The other day my niece asked me why I never did a post only about Star. And you know, I really have no reason other than that Leo is the reason I started this blog in the first place. But it the blog is titled Celestial Kitties so she is included and I’ve declared today as Star’s Day.
I’m pretty sure I’ve written about how I acquired Star, but I’ll give a brief explanation for any new readers. At the time I had three cats; Kikken, an extremely round calico, Nikita, a very old Himalayan that I’d sort of taken from a neighbor a few years before, and Calvin, a big black kitty that I’d rescued from some neighborhood kids when he was barely old enough to be weaned.
Calvin was fairly old and had stayed a scardy cat all his life, Kikken only cared about food and scritches, but Nikita ruled the household with an iron paw since the day she arrived. Nikita was a tough old broad and came with a scar on her nose from a tussle with a neighborhood dog. She won.
One day I was sitting in my car waiting for the nieces to get out of school and I noticed a free kittens sign on the house I parked next to. I didn’t think much of it, having a full house already, until one day I saw a kitty on the porch.
This petite little grey kitty was sitting with her back to the door non-stop meowing. I had always wanted a gray kitty but whenever one came into my life, it was destined for someone else. Ah ha! I thought, I could have one now.. However there was never anyone home when we would check. I kept trying.
Star was the first kitty I ever prayed about, and I was specific, if I was to have her, let someone be home at the time I pick up the girls. One day I noticed the door was propped open, an answer! I sent my nephew to the door to see if there was anyone home, and was totally shocked to see him enter the house! Hello! Stranger danger!
I never ran from a car so fast in my life. By the time I got to the porch, my nephew was on his way out, kitty in his arms. Only it was not a kitten. None of the kittens were grey, only one of the momma’s. Star, as she’d been named by his daughters, was two years old. They were glad someone came for her, as they planned on tossing her out since they divorced and neither of them wanted the cats. (Some people make me want to scream..)
I did the wrong thing when I brought her in, I just put her down in the living room. She spent the next two days behind the couch. My uncle helped me catch her and I put her in the cat/laundry room and got to know her. She was very friendly and loved getting pets. After a few days I let her out again and she systematically showed the other cats that she would now be the boss of the house.
Kikken and Calvin were fine with this. Nikita claimed a booster chair in the dining room and rarely left it except to fight. I’ve never been sure if the arrival of Star was a coincidence or if it contributed to things, but Nikita also started throwing up every day at around the same time. We took her to the vet and he said she had many things wrong with her, some of which he could treat, but a lot of it was her extreme age.
That was the first time we heard that Nikita was old at all as we never knew anything about her other than that her owner, an elderly woman, moved into a nursing home and her son, a neighbor down the street, took her in, but couldn’t keep her inside. Which is when I grabbed her, thinking that’s not an outside kitty, especially since she was friendly and declawed. I took her in and put up signs. The neighbor called, said I could keep her and he’d bring over her things, but we never saw him.
But this is about Star! Star had taken an instant dislike to Nikita and it was mutual. I’m not sure what would have happened had Nikita not been so sick that we had to put her to sleep.
Calvin and Kikken were quick to bow to Star’s reign, but they were both old kitties by then too and within four years, Star was an only kitty.
She was a very happy only kitty. I think that’s why she has such a hard time with Leo, she’s over 12 now, and set in her ways. She’s the old timer and he’s the young whippersnapper come to dethrone the queen. So far, she’s holding on to her title though, and I think he just wants to play.
Recent days have shown that they can tolerate being in the same space without trouble, so we’re all hopeful now!
Star sleeps just outside our bedroom door, leaning against the wall. It may look like a cold lonely spot and that she’s been banished. But this is where she has slept in cold weather for years. Right behind that very spot is a furnace duct and the wall is warm.
No, you may not pass. I’ll take your ankle if you try to go to the bathroom..
Recall the Throne chair introduced a few days ago? The one I should have had out in the living room instead of folding chairs all this remodeling time? Well Greg has been using it and Star is either not happy with that or she just wants to be near her daddy. Either is possible..
What do you mean ‘narrow arm’ my little feet fit just fine.
Stop flashing that light in my face, I’m comfortable here.
He’s my daddy, I claim him. Until he gets out of my chair that is..
I just missed her stretching there.. Is your digital camera slow to snap pictures too? Frustrating!
This is still my chair too. No barbarians allowed.
Didn’t it look like she was getting into the chair in that last picture? No no, just stretching, pretending not to be scratching.. To get into the chair she walked all the way around and climbed up the back! She was in a very goofy mood!
I don’t know what you’re talking about... Hmm, I wonder if I jump on that table if it will tip over. Bet it would make a spectacular crash! Aw poo, mom’s watching.. Maybe later.
Did you ever notice the white spots on Star’s neck in some pictures? They are little scars that she had when we got her. The hair never grew back there. We suspect she got it when she was um.. getting her kittens. Apparently a male cat clawed through a window screen when no one was home and both females, Star included, were in heat. Both had kittens, thus the free kitten sign.
Here’s a closer up look.
Know what’s funny, she loves having those areas scratched. What ever she wants I guess.
So there’s Star’s story in a nutshell. A long nutshell!
Ok, it's Star's day, so let me tell you what She's getting for Christmas, and you can get one for your kitty or doggie too! The rescuer who saved Leo is selling bricks for her Winnie's Wish Walkway, which goes to the cat house that Leo lived in until I adopted him. She's a private rescuer, and badly in need of funds to care for the kitties and doggies she has been saving.
It's an extremely worthy cause, so please please consider buying a brick in honor or memory of your pets! Star's brick is already ordered, and I'll show it when it comes in and gets placed in the walkway.
If you'd like one for your self or a friend to honor or memorialize their kitties,
check out this post.
Support a worthy cause and give a gift at the same time! But hurry, I should have told you about this sooner, but there's only a day or so left to get one!
Oh, and look at the sweet kitties that still need homes! You know you want to adopt one! Distance is no problem, they always find a way to get kitties into their homes!
