Day 122 - Velveteen Kitty

Velveteen Kitty

Velveteen Kitty is the gentlest of creatures. When he wants some petting, he raises his paw to catch the attention of the nearest humor. If the humans aren't observant enough, he'll tap his paw ever so gently against a leg, arm, hand or even cheek. He is insistent, but not aggressive. No one can ignore his gentle taps. But even when he is invited to jump into a lap, he waits to be sure his presence isn't an intrusion. He is the gentlest of creatures.

Life could have been so different for him if he hadn't found Lori. Of course, Lori thinks she found him when she spied him in the cardboard box of free kittens. He was the runt of the litter. His fur was absolutely totally and completely unruly, sticking out in every possible direction, making him look more like Gizmo from the movie The Gremlins than a kitten. Lori's family had just lost a cat so her eyes locked onto Velveteen Kitty's eyes and it was destiny that he should go home with her.

He was so small then. But now his body has grown into the mass of fur that surrounded his kitten body, giving him an almost regal look. The thick fur poses challenges. Between the hairs he shed and the hair balls he coughed up, Lori had had enough. She took Velveteen Kitty to be groomed. He gets a lion cut so that his head and tail retain evidence of the thickness of his fur while the rest of his body is as smooth and soft as velveteen. Velveteen Kitty does have one drawback: he drools. When he has finally been convinced to sit in my lap, his head goes under my hand wherever it is - on the keyboard of the laptop, on my book - and while he gets my attention, he drools. But I don't mind.

Mas

Velveteen Kitty shares his human home with a few other animals. There is Lily, the almost entirely orange tabby who seems to forget who Velveteen Kitty is for a few days after he gets his new lion cut. During those days, Lily hisses and spits at Velveteen Kitty, giving the impression that she is pretty tough. But in fact, Lily runs at the sight of her own shadow and hides in back rooms when the house has more people in it than she is prepared to share it with.

There are also the two dogs, Max and Kirby, each one barely Velveteen Kitty's size. The dogs ignore both cats most of the time, concentrating all their energy on making sure the joggers, walkers, dog-walkers, runners, and occasional drivers who make their way down the street in front of Lori's house keep away. Their barks are ferocious, although their size makes it easy to overlook them, especially during the winter when they blend into the snow that covers the yard.