Penelope The Quirky Old Cat
This is the first in a series of stories about the loving and adorable fur-babies in my collection. It is a revision of an old post.
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| Penelope |
Today’s adventure isn’t really an adventure. It is more a story--of a silly old cat that we had named Penelope. She was a rescue cat, who was about 4 years old when we got her. We really don’t know where she came from or what type of life she led before she came to us, but she came with a lot of goofy habits.
The first thing that we noticed was that she was absolutely terrified by plastic bags! If you crinkled one within a 20-foot radius of her, she would bolt upright and run for cover under one of the beds and stay hidden for about 30 minutes until she was sure that the bag was gone. We don’t know if she was somehow terrorized with a plastic bag—like someone stuck her in one to try to get rid of her or something like that. The good news is that during the time she lived with us, she started to realize that we weren’t going to hurt her with a bag. She eventually didn't startle quite as easily when you brought one out.
Another odd-ball thing that Penelope did was that every time she used her litter box, she would trot over to her water dish is, and washed off her paws. We had to change her water about 3 or 4 times a day because there were always little clumps of clay in the bottom of the dish. Once she did this, she wouldn’t drink out of the “finger bowl”, so she located other sources of drinking water in other areas of the house.
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| Where did all that water go? |
Now where might those be, you ask? Well, her favorite place to drink was out of the little trough in the shower door of my mother’s bathroom. She waited outside the bathroom door until you were finished with your shower. Then as soon as the water went off, she would "bee-line" it straight to the shower door and drink all the water out of the door trough. Or, she would just climb in and try to catch the water going down the drain!
Generally, I washed my hair in my mom’s shower because there was better water pressure, so my hair rinsed out a lot faster. However, it would really freak her out when I would shower in the main bathroom. She would sit in my mom’s doorway, looking absolutely befuddled because she couldn't figure out why there is no water in the door. I just say to her “Penelope, Mommy took her shower in the other bathroom today. You’ll have to go find water somewhere else today.” She would almost shrug (as if a cat could), but that is exactly what the look on her face was saying! Once she “shrugs”, she would pad off into the other bathroom, seeking water there.
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| Cold and fresh--just like I like it! |
The other odd thing she used to get water from in the bathrooms were the shower and tub. She generally spent at least a portion of the night in Mom’s shower. I know this because when she finally would come into my bed, she would be all wet because the shower head drips. The other thing that she did, was spend time in the tub in the main bathroom. Every few days, we found the tub full of kitty prints. I wonder how those got there? Occasionally, I would let the tub faucet drip so she could drink all she wanted. She seemed to think this was just awesome!
Another thing about the bathroom is that she knew when you were using it that you are temporarily captive and you had nothing to do but pet her if she stayed around your legs. She also knew the whole "process" for humans using the restroom. When you stopped petting her to clean yourself up, she sat patiently and waited for you to get up. Once you flushed, she got up and walked over to the sink to wait while you washed your hands.
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| Seriously? |
She must have had a thing for hygiene, too, because if you didn't stop to wash your hands, it was like the crime of the century to her! She meow loudly and circle around your legs to let you know you forgot something! Once you washed your hands, she would be happy. She would then lead you out of the bathroom and into your room. I think she wanted to make sure she was still going to get to be with you. After all, she had just taken such good care of you!
A bizarre place she liked to hang out, especially in the dark, was in our front entryway. First, you must understand that Penelope was a tortoise shell-colored cat. That means she is basically calico colored with no white. Her colors are much more mottled and marbled and mixed up than a calico's would be. This, incidentally, is the exact same color as the flagstones in the entryway. Needless to say, if she was lying there and didn’t move, you couldn’t see her. That meant she got stepped on a lot. She never seemed to mind, though, because she was always right back there a few minutes later. I think she liked to lie on them because the stones were always cool, even when the temperatures in West Texas spiked well over 100 degrees.
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| I think I'll just have a seat! |
Another quirky personality trait that Penelope harbored is that for some reason she thought she was an ostrich. She doesn’t exactly bury her head in the sand, but if she was an outdoor cat, I bet she would. What I mean here is that whenever she got scared or somehow intimidated, she would dive under a bed—whichever one might be handy. Now, normally, I would say that is perfectly normal behavior for a cat. However, the odd part is that whenever she dove under the bed, only her head and the front part of her body actually went under the bed. Her bottom and tail were still sticking completely out! I guess since she could no longer see whatever spooked her, she was good to go. The funniest part about it is that she would stay that way for 30 minutes or more sometimes.
