Illinois Valley News

Having four kitty cats with distinct personalities provides hours of fun, thrills, chills and spills. Especially spills.

I know that there are some folks out there who actually have more than four felines in their home. That“s OK with me; but having a quartet is plenty for us. We have all the cat hair, hair balls, cat toys and cat food (sometimes) that we need. Plus cat antics.

And I remember a line I read somewhere. It goes something like this: Our cats tolerate us because their ancestors ate our ancestors. Yikes.

Here“s our furry lineup:

*Our biggest buddy is Bubba Bigfoot, the blue-eyed, five-toed mostly Siamese guy who“s nearly 8. He was born in our bedroom closet to Maui, who went to Cat Paradise last year. She was rescued during the last part of 2002 during the Biscuit Fire. She was pregnant, dehydrated and living on the street. We named her Maui because that“s what her meow sounded like. (R.I.P., Maui — we miss you.)

At one point we were going to give Bubba the name, Buttercup. But the friend to whom we almost gave him said that there was no way he was going to get on his porch and shout, “Here, Buttercup!“

*Next up is Flint Eastwood, our totally black, yelloweyed critter. We think he“s a Bombay, although not purebred. We got him from some people who lived on Cascade Drive. Flinty has tiny feet for his size, and he“s usually quite shy, although he can be feisty. He likes to have his belly rubbed, and to lie on Jan“s chest when she“s reading in bed. He also likes going under the covers, and sometimes will stay there for long periods of time.

*Number-3 domestic mammal is Jellirabbit, who acts as though he“s irritated at the other three cats most of the time. He has become Boss Cat, taking the reins from Bubba. Jelli, a tuxedo kitty, is approximately 4 years old. He came to us from a cardboard box during an Illinois Valley Lions Club Festival. Actually he was trying to climb out of the box, so he seemed to be the one for us. Jelli has green eyes. In more way than one. His name comes from being a Jellicle and having a bunny nose.

*And in position #4, although he seems to be angling for Top Cat, is Scrappy, a tiger stripe. Not quite 2, he“s the youngest of the herd. He cannot understand why the other guys don“t want to play. He“ll lie in ambush around a corner, then pounce out when one of his fellow felines comes by. This usually results in a bit of a scrap, especially if it involves Jelli. So that means that he“s usually the target because Scrappy seems to enjoy aggravating him.

We let out our furry friends in the morning, and they can come in any time through a cat door. Then these sharp-clawed, purr-box buddies come in at night, although usually we have to “encourage“ them. And sometimes all four sleep on our bed with us, or sit and affectionately “knead“ us.
They have, you see, learned not only to come in our house, but into our hearts.

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