Yes, a Sidewinder is a type of snake. This female Maine Coon earned this name due to her constant sideways walk when she was a kitten. She still does it from time to time.
Sidewinder was adopted from a woman who raised Maine Coons whose cats had 3 litters within 2 weeks. We brought her home with a second kitten, Ricky, a male runt of a different litter. These two we called "the twins" as they were ALWAYS doing everything together!
Ricky grew in size and ego until he was a hefty 20+ pounds and looked like a small bear when he wanted to. He would stop the little traffic we have on our dirt road to take a look inside the vehicles by simply rising up on his hind legs! Unfortunately, he didn't realize that he could not be seen by the drill truck driver, and when the property across the street sold and was developed, he was hit and lost his life.
Sidewinder continues on in her own very independent manner. She doesn't have a lot of interaction with the other cats as is her choice. She has adopted my youngest daughter instead and has become "Nanny Sidewinder". She will come out looking for my daughter every night at bedtime. If we are sitting on the couch watching television, Sidewinder will either pace back and forth behind my daughter, or sit on her lap flicking her tail right in my daughter's face. Sidewinder will NOT be ignored. She will follow my daughter into bed, and stay with her until she falls asleep.
In the morning, Sidewinder's job is to wake my daughter up. She is very persistent, and has devised several ways to get my daughter out of bed. Of course, Sidewinder has an ulterior motive in this: Once off to school, my daughter's bed is all Sidewinder's all day. Just ask her.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Meet the Players Part 1 - Tasha
Currently our house is the desired home of 4 cats: Tasha, Sidewinder, Haggred, and Clea.
Tasha
At age 14, Tasha, a Siamese cross, is by far the oldest and has been our friend the longest. Fifteen years ago I had asked the local shelter to contact me if any Siamese came in. At the time, I had recently lost another long time Siamese friend who came to me from a shelter. I wanted to continue the tradition I had started.
Anyway, the shelter called a few weeks later to tell me they had rescued 3 Siamese kittens, whom I could go see at the animal hospital. The police had checked out an apartment that had an odd smell, where they found a deceased man and the kittens - 2 male, 1 female. I brought my then 6 year old daughter with me that same day to go see them.
The 2 males were fat and sleepy, lounging together in their cage. They showed absolutely no interest in anyone or anything. The female, known to the staff as "Yukon 3", was in a separate area as she was severely malnourished and dehydrated. She wouldn't be ready for adoption for at least 2 weeks. I asked to see her anyway. When we were about 3 feet away from her cage, she crouched down in her litter box as far as she could go and hissed, spat, and growled with everything she had. I smiled and said I would take her. My daughter looked up at me with big, wide eyes and asked, "You want THAT one? Are you sure?" "Of course," I responded, "She's the one that needs us the most."
For the first year and a half after bringing her home, she was known as the "ghost cat". I renamed her Tasha once I got her home, and only ever saw her around midnight when I got home from work and she was venturing out to eat her food. Yet I was the only one in a family of four that ever saw her. She finally let me touch her at about the 4 month mark.
All that changed when we moved. By the time we had her two years, she was confident and talkative. She has stayed with us, through good times and bad. Now she is older and sleeps more than anything else, but she is still in charge. Just ask her.
Tasha
At age 14, Tasha, a Siamese cross, is by far the oldest and has been our friend the longest. Fifteen years ago I had asked the local shelter to contact me if any Siamese came in. At the time, I had recently lost another long time Siamese friend who came to me from a shelter. I wanted to continue the tradition I had started.
Anyway, the shelter called a few weeks later to tell me they had rescued 3 Siamese kittens, whom I could go see at the animal hospital. The police had checked out an apartment that had an odd smell, where they found a deceased man and the kittens - 2 male, 1 female. I brought my then 6 year old daughter with me that same day to go see them.
The 2 males were fat and sleepy, lounging together in their cage. They showed absolutely no interest in anyone or anything. The female, known to the staff as "Yukon 3", was in a separate area as she was severely malnourished and dehydrated. She wouldn't be ready for adoption for at least 2 weeks. I asked to see her anyway. When we were about 3 feet away from her cage, she crouched down in her litter box as far as she could go and hissed, spat, and growled with everything she had. I smiled and said I would take her. My daughter looked up at me with big, wide eyes and asked, "You want THAT one? Are you sure?" "Of course," I responded, "She's the one that needs us the most."
For the first year and a half after bringing her home, she was known as the "ghost cat". I renamed her Tasha once I got her home, and only ever saw her around midnight when I got home from work and she was venturing out to eat her food. Yet I was the only one in a family of four that ever saw her. She finally let me touch her at about the 4 month mark.
All that changed when we moved. By the time we had her two years, she was confident and talkative. She has stayed with us, through good times and bad. Now she is older and sleeps more than anything else, but she is still in charge. Just ask her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)