Tortoiseshell cats are named for their distinctive coloring – a combination of patches of black, brown, amber, red, cinnamon and chocolate. The size of the patches varies from a fine speckled pattern to large areas of color. The term “tortoiseshell” is used for cats with brindled coats that have few or no white markings. Cats of this coloring with larger areas of white fur are called calicos. Sometimes, these colors present in lighter versions such as lilac or cream. Torties with this lighter coloring are called dilute torties. Occasionally, the typical tortoiseshell colors are also seen in a tabby (striped) pattern, and these cats are sometimes referred to as “torbies.”
Tortoiseshell cats are almost exclusively female. Tortoiseshell and calico coats are the result of the interaction between genetic and developmental factors. The occasional and very rare male tortoiseshell cat is the result of a genetic mutation.
In addition to their distinctive coloring, torties also have a reputation for unique personalities, sometimes referred to as “tortitude.” They tend to be strong-willed, a bit hot-tempered, and they can be very possessive of their human. Other words used to describe torties are fiercely independent, feisty and unpredictable. They’re usually very talkative and make their presence and needs known with anything from a hiss to a meow to a strong purr. These traits are stronger in tortoiseshell cats than in calicos – it seems as though these traits are somewhat diluted with the addition of more white to the color scheme.
As of the writing of this post, I share my life with Amber*, and those of you who’ve followed this blog for a while have gotten to know her in her Amber’s Mewsings posts. You will soon be able to read all about Buckley in Buckley’s Story – Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher. The photo above shows Buckley in the front, Amber behind her.
Prior to Amber and Buckley, there was another tortie in my life. Virginia was the first office cat at the animal hospital I managed. She was my introduction to torties, and my love affair with this particular type of cat began with her. She, too, had the “tortitude” I so love about these particular cats.
Do you have a tortie or calico in your life? Does she have “tortitude?”
*Sadly, Amber passed away on May 13, 2010, after a sudden, brief illness. I now share my life with Allegra and Ruby, two tortoiseshell cats who have their own columns here on The Conscious Cat, titled Allegra’s World and Ruby’s Reflections.
Photo ©Ingrid King, all rights reserved
Nan, Buttons sounds like a real active Tortie. Ingrid is great on Torties, but I think she is letting you feel more comfortable about Buttons activities as she grows older. Steeler is about 5 years old and while she can’t jump, she is always up to something. I think you can expect the unexpected from her for quite a while.
Briana, Akira is a really neat name. That shows you are an intelligent young woman, to come up with her name. I have watched my granddaughters going thru high school, each of them have a cat, all different, and they would look for their cat as soon as they came in from wherever they were. So I know your little Akira is going relieve some of the stress and peer pressure of high school. Good luck in our classes.
Congratulations on your new tortie, Christian. Kamala is a beautiful name. Does it stand for anything? Let us know how things are going, and we’d love to “meet” her – post a photo of her on our Facebook page if you’d like.
Nan, Buttons sounds so cute! She may mellow out some as she gets older. I adopted Allegra at 7 months old and she was a wild woman. Now that she’s 14 months old, she’s calmed down considerably, although she’s far from mellow.
Every cat has a different temperament, but since we’re talking about a tortie here, my guess is that while she will calm down some, she’ll retain her tortitude even as she matures.
Buttons is definitely going to grow some more – how much, is impossible to predict. Cats aren’t fully grown until they reach about 18-24 months. Most likely, she’ll fill out some and grow into her legs and tail, so to speak. It will probably be a gradual change – so take lots of pictures so you don’t miss anything 🙂
I am getting a tortie this week, her name is Kamala. I’m very excited!
The kitten, Tipper, is almost 7 months, she’s still pretty small. She’s very tall, taller than her sister Buttons, she’s long, and about 50% tail (seriously, her tail is long enough that she stretches out and it still touches her nose.) She’s still REALLY high energy. So my questions are these:
Will she calm down some soon?
Will she hit a growth spurt, or will it be a small subtle change?
Do cat’s tails grow with them, or does the tail stay the same length?
I’ve never had a kitten, so I don’t really know what to expect. Thanks!!
Very much so Ingrid.
I love the name Akira (and what it means), Briana. Cats are the best stress relievers, aren’t they?
