KALI
My name is Kali. I may be the eldest tortie on the cat blogoshpere. My gotcha story happened a long time ago. Soon it will be 19 years ago. My uncle was studying at University California at Davis' summer school. My mom went up to visit him from San Jose, CA, about a three hour drive back then. One morning when when my uncle was in class, my mom decided to go shopping in a nearby mall. When she had barely stepped into the air-conditioned shopping center she ran into the local shelter sponsered pet adoption fair. Mom went around the perimeter meeting all the cute kitties. When she picked me up I clung to her shoulder and I purred purred purred as loud as my little kitten body could. Hee, hee, hee, she had never met a tortie before. She didn't know what attitude I would grow into. So of course you've probably figured out that she picked me.
18 years later of tortielishious companionship has left my mom in love with my independent nature. Others don't understand me, I save all my love for my mom. I have no patience for other animals or beans for that manner. Mom is my best friend and because of that she loves me the most. I live with four other fury things, but I do not put up with any nonsense from them. In my mind I'm still my mom's only cat. The others are just visitors who will leave us alone any day now. Mom says she would like for me to tolerate the others. Ha! Dream on Mom.
Eighteen years has given me a lot of experience. So I do have some words of wisdom for the younger torties. First of all, in order to be a proper tortoiseshell you must understand that you are THE boss. You do not share this title with any other being furry or furless. You must reign with the paw and or mouth. If you've stated your desire, such as, "Feed me that piece of chicken," and you are ignored you MUST bite the hand that refused to feed you. If another furry object is playing with the feather-butt mousie that you now desire you whap, whap, whap without mercy until the offending fur-thing runs off screaming for their mommy. If someone goes to pet you without asking permission that's a hand biting offense for sure. Small children are not exempt from these rules. They should never have been allowed in your domain in the first place. I suppose you could bite the parent for allowing them in the house. The only problem is that parents can be quite dense and they might be confused about what offense they've made. It's your call, really. If there is more than one tortie in your home--heaven help you, I have no idea how to handle that situation. I would assume that you would all show your tortitude best and the dominate girl would win.
I'm a very old girl now. I've been dreaming of the Rainbow Bridge more and more lately. Mom asks me if to tell her if I want help crossing over. I'm too stuborn to go just yet. I do need her to realize that it won't be long now. I want her to be ready so when I do go she won't be a mess. She tells me that that she's never going to be ready, and that I just need to let her be sad. Well, that day isn't today, so maybe she needs to just adore me one day at a time.
Your friend in this tortoiseshellwonderful world,
Kali
