Kitten is my current cat. She is a thriving 14-year-old, and gaining some mellowness in her later years. That statement will have more meaning as you learn about her. Originally, Kitten was my daughter’s cat. She was, and still is, just an ordinary looking cat. She is dark grey with white markings, has green eyes, and I’ll admit, she could be considered rather plain-looking, as cats go. Her name was given to her by a 4-year-old little girl that my daughter was taking care of temporarily to help out a friend. This little girl inadvertently traumatized Kitten, who was still a real kitten at the time, by putting her in a dresser drawer, a toy box, a bedside table drawer, or a floor vent…. all kinds of places that the poor little kitten could not get free of. The little girl meant no harm, but she was only 4-years-old and was probably just trying to place the kitten somewhere safe that she could collect her from later, kind of like a stuffed animal.
As soon as Kitten got old enough to go outside, then outside was where she went… far away from that little girl who kept stuffing her into places that trapped her. She became very anti-social with people, and then it wasn’t long before she started having kittens. My oh my, what a kitten factory she was, too! She had at least 3, possibly 4 litters, by the time she was 2 years old… but more about that later. My daughter lived in a mobile home, and she had several cats at the time that all went in and out of the house. She fed them with a self-feeder set up on her dryer in her laundry room. When Kitten started having kittens (outside, under the house), she would take excellent care of them… she was always a great mom-cat! But this meant that she also went hungry a lot, so when she came inside to eat, she was starving. If another cat was at the feeder, she would snarl and swat at it, and that cat would back down, because it knew better than to challenge a starving mom-cat! So, Kitten got in the habit of doing this, which did not endear her to other cats at all.
When Kitten was about 2-years-old, my daughter decided to give her to me. She claimed that Kitten didn’t like her, which I didn’t…and still don’t…believe, but I took her, along with her last litter of kittens. Kitten’s last litter started out as 4 kittens, but one died within a few days of being born, so there were just 3 left…2 calico females and 1 white male. I don’t know what cat Kitten hooked up with, but while she, herself, may be plain and ordinary looking, her kittens were always gorgeous! Once they were weaned, I found homes for the 2 females, but my youngest son wanted to keep the male, and so we did. We named him Zinc, and I will tell his story another time. Then I got Kitten fixed and put that kitten-factory out of business!
As I stated earlier, Kitten was rather anti-social, but she did, and still does, like to be pet and she has the nicest purr. I tease her about turning her into a purr-pillow…it’s probably good that she has no idea what I am saying! Once I had her in my home, I just let her do her own thing. She hates being picked up, so I try not to do that, but of course there are times when it’s unavoidable. The trick with picking Kitten up is to never, never, NEVER, let her get the upper hand. You have to be confident and in charge, and make sure she knows it, and then she will accept it, although she still will not like it. So, the days went on and then I noticed that lots of times when I went into my bedroom, Kitten would be on my bed. As soon as I entered the room though, she would jump off and run out of the room. As time went on, she stopped fleeing and would stay on the bed. Then it got to the point where she would stay on the bed until I went to bed, and when I pulled the covers back, she would jump off the bed and leave. It was a step…there have been many, many steps with Kitten, for sure! She got to the point of staying on the bed whenever I went to bed, and then she decided she liked my other pillow and would lay on it, or even my own pillow, but she would move off of my pillow when I went to bed. All was well until one evening at bedtime I found her on my pillow, and she did not move off of it. I went to nudge her, and she raised one leg to swat at me and hissed…. which I would not stand for. I grabbed her leg, gently but firmly, and explained to her that she was on MY pillow, and that she was welcome to use the other pillow… and then I let her go. She ran off in a huff and did not come back into my bedroom for 3 nights. When she did come back in, she got back on the bed… and she lay down on the other pillow! So, that was an interesting pillow-fight, but all was well in the end.
What any cat lover or cat owner knows, is that all cats are different, just like people. Some are needy and want to be in your lap or be pet all the time…they crave attention. But most of my cats have always been rather independent and have liked to just do their own thing. Kitten has always been very independent, and while she does like to be pet, I think she mostly just likes the companionship of someone who loves her. She can be a bit tricky to pet, because when you stop and pull your hand away, she will lash out and claw you. Now, it took me a little time to realize that she doesn’t do this out of meanness, but rather, she is trying to grab your hand back to keep petting her… she just does not know to keep her claws in. So, I do warn anyone who pets her to be very careful, and do NOT trust her! A few years ago, we discovered that she also loves to be brushed, so now she has her own cat brush and enjoys it immensely. She also has started rolling over to expose her stomach, which would make one think that she wants her belly rubbed. I’m still on the fence about that. There are times when she does seem to want that, and to enjoy that… but there are other times when she will grab your arm with all 4 of her feet and go to clawing. We joke that she is laying her “trap”, and then decide if we want to risk it or not. Maybe it’s a game she plays… it’s really hard to say. So, there you have it, Kitten’s story. She just turned 14 and is still very healthy and mobile, so I hope she still has many of her 9-lives left.