Mary, queen of cats » strange cats

A Popular Queen

Nikki — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:48:31 +0000

As posted many times before, we always know Mary is in need of a visit to the vet when we notice changes in her behavior. Lately she has become needy and clingy and when I felt the base of her tail, she had the skin irritation again. Off to the vet we went. She wasn’t particularly amused (she never is!), but she is *such* an incredibly good cat. She didn’t meow once, didn’t struggle, sat quietly in her carrier cage and that was that. I remember there used to be a time where we would take her to the vet without any restraints and she would sit next to us on the chairs in the waiting room. We eventually decided on a carry cage for her own safety in case other animals decided she looked like she was a worthy opponent for a fight.

Mary will be going back to the vet this week, but this time to have her teeth cleaned (which is long overdue). We will report back on how that went.

On a different note though – the one night I was sitting in front of the telly, laptop on my lap, when I heard this unearthly scream. I almost fell of the couch, the laptop almost went flying and my heart rate went through the roof. Turns out Mary was standing at the door, warning everyone within the lair (the flat) of stranger danger by the door! I was so proud of her! It happened a second time and this time I quietly snuck out to check who this “stranger” was. Turns out it was Murphy, her friend from a while back. I have seen her and Murphy around and there has never been any animosity, but clearly Murphy wanting to join us in the lair was a huge no-no which she made clear to just about everybody within the complex!

There is another twist to the story. Another kitty seems to be calling out for Mary (she is mighty popular within her own community it seems). Jasper, a fluffy black and white cat, has been in the vicinity calling out for Mary in gentle cries. Mary would pop her head outside and just sit and stare at Jasper, which I think is kind of rude of her. All he wants is her company and all she does is sit and stare at him.

It seems Jasper has kind of given up because I have not heard him call her in the last two days. But maybe he is more forgiving than she is and will hopefully try and become Mary’s friend again.

Mary and Murphy Sitting in a Tree

Nikki — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:52:05 +0000

Mary’s little Boy Kitten friend has a name! His name is Murphy. Mary and Murphy. We have not seen Murphy for a while, but he made an appearance today when we got back from work. Mary trotted up to him, legs straight and stiff like a pony, tail in the air. Murphy “ran” away, then dropped to the ground and started rolling around for Mary. Mary apparently was not too impressed with the display as she simply just looked at him and went on ignoring him.

Mary and Murphy. Nice ring to it yeah?

Murphy

Mary and Murphy

Mommy’s little scrapper

Nikki — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 11:54:56 +0000

Mary is so damn unpredictable. You simply never know how she will react when she sees, or is confronted with, another animal. It can be anything from literally soiling herself, to blatantly ignoring the other animal, to absolute fierce aggression! There really is no telling.

Last Saturday we were on our way out to pick up my sister and her boyfriend for a late lunch, when we heard some terrible cat “screams” outside our apartment. Since it sounded nearby Mary’s window, I ran outside in my high-heeled boots to come to Mary’s rescue. My first thought was “oh heavens, she is under attack!!”.

What greeted me outside was not something I expected. Mary was clearly the aggressor in a very serious fight between her and another cat I have not seen before. It was pretty wild and clumps of her fur were all over the parking area. I shouted at her and the other cat took off, with Mary in hot pursuit. I eventually managed to catch up to the two rolling balls of flying fur and separated them. I picked Mary up and took her inside. Madam was all wide-eyed and wired. We immediately inspected her for damage and found two of the other cat’s claws embedded in her skin. But fortunately, there was no real damage that would require a trip to the vet. We locked her inside and went our merry way.

We got home about 5 hours later and Mary was visibly docile and not herself. We have witnessed this behaviour before and knew immediately that she was hurt somewhere. She was shaking her head continuously and there was dried liquid in her ear. Yet, we could not find anything other than a slight swelling on the side of her face.

Sunday morning we noticed the swelling had increased considerably. That meant one thing. A trip to the vet again. I am pretty sure that Mary is the vet’s most regular patient.

Our regular vet was not there and Mary saw a new female vet. The vet concluded that the swelling is an abscess. We briefly hashed it out – this was not an abscess. First off, there were no puncture wounds, secondly, an abscess does not form this quickly and thirdly, she had no fever (a common symptom of an abscess). The vet decided to draw some fluid from the swelling to determine what it was: pus would be indicative of an abscess, where as blood would not. Unfortunately, Mary had to have her beautiful soft ruffle shaven.

