Savannah's Paw Tracks

Another Look: Real Rescue Cats Are Talking

This is my fourth re-post in a series of four. The first was published December 17, 2014 the second was published December 24, 2014, and the third on December 31, 2014.

This was one of two interviews I did with former breeding Queens. Yes, there really ARE kitten mills just as there are puppy mills. While Nellie was never bred, her life before rescue was fraught with abuse. Most of you know Nellie, aka Queen Penelope, so you know she has a Happy Tails ending. First published February, 2013..click HERE

LIFE CHANGING INTERVIEW WITH SAVANNAH

I just  know you are all going to help me welcome this marvelous ladycat…she is one of the bestest ladycats around!!  You all know her…and I am so grateful that she agreed to join me for this interview so she can share her whole rescue story with you.

PURRlease…give a hearty welcome to…

NELLIE!!!

APAWS!!!   APAWS!!!   APAWS!!!

Savannah:  Hiya Nellie!!  Thanks lots for stopping by and having a meow with me.  I know you aren’t new to doing interviews…but I am so proud to have you join me today…

Nellie:  Hi Savanna. It is sure nice to gets out and visits with one of my girl cat furiends.  Yous looks marvelous today darling.  Thanks yous for letting Me tells yous my story.  Yous want to know how old Me is?  Me is going to be 15 in or around May but Me could has been as early as this month. Nobody knows.

Savannah:  Mouses!! Nellie you are lookin’ so good…very svelte…we ladycats all need to take some beauty tips from you gurl furriend…

Nellie:  oh Savvy, yous is so sweet to say that…hope you don’t mind, but I brought my own chair…it’s special and I likes it…

Savannah: Here, let me just move mine over…(scrape, scruff, scruff…)

Ok…that’s good.  Now would you share with all of us how you arrived in your furrever home?

Nellie:  Sure Savannah. Me shall starts at the very beginning.  Me is the product of a cattery that breeded purebred Siamese.  The owners would sell the “seconds” to anybody.  Me hates to say it, but Me was less than purrfect, so Me was not registered and Me was bought by some peoples who wanted to breed Me for my babies so they could sell them and makes some money.

They had never had a cat before and they did not know what to do with a tiny rambunctious kitten.  And the lady did not like Me because Me would scratch if their boy held Me too tight or pulled my tail.  Me was not fed cat food and Me did not has any toys to play with.

(Big sigh)….Me has trouble talking about the things that happened…Me was pretty tormented by the boy and his Mom… but during that time, my Daddy did meets Me.  He knew the peoples did not know what to do with Cats and he said to them if they ever did not want Me, they should gives him a call….

They did not.  When the lady gots pregnant, she gots really mad at Me and Me was hit lots and she gived Me (for money) to some other peoples.  They was really nasty.  They had little dogs they was breeding.  They said Me had behavior problems and they disciplined Me with sticks, they burned Me too with cigarettes. Finally, they tooked Me to the dog pound.

Me hated everybody!  To Me, peoples meant pain.  The peoples at the pound had to sedate Me to assess the damages and Me had some broken bones that had not set quite right, and some old and some new burns.  Me was seriously underweight and they could not tell how old Me was because Me had not growed right from being starved.  Me attacked everybody and the Pound was going to puts Me down as they said Me was unadoptable!

The first man who bought Me found out Me had been taken to the Dog Pound and he called my Daddy.  Daddy called the pound and finded out that Me had been there for a week and they was going to puts Me down as Me was to awful to adopts out!  Daddy said, “Wait, I’ll come and gets Nellie!”.  And he did.  He gots Hissy Old Licorice’s cat carrier and he went to the pound and he tolded them what he knew of my story and that him and Mommy had another cat and a dog and they let Daddy save Me!

Savannah: (reaches across to softly touch paws with Nellie)…you take your time…our readers will wait…..(purrs softly for Nellie)

Nellie:  Yous is so sweet, thanks yous.  When Me gots to my forever home, Me would not lets Mommy near Me.  Me did not trust ladies.  Me would attack peoples.  Mommy and Daddy would talk quietly to Me and Hissy Old Licorice took care of Me like Me was his baby.  Me was bad though.  Me did not know that the garbage can was not food.  Me did not know that the yummy tuna was for Mes (and Hissy Old Licorice).  Me did not knows what the litter box was for.

Mommy and Daddy tooked Me to their Vet.  She was a very nice lady, but Me would not let her touch Me!  She keeped Me all day and she weighed Me and accessed all the damage and putting together what Daddy knew, they figured Me was over a year old, but Me was still the size of a kitten because Me was malnourished.  Me had to waits until Me was more healthy before they coulds give Me my shots or my gardenectomy.

Savannah: Oh Cat! Nellie…when you are ready, will you maybe meow about how you got to trusting you Mom and Dad and let them see some of your REAL SELF.

Nellie:  Mommy and Daddy was very patient with Me.  Me attacked anybody who came near Me and Me attacked with claws and teeths!  Mommy and Daddy was still so very nice to mes though.  They loved Me, feeded Me.  They never hurt Me. It tooked a long time before Me would even sit on the sofa with Daddy, purrhaps 6 months and even longer for Mommy!  And even then, if Me did not want yous to pet Me, Me would attacks yous!

The hardest was the petting.  Me would sit on laps and Me really wanted to be petted, but the minute a hand was on my back, particularly around my back near my tail – boom!!!!  Me would see red – go crazy and bite and claw…..

