About the Cat

[Jen, Lachlan, and Declan]

Lachlan's "brother", Pixel, shocked me earlier this week with a behavior so out of character for my sweet lunatic that it made me question everything I thought I knew about this little honorary doodle!


Pixel acquired me last December, the Monday before Christmas, on the same day that my old Fern kitty of 16 years passed away. I knew that morning when I woke that it was time, so we spent the four hours until my vet opened cuddling on the sofa and saying goodbye. I returned home after but couldn't stay in my empty house with all of her toys still scattered around, so eventually I grabbed my car keys and went for a drive. No destination in mind, just letting the car go where it wanted to.

I drove around randomly for hours and eventually found myself near the local shelter. I'd made a promise to Fern, silly as it sounds, that I wouldn't be alone ... that I'd find a couple of kittens who needed homes and open my heart to them ... so I pulled into the parking lot and went inside. Lo and behold, they had no kittens! It was Christmas week and every kitten had found a home. Knowing that I really did NOT want an older cat for fear of having expectations of its behavior after living with Fern for so many years, but trying to distract myself, I went into the room where they keep the young cats. No harm in looking. Right?

When I walked into the room, one little guy sat bolt upright in his cage and started chirping at me. He was so excited he was quivering. I glanced at his cage card, but he was MUCH older than I wanted so I really didn't look too closely at him. There were a couple of younger ones that seemed kinda cute, so when a volunteer came in and asked if I had questions I politely asked a few about those guys. Still no intention of taking one home, but the distraction from my grief was welcome.

While she talked she pulled that little excited fella out of his cage and held him, petting him as she told me about the others. He kept craning his neck, trying to make eye contact with me, and I kept studiously ignoring him ... until he launched himself from her arms and suddenly I had a purring, chirping, quivering bundle of fur wrapped tight around my neck. "Ummm, okay ... tell me about him?"

This little black-and-white kinda generic-looking kitty had been dropped at the shelter with his mum and the rest of his litter when he was just two weeks old. One by one the rest of his family had found homes until only he remained, and he was now nearly eight months old. He'd been adopted once, but was returned because he was "too active." At this point I'm thinking, "Ermmm, he's a kitten. He's SUPPOSED to be active?" Anyway, at this point he's also making it clear that I'm gonna do myself an injury if I try to peel him off, so I decide to give him a try. 

I fill out the paperwork, bundle him into a carrier, bring him home, set the carrier down on the kitchen floor, open the door, and take a step back. I expect him to come out slowly to check out his environment. Nope. This little devil leaps out, looks around the kitchen like "food, water, litter box, got it", trots into the living room, spots Fern's toys, and goes ballistic for the next six hours - throwing himself onto toys, throwing toys at the walls, stacking toys on top of other toys so he can play with three toys at once, stopping only to pant like a dog until he catches his breath and then going nuts again. I'm scratching my head and wondering what I've done, but ... I'm laughing at his antics, just finding pleasure in his joy and life.


I finally realized that I hadn't eaten anything at all that day and I probably should, so I grabbed some cold pizza and a bit of Christmas cake from the fridge and take the plate to my bedroom, thinking I'll just stretch out and read and eat and leave the kitty to burn himself out ... surely he will eventually, right? I set the plate on the bed, turned around to flip off the overhead light, turn back around to fish him out of the pizza and wipe frosting off his head, set him on the floor so he can tear off into the living room again ...

I ate and read and finally decided to close my eyes for a bit, knowing I wouldn't sleep but my poor eyeballs felt like boiled eggs from having cried so much. I rolled over and reached up to turn off the head-board lamp ... and I swear to you it was like a cartoon ... the cat skidded to a halt next to my pillow already curled up in a ball and gave me a great big, sleepy, "it's time for bed now" yawn.

Much to my surprise, I did sleep for several hours. In that half-awake state when I opened my eyes again, I automatically glanced down to the foot of the bed where Fern always slept ... knowing she was gone, but wishing somehow that it was just a bad dream ... to see a quivering black and white kitty crouched on the bed, staring at me intently, and when he realized that my eyes were open he launched himself into my arms chirping like a bird and purring so hard he was shaking! I laughed and cried simultaneously, hugging him tight and kissing the top of his head, knowing that this tiny little cat had just plowed right into my heart.

