The making of a diva! | For Animal Lovers

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This was a year ago. He weighed 8 pounds and was very grateful.

This was a year ago. She weighed 8 pounds and was very grateful.

Yes, it’s about Morgan. She is the most interesting creature in the household and that includes the beloved husband and me.

It’s been a year since she came to live with us. She had one eye and had just spent five months in a cage at the shelter. Initially she was a gentle soul. She didn’t speak for the first three months. She made no noise at all. Anything made her happy. I would describe her as grateful.

Ha! That lasted about three months!

During her initial weeklong isolation in a room, she was very content. It was so much better than a cage and she could be happy there for a long time. There were windows and sunlight. The only thing missing was companionship. She got a lot of visitors but that’s not the same.

Fast forward a couple of months. She has the run of the house now – which brings an opportunity to make cat friends. She loves friends of any species. She is fearless and will make friends with anyone.

At first she deferred to the other cats and just enjoyed being in their company. She was smaller than all except Mollie. When she got overactive, she received a head wamp from Jake and that would quiet her down.

Fast forward more. Sometime over the winter she lost all sense of shyness. She yells at the birds and squirrels and sometimes even me. She is first in line for anything and there are no head wamps (she will head wamp back with the best of them)!

She doesn’t always answer to her name but she does respond to certain words. “Out” which means passage to the screened porch will bring her running from anywhere in the house, even if it’s whispered to another cat.

The sound of the cat food can opening will also bring her out but she’s not about the food. She likes to smell it. She takes two bites and comes back later when she has more time. She is a very busy cat.

She is as tall as Jake (which is tall for a cat) but thin. Remember it’s not about the food. She can run over them all which she does if they are in the way of her and the “out” door or anywhere else she wants to go.

She runs throughout the house — up the stairs, down the stairs. She must log many miles every day. She’s very fast and very sleek.

She enjoys Mollie because Mollie is much smaller. She can sit on her which doesn’t make Mollie happy.

Hazel: I like Morgan. She lets me eat her food and I let her roll all over me.

Hazel: I like Morgan. She lets me eat her food and I let her roll all over me.

She enjoys Hazel. Hazel is built like a fireplug and moves slowly so Morgan not only jumps over her but can sit on a part of her too. Where Mollie will growl at her, Hazel will purr. She likes that.

Morgan and Jake on the same chair. Of course Morgan has to be higher. Jake is thinking "Philistine!"

Morgan and Jake on the same chair. Of course Morgan has to be higher. Jake is thinking “Philistine!”

She’s not real crazy about Jake but the feelings are mutual. She tries to engage him in play. He responds with hairy eye rolls and the cat equivalent of “Really?”

When she runs, she sounds like a herd of elephants (not that I know what that really sounds like).

There are some important firsts for her.

She must be first after the litter box is cleaned.

She must be fed first although she rarely eats it all.

She must be first when the door is opened to the porch.

Morgan on a computer chair.

Morgan on a computer chair.

She sits where ever she wants. If someone is already sitting there, she will squeeze in until they move over or just plain move. This is especially true of the computer area where seating is at a premium.

She has moved on from some earlier behaviors such as pulling all my sweaters off the shelf to use them for sleeping. I did not find any humor in finding my best sweater next to her litter box.

Despite the fact that she runs much of the house she doesn’t have really bad habits like waking us up at 3 a.m. or anytime really, inappropriate pooping or fighting with the other cats.

She amuses herself and is content in her own company. Maybe that comes from spending months in a cage.

She is not a shy shrinking violet but a force to be reckoned with or hugged and smothered with smooches.

In another year or two she may spend much of her time sleeping so I am enjoying these days.

Morgan: I'm so pretty!

Morgan: I’m so pretty!

55 thoughts on “The making of a diva! | For Animal Lovers”

    • I worried about adding another cat. There comes a point when one of them will display inappropriate behavior. Occasionally Jake does but not from Morgan. It’s more likely from a visiting stray or the foxes that pee in his yard.