In my experience, most cats love to be picked up and snuggled. Not Penelope! She absolutely HATED to be picked up and carried around. She loved being petted, but only when she expected it. Being picked up is not something she ever expected. Plus, she was quite "rotund" (fat), so I am sure the act of being picked up was just not comfortable for her.
She always liked to come lie on my chest so I could scratch her cheeks, though. She did this almost every night when I was finally in bed. It was her way of saying, "Goodnight. Sweet Dreams. I love you and I know you love me, too." I think that was the highlight of her day.
She always liked to come lie on my chest so I could scratch her cheeks, though. She did this almost every night when I was finally in bed. It was her way of saying, "Goodnight. Sweet Dreams. I love you and I know you love me, too." I think that was the highlight of her day.
If she should happen to be lying quietly, and you came up behind her to pet her, she would startle and make a kind of “squawking” noise. Then she vacated the area as quickly as possible. If you would pick her up, her “squawking” became quite serious. She continued to squawk and struggle until you had no choice but to put her down. She came to us declawed on her front feet, but the claws on the back worked just fine. This she never let you forget, especially if you were brave enough to try to pick her up.
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| Looking just like a kitten with her favorite toy |
She never really had an interest in toys like a typical house-cat. She loved strings and especially telephone/tablet/laptop charger cords. But her favorite "toy" was a plastic red die with black dots on it. She went crazy over it! It was full of teeth marks and claw scratches, but that was the thing she loved the most. She would roll around on the floor with it, cuddle it, protect it, and scratch at it like it was prey she had captured. Sometimes she would even sleep with it like it was a teddy bear.
She had a basket that she slept in when she couldn't get into anyone's bedroom at night to cuddle. Sometimes I walked by her sleeping in there, and you couldn't even see her head. Beware the headless kitty!!!
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| Hugging Mommy's laundry |
Yet another oddball thing she did was actually very cute. She showed her love for my family and I by always finding some of our clothes to sleep on, which I’m guessing is fairly common for cats. However, whenever she slept, she liked to have a pillow nearby. She put one front leg around the pillow, like she is hugging it and the other front leg on the clothes that she chose. She looked like a baby clinging with one paw to her favorite pillow and the other paw clinging to the clothes.
I guess that is how we could always tell, despite her quirkiness, how much she loved us. The other way Penelope showed us this is that if one of us was gone for school or work overnight, she wouldn't eat. It was like she was protesting that one of the humans she was responsible for had left without her permission.
Epilogue: I mentioned that Penelope liked to sleep with someone. It is rather funny that she usually chose to sleep with was my mom, who professed to hate cats. My mother was, however, the one who scooped the litter box and fed Penelope, usually at around 5:30 AM before anyone else was up. So Penelope loved my mom the best.
Penelope's love for and attachment to my mom became evident when my mom got very sick in November of 2016. We learned she had cancer of the bladder and would ultimately need surgery to remove the cantaloupe-sized tumor that had overtaken her bladder. Penelope stayed on Mom's bed for weeks waiting for her to come home from the hospital.
She really seemed to miss my mom cleaning her box every morning, too. When my youngest daughter started sleeping in mom's bed, it upset Penelope even more. She started urinating on the bed, as if she was saying to my daughter: "If you are going to sleep in this bed, you better be cleaning my box everyday, like Grandma did. If you don't, I will be happy to leave you a daily reminder."
I would come home from work, or my kids would come home from school, to find Penelope curled up on Mom's pillow, or on Mom's favorite spot on the couch, or her chair in the kitchen. Penelope missed my mom; that was certain.
Eventually, Mom did come home and Penelope stayed close to her all the time. Because it wasn't comfortable for Mom to sit on the couch, we moved her favorite rocker-recliner over to in front of the couch so she could watch TV. She recuperated there for another week or so before she went back to work. During that week, Penelope stayed next to her on the couch and kept a close eye on my mom. Every time Mom would leave her chair, Penelope would follow her--to the bathroom, the bedroom, the kitchen--wherever.