I have my first tortie ever named Akira, (Japanese for Bright or clear), and she’s just wonderful. I got her from a friend of a friend and I just knew she would be special. Because I’m currently a sophomore in HighSchool there’s a lot of stress that goes on in my life, so having Akira was a perfect addition to my life to help keep the stress level down. She’s 6 months now and literally my life. She does have her queen attitude. When she wants to be petted while I’m taking a nap she either scratches my nose or meows softly. She also likes to climb onto furniture and scratches my scratches my relatives that I don’t like. She’s a very playful little girl. She pounces on my 2 year old chihuahua and plays hide-and-seek in a box. Other then that she’s very special to me since my last cat was when I was in 6th grade and I was devastated. She brings me so much joy and hopefully she sticks with me for a while.
Bob, I loved hearing how Elizabeth can change emotions instantly. My tortie seems to do the same thing. From wanting attention, to biting and scratching and back to wanting a face rub or chin scratch.
And Glen – wish you could video Kasey as she chases Taz. Torties never seem to let anything get in their way of showing who the boss is and making their point.
Tortitude overcomes dissability;
As I have mentioned, before I brought her home, Kasey sustained some sort of injury that keeps her from climbing or jumping very far.
The vet said there is nothing that can be done for it, she does get glucosamine, a heated bed and is an indoor cat.
She can still run, although she is not built for speed 😉
Taz is our 19 to 20 pound (big, not fat) orange guy, his nature is such that he is pretty much like an animated (barely\9, stuffed toy.
They get along most of the time but sometimes Kasey’s tortitude gets out.
She goes after him, as he retreats, she swats him, then the chase becins.
Her condition is such that she can either run, or swat, but not both at the same time.
This results in a peculiar chase, she runs, stops, swats, has to then run to catch up, stops and swats, repeat, repeat……repeat, etc.
This goes on until she tires of it, or, usually, I stop it.
It seems the tortie character runs strong and a little adversiy is not going to get in the way.
I love the serendipity of how Elizabeth came into your life at the perfect time. She sounds like quite the busy girl, keeping the household running smoothly and making sure you and Simone know who’s in charge!
I’d never even heard of tortoise shell cats until Elizabeth came into my life in March 2004. I’d just lost my precious Homer, who was 18, and I was a mess when I went to the vet to pick up his cremation urn. Out came Kelly, a vet tech, with a scrawny little six-month old grayish tortie on her shoulder. I went over to say hello, put my nose up to hers, and she smacked me in the face with her paw. It was love at first sight. A month later, she had a sister, another rescued angel named Simone, a seal-point Siamese. Elizabeth runs the house, decides when we eat, play, and go to bed. She watches football games with me every Sunday. She grooms both Simone and me four or five times a week. She’s brilliant, fickle, fearless, loving, bossy, and independent, often within twenty seconds displaying every conceivable emotion. I’d no idea how unbelievably wonderful torties are. I don’t even remember what life was like before her. I just adore everything about her.
Lianimal, PetFoodDirect.com frequently offers free shipping, depending on the size of your order, and they also offer some really great promotions if you sign up for their mailing list.
Glen, I love that Kasey has a heated bed that she enjoys so much. She sure has come a long way!
I love the stories of our thieving torties. Allegra likes to take off with stuff in her mouth when she gets a sense that I might want to take it away from her. So far, nothing has gone missing – at least not anything I know about….
Glen, I have a heated water bed and you can always tell when it gets cold out as I will have all 3 cats on it.
Pumpkin and Tabatha on 1 side and Stirfry at the other as far from them as she can get..
Lianimal I go to search engines for pet foods + free shipping. Also on this site check on the left side for cat nutrition. Some sites will give you free shipping on X$ amounts, while others will offer free shipping with first orders. It takes time, but looking into these sites might be worth it. I hope this helps a little. So Monkey is also a thief. Well Monkey and Steeler could make a good team.
Glen I am glad to hear that Kasey likes the heated pet bed. Steeler sleeps on a pillow or a mat on my bed and I have an electric blanket on. I turn on her side and she curls up and purrs really loud then goes into a really deep sleep. I think it helps her joints also.
Jay, I hope Stir grows into the stealing stage. It is really fun to watch Steeler pull her new plunder backwards. Give Stir some time and when she reaches a point when she watches you using a small object on a continuing basis, she will eventually steal it. It seems that the theft is to keep the object from taking your time away from them. Steeler’s first theft was my watch from my nightstand, then my eyeglasses and now it is an accumulative whatever she can reach. So if I can’t find some small item I check her hiding place. So here’s hoping Stir soon stirs things up for you. Lots of smiles.
Dianne, so sorry to hear about Heidi. Glad you had her and gave her tons of love.
Her personality is very much like my tortie.
