Jazz
I have a cat...her name is Jasmine (or Jazz for short). She will be 2 yrs. old (human years, that is) somewhere around Halloween, although her exact birthday is unknown to us. She is unlike any cat I have ever known and I wouldn't trade her for the world.
Jazz was actually an early Christmas present for a former friend of ours who was staying with us through the holidays in 2002. Said friend's mom owns a pet feed store who keeps unwanted pets to spare them from ending up euthanized. The store was crowded with product, surrounded by cage after cage of young kittens while outside she kept puppies in a fenced pen next to the entrance to the store. I went with her to pick out a kitten one day, and was amazed at the sheer number of pets she kept. She had her pick of dozens of kittens but was drawn to Jasmine.
I wouldn't have picked Jasmine. She was scrawy, tiny, and not really all that cute in comparison. But then, it wasn't my decision.
When the friend moved out right after Christmas, Jazz was left with us "temporarily." We had had 2 cats already; Frank was a Christmastime baby, born just a few days before Christmas the year earlier, and Pip Squeak, was a dumped stray we brought in from the outside one cold wet night. Frank was last seen just before Jazz came to live with us after he had been accidently pushed out our front window by our then puppy, Fang, who was sniffing him out and ended up spooking him so badly he knocked the screen out of the window. We found a new home for Pip Squeak about a year ago. But Jazz wasn't going anywhere. When said friend asked for "her" cat back, I had to explain that this was the ONLY home she'd ever known, and that Lil' Miss was too attached to Jasmine after many months with us and not seeing or hearing from "her". She agreed and decided it was best to leave Jazz with us.
Jazz had been born at that pet store, to a mother cat who couldn't or wouldn't feed her, so Jazz was never allowed a chance to bond with another cat, like most do. She was stricly hand-fed, and thus has a disticnt preference for humans. Her cat instincts are not like that of other cats. She is not and never has been independent in the sense you would expect from felines. She is VERY dependent on the absolute attention of her human care takers (US). She doesn't fight against the abuse kids have given her. She just goes limp and takes it. And actually, sometimes I swear she craves it.
Jazz had the hardest time this summer with Lil' Miss being gone, because Lil' Miss has always been her greatest fan. While Lil' Miss may occasionally terrorize our kitty, it has rarely been out of meanness. She loves that cat and considers her to be almost like her best friend (and probably the best "TOY"...LOL!). To compensate during Lil' Miss's absense, Jazz became rather attached to Glenn. He would sit and pet her for hours. I wish I had pictures of the two of them snuggled up on the couch or in our bed!
When Jasmine began going into heat late last year, I thought I was gonna kill her for all the times she kept me awake at night howling. It was not something I was familiar with and it bugged me endlessly. And it didn't help that is seemed her heats would run at the same time as my periods, so my PMS bitchiness was unbelievable! Thanks to the internet, I learned that her howling was not so much an effort to attract a mate (her scent did that) as it was her dealing with the pain and discomfort of being in heat. I looked into getting her spayed, but female cats aren't really very inexpensive, so I waited, feeling guilty that this angel of a cat was suffering. When I came across a special ad being run by a local vet clinic, I made the appointment and dropped her off. While the surgery went well, Jasmine's reaction to the anesthesia did not. Her large pupils stared into space while her little body was unable to stand or even sit, without swaying and falling over. We took turns staying up with her overnight, watching her vomit up the medicine that was supposed to ease her pain during recovery. When we were unable to get her to drink water, even just a drop at a time from a baby medicine dropper, we knew it was time to call the vet. She had become very dehydrated and unresponsive and we were worried she wasn't gonna make it. Doc gave her a full days worth of fluids under her skin, which caused a big "Hunchback" look to her, along with another round of antibiotics and said to call if she wasn't better by the next morning. That night she started to stabilize herself and was able to walk short distances and even began to drink small amounts of water. It took several days before she was close to normal, and I wondered how she would have been able to make it if she wasn't such a push over to constant human contact. It was a scary week and one in which we all learned stuff we didn't know.
But now, some 5 months later, Jasmine is back to her old self, minus the howling. She eats a lot more than she EVER did, and has become a great source of love and entertainment to us all. She goes to bed with Lil' Miss most nights, and wakes up snuggled in our blankets. She has more than once "pushed" me out of bed, so she could be closer to Glenn. It's pretty cute.
The past few days, she's been acting really silly, racing thru the house, doing laps, grabbing at the dog's tails and ears, or our feet as we walk by our bed from her new hiding spot under our bed. Tonight she was running so fast that she ran smack into me and my poor little toes. The look on her face was priceless. She tried to stop, but in doing so just dug her claws deeper into my feet, and it was like "oh, shit!" She's only now coming out of hiding to see if I'm mad at her. LOL!