The fluid that was drawn from the swelling was just blood. The diagnosis was a ruptured gland. Mary was given a broad spectrum antibiotic, and if the swelling did not abate after a day or two, the gland would need to be removed. This is a tricky and delicate operation as there are many nerves on the side of the face.

The good news is, the swelling was down by Monday evening. Crisis averted. The bad news is, Mary has a bald patch on the side of her face again.

Mommy’s beautiful little scrapper.

Ready for attack (look at those wild eyes!)

Target acquired

ATTACK!

A docile Mary after the fight, when we got home 5 hours later

Waiting for the vet

The vet inspecting the swelling, before Mary being shaven
Back home, one very unimpressed and unhappy kitty (shaven spot on the right)

Bald patch

Winter

Nikki — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:46:12 +0000

Thank you to all of you for your wonderful comments It is hugely encouraging!

Typical of Mary Mary Quite Contrary, she is dealing with winter in a strange way. She loved being outside when it is wet and cold, but when it is dry and cold, she comes inside. This does not make for a pleasant experience for us. As mentioned before, wet cold cat is not all that charming, especially when she tries to snuggle up next to you at night when you are sleeping. I am starting to wonder whether that is not the reason she likes being outside when it rains: so she can come in and take revenge by plonking her cold wet body next to our warm dry bodies!

She is currently the most amazing shades of grey. Her down has grown in full force and is a light silver white in colour. And it is incredibly soft!

Today is a lovely day outside (in cat terms) – the sun is out and the day is crisp and clear. Kitten (who is a boy kitty) is outside and so is Mary. Mary was rolling around on her back, performing for the kitten – it was too cute to see! I ran back inside to fetch the camera, but by the time I came out, Mary was quite relaxed, while Kitten was rolling around in a frenzy trying to outdo Mary’s rolling spectacle.

Mary with Kitten in the background (by the car’s front tyre), just after her rolling performance. If you look carefully, you can see the bald patch on Mary’s cheek (on the right as you look at the picture).

Kitten performing for Mary

I have taken a week’s leave this coming week and I have set aside a day or two to spend just with Mary, and I honestly and truly cannot wait. I miss her company so much when I go to work. I like the people I work with, make no mistake, but I prefer the company of my partner and Mary, who both love me flaws and all.

Kitten and Mary

Falling Out of Favour

Nikki — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:36:22 +0000

Things have been quiet and kind of weird with Mary this past week. Kitten has had quite an influence on home dynamics. For most of this past week, Mary has ignored us. We would get home, she would eat and go outside. She barely tolerated our attention, and we suspected that she had found another home to sleep in (she came in from outside in the morning to eat, after having been out the whole night, and her ears would be warmish. Had she been outside, her ears would have been ice cold).

Then towards the end of the week, she became VERY VERY friendly towards us again. She even fell back in to her old routine of sleeping with us during the night before going out and coming back inside.

Yesterday morning, my partner noticed Kitten through our bedroom window, playing with another cat. This would explain Mary’s behaviour: seems she has fallen out of favour with Kitten and Kitten found a new buddy. Thus we became Mary’s fall back buddies.

Kitten and the new buddy

Right now she really could not be bothered with Kitten or with us. It is Sunday, the sun is shining and she is doing what she loves second best: sleeping in the Sunday afternoon winter sun!

Sunday afternoon: The Queen dozing on her Throne

The Return of the Stranger

Nikki — Sun, 27 May 2007 09:08:32 +0000

Since the Kitten (the new face in the neighbourhood) introduced itself to Mary and to us, I have noticed a change in her. She is no longer mommy’s girl, she is now daddy’s girl. Somehow I have fallen out of favour, and my husband is the flavour of the month. During the past week I played with her like I normally do and she actually growled at me – a sound that had both my husband and I quite surprised because we have never heard the sound before!
In the beginning when she came in to our lives, she wanted almost nothing to do with me. There was a clear bond between my fiancee and Mary and I was a third wheel. I worked VERY hard to build up a solid relationship with her, and in the process she became my baby girl.
I don’t know what I did to hack her off, but hopefully it won’t last long and things will return to normal.

