Friends, I’d like you to meet my friend Brooke. Brooke makes me laugh especially when she regales me with stories about her cat. She doesn’t like me to call Tuxie a “Rescue” cat. Gives people the wrong impression she says because Tuxie was never “feral.” I see her point. But after reading this, I only have one question: Who rescued whom? Please welcome Brooke Wills to Help From My Friends Friday.
By: Brooke Wills
Those who know me, even a teeny bit, know I’m in love with my cat, Tuxie. She is mostly Maine Coon with tuxedo coloring, and has more personality in one of her paws than a lot of people I know. I mean, most cats come to “Here, kitty, kitty” but how many come consistently to a “cat-call whistle”? Uh-huh… Tuxie Wills does.
Tuxie (first day)
I didn’t want a kitty when I moved to the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I’m allergic to cats (and pine trees…), but I adopted her as a favor. The plan was she could live in the day basement (it’s over 1000 heated square feet). I’d feed her and take care of her (she’d had a pretty tough life on her own for several months, injured, raising eight healthy beautiful kittens while she, herself, starved).
On her first day, after spending three hours with her in said basement, listening to her “meow” constantly, she finally let me place her on top of me. She looked at me with her beautiful green eyes as I told her: “Tuxie, you’ll always be safe here, but I’ll never love you.” I’ll never forget this: she sprawled out with her head on my chest and fell sound asleep. A bit of trivia about felines: they’re known for their cat naps. They only sleep soundly when they know they’re safe.
Fast forward a few years, and this head-strong, scared-of-everything, abused little cat came into her own. Needless to say, I quickly discovered that the basement in winter (even with windows) was not the place for her 24/7 unless I wanted a bat-cat. Since I’m terrified of bats, never wanting a cat in the first place, I wasn’t gonna have a hybrid in any part of my home. Ahem, I’m still living down the “she’ll live in the basement” dictum.
Yes, I fell in love with her, and she with me. She protects me, growling (yep, growling) when she hears the UPS man come, making sure she knows where I am at all times, calling me with a special yowl when I manage to escape. She doesn’t jump up on the counters (big YAY), and respects the word “no”. We play stalking games and hold two-way conversations all the time…and no… I’m not a crazy cat lady… I’m… fairly certain.
I recently decided it was time to shake-up my world again (it’s how I keep growing). Unfortunately, this also means shaking up Tux’s world. We’ve temporarily relocated to a much smaller abode. It’s in a neighborhood as opposed to being completely secluded as we’d been. The first few days were tough on her. She wouldn’t come out from behind the toilet…which I found gross.
Then she became a big brave girl again and would only flee there when the community landscapers with their loud blowers came around. We had a heart-to-heart chat, and I told her no more hiding behind the toilet. Find a new secret spot, and she did…a much better one!
At first she missed looking out the big sliding glass windows at the other house as this place has much smaller ones. Then we both discovered the sills are quite wide… perfect for a wide-body Maine Coon to sit and lie on. And keep watch over the neighborhood. The window in the front of the house (also the bedroom) has become her all-time favorite spot.
I’ve always been pleased she does sleep a good 6-7 hours at night…she isn’t nocturnal. Our big struggle is she likes to go to bed about 8-8:30 PM and get up at 4-5 AM. She gets crabby when she’s too tired or is hungry.
Lately, it’s been nice and warm here. I can actually have the bedroom window open in the late afternoons. Tux loves the open air. She’ll stalk me to “fix” it for her (I won’t open it until I’m sure it won’t make the heater kick on…we have a few rules around here, and heating anything outside the walls of the abode is strictly forbidden).
A few days, I was able to have the window open all the time. The first night she was in seventh heaven and spent basically the entire time in front of it. She’d get so tired (remember, she wants bedtime for all to be about 8:30), she’d jump on the bed, try to settle down, but couldn’t resist the lure of the open window. Back to the sill, spying on the world. Zero sleep for her that night. Next morning, 5AM, her pretty eyes could barely stay open, but she was still hungry for breakfast.
And CRABBY. Oh my. She hissed at me twice cuz I wouldn’t cooperate and kept trying to pet her (it’s the morning routine, let me point out). The hisses are tame; not like they were before we fell in love. But they let me know she’s kinda had it with Her Brooke.
