Birthday: May 9th 1998 Coloration: Tabby and White Likes: Being fed! Pet-Peeves: Hats, strangers, vacuum cleaners, anything else that is startling... and not being fed. Favorite Toy: "Toy" would imply "play", and "play" would imply "exercise". Siona will, however, happily chitter at/stalk dried leaves in the wind, snowflakes, and birds. Favorite Nap Spot: Cave-like areas: tight, enclosed spaces such as suitcases, zip-up laundry hampers (current favourite), and anything that she thinks she can cram herself into where you can't reach her. Favorite Food: Canned food! The pate-like variety. She acts like it's ice cream for cats. Also, chicken. Also, anything... including lint, hair, and bugs. Skills: Siona can push and pull open certain kinds of zippers with her teeth and paws, just enough for her to squeeze inside a hidey hole. Dwells:
indoors and outdoors Arrival Story: My family adopted Siona when I was 15. She was to be "my" cat, specifically, as I had wanted a cat of my own. She was 9 weeks old, and sitting so quietly in the cage at the local SPCA while an assortment of other kittens were bouncing off the walls around her. I thought "how well behaved!" (if only I knew what was to come... she turned into a major speed demon, we called it her 'squirrely' or 'batty' mode). She was also, and still is, the most beautiful cat in the world. She has extremely unusual markings, and while I've seen other cats with the same basic colours in their mix (orange tabby, brown tabby, white), I've never seen it appear like it has appeared in Siona.
When we took her home in the cardboard carrier, we heard her meow for the first time. I had to laugh, because this tiny kitten had the lungs of a basset hound! She still has the same distinctive "MeowROO!" call when she's distressed, and will switch from sweet, sucking-up feline meowing to "hound" as soon as she catches sight of bath water.
When we brought her home, we set a bowl of water down in the living room with an ice cube in it (it was summer). Siona eyed this suspiciously, and approached it with caution... reaching out the paw the ice cube (quite literally testing the waters). Unfortunately for my poor kitty, she used a bit too much force, smacked the water and sending it splashing... and her jumping bout a mile in the air.
Siona kept to herself a lot for the first week when it came to sleeping, finding inaccessible places to curl up in and eyeing me suspiciously. I knew when I was finally "family" after that week, when she wouldn't let me sleep until she had tickled me to death by grooming my entire head of hair! Bio: Siona joined an already established cat in our household named Tordi. Tordi tolerated Siona (Tordi gets annoyed by anything, but she once had kittens, and I suspect she had a soft spot and thus didn't whomp Siona too hard because of it), and now the two have a Garfield and Odie-style relationship, personality-wise (Siona being our Odie).**************************** ********************************
Siona has never been a terribly smart girl (running into walls, falling off of things, getting herself bonked in the head in other ways) , but she makes up for it with sunny disposition, although she has never voluntarily crawled into a lap, and she doesn't kneed (maybe she was weened too early). She still loves being pet, having her tummy scratched, and talking with anyone willing to carry on a bi-lingual conversation. She purrs easily, and while new people scare her, she rarely scratches or bites.**************************** *********************************
Currently, Siona talks a lot of about food. She will talk about food to anyone willing to listen, and she shows her love of food visually by gaining weight! It is my mission now to get her to slim down, although it is not easily done for a cat that refuses to exercise and will swoop down on anything she thinks is edible (Tordi's canned food, people's dinner plates... and again, lint). ****************************A SAD UPDATE************************
Sadly, our beloved Siona was struck and killed by a speeding driver only a short distance from home, on August 23rd, 2005. Siona was my closest friend, family member, and confidant. I grieve for her as I would a human being. I take cold comfort in knowing that she went quickly from a blow to the head, and aside from a bit of blood, her body was intact and I was able to say goodbye. Thankfully our neighbours discovered her in the road and protected her body from further damage by traffic. She has since been cremated, and her ashes sit in a simple urn, accompanied by her collar, cards of condolence, and a tin with a snippet of her fur and whiskers.
I miss my dear baby girl. I know that she came home briefly after the accident, as the temperature in my room (her favourite hangout) became so icey that I had to close the window, shut off the fans, and turn the thermostat up (and it was still cold), yet the rest of the house remained warm as is typical in summer. The following night, I vividly felt her jump up on the bed, crawl across my legs and curl up by my head during my sleep. I know she's alright, I just miss her being here in person. Forums Motto: Napping Forever The Groups I'm In: For the love of Tabbicos!, ^*^Over The Rainbow^*^ The Last Forum I Posted In: Miniature Cats...?! I've Been On Catster Since:
Looks at me, when I was just a baby! I was just 9 weeks old in these pictures!
I loved those old shoes. Mummy wore them in high school, until they had such big holes that she had to give them up. She was going to throw them out, but I found it so fun to hop into them and play with their laces that she kept them for awhile longer. I didn't even mind that they were stinky!
My mum likes these pictures because she thinks they really show off my pretty markings. I know that sometimes my mummy wishes that I could have had kittens of my own, because I was so incredibly pretty (so she says. I never worried about my looks!) and because she misses me so very much... but them's the rules! I was adopted from the animal shelter, and they said that I couldn't have babies because I was a stray. I may have some brothers and sisters out there, though, and I know that there are other pretty and friendly cats out there that can make my mummy happy in the future. I also know that (*gasp!*) MUMMY NOW ALSO LOVES DOGS!!! Big slobbering things, like bloodhounds, huskies, malamutes and Canadian Inuit Dogs.
I hate dogs, but at least now that I'm up in heaven, they can't chase me, here. The only way I would like going sledding with these dogs that my mum likes so much, is if I get to come along and catch snowflakes! Yummy, yummy snowflakes...
...But my human managed to find my digital photos on the other human's computer. The best one is now my main picture. I was -wondering- why my human kept saying my name and snapping her fingers while holding that strange contraption when all I wanted was to stare at some leaves outside the window...
This morning, my human picked me up and laughed at me because she found a white hair where I don't normally have white hairs: right in the middle of the rusty orange splotch on the back of my neck. I can't be getting old! I'm far too cute to be old... I could pass for being 3!
My human is still waiting on the digital camera photos. Apparently there are some technical difficulties. She's going to try scanning some of my baby pictures in the mean time.
My human is also on a diet, and she's eating lots of tuna, shrimp, chicken and cottage cheese. She won't share with me, and so I feel unloved. Tuna water from the can is good, but it doesn't count as a treat seen as it isn't solid, in my opinion. I'm so hungry... She tries to keep me busy with that roll of toilet paper I started playing with, but what's the point if it's already destroyed? My goal is already accomplished.
I'm bored... I'm going back to the Cat Cave. Maybe later I'll figure out how to open the bathroom cupboard and then destroy ALL of the toilet paper.
Ask a Cat Lady: Why Does My Cat Love Knocking Things Down?
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