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  3. Morgan’s lucky that the other cats don’t wolf down all her food. In our house, our two cats are like wolverines. Food is gone in a flash. I’m glad that Morgan’s settled in so well with her furry siblings. 😉

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  4. You know I’m a sucker for a good cat tale…Morgan not speaking right away reminded me of an old Kay Ballard joke…there was this kid who never said a word, until one day he screamed, “Mother, there’s not enough sugar in my coco.” The mother, ecstatic says, “Oh my God, you spoke, why did you take so long?” and the kid said, “Because up till now everything’s been alright.”

    Love the pictures…they are truly your children. Kate’s kids 🙂

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  5. I absolutely enjoy your description of Morgan and the other cats. They emerge from the page as full-fledged characters and I can easily visualize them and their foibles. Wouldn’t it be interesting to write a book about life from a cat’s perspective (who would be the best narrator? Molly? or maybe have a rotating narrator?). Your writing style is relaxing, funny, and healing. Thank you for your craft.

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    • Jake’s voice would be the most amusing as I picture him talking like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky. Molly is quite the lady so her version would be more like one of the Bronte sisters. Hazel only cares about food so her version would sound like Emeril and Morgan….maybe Dennis the Menace? Your idea is a good one with a rotating narrator.

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  8. I’m glad you were the first to call her a diva, so that we didn’t have to! Her list of “firsts” is really pretty funny. I think she’s added a spark of playfulness into your household that has probably been nice this long winter with you cooped up indoors. I hope she doesn’t outgrow that too soon! She’s a sweetie! A diva, but a sweetie!

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    • In many ways, she is kittenish in a grown body which makes it more hilarious. Her need to be first at everything is funny. The other cats just say, “Whatever!” Right now she is stalking my desk and rearranging files.

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  11. I can tell you know your cats’ personalities inside and out! And I have a feeling Morgan, especially, knows yours. What a clever, funny, adorable kitty. And how lucky she is to have found her way to your heart.

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  12. Morgan is beautiful and (shhh!) my favorite of your cats, from afar. It’s not that I don’t love you as much, it’s just that I love Morgan a teensy bit more. I mean look at that little furry face!

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  14. Ha! Morgan was so thankful to you Kate…took her awhile but it seems she has come full circle and found her true, inner self. She has earned and deserves having dominance over any and everything. Keep on purrin’ Morgan…you go girl. Our Gibby, who was once homeless, sends you her best congratulatory purrs! Cats rule, right? Right.

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    • Feeding Hazel is a problem. She’s a smaller cat that weighs 17 lbs. Much too much for her frame. The last diet she went on, she not only drove us crazy (and by us I mean the cats too) but she gained a pound. She eats everyone’s food even when I am committed to picking up what the other cats don’t finish. I have given up. We try to exercise her (what a joke that is — she has one speed, slow!) and encourage her not to eat. I asked the vet about gastric bypass and she just laughed. Hazel is a timid semi-feral cat who is terrified there won’t be a next meal. As for moving, no plans. I have always wanted to live in a warmer climate farther south. This past winter was brutal. If I could pack up my friends and the relatives I like along with my belongings I would go. Nancy always says that Anna Maria Island is the best place to live. My husband does not want to move that far south. You never know, we may end up in your neighborhood!

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      • Jill’s neighborhood might be a good starting point ~ close enough to get back to PA in a day . . . and close enough to get to FL in a day.

        Last time BFF drove to NJ without me, he stayed with friends in Charlotte and it was almost exactly the 1/2 way point.

        If you moved there, it could be your Halfway House!

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  19. She is “The Most Interesting Cat in the World” – (and could hold her own against that beer peddling guy that tells everyone to stay thirsty. Her commercial would be much more stylish – and acrobatic, no doubt)
    She sounds like a delight – and is in the purrrfect home.

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