February 20, 2002
Quote of the Day: "There
Quote of the Day: "There are many intelligent species in the universe. They are all owned by cats." -- Unknown
Okay, it's time to talk about cats.
The two who have chosen to live with us are Domino (tuxedo kitty on your left) and Dusty (grey stripe kitty on your right). They are sisters who will be three in April, and they came to us via the Bergen County Animal Shelter.
When they were kittens, they were inseparable. Their foster person had put a sign on their cage that read "Adopt Together." We were looking to adopt two kittens, but there were three in the cage. We didn't want to break up a family, but since we'd never been a multiple cat family before, we weren't so sure about having three.
The woman from the shelter who was helping us said, "Wait an minute, there's only supposed to be two cats in there." After taking a few minutes to place the interloper in his proper cage, she handed my husband and I the two kittens.
The kitten to be named "Dusty" looked absolutely terrorized, while TKTBN "Domino" climbed a tree who happened to be me. She made it all the way up to my head before we were able to corral her. Once we had them in our hands, of course, they were destined to go home with us. You have to know that I am a person who can't even put a stuffed animal back on the shelf, once I've picked it up. Trust me those kittens had found a home.
Figuring they would need some time to get used to their new surroundings, we set them up in the bathroom with a litter box, food, toys and a nice towel-filled box to sleep in. When they came out to explore a few days later (they spent the first few days huddled together behind the toilet), they were glued at the hip. If one strayed out of sight of the other for even a minute, much meowing ensued until they were once more reunited. I tell you all this because, Dusty has developed some odd habits as a result of her initial stay in our bathroom
We figure that she must not have been ready to leave her mommy cat. She's rather tiny (at least compared to Domino (it's hard to tell in the picture), so we figure she was probably the runt of the litter. Anyway, whenever the two kittens were cuddled together, Dusty tried to nurse on Domino. For a time, Domino allowed this, but as she grew older and more independent, she put a stop to it with a few well-placed whacks of a paw.
Dusty decided that we were an acceptable substitute. She will meow pitifully until one of us goes in the bathroom, and pets her while she sucks on an arm or article of clothing. Grudgingly she will accept pets elsewhere in the house, but sometimes you just have to go to the bathroom whether you want to or not.
Dusty is definitely our neurotic kitty. Since Domino would no longer allow her to nurse, Dusty decided that a second cat was no longer necessary. She fought with Domino over everything and took to marking her favorite spots, we presume so that Domino would know to stay away. Not fun.
Domino on the other hand is a most catly cat. She wants her bowl full, a warm place to sleep and a very old (belonged to our previous cat) and very ratty pink flannel mouse to play with. She's a happy cat.
If Dusty wanted her spot on the couch, Domino moved. If Dusty wanted the spot in the window or the top of the kitty condo, Domino moved. Dusty wasn't interested in the pink flannel mouse, thankfully. But Domino claimed the food dishes as her personal domain. Don't mess with her food.
To this day she will eat from her dish, until Dusty (who is picky eater) walks away. Then Domino goes over and eats all the food in Dusty's dish, saving her own for later. I'm not quite sure if she knows that Dusty comes back later, and just eats from whichever dish has food in it.
Today, three years later, they've worked out most of their differences and each have their sacrosanct spots, but lately they've begun a tug of war of sorts over my lap. For the longest time, Domino wasn't much interested in being a lap cat. She loves to be petted, but she prefers laying on her back on the floor so you have to bend over. Dusty, on the other hand, jumped into my lap at every opportunity.
My husband would try to get her to sit on his lap, but nothing doing. He felt left out. We would tell them, "two laps, no waiting," but that didn't matter.
Now suddenly Domino wants my lap too. Sometimes they both try to lay on my lap, but that doesn't work out too well. As I said, Domino is a big cat, and Dusty wants the whole lap and nothing but the lap. No sharing allowed.
Stay tuned to find out who wins the battle of the lap. More Dusty and Domino to follow.
Posted by Cyberkat at February 20, 2002 7:08 PM | TrackBack