Once Mom decided to go back to work, it was just for a few hours a day during the first week or two, and then went back to full time as soon as she felt like she was ready. Every time Mom went to work, Penelope spent the day snoozing in the recliner. She would not relinquish the seat until Mom came home from work to sit in it again.
This continued for the next few weeks. By the beginning of February 2017, Penelope had started curling up on my mom's lap when she came home. This was completely out of character for this human-eschewing cat. It was about this same time that Mom was becoming more and more worn out from work. She would come home and nap in the chair while I got dinner ready, or go rest in her bed for awhile. Penelope was by her side every step of the way, making sure Mom was okay.
One morning in late February, Mom was just too exhausted to go to work. I told her to stay home and rest. She had probably pushed herself too hard to get back to work too soon, before her body had fully recuperated. She reluctantly stayed home while I went to work.
When I came home, Mom complained once again about how tired she was and that she had a bad ache in her side. She decided to go off to bed because she wasn't very hungry. I was concerned. She wasn't one to even mention pain, much less complain about it. Penelope was worried, too. She stayed there on Mom's bed, keeping watch.
I eventually went to bed, but was awakened by Mom calling out to me at about four AM. Penelope was right there at my bed, meowing loudly. Honestly, I don't know if it was Penelope or my mom who actually woke me up. But Penelope was telling me that something was very wrong. I raced into Mom's' room to find her wide awake and in a great deal of pain. I called an ambulance. Penelope stayed away from the paramedics, but stood in the front window and watched as they loaded Mom up and took her away.
Penelope went over to Mom's chair and curled up in it. She went to sleep, patiently waiting, once again, for my mom to return.
Poor Penelope would never see my mom again. After a brief two-week stay in the hospital, Mom succumbed to the cancer that had metastasized to every organ in her body. Penelope still vigilantly kept watch from Mom's chair, even after I moved it back to its original position. She still slept on Mom's bed, even after my daughter moved into Mom's room permanently.
We got a new kitten, Nova, to keep her company, but Penelope wasn't going to deal with that. She missed "Grandma".
Ultimately, we packed up and moved to Iowa (where I am from) to be closer to family. Although she became a designated "anxiety pet" for my youngest daughter and took to always sleeping with her, Penelope never recovered.
By about April of 2018, a few months after we moved, Penelope started drinking TONS of water and lost almost half of her body weight. I suspected she may have diabetes, which the vet confirmed. He told us she had probably only a few months to live, with or without treatment. Because my girls were going back to Texas for Girl Scout camp for two months, we needed to figure out what to do.
My youngest daughter, who was the most attached to Penelope, made the difficult and horrible, but incredibly mature decision to let Penelope go. My daughter was 15 at the time.
We were all there when Penelope was put to sleep. She quietly slipped away, surrounded by her humans, and went to join her beloved "Grandma". The good news is that she would finally get to meet my dad, too, who loved all animals and thought they were precious gifts. Penelope certainly was that; a precious, albeit a little quirky, gift to our family.
While the girls were in Texas, I got a new Maine Coon kitten, Helia, for my daughter's 16th birthday. No one could ever take Penelope's place, but Helia is a good, loving kitty. It will be interesting to see what kind of personality quirks she will develop as she grows.
Epilogue: I mentioned that Penelope liked to sleep with someone. It is rather funny that she usually chose to sleep with was my mom, who professed to hate cats. My mother was, however, the one who scooped the litter box and fed Penelope, usually at around 5:30 AM before anyone else was up. So Penelope loved my mom the best.
Penelope's love for and attachment to my mom became evident when my mom got very sick in November of 2016. We learned she had cancer of the bladder and would ultimately need surgery to remove the cantaloupe-sized tumor that had overtaken her bladder. Penelope stayed on Mom's bed for weeks waiting for her to come home from the hospital.
She really seemed to miss my mom cleaning her box every morning, too. When my youngest daughter started sleeping in mom's bed, it upset Penelope even more. She started urinating on the bed, as if she was saying to my daughter: "If you are going to sleep in this bed, you better be cleaning my box everyday, like Grandma did. If you don't, I will be happy to leave you a daily reminder."