Paw check
After breakfast, she didn’t sit in the window as she normally does, she flopped on the bed…and was there, dead to the world, all day! Periodic paw checks (you know, when you lift one of those adorable, soft furry limbs up and let it kerplunk back down) caused not even a slight whisker twitch from the disturbance. I tested like 50 times cuz I’m a mature adult. I even covered her with a blanket. Barely registered a reaction. She was still tired enough from her all-night-slumber party, and she slept all through the night!
Tuxie at home in the Pacific Northwest
I’ve been able to have the window open at night a couple of times since then. When I do, she doesn’t sleep in the bedroom with me. She now stays in the living room, snoring on the ottoman. Guess she knows she can’t control herself otherwise and doesn’t like the idea of pulling an all-nighter again. A quick learner.
Sure wish I was as quick a learner about not scarfing down the entire bag of Chester’s Puffcorn in one sitting… every single time I open one… But that’s a story for another time.
Tuxie is beautiful! What a sweet story about a sweet girl.
Oh, thank you. Her coloring is really incredible including a band of black on one of her back legs that looks just like a garter.
Tuxie is a gorgeous cat, Brooke. How did you get the name for her? I love kitties. Love. Love. Love. But Handsome wanted dogs and picked two fun malti-poos. Dogs are a little more high maintenance than the cats I’ve had, but are good companions. Both of my kitties lived to a ripe old age–Romper to 17 and Scooter to 23. I miss them. Hugs!
So sweet! I love cats. We have three. They usually come to us as stray kittens. One tried to follow me home from the park. He was so tiny, meowing, coming after me and the dog, so we took him home, brought him to the vet (he was both starved and sick, poor thing). He grew up to be a big, beautiful kitty.
I am so glad to hear, Vicki, how nice and long both your kitties lived… that makes me happy because I want Tux around for a long time. I hear you about missing them. She came to me with the name Tuxie. I’ve always said it’s Tuxie, short for Tuxedo Cat because when she’d do something bad, I’d yell at her: Tuxedo Cat!!! What are YOU doing? Makes her stop in her tracks…LOL… When she walks into the room, I say “Hey Baby”…so she kinda thinks that’s her name, too. She became Tuxie Wills cuz…well, she’s mine…all mine…and I’m all hers.
Barbara: I always thought I was more of a dog-person. Yes, I’ve always thought cats, especially kittens, were so cute. But now that I have her, I’ve done a lot of studying about them, and they really are very sociable and interesting in general. So very sweet how the little park kitten picked you. And how wonderful he’s survived to become a happy beauty.
Such a beautiful cat. I loved reading Tuxie’s story.
Thank you, Pat! She is lovin’ this stay-at-home thing… by my side pretty much 24/7… have to watch I don’t run over with my chair or step on that bushy tail of hers… uh… did step on a bit of furry end of it the other day… believe the entire neighborhood heard her outrage.
What a sweet story! How are you managing the “I’m allergic to cats” thing?
You know, it is the weirdest thing: I don’t seem to be allergic to her, or at least not much. I am much more affected by the pine and alder trees. Other cats, even now, make my head fill up and breathing tough. But with her, no issues. I think it’s her kind of fur because even though it’s very long, it’s very silky. She’s also a fastidious little groomer (kinda puts me to shame sometimes), so that could help as well.
Loved learning even more about your beloved Tuxie. I’m so glad she tolerates me. Beautiful, wonderful cat who brings you such joy!
Aw, thanks, Mad! And…she likes you… especially since you smell like doggies which intrigues her.
Brooke yep the question truly is Who rescued whom blessings on you Brooke.
Loved your story about Tux. Seen lots of pictures and she is gorgeous – and very lucky you found each other.
Love reading this story. We had a cat many years ago with the same tuxedo coloring. We still miss her.
Thank you, Kathy. And you are right…truth be told, we’ve been very good for each other.
Thank you, Bev. She is such a sweetie. Everyday she does something that makes me laugh and something that makes me tell her how stinking cute she is. She has the best rumbling purr, and she purrs a lot so guess she thinks I am okay, too.