Living with Cats – Meet the Team

Welcome to the feline portion of our program. We have lots of useful and entertaining content planned around the topics of Cat Rescue, Fostering, and Adoption, Cat Problems and Solutions, and Living with Cats. Before we get started, however, we would be remiss in not taking a moment to introduce our management team whose creativity and unique approach to life are responsible for much of our source material that illustrates what life is like living with cats.

History

To provide a little historical context on how this renowned team came together, it all started last year when Aileen and I merged our two cat households. Both households brought unique cat backgrounds and skills to the table. My purebred Siberian brought the pride and privilege of his Russian breeding line, and his deep expertise in luxury, pampering, and relaxation. Aileen’s coterie of street-smart rescues brought their rough-and-ready practical approach to life, and the deeply-honed survival skills that have carried them to this pinnacle of street-cat success. Together, they form the backbone of our expertise in living with cats. Now, without further ado, let’s meet the team!

Front Office

Our indoor front-office team work from the main part of the house where they focus on daytime operations such as causing drama, greeting the mailman, and attempting to maintain a level of mess that is unsuitable for visitors.

Luka’s tale starts in 2018 when I adopted him from the Nicholas-Siberians cattery. My older son has an allergy to cats, and evidence has shown some Siberians to be lower allergen than most other cat breeds. I will do a post later on the controversy of so-called “hypoallergenic cats” but for me the visible fact that he showed less allergic reaction playing with Siberian kittens versus regular kittens was sufficient.  Like most Siberians, Luka is very personable and likes to spend time with us. His favorite place is sitting on the back of the couch above Aileen with his paws on her head. Luka weighs about 18 pounds, disagrees with the vet that his weight is cause for concern, and instead likes to cite his competition-winning father and Russian heritage as the reason behind his impressive size. Having been removed from royalty at an early age, he missed the usual etiquette training, and when eating dry food he often picks out and flings individual pieces that do not meet his standards. That’s just what life is like living with cats.

Trudy and her brother Henri were born to a feral mother in East Hartford where Aileen and a friend trapped them, got them fixed, and then tried to socialize them to see if they could be adopted. Trudy was pretty friendly, and ended up living with Aileen where she quickly became the bully of the household. She used to sit in the basement and call to Ariel to come down and play, although her version of playing seemed to involve a lot of wrestling and biting Ariel who somehow didn’t seem to mind. Trudy is very tall and looks like a basketball player. She doesn’t mind being around people, but if you have food, she is suddenly your best friend.

Trudy’s brother Henri came from the same humble beginnings. Unlike Trudy, he was not able to be socialized, and was a candidate to be released. Henri was the runt of the litter and Aileen was worried he would not survive on his own. Therefore, Henri joined the team and lived in the shadows for 7 years before first allowing himself to be pet. He has made tremendous progress in the last few years, and now enjoys attention (on his terms). At night, he will often jump up on the couch to be pet. He is always fully alert and ready to flee, although we occasionally catch him starting to relax. As the second male cat in the main house, Henri and Luka are mortal enemies. You will hear more about their rivalry in my upcoming post about the challenges of merging cat households. Henri lives in his own apartment in the basement (throwing occasional sleepovers for Trudy) and comes up to visit in the afternoons and evenings. This just shows the accommodations you have to make when you are living with cats.

Ariel was rescued from a feral-cat colony in Windsor where she was found as a tiny kitten deathly ill and freezing in a tree. Aileen needed two rounds of antibiotics to nurse her back to health, swaddling her in a towel and giving her medicine despite a lot of hissing. One day, however, that hissing turned to purring as Ariel realized that she was feeling better.  Ariel bonded with Trudy, and they have been best friends ever since. Ariel has never fully trusted people and keeps mostly to herself in the upstairs bedroom. Most nights, however, she comes to sit on the stairs and watch TV with us, and will allow petting if we sit and keep to our proper step. We call her the assassin because she is very mysterious, randomly disappearing for periods of time before reappearing as if nothing happened. We are pretty sure she leads some kind of alternate life.

Lily’s tale starts after being taken from a hoarding situation in Windsor. At the vet, she and her companions were being sorted into two groups: friendly and destined for adoption, and unfriendly and targeted to be put to sleep. Lily, terrified, had been lumped into the latter group before being rescued at the last minute and adopted by Aileen. Although scared and slow to warm up to human contact, after 8 months Lily proved Aileen had been right about her as she then became the sweetest and most friendly cat on the team. Unlike some of the other cats who seem to love drama, Lily was known for being nice and getting along with everyone. Lily was a permanent fixture in the living room, spending all of her time with us either curled up on our feet, or in her famous ‘super-Lil” pose with her front paws stretched out in front of her. Lily passed away last month after a long and happy life. She is sorely missed. Living with cats is mostly joyful, but can sometimes be sad.

Back Office

Our indoor-outdoor back-office team work from the new master-bedroom addition on the back of the house. Here, they focus mainly on nighttime operations including making sure that we do not get too much sleep, and ensuring that sufficient entertainment is always provided as a substitute for sleep (playing with toys, live animals, etc).

Ruby’s story starts on the back deck of Aileen’s condo in East Hartford on a dark January night. With the night so cold that the trap froze, Aileen trapped Ruby; a starving, freezing, feral kitten. After bouncing off the walls and hiding under the bathroom sink, Ruby settled down and spent most of the next 7 years outside but always around. Then, scared by a new stray cat in the area (who was eventually caught and adopted out), Ruby disappeared for over 3 months only to return filthy, starving, and flea ridden. After getting cleaned up, she decided that maybe life is better at home, and has slept with Aileen ever since. One of Ruby’s favorite activities is placing her paw on your face while you are sleeping, and then slowly extending one claw until you wake up to pet her. She also enjoys taking laps on the bed, and being careful to always step directly on your head while you sleep. Such is life living with cats.

Smokey was the final member to join our team. Aileen had spotted a young adult black cat lurking around the backyard at her previous house. She had been feeding it until one day it disappeared. She soon learned from the fostering and rescue organization she works with (Old Wethersfield Stray & Kitten Rescue) that they had caught what seemed to be a young feral black cat in her neighborhood. After getting it treated and fixed, they released it back to its territory. Sure enough, Smokey soon arrived back on her doorstep with his ear tipped and ready to take their relationship to the next level. One day he entered the house through Ruby’s cat door, and never left. Here at his new house, he has taken on the role of defending our yard from the neighborhood cats, and he is determined to singlehandedly control the town’s mouse population. His favorite activity is catching a live mouse, bringing it in through the cat door, and turning it loose for Ruby’s entertainment in the middle of the night. He also enjoys repeatedly banging his paws on doors like a drum.

That’s all we have time for today as the management team gets cranky when they are hungry, and according to them they have not been fed in days. See you next time!