"Ah! Cats are a mysterious kind of folk." - Sir Walter Scott

Cat of The First Quarters of 2003:
Our Cat of the Quarter for the first quarters of 2003 is Racer--and, yes, she got her name for the obvious reason.  She's fast!

Racer was born in August of 2000 and is Scout's sister, although she hadn't seen him since late in 2000 and had pretty much forgotten about him.  When they were reintroduced early in 2002, Scout was wary of her somewhat aggressive feminine nature and kept his distance in spite of the fact he is much bigger, but this only lasted a few days.

Racer looks a lot like her dad, sleek and fit with large bright mischievous eyes and moderately long shiny black fur.  She has none of the graying that distinguishes her "bro" Scout.  Like Scout, however, Racer is a fearless acrobat and tends to casually position herself in ways that would send a chiropractor packing and inspire envy in a contortionist.

When Racer left her parents (Louie and Racey) and moved to her new home, it took her a while to adjust to the resident cats, particularly Skippy.  Even now, she will sometimes come out with a low growl when Skippy approaches her.  But then, when Skippy leaves the room, she follows him on out keeping low to the ground as if stalking him.  Skippy doesn't appear to mind.  In fact he seems to enjoy the attention.

Racer doesn't seem to have a favorite food.  She likes pretty much anything, but surprisingly she's not real big on the cat snacks that bring other felines running.  When dinner is late, however, she gets more impatient than most other cats and lets you know how she feels about the virtue of promptness.

Racer's favorite place to nap is on the closest couch--either sprawled over the back or laying on one of the seat cushions upside down with her paws in the air.  You can almost see the zees floating upward.  Recently, she has taken to relaxing in a red plastic 24 bottle Coca Cola case.  There is a suspicion, however, that Racer does this more to impress folks with how cute she can be, rather than actually finding it comfortable.

For entertainment, Racer prefers playing with plastic tabs from milk containers instead of rolling around with more conventional cat toys, but she has been working on her batting skills with a ping pong-style ball that runs in a circular track.  She's still no match for Mona, the current champion--or even Scout--but she's getting there.  And whenever there's a bag or box on the floor, you can be sure Racer will be inside checking it out.  She also displays a healthy interest in what's going on outdoors, but has shown no desire to head outside for a closer look.

She has no real objection to occasionally wearing a bandana, but makes it clear she goes along with this just to humor her family, rather than wearing it proudly like Scout.  When Scout, parades about showing off his stylish bandana, Racer throws him a scornful look that seems to say, "Hey, dude, what are you supposed to be, a Key West dog?"  Scout ignores this, however accepting the reality that every cat can't be expected to appreciate chic fashion and know what's vogue.

Racer is certainly much more active than most cats her age and may well be setting unofficial land speed records while flying through the house on a regular basis for reasons known only to her.  She doesn't tire easily, but on those rare occasions when she takes a break, she tends to seek out a lap.  She doesn't ask for much attention at all, but makes it clear she does need a pet now and then. . . and she always gets one.