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.
