Monday, March 24

Monday Dose of Cute: Kit Kat Capers


What is she thinking? We'd all like to know.

[Scene: the kitchen of a quiet farmhouse in the middle of nowhere at dawn, where two cats and two dogs are sleeping peacefully and a third cat is about to jump onto the windowsill.]

Mrrroooowwwww.

Raaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrooowwwwww!

Woof. Ruff. Ruff!

Grrrrrrrrrr.

WOOF. WOOF. WOOF.

Hisssssssssssssssss!

HOOOOWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Welcome to my mornings, courtesy of Kit Kat Kate.

More below...


Six years ago I drove to our local overcrowded and underfunded animal shelter and adopted the three cats who had been there the longest: Topaz, Mr. Midnight, and an innocent looking little black and white cutie pie named Sarah Kate, now also known as Kit Kat.

Over the years Sarah Kate has gone from indoor cat to full-time outdoor cat and back to full-time indoor cat. She is very good at amusing herself (it's amazing how much noise she can make while all alone in a room), and other than a close friendship with Mr. Midnight, she's never paid much attention to the rest of our feline family.

Until Jasper moved in last spring.

Jasper is a giant fluffy creamsicle who lives outside. First thing each morning, he comes around to the kitchen pick-up window and waits for someone to slide it open and give him a little snack. And Sarah Kate goes berserk. She hisses and growls and attacks him through the glass, which in turn sets off the dogs.

All the while, Jasper just sits there, alternating between doing that lovey dovey, blinky-eyed thing and looking slightly terrified.

This has been going on for months.


If Jasper is late showing up, Kit Kat races back and forth from the kitchen window to the glass-front storm door in the mudroom, frantically trying to find him. Once when she was waiting for him at the pick-up window, he sidled up alongside the house out of her view, and when he suddenly appeared in the glass she was so spooked she fell onto the floor.

Does she love Jasper? Does she hate him? Who knows.

Things do seem to be progressing. The other day Joe told me Kit Kat and Jasper had just spent 30 minutes staring quietly at each other through the glass.

Since it's been so cold lately, Jasper has been spending a lot of time in the garage/workshop attached to the house, and Kit Kat has been spending a lot of time camped out in front of the shop door. When Joe opens it, she dashes in, runs over to Jasper, who is snuggled up in his cat bed minding his own business, bats her paw at him, hisses, and runs back into the house.

None of us can figure out what is going through her head. The more cats I get to know, the more I realize that they all have distinct personalities. After living with Kit Kat for six years, I'd have to say that she's a little bit nuts.


Even if the cats don't always behave how I'd like (by say, not causing a kitchen-wide ruckus every morning at the crack of dawn), their real personalities deserve real food. This is the second in a three-post series that's part of a campaign with BlogHer, my publishing network, and SHEBA® premium wet cat food, that helps me and over 3,000 other mostly women bloggers bring you all of our content for free. Thanks for your support!

Why do we like SHEBA® cat food? All SHEBA® recipes are formulated without grains, corn, gluten, artificial flavors or preservatives. All SHEBA® Patés are made with real beef, poultry, or seafood as the first ingredient, and all SHEBA® seafood entrees are made with responsibly sourced seafood and fish that follow the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® recommendations. Our cats love it.

Your cat is guaranteed to love SHEBA® food for cats, or you'll get your money back. There are no guarantees about your sanity if you live with crazy cats.

Do your cats have distinct personalities? Tell us about them in the comments!

© FarmgirlFare.com, always full of mystery.

This program is sponsored by SHEBA® Brand and BlogHer. I was compensated for my writing but all opinions are my own.

18 comments:

  1. Have never met a cat who doesn't have distinct personality! Have had some who lived to be nearly 20...all quirky and amazing. Cats are so interesting and unique! But, then, the same is true for most animals!

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  2. Once had a black and white cat that disappeared every time anybody came to our house. He would be found as a small lump under the bed covers or in the back of a closet. The rest of the time he would be 'fairly normal'. His favorite food of all was an egg. If I was in the kitchen cracking eggs he would hear from upstairs, hit the floor and be down in the kitchen in 10 seconds. We timed him on occasion and it was 10 seconds flat! We had to have him put down at age 15.

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    1. LOL I love how you put 'fairly normal' in quotes. Too cute about the eggs!

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  3. Those are some pretty funny kitty antics!

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  4. Really enjoyed Kit Cat Capers as have had a lifelong fascination with cats. Simba, my rescued big boy, sets the pace around here and
    keeps me entertained.

