Spenser, Machine Gun Kitty

Spenser was adopted from a veterinarian in Hutchinson, Kansas. Someone found him in the parking lot of the library during an ice storm. They took him to their veterinarian instead of the humane shelter. I called my veterinarian to let them know that I was looking for a kitten for my older cat. Spenser was just coming out of surgery. He was about six months old. I brought him home the next day. For a year he was half wild and ate everything in site. When he realized he had a full time home, he finally relaxed. I think he relaxed a little too much. You could do anything to him and he would just purr louder. He and Tom had a thing where Tom would hold his front right and hind right leg in one hand; the cats' left front and rear paws in the other hand. Then he would turn the cat from left to right making machine gun noises. I would try, but as a girl I am just not genetically able to make the gun noises. Spenser was long and tubular shaped all his life. He loved to nap with the humans and would stretch out along your hip from your armpit to your ankles. Before we had the cattery, our kids used to wander the 'hood'. One day, Spenser came limping back to the house with a broken foot. We never knew where or how. He did OK with a cast on, but he always had a bit of a wocky-puck to that foot after the cast came off. One summer I stayed at a house in Mt. Hope for four months to take care of some friends' dogs while they went to Alaska. I had a chance to go to Arkansas for a week later in the summer. I boarded one cat and left Spenser at the house in Mt. Hope. He was just coming out of his frantic, anxious stage and not always trustworthy yet. When I drove up to the borrowed home after vacation, I saw the owners five year old granddaughter carrying Spenser around. She had one arm just under both his front shoulders, the rest of the cat was dangling and hanging down. His feet were about an inch shy of touching the ground. I watched this kid walk, jump, run, skip, play and fall with the cat bouncing around in her arm. I walked over to her mom and said I was not sure the cat was tame enough and he might scratch her. She laughed and told me that her daughter had been carrying the cat around like that all week. She said if her daughter put the cat down he would follow her all over the property and that they had napped together in the house. I really think that kid was what turned him around. After a week with a five year old, nothing seemed to bother him.

Signature Move

Cats each seem to have something they do that makes them unique. We call that move their Signature Move. Sneaky Pete has his green minibinky that he carries around. He likes to butt heads like a Siberian Linx cat. At night he likes to sleep in what we call The Pete Trough. Hubby wads a blanket along his left side so there is a trough next to him. The cat sleep in the trough. Dobbie always has legs hanging off whatever he is resting on. He was around before the cattery when we used to keep the cats out at night. When we would call them in the morning Dobbie was always first in at a dead run. He ran all the way through the house, leaped on the bed where he would talk and chortle as if telling you everything he did all night long. When Padme drinks water she puts her shoulder on the deck and sticks her arm straight out and waves her arm back and forth as if she is pushing water toward her. We started telling her she was cute when she did that. Now if you say 'Cute Girl' to her she will get in the position. Bear used to give Bear Hugs. He would lay on top of you and wrap his front legs around your chest, then place his chin flat and stare at you. Newts' signature move was not human directed. She loved being a mom. Her favorite thing was to put a paw over a kittens shoulder to hold it down and give its' face the rougest grooming. Elvis slept in what we called The Prayer Position. She would lay with chin curled under so the top of her head was on the pillow.

Aires Above the Ground

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All our cats love to play. Uncle Onslow loves to chase string. For a fat boy, he is quite graceful and very playful. Toula will chase a red dot anywhere. Dobbie was given a cloth mouse with a leather tail when he was two months old that he picks up in his mouth and carries around. Padme and Sneaky Pete are jumpers. They love to leap up as high as they can to grab any toy. The difference is that Padme will jump up after items she deposited in the air. She won't jump up for things we throw in the air. She will chase anything we throw and fetch it back to us. Pete would rather humans launch his toys in the air. I guess if you wear a tuxedo for life you require staff.

Fireworks

The cats are on lockdown because of all the noise from fireworks. Onslow thinks he needs to go outside but if it gets noisy he will run and hide. We had to rebuild their water feature this year. Tom made a spout out of bamboo and rope. We realized they were not drinking and discovered that the new spout splashed too much. We added some water plants to solve the problem.The catnip, catmint, lilys and pennyroyal are all in bloom so the cattery is a mix of orange, white and purple flowers. I love the cat mint because it blooms all summer. The pennyroyal keeps away insects. You cannot put oil of pennyroyal on cats, it is too strong. But they can be around the plants. Another option is to use oregano.Vinca vine also does well in the cattery. We have a few shrubs too. Peonies are great. They provide a cover for the cats to hide in but the plant does not get too tall. Sneaky Pete saw a fledgling bird land on the ground near the garden. He went over and sniffed it, but know what else to do with it, so he just followed it around and watched it. Emmette started chewing on his paws again when the heat got so bad last week. So that means it is time to take him in to the veterinarian for a steroid shot.There is a feral all white long haired tom cat that passes through the yard on the way to neighbor Gayles. Her house is kitty soup kitchen for the neighborhood so cats show up for breakfast and supper. This big guy likes our cats. After supper he comes over and walks the fence line, talking. When he gets to the north side where the shade is, he will lay down against the fence and look in at our cats. Padme usually walks over and will reach a paw through the fence and touch him.