Stirfry is the same as she is always on my lap when I watching TV or on the computer and would almost always come when called.
.
But unlike Nan’s, Katharine’s, Bernies & Tana’s torties she doesn’t each as much) although when she was an outside cat she ate everything. Guess feral cats never know when they will get their next meal so they eat as much as possible. Now that there is always food available she doesn’t but her son Pumpkin seems to have that trait.
And I see Monkey land Steeler like to steal items and hide them but Stir doesn’t do that at all.
But she definitely has the attitude that most torties seem to have.
I love looking at all the pictures of them and see how close they resemble her.
Kasey found out what a heated pet bed is, this last week.
We had forgotten we had one tucked away that was for an old yorkie that was here with us for a while, he is now in Florida.
With winter coming on here, we thought Kasey, with her old injuries, might like it, even though she is an indoor cat and the house is well heated.
Turns out we were right, she often lies there with a trance-like look about her. Eventually she must get a a bit too warm even for her and she gets up, but she seems to love it.
Monkey is also a big thief, so yeah, I think that’s pretty typical torti. I’m going to be moving to a different apartment in my building in December, and am looking forward to finding out where she’s hidden all my stuff!
Free shipping? Where are you finding free shipping? That’s the main reason I HAVEN’T ordered online. I’ve tried…put the order in my cart, got to checkout, then saw my total with shipping and said “HOLY……..nu-uh”
Bernadette, I live closer to Pgh. I was trying to help Lianimal out a little. She says she lives in a remote area. I do most of my shopping by internet. I am impatient when shopping. Most places offer free shipping + if it is an out of state company, it is tax free. That makes shopping a win win situation.
Debbie, I have said on here before if my Steeler anything within reaching distance is Steeler’s. She hides what she steals. So your Chole is doing what Tortie’s do, as I have been taught by those on this site.
Jerilyn my Steeler will lie above my head and pull my hair to wake me up. Not to mention she is not declawed. Enjoy their little characteristics. Each one is different and in the end each of our Tortie’s are the same. Stealing seems to be pretty normal for them. As I have said before, just keep an eye on their hiding places and after a while clear it out. They will start stealing again. Love that quirk about them.
You have quite a collection of torties there, Jerilyn – including your stealth tortie!
Dobby also stays close by. She follows me to the bathroom (where her little box is) and supervises. LOL. At night, she spend the night by my feet, snuggles up to my ear or sitting above my head on the headboard with 1 foot touching my head. Her “sister”(DJ…Dobby Jr) is a stealth-Tortie (black so technically not a tortie) has much more tortitude though. Carries everything in her mouth, steals stuff and hides it, has learned to open doors and loves to swipe papers off the computer printer. Between the 2 of them we keep busy and entertained. A stray mama came by a month ago and left us 3 orange tabby baby-toms and 2 gorgeous tortie girls. She hangs around and is also a tortie. A great mama cat. Torties are wonderful type of cat…love ’em!!
Chloe sounds wonderful, Debbie! I love that she has to be leaning against you at all times – that is so sweet.
Debbie,
Chloe sure sounds like my Honey! Follows me around the apartment, loves to “hunt and carry” in her mouth… and the howling! Honey will hop in the shower whenever I’m in the bathroom and let loose! Torties certainly do have unique personality traits.
My husband and I recently adopted a Torti kitten. We named her Chloe and she certainly has tortitude! She is 5 1/2 months old now…and we have had her since the age of 2 1/2 months old. She is very vocal and makes it known when she wants something. She follows ny husband everywhere…if he goes in the basement, she feels she needs to go there as well. If he manages to slip down the stairs before she sees him, she will go over to the door and look underneath to see if the light is on. She will sit there and howl endlessly until someone opens the door. She is very playful and is becoming more affectionate every day. She sleeps in bed with us and has to be leaning up against you at all times. If you move over…she will move over as well. She likes to stretch out and hog the bed. She has her favorite toys, which she will pick up and carry all over the house. In fact, to her, everything that is not nailed down is a toy! If she can pick it up in her mouth – she will!
