My Girl Fifi
by John Sweatt-Drake
(Sacramento, CA USA)
Josephine Marie, AKA Fifi
Attached is a picture of my cat, a 5 year old shelter rescue female named Fifi. I don't have any papers on her, of course, but I do believe she has a fair amount of Maine Coon Cat in her ancestry.
She has the ruff, the huge bushy tail, and the large, tufted paws. And of course, she has a high-pitched, trilling voice. In fact, she has everything a Maine Coon has except for the lynx tips on her ears. I would like to share some of her personality traits and see if anyone else out there has had similar experiences with their cats.
First off, she's not really a lap cat. She will on very rare occasions lie on my lap, but she generally prefers to lie beside me or at my feet.
She can also be very demanding when she wants attention. She likes to stand on her hind legs and put her front paws in my lap so I can nuzzle her behind her ears. And when she *really* wants attention, she's taken to petting me! Yes, she will rub me with her front paw. It's the strangest thing - it's almost like she is mimicking my petting her.
And I've noticed a bit of a change in her personality lately. 2 weeks ago, I was admitted to the hospital with a severe asthma attack. I made sure that Fifi had enough food and water to last a couple of days, and made arrangements for a friend to visit her and feed her if I was gone more than overnight. The next evening, when I got home, Fifi was there to greet me as usual but then she lay down facing away from me and gave me a "time out" for about 10 - 15 minutes. Since then, she has been especially clingy. She will lie down *on* my feet - so that I can not go anywhere at all without her knowing about it. She also will go into my room at night and rub my leg when I'm sleeping. It's starting to seem like I'm the pet in the household.
But as weird as her behavior is, she's still my furry little girl, and I love her to death.
John
