Cats (And the Odd Dog)
Roxanne is a long-hair dilute calico. Her primary color is
grey with gold and white patches. She was born in late
1989. Some friends of mine found her and two of her siblings
abandoned in a street. Roxie wasn't so beautiful as a baby.
She had short spikey fur, her ears were too big, and her snout
was very long. And she was a real pain in the ass. She pissed
all over the place, and was the mortal enemy of anything with
potential energy. Especially cups filled with liquid, preferably
hot coffee. Her only goal in life was to move items to a lower
potential state. It's a miracle she survived.
But she mellowed over the years, eventually becoming the
greatest cat ever known. She's well-behaved and sweet-natured.
She sleeps with us every night, and prefers to be spooned up
against someone with her head on the pillow. Her fur grew
long when I moved to a cold climate, and it's softer than an
angora rabbit. She's a joy to have around.
RIP Mudpuddle, May 4, 1999
After a rapidly progressing disease (still unidentified),
Mudpuddle was put to sleep on May 4. This was the hardest
thing I've ever had to do. I loved her more than I can say.
Her last weeks and days were not easy and it hurts me just
because she deserved better. But I want to remember her as
she looked in this photo. This was taken when the 49ers one
the Superbowl. My mom did a whole series of these, some of
which are just adorable and hilarious. Take
this one for example. But I like the
photo here because she looks so dignified. Well, as dignified
as she got.
Mudpuddle was 2 years older than Roxanne. My mother found her
abandoned also. She was maybe 2 months old at the time,
and they thought possibly she was a German Shepard because
of her coloring. But as the years past, we realized she
wasn't going to get any bigger. We've narrowed her breed
mixes down to Cardigan Welsh Corgi (check out those ears,
and her coloring is consistent with the breed) and
Dachsund (evident in her size and build).
Mudpuddle was arguably the best dog to ever live. Granted,
you couldn't take her backpacking or even hiking in the hills,
but she made up for it in other ways. She was remarkably
intelligent, with a vocabulary of about 50 words. And she was
extremely obedient, though sometimes she could be a little
pouty and stubborn when you told her to do something
she really didn't want to. Our favorite trait of hers was
how she plays the role of disciplinarian with the cats. If
the cats were doing something bad, all we had to do was say
their name in a disapproving tone and she would run at them,
nipping at their heels until they stopped whatever it was they
were doing.
Puccini is our youngest family member. In the summer of
1996, my sister and brother
brought him as a kitten to my mother from a box of kittens
some kids at a supermarket were trying to give away. Mom
was livid. She very much did not want a kitten. It didn't
help that Puccini was a real pain in the ass (though not
as bad as Roxanne had been). Her most common phrase was,
"I hate that damn cat."
But, like Roxanne, Puccini grew into himself and he's
turned out into a more or less good cat. We figure he's
at least part Ragdoll, because of his size, furriness,
his love of being held like a baby, and his general tolerance
for any sort of treatment we care to give him. He'll put
up with any indignity, if you'll just love him. However,
he still pees in anything left on the floor, his favorite
target is Mudpuddle's bed, though he's also fond of empty
laundry baskets (which are usually sitting next to his
litterbox). He also has a bad habit of getting stuck
on the roof of our neighbor's house. Always the same house,
and always at night, preferably during a rain or snow storm.
I swear next time he gets stuck I'm leaving him
there.
Puccini is a big cat, much bigger than Roxanne, and darned
close to being bigger than Mudpuddle. And according to the
Ragdoll FAQ, they don't reach full grown until they're three
years old, so he could still be growing. But he's mostly
fur, he only weighs 11 lbs (5 kg), which I find remarkable for
a cat his size. He's obviously not a pure Ragdoll, his coloring
is all wrong. His fur is rabbit-soft, but not as soft as Roxanne's.
It's so long, that it bounces up and down when he runs.
His belly is white and the fur is curly, soft, and almost wool-like.
It drags so low to the ground that he never returns without leaves
and sticks stuck in it, which we spend hours cleaning off.
More pictures of these beasts
Roxanne. A manipulated
version of this picture.
Puccini says, "Do you mind? You're
blocking my view of the television." Typical male.
Roxanne says, "Take me with you!"
Thinking I won't notice her, she hides inside my suit bag as I prepare
to go to a conference.
Puccini and Mud Puddle. Best friends
for life.
Puccini.
