Almost seems wrong writing a profile for a kitty still so young in life, but alas, I shall give it a go. It isn't like she hasn't had an eventful life up to this point.
Fleurp came to me at a point in life when I was DONE adopting kittens. I had been fostering for several years, had a few crises, and a few heart breaks, and the house was full of cats. I was also full up at the time of our meeting, having a set of fosters AND a diabetic foster. I had no right telling the shelter I wanted her, but I had stopped in to get some supplies and saw her sitting meatloafed in the cage and I just KNEW. KNEW I had to have her and take care of her. She had just come in, and hadn't been tested or even looked over, but I didn't care, I would give them the time they needed to take care of that and would come get her later (fortunately my boss is very laid back so she didn't mind a second trip out of the office in one day - especially when there is a kitty to be rescued)
I got the call, and drove back up to the shelter to get her. I know the exact spot where her name came to me, and I hadn't even spent any time with her at all. I usually have the worst time coming up with names, throwing a few around until something sticks, but this one stuck to her before I even held her.
I brought her home and set her up in my shower. Fortunately we have two shower stalls in the house - one for me and one for my husband, and he didn't mind sharing while Fleurp mended. See she came to us with the most horrific looking eye I had seen in a long time. We thought she had URI, which often has an affect on the eyes of kittens, but after time and with some healing, I now believe she was bitten. She had a little scab on her nose (the fur never did grow back) and another under her chin. Considering her 'in your face' personality, I am not surprised that she might have walked up to the wrong soul and almost lost her eye for it. Fortunately it did heal, and she was able to keep her eyeball, but unfortunately it is severely scared, and she has some severe depth perception issues going on because of it. We've tried several rounds of steroidal drops for her with little effect (other then ticking her off because she's got better things to do then get pinned down and get drops that sting shoved in her eye)
Once the risk of URI was determined to be minimal, I let her out of the shower stall and let her run around the bathroom. This was a bit of a mistake, because no door could hold her. When I went in to feed her she would escape. The first time she did it, all of my cats were in the hall way watching me to see what I was going to do. She bolted from the bathroom, ran the gauntlet of the cats in the hall and made it out to the great room before anyone even realized what was going on. I laughed so hard at her determination and her lack of fear of my cats, that she got to explore the kitchen for quite some time before I had the ability to go and catch her. (then just for the fun of it I did it again and took a video of it this time)
She knew her mind from day one. There was never any hesitation in her, she took life full steam. Other then the bad eye, and the subsequent scaring, she's been very healthy. She is also very round. She looks very much like she has eaten a watermelon. Now that she's getting older, her mane is coming in - and quite spectacularly as well.
Fleurp has never been one to shy away from mischief or trouble. If there is something she wants, she goes and gets it - it doesn't matter if it is in a place that had been deemed forbidden, nor does it matter if someone is right there telling her "NO!" as she climbs up into places she shouldn't be. She loves to wrestle, and can often be found trying to start something with one of the cats. She is beyond happy that we have decided to add one more to the household - because you can often find her and Skippy wrestling or running through the house. Kit is too much of a "lady" to wrestle, and Twee.. well no one really wants to play with Twee. Not sure if it is because she doesn't play right or she keeps changing the rules and leaving.
Fleurp is also the master of the "I am just too cute for you to yell at me" look. It has saved her many a time.
She's also fond of hanging out with me. She likes to come down to the basement when I work out and sit near by and take a nap. The last time I stayed home from work sick she didn't leave my side all day, giving me little licks on my ankles when I would venture out of bed for something to drink.
I have often said, and I believe fully, that Fleurp is pure joy wrapped up in kitten form. While surpassing my kitty limit was not something I under took lightly, I have not regretted it for a moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment