Part 5: Cool kitty spot, horrid nail trimming, CAT SHOW- (Day 1), and a Bath!

I found the greatest little spot to hang out the other day! I was cool, enclosed, smelled clean - I couldn't even smell any signs that those other cats had been in it! It was in a room that the humans normally keep closed, but they had it open. It was somewhat humid in the space, but I liked it anyways. It has a nice round opening, and a cozy little spot inside. The inside spins if I try to move to the side though, and it is round, so I have to sit in the middle to keep it still. The humans seemed to find this very funny, and told me I was in something called the "washing machine." Whatever, I know a kitty spot when I find one! One of the humans took pictures of me in my great little kitty spot and added it to my page. Now all you kitties can see what a great spot it is! You should look for it in your homes!

Yesterday the humans did something evil and cruel! One of them held me so I couldn't escape and the other one cut all my claws short! How am I supposed to catch things, keep the other cats in line, and express my extreme displeasure about things to the humans when my nails are short! How I ask you? I just can't believe they did that to me! At least they seemed to understand their fault, and offered an apology of canned food. Foolish humans....

Today was the first day of the cat show. They shoved me into a carrier! Grrrr....then we went to this place, it was big and echoing....the humans put me in a cage with blankets and toys, but I was a little spooked. It didn't smell like a vet or the shelter, but there were definately other kitties, strange sounds, and I was in a cage. But the humans didn't walk away and leave me there, like when my original family left me at the shelter...they sat by the cage and brushed and pet me alot. I didn't feel like playing though, I was still feeling somewhat concerned about the surroundings....but it wasn't as bad as the shelter.

Then suddenly one of my humans grabbed me out of the cage, and carried me past other cages elsewhere. I don't really like to be carried at all anyways, and this was a weird place, so I got spooked. I just wanted to stay in the place with the familiar stuff if I had to be anywhere. She put me in a smaller cage with nothing in it, and other kitties in neighboring cages, and walked over to stand with a group of humans who were all looking at us. Then a strange human took each of us out one at a time and pet us, waved toys at us, and looked us over before putting us back. I was very spooked, not sure what was going on. After the strange human looked at us she hung little fabric things on our cages and talked, then my human took me out again and carried me back to the other cage. What the heck was that all about?!

Then, a little while later, she did it all again! It was the exact same scenario - and I got another fabric thing. Both times I got new toys too. My humans chuckled and said because I kept growling I had gotten 11th place, out of the 11 kitties, so instead of a big ribbon, I just got the merit ribbon and a toy. They said I was going to collect all the toys because I was being grumpy.

So they thought all I could do was get last, eh? We'll see about that!!!!

So the next time, I didn't put up a fight at all. I didn't really like all the strange kitties still, couldn't do much about that, but I didn't hiss or growl at the strange person. I could see my humans grinning, and my kitty ears could hear them rooting for me to get a toy! Hrmph! Last place my foot....

I loved the look of shock when they gave the toy to someone else. And then another cat got the 10th place ribbon. I got 9th....not stellar perhaps, I really could do 1st if those humans would pay attention or try, but for my first actual attempt I was pretty proud.

The humans seemed very proud - why I can't tell - they didn't do anything! I heard them talking to one of the people with the other kitties. Apparently most of the other kitties belonged to people who are professionals, and some of them, like one of the neighbors cats, had been doing this for years (that particular one had been in the household pet competition for over 10 years!) They had a bit of an advantage over me. But there is tomorrow, maybe I can show them some competition, now that I know what is going on!

There was one more "judging" but I was so tired of all of it by then...I still pulled of 9th, but I really just wanted to go home....tomorrow - I will win tomorrow!

But when we got home, and after I had a chance to rest for a while, the humans did something awful! They soaked me with water, then put sudsy stuff on me, and then soaked me with water again too!!! They finally let me out of the torture and wrapped me in towels. A loud thing turned on and was blowing air out of it but I got AWAY from that!!! The humans insisted on brushing me, but kept putting my hair in the wrong place...it was very annoying. I was finally dry though, and they let me out and gave me some canned food - yummy!

The humans said I am fluffier now because of the "bath" (that horrid soaking), and that our neighbor told them how to brush me to make me look even prettier so I could compete better with the other kitties. Well, if that is true then I will hopefully rule the rings tomorrow!!! I'll let you know how it goes!

Part 4: Moving forward - to stardom!

Once I figured out that I was a cat, I felt safer. I knew the other cats were things like me, so not any more dangerous than I was. I still didn't like that Mara - she liked to go out of her way to annoy me. But I started learning how to sneak up on her and annoy her too! It became its own kind of game after a while...

