That *special* kitty

[sirrahbed]

Meg's comment about that certain cat that just makes you feel something extra special got me to thinking .....do the rest of you have one kitty like that??

You probably know who mine is. He is ORANGE. I don't know exactly what it is. He is not the most friendly or affectionate. It isn't that. I am not sure WHAT it is. My Dylan just tugs at my heart so much that sometimes I look at him and wonder about his life before he came to me and just make myself cry!! He is the most gentle and sweet animal I have ever had. He is not particularly aggressive or assertive (does smacking the naw-tee kittens count??) - unless he is thoroughly provoked. He is always polite and defers to the other kitties. He is not really affectionate - yet he follows me from room to room and stays nearby yet never on my lap or anything like that. I often catch him watching me. If there are no other cats nearby, then he lets me love on him and purrs for me - otherwise, he stays away. He sort of reminds me of a shy child in a classroom full of confident kids if that makes sense - yet he really isn't timid - just very gentle. He really is not that shy either because he will greet and supervise any stranger who enters the house!! The fact that he is HUGE make all of this even more endearing.

OK, now tell us about YOUR special kitty

[Craftlady]

That describes RB Butterscotch. The most loyal guy I've ever known next to Skinny, Thumper and now Eleanor. Always knew when to make mom laugh or comfort me when I was sad. He always picked out the right people to work on our house. He had that insight on who was animal friendly or not.

[DogLover9501]

Debbie,
Mine is ORANGE too

Tigger is "that *special* cat" for a few reasons

He was my only cat for a very long time, and he is the same as Dylan(not very affectionate), but he gets more and more affectionate!

I remember all the little steps, rubbing against me, let me pet him, letting me pick him up(only for a second!)...etc and it took about 6 years for him to be up in my arms and sleeping on my bed sometimes..etc, but it was well worth the wait!

I think he's so special because every little thing he does was, and always will be, very special because it took so long for him to get where he is

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Tubby. Even though Peanut is my sweet little girl, I don't know if I will ever find a cat that I bond with as much as I have with Tubby. When I first got him it was just the two of us. We had so many good times together, and he has always been there for me over the miles and through the years. He is just such a mama's boy - but I wouldn't have it any other way. Sure don't know what I'm going to do when he's gone......

[hdeneise]

My Daisy cat is that for me. She's so fat and fluffy -- a plump orange sundrop that squeaks when you pick her up. It broke my heart to leave her with Mom when I moved out of the house, but Mom loves her just as much as I do, and she's so scared of strangers, she wouldn't have adapted well to a new home.

Snuggly fat cats are the best!!

[catlover4ever]

I have had two cats in my life that I call my "soul kitties".

The first was Tigger's brother Tony. There was just something about Tony that I really can not explain. He had the most gentle way about him and yet he was so big (15 lbs) that he was clumsy. Tony made me laugh and he made me cry. I still miss him so much that my heart aches just writing about him. Every night when I would go to bed he would come up to my chest and tap me with his paw to say "May I please sleep under the sheets with you?" or course I always complied. The morning that he died he came into the bedroom and tapped me so I let him under the covers. He stretched out almost the entire lenght of me and I rubbed his belly. He left after only a few minutes.....I truely beleive it was his "goodbye" to me. I found him about an hour later, laying at the sliding glass door looking out the window.

Abner is my other "soul kitty". Again I don't know what it is about him that makes him special or maybe I just don't know how to put it into words. I often wonder what his life was like before he found me....yes he found me. He followed a neighbor's dog to my house and when he came walking down the lawn I just said "Hi Abner....do you have a home?" He was named instantly. He never left.....Now he is "my baby". Even though he is no longer the baby of the family....he will always be my baby. He adores me and I adore him. He is afraid of his own shadow yet so very mellow. He sleeps with me just about every night and many, many mornings I have awoken to him laying across my chest with my face in his two front paws. Abner makes me think of the saying "A cat holds infinity in it's eyes and your heart in it's two front paws". Abner is the most animated, talkative cat I have ever had. I swear he could have a conversation with himself.

[RedHedd]

Mine is my Mishi ... another ORANGE boy. He was rescued from death row and I fell in love with him the minute I set eyes on his pathetic picture on PetFinder. Animalsavers did not post his best pic; they took a picture of him as he was found, with a nasty URI, infected, goopy eyes and matted fur and I fell in love with the big lug. He's been my heart-cat ever since that snarling mass of shaved orange fur came to live with us. Yes, he was one, angry P.O'd shaved mass of skinny Maine Coon when I adopted him; a mere 12 lbs. on his big-boned frame.

When I adopted him, he had been nursed back to health from his URI, his eyes had cleared up and his matts had been shaved. He kinda had a kitty-mohawk and was NOT happy about being transported from Sacramento to Berkeley where I picked him up from the Animalsavers transport person.

Later that evening this huge love-bug emerged from my bathroom, giving me head butts and rubbies and purring non-stop - it was a completely different cat than the one I'd brought home and he's been my love-bug ever since. He's big and clumsy and not-too-smart (hence the name Mishigaas which is the Yiddish word for insane kitty ).

I didn't know Maine Coons were talkers but I sure do now. He is my singing cat, greeting me with the silliest sounds every day. I awaken almost every morning to 16 lbs. of orange fur parked right next to me, softly purring. I love my big goon!