Jazz is our sweetie pie...our comforter.....our little ball of fur! But she's ours, although I tend to think she feels we are HER'S!!! Time to move her out of the way so I can get some sleep! Goodnight, y'all!
Jazz was actually an early Christmas present for a former friend of ours who was staying with us through the holidays in 2002. Said friend's mom owns a pet feed store who keeps unwanted pets to spare them from ending up euthanized. The store was crowded with product, surrounded by cage after cage of young kittens while outside she kept puppies in a fenced pen next to the entrance to the store. I went with her to pick out a kitten one day, and was amazed at the sheer number of pets she kept. She had her pick of dozens of kittens but was drawn to Jasmine.
I wouldn't have picked Jasmine. She was scrawy, tiny, and not really all that cute in comparison. But then, it wasn't my decision.
When the friend moved out right after Christmas, Jazz was left with us "temporarily." We had had 2 cats already; Frank was a Christmastime baby, born just a few days before Christmas the year earlier, and Pip Squeak, was a dumped stray we brought in from the outside one cold wet night. Frank was last seen just before Jazz came to live with us after he had been accidently pushed out our front window by our then puppy, Fang, who was sniffing him out and ended up spooking him so badly he knocked the screen out of the window. We found a new home for Pip Squeak about a year ago. But Jazz wasn't going anywhere. When said friend asked for "her" cat back, I had to explain that this was the ONLY home she'd ever known, and that Lil' Miss was too attached to Jasmine after many months with us and not seeing or hearing from "her". She agreed and decided it was best to leave Jazz with us.
Jazz had been born at that pet store, to a mother cat who couldn't or wouldn't feed her, so Jazz was never allowed a chance to bond with another cat, like most do. She was stricly hand-fed, and thus has a disticnt preference for humans. Her cat instincts are not like that of other cats. She is not and never has been independent in the sense you would expect from felines. She is VERY dependent on the absolute attention of her human care takers (US). She doesn't fight against the abuse kids have given her. She just goes limp and takes it. And actually, sometimes I swear she craves it.
Jazz had the hardest time this summer with Lil' Miss being gone, because Lil' Miss has always been her greatest fan. While Lil' Miss may occasionally terrorize our kitty, it has rarely been out of meanness. She loves that cat and considers her to be almost like her best friend (and probably the best "TOY"...LOL!). To compensate during Lil' Miss's absense, Jazz became rather attached to Glenn. He would sit and pet her for hours. I wish I had pictures of the two of them snuggled up on the couch or in our bed!
When Jasmine began going into heat late last year, I thought I was gonna kill her for all the times she kept me awake at night howling. It was not something I was familiar with and it bugged me endlessly. And it didn't help that is seemed her heats would run at the same time as my periods, so my PMS bitchiness was unbelievable! Thanks to the internet, I learned that her howling was not so much an effort to attract a mate (her scent did that) as it was her dealing with the pain and discomfort of being in heat. I looked into getting her spayed, but female cats aren't really very inexpensive, so I waited, feeling guilty that this angel of a cat was suffering. When I came across a special ad being run by a local vet clinic, I made the appointment and dropped her off. While the surgery went well, Jasmine's reaction to the anesthesia did not. Her large pupils stared into space while her little body was unable to stand or even sit, without swaying and falling over. We took turns staying up with her overnight, watching her vomit up the medicine that was supposed to ease her pain during recovery. When we were unable to get her to drink water, even just a drop at a time from a baby medicine dropper, we knew it was time to call the vet. She had become very dehydrated and unresponsive and we were worried she wasn't gonna make it. Doc gave her a full days worth of fluids under her skin, which caused a big "Hunchback" look to her, along with another round of antibiotics and said to call if she wasn't better by the next morning. That night she started to stabilize herself and was able to walk short distances and even began to drink small amounts of water. It took several days before she was close to normal, and I wondered how she would have been able to make it if she wasn't such a push over to constant human contact. It was a scary week and one in which we all learned stuff we didn't know.
But now, some 5 months later, Jasmine is back to her old self, minus the howling. She eats a lot more than she EVER did, and has become a great source of love and entertainment to us all. She goes to bed with Lil' Miss most nights, and wakes up snuggled in our blankets. She has more than once "pushed" me out of bed, so she could be closer to Glenn. It's pretty cute.
The past few days, she's been acting really silly, racing thru the house, doing laps, grabbing at the dog's tails and ears, or our feet as we walk by our bed from her new hiding spot under our bed. Tonight she was running so fast that she ran smack into me and my poor little toes. The look on her face was priceless. She tried to stop, but in doing so just dug her claws deeper into my feet, and it was like "oh, shit!" She's only now coming out of hiding to see if I'm mad at her. LOL!
Jazz is our sweetie pie...our comforter.....our little ball of fur! But she's ours, although I tend to think she feels we are HER'S!!! Time to move her out of the way so I can get some sleep! Goodnight, y'all!
posted by Zette at 12:35 AM
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