Reader Aratina Cage entered the lovely tabby Kiki:
It must have been mid-October several years ago when Kiki-chan became part of our family. One cold morning before the first frost, we heard a little mewing from a bush over out near the road. Thinking she might be lost since she was so young and obviously not feral, I provided her with food and water and posted signs around the neighborhood, but when the nights kept getting colder, I decided to take her in.
She was in bad shape. Her back right leg was gimpy, she was flea-bitten, and her inner eyelids were exposed. Bumps in her skin made me think she had been hit with birdshot. The vet even warned that they might have to kill her immediately if she had feline leukemia, but as you can see, she turned out to be physically damaged but nothing more. After those harrowing first few days, she instantly became part of our family.
I’ve never had a more loving or vocal cat. She does cry until fed, a bad habit learned from her days in the bush, but she loves snuggling and sassy playing. She is my scarf on cold nights (draped around the nape of my neck) and always loves to be around her family. She knows how to sit, spin, stand, and walk and does the cutest things like articulating her actions with sounds like “burrr-rup” when she jumps onto furniture and turning into Kiki Fat-tail when excited. I’m glad she decided to drop by that cold night.
Here is a photo of Kiki “doing a somersault while trying to catch a computer mouse taken right around her first Christmas.”
Like Maru, when Kiki sees a box she cannot help but enter:
Aratina: “And I was proud to find out that she enjoys jumping through tight boxes like Maru (although Kiki is not so spontaneous about it and prefers to have something enticing her on the other end like a wiggling finger), so the last photo is one of her just moments before she jumped up through a 12-pack Coke Zero box that I was holding in the air with my other hand.”
Aratina also sent me a photo of Kiki right after she had been found; it was taken for a “found cat” poster that they put up around the area:
I love her!
Kiki could easily be Baihu’s older sister…congratulations to the both of you!
b&
Ben Goren, after reading so much about Baihu, I think so too! 🙂
You know, I’m almost starting to wonder if there are any personality traits that are linked to coat patterns. Might be an interesting study for some veterinary sciences student….
Regardless, Baihu has had enough time under the bed wondering when the solar panel installers will get here that I think it’s time to reassure him that, no, they won’t be here today, so do please come out now….
Cheers,
b&
Interesting question. And poor Baihu! Kiki does run and hide whenever the doorbell rings, but I wonder how Baihu knew the installers might be coming even though they did not?
Baihu’s actually a damned smart cat. The installers were here Monday and Tuesday and came in the house mid-morning. So, mid-morning today, he headed for under the bed.
As I was typing, he was actually draped across my shoulders…when the installers arrived. Turns out they were able to make it here for a half a day after all. Doorbell rings, Baihu launches himself off my shoulders, claws scratching on the floor as he peals out on his way to the bedroom…ah, well. I keep reminding him that he’s not been eaten yet and nobody’s even tried to eat him, but he doesn’t believe me.
Now, it’s about time to go and remind him that he still hasn’t been eaten….
b&
LOL! I hope your shoulders and neck are OK.
Oh, he doesn’t even make a dent in the scar tissue any more. And he’s back up there as I type, so he’s figured out the “haven’t been eaten (yet)” bit.
Tomorrow the installers hope to get an early start so they can wrap up the project by the end of the day. I can hardly wait!
b&
10 lb. cat in a 7 lb. box. Nice kitteh you got there, Rat. Adorable.
🙂 Crazy, isn’t it? I wonder how box kittehs stack up in LOLCat theology.
The vet wanted to put down a *kitten* for FeLV? If she was going to be an only cat, you have to at least give her a chance.. Many cats develop immunity on their own or become asymptomatic carriers. Ugh. (I suppose the vet didnt want to risk contamination?) Lucky kitty!
Good on you for taking in an injured fleaball. 🙂 I’m glad you managed to find each other and that she is now in a happy and healthy home. She has a lovely face! I’m a sucker for those light eye markings on tabbies.
Yeah, I felt awful for bringing her in when the vet told me that, but she looked sick with her inner eyelids showing more and more, so it was all I could do. I don’t remember the reasoning the vet gave but I imagine it had to do with preventing it from spreading, and I do have another cat living here (Kiki’s aunty).
Lovely kitteh! I’m glad you found each other.
Thanks for featuring Kiki, Ceiling Cat! One thing I’ve noticed since becoming an atheist–and the Kitteh Contest has made it abundantly clear–is that good things like adorable little kittens finding their way to our doorsteps and our hearts, which theists incorrectly attribute to a god, happen all the time on their own.
Who doesn’t love a kitteh story with a happy ending 🙂
Now that is a lovely cat … with a fine and touching tale (tail).
Her tail… I really wish I had a photo of her during a fat-tail moment. Her tail becomes like a long feather duster and she gets this skittish and snooty attitude out of nowhere. It is so funny to see (and to tease her about).
Aww, I love this kitteh, these pics, and this write-up! The quintessential feel-good story.
My gosh she looks tiny in that last shot! (And sick-waifishly adorable, of course.)
Those definitely fall into the “cutest things” category. 🙂
Yes, she was pretty small back then. The vet said she was only a couple of months old when I rescued her. I think daveau got it right that she is about 10 lbs. now; that would be my guess, too.
This post has made me homesick for my two kittehs – Koko and YumYum.
Only two more sleeps and I’ll pick em up from the Tweed Valley Pet Resort and they’ll be in my lap in front of the fire (it’s winter down under ya know).
I like your naming style. 😉 Enjoying a cold winter night by the fire with the kittehs must be one of the best things ever!
What a sweetheart. Do you have a video of a “burrr-rup” moment that you could share? I’d love to see that.
I actually don’t have one at this time, sorry. It is like she is saying “Super Cat!” or something when she does it.