Cats are amazing creatures, as the fruit of many years of survival, cats have grown to be mysterious and quite astute beings. It is not unusual for cats to surprise their owners with unique behavior patterns. Having been raised in a home among litters of kittens, I can almost say that I had cats entertaining me for most of my life with their behavior quirks and antics.
-Shakerina, was a gray kitten with very interesting black stripings. She also had a very interesting personality. She was raised in my home after her mom slipped out the door a day she was in heat. A few months later, Shakerina was born along her other 4 brothers and 2 sisters. I think what made her so special was the fact that she was raised in our home. For some reason she seemed to bond more with us than with her mom or litter mates.
When summer approached, we bought mama and all kittens with us. Of course, she had to exhibit her distinct personality that made her always stick out of the crowd. One of her oddest behaviors was her passion for climbing onto somebody's back and staying on their shoulder enjoying the views from the height. She was very balanced, and used to accompany my dad even during his gardening sessions. She cared less if he bent down to water the plants or even bent down to hoe. She was an amazing kitty indeed.
However, with 1 mama cat and 7 kittens we had way too many. So we finally decided to give some up for adoption. A child fell in love with Shakerina. As much as I loved her, I finally decided that the child perhaps needed her most. So off she went to her new house. She was fed lots of great food and given the best of attention. Yet, one day she went missing. Her new owners looked for her all over and she was no where to find. A week later, I hear a low meow under my car, I couldn't believe my eyes! Shakerina had travelled a whole week, 20 miles away only to re-unite with us! Now please, don't say that cats do not have a heart!
-Belinda was Shakerina's sister and just as Shakerina she had her own little personality. When she was just a few weeks old, she would leave her mom and littermates, hop out of the whelping box and come climb up the bed to sleep with me. I used to fall asleep hugging her. She was the sweetest little thing, and for some odd reason, she always smelled like fresh baby powder.
Her unique behavior pattern is that she loved to groom me. I used to brush her semi-long hair with a bristle brush and as I did this, in return, she would lick my hands. She was a very loving kitty, that seemed to really love living with us. We ended up keeping her and Shakerina after Shakerina had ran back to us. However, she was quite mischevous once she and Shakerina would gather together. Belinda was a very behved cat, but once she saw Shakerina jumping in our trash can and making it fall (I guess this was something she had learned to do that week traveling to our home), she started doing that too!
-Silver and Little Tiger were instead two kittens one of my uncles had given me as a child. They were two fuzzy kittens that loved to hunt on crickets and with which I used to play as a child. I remember I used to play with them in my small toy kitchen. I used to place a bib on both of them and promise them I would cook them the best meals. I therefore, used my toy kitchen utensils and chopped them up some real ham mixed with cat grass and used to feed them this meal in my small toy dishes. I even fed thm with a fork! Of course, they enjoyed the game.
One of their oddest behaviors was that they used to like to race each other down the hill. I remember I used to get my whistle and as soon as I blew it, they would race down the hill and a winner was claimed. This used to entertain our guests and some even made bids on the winner.
All my life I had cats with unique behavior patterns. I think part of it is the fact that I never treated cats as cats. They all were spoken to and treated as intelligent creatures from the start. Most of them therefore, developed natural, unique traits that made each kitty unique. I have many more stories about cats and thier behaviors, as each cat came with their own set of quirks. So I guess I may say that I was blessed with many cats and kittens that really made them the special beings I will never forget.