To commemorate the birth of 3 of my 5 cats, 6 years ago, on 17th of September 2007, (their 2 mothers are of unknown age, probably a year or two older, from what the vet said) I leave you photos and a little description of them and their different personalities.
SHELLEY
Shelley or "Fatty" as we call her now, is a very overweight cat. She weighs 7,5 kgs!
No wonder, because all she does is stick around after I give them their breakfast and dinner and eat all the food the other 4 leave behind. Then she climbs onto my bed and sleeps...
I hardly ever see her outside, unless we are doing some gardening and then she will lie in the sun.
In the morning, she is the first one to wake me up if it's past the regular feeding time. She will put out her nails and gently scratches my arm while meowing loudly. It never fails to make me spring out of bed!
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She probably thinks she is a "model thin cat" trying to fit into a small box
TWIGGY
Twiggy loves boxes and will jump in any box she sees around the house |
Twiggy was named after the British model, because when the kittens were born, she was the tiniest of the bunch, always the last one to come and eat and wouldn't eat much either. She was also the ugliest of the bunch, reason why she didn't get adopted and so we kept her.
A few years later, and she is now the first one to start eating. As soon as the first dry biscuits fall on the first plate she attacks it, and then moves on to all the other plates, as if to see if the other food is better, in the process shooing all the others aside.
Apart from this bravado, she is a scaredy cat. If I wear a different pair of shoes, whose heels will make a different sound on the floor I will see her running into hiding as soon as I approach. If I have visitors at home she will also disappear and only return hours after they leave. Any strange noise and she will hide.
The only time I see her more relaxed is when it's cold and she and her Mom will cuddle together on the blanket over the sofa, or on my bed. She likes to snuggle next to my legs when I go to bed, when she is relaxed enough allowing us to touch her without minding.
She loves her Mom (the real one) and they will invariable be seen curled up together at night, usually cheek to cheek.
Sleeping cheek to cheek - Mommy and Twiggy
FLUFFY
Fluffy, is the only male and he certainly takes advantage of that, being a bit of a bully with
his cat family! He is also a big cat, matching Shelley's weight, although he probably looks bigger because of all the fluffy hair.
To us humans our ginger cat is very loving and gentle, being the most vocal of the bunch, loves human company, sitting on the couch when we watch TV, or scratching the grass or the soil when we are outdoors gardening. He is also my computer companion, when I sit in my study he will jump on his bean bag next to my desk. He loves "talking" to us, meowing frequently and always expecting a reply.
I love to see him sleep, as he always covers his face as if to block the light.
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| Fluffy and Twiggy |
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Please do not disturb!
MOMMY
Mommy, was never given another name, as we never thought she would stick around as I mentioned before in another post about my cats, as I presumed they had "owners".
But after giving birth they stayed. We now tend to call her "velhota" which means "old lady" in Portuguese. She is not old, as she is probably only a year or two older than her kitties.
She is very clever and gentle cat, very regal and independent and for me the prettiest of them.
She loves a belly tickle and if she is in the driveway when we arrive home, she will lie there with her belly up until we tickle her, while she purrs contently. In fact she is the only one who doesn't mind being belly up.
She also knows how to get her morning meal quicker - she jumps on the chest of drawers in my bedroom and starts moving things around while she observes if I move. If I ignore her, she will make more noise or throw things down. Because I don't want her to break anything on my dresser I quickly jump out of bed. I don't know why she wakes me up to feed her (them) as she is not much of a eater and is the thinnest at 4,5kgs, almost half of what Fluffy or Shelley weight.
She will curl up with Twiggy (her favourite), Fluffy or Shelly who sometimes will lie over her.
Mom sleeping very relaxed
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Mommy being squashed by Shelley
BABY
Baby is the other mother, but she is probably Mommy's daughter, reason why we called her Baby. They look very similar and have the same colouring, unlike any of the other cats that came out all different, probably taking after the fathers....yes, female cats can mate with various male cats and have offspring of the various fathers.
She is the only one who will jump on my desk and likes to lie over my keyboard or my hands when I sit on the computer.
Unfortunately she is a bit of a loner, or has to be a loner, because all the others don't seem to get on with her. When both mothers were pregnant, they were the best of friends curling up together, and when the kittens were born they both made a circle around their 8 babies warming them up and feeding them. So I don't know where this antagonism came from? She is the only one who will sleep on her own as no one will curl up to her, and at feeding times she will be the last one to approach the dishes, waiting until all the others have taken a bowl. Not that she misses out on food, as she is the third one in weight at 7kgs.
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| Baby sitting on my desk |
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| The 5 of them eating |
At the moment none of them have a collar. I have various times throughout these 6 years put collars with tags on them, with their names and my contact number, but they seem to pull them out or they get lost somehow.
All cats are micro-chipped and sterilized, so hopefully if they get lost anyone going to a vet will be able to get our details from the chip.
All in all they are 5 lucky cats, don't you think?
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