For those of you who don't know, we here at *Casa de Lowry-Walker-Capps have a "baby". He's small, four-legged, furry, tears around the house day and night, gets underfoot with lightning speed, has a penchant for hair ties (the elastic kind) and the hair in the tub drain, lives for cuddles and chasing the beam of a laser pointer, prefers perching on a shoulder to lounging on a bed, gets high on laundry detergent and has a purr that rivals most earthquakes.
That's right, we have a kitty, and his name is Swisher. He got his name from his foster mom at the animal shelter from which he was initially adopted - when he was a kitten, his tail was bigger than he was and he would get so excited that he'd sway and swish his tail until he not only knocked over the other kittens, but himself as well.
For all intents and purposes, he is my baby. He relies on me (and BJ) for food and necessities, and runs to me when he is scared or so excited he doesn't know what with it. He comes looking for praise when he does something good, cowers and gives me "kitty eyes" when he's done something bad, crawls into laps for cuddles and affection and fusses when he is disturbed. He doesn't talk much, in the sense that he doesn't have a defined "meow" yet. Instead, he squiks and squeaks at us, and will respond with an appropriate-sounding noise or combination of noises when he's spoken to. For instance, when we disturb his kitty nap time, he'll say "Menh-ENH-enh!" which can't be translated because no one, let alone a cranky kitty, is entirely coherent when awakened abruptly. When asked if we woke him too soon, he'll yawn and tell us "Menh...ENH!" as if to say "Well...YEAH!"
As much as he is our baby, he never lets us forget who the REAL owner is in this house...HIM. We do not own him, he definitely owns us. Just ask him, he'll squik you all about it! He cares for his humans the way all cats care for their true families. For instance, he brings "gifts" to our "nest"...or, he leaves things in the bed for us. Sometimes he'll just leave the gift to be discovered later (in the case of hairties, plastic twist-ties and bits of yarn). Other times, he'll bound up onto the bed while we're in it to deposit his offering immediately. Most notably, his first gift to us was a cricket that he'd caught and killed himself. While his timing was not...shall we say, "appropriate"...we took the time to praise and cuddle him, and to thank him for the gift. Once he was satisfied that he'd done well for his family, he snatched the cricket up in his teeth and trotted off with it. I can only assume, knowing Swisher, that he played with it a little more before eating it. On another occasion, one that solidified my belief that we are truly HIS, he brought us a gift that was as unusual as it was appropriate. He bounced onto the bed one night and plunked down something large and heavy. Once my eyes adjusted enough to see what it was, I laughed so hard I cried a little. He'd brought us a partial roll of electrical tape. Apparently, he's seen us working on the computer enough that he could identify it as something valuable to us, something we should have more of. So, he thoughtfully fished it out of the box in the bottom of the hall closet and brought it straight to Momma and Daddy, since we were in the "nest."
Like any good pet, he is viciously protective of his Momma and Daddy, speficially Momma (me). One night while I was playing a video game in the bedroom with BJ laying next to me, Matt came into the room to see what I was doing, and Swish immediately took a seat between Matt and us, to keep him away from his humans. When Matt leaned closer, Swish assumed a defensive stance at my side, glaring at Matt in a way that said "That's close enough to my momma, thank you...back it off now, buster, I don't wanna have to hurt you!" Even at his most defensive, he's never raised a paw, flashed a claw or bared a fang at anyone in anger. I consider him a pacifist: a good, stern look does the trick for him and he sees no reason to resort to violence.
One of his miraculous talents is that which all good pets possess - the ability to sense and make better any ailment, emotional or physical, that afflicts his humans. When BJ is in a bad mood, Swish will nose at his hand and settle on the arm of the couch to let Daddy know that he's there without demanding more than his Daddy can give right then. When Matt is feeling sick, Swish will climb up onto the couch with him and snuggle until he's satisfied that the sick is all gone. And when I'm sick or upset, Swish will not leave my side. He'll station himself as close to me as he deems appropriate, be it next to me on the couch or tucked securely under my chin while I sleep (under the covers and in my arms, no less!). The hardest thing for him is to see me cry. When his momma cries, his world falls apart and he goes into Super Savior Mode. You can plainly see that his thought process is "Something is hurting Momma...this can't happen, I have to fix this immediately!" He will stop at nothing to reassure me and make me safe and happy again. He prances and cries near me in a panic at first, then rushes to my aid with a purr and a nuzzle, followed by a warm, loving cuddle. He puts himself in my arms, leaving me no choice but to cradle him, and he paws softly at my face until I look at him. That's when he makes the hurt go away...he gives me a kitty-nose-kiss and opens his eyes for me, something he does very rarely.
