Mom's cats

I realized that I had our camera in my purse, so I thought I'd take some pictures of Mom's roommates. Several years ago, there was a stray cat that hung around the parking lot where she worked. She brought it food and eventually was able to bring him home with her. She named him Otis. I have no idea where that name came from. He was in bad shape...malnourished and covered with fleas. She took him to her vet and they brought him to the fat and happy condition he's in now. Well, I say happy: he is the whiniest animal I have ever encountered. He makes this low, rumbling, moaning noise as he wanders through the house. It is quite loud and startling in the wee hours of the morning.

He is a true misanthrope. When we come to visit, we don't see much of Otis. Ocassionally he'll sneek through the living room late at night, when he thinks we're not watching. I discovered once when I was visiting without the girls, that he will approach me when I'm sitting down. He'd come to my hand and let me touch him, even rub his ears. Very rarely, he'd jump up onto the couch where I was sitting and lay down beside me. I experimented and found that I could approach him if I crawled. Go figure! Since I've been here so long, he's gotten used to me. He'll regularly walk up to me, but still only if I'm sitting. And he doesn't run away to another room when I stand up... just to the other side of the room.

He has a history of running away. In the past he has disappeared for days at a time. Last year, he left and didn't show up in a few days like he always has. A week turned into a month missing. Mom was crushed. She loves cats and Otis especially. I think she feels that they need each other. Well, even I had to admit that this time, he was gone for good. She talked to her vet and they found Miss Kitty for her. She is very personable, loves people, even little girls. Miss Kitty had been with Mom for about 2 weeks when they had a surprise visit. Mom went out to get the paper one morning and there he was: the prodigal cat, not to be confused with a Jellicle Cat.

Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats are rather small;
Jellicle Cats are merry and bright,
And pleasant to hear when they caterwaul.

So now Mom has 2 cats: one who is merry and bright and the other likes to caterwaul. Maybe they are Jellicles after all.