My Turn!

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful....
There, is that better??
Here I am, in action! (Stella is watching)

Well, it took her long enough! Considering I'm her favorite cat I thought I would show up sooner than this! Although I am a bit younger than Fozzie (who will be three sometime this summer), I came to live with Holly and Dan about a month before him. I 'moved in' in October, while Fozzie didn't come until November of 2005.

Holly likes to tell the story of how I 'begged' to go home with her. Before (and after) the cows came in for milking, I would creep into the parlor from the barn and drape my little body over the barrier that keeps the cows from kicking the ones who are milking them. I would get into that position and mew - very pathetically, while beseeching her with my eyes. Well, it worked! Here I am, thank you very much, and living quite well. It took me a little while to gain my strength and start to look healthy, but even less time than that to worm my way into their (Holly's, at least) hearts. Right from the get-go I was her cat. She would let me, as a little kitten, crawl up her pantleg to sit in her lap, or crawl all the way up to her shoulder. I didn't realize, until later, that she was being indulgent with me at that age because she already had plans to have my front claws removed! I wasn't real happy with her for that, but I have adjusted. The 'other' surgery that she put me through didn't bother me near as much, because Fozzie and I had it at the same time. That was the wierdest time of Fozzie's and my relationship though. After our surgeries, when Holly brought us home, we wouldn't have anything to do with each other - and we had been the best of friends! It's my contention that he just didn't smell right - and he might say the same about me. It took us a good week to get 're-acquainted', and we have been good buddies ever since.

You would have thought with the two of us - really, I would have been plenty of cat all by myself! - they would have been content. But no. Last year they brought another one home! And a female, to boot! [Prior to this, I haven't mentioned Racé's existence. He really didn't figure into my picture until this last winter. He had always been mostly an outdoor cat, but this year he opted to stay in the house. We get in each other's way once in a while, but mostly ignore each other. He has front claws...] Stella will have her own chance to tell about herself, some other time. She is the youngest of us all, by about a year, and will be the last one of these entries.

I call myself a cat, because that is what Holly and Dan call me. I have many attributes of a dog, even so. I will come when I am called, and I 'kennel' on command. I do draw the line on things like 'sit' and 'stay' though. Thus the problem Holly had trying to get a picture of me for this entry. I kept following her around and coming up to her when she tried to snap my photo. I just wanted to be close to her! One of my favorite things to do is sit something about 2-3 feet off the floor and reach out and touch Holly's arm or leg as she walks past me. It is a sort of game with me and I am very good at it. Kind of like a 'coup'. Sometimes when I am sitting on Holly's lap - something that occurs just about every time she sits down on the couch - I will lean up against her and reach up and stroke her face with my paw. I don't hurt her at all because the of the claw-thing. I also like to jump up on the chair when she is working at the computer. She sits forward enough on the chair that there is room for me to sit behind her. I just like being close!

If you come to visit, I may or may not come out to greet you. It depends on my mood. If Holly calls, I will probably come out and say hi, but I may not stick around. That's my prerogative. Oh, if you really want to be my very best friend, forever and ever, bring me some catnip! (but don't let Holly see it....) Wow! That stuff is FANTASTIC!!! Only Holly doesn't let me have it very often. There is a certain toy floating around the house that has some inside, but I keep losing it. But when I find it - PARTYTIME!! Speaking of which, I think I will stop here and go look for that....tchau!

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you who I was! My name is Pelé! I am named after the famous soccer player from Brazil, and for good reason. I am VERY good with my front paws at batting just about anything around. I like bottle caps, wads of tinfoil, cat toys - really anything that will scoot across the floor when I hit it. You would have to ask Debora exactly how to pronounce my name. The accent is on the second syllable with a short e on the first and the second syllable is kind of like sticking out your tongue and going 'leh'. Holly has shortened it to Pe, which she pronounces (wrongly, I might add) 'Pay'. But Pe it is, most of the time. She nearly had a laughing fit when I was at the vets' and they called to say that 'Peely' was doing fine! That is pretty funny...

Well, I'm really gone now!