Thumper of the many toes
And now for a totally non-quilty interlude….CATS! I began this post nearly two (or was it three?) months ago when Thumper came home to live with us. Now it is nearly Christmas, but she is still just as sweet and wonderful.
Yes, the cats have decided that Thumper, also called Thumper Thunderfoot (only by me, to the horror of my sons who think its dorky, but so what LOL!), and Thumper many-toes, is here to stay. Tyger, the orange tabby, even says hello to her nose-to-nose. So, I now get to bore you to tears with family cat pictures! And oh yeah….most cats have 16 forward facing toes and 2 dew claws, total of 18. At the vets, Paul and the vet tech counted: Thumper has …. ulp …. TWENTY-FIVE toes. Toenail clipping isn’t gonna be fun!
Thumper has a begging thing….she certainly didn’t learn this behavior from our cats (she’s about a year old and was “fostered” in a home while preggers, then went back to the shelter), but it is kinda cute. Discouraged, but cute:
Here are the four of them in a first: all four(left to right it is Thumper, Zeus–Siamese, Hannah–tabby, Tyger–orange tabby) eating at the same time and no hissing!
Then there is Thumper asleep in the kitty tree (everyone say “awwwwwww”):
And finally, Eli introducing Thumper to his much-larger tiger (a gift from Nana some years ago, about when Eli was the same size as the Tiger…)
In the intervening months, Thumper has recovered from being skinny from having had a litter (before we got her when she was at the pound) and being a “foundling.” She LOVES the milk I put in my tea, and has become a perfect piggy about asking for her morning and evening “cuppa” with me.
I keep a plastic tub lid on the counter just to give her treats…she is definitely a counter cat–puts her at the perfect height for kisses. Here she is near the woodstove:
I’ll take pictures of the other kitties, too, to give them their fair share. But definitely Thumper and Tyger are “my” cats, and follow me from room to room. Life is good!
I’m nearly done with a totebag, and actually did a painting of “maine in winter”, “naive” style, inspired by a triptych that my friend Kathy had over her fireplace mantel. I asked if I could copy, and she said yes! So I too have a triptych with a teal and aqua sky, though my feel is different. I love Kathy’s quick whimsical sense, which I don’t have, but so it goes…this one is me, and Kath’s is “hers.” More later this week.
December 18th, 2006 at 7:04 am
Thumper is beautiful.
You’ve brought up fond memories for me this morning. Many years ago, hubby and I had a polydactyl cat, Clover. Animals, just like people, each have unique personalities. But after speaking with other polydactyl owners and reading articles about them, I’m convinced that polydactyls are really in a league of their own!
Sad but smiling now, remembering our Clover boy.
December 18th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
Love the cats! They’re all beautiful.
Give ’em kisses from Aunt Joanie for me.