The humans had a little strange sort of mouse thing they kept in a glass cage, they called it a hamster. I really wanted to get in and catch it - but I got in trouble if I climbed on top of its glass cage. They let me watch it through the glass though. I don't get what is up with these humans, they keep fun food in glass cages and don't hunt it or let us have it...it doesn't make sense.

They also had fish in glass cages - they let me watch those too, but I couldn't figure out how to catch them, the cage seemed to be solid....strange humans....the fish were fun to watch though!

I played more with Stargazer, and liked to visit with the humans that lived there and came to visit. I still longed for times where I could be the princess of my own house, without these other cats to take away what is rightfully my toys, food, and attention, but I was learning to do better with them.

The human came home excited one day, and said I was going to be in a show! She said I could possibly win awards - if I behaved. Imagine, me, in a show! Of course it made sense, I was so pretty. She said the other kitties couldn't be in the show. Mara was too overweight, Sooty didn't have front claws anymore from what a different human did to her a long time ago, Forest has health problems, and Stargazer grooms so much he groomed his hair off in some places. I think she was just trying to let them down easily - after all, its obvious that if one of the cats here was going to a show it should be me! I'm the gorgeous little princess after all!

The human got me special cloths for the show, they said they were to help draw attention to me and match the collar they got me (I don't like collars - but I guess thats showbiz!). The human says she hopes someone will fall in love with me at the show - how could they not! She wants them to give me a home I can live in forever and be as happy as possible in. Sounds good - I like this home, but the other cats can be annoying.

I was all excited, but then yesterday the other human came home early, took the little cage they can carry out, and started looking around. Not wanting to go back to that place with the cages I ran and hid, but he found me and stuck me in the cage! He went driving and sure enough, I was back at the shelter!

I was SO ANGRY! I growled and hissed - even when I saw the other human there who had brought me home. She kept saying I was going to go back home, but as far as I could see, I was still in the traveling cage! She said I needed a "microchip" and "rabies shot" - I didn't know what those were, but I wasn't letting these humans do anything to me - last time they had me in this room was when they stung me, shaved my belly, and did other stuff. I tried to bite her to tell her to leave me alone, but she just put on gloves and took me out anyways!

My fears were met as she held me down and let another human first poke me in the leg with a little needle, then in the back with a huge one! Then the human put me back in the traveling cage. At least they let me stay awake! Still, I was VERY upset, and when she tried to talk to me and pet me I just growled at her and hissed to let her know how angry I was that she had let be be brought back to the shelter - I didn't want to be there again!

But a couple hours later she picked me up and brought me back to the house and let me out again! I ran and hid - not sure if I should trust it - but soon heard her calling me and heard a can opening - FOOD! I came out and she gave me the first bowl - and it was TUNA!!! MMMMMMMMMM! I was SO HAPPY! I gobbled it all and decided that the human must be apologizing for the awful thing she did - she obviously realized she had been wrong, so I graciously forgave her.

This morning the humans kept messing with my feet, I told them not to and they stopped, but they said I'd have to have my nails trimmed for the show! How dare they - no one trims these, I need them! The human said something about hoping I'd be good around the other strange cats, and having to be in a cage at the show...I don't know what she is thinking - obviously I'm just going to be the star, she must be confused! Why would there be other cats if I'm going to be the star? She kept saying it is a cat show, and those are the rules for the show, but I think the human is confused - she will see when we get there. She said we have to get their early next weekend so I have time to settle in - that will be good, I can make sure things are arranged exactly as I want!

Anyways, its time for me to get the humans to feed me my evening canned food - and I've finished meowing about what has happened so far. Now that you know what has happened, I can keep telling you about what is to come! The "CFA Illini Cat Show" with me as the star! My human keeps saying that I'm just in the "Household Pets" competition, and that she just wants other humans to meet me, but she'll see - I'm a princess, a star, and I'm going to shine! :)

Hey, if anyone is in the "Savoy, IL" area on March 24th and 25th, you should come see me! But I'll be sure to tell you all about it anyways!

Part 3: Exploring the house, and a revelation!!!!

The first few days of exploring the house were scary. Those cats were always coming up to me, and when I'd hiss and yell and tell them to go away, some of them hissed and yelled back! It was very insulting!

Still, it was really nice to finally be back to running around a house again! There were toys everywhere - though those cats seemed to think they were their toys. And several litterboxes to choose from- though the cats used those too. The humans fed us all together as well, and the same food!

The human gave me canned food - YUMMY! I LOVE canned food. I had to tell the cats to stay away from mine, but they all got their own too - the human was very insistent that everyone eat their own - she wouldn't let me try to take theirs, even though it was obviously meant for me too! Silly humans.

