Cat's Eyes

They're staring at me. A pair of cat's eyes. They belong to my Chocolate Tortoiseshell Burmese kitty. She's currently sitting in her little kitty condo on my computer desk waiting for bugs to land on my desk lamp so she can eat them. Cats are strange like that. Burmese moreso than most I think. I have three Burmese cats. Mother and two sons from different litters. Back when I used to breed and show European Burmese. The two boys (a Red and a Cream) are 4 years apart. So we have mum (Micah aka Gritty Kitty) who is 9, Blinky (the Red and eldest boy) who is 8 and Rune (the Cream and the youngest) who is 4. They all have their foibles.

Micah: She adores my daughter. Ever since my daughter was born she's been close by her side. She's not a particularly huggy cat but she tends to sit beside you to be petted. She would always sit close to my daughter when she was a baby. Never getting too close, just patiently watching, making sure she was OK. As she got older she'd creep closer and when she was old enough to sleep in her own bed, Micah would sleep on her pillow beside her head. The name Gritty came about when my daughter was first learning how to talk. Instead of being able to say 'Kitty' it came out 'Gitty'. Then the R made it's way in there. Sometimes she gets called Micah but most of the time it's Gritty. Micah also enjoys eating bugs. If she sees a moth on the wall she will attempt her best Olympic High Jump and try and catch it. Though she much prefers the sit and wait method whilst eyeing off my desk lamp. She is a very affectionate cat though is choosy with her affections. She particularly likes my SO. So much so that she abandons me when he comes to visit. I consider her favourite feature to be the speckled tortie patterns across her nose. They look like little brown freckles. I just love taking photos of her. The colours are quite enamouring.

Blinky: When my daughter was 9 months old Blinky was born. He got the name Blinky as he was the first kitten of that litter to open his eyes and blink. Blinky soon became my daughter's favourite. She would dress him up in baby clothes, put him in her little doll beds and tuck him in with a miniature pillow and blanket (complete with teddy bear) and rock him to sleep. She'd also put him in a doll's stroller and push him around the house. Blinky never once complained. I could liken him to the cat Faron in Peanuts. The cat that would get dragged everywhere without really putting up a fight. Blinky has been through a lot. When my daughter was a toddler she found some scissors and chopped off his whiskers (she got a good scolding for that), she painted him with Revlon Colourstay Lipstick (she painted herself too and I used up a good deal of Palmolive Dishwashing Detergent to get it off the both of them), painted him in acrylic poster paints (that I thought I'd put up high enough for her not to reach - never underestimate the ingenuity of a 2yo) and also covered him in papaya ointment (the lesser of these evils). When my daughter's father and I separated I left Blinky behind to be her comfort. I took the other two cats with me. When I got custody of my daughter after a 2 year court battle (which is a story for another day) I got custody of Blinky too. He was rather sick when I got him and it took me a long time before he was fit to fly to me (I lived interstate). There was also an incident when he was about 4yo where he jumped off a 7ft bookcase and suffered a severe concussion. He is the wonky accident prone cat. Well, he was, up until the end of last year but now he's a diet controlled diabetic, wonky, accident prone cat. He's still very much loved by all and my daughter is very thankful to have him with her.

Rune: He was the saddest kitten. He came from a litter of three. He always looked depressed. There was something about him that made me keep him. He is very vocal though. He's like one of those telemarketers trying to sell you something. He just doesn't shut up. He also meows in such an annoying tone it grates on your nerves. This cat knows his name. Mostly from the phrase 'Rune! Shut UP!'. He really loves me though. Always sleeping close to me when he can and harassing me for pettins. He's the autistic younger brother. He thought he could do a Steve McQueen one day and escape the house (he's an indoor cat) and he juped out of the 2nd storey window. Unfortunately the window caught his leg on the way down and it shattered into what looked like a bazillion pieces on the x-ray. I could've spent several thousand dollars to *maybe* fix it or amputate it. Needless to say Rune has 3 legs. He's missing his near side hind. Does it slow him down? Not a bit. He zooms around like he's always done. He has got a lot of muscle up front now though as he uses his front to pull himself around with a pogo stick of a back leg. The cutest/saddest thing about being 3 legs is that the vet left a small amount of femur behind to protect his internal organs. Sometimes, when he's not particularly attentive he still tries to scratch his ear with his missing leg and you see the stump moving like crazy.

I don't know where I'd be without my three cats. Sometimes I think I have one too many but they all have their place in the family.