It is totally amazing how much the ones that require the most work and
most patience come to mean to us. This darling chose you. You are honored
beyond words.
PS I know what you mean about Calicos ruling the world-----------I had
the privilege of living with the Royal Princess Kitty Katt.
If you have men who will
exclude any of God's creatures
from the shelter of
compassion and pity, you will have men who
will deal likewise with
their fellow man.
St.
Francis
----- Original Message -----
*From:* TenHouseCats <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*To:* [email protected]
*Sent:* Sunday, December 31, 2006 10:06 AM
*Subject:* Re: OT - Help, aggressive cat
let me tell you about lacey susan, whom i affectionately refer to as my
psychotic, all-4-paw-declawed psychotic calico.... she was rescued at 4
weeks, and lived with one woman til she was 5 years old. she was
front-declawed as a baby, and rear-declawed at around 3, because the new
husband was worried about his hardwood floors. (the cat weighed about 8# at
her heaviest.) the husband died, and the baby was born--and it was one of
those babies who truly was allergic to everything, including milk. so lacey
went to live with her grandma, where she spent all her time hiding under the
computer desk.
she came into the shelter where i volunteered, and i was told that she was
most probably going to have to be euthed because she was nuts.... she'd do
the headbonk, nudge, pet-me, pet-me, love-me, hiss, growl, bite,
i'm-going-to-rip-off-your-face, headbonk, pet-me, pet-me routine.... she
also looked almost identical to my FirstCalico, who'd gone to the bridge two
years previously--and as you know, it's not usual to find two calicos with
markings that similar. so, of course, i had to give her a chance. i am NOT
reliably a communicator, but some cats DO talk quite clearly to me, and she
has always been one. i realized she was terrifed, and acting out of fear and
abandonment. i figured, hey, she has no claws, and as long as i stay away
from the teeth, what's she gonna do to me, anyway? started out talking to
her in her cage, and i promised her that no one would ever hurt her.... left
her a shirt of mine to sleep with, to have my scent. over the following
days, i was able to pick her up--the only person who could--and take her
into the huge staff bathroom we had. i'd take a book, some toys, and just
sit on the floor and leave her be. she'd sniff under the door, come over and
nudge me, play with the toys, headbonk, and demand petting in between her
"i'm going to kill you, human" episodes. i'd spend an hour or two with her
each day. she'd go ballistic when i went to put her back in the cage, but
other than that, she was definitely calming down--for me, at least.
there was a volunteer there who was big and fast, with very little
awareness of cat signals, and not too surprisingly, she bit him one day, so
she went into isolation for ten days--but i continued to work with her, and
she continued to respond. she was still nuts, mind you, but less so.
the shelter board asked me to write up an evaluation on her so they could
decide whether she should be put up for adoption, and one of the members
decided that she could tame her, and took her home for two weeks. when she
came back, she was worse than when she'd first come into the shelter, poor
dear. the board had decided that she could only go to an only cat home, so i
would not be able to adopt her. i was broken hearted, and pretty much stayed
away from her, because i didn't want to get close to her again.
two weeks later, they told me i could take her if i wanted to, because i
was the only person she'd ever responded to, and otherwise they'd have to
euthanize her. i was ecstatic. i was concerned about how she'd do with the
fully-clawed cats in the house--ha! i swear this cat files her teeth down in
her spare time, they were in far more danger from her than she ever was from
them! it was awful--she was attacking them constantly, as she'd managed to
figure out how to reliably get out of the isolation space. she was attacking
everything, actually--furniture, stuffed animals, me.... i had rescue remedy
in a carrier solution which i could spray on her and the surroundings, and
it seemed to help a bit, but after two weeks, it was rapidly becoming clear
that something had to change. i was up on the bed with her, and i was in
tears. she was letting me pet her, and i asked her if she really wanted to
be on this earth any longer, that she was terrorizing the other cats and
drawing way too much of my blood, and that things just could not go on like
this. the little motley punk climbed onto my lap, and purred for 45 minutes.
and things began to get better from then on.
that was seven and a half years ago. she STILL hates other cats, and will
still attack stuffed animals when hissed off. she told me, after a bit, that
she would NEVER be a pet again, because it hurt too much. that MAYBE, if i
kept her as long as her first mom had, she would CONSIDER really trusting
me.... this is a cat who did NOT purr--very occasionally she would practice
what she insisted was "rhythmic growling," and would stop as soon as she was
caught at it. (once we actually had the vet come out, because she'd been
purring constantly, and we knew that there was something wrong!) almost five
years to the day from when she came to live with me, she started purring
more regularly.... she lived on top of the refrigerator for about 6 months
after we moved into one place; lived on top of my computer monitor for ages
at another point (and has never quite forgiven me for getting lcd monitors.)
i adore this cat, and have known since the first few months that, in her
own very calico way, she loves me, too. (she's the spokescat for CaLiCo, the
Calico Liberation Coalition, the radical, left-paw social and political
organization dedicated to world domination.) she will NEVER be the cuddly
little lapcat that her first mom swears she was, but i feel honored to share
her life.
she is in early stages of CRF now, still treatable by diet. (she was
raised on delicat, ie, garbage food, and would NOT eat ANYTHING else--would
literally starve rather than eat good stuff.... quite annoying.) she's on a
homemade diet now, so is in a room of her own which she LOVES,
considering how much she dislikes other cats. she's positively affectionate
now when i go into that room, and it's a joy. i have a meezer foster who,
alone amongst the other cats, has figured out to get in and out through the
screen door into that room, and they're actually been seen sleeping next to
one another--i pretend not to notice, of course.
lacey susan is one of the greatest gifts of my rescue life.
--
Spay & Neuter Your Neighbors!
Maybe That'll Make The Difference....
MaryChristine
AIM / YAHOO: TenHouseCats
MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ICQ: 289856892