One of the cats, a slim, brown and black spotted guy, kept watching me. He'd regularly come up to me and bat at me - though very gently, then make a noise and run a few steps away. I wasn't really sure what to make of it. The humans called him "Stargazer"

Another of the cats was a greyish guy, they called him "Forest" - he tended to hiss at me if I came near his food, and otherwise avoided me. No problem here - I'd rather avoid them too! There was a longhaired brown girl - she seemed older and mostly unconcerned with me - even when I hissed at her she just ignored me...so she was easy enough to avoid. She was called "Sooty"

And then there was the grey and black spotted girl - a hefty one at that! The humans called her "Mara", and she'd follow me around and bat at me, though not as gently as the other guy. When I tried to escape she'd chase me and corner me, and then growl and hit me some more. When I'd scream at her to stop the humans would come and chase her away from me - they'd chase her away if they caught her starting that too. I didn't understand why they even let her run around - it seemed to me that SHE should be in a cage! Still, I learned the warning signs of when she was going to do that and learned to avoid her or escape more easily.

One afternoon I was getting chased by Mara when the humans weren't around, and caught my foot on something - I didn't see what, and it suddenly HURT! I was scared and got over to where the humans got there and climbed up to be out of the way...

One of the humans came home and I cried at him and held the paw up. He got worried and tried to touch it - but I was afraid it would hurt and tried to get away, but when I jumped down I tried to hold the paw up and fell. I was very scared and started to shake. He put me in a little traveling cage and took me back to the shelter place - I was too worried about my foot to get upset.

The other human took me out and looked at it - it was feeling a bit better, but I was still spooked. She talked to another human and they put some stuff in my mouth - and then the first human took me back to the house. They put me in the room I had been in and closed the door. I laid on a big blanket he put in with me and tried to stop shaking - I was so spooked by that pain!

They put that stuff in my mouth and kept me in the room without the other kitties for a few more days, though I felt better by the next day. Then they slowly let me out of the room again, though they were careful to keep the cats away from me for a while. I was scared that the cats would make that happen again and it took me a while to settle back it, but eventually I calmed down and went back to my old routine.

That Stargazer cat, he kept up what he was doing with the watching me, and gently batting at me, then running. When I'd try to bat back, he'd rear up and jump away, then back. I slowly came to a realization - he was trying to play with me! Playing I like, and I tried to learn the rules of his game. He seemed to be very patient about letting me learn, and soon I found myself running around playing with one of those cats! Who'd have ever thought it, me, playing with one of those weird creatures! It was lots of fun though, and made the humans happy too!

I enjoyed running around the house - and getting to sleep snuggled with the humans, and get their attention. There were windows where I could see birds! Ooohh! If only the humans would let me out I'm SUR E I could catch them! But the humans insisted that I stay inside, they said the outside is dangerous...haven't they figured out I can take care of myself! Afterall, I'd managed to survive with those cats loose around me all the time!

I became more comfortable, and stopped being as worried about those cats...still, there was something very familiar about them...I just couldn't place what.

It became clear one afternoon. I had fallen asleep on the bed - the cats liked to sleep there too. One of them had come up next to me and fallen asleep as well. I was still drowsy and slowly waking up...I was all warm from the cat next to me, and was hearing her purr, and feeling soothed, my mind drifted back, and I remember laying with a pile of other furry things like me, purring and happy, against a bigger furry thing, who leaned down to groom us...mom....it was my mom, and my littermates....I looked up and saw her, a pretty longhaired cat....CAT?! I looked up at Sooty laying next to me...she looked kinda like my mom....my mom was a cat??? That would mean...of course! Thats why they are so familiar! I AM A CAT!!!! I'm one of those things!!! (Of course, I'm prettier, after all, I'm a princess!!!!) Thats why the humans feed us the same too!

I remembered a bit more now...I was very little when I was taken away from my mom and my siblings, I felt very lost for a while, I had just started learning what food was! But I was so little, I forgot my mom and littermates...and had forgotten what I was...until now...

I'm a CAT!

Part 2: Early "foster" home days, another cage, more strange- creatures, confusion...

When the car stopped, she picked the little cage I was in up out of the car and I saw I was at a house! Much better, now I can be a princess of my own territory again! No more cages, no more strange creatures around me....or so I thought....

We went in the door, and I saw more of those strange creatures! They were running loose, not in cages like I had been at the shelter, and seemed very happy to see this human - they all came running up to greet her. They were also curious about me, but she shooed them away - and carried my little cage further into the house.

We entered a room in the back, and she closed the door so the weird creatures couldn't get in. The room was fairly empty, just some human equiptment - the machines they tap their paws on alot, and a very large cage! This one was much bigger than the one at the "shelter" had been, with hammocks, shelves, a covered litter box, and more, but it was still a cage! I was so annoyed when she put me in it!

She told me I needed to stay in there a while until I got used to the other "cats." I learned at the shelter that this is what the humans called the strange creatures. She closed the cage door, and opened the room door, and those "cats" came running in!

