The Story of Tuxedo #21

This is how I came to own Tuxedo the Cat.

She's almost a year old now, we think. She’s almost three feet long when she stretches out, and 10 lbs.

She was a stray that a friend of one of my nieces was feeding outside. Her mother told her to stop feeding the kitten before she got attached to her. The kitten kept going to the house, so the friend gave her to my great-niece Kiarra. Kiarra was supposed to give her to another friend as a gift.

When the friend told her that his building didn't allow pets, Kiarra planned on keeping her. She made the mistake of putting a picture of her on Facebook. That's when her mother found out she was harboring a kitten. Mother Kim informed her that she already had a cat at home, and her management company wouldn't allow her to have two.

So, now it’s December 17, 2010 and my niece Kim's birthday. Kiarra brings Tuxedo over for the family to see. Kiarra keeps asking me to hold her.  I was kind of afraid because she was so little. Kiarra finally brings her to me and puts her in my lap. After a few minutes I gave her back to Kiarra and didn’t say anything more about it. That's when the real plan came out.

Kim tells me the whole story about the cat. Now everyone has grown attached to her and don't want to put her in a shelter. They want me to take the cat! Mind you, they don't even know if it's a boy or a girl. The original friend says she wants her to be named Tuxedo, what she named her, no matter if it's a boy or a girl. We flip her over and pronounce it is a ‘she’.

I told them I hadn't planned on ever getting another animal since my two cats died over 20 years ago. It was too painful when I had to put both each one to sleep. Besides, I said, I can't take care of myself, let alone an animal. I hoped that was a good answer.

They sweeten the pot by saying they will pay for her food and kitty litter. I told them I'd think about it. I wasn’t sold on the idea. But my family thought it would be good for me because I live alone. Besides, I’m the only one of the clan without a dog or a cat.

Moving the story forward to Christmas Day. We have our traditional family dinner, and the cat is with us. Kiarra brings the cat to me. I said what? They said they thought I agreed to take her because I didn't say anything on the 17th. I told them I was still thinking about it. Kim says, "you have to take the cat because Kiarra is getting attached to her."

So after Xmas dinner, I tried to escape upstairs. I find Kiarra had been in my house, and set up Tuxedo’s food and water bowl, a large storage box filled with cat food and another filled with kitty litter. Overwhelmed, I got into my bed and pulled the covers over my head.

Soon Kim shows up with the kitten and says, "You forgot something." She plops her on the floor in the foyer, and leaves. OMG! I now own a female cat named Tuxedo.

My Relationship with Tuxedo - #20

I had to rip my bedroom window shade from around Tuxedo last night. Apparently she had been making small holes in the shade to look out of the window. Last night she got entangled in the shade. I ended up ripping it up to get her out. She looked so confused as I tried to pull her out of the shreds of shade left by her trying to get out on her own.

Half of the window shade is shredded to pieces. Yet another Tuxedo moment that will cost me money. I have to admit though, I laughed out loud trying to get her untangled from the previously intact shade.

I am enjoying my relationship with my cat. Over the months she has moved closer to me with affection.

When I first got her, she stayed in the living room in a corner next to a large plant on top of my stereo. She slept there, and in the morning when I stirred around, she would leave the corner and follow me around.

There was one point when I didn’t know where she was sleeping. As the weather got colder, she left the living room window area.     She would appear from I-don’t-know-where when I walked around the house. I didn’t try to find out where she was hiding and sleeping. She was a kitten and I wanted her to find a place where she felt comfortable.

One day I opened my bedroom closet to get something out of it. Tuxedo ran inside and stayed. I didn’t feel like trying to find and catch her. So I left the door open. She now goes in there to sleep for the night. One night I peeped in to see her way in the back of the corner. She looked back at me. She looked so calm. I put a towel in there on the floor but she doesn’t use it. She always prefers to sleep directly on the floor.

Lately with the weather changing toward summer, I noticed she now sleeps in a corner underneath my bed closest to me. She used to pop out from under the bed when I woke up every morning, but I didn’t know exactly where she came from.

Tuxedo is now sleeping right under me under the bed. Have to be careful not to step on her when I get out of the bed. She walks out and lays down flat, right where I put my feet. She rolls around and likes it when I pet her. She especially likes it when I play with her stomach. She attacks my hands like a predator. When she starts to sink her teeth in me, I have to tell her ‘no’. Then I keep my hand absolutely still and she recognizes that playtime is over.

How do you guys out there play with your cat?

I Love My Cat - Part 19

• Tuxedo is so pretty when she sleeps.

• I learned the proper way to hold a cat on the TV show, “My Cat from Hell”, on the Animal Planet channel. This is a show about anti-social and violent cats hosted by Jackson Galaxy. He’s like the Cat Whisperer. I was channel hopping when I caught a show. Very interesting.

• Sometimes I don’t know if I play with my cat or if she’s playing with me. She makes me drag her ratty toy mouse around on the bed. Then she’ll hop on it after stalking it for a while. She brings it to me whenever she wants me to play with her. She’s a little bossy.

• No matter what I touch, she has to mark it by rubbing her head against it. This lets other cats know that the object belongs to her. Her head has a chemical that other cats can smell. She’ll try to do this even as I am trying to use my hands. It can be as small as a nail clipper, to as large as a coat. Every time I wash my hands, she has to come over and re-mark me with her head. I wash my hands pretty often.

