I'm sitting in the bedroom cause there's no longer a couch. Haley and I are locked away from Minion so that H. can pretend she's still One and Only Remaining Cat. (That's what I call her now, when we're taking a Minion break.)
Minion had her cornered in the bathroom and she was Very Unhappy about it--I grabbed her, hissing and growling, and brought her in here. She wandered restlessly about the bed until I opened up a suitcase for her, and she settled down for a sleep.
Minion is a formidable foe because she's just RELENTLESS. There is very little that will dissuade her from a course of action, and the tougher you get with her, the more excited she gets. Her original playmate was her brother (adopted by someone else) so I assume they used to rough house like hell. It's near impossible to get her off the counters, off my finger, off Haley's back, off anything she wants to be on! Teaching her that the stove is A VERY SCARY AND UNACCEPTABLE PLACE TO JUMP hasn't met with much success so far. And Haley's had just as much luck trying to convince Minion that she is Scary and Mean and therefore Minion shouldn't Jump On Her Back.
Maybe kittens are always this insane--but the girls we got her from said she was the hyper-est of the litter. Most people prefer boys cause they're mellower. But the girls loved her craziness, and we do too. I'm sure Haley was similarly hell on wheels as a child. But her natural exuberance and toughitude were probably thwarted by repressed owners, resulting in her latent insecurities and frequent hostility. (That's my psychokitty babble.)
My mum (who was fostering Haley, that's how we met) reminded me that Haley was actually a "code red" cat -- considered impossible to adopt out, because of her aggression, and probably best to put down. (My mother always takes these kinds of fosters.) The couple at the feral cat shelter took forever just to be allowed to approach her.
The first time I went into the lockdown Haley room (at mum's, years ago), I sat on the floor, and she came right over and purred, and rubbed her cheeks on me, and I petted her, and we had a lovely time.
That night when she heard me getting ready to go to bed, she pawed at the door to be let out, so I let her hang in the bathroom while I brushed my teeth. But when I put her away, she pawed incessantly at her door again. So I hauled up an armful of blankets from the room I was in, put them on the floor of her room, and slept there. She came under the blankies for a cuddle, and then slept on the office chair.
The next day I sat at the computer internetting, and she introduced me to Shnoogling -- sitting flat up against your chest, with her head under your chin.
My mother figured we were just meant for me, and that I had to adopt her. The feral shelter woman was "miffed!" to hear of Haley's easy of acceptance of me.
Ohhhh One and Only Remaining Cat. So sweet, beautiful, and evil. We love you.
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