Mitzi is special too, but in a softer, quieter, sweeter way. Mishi just tugs at my heart.

[jazzcat]

What is it with these orangies??

Mine is orange too. My Scout girl and I have a special bond. Like some of you I too have a hard time explaining it or putting it in words. She's rarely affectionate and is most the time aloof and a loner but there is just something that has bonded me to her. I think I knew if from the moment I saw her in the cage at the shelter. She's was in a big free standing cage with 4 other cats all around a year old and she was by herself being anti-social and swatting at anything that got too close. She looked so sad and when I heard that she had been rescued from two abusive boys, was pregnant when she came in (it was terminated) and had been in the shelter for over four months I knew I had to have her.

Now I don't know what I would do without her.

[persianmom]

Ok You guys I need to get me a orange kitty. If I had to choice just one it would be a toss-up between Oscar and Taz. taz follows me from room to room also need by but only wants loving when she wants it. Oscar keeps me in eye sight at all times. When I sit down to watch Tv he is right there on my lap purring and giving kiss. He was my abused little guy. He took a long time to trust any one. I guess it would be Oscar. He is my love bug. But I find all my fur babies are special in their own way.

[slick]

I don't have a favourite. Both of mine are just as special. They have different personalities that offset each other so I have the best of both worlds.

[Lacey]

Oh my! Such a tough choice picking that special kitty because both of mine are special to me in different ways.

There's my darling Ms. Prissy-pants (Zelda) who I wouldn't trade for the world. From the moment I let her out of the carrier and into my apartment she knew right away she was home, even though I wasn't quite so sure at the time - a case of picking up the wrong cat only to discover she was the perfect cat. I'll never forget how she just looked around to see where everything was and then settled on the recliner like she'd been there all her life. And if not for her assuming the surrogate meowmie role with Mowgli, I suspect he'd still be a scared and hissing bundle of orange.

And speaking of orange, the Mowg-monster is just a precious to me as Zelda. With him I've seen how patience and love and 11 lbs of tortie can transform a scared little wild child into an absolute pussycat. Mowgli is my affectionate baby - an absolute lap kitty. If he's not chowing down or chasing Zelda, he's right with me. Every morning when I wake up, he's curled up right by my pillow purring his head off. Whenever he decides he wants something (be it cuddles or my dinner) he goes right for it. At mealtimes we go through a cute little routine. He'll be mewing at me to follow him and I'll ask him what he wants, and he goes right to the closet where the food is kept and will press against the door.

Mowgli and Zelda are nearly inseparable. Nothing warms my heart more than seeing the two cuddling together - which they do so very often. They cuddle and groom and nap and wrestle, and it's so very obvious that they absolutely adore each other.

[Palomino21]

Mine was a black cat named Blacky. He wasn't a very pretty kitten but he grew into a beautiful shiny black cat. He was my special cat and everyone else knew it. Blacky would wait in the window until I got home from school. Then he would follow me through the house as if to catch up on what happened. He'd meow and talk to me. He slept with me at night and was there in my lap when I was sad or sick. He was a special cat, I loved him dearly. When my parents divorced when I was a teenager, all the cats went to live at my dads. One by one, they disapeared, and Blacky went to a home of one of my dad's friends. It's a sad thing, no one really thinks about what happens to pets lives during a divorce. They are part of a family too. I have a picture of Blacky on top of my computer. He still watches over me, even though he's no longer with me.

Annie

[catnapper]

My special cat is Pouncer... he is my cuddly love bug. He has my heart wholly and completely.We have nightly cuddle sessions and he talked ot me every morning (ok, usually so I could let him out onto the balcony... but its still a conversation!)

Abby stole my heart point blank from day one. She isn;t cuddly of super affectionate, but she looks at me with such an intnse adoration. Who could resist that?

[Prairie Purrs]

Eleven years ago, just a few days after I lost my beloved Keke to cancer, I went to the shelter. The house was too empty without a cat in it. While I was admiring a beautiful brown classic tabby kitten, I noticed a fuzzy little gray and white fellow who was dancing around madly, trying to get my attention. Both the tabby (Kiri) and the gray and white guy (Kacey) came home with me.

I guess it was love at first sight, because Kacey has been devoted to me (and vice versa) since that first moment in the shelter. No matter which cat I call, Kacey comes running. Whenever an ex-boyfriend used to pin me down and tickle me, I'd yell, "Help me, Kacey!" and Kacey would dash in. He didn't have the slightest idea what to do, but he'd pace back and forth, looking very concerned.

He's my 11-year-old kitten and still enjoys a daily mad dash around the house. He loves to be picked up and cuddled, snuggled, and kissed. When I'm sick or sad, he's my purr therapist. He managed to step on the speed dial and call a friend of mine before dawn one weekend morning. I swear he did it on purpose.

I love all my kitties, of course, but Kacey is special.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Each of my cats has something different about them that makes my heart smile, But it's my Oliver who is my "special kitty". He doesn't just make my heart smile, he melts it. He is the least affectionate of all my cats, but he is my love. I'm not sure what it is, maybe because he was "my" first cat. He is actually the third cat that we've had, Scampers and our RB kitty, Cindy, were our first two, but they were both Justin's babies, not mine.

here is my Oliver-