Christmas Notebook

Most of you know my dear cat Zak passed away in October. In late November or early December, I began perusing petfinder.com looking for a new cat. I wanted a black and white tuxedo cat, though he didn’t have to be a long haired cat like Zak. I looked at dozens of potential pets. Finally, I found one that sounded just right. He was about an hour away in a local humane shelter. On Christmas Eve, DH and Middle Daughter went to the shelter to pick up Ski.

The first few days Ski spent a lot of time watching from safe places.

But it wasn’t long before he was exploring…

…and relaxing…

For the first week, we kept Ski in the downstairs bedroom where I was recuperating in the recliner. We wanted him to feel safe and also wanted to keep him from the other cats until he had some time to adjust. The other cats would sit outside the bedroom door and watch him. He was always very interested in them and completely passive in his approach to them. He is such a well mannered kitty.

Of all the cats, it was Amy who showed the most interest in this new house mate. She is still not happy about the addition to the household.

Zilli spent some time watching Ski, too. She now tolerates him.

At the end of that week, we opened the bedroom door and let him come and go as he pleased. It didn’t take long for him to explore the rest of the house, including the upstairs. Anywhere in the twins’ room seems to be attractive to Ski.

Ski is one of those cats who becomes concerned when his food dish is empty. He waits patiently, but if anyone wanders by, he is eager to tell them about his predicament.

He eats his food like no other cat I’ve ever seen. He takes one piece at a time out of the bowl, carries it away from the bowl, then drops it on the floor. Then he spends time batting it around like a soccer ball. Eventually, he will eat it. He goes through this same behavior every time he eats. I have a bowl for him in the craft room and we find bits of his cat food in our bedroom at the other end of the hall.

Another quirk…he is the only cat we’ve had who likes to sprawl out with his hind legs straight out behind him.

He also loves, loves, loves to have his belly rubbed.

Ski is very curious. He always wants to know what is going on.

His curiosity makes this toy irresistable. We put cat toys and a treat or several pieces of his cat food inside and he works at it until he has them all out.

He has an extreme interest in people food, though we never give it to our cats. Youngest Daughter turned her back for a few seconds and Ski was checking out the fridge. Hopefully, the first AND the last time he manages that. He also loves to check out the dishwasher if the door is down. We have to keep an eye on him while loading dirty dishes.

He has made tentative friends with all the cats but Amy. She is not amused. Ski is eager to be friends and to play with her, but she will have none of it. If he approaches her, she still hisses at him. He is amazingly laid back. He doesn’t advance, but sits down or lies down and waits for Amy to chill a bit.

Ski is very friendly and sweet natured. I think he’s perfect and we all love him. Sometimes, for a split second, if I’m sleepy and he jumps up on my lap, or I catch him with the corner of my eye, I think he’s Zak. That makes me miss Zak a lot. But Ski is his own kitty, with his own unique personality. It’s a comfort to have another tuxedo cat in the house. I am glad he came to live with us.

~~Rhonda