• A new excitement. Tuxedo let Robyn touch her! My niece comes upstairs on occasion, and Tuxedo has gone from running and hiding from Robyn under the bed, to allowing her to stroke her on the head. This indicates that Tuxedo is starting to accept her. Once I told Robyn to allow Tuxedo to smell her hand first so she can mark Robyn with her head, things developed quickly. I love it.

• I love the way she arches her back every time she’s through drinking water from her bowl

What do you love about your cat?

Tuxedo Learns a Lesson #18

Every morning, I open the doors to the back porch so she can get some air. I don’t like to let her on the front porch unless I am out there with her. This is because unless I block the stairs, she can go all the way down to the entry door. If someone didn’t know she was in the hallway, she could get outside.

Well, today I opened my front door to put out my trash. She scooted past me and ran down the front stairs. I called for her to come back. She looked at me, and then decided to walk down the stairs anyway. She knew I couldn’t catch her. So, Tuxedo decided to test her boundaries, and my patience.

Every time I told her to come inside, or went to get her, she ran down the stairs. I closed the door. Each time I opened the door for her to come inside, she would run down the stairs again. After the third time, I decided I wasn’t going to keep begging her. I closed the door. Then I got involved in some other things and forgot she was in the hallway.

It must have been a good twenty minutes when I realized I had left her out in the hallway. When I opened the door, she ran in as fast as she could. I closed the door, ignored her, and went into my bedroom. She cried in the foyer for a while, and then came to me so I could hold her. She stayed in my arms while I pet and kissed her on her forehead.  Then Tuxedo lay down at the end of the bed. A little while later, she left the bed and went to her special place under the bed to sleep.

So, Tuxedo learned that it’s hard out there for a cat. But she can always come home.

Tuxedo and Angel - Part 17

Angel is the female calico cat on the third floor. When the weather is nice, my niece and I both let our cats go to the hallways and porches for some fresh air. As they are both female cats, they are not getting along. I think it’s a territorial thing. Or, maybe it’s because they are both females. I don’t know.

Occasionally I hear Tuxedo growling and hissing when Angel comes into my house. Angel used to visit me before I got Tuxedo. In the beginning Tuxedo used to run from Angel when she came into the house. As she has gotten older, Tuxedo has stood her ground and protected her territory. Angel still shows up in the house, and they still hiss and growl and stand their hairs up in the air. But so far, no actual touching or fighting has happened.

I like to think that the more they see each other, the better. Tuxedo has started to look for Angel when I open the porch doors. I don’t know if she is looking to start some trouble, or to make sure Angel isn’t in the vicinity. I hope one day they will just get along with each other. After all, they are neighbors!

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Tuxedo Thinks Everything is Fun - Part 16

• I fell out of my bed this morning. I sat too close to the edge when I woke up, and slid down to the floor before I knew anything. Tuxedo thought this was great. She sat next to me on the floor. Then she started rolling around next to me, showing her belly. She apparently thought I was on the floor to play with her. Meanwhile, I was thinking how I was going to get up with my fat old self.

Without any help from her, it took me a while to get up. She darted in and out of my arms and legs like I was a maze. It definitely did not help.

• If I could throw away that nasty toy mouse without her going crazy I would in a second. But every time I hide it she walks around like a wounded calf looking for it.

• Tuxedo is a smart cat. When she’s outside and hears a hawk, she immediately goes under something, or comes in the house. Some tree branches fell on the back porch. She goes under them for cover.

Tuxedo is Growing and Learning - Part 15

I can’t believe how much Tuxedo has grown. She’s taken a big growth spurt. She is now ten pounds, and over three feet in length when she stretches out. She can now jump on high furniture. She is smart, and learns quickly. After a few taps on her behind, she understands that jumping on furniture is not okay. Now she knows when I approach her, I am going to discipline her. She jumps down before I can catch her. Like I said before, she probably jumps on the furniture when I am not home. But when I am home, she must respect me.

I know that cats like high places. I plan to get her a tall cat condo house, or put window shelves around the house.

She has taken to the back porch. Since the weather has changed and it’s hot outside, she enjoys going out. She will come back in occasionally to see if I am still here. If she can’t find me she gives a little ‘meow’. When I answer, she’ll either come over to get petted, or will turn around and go back outside.

I hope she doesn’t catch a small bird out there and bring it to me. Ugh!

Separation Anxiety #2 - Part 14

I’m getting ready to leave the house and once again, Tuxedo is getting frantic. I am home a lot, so she’s used to me being around. We keep each other company. Whenever I put on my clothes, she knows I’m going to leave the house.

Each time I get ready to leave, Tuxedo starts screaming and crying and running around the house. She knows I am going somewhere. She follows me all around the house and under my feet. She doesn’t let me out of her sight.

If I change my mind and take my clothes off, she calms down and wanders off once she is convinced I am staying in the house. If I actually leave, I can hear her crying at the front door as I return up the stairs. I feel guilty that I left her.

I have to remember that cats are social animals. They enjoy being with people or other animals. I know that they say that cats are aloof. Tuxedo is the opposite. She is very affectionate and patient.