I growled and hissed and tried to tell them that I wouldn't let them get me without a fight! They didn't seem to pay any attention to that, and kept trying to sniff at the cage and me, and the little cage I came here in.

For the next few days, I lived in the bigger cage much as like at the shelter - the human would clean it, and feed me, and try to give me attention. It was a bit better - she'd close the door while she did this and let me explore the room I was in while the cats weren't in it, and I had much more space. Still, when I was in the cage she let the cats in the room, they'd come and go, but I'd still get annoyed with them - flaunting the fact that they could run around like that. But I stopped being as upset - they hadn't tried to do anything bad to me yet...

About a week after I got there, the human put up funny cage like walls in the door to the room - the other kitties couldn't get in to taunt me! And she let me out of the cage! She said I could have the whole room to wander in now, and spread out my stuff so it took up the room! This was certainly better, but those cats kept coming to the blocked doorway and making noise and watching me through the giant cage door the human put up.

The human would spend some time in there with me - I like that, she'd pet me when I'd come to her, but let me just explore otherwise - letting ME say when I wanted attention - this was certainly better. But then she'd leave, and I'd call for her to come back, I wasn't done getting what I wanted! This made the cats come over and make noise at me, and it would annoy me. But as several days went by I got used to this new routine, and settled down some. It was easier to settle down and be sweet to the human when she'd close the solid door so the cats couldn't bother us through the cage door, but she did that less and less over time.

The noises the cats made - they made more sense than the noises the humans made - and were familiar...but I wasn't really sure from where....something about them stirred some memories - purring, furry warmth, safety, comfort....couldn't quite place it....

After a few more days the human said I was doing good, and she thought maybe I was ready to come out, she took down the cage doors! The cats weren't around right at the moment, but now there was nothing between them and me! I was nervous, but very curious - it seemed I was going to be allowed to roam the house! I slowly crept out of the room, looking around for any dangers, and started the cautiously explore the house...

Part 1: CAGES?! STRANGE CREATURES?! GRRRRRRRR!

When I was only 6-7 months old my owner decided to move - without me!!! What?? How could they leave me?!?!?!

They brought me to this place...weird smells, many other animals, strange people and...ugh...cages!

The strange people poked me with needles, and put me in a cage....I was UPSET! And why should I be? The person who should've taken care of me left me dumped me.

The strangers said something about me not having vet care - and that was what the poking was about. Whatever, I think it was just to torture me!

Then I was sitting in a cage for a while - surrounded by weird creatures. They made some noises that sounded like when I talk, and were furry - they looked kinda familiar, but I can't really remember from what...

The strangers cleaned my cage every day, gave me food, water, toys, etc. Sometimes I'd let them pet me - I really like being pet. But alot of the time the smelled like the weird creatures, the creatures spooked me.

One day the humans at this place took me down to another area, and poked me with another needle - that one stung! Then I got really sleepy. When I woke up, they had shaved my belly, and it was itchy! They had obviously done something to me...that made me grumpy with them for a while - how DARE they mess with me like that!!!

Some of those creatures were in cages together - they tried a couple times to put me in a bigger cage with those things - but I did NOT intend to share space with those things! What if they attacked me in my sleep! I'm not going to be taken out that easily!

Several months went by, and strangers came and went - some tried to pet me, but most smelled like the weird creatures I was constantly around, and many didn't even take time to let me see who they were, they just would reach in to grab at me. I didn't like that - it made me angrier...

Some of the humans who were always around were ok, but they were always messing with my cage - why couldn't they just leave me alone..hadn't they done enough to make me miserable??

Its not that I didn't want attention - I LOVE attention! I'd ask them to come over and let me love on them, or give me new toys, but it seems like it just made them come over and force too much attention on me, and they always smelled like the weird creatures around me...I'd lash out because I was spooked...

I heard some of the people talking, sometimes, about alot of things. Several of them said they were worried about me, that I wasn't doing well....I thought I was doing a great job of defending myself in this scary place! Especially considering I was locked in a stupid cage! They said something about me, that I might have to be put to sleep if they didn't figure out how to improve my behavior. I don't know what they mean about that - I can sleep just fine on my own, and as for behavior, look who's talking! I didn't see THEM getting locked in cages, poked at with needles, and constantly bugged by ME! Hrmph....

One of the humans who was worried about me came to try and pet me often - I didn't really like her though, she smelled like the other creatures, and was the one who gave me that stinging shot that made me fall asleep before. She said something about "Fostering" whatever that was, and that she'd come back and get me later. Whats this about? Humans babble alot...

That night though, she came back with a much smaller cage, and pulled me out and put me in it. I was so surprised, having been napping, that I didn't resist at all - she took me out of that building and into one of those cars that I came there in, and said I was coming home with her for "fostering"....home??? I decided to see what going on....