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  5. I have four - had two, then took in my mom's two when she went into assisted living. Four distinct personalities in a too-small-to-comfortably-fit-them-all-in Manhattan apartment. Demon, Monster (I am not a Satanist, I assure you), Henry and Dumpling. All rescues, Henry with only three legs. None of them are snuggly with each other, but oh, how they love to pile on top of me (at times I have three of them on me and I am immobilized on the bed while I try to watch TV above Monster's bulk draped across my throat, his perch of choice), and while for the most part there is a grudging peace, every now and then Demon and Monster, or Demon and Henry, or Henry and Monster, will get into it, and then it's a free-for-all of hisses, growls, screams, and me racing around with the water bottle commanding them in my best General Patton voice to "STOP IIIIIT!" Never a dull moment in Crazy Cat Lady Territory, where I now officially reside!

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    Replies
    1. I loved reading this. Three cheers for rescue cats - they're the best. Re Crazy Cat Lady Territory - I think we're neighbors! ;)

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    2. CCLT - oh boy I needed to read that - been having "hairy" times at my place - new rescues have disturbed the precarious balance -again. Yup - that General Patton voice and water bottle - been there, doing that! :)

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  6. We have two kittens that are now 8 months old. We adopted them at 8 weeks old, last fall. I had forgotten how lively kittens are! Kittson (tuxedo) and Vincent (a gray) are brothers, and boy do they keep me on my toes. It's like having toddlers again! They have distinct personalities - Kittson it more laid back while Kittson is more mischievous. They both love to snuggle in bed at night, but during the day it a constant alternating of napping and chaos! My partner, Bill called them 'the terrorists'.

    One of their favorite things to do it to go from room to room and tip over small waste paper baskets and look for snacks or paper to play with - you never know what you might find when you 'dumpster dive' - lol

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    1. What a couple of sweethearts. I love Bill's nickname for them. I know what you mean about kittens - when I brought home Kit Kat and Mr. Midnight they were only about three years old, and it had been so many years since I'd had kittens (or even young cats) that I'd forgotten how much energy they have!

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  7. Our 5 year old Russian Blue/Maine Coon (RB coloring with MC fur) came from a private, no-kill shelter. He loves to steal balled socks from the laundry basket and bat them around until he's separated them. Then they are deemed No Fun and a new pair must be selected. He also steals my daughters ponytail bands from her bathroom and plays hockey with them. He is fond of playing chasing games with my son and will only sleep/snuggle with my daughter. He is my best friend for precisely 10 seconds while I dole out his daily can of cat food, then I am relegated back to servant status. He faithfully greets us at the door when he hears the knob jiggle, and he loves to peek into grocery/shopping bags to see what we've brought home.

    Best and most miraculously of all, he taught himself to use the toilet! He doesn't use it consistently, and not for poops, but he has been known to come out of the powder room and scold us if the toilet seat is down. Wish I could teach him to flush!

    Sue

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    1. He sounds like such a hoot! Years ago I couldn't figure out how I kept losing all my ponytail bands - until I found a hidden stash, stolen by Gretel. Every few months I'd run out and have to go on a search for her new hiding place. :)

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  8. I have two kitties that I rescued 2 years ago from a nasty landlady; she wanted to kill them! Yes, some farmers of certain age do still kill kittens. Anyway, they were tiny and sick; Kiwi has an infected eye and Luna a bad cold; the poor thing she still suffers from bouts of congested nose and has to be on antibiotics. They both have different personalities. Kiwi is a mummy' boy; he is so attached to me; when he was little he would suck on my finger till he dose off and he still does that! He wouldn't sleep until I put him in his basket and give him my finger for a while, then he would sleep. Luna is very brave and independent. It took me a long time to tame her, so she still has that wild side in her. As I live alone surrounded by forest, I worry so much when she goes away for a day or so. I also look after another 15 cats (belong to the landlady's mother when passed away 2 years ago at 100); they all have names and different personalities. This Christmas we had another 2; one I name Isabella and the male Don Camillo :)

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  9. I have always loved that you adopted the three cats who were at the shelter the longest. One day (when I have a little more room) I'd love to do the same. I tried Sheba after your first post and my two cats adored it.

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  10. I remember when Farmgirl and her brother each got a kitten because our older cat Tager had died. We were getting ready to leave for relatives for a few days at Christmas. My son and I ran a last minute errand and when we returned home, Farmgirl announced that there had been a 'cat-tastrophe,' the kittens were chasing each other and had knocked over a very large table lamp. Fortunately it had wedged against the window and didn't fall to the floor. Then they had been playing with one on each side of the sheer curtains with their claws open- the tear is still there. Ever since I have always told people thinking of getting a kitten, "always get two so they have a playmate."

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  11. Our cat was named Corrie in the shelter before they found out it should have been Cor. We didn't change his name when we adopted him, because I found it a hoot he had the same name as my father. He's a big boy and a real hunter. You name it, he catches it, even moles and a hare once. You never have a dull moment, we call it 3D tv. I sometimes think about adopting another (female) one, but I don't know whether he would like that. Would you recommend it ?

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December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

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