Fur Beasts

I've just downloaded some pictures from my camera and thought I'd share a couple with you. No family is complete without a fur beast or two. Sure, it always starts with one, but pets are like Lay's potato chips...one just never seems to be enough. Without further ado I give you Finko and Rafik. First we'll have a look at Finko. Here she is on display with my daughter's Vera Bradley bag.

 

Finko joined us a little over two years ago. She was a street kitty that a co-worker found. She was about 8 weeks old, scrawny and had a big lump part way down her tail which I assumed meant it was broken. Since it didn't seem to hurt her I thought I would take her home and clean her up and then make a vet appointment. After her bath I put her down on the floor and she began grooming herself. A couple minutes later I looked over and a good portion of her tail was about to come off! Basically it was hanging by a thread where the lump had been. Finko didn't seem to be in pain and there was very little blood. My first instinct was to bundle her into her carrier and rush her to the animal hospital. Then I realized that the tail would be off before we got there and it wasn't likely to rejoin her again in this life. You can see her evil glare in this shot - that's the 'don't touch me and expect to live' look.

 

I did the only thing I could and immediately left the room to avoid the grossness factor of watching her finish the 'removal' process. Next day we saw the vet, got ointment and shots and went home. But the fun wasn't over. The hair on the remaining portion of her tail began to come out and to this day only half of her tail has hair and the rest has a really bad comb over. As I mentioned, I left the room when I saw her tail coming off, and when I returned the tail was gone. I hadn't counted on it disappearing! For a split second I wondered if she could have eaten it. Naw...she must have played with it. Great, now there was a piece of cat tail lost in my living room. The girls and I searched, but she was small and had likely gone under the sofa and left it there. Who wants to reach way under there and feel for a tail? None of us, that's for sure. One morning about a week later I came out and there was the tail in the middle of the floor. She had apparently found it and played with it during the night. This time it disappeared for good. Next you see Rafik looking innocent. Don't be fooled.

 

Rafik is 5 months old and is the second fur member of the family. Rafik was also a street kitty and also came to us via a co-worker, though not the same one. Rafik's street days must not have been as bad as Finko's for she is much less shy and shows more affection at an earlier age than Finko did. She is also much more compliant when my 12 year old dresses her in clothes. My youngest has some stuffed animals with clothes that are just the right size for Rafik, and so Rafik must bear the occasional humiliation of being dressed up and photographed. Here you see her in her "Pimp My Cat" look. All she needs is some bling.

 

Finko gets lots of exercise now thanks to Rafik, and she no longer pounces on the girls and I. When these two aren't sleeping they're busy chasing each other about. They get pretty rough, and Finko could easily kick butt and take names but she goes easy on Rafik. I don't anticipate adding any more fur beasts to the mix as I have no intention of becoming a crazy cat lady. The fur beasts appear below in their natural habitat. They're so cute when they sleep....