Savannah:  Nellie, it is hard to make new memories, huh?  Especially, when the old memories are so cruel; they get in the way of making new ones.

Nellie:  Savannah, Me had so very many issues.  Me yowled—for no reason, Me shredded furniture and Me totally ruined Mommy’s 1950’s vinyl Dinette set!  Me has shredded 4 sofas!  But the absolute worst was my potty habits.  Me had none.  Mommy putted 4 litter boxes out.  One in the living room; one in the kitchen by the foods; one in the bedroom and one where the litter box usually was.  Every time Me would start to goes where Me was not supposed to, Mommy would puts Me in the box.  But it tooked Me a furry long time to gets the litter box thing figured out almost 2 years.

Then, when Me did figure it out Me became the very bestest litter box digger in the world!!  Me is very good at flinging litter everywhere with my digging!  Me spends hours rearranging the litter in the box.

Savannah:  Well, purrhaps you are just trying to make sure every piece is in its most useable place for next time???…just a thought…Anywho…meow a little about how you feel about all the paws forward you made over time…you know…how has your recovery come along???  Does your REAL SELF show more?

Nellie:  Me thinks Me has been wonderful in my recovery!  Me has trained my pawrents exactly as to what Me likes, when Me likes it and how Me likes it!  Me likes Fancy Feast in the morning mixed with warm water and Me likes tuna at night with warm water.

Never the other way round or Me will MEERRROWWW.

Me likes my heating pad, and Me likes to sleeps beside Daddy.  Mommy will do, but Me much prefers Daddy.  Me still has a “circuit” Me walks and yeowels when Me is purrturbed.

Occasionally, Me will put the bitey on when Me is dissatisfied, and Me still is furry free with my claws.  When Me wants attention, Me goes and gets it.  If Me does not, Me will let yous know with a growl and they backs off.

Savannah:  ummmm…Nellie…I think efurryone would also like to know about why Kozmo came to live with you

Nellie:  MEOWWWWWW!!!…pffftttt!!  Silly Kozmo…ok, but I’ll tell it this way…

Savannah, first lets Me tells yous about the great love of my life—Hissy Old Licorice!  This is before the brat Kozmo…just listen Savvy…

Savannah:  (lies quietly, crosses paws in front of her)…you take all the time you want Nellie…I can see this is impawtant to you…go on…

Nellie:  Me loved him and he loved Mes.  We was inseparable.  Yes, wes did has arguments, but after he gots the Thyroid and the Kidney diseases we never fighted at all.

Two weeks before he was 18, hes stopped eating.  We all knew he was ready to goes over the bridge to sees our before dog—Kokanee (they was bestest furrends).  Me was laying with him when he passed.

After, Me was despondent.  The picture of him and me was taken the day before he went over the bridge.  Me lost weight and me was furry listless.  Me meowed around the house and me laid where Licorice used to lay.

Every time Mommy or Daddy went to the door, me would run and see if he was there.  After about 3 weeks, Mommy and Daddy went shopping in Kelowna and comed home with a small black and white cat!

Me hates him at first sight and we does not has a furry great relationship.  Wes fights lots and but sometimes we surprises Mommy and Daddy by being furry friendly.

Hes been living with us for 2 years (he came on December 23, 2010).  Me calls him the brat and me HATES sharing Daddy with him.

Me and my hairy slobbery sisters gets along well.  Me loves Bob lots, but she is afraid of me because she came when me was still nasty. [UPDATE: Nellie’s beloved woofie sisfur Bob passed about 18 months or so after this interview]

But Cinnamon and me is bestest buddies!  Me is trying to teach her to be the Dog From Hell!

Savannah:  Yeowzers Nellie…you had so many fears when you first came and then you lost Old Licorice.  I won’t keep you much longer…do you have any advice to our readers to help them…furramily and hufamily both…work together to help the furramily member create new memories?

Nellie:  Patience, Patience, Patience.  It was over 9 months before Me would sit with Daddy.  And another 6 before he could pets Me.  The claws and teeths is defense mechanisms.  Pet us when we comes to yous, but don’t chase us.

One can never has too many litter boxes.

Routine.  We need predictability.

Lets us have our own little space.  Mommy made Me a cave out of a computer box (they was big in those days) and she cutted a hole in it that was Nellie size.  Hissy Old Licorice or the hairy slobbery sister Kokanee could nots get in.  She put it under the kitchen table.  Mommy puts a furry blanket in there and she would put crunchies in a bowl in there.  The litter box was right beside my box.  Me liked my special private place, but Me slowly gots used to being outs and abouts and did not worry about the other animals.

Hissy Old licorice was good for Me.  He acted just like a Mommy and it was what Me needed.  This might not work for others, but it worked for Mes!

Savannah:  This was great!  Any last thought or words of wisdom you want to share?

Nellie:  Savannah, thanks yous so much for letting Me shares my story with yous.  Me knows Me is furry long winded.  Can Me kiss yous now?

Savannah:  oh Nellie (shuffling paws back and forth)…why don’t you come over here with me while I wrap up…I can scootch over for you…

Nellie:  Oh thanks yous Savvy…(leans down and gives Savvy a soft smoochie)

MOUSES!!! Wasn’t Nellie a great interview?

Paw pats, Savannah