|
"It
is in the nature of cats to do a certain amount of unescorted
roaming." - Adlai
Stevenson
Cat of The Fourth
Quarter of 1999:
Our Cat of The Quarter for the fourth quarter of 1999,
is Norman, a large and exceptionally friendly
black longhaired mix with a distinctive white blaze on his
chest. He's about four years old.
Norman was obviously the beloved pet of a family
that must have included young children and other cats.
However, he somehow became separated from this family and began
making periodic appearances in a rural farming area. On
occasion he would be seen with Leon, a wise and
experienced outside cat and Ringo, an adopted neighboring
feline.
As the weather became colder, Norman began to
spend more time around the farmhouse and eventually, a heated
enclosure was provided for him on the front porch along with
regular free meals.
Usually cats have little use for an outsider, but it was
different with Norman. When he was occasionally
allowed inside, the other cats would walk right up to him and
begin rubbing heads as if they had known him for years.
Big as he is, he has a special charisma and his gentle, friendly
personality is readily sensed by other cats. Even, Mittens,
who is in his mid-20s was glad to meet Norman.
Eventually, of course, Norman reluctantly moved inside.
Medical tests showed that Norman was in overall
good health, but had contracted a potentially fatal feline
immune deficiency disease similar to HIV. In spite of
this, he remains healthy and because of his friendly nature, the
chances of his passing this on to other resident cats through a
bite is negligible.
While Norman spends most of his time indoors, he
still enjoys catly activities and pursuits out in the back yard
and barn and in hot weather, he likes loafing about under a
stand of pines. Skippy, a young indoor cat, is
fascinated with the worldly Norman. In fact,
Norman is Skippy's hero and role model and
it doesn't bother Norman a bit when Skippy
follows him around trying to pick up mannerisms and tips from
this sophisticated feline.
While all the other cats run and hide when children come in the
house, Norman walks right up to meet them and
tolerates their clumsy, but well meaning attempts to pick him
up. What he can't tolerate is television. Breyers®
Homemade vanilla ice cream is Norman's favorite
snack and recently has become the favorite of Skippy
also.
It's hard to imagine a friendlier or more loveable cat than Norman.
|
|