She is wonderful and we love her dearly…
Bernie, I think I remember you saying you lived in or near Uniontown. Because I’ve participated in shows and festivals all over Western PA and parts of western Ohio and WVA panhandle, I can usually find a pet supply store that sells quality foods somewhere on my way, so I have a few recommendations if you want to give Steeler a variety in addition to what you order. There’s a Pet Supplies Plus in Uniontown, and that store (in Bridgeville) was where I shopped most often for my Wellness, plus Evo and Instinct and many more and even frozen raw diets; you can also find others. If you want to go a little farther north there’s a Leone Animal Supply in McMurray, a great family-owned business who will go out of their way to special order for you. Don’t overlook Agway and other farm supply stores because many of them have started to carry high-quality pet supplies to cater to the non-farm crowd–my Agway carries Wellness and Merrick. And if you wanted to drive all the way up to Bridgeville, Animal Krackers ONLY sells grain-free canned and frozen raw diets. And if you come that far you’re six miles from me and you’d BETTER let me know or I’ll never speak to you again, or whatever!
Lianima Hi: thanks for the compliment on my Steeler. You do have problems living in remote areas to get variety. I order from the computer for the cat food suggested by Ingrid. I will let you all know if Steeler turns out to be a finicky eater or a little piglet. Hopefully she will lose 2 lbs. Right now I think all us are saying of gee, here comes the holidays. No turkey and fixings for Steeler.
Happy Halloween to All.
Bernie, Steeler is gorge! It’s great to finally get to see her!
Dianne, wow, that made me cry, such a sweet remembrance for a dear friend. I remember how devestated I was when I lost my first Tortie, Hatchet. She was hit by a car one day while I was gone. I saw her lying in the road when I came home from work. I was inconsolable, and I haven’t willingly let a cat of mine outside since.
Katharine, Snoopy sounds hilarious! My girl Monkey does a lot of those things too…she can be so destructive and infuriating at times, but she’s so sweet and funny I can’t get mad at her.
And the food discussion….As most of you know, Monkey came to me skinny and scabby with half her fur missing from a severe flea alergy. She obviously hadn’t been taken care of. I always attributed her gluttony to having lived her first, formative 6 months or so not knowing when her next meal was coming. Her and Peaches always have high quality dry food available, and they get Fancy Feast every morning, but Monkey still harrasses me every time I walk into the kitchen. She’s not fat though, just good and solid, and Peaches could actually stand to gain a pound, she’s never been much of an eater….very finicky also.
My problem is no car, and this godforsaken little town I landed in (because of my job) doesn’t have a bus or even a taxi service. I have to buy pet food either from the grocery store (I ride with my neigbor every week) or the grain elevator (Walking distance from my apartment. The best (affordable) foods I’ve found that Peaches will eat are “Fancy Feast” canned and “Chicken Soup For The Cat Lover’s Soul” Dry. Monkey will eat anything I give her, even pills, but it’s easier to just feed them the same.
Harry it is Halloween time and Brooke may be up to bringing you a nightmare. Then hopefully she will be safe and happy again. I agree with Ingrid “you and your wife should be very afraid”.Remember, it’s bats and goblins in the air I will try to integrate dry with wet for Steeler.
Ingrid and Harry: I think it take special people to work with and rescue animals, then try to save them from being put down. I could never take an animal anywhere just to be put down because no one wanted it. I applaud you both for you tenacity and commitment.
Harry, I think you and your wife should be afraid. Very afraid. I have a feeling Brooke is planning how she’s going to get back at you…
Love the “Mad Catter” designation!
Ingrid, the Fairfax shelter is one of the good ones where a comparatively high percentage do get adopted. Even so, when I do transport from there, I meet them in the parking lot. After all that depressing talk – here’s a tortie story that will make you smile. I repeat this verbatim from the email my wife just sent me (I’m still at work…). Brooke is our tortie, whom my father-in-law calls the “Mad Catter.”
“The Orkin guy just left. He put down CRICKET GLUE STRIPS. Hello, we have six cats – was he INSANE? One got caught on Brooke’s tail. She was in an absolute panic. Rachel finally caught her and I tried to cut her tail fur to get it off. But I had to put her down b/c she was frantic and fortunately (I guess) it got caught on the stepstool and stuck — pulling off a lot of tail fur. Doesn’t this sound like a Lucy Ricardo skit?”
I don’t think we’ll be seeing Brooke for a while…
Bernie, I’d go with Harry’s suggestion of a gradual transition. Even though generally you’re not going to get an upset stomach when switching to a grain-free diet like Evo, it’s always a good idea to play it safe. I can’t wait to hear how Steeler likes her new food!
Harry, I couldn’t do that end of rescue work, either. When I volunteered with a local group many years ago I would go to the Fairfax County shelter and pull cats from “death row” for them (the group had already decided which cats to pull, I was just the transport person). I would have to brace myself and almost literally close my eyes to all the other cats there and just go for the ones I was supposed to take that day. I know we can’t save them all, but to be so close to the ones who most likely wouldn’t make it was more than I could handle, and after a few trips, I had to stop doing that and ended up taking cats to the vets this group worked with instead.
