Pictured above are my son's cats, Stormy and Wendy. Stormy, the male, looks very much like a Russian blue. Wendy, the female, is a brown and gray tabby, who has been having intestinal problems lately, in that she doesn't hold her food down. She's been thoroughly examined and tested by the vets, and they can find nothing wrong. She's lost weight, but not a dangerous amount, and is now on a special diet of expensive cat food, which did not immediately solve the problem.
Some of what Wendy regurgitates includes hair balls. My son told the vet the story of Stormy and Wendy. A stray female tuxedo kitten came to my son's house, and the family took her in, as much as they could, because she was and is half feral. Turns out the 'kitten' was pregnant. She was so small that she had to have been impregnated the first time she came into heat and, from the appearances of the 5 kittens in the litter, possibly by more than one male. Badut (Don't ask about the name. I have no idea.) stayed in the house when she had her litter and until the kittens were weaned, but now she prefers outside, except in very cold weather.
Badut was quite conscientious about feeding her litter, but Wendy was the nanny who did the cleaning and grooming, since the mother cat showed no interest in those chores. My son found good homes for all the kittens but Stormy, whom they kept in the family. Stormy is a very large cat, although you can't tell from the picture. Wendy is a normal-sized female, but she still grooms Stormy as she's done since he was born. The vets finally concluded that Wendy was ingesting too much hair by grooming herself and the huge Stormy, and her digestive system could not handle all the hair. They've put her on an anxiety medication to try to keep her from vomiting, and it seems to be working.
In addition to her compulsion to groom Stormy, Wendy has to put up with his attempts to mount her. Once he gets her down, she's so much smaller, she doesn't have a chance, and when my son goes to rescue her, Stormy gets a crazed look in his eyes as though to say, 'I'll tear you limb from limb, if you disturb me!' All the more need for anxiety medication for poor Wendy.
And that's not all. Whenever Badut decides to spend time in the house, Stormy still tries to nurse from his tiny Mama. What a sight! He's about twice her size. He's never forgotten, but his Mama wants none of it, which may be one reason why she spends so much time outside.
Stormy is seemingly a large cat with a small brain, who yet manages to rule like a king. Such is life with the feline members of the household.
Another instance where patriarchy is based on size and strength, not good sense.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I should add that all the cats are spayed or neutered, so there will be no more kittens.
ReplyDeleteOh good that they are all sexually care-free. We started feeding our cats Costco dry cat food that gets rid of hairballs. That and brushing the cats more frequently seems to have helped.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a Costco around here. I suppose my son could see about ordering their cat food.
ReplyDeleteOur family cat weighed about five pounds inside a ball of fur. Our daughter thought she looked like a small gray cloud and named her Thunder. Thunder was the gift of an assertive family friend and she dominated the neighborhood. Once as Thunder was crossing the street, a dog made a run at her. She stopped, turned toward him, and when he got close enough, calmly raked his nose with her claws. Then she continued across the street.
ReplyDeleteA professor from Hamburg lived on the corner with his five cats that he'd trained to follow him on walks, like baby ducks. Thunder treed them all, when she got a chance. Our last day in Bloomington, Indiana, before moving East, had several prominent English professors trying to entice one of their kitties out of a tree in front of the family home, while Thunder patrolled the base, Saying Don't you dare come down. We kept Thunder's last kitten, who tiptoed around the house, looking out for Mum. Thunder kept giving us scornful looks, like, When are you going to get rid of that damned kitten? Truce prevailed.
On one trip back to Bloomington, a few years after I'd moved out of the family home, I knelt in our old front yard while chatting with the kids. Thunder came and sat on my knee, as if, Oh, Hi. Haven't seen YOU recently. She lived to be twenty. A sterling cat.
Thunder was quite a cat, and her reward was a long life. It pays to be assertive.
ReplyDeleteAw, {{{Wendy}}}. What a good kitty. Hope she gets better soon.
ReplyDeleteAs I said on a previous post, Stormy is almost a spitting image of my friends' (exceptionally sweet---and goofy) kitty, Blue.
"The raising/training of cats is a PRACTICAL matter." heh, heh, heh. Just give up all delusions that you are in charge.
ReplyDeleteApologies to T.S.E. of course.
JCF, Russian Blues have few distinguishing characteristics. Size would be one, unless they're all large cats.
ReplyDeleteThe cats order the household, Bonnie. There's no doubt about that.