Friday night saw the return of The Stranger (the Kitten). Our neighbours downstairs made a racket and I went down to check what they were up to. When I opened the door, lo and behold, Kitten was outside our front door. Mary, who was inside, came out to investigate with me, saw Kitten and did not react in the slightest. I went inside to get the camera and take photos of the interaction and sat outside with the two of them for a while. Kitten initially kept its distance, but it became braver and eventually sat with me at my open front door. Next thing, Kitten ran straight past me inside the flat (Mary had lost interest and returned inside). I immediately ran after it and took it outside again, but Kitten would have none of it. It was a hassle to get and keep it out. Mary took all of this pretty much in her stride.

Kitten at the railings, and Mary taking it all in her stride (taken from Mary’s window)

Things calmed down, Kitten left and I went to bed. In the early hours of the morning, I woke up when I heard my husband say “the kitten is inside”. Kitten came in through Mary’s window and was sniffing around the flat. I immediately took it outside, but the moment I turned my back, it would come straight back in. Mary just sat and watched the whole spectacle – I would take it out, it would come straight back in. Eventually when I saw it come back through the window, I clapped my hands loudly to give it a fright, but unfortunately, Mary was the one who got the fright. So I had to calm Mary down while trying to keep the kitten out. Finally Kitten got the message and left. And back to bed I went.

I had just fallen asleep (Mary was sleeping on top of me), when I was woken up by a cold wet nose sniffing my face. Kitten was back inside and was wanting to come and snuggle. I would not have minded, had it not been for Mary. Our relationship is tenuous and I don’t want to do something that might alienate us further, such as giving Kitten permission to snuggle with us on the bed. Mary was again just watching, seemingly not worried at all. I picked kitten up, and gently moved Mary off me. This did not work at all. She gave a menacing hiss (something she has not done before either) and jumped off the bed and ran out.
Kitten and I started our whole song and dance all over again: in and out and in and out. In desperation to get the message across, I took a syringe full of water and squirted it every time it tried to get back in. It left and I have not seen it since (today is Sunday).

Saturday night was less eventful – we all settled down on the bed for some Stargate. Even Mary tried to get her spot on the bed when we got up to make something to eat.

Settling in for Saturday night in front of the telley

Right now, she is lazing in the Sunday morning sun, quite relaxed and happy. I hope to keep it that way!

Don’t Play With Strangers

Nikki — Thu, 10 May 2007 16:51:54 +0000

Yesterday, as we came home, we noticed a new face in the complex. A friendly black and white kitten came running towards us, seeking attention. It followed us to our door and our immediate concern was how Mary was going to react. She has exhibited some really strange behaviour towards other animals in the past. The very first time we saw her interact with another cat was quite frightening: she came running back inside our place, soiling herself and cowering in a corner.

The next place we moved to, she was again terrorised by a stray cat who would come inside, beat her up and eat her food. I once separated the two and as I lifted Mary away from the brawl, this cat hung onto her head. I stopped counting the number of times we had to take her to the vet to be stitched up. At the same complex lived a kitten about the age of the one we encountered yesterday – in fact, it looks VERY similar, and Mary bullied this poor little thing. She would call it, it would come running and she would clobber it quite viciously and run after it when it tried to flee.

We moved and she adapted pretty well as there were hardly any cats in her territory. Then our neighbour got a cat and we held our breath. Tommy and Mary clicked right from the start and the two became inseparable. Tommy would come in to our flat, and Mary would go in to his flat. They were truly bosom buddies.

A while later we saw her do to another younger cat what she did with the first kitten she encountered – she became the aggressor. So there really is no telling how she would react. Chances were it would be a negative reaction as she only ever took to one cat: Tommy (and that was without ANY hitches whatsoever!).

But Mary keeps on surprising us. She could not be bothered less by this youngster. Despite the youngster’s BEST efforts to get her to play, Mary feigned complete disinterest. The kitten would sneak up to her, take a quick sniff and then bat Mary with his paw, and then run like hell. Mary would look at the kitten like she is bored and continue to groom herself. The kitten would come running back, and when Mary looks up, kitten will roll in to a quick submission position on its back before darting off again.

It was just too cute for words, and we breathed a sigh of relief!

It could just be that she was acting this way because we were watching, or it could be that we taught her well: don’t play with strangers!

Taking a quick sniff before darting off, trying to get Mary’s attention!