I would come home from work, or my kids would come home from school, to find Penelope curled up on Mom's pillow, or on Mom's favorite spot on the couch, or her chair in the kitchen. Penelope missed my mom; that was certain.
Eventually, Mom did come home and Penelope stayed close to her all the time. Because it wasn't comfortable for Mom to sit on the couch, we moved her favorite rocker-recliner over to in front of the couch so she could watch TV. She recuperated there for another week or so before she went back to work. During that week, Penelope stayed next to her on the couch and kept a close eye on my mom. Every time Mom would leave her chair, Penelope would follow her--to the bathroom, the bedroom, the kitchen--wherever.
Once Mom decided to go back to work, it was just for a few hours a day during the first week or two, and then went back to full time as soon as she felt like she was ready. Every time Mom went to work, Penelope spent the day snoozing in the recliner. She would not relinquish the seat until Mom came home from work to sit in it again.
This continued for the next few weeks. By the beginning of February 2017, Penelope had started curling up on my mom's lap when she came home. This was completely out of character for this human-eschewing cat. It was about this same time that Mom was becoming more and more worn out from work. She would come home and nap in the chair while I got dinner ready, or go rest in her bed for awhile. Penelope was by her side every step of the way, making sure Mom was okay.
One morning in late February, Mom was just too exhausted to go to work. I told her to stay home and rest. She had probably pushed herself too hard to get back to work too soon, before her body had fully recuperated. She reluctantly stayed home while I went to work.
When I came home, Mom complained once again about how tired she was and that she had a bad ache in her side. She decided to go off to bed because she wasn't very hungry. I was concerned. She wasn't one to even mention pain, much less complain about it. Penelope was worried, too. She stayed there on Mom's bed, keeping watch.
I eventually went to bed, but was awakened by Mom calling out to me at about four AM. Penelope was right there at my bed, meowing loudly. Honestly, I don't know if it was Penelope or my mom who actually woke me up. But Penelope was telling me that something was very wrong. I raced into Mom's' room to find her wide awake and in a great deal of pain. I called an ambulance. Penelope stayed away from the paramedics, but stood in the front window and watched as they loaded Mom up and took her away.
Penelope went over to Mom's chair and curled up in it. She went to sleep, patiently waiting, once again, for my mom to return.
Poor Penelope would never see my mom again. After a brief two-week stay in the hospital, Mom succumbed to the cancer that had metastasized to every organ in her body. Penelope still vigilantly kept watch from Mom's chair, even after I moved it back to its original position. She still slept on Mom's bed, even after my daughter moved into Mom's room permanently.
We got a new kitten, Nova, to keep her company, but Penelope wasn't going to deal with that. She missed "Grandma".
Ultimately, we packed up and moved to Iowa (where I am from) to be closer to family. Although she became a designated "anxiety pet" for my youngest daughter and took to always sleeping with her, Penelope never recovered.
By about April of 2018, a few months after we moved, Penelope started drinking TONS of water and lost almost half of her body weight. I suspected she may have diabetes, which the vet confirmed. He told us she had probably only a few months to live, with or without treatment. Because my girls were going back to Texas for Girl Scout camp for two months, we needed to figure out what to do.
My youngest daughter, who was the most attached to Penelope, made the difficult and horrible, but incredibly mature decision to let Penelope go. My daughter was 15 at the time.
We were all there when Penelope was put to sleep. She quietly slipped away, surrounded by her humans, and went to join her beloved "Grandma". The good news is that she would finally get to meet my dad, too, who loved all animals and thought they were precious gifts. Penelope certainly was that; a precious, albeit a little quirky, gift to our family.
While the girls were in Texas, I got a new Maine Coon kitten, Helia, for my daughter's 16th birthday. No one could ever take Penelope's place, but Helia is a good, loving kitty. It will be interesting to see what kind of personality quirks she will develop as she grows.
No one can tell me that animals don’t feel, or think, or love. My cat Penelope proved to me that cats have their own unique personalities, that they feel emotions, and that some of their individual behaviors can be downright BIZARRE! (Just like those of their humans!!!) Penelope was my girls' first real pet and she will always be remembered as the best friend any of us ever had. Rest in peace, Penelo-poo. We will always love you.
Peace and Love Always,
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| Wicca-kitty |
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