I think Glen’s words “she had been someone’s cat” are so perfect for this very reason – while we can’t save them all, we all have made a difference for these torties (and other cats in our families) that we’re sharing our lives with, and the ones who have touched our lives in the past.
Bernie, transition her in slowly – give her a little bit of the wet along with her dry. Even if she loves the canned food (all of ours did) it’s a different digestive experience and you don’t want to change overnight – it may upset her stomach. If she really rejects it, actually mix a teaspoon in with an amount of the dry, gradually increasing the wet over a week or 10 days. Good luck !
I make my peace with the cast off ones by volunteering with a rescue. I do the easy end – I’m an adoption counselor working with potential adopters and the cats which have been saved. Harder, more focused souls go to the shelters and look into the faces of the ones that plead for rescue, and decide who to take. I could not do that task.
Harry, we are all right on with open hearts for these homeless heartbreakers. I often go thru this forum and read some of the stories and it breaks your heart that even though we have taken care of a few of the throw aways, they really are a blessing,
Ingrid, I am taking your advice on the wet food. I have an order in for Evo. I just hope my Steeler does not turn away from it. Maybe it will help bring down those couple of #’s. Will keep you posted.
Oh, and I fully agree with Ingrid (who knows lots more than I do) about the canned food. We fed our cats the best, high protein dry we could find, but several were overweight. When we brought in Sabrina, our “stealth tortie” (I’m sure there’s an orange hair there somewhere in all the black, because she has the ‘tude!) she woudn’t eat dry, and we fed her canned. The other cats revolted, of course, so everyone started getting canned. Within a month or so, their coats looked sleeker, their skin wasn’t as dry, and at least one who needed to lose some weight, did.
Bernie – your comment from a couple of days ago about how we all feel about these throwaway cats is spot on. Glen’s comment moved me so, because it just tears at me to think of all those hungry, lost cats out there not understanding why they were dumped. I’m glad that Heidi knew love again, and that Steeler, Kasey and the rest have found the warmth, food and love they so deserve. I don’t blame anyone who eats a little too much, after the uncertainty of being hungry.
Dani, it’s good to hear you found your new family addition at the SFSPCA. Adoption of anything other than kittens is a great idea. Tunes, once she takes over, will have you folks singing tunes to yourself. Good for you.
Congratulations on your new family member, Dani. I love the name Tunes. Keep us posted as to whether she develops any tortitude!
‘Tunes’, our two-yr-old short-haired Tortie found * US * at SFSPCA. She’s only been in our lives for a little over a week but totally has our hearts wrapped around her tail.
She’s mostly good-natured, gets a little excitable when we play with string/feathers and rarely seems cranky, so far.
Glen, Harry, Katherine, Diane, It seems we have the same heart for the throw away domestic cats. Steeler still had the imprint around her neck, where she had worn a collar, before she was thrown away and find my home. I tried my best not to get attached her,but I just could not see this particular cat go. Hence my buddy. People throw animals away in my area, country road, on a regular basis. Up until Steeler, they always found somewhere to go. Steeler got thrown out here and never left, her choice, my blessing.
Kelly, Michael and Ingrid, Thank you all for your words of comfort regarding Heidi. I am so grateful to have found you guys. Keep being the wonderful moms and dads of your animal children..
Ingrid, Steeler eats mostly dry food. The exception is a tablespoon of tuna in water AM /PM. Now that you mention it, I did notice that in the vet’s waiting room there were cases of canned cat food. Since I knew nothing about cats when I rescued Steeler, I depended on a friend to advise me of her food. She said dry not wet for nutrients. So that is why she is on dry. I will definitely look at Feline Nutrition category. Right at this moment Steeler is pulling on my shirt sleeve for attention. She does not like the computer. Thanks for the advice.
I still don’t believe I said to the vet that 2# wasn’t much. See how little I know.
Bernie, does Steeler eat canned food at all? Dry food is really not good for cats, and it tends to contribute to them being overweight, and to a lot of the degenerative diseases we see in cats, like diabetes, kidney disease, and others. Cats are carnivores, and they do best on either a grain-free canned diet, or a raw diet. The advantage of a grain-free canned or raw diet is also that it makes them feel full on fewer calories, and the weight tends to come off more easily. It’s kind of the CAtkins diet approach 🙂
There’s a lot more information about what to feed cats in the Feline Nutrition category on this site. Feline nutrition happens to be one of my passions.