He's really an amazing little guy, less than ten pounds of endless enthusiasm. I've learned to think of him as a little Border Collie with extra pointy bits. His motto is "If it moves, tackle it like a football and see what happens!" The whole world is his own personal toy box. I've actually had to promise my vet to never bring him in without toys. After a few weeks with him tearing up the house I found myself sitting back one day, watching him and muttering under my breath "this cat needs a puppy!"

I swear some days that the only thing that keeps me from strangling him is that periodically he'll pause his play to throw himself over my shoulder for a hug and purr session, although that can be a bit awkward if I'm, for instance, getting ready to take a shower when he decides it's hugs time!

Fast forward to today: Pixel and his puppy, Lachlan, are the best of friends. They wrestle together, chase each other through the house, tease each other with toys, Pixel greets Lachlan every morning when I open his crate by chirping and head-bumping him. They're more like two puppies than a cat and a dog.

This came out much longer than I'd intended, but I really wanted to try to illustrate WHY this recent incident so shocked me: A co-worker stopped by after work the other day to borrow my Spot Bot, and she had her dog, a medium shepherd mix, in the car. It was way too hot so I put Lach on his leash and asked her to bring Rocky inside while we talked. Lachlan and Rocky have never met, and of course Lach was being Pogo-Stick Puppy, so Rocky took one look at him and started snarling. Loudly. He wasn't trying to move forward AT Lachlan and my friend had a good grip on his collar so I wasn't terribly concerned, but he was definitely saying "come any closer, stupid puppy, and I will MESS you UP!"

Pixel was, apparently, much more concerned. He's actually played with another dog who comes over for play dates (tackle it and see what happens, yep), so I wasn't really thinking about him until he came up over the sofa, right up in Rocky's grill, and went full-on Bruce Willis! Every hair on his little body was standing on end and he was literally SCREAMING at that dog ... "BACK OFF YOU MOTHER! THAT'S MY PUPPY!!!" He was shaking with rage and screamed non-stop until Rocky stopped growling and looked at him like "WTD?" and then muttered and glared, keeping himself firmly between Rocky and Lachlan, until Rocky's mom took him home.

Whoa! Where did my sweet clown kitty go?!

Okay, cat, you've just earned yourself lifetime Get Out of Jail Free card.

 

[Camilla and Darwin]

This story is SO sweet! Your kitty sounds so spunky and adorable. Way to go Pixel for standing up for your buddy!

[Pat and Traveler]

Wonderful story!  That little bundle of energy is all about personality!  Love the relationship between Pixel and Lachlan.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Love this story, a cat with personality and attitude. I just love the cat protecting the doodle.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

LOVE this! lovely story! I got my kitty for my puppy, the other way around as you. But she similarly launched herself into my heart and life (as well as Sophie's) at the PetSmart while I was shopping for puppy treats. I can't even begin to imagine life without either of them. Aren't they sweet when they play together?

[F, Calla & Luca]

The protective sibling instinct kicked in. Good for Pixel.

[Sharee & "Hope" Peterson]

What an awesome story-I cannot ever see my life without animals-they give so much unconditional love & entertainment (as you know); I feel badly for humans who do not understand or appreciate such preciousness!

[Ellen, Brûlée, and Tira]

Such a wonderful blog...Love your and your kitty's style!  :)

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Just love this blog.  Our 7 pound Calico Cleo is the Alpha B of our pack completely ruling Baxter and Harlow.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Loved this story and the pictures you included. Sounds like you got yourself the perfect cat for Lachlan and you.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Oh this is the best blog I have read for ages (no offense anyone!). I love the kitty story - your kitty sounds much like mine - I got him at about 6 months old - older than i wanted, but I wanted a kitty with the personality to get on with Cooper (my older cats arent too interested and Cooper adores them). Cooper and Lego play much like Pixel and Lachlan do. Though Lego certainly has more of a devil side to him than Pixel by the sounds of it. Its so sweet that Pixel defended Lachlan!