a couple of hours to let her know and left
her house.
“Well,
what did you think? What would we have to pick up today if we were going to
take him home. Oh, I just know you liked him and those incredible blue eyes.” Hum, seems like my husband was in love with a
cat.
“I
don’t know, I really wanted a long haired Himalayan type kitty.”
“Oh,
did you see the way he sat in your lap? We wouldn’t have to get too many
supplies, would we?”
By
that time we were on the other side of town going to hike in the mountains and
there was a Pet’s Mart. For some reason the truck was turning into the parking
lot all by itself, I am sure.
My
hubby’s idea of cats when we married was “the only good cat is a DEAD cat…”
He’d come a long way in 12 years but I could tell this kitty has captured his
heart. Why, I didn’t know but decided, once again, to let him pick our feline
companion.
“OK,
guess we aren’t going hiking, maybe I should tell Lois so she doesn’t give him
another home.”
“
I just KNEW you loved him the moment you saw him!” was hubby’s reply.
“Actually,
he isn’t really what I had in mind,” by now my protests were subdued and we
were inside Pet’s Mart.
Back
to Lois’s pet rescue house and she put the partly grown kitten into a box for
us to transport him home. We decided to let him out in the master
bathroom. Our older cat needed one more
shot and three weeks to develop immunity before she could “meet” the new
addition.
“OK,
honey, the door is closed I am going to let him out.”
There
was a flash of fur and the little guy climbed – straight up the wall in the
corner and was hanging from his claws and the sheetrock.
“Whoa,
guess this is a little more upsetting for him than clawing onto my knee…”
My
husband is a builder and this was a “spec” home we were living in, the bathroom
was 17 feet long and a great place for our blue eyed boy to calm down and get
adjusted. We cleared out most of the items from the linen closet and placed a
German shepherd sized cage in the closet bottom complete with litter box, rug for a
bed, water and “crunchers”. Up top we left a pillow and some toilet paper rolls
and a few other soft bathroom things on the shelves.
When
we were in the bathroom Stormy Blue (as we renamed him) scurried for the
shelves of the closet behind the pillow and toilet paper rolls. We knew he came
out when we weren’t there because food disappeared and the litter box was being
used. For which we were mightily thankful!
“Let’s
get one of those jungle bell balls and roll it across the floor for him”
And
we’d each sit at opposite ends of the bathroom and roll that ball back and
forth. One night he actually came off
the shelf and onto the top of the dog cage to watch. That’s as far as it went.
Stormy
got so he’d play with a “swizzle stick”, the wand for cats with mylar shreds on
one end. You had to have a toilet paper
roll between you and him and put the stick through the roll first. No direct
contact with that cat. I did put on leather gloves and take him out to sit in
my lap several times a day… and we repeated the clawing onto the knee routine.
A
week went by and then two without him coming into the bathroom proper while we
were in there.
He
really perked up when he heard the thumping of the swizzle stick and would be
ready and alert, behind the toilet paper roll, wanting to play. If you tried
just the stick he’d run behind the pillow and hide.
What
other trauma must this beautiful boy have endured before we rescued him?
About
2 ½ weeks after bringing him home we were on our tall captain’s bed. I had the
kitty wand and began thumping it as my husband and I talked.
“Don’t
move! Stormy Blue is on the floor in the bathroom!!”
Pretty
soon the little guy came running across the bathroom floor and the carpeted
bedroom as he jumped up with us. The kitty wand swizzle stick had become
irresistible and he was actually on the bed chasing the stick and playing.
Nowhere in sight was that toilet paper roll!
Mitzi,
our older kitty would stick her paws under the bedroom door with much hissing
and growling. Stormy wanted a friend and
we never heard a hiss come out of his little mouth.
Finally
came the day to place Mitzi in an enclosed area and allow Stormy to explore a
little more of the house. Oh, the stealth, and caution but he made it to the
living room and sniffed all over the place.
“Well,
maybe it is time for them to meet face to face….” My husband, always the brave
one.
The
living room seemed like neutral territory. Mitzi was posturing and fluffing and
puffing and hissing and growling. Little Stormy said nary a meow and just sat
looking at her.
Several
days later the only thing which had changed was that Stormy went up to her
trying to touch her with his paw.
Mitzi
was having none of this partially grown kitten and four months later was still
smacking him to the ground when he got too close and speaking only with hisses
and growls.
We’d
gotten Stormy to keep her young and she looked like she was ready to have a
heart attack. Stormy had come a long way
but her continual rejection was not helping him to settle in.
What
could we do? We called Lois and found another blue eyed baby to play with
Stormy. After Katy Dancer came upon the scene Stormy had a buddy and Mitzi had
her peace and quiet once again but she never did get her house back.
(C)
Marijo Phelps all rights reserved.