Swish has a special circumstance - he has chronic goopy-eye, which I've learned more about since we got him. What presents as runny, squinted eyes in cats is actually a feline form of the herpes virus. It's noncontagious to humans or other animals, and doesn't cause any serious harm to the animal, beyond being an inconvenience. We do our best to keep his eyes clean and clear for his comfort, and according to what I've read, he may yet grow out of it. Some cats never grow out of it, but his eyes have been steadily improving since he's come to live with us. When he opens them all the way, his eyes are the most beautiful shade of amber-gold I've ever seen, so much that there is nothing to compare them to. He saves the best glimpses of his gorgeous eyes for when I'm hurting...I think of it as a little something special between him and me.
His other special skill goes hand in hand with his protectiveness. We have a presence in our house, one that does not appear to be a friendly one. Through our encounters with it, we've decided that it is male, is largely unhappy and scared of cats and small children. It stays mainly in the bedroom but ventures out every so often, usually when Addison is asleep in the bedroom. On any given day, we'll hear a distinct snapping, like someone breaking a dead tree branch, coming from the bedroom, and this puts Swish on alert. He is particularly unsettled by this presence because we've discovered that it only shows itself to me on specific occasions. From the bedroom doorway, you can look directly through the bathroom and into the shower. Our shower curtains are a clear outer curtain with a frosted liner, and before we aded the frosted liner we could see completely into or out of the shower. This male presence has voyeuristic tendencies, apparently, because it watches me while I shower. When I would shower at night before Swish came, I would often see someone who, at first, I presumed to be BJ standing in the bedroom doorway, watching me. One night, not long after I got here, I decided to tease him, so I said "Don't think I don't see you there, slick..." only to have BJ come in from the living room and ask what I was talking about. As he walked into the bathroom with me, the person I saw in the doorway disappeared, and I realized that something was not right. I went pale and started to shake, and told BJ what I'd seen. Swish senses the presence, and refuses to allow me to shower without being stationed on edge of the toilet seat or on the side of the tub, facing the doorway in alert mode. Since he's become my bathing buddy, the presence hasn't watched me.
A few days ago, we got to watch Swish battle it out with the presence. I'm positive that's what he was fighting, because it happened in the kitchen and when Addison is here, we'll hear the branch-breaking sound come from the kitchen instead of the bedroom. At first, we thought he was playing with the dust mites in the sunbeams, and then I noticed the concentration and intent in his face and posture, and the way his ears were laid back and his teeth and claws bared while he stalked, charged and pounced. He was defending us from whatever lives here, and he was not about to let it interfere with us, much less hurt us. After his battle, he came to curl up on my lap, with his little heart racing. He stayed alert at first, until I calmed him enough that he went to sleep on me.
Swish is a truly amazing little creature, and I love him as much as any mother loves a baby. He returns that love in ways that make my heart melt. I'm so happy that he's not some aloof, finicky feline who wants nothing to do with the humans who happen to inhabit his living space. He's my baby, my protector, my security and my snuggle-buddy. He is everything a perfect pet should be.
So I say, "Thank heaven for kitty cats!" Sing it with me, you know the tune!
*ahem ahem ahem...*
Thank Heaven for kitty cats!
Our kitty cat steals hair ties every day!
Thank Heaven for kitty cats!
He nuzzles, purrs and plays his days away!
His golden eyes so sparkly, big and pretty!
We just can’t help but love that frisky little kitty!
Thank Heaven for kitty cats,
Thank Heaven for them all,
No matter where, no matter who!
Oh, without ours, what would we ever do?
Thank Heaven…thank Heaven…thank Heaven for kitty cats!
I hope you enjoyed that tribute to my special little fuzzy man! Stay tuned for more, world!
* "Casa de Lowry-Walker-Capps" is what I affectionately call our home, since there are three different surnames here - BJ Lowry, Kati Walker and Matt Capps...I'll explain the newest addition in a later blog.
Loved the new song lyrics and yes, please - waiting for the explanation of the Matt.
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