I can also tell you from personal experience that Amber didn’t start losing weight until I switched her to a grain-free canned diet. Prior to that, she’d been on every feline weight-loss diet on the market, with no success.
Glen and Katherine, I’ve seen this love of food in a lot of former strays – I really do think that they remember the lean days when food was scarce or non-existent, and they tend to eat whatever you put in front of them, and eat it fast, once they have a regular source of food!
Glen, I always enjoy your Kasey stories!
Glen hi. Reading about Snoops and Kasey’s eating habits. Steeler also likes to eat. It just seemed natural to me. During her illness recently, she was weighted in at 9.9#. The vet said she is overweight. I said by how much. She says 2#. Old dummy me said well that’s not to bad. Well, the vet corrected me quickly and told me that’s about 20% overweight for. That sunk in. She also informed me that cats that are overweight tend to develop diabetes. She advised me to only feed her half cup of dry AM and PM, no full bowls sitting all day for her. Treat in between. Well I know the vet is right and that I tried for just 1 day and the 2nd day I gave in. If the she wants to eat as yours do, so be it.
katharine
Perhaps she did stray or get left behind as a result of someone traveling, given your location.
One funny trait of Kasey is that she feels the need to defend the house.
She is an indoor cat, our winter climate, busy road and semi-rural setting with coyotes and other things makes this a good idea. She is very aware of what is going on outside and watches people things that are out of place like a guard dog, even growls at them, occassionally.
However, when people come in the house, she is very friendly with them.
She has imprinted on, and claimed me. She seems to feel obliged to defend me, as Taz, our 20 pound “örange guy” found out.
I sat on the floor to comb Kasey, Taz came up on the oposite side of me. I pet one cat with each hand.
Taz, as some males, even neutered one’s, will take the attention as a dominace thing and tried to swat and nip at me (not that he’s mean, he’s like a teddybear). This didn’t last long, he was attacked by my warrior-queen protector, whom I had to distract and settle down.
I her behaviour may be a combination of tortitude and an upbringing where she fought wild animals and some domestic dogs at the facility where she lived. She shows no fear whatsoever and goes after something totally, without any hesitation, and yet she is the nicest cat to people who show her any kind attention.
Glen
yes i have often wondered if she just remembers the period in her life when she never knew where or when the next meal was coming, and as a result, eats whenever she has the chance. I often wonder how she came to be wandering about. I live in a wee Scottish village and all the local cats are very familiar faces… then suddenly out of nowhere, this mystery stray cat appeared. I don’t know about her previous life, but i know she’s perfectly content now 🙂 i did make an effort to find her owner/s but iv had Snoopy a year now and iv never been contacted. It’s so sad that pets go missing, or get left behind.
Harry
Strays and homeless cats bother me but to me the worst, perhaps outside of abuse, is the pet that is raised in a home environment, then for whatever reason is out on their own.
There is some instinct in them to know what to do but they have become dependant on human attention and companionship, as well as care and support, which is suddenly gone.
My rescue tortie, Kasey was no one’s cat for 8 years at one of our company facilities. She never knew how each individual that was there at any given time would treat her; an a bunch of it wasn’t good.
That was the only life she knew but in the spring of 2008, I had seen enough and she came home.
She’s about 10, now. She seems in good health except for an old hind leg injury the vet can’t fix but she is happy here, you can just tell. She is very friendly and attentive.
She seems to be doing well but at her age, I know she won’t be here as long as if I had raised her from a kitten. However, the latter part of her life will make up for the first part.
“At least for the time she had, she got to be someone’s cat, again.”
Glen – your words moved me to tears.
“snoops is always hungry and i wondered if that was a tortie characteristic…”
Kasey is the same way but I don’t know if that is because she is a tortie or because for a while, before I rescued her, she had periods when she didn’t get enough to eat and then was fed people junk food at the facility I recued her fro,
By her demeanour indicates that feeding to her is strongly regarded as love and attention, which she loves, as well as the food.
Dianne
I am sorry about your tortie, Heidi.
It is tough to loose one at any time but especially one at that age.
It may be a token consolation but in regards to your statement; “She had been someone’s cat”
At least for the time she had, she got to be someone’s cat, again.
Katharine, Snoopy sounds like quite a character and all tortie! I’m still laughing at the “whippet with a jetpack” description! I don’t think the gluttony is a trait reserved for torties, but it would make sense if it was: all that tortitude must be fed!